Some of the complications you may encounter in the course of long-term daily life are as follows.
Pain at the site of the pacemaker implantation, which is difficult to heal.
Breakage of the skin due to friction, resulting in infection or crusting.
Displacement or breakage of the electrode, extension lead or electrode-extension lead joint due to external forces, requiring surgical adjustment or replacement.
Overstimulation caused by inappropriate stimulation parameters, which may lead to brain tissue damage.
In the event of any of these complications, contact your primary care physician immediately.
Precautions
Please make it a habit to follow up regularly and attend your appointments with your programmable physician on time.
Be sure to inform any medical or dental provider that you have been implanted with a deep brain electrical stimulation product and to indicate the site of the neurostimulator implantation when presenting your patient identification card.
At least one of your family members or caregivers can properly operate the patient controller. If you are implanting a rechargeable neurostimulator, ensure that at least one member of your family or caregiver can properly operate the external charger.
Avoid excessive pulling on the implanted pacemaker components. Sudden, excessive, or repeated lowering of the head, twisting of the neck, jumping or stretching may cause the pacemaker component to break or dislocate. Breakage or displacement of the component will result in diminished, interrupted, discontinuous stimulation or sensation of stimulation at the site of the breakage, and the broken component must be surgically replaced or repositioned.
Avoid repeatedly touching or rubbing the implanted pacemaker components (neurostimulator, electrodes, extension lead or bone hole cover) to prevent damage to the pacemaker product or skin abrasion.
Make it a habit to check the battery level of the neurostimulator regularly to prevent the stimulation from being turned off unexpectedly due to battery depletion.
In case of sudden changes in clinical symptoms, please contact your primary care physician immediately.
In your daily activities, please take care to avoid being near equipment that generates strong electromagnetic fields. Being near a source of strong electromagnetic interference may accidentally turn the stimulation on or off.
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
Certain equipment (electrical equipment, strong magnetic equipment or electromagnetic equipment) in your home, workplace, hospital, supermarket or other public places can generate strong electromagnetic fields which can interfere with the normal operation of the neurostimulator, a phenomenon called electromagnetic interference. The neurostimulator of Tsinghua brain pacemaker has certain electromagnetic protection ability, and the common electrical equipment or electromagnetic fields in daily life usually do not affect the work of the brain pacemaker. However, strong electromagnetic fields may cause the following problems.
Serious human injury or death – damage to surrounding tissues due to heat production by the implanted brain pacemaker
Damage to the neurostimulator – failure of symptom control, requiring surgical replacement of the neurostimulator.
Change in stimulation parameters – stimulation is accidentally turned on or off, or even the stimulation parameters are reset to the factory state. When the neurostimulator is restored to its factory state, you will not be able to turn the stimulation on through the patient controller and change the stimulation parameters. In the unlikely event that this happens, the neurostimulator must be reactivated by your programmed physician.
Electric shock sensation – A sudden increase in electrical impulses may cause you to feel “electrified”. Although you may feel discomfort, this does not cause tissue damage. In rare cases, however, patients may fall and sustain injuries from this sensation.
Bank cards with magnetic stripes that you encounter in everyday life are safe.
The following electromagnetic disturbances are safe by taking appropriate protective measures.
Freezers, refrigerators, magnetic storm doors: do not lean near the magnets of such items as they may shut down.
Radio frequency interference: cell phones, cordless phones, etc. may interfere with the output of electrical impulses, do not place such items for use next to neurostimulators, it is recommended to maintain a distance of at least 10 cm.
speakers: stereo speakers, AM/FM radios, telephone handsets and other devices containing speakers have permanent magnets inside, please keep a distance between the neurostimulator and these devices.
Electric sewing machines or hair dryers: appliances containing electric motors need to be used at a certain distance from the brain pacemaker.
computer disk drives: when repairing computers or adding new parts to computers, keep the neurostimulator away from the disk drive.
Induction cookers: keep induction cookers away from them during use.
Power tools: keep the neurostimulator, electrodes, and extension leads at a certain distance from the power tools.
Tablets, etc.: electronic devices with magnetic casing such as ipads, please keep a certain distance from the neurostimulator during use.
In daily life, please try to stay away from the following equipment or environment.
Radio antennas.
Electric welding equipment.
Thermal resistance welding equipment.
Hot melt guns in the plastics industry.
Electrified steelmaking furnaces.
High voltage electricity (outside the protective zone is safe).
Radio and television transmission towers (outside the protective zone is safe).
microwave communication relay stations (outside the protective zone is safe).
Linear power amplifiers.
Various high-power power supplies.
High-power amateur radio transmitters.
Electrophoretic equipment.
Magnets and other equipment capable of generating strong magnetic fields.
Demagnetization equipment.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) equipment.
Electric massage chairs.