title: The next 5 years in cardiac pacemakers: a preview.
abstract: Advances in cardiac pacing continue at an astounding rate, and, occasionally, technologic capabilities are developed almost faster than they can be implemented clinically. The development and implementation of single- and dual-chamber rate-adaptive pacemakers have been the major thrusts in cardiac pacing in recent years. Rate-adaptive pacing will continue to be of primary interest in the future as investigators search for the perfect "sensor" and attempt to develop rate-adaptive pacemakers with multiple sensors. The "smart" pacemaker--that is, an autoprogramming, autodiagnostic device--will also be refined. The ultimate "smart" pacemaker would be capable of automatically adjusting output and sensing factors as well as altering the rate-adaptive variables and even changing the pacing mode in response to variations in the underlying rhythm. Other aspects of cardiac pacing that will be actively investigated include new low-threshold pacing lead designs, refinements of the single-lead pacing system capable of P-synchronous pacing, and diagnostic information that can be derived from sensors used for rate-adaptive pacing.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiovascular Diseases and Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Hayes
mesh_terms: D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial / Q000639:trends*; D009626:Terminology as Topic