Facts about pacemakers
March 7, 2010 at 6:43PM
•About 1 million people a year worldwide are implanted with a pacemaker.
•An estimated 1.5 million Americans have a pacemaker today.
•Medtronic Inc., St. Jude Medical Inc. and Boston Scientific Corp. are the main companies making pacemakers.
•After age 65, a person's chance of needing medical imaging doubles -- the same demographic group that is most likely to need an electronic implantable device.
•A patient with an electronic implantable device has a 50 percent to 75 percent likelihood of need an MRI over the lifetime of their device, but is advised against getting one.
•Approximately 60 million MRI procedures are performed worldwide each year.
Source: Medtronic, Star Tribune research
about the writer
The InPen app paves the way for the launch of the company’s “Smart MDI” system combining a smart insulin pen that tracks doses and a monitor that makes real-time glucose readings for people who make multiple daily injections.
