The Natural Pacemaker
The natural pacemaker, the heart's conductive system
or electronic system has the important responsibility to insure
that the heart beats in a rhythm, with exactitude, and an appropriate
rate.
A beat is considered one complete contraction and
relaxation of the heart muscle. The
cells that create these rhythmical impulses are called pacemaker
cells, and they directly control the heart
rate.
Artificial devices also called artificial
pacemakers can be used after
damage to the body's intrinsic conduction system, caused by heart
diseases such as, coronary
artery disease amongst others, to produce these impulses
synthetically.
Control via the SA node
Although all of the hearts cells possess the ability
to generate these electrical impulses, a specialized portion of
the heart, called the ''sinoatrial node'', is responsible for the
whole heart's beat.
|
Heart
