[Gnumed-devel] Free your mind with mindmapping

[Sebastian Hilbert]

While I am wraping my head around the details of the cardiac device pluging I 
realize just how complex it is to get it right. The software i currently use 
solves that by ignoring corner cases like a lead being implanted at the right 
ventricular apex but being paced fom the atrial channel of the generator. It 
does not cater for the case that a patient has an left ventricular and right 
ventricular lead but both being connected to the RV channel through an Y-
connector.

The XML file is changing almost every minute a new thought comes up. I have 
been toying with the idea of how to group devices. To do that one has to 
define what a device is. I have settled for the definition that an ICD-device 
is actually a virtual device consisting of a generator and a number of leads. 
Actually the generator consists of a battery, a number of output/input 
channels and a mainboard that does the signal processing and therapy delivery.

Why so overly complicated. Because you will want to know which of your 
patients have a device that has just been recalled or if the ICD shocks are 
related to the lead being flaky. You might also be interested in the fact that 
the program you applied two years ago led to less shocks than the currently 
active one.

To even have a chance to get this done right I have started to use a mind 
mapping tool called vym. It exports to various formats. The map itself is in 
the test-area for shilbert in the CVS.

cardiacdevice.png
Description: PNG image