[External mechanical cardiac stimulation. Methods and possible application (author's transl)].

External mechanical cardiac stimulation represents a noninvasive method for myocardial stimulation which has significant advantages of external electric stimulation. This paper describes a new method using pressure- and shockwaves for transthoracic cardiac stimulation. On the basis of animal experiments the potential value of external mechanical stimulation for emergency medicine and various other therapeutic and diagnostic procedures are discussed.