Might need a pacemaker later on...battery replacement surgery?

[Beast_of_Burden]

Pacemakers, they're batteries need to be surgically replaced. Now days why can't they be wirelessly recharged like phones? It should be similar tech because they both use lithium-iodide batteries.
My neighbor went in to have her battery replaced & pass away on the operating table. I would hate to think there could have been another option.

[tom_h]

The answer is actually quite simple.  The battery isn't replaced, the entire pacer is always replaced.  Only the leads remain.  There was a rechargeable pacer in the 70's.  Researcher even developed a plutonium powered model developed that would last 30 years, but the idea of carrying plutonium in your chest didn't go over well.  Rechargeable seems like a good idea. But if you're putting a pacemaker in to keep someone alive, you don't want that to rely on their ability to recharge it.  So the interest in rechargeables has really dropped off quite a bit as the battery technology and circuit technology is allowing devices to last more than 10 years.  Like any other electronic technology, pacemakers continue to advance in their abilities.  A device implanted 8 years ago cannot compare to its replacement today.