World's first 'wireless' pacemaker talks to your doctor daily, whether you like it or not (though you probably do)
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Aug 11th 2009 10:13AM
posted Aug 11th 2009 10:13AM
[Via Switched]
posted Aug 11th 2009 10:13AM
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
"Choose an Apple..."
I thought 'poop' would say...use the iphone for that. Ain't there an app for it?
So it's now safe to have a wi-fi transmitter implanted in you...
"...Doc, is it ok if I jailbreak my pacemaker? I want to change the ringtones"
can i connect to it from my phone? LOL
Just make sure you turn it off when you go on a plane.
Does it show up as an access point on my laptop?
Do you get a better signal when you get aroused?
Wonder which standard this thing is running on -- b,g or n...
Wifi probably has nothing to do with whatever's gonna be used, the picture's just for article purposes. None of b, g or n would be able to contact your doc without getting onto a receiver and then the internet. And the receiver wouldn't exactly follow you around your town.
It's a good reason to eat a steak and drink malt 40s, yet you tell us to stop smoking and eat an apple? Great advice, jerk.
No thanks!
The last thing I want is to be monitored by a device inside me.
Obama's healthcare plan would likely say I'm not worthy and ordered to have my pace maker turned off.
Pacemakers & defibrillators that use wireless communication use a protocol other than WiFi to communicate with a base-station that is usually placed next to the patient's bed. That base-station then communicates with a designated server to upload the patient's information. For obvious reasons, remote monitoring is a 1-way communication from the patient's device through the base-station to the server.
The Wi-Fi logo is likely inappropriate, since it's been reported that the pacemaker does not receive an IP address and is likely on a much lower-power, lower-bandwidth standard.
802.11H
H stands for heart. DUH!
With proprietary Amazon's Remote Wipe
Is it safe to have a (low) radiation source inside your body?
Safer than ventricular fibrillation, fo' sho'.
what happens if you have a power outage or your wifi or internet goes down? does it still work?
I thought former president Dick "Oswald Cobblepot" Cheney had one of these?
If yes, wonder what his IP address is ;^)...
This is not revolutionary! Wireless implanted cardiac devices have been around for a couple of years now. Someone must interpret the information downloaded by the patient each day. Someone must pay for this interpretation...each day! Even possible this would never have made it this far had it not been for a major market share medical device companies' defective defibrillator lead and the same companies efforts to cut their losses. It is simply unnecessary!
Sometimes i think i wouldn't mind getting an artificial hart, but then i see the after surgery photo.
If they could one day make an artifical hart that's way better than the original and the surgery wouldn't include cracking ribs i would totally do it. Providing my heart isn't hackable by some asshole.
They don't use Wi-Fi silly.
does that mean firmware updates in the future?
40 Ounce Steak?
What are you, Hugh Heffner?
doc won't be hearing from my heart.
I have AT&T and and an Iphone :p
I personally wish these devices should be highly encrypted with firewall and WPA ..not to be remotely shutdowned or send excess signals/shock by hackers !!! such things shud be considered by law as a murder !
I think the comms protocols are proprietary, so conventional firewalling protocols don't apply. But yes, protecting access has always been a key concern while developing proximity-based RF-transmitting devices. Plus, although not specifically outlined in the law, I'm sure malicious illegal tampering with a life-saving device, resulting in the death of an individual, is considered murder.
So, as the proud owner of a RF-downloadable ICD, I can say I wish they were encrypted as well. When I do go to the doctor to get interrogated, the fact that the tech can manipulate me like a marionette is... disquieting. The ICD can easily store up to 6 months of pretty detailed data. I would guess the thing in my chest probably has >100MB of memory.
Also, getting a firmware update (which I have had) is just bizarre.
i hate to ask what get held down and pushed for 30 seconds while the firmware installs
Count me as another 'proud owner,' now 1+ months on my 2nd ICD (Medtronic Secura DR) at the tender age of 34. And unlike my prior model, a Medtronic Insync Sentry (not to be confused with N*Sync), which required a "paddle" to be placed over the device (imagine something that looks like a computer mouse placed on the left chest, over the clothes), the Secura DR only requires the "base station" which others have mentioned here. Either I can get it done at the cardiologist's lab, or Medtronic supplies a home unit for free which interrogates the ICD and transfers the data to a Medtronic server via POTS. Medtronic then notifies my doctor's office, which downloads the data and provides analysis.
Someone said that there's an immutable link, that a professional must still interpret the data that my ICD uploads. Correct.
BTW, ticker, think a firmware update is strange? Imagine hearing beeping coming from your chest (in a facility where, let's just say, random things shouldn't be beeping). Then getting defibbed 2x in 30 seconds, and 2 more times in the E.R. before they can shut the thing off. Faulty lead. Now you know how I spent July 6.
But...wireless comms from an ICD are hardly "new" or "revolutionary." But my fiancee still dreams of being able to hack my device just to make it beep (or so she says).
What happens if you go on an Airplane? Do you have to shut off your heart during take off?
Yes, Deathalo, they have to put me in stasis whenever I fly. [smack]
Here's your sign.
Yes, I am a rep for the company that pioneered this technology - BIOTRONIK. This technology has been on the market since 2002 in BIO devices, including pacemakers. The other companies have had this technology in the defibrillators ONLY until very recently. BIOTRONIK is a smaller company and does not get the attention the bigger companies enjoy from the news media. Therefore, most physicians and patients are less aware of the availability of this technology in BIO devices or the fact that we are generations ahead of our competitors.