The evolution of the implanted pacemaker's window to the world.

An implanted pacemaker can only communicate with the outside world through its window, i.e., the clinical programmer. Since its inception, the pacemaker has evolved from a non-programmable device to a complex device. Therefore, programming a modern implantable pacemaker could be very challenging for non-experienced or infrequent users. Various programmer-based automatic functions have been developed to reduce programming time and complexity and to obtain accurate measurements. With increasing interests in the telecommunications and information exchange, these programmer-based automatic functions are pushing forward a future vision that automatic pacemaker follow-up procedures via telecommunications are possible for patients located in any corner of the globe.