Heart Monitoring Device and a System to Detect Vibrations Concerning the Status of the Heart
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Accused Products
Abstract
An implantable heart monitoring system has a control circuit that operates an implanted vibrator to emit a vibration signal that interacts with tissue in vivo. A vibration sensor detects vibrations after interaction with the tissue, and supplies a detection signal to the control circuit. The control circuit analyzes the vibrations in the detected signal relative to the vibration signal, and derives information concerning at least one mechanical property of the heart therefrom, such as stiffness and/or thickness of at least a part of the heart.
15 Citations
45 Claims
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1-22. -22. (canceled)
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23. An implantable heart monitoring system comprising:
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a housing configured for implantation in a subject; a vibrator configured for implantation in the subject and operable to emit a vibration signal in vivo into the subject; a vibration sensor configured for implantation in the subject that detects said vibration signal and emits a detection signal representing detected vibrations; and a control circuit in said housing in communication with said vibrator and said vibration sensor, said control circuit executing a procedure comprising actuating said vibrator to emit said vibration signal and receiving said detection signal from said vibration sensor, and deriving, based on the detected vibrations in relation to the vibration signal, information describing at least one medical property of the heart of the subject, selected from the group consisting of stiffness of a portion of the heart and a thickness of a portion of the heart. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for monitoring cardiac tissue comprising the steps of:
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implanting a vibrator in a subject; implanting a vibration sensor in the subject; emitting vibrations in vivo from said vibrator that interact with cardiac tissue and detecting vibrations with said vibration sensor resulting from the interaction of the emitted vibrations with cardiac tissue; and automatically electronically analyzing the detected vibrations to derive information therefrom describing a mechanical property of the heart of the subject, selected from the group consisting of stiffness of a portion of the heart and thickness of a portion of the heart. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification