Mobile applications and methods for conveying performance information of a cardiac pacemaker

• US 10,213,609 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2015
• Issued: 02/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Meredith, Sheldon Kent, Hilliard, Brandon B, Kosseifi, Mario
• Primary Examiner(s): Kahelin, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pham, Minh Duc
• Application Number:
  US14/871,045
• Publication Number:
  US 20160015989A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,245 Days
• Field of Search: 607 32
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/07 Home care
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0204 of power management
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0271 using a remote monitoring unit
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0028 Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/145 Measuring characteristics of blood in vivo, e.g. gas concentration, pH value; Measuring characteristics of body fluids or tissues, e.g. interstitial fluid, cerebral tissuemeasuring of blood pressure or blood flow A61B5/02; non-radiation detecting or locating of foreign bodies in blood A61B5/06
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3702 Physiological parameters A61N1/365 takes precedence; evoked response A61N1/371
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3706 Pacemaker parameters stimulation threshold A61N1/371
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3708 for power depletion
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3727 characterised by the modulation technique
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37282 characterised by communication with experts in remote locations using a network
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/40 for the management of medical equipment or devices, e.g. scheduling maintenance or upgrades
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed for relaying information from a cardiac pacemaker to an external device. Logic on the pacemaker modulates a heartbeat clock of the pacemaker to encode information onto a blood pressure sequence by adding or subtracting a small subinterval to or from a pulse repetition interval of the pacemaker. A muscle stimulator beats the heart according to the modulated sequence. A monitoring device external to the body monitors the blood pressure to retrieve the encoded information, or message. The encoded information is then decoded to determine the information in the message. This information may concern the pacemaker as well as other devices within the body that communicate with the pacemaker such as blood monitors, etc. Since the message is conveyed via simple modulation of the heart beat intervals, no separate transmitter is required in the pacemaker which would otherwise increase cost and decrease battery life.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a pulse monitor;

a pacemaker;

an internal device separate from the pacemaker;

a processing system including a processor coupled to the pulse monitor and the pacemaker; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processing system, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising;

monitoring, by the pacemaker, performance of the internal device to obtain monitored information;

determining, by the pacemaker, a reporting requirement based on the monitored information;

responsive to the reporting requirement;

generating, by the pacemaker, a modulation signal based on the monitored information;

initiating, by the pacemaker, a timer to stimulate a heart muscle of a patient according to an interval to cause a first adjustment of a heartbeat associated with the heart muscle;

modifying, by the pacemaker, the interval by adding or subtracting a subinterval to generate a modified interval, wherein the subinterval is representative of a binary digit according to the modulation signal; and

stimulating, by the pacemaker, the heart muscle according to the modified interval to cause a second adjustment of the heartbeat, wherein the pulse monitor detects a pulse based on the second adjustment of the heartbeat and according to the modulation signal;

forwarding, from the pulse monitor to a mobile device, the pulse comprising a binary digit, based on detection by the pulse monitor of the second adjustment to the heartbeat, wherein the mobile device comprises decoding logic adapted to decode information, to obtain decoded information based on the binary digit; and

receiving the decoded information obtained by way of the mobile device,

wherein the internal device communicates with the pacemaker via a wired connection, and wherein a signal provided by the internal device to the pacemaker via the wired connection represents a measurement regarding a measurable aspect of the patient.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the pulse monitor decodes a message from the binary digit, wherein the binary digit is one of a plurality of binary digits representing a string of binary digits.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the pulse monitor uses one of block error checking, cyclic redundancy checking, and trellis coding to verify the message.

4. The system of claim 2, further comprising a wireless communication device for receiving the message.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising a network in communication with the wireless communication device.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising a medical monitoring server in communication with the wireless communication device through the network.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein personnel monitor the medical monitoring server.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein modifying the interval comprises encoding the measurement as an encoded binary message, and wherein the decoded information initiates activation of a GPS receiver to determine a location of the patient.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein a timing of the pulse is measured by the pulse monitor to distinguish modified and unmodified pulse intervals and thereby receive the encoded binary message.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the pulse monitor comprises a decoder for generating a decoded message or a memory for storing the encoded binary message for subsequent transmission to a decoding device remote from the pulse monitor.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the internal device comprises a medical device, and wherein the measurable aspect comprises a level of sugar, cholesterol, insulin, iron, or any combination thereof, within a body of the patient.