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Go Ahead, Hackers. Break My Heart

My life depends on the functioning of a medical device: a pacemaker that generates each and every beat of my heart. I know how it feels to have my body controlled by a machine that is not working correctly, and this is why I encourage fellow security researchers to delve into these medical devices and find ways to make them more secure.

Four years ago, I woke up lying on the floor, but I had no idea how I’d gotten there or for how long I’d been out. Stunned, I went to the emergency room at the local hospital. It turned out I had fallen because my heart had taken a break—long enough to cause unconsciousness. Luckily, it started beating again by itself, but the resulting pulse was…

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Featured

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Articles of Interest

Almost half a million pacemakers need a firmware update to avoid getting hacked

You may need to take grandma for an update.

Apparently It's Way Too Easy to Hack Someone's Pacemaker

A new report highlights troubling security weaknesses in the lifesaving devices.

Cardiac Pacemakers From the Patient’s Perspective

There are about 3 million people worldwide with pacemakers, and each year 600 000 pacemakers are implanted. With rare exception, implantation of a pacemaker does not change the recipient’s activities or lifestyle. Although most people who receive pacemakers are aged 60 years or older, people of any age, even children, may need pacemakers.

Clearing the Way for Leadless Pacemakers

New technologies promise to do away with a major source of complications from cardiac resynchronization therapy devices.

Common Questions About Pacemakers

Pacemakers are indicated in patients with certain symptomatic bradyarrhythmias caused by sinus node dysfunction, and in those with frequent, prolonged sinus pauses. Patients with third-degree or complete atrioventricular (AV) block benefit from pacemaker placement, as do those with type II second-degree AV block because of the risk of progression to complete AV block. The use of pacemakers in patients with type I second-degree AV block is controversial.

Devices that May Interfere with ICDs and Pacemakers

Several types of devices and machinery may interfere with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and pacemakers. The electromagnetic waves generated by such devices can keep your ICD or pacemaker from functioning properly. Try to avoid them, or at least minimize your exposure to them.

Easy to Beat: Next-Gen Cardiac Care Includes Wireless Pacemakers

A new cardiac-stimulation system requires only a single lead. The next step: wireless.

Hacking Is a Risk for Pacemakers. So Is the Fix

Some doctors are wary of software patch that prevents unauthorized access to Internet-connected devices, worried about risk of malfunction.

New Wireless Pacemaker Could Prevent Common Complications

Powered by microwaves, the device avoids some of the risks traditional systems pose.

Pacemakers have thousands of vulnerabilities hackers can exploit, study finds

There are a lot of devices that don’t need to be connected to the internet. Toasters don’t need to be connected to the internet. Neither do juicers, door locks, or rectal thermometers. Pacemakers were around for at least 40 years before someone got the bright idea to expose them to the information superhighway, a move that does indeed help doctors assist patients, but it comes with great risk.

The different types of pacemakers

The number of leads vary depending on the number of chambers of the heart that need to be treated. A pacemaker can have 1, 2 or 3 leads. Some modern pacemakers do not have leads in order to deliver the electrical signals to the heart muscles. These pacemakers are called leadless.

The Pacemaker

The year was 1949. Dr. William Bigelow and Dr. John Callaghan at the Banting and Best Institute laboratory in Toronto were studying how extreme cold could slow the human heart rate thus making it possible to conduct open heart surgery. Although their work had led to a number of successful open heart surgeries, they were stuck on the problem of how to re-start the heart if it were to stop.

Turn A Heart On And Off With The Flick Of A Switch

Stanford scientists are working on a light-controlled pacemaker.

Resources

Pacemaker Club

Our purpose is to help cardiac pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) recipients meet, share information and support each other.

MedicineNet

Doctors recommend pacemakers for a number of reasons. The most common reasons are bradycardia and heart block. Bradycardia is a slower than normal heartbeat. Heart block is a problem that occurs with the heart's electrical system. The disorder occurs when an electrical signal is slowed or disrupted as it moves through the heart.

Patient

Permanent pacemakers provide electrical stimuli to cause cardiac contraction during periods when intrinsic cardiac electrical activity is inappropriately slow or absent. Pacing systems consist of a pulse generator and pacing leads. With permanent systems, pacemaker output generally stimulates the cavity of the right atrium and/or right ventricle (endocardial pacing).