TASER (R) Conducted Electrical Weapons are rapidly replacing the club for law-enforcement control of violent subjects within many countries around the globe. A TASER CEW is a hand-held device that delivers a 400-volt pulse with a duration tuned to control the skeletal muscles without affecting the heart at a distance of up to 6.5 meters over tiny wires. If necessary, it begins with an arcing voltage of 50,000 V to penetrate thick clothing; the 50,000 V is never delivered to the body itself. Due to the widespread usage of these devices and the widespread misconceptions surrounding their operation, this book will have significant utility. This volume is written for cardiologists, emergency physicians, pathologists, law enforcement management, corrections personnel, and attorneys.

HE IMPLANTABLE CARDIOVERTER DEFIBRILLATOR, or T"lCD," is arguably the most technologically challenging type of therapy that physicians utilize today. At the same time, engineers who design ICDs are being called upon by clinicians to extend even further the technological envelope in quest of building the "ideal" device. To the extent, however, that physicians who utilize ICDs are not sufficiently comfortable with or familiar with the engineering principles that guide ICD function, the full clinical potential of even an ideal device will not be realized. In comple mentary fashion, engineers require as full an appreciation as possi ble of the real world "boundary conditions" and clinical impact of various ICD features, if the latter are truly to be perfected. This book is intended to serve as an educational tool to foster mutual understanding and communication among physicians, engineers, and other professionals involved in ICD therapy, with the ultimate purpose of enhancing patient care. The highly varied backgrounds of such a diverse audience posed obvious challenges in the preparation of this volume. Given the overwhelmingly greater involvement of clinicians in the day-to day management and follow-up of ICD recipients, we gave high priority to the presentation of oftentimes complex yet relevant engi neering concepts in a manner that could be understandable to most clinicians."

Atlas of Conducted Electrical Weapon Wounds and Forensic Analysis provides a comprehensive publication on the subject of Conducted Electrical Weapon (CEW) wounds and signature markings created by this class of weapon. This volume will serve as a very useful resource for all professions tasked with assisting persons that have allegedly been subjected to a CEW exposure. The volume provides an introduction to basic CEW technology and the types of CEWs currently available. It also serves as a comprehensive pictorial atlas of signature markings that CEW exposures make in the immediate and more remote post-exposure periods. Also, it discusses the ability of forensic specialty examinations of the CEW itself to aid in the determination of whether the alleged CEW exposure is consistent with the objective evidence and the subjective statements. Finally, this text addresses the important and growing area of factitious CEW markings that will be useful for consideration by investigators and litigators. Atlas of Conducted Electrical Weapon Wounds and Forensic Analysis provides an objective atlas of evidence for reference that will benefit those professionals who often must make diagnostic, treatment or legal judgments on these cases including Emergency and Primary-Care Physicians, Medical Examiners, Forensic Pathologists, Coroners, Law Enforcement Investigators, and Attorneys.

Pacing and defibrillation have become the leading therapeutic treatments of heart rhythm disorders, including bradycardia and tachycardia. The success of these therapies is largely due to centuries of scientific inquiry into the fundamental mechanisms of bioelectric phenomena in the heart. History of successful development of bioelectric therapies includes development of experimental and theoretical methodologies, novel bioengineering approaches, and state-of-the-art clinical implantable device therapies. The purpose of this book is to present a uniform thematic collection of reviews written by the leading basic and applied scientists working in basic bioengineering research laboratories, who have contributed to the development of current understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of pacing and electrophysiology, and who are at the leading edge of further developments in electrotherapy. The book will start from the historic overview of the subject, including the development of the pacemaker and defibrillator, evolution of theories of cardiac arrhythmias and experimental methods used in the field over the centuries. Leading experts in the field will write these chapters. The second part of the book will focus on rigorous treatment of the fundamental theory of interaction between electric field and cardiac cell, tissue, and organ. Chapters will be written by top notch scientists, who made critically important contributions to the development of these theories. Part 3 will provide summary of several decades of research involving electrode recordings and multielectrode mapping of ventricular fibrillation and defibrillation in humans and animal models of arrhythmias. Part 4 will present new insights into defibrillation gained due to the advent of optical imaging technology, which permitted to map defibrillation without overwhelming shock-induced artifacts present in electrode recordings. Part 5 will provide rigorous overview of the methodologies, which made research of physiological and engineering aspects of electrotherapy possible. And finally, part 6 will present possible future of implantable devices and electrotherapy in the treatment of cardiac rhythm disorders.

HE IMPLANTABLE CARDIOVERTER DEFIBRILLATOR, or T"lCD," is arguably the most technologically challenging type of therapy that physicians utilize today. At the same time, engineers who design ICDs are being called upon by clinicians to extend even further the technological envelope in quest of building the "ideal" device. To the extent, however, that physicians who utilize ICDs are not sufficiently comfortable with or familiar with the engineering principles that guide ICD function, the full clinical potential of even an ideal device will not be realized. In comple mentary fashion, engineers require as full an appreciation as possi ble of the real world "boundary conditions" and clinical impact of various ICD features, if the latter are truly to be perfected. This book is intended to serve as an educational tool to foster mutual understanding and communication among physicians, engineers, and other professionals involved in ICD therapy, with the ultimate purpose of enhancing patient care. The highly varied backgrounds of such a diverse audience posed obvious challenges in the preparation of this volume. Given the overwhelmingly greater involvement of clinicians in the day-to day management and follow-up of ICD recipients, we gave high priority to the presentation of oftentimes complex yet relevant engi neering concepts in a manner that could be understandable to most clinicians.

Atlas of Conducted Electrical Weapon Wounds and Forensic Analysis provides a comprehensive publication on the subject of Conducted Electrical Weapon (CEW) wounds and signature markings created by this class of weapon. This volume will serve as a very useful resource for all professions tasked with assisting persons that have allegedly been subjected to a CEW exposure. The volume provides an introduction to basic CEW technology and the types of CEWs currently available. It also serves as a comprehensive pictorial atlas of signature markings that CEW exposures make in the immediate and more remote post-exposure periods. Also, it discusses the ability of forensic specialty examinations of the CEW itself to aid in the determination of whether the alleged CEW exposure is consistent with the objective evidence and the subjective statements. Finally, this text addresses the important and growing area of factitious CEW markings that will be useful for consideration by investigators and litigators. Atlas of Conducted Electrical Weapon Wounds and Forensic Analysis provides an objective atlas of evidence for reference that will benefit those professionals who often must make diagnostic, treatment or legal judgments on these cases including Emergency and Primary-Care Physicians, Medical Examiners, Forensic Pathologists, Coroners, Law Enforcement Investigators, and Attorneys.