Wearable Cardioverter Defibrillator "The Lifevest": Device Design, Limitations, and Areas of Improvement

Abstract

Sudden cardiac death is a potentially fatal clinical event demanding use of emergent intervention such as defibrillation. Over the last 1 decade, development of devices such as implantable and wearable cardioverter defibrillators (WCD) has provided new avenues in the management of sudden cardiac death. Several clinical studies have commented on the therapeutic and preventive aspect of WCD, however, literature describing the device functioning and limitations is limited. In this review study, we describe the technical aspects and limitations of WCD with a focus on identifying potential areas of improvement and framework for future research studies.