| nuclear pacemaker | A nuclear-powered unit used to generate the electrical current for artificially pacing the heart; replaced by units using long-life nickel-cadmium and other power sources. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| demand pacemaker | A form of artificial pacemaker usually implanted into cardiac tissue because its output of electrical stimuli can be inhibited by endogenous cardiac electrical activity. (05 Mar 2000) |
| diaphragmatic pacemaker | A device that paces the diaphragm, used in patients with chronic ventilatory insufficiency resulting from malfunction of the respiratory control centre on certain types of phrenic nerve malfunction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ectopic pacemaker | Any pacemaker other than the sinus node. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electric cardiac pacemaker | An electric device that can substitute for the normal cardiac pacemaker, controlling the heart's rhythm by artificial electric discharges. Synonym: electronic pacemaker. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electronic pacemaker | An electric device that can substitute for the normal cardiac pacemaker, controlling the heart's rhythm by artificial electric discharges. Synonym: electronic pacemaker. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electronic pacemaker load | The impedance to the output, the standard load being 500 ohms resistance ± 1%. (05 Mar 2000) |
| transthoracic pacemaker | Artificial pacemaker delivering stimuli through the chest wall usually applied as a temporizing measure in patients with atrioventricular block. (05 Mar 2000) |
| external pacemaker | An artificial cardiac pacemaker whose electrodes for delivering rhythmical electrical stimuli to the heart are placed on the chest wall. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fixed-rate pacemaker | An artificial pacemaker that emits electrical stimuli at a constant frequency. (05 Mar 2000) |
| action current | An electrical current induced in muscle fibres when they are effectively stimulated; normally it is followed by contraction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alternating current | Electrical current which alternates direction periodically. (For instance, household electric current is AC alternating at 60 oscillations/sec (60 Hertz) in the United States, and 50 Hertz in many other countries.) Acronym: AC (09 Oct 1997) |
| anodal current | A current produced in tissues under the anode when the circuit is closed. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ascending current | The direction of current flow in a nerve when the anode is placed peripheral to the cathode, in contrast to descending current; the convention used is that current flows from positive to negative. Synonym: centripetal current. (05 Mar 2000) |
| axial current | The central rapidly moving portion of the bloodstream in an artery. (05 Mar 2000) |