It's really close to the skin. The first few weeks after mine was implanted I was afraid the incision would open and the pacemaker would pop right out if I moved the wrong way. It wouldn't be difficult to retrieve from a cadaver. IMOBut presumably that would be for someone who is trying to remove the pacemaker while not killing the person they're moving it from, correct? I would think if you didn't care what happened to the person you were moving it from the actual procedure of removing it wouldn't be all that onerous.