Method of noninvasively determining a patient's susceptibility to arrhythmia
First Claim
1. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
- providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy;
connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system, comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads and a reference lead; and
utilizing sensing improvement means for improving the quality of the sensed electromagnetic energy during the stimulation and acquisition process, said sensing improvement means utilization comprises the steps of;
comprises switch means connected between energy delivery leads so that the switch means is operable relative to the termination of the output current and switches from a high impedance to a low impedance for a short period of time to allow dissipation of any voltage present; and
using a fast recovery amplifier method for rapid recovery of the amplifier following stimulation signals.
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Abstract
A method for detecting a patient'"'"'s susceptibility to arrhythmias and cardiac tissue abnormality is disclosed. The method consists of using a computer, a display, software loaded onto the computer that generates graphical user interfaces (GUIs), an electronic interface, and a plurality of electrodes. The electronics interface is in electronic communication with the computer, and further in electronic communication with the electrodes that are placed by self-adhesion at predetermined locations on a test subject. According to one aspect of the invention, the method enables a user, typically a medical professional, to initiate, with minimal input, certain diagnostic tests involving observing and analyzing a series of QRS complexes, some of which are biased with a subpacing current, and others of which are unbiased. The signals are then compared, and the differences are analyzed to detect a patient'"'"'s susceptibility to arrhythmias and cardiac tissue abnormality.
80 Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system, comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads and a reference lead; and utilizing sensing improvement means for improving the quality of the sensed electromagnetic energy during the stimulation and acquisition process, said sensing improvement means utilization comprises the steps of; comprises switch means connected between energy delivery leads so that the switch means is operable relative to the termination of the output current and switches from a high impedance to a low impedance for a short period of time to allow dissipation of any voltage present; and using a fast recovery amplifier method for rapid recovery of the amplifier following stimulation signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; and utilizing sensing improvement means for improving the quality of the sensed electromagnetic energy, comprising using a lead effect modeling and correction algorithm which corrects for signal artifacts during stimulation and acquisition cycles during post-processing of acquired signal data. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; and utilizing sensing improvement means for improving the quality of the sensed electromagnetic energy, comprising using a lead position correction algorithm which corrects for signal artifacts during stimulation and acquisition cycles.
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14. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; and utilizing sensing improvement means for improving the quality of the sensed electromagnetic energy, comprising using a lead position correction algorithm which corrects for signal artifacts during stimulation and acquisition cycles during post-processing of acquired signal data.
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15. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; and utilizing sensing improvement means for improving the quality of the sensed electromagnetic energy, comprising using a muscle response correction algorithm which corrects for signal artifacts during stimulation and acquisition cycles.
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16. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; and utilizing sensing improvement means for improving the quality of the sensed electromagnetic energy, comprising using a muscle response correction algorithm which corrects for signal artifacts during post-processing of acquired signal data.
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17. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; and applying a plurality of stimulations during the stimulation and acquisition process, the application of the stimulations being commenced between the T and P waves during a period of low signal level prior to the R-wave detection.
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18. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; and applying a plurality of stimulations during the stimulation and acquisition process, and insuring that each of the stimulations have approximately the same energy and duration as the stimulations delivered at other times in the cardiac cycle.
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19. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; providing stimulation signals within a lead effect modeling time period between the T and P waves, at the beginning and periodically throughout the stimulation and acquisition process; determining the response to the stimulations for a period of up to about 50 milliseconds for each of said stimulations; creating a lead effect model by combining the response of the stimulations during said determining period to generate a response signal; and utilizing the derived response signal to mathematically attribute electrical artifact and muscle activity. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; and providing stimulation signals within a lead effect modeling time period between the T and P waves, at the beginning and periodically throughout the stimulation and acquisition process. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; configuring a plurality of the sensing leads with a fast recovery material for rapid dissipation of any induced energy; and configuring a plurality of the energy delivery leads to have a low impedance.
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29. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; providing the energy delivery leads with shunting means connected between said leads; and providing switch means configured to sense termination of an output current in the energy delivery leads and then switch from a high impedance to a low impedance for a short period of time to allow dissipation of any voltage present. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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32. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias comprising the steps of:
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providing means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy stimulations into a patient'"'"'s body suitable to alter at least one cardiac signal to allow a comparison of acquired distinguishable signal differences with at least one other cardiac signal which has not been affected by said injected energy; connecting a lead system for both sensing the cardiac signals and delivering the injected energy to said means for injecting low level electromagnetic energy into the patient'"'"'s body, said lead system comprising a plurality of energy sensing and energy delivery leads; configuring the leads of said lead system at a plurality of external locations on the patient'"'"'s skin; maintaining each of the leads of said lead system in the same locations during a time period during which cardiac signals include a detected plurality of stimulated and non-stimulated cardiac signals; and configuring said lead system to sense the spatial direction of cardiac wavefront. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias, using a computer and a computer display, the method comprising:
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installing on said computer a diagnostic software program comprising data files and application programs, the software program providing computer-generated and displayed graphical user interfaces (GUIs); connecting an electronics interface to said computer, and further connecting a lead system by a connector to said electronic interface; applying a plurality of electrodes, said electrodes being a part of said lead system, to a patient upon whom a diagnostic test to determine susceptibility to arrythmia is to be performed; selecting, from a drop-down menu of said computer-generated GUI, a command to perform a test sequence; selecting, from a further computer-generated GUI, an existing patient profile or a new patient profile; configuring, from a subsequent computer-generated GUI, patient information, subpacing pulse configuration, test duration, sensitivity, and deviation limit; observing, in real time, resulting QRS complex events; biasing, by delivering a subpacing current to the cardiac tissue of the patient, to effect a QRS complex event at a predetermined time, said predetermined time being determined by the software program; and analyzing the resultant data, with assistance of the software program, to determine the patient'"'"'s susceptibility to arrhythmia.
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38. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias, using a computer and a computer display, the method comprising:
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installing on said computer a diagnostic software program comprising data files and application programs, the software program providing computer-generated and displayed graphical user interfaces (GUIs); connecting an electronics interface to said computer, and further connecting a lead system by a connector to said electronic interface; applying a plurality of electrodes, said electrodes being a part of said lead system, to a patient upon whom a diagnostic test to determine susceptibility to arrythmia is to be performed; biasing, by delivering a subpacing current to the cardiac tissue of the patient, to effect a QRS complex event at a predetermined time, said predetermined time being determined by the software program; determining the presentation of the acquired data by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; filtering the acquired data by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; observing the acquired data by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; manipulating the acquired data by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; simulating the acquired data by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; displaying a graph of the average of the acquired data on the computer-generated GUI; displaying a biased average of the acquired data on the computer-generated GUI; and graphing the difference between a biased and an unbiased QRS complex average on the computer-generated GUI; analyzing the resultant data, with assistance of the software program, to determine the patient'"'"'s susceptibility to arrhythmia.
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39. A method for detecting patient susceptibility to arrhythmias, using a computer and a computer display, the method comprising:
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installing on said computer a diagnostic software program comprising data files and application programs, the software program providing computer-generated and displayed graphical user interfaces (GUIs); connecting an electronics interface to said computer, and further connecting a lead system by a connector to said electronic interface; applying a plurality of electrodes, said electrodes being a part of said lead system, to a patient upon whom a diagnostic test to determine susceptibility to arrythmia is to be performed; biasing, by delivering a subpacing current to the cardiac tissue of the patient, to effect a QRS complex event at a predetermined time, said predetermined time being determined by the software program; analyzing the resultant data, with assistance of the software program, to determine the patient'"'"'s susceptibility to arrhythmia; saving the acquired data to an internal disk by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; saving the acquired data to an external disk by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; retrieving data from an external disk by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; saving protocol steps for future use by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI; and retrieving selected protocols from past use by selecting features available from the computer-generated GUI.
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Specification