Early release, published at www.cmaj.ca on May 1, 2008. Subject to revision.

Review
Mechanisms and innovations

Cardiac stimulation with high voltage discharge
from stun guns
Kumaraswamy Nanthakumar MD, Stephane Massé PEng MASc, Karthikeyan Umapathy PhD,
Paul Dorian MD, Elias Sevaptsidis, Menashe Waxman MD

Abstract
The ability of an electrical discharge to stimulate the heart
depends on the duration of the pulse, the voltage and the
current density that reaches the heart. Stun guns deliver very
short electrical pulses with minimal amount of current at
high voltages. We discuss external stimulation of the heart
by high voltage discharges and review studies that have
evaluated the potential of stun guns to stimulate cardiac
muscle. Despite theoretical analyses and animal studies
which suggest that stun guns cannot and do not affect the
heart, 3 independent investigators have shown cardiac
stimulation by stun guns. Additional research studies involving people are needed to resolve the conflicting theoretical
and experimental findings and to aid in the design of stun
guns that are unable to stimulate the heart.
Une version française de ce résumé est disponible à l’adresse
www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/178/11/1451/DC1

CMAJ 2008;178(11):1451-7

1

1

Early release. Published at www.cmaj.ca on May 1, 2008.

S
DOI:10.1503/cmaj.071867

contact between the electrodes of the source and the target.
Stun guns are manufactured by different manufacturers (e.g.,
Aegis Industries, Stinger Systems, Taser International) and
they operate under the general principle of high-voltage discharge with short pulse durations. However, their operation
and shock charecteristics vary by manufacturer. For example,
a recent model (X26, TASER International) feature 2 barbs
attached to long copper wires that are rapidly propelled by
compressed nitrogen and adhere to the target’s skin or
clothes. This stun gun generates an initial 3 microsecond
electric pulse, which produces an electrical arc that creates a
low-impedance pathway for electricity to reach the body with
or without skin contact. The initial pulse is followed by
longer pulses (100 microseconds) that deliver electrical
energy to the target’s body, which stimulates his or her nerves
and skeletal muscles and results in incapacitation. This pattern is repeated at a frequency of 19 pulses per second. Incapacitation lasts for the duration of the discharge, which is
typically 5 seconds but can be 15 seconds or longer if pressure
on the trigger is maintained. The TASER X26 battery has the
capacity to deliver up to 195 discharges of 5 seconds each,
which corresponds to a duration of over 15 minutes. Other
devices that have been studied include the M26 (TASER International) and the MK63 Trident (Aegis Industries), which is a
stun baton. Each of these devices uses high frequency electrical pulses to incapacitate the target.

tun guns are used to physically incapacitate a person
by discharging controlled electrical energy into the
body, thereby preventing effective muscular activity.
Although the intention is to provide a safe means of subduing an uncooperative person, some studies have suggested that stun guns can stimulate cardiac muscle in addition to skeletal muscle, thus potentially promoting lethal
cardiac arrhythmias. In this article, we review the scientific
data about the direct effects of stun gun discharges on the
heart during shock delivery. We discuss these issues in
terms of electrostimulation and correlate them with theoretical and experimental data in the literature. We discuss the
principles of cardiac stimulation from internal and external
stimulation and examine the evidence for and against cardiac stimulation by stun gun discharges.

Stun gun discharges
An older method of stun guns application, called “drivestun,” functioned like a cattle prod, which required direct

Method of stunning
Stunning can be attributed to 1 of 2 methods, which depend
on the mode of application. In the “drive stun” method, the
overwhelming factor is the creation of pain and hence compliance. The second method, in which electrodes are fired
toward the target as projectiles, neuromuscular stimulation
occurs over a larger area. In addition to pain, the device incapacitates the target by stimulating his or her motor nerves
and muscles as well as sensory neurons. The duration and
frequency of the pulses have been optimized to incapacitate
the target, and different devices have varying effects dependFrom the University of Toronto (Nanthakumar, Massé, Umapathy, Dorian,
Sevaptsidis, Waxman); the Division of Cardiology, Toronto General Hospital
(Nanthakumar, Massé, Umapathy, Sevaptsidis, Waxman); and St. Michael’s
Hospital (Dorian), Toronto, Ont.

CMAJ • May 20, 2008 • 178(11)
© 2008 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors

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Review

ing on the frequency of stimulation and the shape of the electrical pulse.

Electrical stimulation of the heart
Since the early 1900s, various equations have been proposed to describe the relation between the current and pulse
duration required for electrostimulation of the heart. These
formulas showed an inverse relation between the duration
and the current of the stimulating pulse, which means that if
the pulse duration is short, a higher current is required for
stimulation.
For an electrical pulse to stimulate the heart, it must depolarize the cardiac membrane below a certain level and the induced depolarization must be propagated throughout the
heart. The duration and strength of the pulse must be sufficient to allow cell membranes to react and reach an excitation
threshold above which activation is triggered. This activation
produces a wave front resulting in mechanical contraction of
the heart muscle. Shorter pulse durations require larger
amounts of current or charge to stimulate the heart. Thus,
one must consider whether a stun gun discharge, which is external to the heart, can deliver enough current to stimulate the
heart. Below we discuss the external stimulation of the heart
under other known circumstances and relate it to a typical
electrical pulse generated by a stun gun.
2,3

4

Effect of external electrical discharges on
the heart
The ability of external electrical discharges to alter the internal electrical activity of the heart (e.g., to induce ventricular
fibrillation) has long been recognized. Depending on the
method of delivery and the amount, timing and location of
the electrical discharge, an external discharge can produce a
beat when one is absent, induce fatal cardiac arrhythmias or
restore a normal heart beat to a heart in arrhythmia. The use
of external electrical discharges to influence the heart has resulted in the development of external pacemakers (e.g., Zoll
stimulator) and defibrillator devices to treat ventricular fibrillation. However, these discharges are delivered under controlled conditions at rates that are physiologic or that are delivered during the safe part of the cardiac cycle. High voltage
discharges commonly occur in various forms, from electro5

6

static discharge (most common) to electrocution or lightning
strike (least common). Internal cardiac defibrillators also use
high voltage pulses for terminating ventricular fibrillation.
The relative values for voltage, current and energy for some
common sources of high-voltage shocks, along with the most
common type of stun gun in use, are shown in Table 1 .
The physiologic effects of shocks from these sources vary
depending on the duration, frequency and energy of the discharges. Burn injuries are usually local and minor for most
sources, except for line voltage if the body is in contact long
enough for heat to accumulate (Joule effect). In contrast, the
major consequence of a lightning strike is a phenomenon
known as electroporation, which creates holes or pores in cell
membranes. This disruption can wreak havoc on nerve and
muscle tissues. In addition, secondary currents induced by
the magnetic field generated by the large current of a lightning strike could be large enough to cause cardiac arrest and
seizure.
In contrast, discharges from static electricity (electrostatic
discharge) or from a stun gun involve a small amount of energy
(less than 1 joule). In both cases, electricity travels to the skin
through an arc that provides a low impedance path, allowing
the current to flow between the source and the target. The
amount of energy is too small to create burns or local electroporation. In the case of electrostatic discharge, a brief uncomfortable shock is felt, but it has no physiologic consequences. The pain is perceived through sensory nerves. The
operation of most stun guns is thought to rely on their effect
on motor function, and pain is a collateral, but intense, effect.
The frequency and the shape of the pulses generated by stun
guns are designed to incapacitate the target by electrically
overwhelming his or her control of these muscles. Though
the experimental evidence supporting these claims is not
entirely clear, the net effect is that the target cannot control
his or her skeletal muscles. This effect lasts for at least the
duration of the discharge. In principle, these pulses are designed to act only on skeletal muscles and to not affect internal organs such as the heart.
7

Evidence that stun guns cannot stimulate
the heart
Despite the fact that stun guns are widely used and that their
practical safety is under scrutiny, the majority of these analy-

Table 1: Approximate electrical characteristics of some common sources of
high-voltage shocks
Source

1452

Peak voltage

Peak current

Duration

Energy
500 MJ

Lightning

1 GV

40 kA

0.12 ms

Internal defibrillator

750 V

4–20 A

5–20 ms

35 J

Electrostatic discharge

15-20 KV

30 A

0.1 µs

60 mJ

Shock from line voltage

120 V

80–100 mA

<1s

10 J

Shock from
electroconvulsive therapy

450 V

900 mA

<1s

20 J

TASER X2615

1200 V

3A

0.1 ms

0.1 J

CMAJ • May 20, 2008 • 178(11)

Review

ses are theoretical in nature.
These theoretical analyses
suggest that stun guns cannot deliver the amount of energy
required to stimulate the heart or cause ventricular fibrillation. Most theoretical studies base their arguments on the following principles: only a small portion (4%–10%) of the current that reaches the chest will affect the heart and the time
constant of the cardiac cell membrane is much longer than
the pulse duration generated by stun guns. According to the
law of electrostimulation and given the electrical characteristics of stun gun pulses and cardiac cells, cardiac electrostimulation should not occur during a stun gun shock. These
analyses support the claim that electrical pulses generated by
stun guns are designed to specifically target skeletal muscle,
which has a much smaller time constant (i.e., refractoriness)
compared with cardiac cells.
Experimental studies that support the claim that stun
guns do not stimulate the heart base their arguments on conservative device settings and experimental designs that often
do not reflect a clinically relevant or “worst case” scenario.
The studies by Lakkireddy and colleagues and McDaniel
and colleagues, both involving swine, used a modified stun
gun for which the output power could be controlled, allowing the authors to specify a safety margin for the device and
to demonstrate that it could not induce ventricular fibrillation. McDaniel and colleagues used arterial blood pressure
tracing, which showed no perturbations during discharge
from the stun gun simulator. However, intracardiac electrograms from the study by Lakkireddy and colleagues
showed that the pulses did influence heart rate during shock
delivery if the barbs were located such that they formed a vector crossing the heart. In contrast, the MK63 stun baton in
the “drive stun” mode applied to the anterior thigh or thorax of Yucatan miniature pigs did not induce acute arrhythmias. The authors of both studies attributed their findings of
a lack of cardiac stimulation to possible differences in electrode spacing, proprietary waveform or power generated by
the device.
Other studies
have been performed using healthy volunteers (police officers). Each volunteer received a single 5
second stun gun pulse to his or her back. This does not reflect
the common scenario, in which multiple, prolonged shocks
are delivered with the possibility of the barbs landing near the
thorax. These studies recorded electrocardiogram findings
before and after, but not during, the stun gun discharge.
This, however, does not rule out the possibility of disturbances in the rhythm during the discharge owing to the artifacts in recorded electrocardiograms during the discharge.
These limitations prevented the researchers from observing
transient changes in heart rhythm during discharges. The
immediate recordings after the discharges showed shortening and lengthening of QT complexes without assigning any
significance to these changes.
Stun gun discharges have been recorded in the field and
there have been no claims of deaths medically attributed to
these discharges. These recordings were made immediately
after, but not during, the discharge. Although this does not
affect the claim of no related deaths, these studies cannot verify whether the heart was stimulated during discharge. In
8–12

13

8

14

15

15

14

16

17

18,19

18

20

cases of recorded deaths, the mode of death had never been
established, though a state of “excited delirium” has been reported. However, excited delirium has not been listed as a
cause of sudden cardiac death in the arrhythmia literature.
21

Evidence that stun guns can stimulate
the heart
Deaths have occurred shortly after stun gun discharges.
However, association alone does not prove causality. The
possible mechanisms of short-term or immediate-term cardiac effects relate to the stimulation of the heart or induction
of ventricular fibrillation. Stimulation of the heart is a separate issue compared with induction of arrhythmia, as stimulation may happen only during discharge and may not be evident even immediately following the discharge. In contrast,
induction of arrhythmia may relate to stimulation of the heart
because, depending on pre-existing defects (e.g., a previous
heart attack, drug intoxication), each person’s heart may have
a different susceptibility to life-threatening arrhythmia during
stimulation. Podgorski and colleagues found that the direct
application of an older version of a stun gun to a pig heart,
which was exposed but covered by a towel, produced stimulation of the heart.
Because the theory of electrical stimulation suggests that
stun gun discharges should not stimulate the heart, we tested
the hypothesis using a closed-chest in vivo animal model. A
unique feature of our study was that real stun guns were used
and operated by qualified law enforcement personnel, which
simulated real-world conditions. Two different models
(TASER X26 and M26) that deliver different pulse waveforms
were used on an anesthetized pig. Recording the electrical
activity of the heart is challenging, because the acquisition
system is usually completely saturated by the electromagnetic
interference generated by the stun gun discharge. However,
we found that the pig’s arterial blood pressure was occasionally abruptly lost during stimulation. To further verify that
this blood pressure modulation was not a recording artifact,
we opened the artery to air and found that the pumping of
blood stopped during the discharge of the stun gun. This
made us suspicious that either an arrhythmia was being
induced or the heart was being stimulated so rapidly that it
was not capable of producing pulsatile pressure. To test this,
we shielded our mapping system and recorded the electrical
activity during discharge.
We studied a total of 150 discharges in 6 pigs. Of these,
74 of these discharges resulted in stimulation of the
myocardium, as documented electrical capture (a provoked
response in the myocardium) (mean ventricular rate during
stimulation and capture, 324 [standard error 66] beats/min)
(Figure 1). Of the 94 discharges across the heart, 74 stimulated the myocardium. We took care to ensure that the gun
barbs did not pierce deep into the tissue. We also placed the
barbs such that they were oriented across the heart, simulating the worst case scenario of creating a current vector that
directly passes through the heart. If these barbs were placed
away from the chest and across the abdomen, none of the 56
discharges across the abdomen stimulated the heart

CMAJ • May 20, 2008 • 178(11)

22

23

24

24

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Review

(Figure 2), suggesting that the location of the barbs had a
crucial influence on stimulating the heart. We also observed
that the waveform (pulse shape) produced by the device affected stimulation, because when we used a different model
of the stun gun (TASER M26), we observed a lower incidence
of cardiac stimulation.
In addition, we simulated an excited state infusing pigs
with epinephrine, which renders the myocardium more
excitable and prone to arrhythmias. Of 16 discharges, there
were 13 episodes of myocardial stimulation, of which 1 induced ventricular fibrillation and 1 caused ventricular tachycardia. In contrast, another study, which simulated an excited stated by infusing cocaine into pigs, did not report
induction of ventricular fibrillation during discharge. The
main conclusions of this study was that stun gun use in the
presence of cocaine does not increase the chance of arrhythmia. However, this study used a waveform simulator, not an
actual stun gun, and although ventricular fibrillation was not
induced, there was stimulation of the heart.
Three different studies involving pigs, 1 of which was performed by us, have shown that a stun gun discharge can
stimulate the heart.
In particular, 1 study reported the
deaths of 2 animals caused by ventricular fibrillation immediately after the stun gun discharge. This study also re14

14,24,25

25

ported severe metabolic and respiratory acidosis caused by
discharge. This suggests that sufficient current density was
produced by the stun gun to stimulate the heart, which according to theory should not occur. A potential explanation
of why, despite the theory, stimulation was observed is that
there were metallic objects (e.g., catheter or pacemaker
leads) inside the heart, which probably carried currents induced by the electromagnetic interference generated during
the shock. One could argue that these currents could instead
be the primary source of heart stimulation. Because capture
could only be observed using intracardiac electrograms, this
remains speculative. The fact that in our study we did not
observe capture when the stun gun shocks were administered away from the chest suggests that the dart locations
play a more important role in stimulation than the presence
of metallic objects in the heart. In addition, in our study, we
removed all electrical catheters from the heart and still
observed the cessation of arterial pumping during discharge.
We also confirmed that even without catheters in the heart,
stun gun discharges on the chest can stimulate the heart
and, at the least, can result in a loss of blood pressure during
discharge.
Indeed, a human’s chest is different from that of a pig, and
there may be differences in electrophysiology between human

Figure 1: Cardiac stimulation and hypotension from a stun gun discharge. Note the corruption of the surface electrocardiographic leads
in panel B and the electrical activity of the intracardiac electrograms. After stun gun discharge, a spontaneous and immediate return of
regular sinus rhythm and blood pressure occurs (panel C). Panel D and E show magnified intracardiac electrograms of similar duration.
It is evident in panel E that the rate is much faster and the rhythm is wider than in panel D. The morphology of the tachycardia in panel E
is wider than the morphology in panel D. There is a constant stun gun stimulus artifact to electrogram duration as illustrated in panel E,
with every fourth stun gun discharge resulting in stimulation of the heart. Note the loss of blood pressure during the stimulation and
the recovery of blood pressure once the discharge is completed. Reproduced with permission from Elsevier (Nanthakumar et al )..
Note: CS = coronary sinus, RV = right ventricular, BP = blood pressure.
24

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Review

and pig hearts. One should be prudent in extrapolating data
from animals to humans because of this fact. The corollary,
though, is that most of the basic mechanistic concepts in cardiac fibrillation and defibrillation are derived from animal
studies, not humans. In addition, the safety margins for
energy of stun gun discharge established by manufacturers
were derived from animal models.
Researchers from San Francisco recently published the
case of a patient with a pacemaker who received a stun gun
shock. They observed that discharges from the stun gun
provoked a response in the myocardium (Figure 3). It is unknown if this would have occurred without the presence of
pacemaker wires, although without these wires, verifying the
presence of cardiac capture would not have been possible. In
addition, John Webster’s research group reported in a conference abstract that stun gun discharges can stimulate the
heart. Although published theoretical analyses about stun
gun safety have scientific merit, we should be aware that
theories are only as good as the assumptions and conditions
defined based on available data or knowledge.
15

26

27

membrane time constant using external pacing parameters
(i.e., with large pads that do not break the skin barrier, without rapid stimulation at high voltage) does not apply to stun
gun stimulation across the chest wall. Although the membrane constant is usually considered an intrinsic property of
cardiac muscle, various studies have measured time constants
during human trans-chest pacing from 0.5 milliseconds to
1.1 milliseconds. However, another study with direct pacing
on dog myocardium reported an average value of 2.4 milliseconds, suggesting that the time constant is actually a characteristic of not only the cell membrane but also the stimulator,
and the size and the position of the electrode used. This suggests a large variability over the population; thus, an identical
pulse with a specific duration and strength could have different stimulation effects on different people.
Over the last century, various studies have been performed
on the strength–duration relation of electric impulses and
their effect on cardiac stimulation. From some of these studies, it is evident that the assumptions made about membrane
time constants and contact electrode sizes strongly influence
the outcome. Typically, electrodes in contact within the
myocardium may stimulate with 50 milliamperes when the
current is injected over a period of 50 microseconds. However, shorter pulse durations would require a larger amount
of current to stimulate the heart. There is a possibility of inducing a lethal cardiac arrhythmias when factors (e.g.,
strength, duration and frequency of the electric pulses; membrane time constant; contact impedance; and timing of elec28

29

30

Explaining the discrepancies between
theory and observation
Why have 3 independent groups of investigators reported in
peer-reviewed journals that cardiac stimulation can occur
when the theory says it cannot happen? Theoretical safety calculations may not hold true if the theory used to calculate the

Figure 2: A typical episode of a stun gun shock across the abdomen (nonthoracic vector) that does not result in stimulation of the
myocardium. The surface electrocardiogram lead 1, intracardiac electrograms from the coronary sinus, the right ventricle apex and
blood pressure in the descending aorta are shown. Panel A illustrates the regular rhythm before the discharge, which is very similar to
the rhythm and rate in panel C. The intracardiac electrograms, as illustrated in panels D and E, do not show any significant change in
rate morphology and are not phase-locked (no temporal relation between stimuli and the electrogram) with the stun gun discharge.
Note also the lack of perturbation of blood pressure during the discharge. Reproduced with permission from Elsevier (Nanthakumar et
al ).. Note: CS = coronary sinus, RV = right ventricular, BP = blood pressure.
24

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Figure 3: Magnified summed intracardiac electrograms from a patient’s internal pacemaker log during stun gun discharge. Cardiac
capture is shown by the high-rate ventricular sensing (cycle length 203–289 milliseconds); the cyclic, low-frequency modulation of
high-frequency noise (stun gun pulses) during ventricular sensing; a single, long ventricular interval (648 milliseconds) after the energy
stops; and postdischarge resumption of atrial and ventricular sensing at a rate similar to predischarge cardiac rate. The high-frequency
pulses (15 pps, 66 milliseconds) are labelled on the tracing. The intracardiac electrograms from the last sensed ventricular event during
stun gun application are superimposed on each prior ventricular sensed event, showing that the disruption of the high-frequency stun
gun signal is consistent with modulation of the signal by a repeating R wave with morphology different than the intrinsic R wave (right
side of the image). Reproduced with permission from Blackwell (Cao et al ).
26

trical discharge) favour triggering the heart during a vulnerable period of the cardiac cycle.

Knowledge gaps

The effects of potential modifying factors such as sex,
body mass, cardiac and noncardiac diseases, alcohol, medications and psychotropic drugs also need to be evaluated. It is
evident that psychotropic drugs such as cocaine heighten the
sympathetic state in animal studies.
The effect of these
drugs and their influence on human autonomic physiology
during stun gun discharges is an important aspect that needs
urgent evaluation.
31,32

Although there have been deaths reported following stun gun
discharges, this appears to be rare. In addition, some animal
studies suggest that stun gun shocks may have cardiovascular
effects. Whether the reported deaths were related to the external shocks is unknown. It is also unknown whether cardiac
stimulation occurs only during discharge. The observational
studies involving human volunteers thus far could be considered phase I studies because they relate mainly to tolerability
and do not prove the safety of the devices. It is very important
that tolerability should not be misconstrued as safety. The
largest knowledge gap is the lack of appropriate studies
involving humans to establish the safety margins for stun gun
shock energies when the vector of discharge is across the
heart.

1456

Conclusions
Despite many studies suggesting that stun guns do not affect
the heart, the evidence and studies presented in this review
suggest that, in some circumstances, stun guns may stimulate the heart while discharges are being applied. However,
there is no conclusive evidence to show whether stun gun
stimulation (under certain electrophysiological conditions)
can result in cardiac arrhythmias late after stun gun discharge. In our view, it is inappropriate to conclude that stun

CMAJ • May 20, 2008 • 178(11)

Review

gun discharges cannot lead to adverse cardiac consequences
in all real world settings.
We believe that the findings that stun gun discharges are
able, under specific circumstances, to stimulate the heart
should be taken into account in future studies involving people. Whether stun guns can stimulate the heart can only be
established if one can record electrical activity in the heart
during a discharge, especially when the vector of discharge is
directed across the heart. Additional research studies involving people will help to resolve the conflicting theoretical and
experimental findings, and they could lead to the design of
devices with electrical pulses that cannot stimulate the heart.

11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.

This article has been peer reviewed.
Competing interests: None declared.

20.

Contributors: All of the authors contributed to the intellectual development
and critical revision of the manuscript. All of the authors approved the version accepted for publication.

21.
22.

Acknowledgements: Dr. Nanthakumar is supported by the Clinician–
Scientist program of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

23.

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Correspondence to: Dr. Kumaraswamy Nanthakumar, Division of
Cardiology, Toronto General Hospital, GW 3-522, 150 Gerrard
St. W, Toronto ON M5G 2C4

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