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Heart Defibrillator Applications

One specialized capacitive discharge application which uses Kilovac relays is found in heart defibrillators. The heart defibrillator is a device used to apply an electrical pulse of about 60 amps at 5000 volts to the heart muscle through a pair of electrodes or "paddles" placed on the chest of the patient. Since 1964, Kilovac has produced and delivered thousands of high voltage relays for use in both hospital-type and portable defibrillators. The small size and light weight of Kilovac relays make them ideal for use in portable defibrillators.

Typical Defibrillator Circuit

Kilovac produces several models of patient relays, safety discharge relays, and ECG relays as well as multifunction relays capable of performing all the switching functions in a heart defibrillator application. A guide to recommended defibrillator relays may be found in Figure 36, below. This broad product line, coupled with Kilovac's extensive application experience and technical support capability, assures you the availability of a relay suited to your precise application.


Figure 35.
Typical Defibrillator Circuit

Recommended Relays for Heart Defibrillator Applications
Part Number Contact Arrangement High Voltage Terminations Defibrillator Use
S05 Various PC Board or Flying Leads Safety Dump Relay
K81B SPST-NC PC Board or Flying Leads Safety Dump Relay
K81C SPDT PC Board or Flying Leads Safety Dump Relay
HC-5 SPDT Turret Terminals Safety Dump Relay
K43B SPST-NC Solder Lugs Safety Dump Relay
KM-13 DPDT Solder Lugs Patient Relay
KM-14 DPDT Bur Wire Patient Relay
KM-17 DPDT Flying Leads Patient Relay