Implantable ventricular cadioverter-defibrillator employing atrial pacing for preventing a trial fibrillation form ventricular cardioversion and defibrillation shocks
First Claim
1. An implantable ventricular cardioverter defibrillator for applying a quantity of electrical energy to a heart to terminate a ventricular arrhythmia of the heart while preventing induction of atrial fibrillation of the heart, the cardioverter/defibrillator comprising:
- a ventricular arrhythmia detector comprising a ventricular fibrillation detector and a ventricular tachycardia detector;
an atrial pacer that delivers atrial pacing pulses at a substantially fixed rate to an atrium of the heart when the ventricular arrhythmia detector detects a ventricular arrhythmia; and
a generator that applies the quantity of electrical energy to the heart in timed relation to a delivered atrial pacing pulse.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An implantable ventricular cardioverter/defibrillator applies a quantity of electrical energy to a heart for terminating a ventricular arrhythmia while preventing the induction of atrial fibrillation. The cardioverter/defibrillator includes a ventricular arrhythmia detector and an atrial pacer that delivers atrial pacing pulses to an atrium of the heart when the ventricular arrhythmia detector detects a ventricular arrhythmia. A generator applies a quantity of electrical energy to the heart in timed relation to a delivered atrial pacing pulse to terminate the ventricular arrhythmia to avoid inducing atrial fibrillation.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An implantable ventricular cardioverter defibrillator for applying a quantity of electrical energy to a heart to terminate a ventricular arrhythmia of the heart while preventing induction of atrial fibrillation of the heart, the cardioverter/defibrillator comprising:
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a ventricular arrhythmia detector comprising a ventricular fibrillation detector and a ventricular tachycardia detector;
an atrial pacer that delivers atrial pacing pulses at a substantially fixed rate to an atrium of the heart when the ventricular arrhythmia detector detects a ventricular arrhythmia; and
a generator that applies the quantity of electrical energy to the heart in timed relation to a delivered atrial pacing pulse. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An implantable ventricular cardioverter defibrillator for applying a quantity of electrical energy to a heart to terminate a ventricular arrhythmia of the heart while preventing induction of atrial fibrillation of the heart, the cardioverter/defibrillator comprising:
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a ventricular arrhythmia detector;
an atrial pacer that delivers atrial pacing pulses to an atrium of the heart when the ventricular arrhythmia detector detects a ventricular arrhythmia;
a generator that applies the quantity of electrical energy to the heart in timed relation to a delivered atrial pacing pulse; and
further including a ventricular activation detector adapted to detect ventricular activations, a timer that times time spans between successive ventricular activations, an averager that averages a number of the time spans to predict when ventricular activations are expected, and wherein the atrial pacer delivers atrial pacing pulses prior to expected ventricular activations.
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13. A method of terminating a ventricular arrhythmia of a heart while preventing the induction of atrial fibrillation of the heart, the method comprising:
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detecting a ventricular arrhythmia;
determining the type of ventricular arrhythmia occuring in the heart;
delivering a particular atrial pacing pulse therapy to an atrium of the heart corresponding to the type of ventricular arrhythmia occuring in the heart; and
applying a quantity of electrical energy to the heart in timed relation to a delivered atrial pacing pulse. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification