Treatment Devices: Part I

The de­brillator (or “de­b”) is perhaps the most recognized high-tech medical device, thanks to movies and television. A doctor holds paddles over a dying patient. The doctor yells “clear” and then places the paddles on the patient’s chest. The patient’s body jerks spasmodically, and the steady beep-beep of the monitor resumes, or perhaps a ›at line on a screen changes to a familiar waveform (Figure 6.1).