[null and void]

3-D Printer Ping!

[Balding_Eagle]

The biggest obstacle will be the thugs from the FDA.

[shove_it]

I have atrial fibrillation (Afib) diagnosed over two years ago. For a while I wore an exterior pacemaker that was strapped onto my body in a vest-like harness. It caused a nasty rash over my chest and back and was a big nuisance so the docs decided to install a Medtronic pacemaker under my skin below my port side collar bone which monitors my heart function, jolts it if necessary and records performance of my heart which is analyzed quarterly.

The article mistakenly states that pacemakers “are fairly simplistic and don’t provide much feedback on the heart’s condition”. I go into the VA every three months where a Medtronic tech extracts a lot of data from the pacemaker, analyzes it and reports to the cardiologist M.D. who checks me out yearly. I also take a blood thinner (Warfarin) which has to be checked every six weeks by a blood sample at the VA.

Medtronic is a top notch company. I expect they are on top of this development. I’m doing great. I followed the docs orders on diet and exercise. I cut out all alcohol and lost enough weight to get back into my skinny jeans.