INDIGENOUS LOW COST EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR

Abstract

Ventricular fibrillation is chaotic electrical activity of the heart muscle fibers, which results in failure of coordinated myocardial contraction and virtually no cardiac output.It is important to note that sudden cardiac arrest claims 350,000 to 450,000 lives per year in the United States alone. Unfortunately, there is no data from Pakistan on this subject.First prototype was tested on dogs on 27th April, 2004 by a team of doctors.Is it as good as defibrillators available in market? The answer is no, but, it is the first step in the direction. There is room for improvement and making it compatible with international standards. The efficiency has been tested but quality testing is awaited. The main hindrances to quality testing are lack of animal laboratory and ethical issues as far as its human application is concerned.