Method and apparatus for detecting and displaying P-wave and R-wave histograms for an implant medical device
First Claim
1. A method for processing information using an implantable medical device and an external display device wherein the implantable medical device is connected to heart tissue and is capable of sensing electrical activity within the heart tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
- detecting a plurality of signals representative of electrical depolarization activity within the heart tissue connected to the implantable medical device;
determining for each respective detected signal whether the signal corresponds to a predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization and the degree of depolarization;
transmitting to the external display device a signal representative of the degree of depolarization for each respective detected signal as well as a signal indicative of whether each respective detected signal is of the predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization;
receiving the transmitted signals at the external display device;
processing the received signals at the external display device to generate a histogram representative of the plurality of detected signals as a function of the degree of depolarization of the signals and further representative of whether the signals were determined to correspond to the predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization; and
graphically displaying the histogram at the external display device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A pacemaker, or other implantable medical device, connected to heart tissue, detects atrial and ventricular electrical signals. The pacemaker analyzes the signals to determine whether the signals are representative of P-waves or R-waves according to atrial and ventricular sensitivity threshold values. Signals determined to be P-waves or R-waves are identified as sensed signals. Otherwise the signals are identified as not-sensed signals. The pacemaker further determines whether the sensed signals were detected during a refractory period or an alert period and its current tracking mode (e.g., VDD, DDD vs. DDI, VVI). Information pertaining to these atrial and ventricular signals is transmitted to an external programmer which generates representative histograms. The histograms present the number of counts detected within each of a set of high pass filtered amplitude ranges and further indicate the relative numbers of sensed vs. not-sensed counts. For the sensed counts, the histogram may further indicate the relative numbers of counts detected during refractory periods and alert periods. The histograms additionally show the applicable atrial or ventricular sensitivity threshold values to visually assist a physician in determining whether the threshold values are set properly. An auto-sensitivity adjustment system is also provided to determine optimal sensitivity threshold values.
25 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A method for processing information using an implantable medical device and an external display device wherein the implantable medical device is connected to heart tissue and is capable of sensing electrical activity within the heart tissue, the method comprising the steps of:
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detecting a plurality of signals representative of electrical depolarization activity within the heart tissue connected to the implantable medical device;
determining for each respective detected signal whether the signal corresponds to a predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization and the degree of depolarization;
transmitting to the external display device a signal representative of the degree of depolarization for each respective detected signal as well as a signal indicative of whether each respective detected signal is of the predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization;
receiving the transmitted signals at the external display device;
processing the received signals at the external display device to generate a histogram representative of the plurality of detected signals as a function of the degree of depolarization of the signals and further representative of whether the signals were determined to correspond to the predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization; and
graphically displaying the histogram at the external display device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for processing information within an implantable medical device and an external display device wherein the implantable medical device is connected to heart tissue and is capable of sensing electrical activity within the heart tissue, the system comprising:
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means within the implantable medical device for detecting a plurality of signals representative of electrical depolarization activity within the heart tissue connected to the implantable medical device;
means for determining the degree of polarization for each respective detected signal and whether the signal corresponds to a predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization; and
means within the external display device for processing the signals to graphically display a histogram representative of the plurality of detected signals as a function of the degree of depolarization of the signals and further representative of whether the signals were determined to correspond to the predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A system for processing information within an implantable medical device and an external display device wherein the implantable medical device is connected to heart tissue and is capable of sensing electrical activity within the heart tissue, the system comprising:
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a detector within the implantable medical device for detecting a plurality of signals representative of electrical depolarization activity within the heart tissue connected to the implantable medical device;
a signal type determination unit for determining for each detected signal whether the signal corresponds to a predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization;
a histogram generation unit within the external display device for processing the signals to generate a histogram representative of the plurality of signals as a function of the degree of depolarization of the signals and further representative of whether the signals were determined to correspond to the predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization; and
a graphic display unit within the external display device for graphically displaying the histogram. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A system for processing information within an implantable medical device wherein the implantable medical device is connected to heart tissue and is capable of sensing electrical activity within the heart tissue, the system comprising:
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a detector within the implantable medical device for detecting a plurality of signals representative of electrical depolarization activity within the heart tissue connected to the implantable medical device;
a signal type determination unit for determining for each detected signal whether the signal corresponds to a predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization;
a histogram generation unit for processing the signals to generate histogram data representative of the plurality of signals as a function of the degree of depolarization of the signals and further representative of whether the signals were determined to correspond to the predetermined type of heart tissue depolarization; and
a sensitivity adjustment unit for determining a sensitivity threshold level for determining the type of heart tissue depolarization in response to the generated histogram data. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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Specification