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Image showing the cardiac pacemaker or SA node, the primary pacemaker within the electrical conduction system of the heart The cardiac pacemaker is the heart 's natural rhythm generator. It employs pacemaker cells that produce electrical impulses, known as cardiac action potentials , which control the rate of contraction of the cardiac muscle ...
These cells produce an electrical impulse known as a cardiac action potential that travels through the electrical conduction system of the heart, causing it to contract. In a healthy heart, the SA node continuously produces action potentials, setting the rhythm of the heart (sinus rhythm), and so is known as the heart's natural pacemaker.
Graphical representation of the electrical conduction system of the heart that maintains the heart rate in the cardiac cycle. Electrical signals arising in the SA node (located in the right atrium) stimulate the atria to contract. Then the signals travel to the atrioventricular node (AV node), which is located in the interatrial septum.
Pacemaker activity of these cells is vital, as it means that if the SAN were to fail, then the heart could continue to beat, albeit at a lower rate (AVN= 40-60 beats per minute, Purkinje fibres = 20-40 beats per minute). These pacemakers will keep a patient alive until the emergency team arrives. [citation needed]
Transmission of a cardiac action potential through the heart's conduction system. The normal rhythmical heart beat, called sinus rhythm, is established by the heart's own pacemaker, the sinoatrial node (also known as the sinus node or the SA node). Here an electrical signal is created that travels through the heart, causing the heart muscle to ...
The cardiomyocytes make up the bulk (99%) of cells in the atria and ventricles. These contractile cells respond to impulses of action potential from the pacemaker cells and are responsible for the contractions that pump blood through the body. The pacemaker cells make up just (1% of cells) and form the conduction system of the heart.
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The primary purpose of a pacemaker is to maintain an even heart rate, either because the heart's natural cardiac pacemaker provides an inadequate or irregular heartbeat, or because there is a block in the heart's electrical conduction system. Modern pacemakers are externally programmable and allow a cardiologist to select the optimal pacing ...