Abstract
We made out a cardiac pacemaker so designed that a weak AC signal of less than several 10 microamperes is applied directly to the surface of the living body, a good conductor, that the signal is detected remote from the site of electric application in the same living body and that the frequency of stimulation can be changed in accordance with the instructions of the input signal and used it in an animal experiment.
Using adult dogs under anesthesia with pentobarbital, a catheter type of electrode for the pacemaker was introduced into the right ventricle and an electrode for detecting the signal was embedded in the chest subcutaneously.
On the other hand, an experiment was conducted in which the control signal is applied topically from the right wrist to remotely control the frequency of stimulation.
As a result, it was confirmed that the frequency of stimulation could be changed by a weak signal of less than 10 microampere.
The method using the living body as a direct transmission route for electric signals is suitable for controlling the complex programs and can possibly be applied not only to the cardiac pacemaker but to other artificial organs as well.
