Method of processing signals characteristic of cardiac activity and an associated device
First Claim
1. A method for processing a signal characteristic of cardiac activities in a chamber of a heart (H) to generate a control signal for at least one of a heart pacemaker and a defibrillator, the signal characteristic of cardiac activities being received from an intracardial signal sensor (1, 2) in the heart comprising the steps of:
- (a) feeding the signal characteristic of cardiac activities to a first input stage (8, 11;
100A) with a first, adjustable detection threshold (TS(A), TS(V)), the first detection threshold being constant in time following an adjustment and being set to a signal amplitude for normal sinus-type cardiac activities;
(b) in the first input stage, comparing the signal characteristic of cardiac activities to the first detection threshold and generating a first stage output signal;
(c) feeding the signal characteristic of cardiac activities to a second input stage (9, 10;
100B) with a second detection threshold (TL(A), TL(V)) which is adjustable independent of the first detection threshold, the second detection threshold being constant in time following an adjustment and being set to a signal amplitude for fibrillation events(d) in the second input stage, comparing the signal characteristic of cardiac activities to the second detection threshold and generating a second stage output signal; and
(e) evaluating the first and second stage output signals and generating the control signal.
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Abstract
A method for processing a signal characteristic of cardiac activity in the atrium (A) and/or ventricle (V) of a heart (H) and for evaluating this signal with a view to obtaining a control signal for a cardiac pacemaker and/or defibrillator (3) can be carried out by: receiving a time dependent signal from at least one intracardial signal sensor (1, 2) in the atrium and/or ventricle; feeding the signal picked up by each signal sensor (1, 2) to a read and evaluation circuit (6) with a threshold characteristic; comparing the signals with a detection threshold; evaluating the result of the comparison to obtain an indication as to the presence of normal sinus-type cardiac activity or fibrillations; and producing the control signal, which characterizes the comparison result. The signal from the at least one sensor (1, 2) is fed to a first input stage (8, 11) which has a first adjustable detection threshold (TS(A), TS(V) that is constant in time and to a second input stage (9, 10) which has a second adjustable detection threshold TL(A), TL(V) that can be adjusted independently of the first detection threshold but is constant in time once set. The signal from the at least one intracardial signal sensor is processed in these first and second input stages.
40 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for processing a signal characteristic of cardiac activities in a chamber of a heart (H) to generate a control signal for at least one of a heart pacemaker and a defibrillator, the signal characteristic of cardiac activities being received from an intracardial signal sensor (1, 2) in the heart comprising the steps of:
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(a) feeding the signal characteristic of cardiac activities to a first input stage (8, 11;
100A) with a first, adjustable detection threshold (TS(A), TS(V)), the first detection threshold being constant in time following an adjustment and being set to a signal amplitude for normal sinus-type cardiac activities;(b) in the first input stage, comparing the signal characteristic of cardiac activities to the first detection threshold and generating a first stage output signal; (c) feeding the signal characteristic of cardiac activities to a second input stage (9, 10;
100B) with a second detection threshold (TL(A), TL(V)) which is adjustable independent of the first detection threshold, the second detection threshold being constant in time following an adjustment and being set to a signal amplitude for fibrillation events(d) in the second input stage, comparing the signal characteristic of cardiac activities to the second detection threshold and generating a second stage output signal; and (e) evaluating the first and second stage output signals and generating the control signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A device for processing a signal characteristic of cardiac activities in a chamber of a heart to generate a control signal for at least one of a pacemaker and a defibrillator the signal characteristic of cardiac activities being received from an intracardial signal sensor (1, 2), said device comprising:
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a first input stage (8,
11) which receives the signal characteristic of cardiac activities, the first input stage having a first detection threshold (TS(A)), TS(V)) that is adjustable but constant in time following an adjustment, the first detection threshold being set to a signal amplitude for normal sinus-type cardiac activities, the first input stage including a comparator unit (8, 4, 11,4) with a first detection output signal (8a, 11a); anda second input stage (9,
10) which receives the signal characteristic of cardiac activities, the second input stage having a second detection threshold (TL(A)), TL(V)) that can be adjusted independent of the first one but that is constant in time following an adjustment, the second detection threshold being set to a signal amplitude for fibrillation events, the second input stage including a comparator unit (9.4, 10.4) with a second detection output signal (9a, 10a). - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification