Cardiac stimulation with high voltage discharge from stun guns.
نویسندگان
چکیده
The ability of an electrical discharge to stimulate the heart depends on the duration of the pulse, the voltage and the current density that reaches the heart. Stun guns deliver very short electrical pulses with minimal amount of current at high voltages. We discuss external stimulation of the heart by high voltage discharges and review studies that have evaluated the potential of stun guns to stimulate cardiac muscle. Despite theoretical analyses and animal studies which suggest that stun guns cannot and do not affect the heart, 3 independent investigators have shown cardiac stimulation by stun guns. Additional research studies involving people are needed to resolve the conflicting theoretical and experimental findings and to aid in the design of stun guns that are unable to stimulate the heart.
منابع مشابه
Do electrical stun guns (TASER-X26) affect the functional integrity of implantable pacemakers and defibrillators?
AIMS High voltage electric current can adversely affect pacemakers (PM) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD). The standard shock from an electrical stun gun (TASER- X26, TASER International, Scottsdale, AZ) consists of a 5-s long application of high voltage, low current pulses at 19 pulses per second. Its effect on the functional integrity of PM and ICDs is unknown. METHODS AND RE...
متن کاملEffects of stun guns and tasers.
contractions and sensory responses, such as various degrees of pain and the feeling of exhaustion. The electrodes are fixed in stun guns but are shot out as darts from tasers. These devices produce electrical stimuli in the form of short-duration (small fraction of a millisecond), repetitive pulses (5–30 pulses/s), each of 50 000 volts. Since currents can be conducted by electrical arcs, effect...
متن کاملEffects of cocaine intoxication on the threshold for stun gun induction of ventricular fibrillation.
OBJECTIVES This study sought to assess cocaine's effects on Taser-induced ventricular fibrillation (VF) threshold in a pig model. BACKGROUND Stun guns are increasingly used by law enforcement officials to restrain violent subjects, who are frequently intoxicated with cocaine and other drugs of abuse. The interaction of cocaine and the stun gun on VF induction is unknown. METHODS We tested f...
متن کاملNeuromuscular effects of stun device discharges.
BACKGROUND Stun guns or electromuscular incapacitation devices (EMIs) generate between 25,000 and 250,000 V and can be discharged continuously for as long as 5 to 10 min. In the United States, over 200,000 individuals have been exposed to discharges from the most common type of device used. EMI devices are being used increasingly despite a lack of objective laboratory data describing the physio...
متن کاملA New Circuit Approach to Predict Discharge Curents for Air Discharges of ESD Generators
Abstract. To predict discharge current waveforms for air discharges of electrostatic discharge (ESD) generators (ESD-guns) used in an IEC immunity test against human ESD, an equivalent circuit modelling for air discharges of ESD-guns is proposed. To simulate spark discharges, two typical spark resistance formulae (Rompe-Weizel’s and Toepler’s) are applied to the modelling, which consists of a s...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
دوره 178 11 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2008