Biphasic should replace Monophasic Defibrillators

==== "Superior education" My opponent asserts that he is more of an expert on this subject than I am. He claims to have pretty much the same qualifications as the people conducting the studies I linked. That's great, if it' indeed true. However, my opponent's claims are completely irrelevant. No matter his qualifications, he is still required, like anyone else, to back up his assertions. Not only that, but this is the internet. No one knows whether my opponent is really the Lead Biomedical Technician at St. Joseph's Hospital's Biomedical Engineering Department, or if he is just lying to us to make himself seem more credible. Like a suspect on the witness stand, we have to take his claims with a grain of salt. ==== "First study used ICD's" I concede this point. It's irrelevant anyway, since the first study I linked was inconclusive. ==== RE: ""However, most defibrillators that can deliver a biphasic waveform already contain the switches and other hardware necessary for delivery of a triphasic waveform. Therefore, slight alteration of the software in the defibrillator to switch the waveform a second time to deliver the third phase is the main change required for delivery of a triphasic shock." This is obviously in reference to ICD's using 300 micro farad capacitors, and no other types of defibrillators because they were not tested." My opponent is mistaken here. While the study used 300-ï¿½f triphasics, the quote was not talking specifically about the defibrillaters they used. In fact, the writers specify they are talking about "Most defibrillators." Most defibrillators were not part of their study, but the possible conversion of biphasics to triphasics was not a conclusion of the study, it was a simply a relevant fact stated in the study. The only logical conclusion is that it was truly referring to 'most defibrillators,' without the imaginary 300-ï¿½f qualifier my opponent wishes they used. ==== "Second study" The only point of the second study was for me to show that triphasics were indeed statistically significantly better than biphasics, something the first study failed to show. My opponent is not arguing against this fact, so it seems he agrees that triphasics are indeed superior. My opponent had, in round 3, claimed that this study used internal defibrillation, but he has abandoned that claim. Of course, he is now claiming that the results, while valid, might not be the same in humans. He claims that 'there is no telling what the comparison between triphasic and biphasic would be for humans.' Nonsense. The reason the study used pigs in the first place is that they are similar enough that we could at least get a good idea of the differences between triphasic and biphasic for humans. While the results might not be exactly the same for humans, there is nothing suggesting triphasics are inferior to biphasics, and there are studies indicating a superiority of triphasics to biphasics. The only logical conclusion is that triphasics would be superior in humans as well, just as they are when used in ICD's, as my opponent has pointed out. ==== "Commercial availablility" If biphasics can be converted to triphasics easily, then triphasics are available to hospitals, so this enitre point of commercial availability is really just a restatement of my opponent's assertion that conversion of defibrillators is not very easy. No need to address the same point twice - I've already argued earlier this round that most biphasics can be converted to triphasics easily. ==== "My opponent's position" No matter what my opponent claims, we are NOT debating whether biphasics are superior to monophasics. We're debating whether or not "Biphasic should replace Monophasic Defibrillators." My opponent, as PRO, is claiming that they should, I am claiming that they should not. Let us look at two different statements. 1. "Biphasics should replace monophasics." 2. "Triphasics should replace monophasics." These are mutually exclusive. The answers to these questions will tell us which is true, assuming one or the other is indeed true. Which are better, biphasics or triphasics? Would it be difficult for either of these to replace monophasics, and is the extra trouble worth it? The answer to the first question is that triphasics are superior. Triphasic waveforms have been shown to be superior in various applications, whereas biphasics have never shown themselves to be superior to triphasics. The answer to the second question is that it would be a little bit more difficult for triphasics to replace monophasics. The additional difficulty comes from the need to flash the firmware in biphasics to convert them to triphasics. However, this is a very small difficulty, and the benefits of triphasics outweigh this small level of difficulty. Of course, it could be true that neither of the statements is true. This would be true if there was some other alternative, like quadriphasics, that was even more worth it. This is only a problem for my opponent. My only obligation in this debate is to show that my opponent is wrong. Due to the nature of his claim, I simply have to provide one or more superior alternatives to biphasics replacing monophasics. Piling on more alternatives only helps me, and only hurts my opponent. ==== One last thing My opponent did not address my explanation of why firmware changes would be enough to convert biphasics to triphasics. I claimed last round that biphasics had all the necessary hardware to be converted into triphasics- a pulse generator, and a mechanism to automatically switch pulses, among other things. My opponent had demanded that I do more than just cite a source, but that I provide reasoning for why my source is correct; I did just that, and now he has failed to address my reasoning. By dropping this part of my argument, he is conceding that biphasics contain all the necessary hardware to be converted to triphasics, and that firmware changes should be all that's required for the conversion. I look forward to these concluding statements.