Implantable medical interventional device with criteria modification to enhance recognition of Tachycardia
First Claim
1. An implantable defibrillator for detecting and treating abnormal tachycardias experienced by the patient, the defibrillator including means for sensing the heart rate of a patient, means for detecting rapid heart rate of the patient, means for intervening upon the detection of pathologic tachycardia by applying electrical energy to the heart to treat the detected pathologic tachycardia, the defibrillator further including first means having distinction criteria for distinguishing abnormal tachycardias from normal elevated heart rates of the patient, the improvement comprising:
- second means responsive to changes in a physiologic parameter which signify a basis for normal elevation of heart rate of the patient, for modifying the distinction criteria to enhance the capability of the defibrillator to make the distinction.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device-implemented method detects and treats abnormal (i.e., pathologic) tachycardias experienced by a patient with an implanted automatic defibrillator. The defibrillator has the capability to distinguish pathologic tachycardia from physiologic tachycardia by the application of predetermined distinction criteria programmed into it. Changes in a physiologic parameter of the patient which signify a physiologic basis for increase or decrease of the patient'"'"'s heart rate are detected, and in response, the distinction criteria are modified to enhance the capability of the defibrillator to make the distinction between pathologic and physiologic tachycardia when this change in circumstances that would otherwise tend to obscure the distinction is factored in. In one method, the parameter under detection is patient activity, and the distinction criteria include a threshold heart rate above which the patient is presumed to be experiencing a pathologic tachycardia. The threshold rate is shifted up or down depending on whether the detected change is indicative of an increase or a decrease, respectively, of the patient'"'"'s heart rate.
78 Citations
24 Claims
-
1. An implantable defibrillator for detecting and treating abnormal tachycardias experienced by the patient, the defibrillator including means for sensing the heart rate of a patient, means for detecting rapid heart rate of the patient, means for intervening upon the detection of pathologic tachycardia by applying electrical energy to the heart to treat the detected pathologic tachycardia, the defibrillator further including first means having distinction criteria for distinguishing abnormal tachycardias from normal elevated heart rates of the patient, the improvement comprising:
second means responsive to changes in a physiologic parameter which signify a basis for normal elevation of heart rate of the patient, for modifying the distinction criteria to enhance the capability of the defibrillator to make the distinction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
8. In a method to detect pathologic tachycardia in a patient including detecting the patient'"'"'s ECG and selecting an ECG-based heart rate as a threshold for distinguishing pathologic and physiologic tachycardias experienced by the patient at least according to whether the heart rate exceeds or does not exceed the selected threshold rate, respectively, the improvement comprising the additional steps of:
-
employing a non-ECG sensor to generate an output signal in response to detection of a parameter indicative of status of physiologic tachycardia of the patient, and modifying the selected threshold rate depending upon the output signal of the non-ECG sensor. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A method for detecting abnormal tachycardias experienced by a patient and for distinguishing between abnormal tachycardias from normal elevated heart rates of the patient by applying predetermined distinction criteria, the method comprising:
-
detecting changes in a physiologic parameter of the patient which signify a physiologic basis for increase or decrease of the patient'"'"'s heart rate, and responding to said detected changes by modifying the distinction criteria to enhance the capability of distinguishing between abnormal and normal tachycardia. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
-
Specification