Deriving Patient Activity Information from Sensed Body Electrical Information
First Claim
1. A method of storing information indicative of patient activity, the method comprising:
- a) receiving an electrical waveform using subcutaneous electrodes, the received electrical waveform comprising electrical signals generated by electrical activity of a heart in a patient during a selected time period;
b) determining a value to represent a level of physical activity of the patient by identifying portions of the received electrical waveform that include signals indicative of non-cardiac muscular activity in the patient; and
c) storing the determined value in a data store for subsequent retrieval as an indicator of a level of physical activity of the patient during the selected time period.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Electrodes of a subcutaneous monitoring system receive body electrical signals that indicate both cardiac and non-cardiac muscle activity. In general, non-cardiac muscle activity is often correlated with physical activity, and physical activity is typically a strong indicator of patient health. Exemplary systems and methods that detect non-cardiac muscle activity information in sensed body electrical waveforms may provide a diagnostic tool for monitoring physical activity level over time in patients that have subcutaneous monitoring systems. In an illustrative embodiment, systems and methods for presenting patient activity information in a graphical format over intervals of time include processing ECG waveform information to identify and to accumulate non-cardiac muscular activity information during each of the intervals of time. In various implementations, number, intensity, and/or duration of the events that are identified during a time interval may be accumulated and stored for subsequent recall.
-
Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A method of storing information indicative of patient activity, the method comprising:
-
a) receiving an electrical waveform using subcutaneous electrodes, the received electrical waveform comprising electrical signals generated by electrical activity of a heart in a patient during a selected time period; b) determining a value to represent a level of physical activity of the patient by identifying portions of the received electrical waveform that include signals indicative of non-cardiac muscular activity in the patient; and c) storing the determined value in a data store for subsequent retrieval as an indicator of a level of physical activity of the patient during the selected time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A system for presenting physical activity information for an individual by detecting non-cardiac muscle noise in electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform information collected by an implanted device, the system comprising:
-
a) an implantable waveform acquisition module operable to acquire ECG waveforms from subcutaneous electrodes implanted in a body; b) a processing module to process the acquired ECG waveforms to identify non-cardiac muscle activity events; c) an accumulation module to determine an activity level for each of a plurality of time intervals, each activity level being determined from an aggregation of the identified non-cardiac muscle activity events; and d) a format module to render a graphical representation of the determined activity level for each of the plurality of time intervals. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A method of controlling a rate of application of electrical stimulation to a heart of a patient based on patient activity as determined from non-cardiac muscle electrical signals in electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform information collected by an implanted device, the method comprising:
-
a) receiving an electrical waveform using subcutaneous electrodes, the received electrical waveform comprising electrical signals generated by electrical activity of a heart in a patient during a selected time period; b) determining a level of physical activity of the patient by identifying portions of the received electrical waveform that include signals indicative of non-cardiac muscular activity in the patient during the selected time period; and c) adjusting a rate of electrical stimulation applied to the heart in response to changes in the determined level of physical activity. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A system for applying electrical stimulus to an organ in a patient, the stimulation being responsive to patient physical activity information determined by detecting non-cardiac muscle noise in electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform information collected by a device implanted in the patient, the system comprising:
-
a) an implantable waveform acquisition module operable to acquire ECG waveforms from subcutaneous electrodes implanted in a body; b) a first processing module to process the acquired ECG waveforms to identify non-cardiac muscle activity events;
a second processing module to determine an activity level from an aggregation of the identified non-cardiac muscle activity events; andc) a stimulation module to generate electrical stimulation to apply to an organ in the body based on the determined activity level. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification