Congestive heart failure monitor
First Claim
1. An implantable device-implemented method of detecting and monitoring congestive heart failure in a patient, which comprises the steps of:
- measuring local impedance of a portion of the patient'"'"'s body generally occupied by the lungs solely through surface mounted electrodes on the device with the device implanted subcutaneously in the patient'"'"'s body at the locality where the impedance measurements are to be performed, and determining when the impedance measurements are indicative of a condition of congestive heart failure other than from the existence of a state of edema of the patient.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device-implemented method is disclosed for early detection and monitoring of congestive heart failure in a patient. Ongoing measurements of impedance of a portion of the patient'"'"'s body generally occupied by the lungs are performed by an implanted device, and, when the impedance measurements are determined by internal circuit components of the device to exceed a predetermined threshold value indicative of a need for immediate attention to a condition of congestive heart failure, a patient and/or physician alert is emitted by the device. An implant site at the left lower anterior lateral hemithorax is preferred.
163 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An implantable device-implemented method of detecting and monitoring congestive heart failure in a patient, which comprises the steps of:
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measuring local impedance of a portion of the patient'"'"'s body generally occupied by the lungs solely through surface mounted electrodes on the device with the device implanted subcutaneously in the patient'"'"'s body at the locality where the impedance measurements are to be performed, and determining when the impedance measurements are indicative of a condition of congestive heart failure other than from the existence of a state of edema of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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- 16. A body-implantable device to detect and monitor congestive heart failure in a patient, comprising a circuit module having surface mounted electrodes of the device arranged, when the device is implanted subcutaneously, for exposing said electrodes to tissue in a portion of the patient'"'"'s body generally occupied by the lungs, said circuit module including circuitry that measures impedance of said body portion through said surface mounted electrodes and determines when the impedance measurements are indicative of a condition of congestive heart failure wherein the determination of congestive heart failure is based on factors other than the existence of edema of the patient.
- 23. A body-implantable medical device for monitoring the condition of a patient at risk for congestive heart failure, comprising circuitry, including plural surface electrodes on the device, that measures impedance between a measurement pair of said electrodes from a predetermined electrical parameter injected in a circuit path between an excitation pair of said electrodes, such that when said device is implanted at a site where said circuit path includes the patient'"'"'s cardiovascular and pulmonary system through said plural surface electrodes only, said impedance measurements indicate a state of lung congestion of the patient.
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25. An implantable device-implemented method of detecting and monitoring congestive heart failure in a patient, which comprises the steps of:
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performing impedance-derived ventilation measurements of a portion of the patient'"'"'s body generally occupied by the lungs through surface mounted electrodes on the device with the device implanted subcutaneously in the patient'"'"'s body at the locality where the impedance measurements are to be performed, and determining when the impedance-derived ventilation measurements are indicative of a condition of congestive heart failure based on factors other than the existence of edema.
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26. A body-implantable device to detect and monitor congestive heart failure in a patient, comprising a circuit module having surface electrodes of the device arranged, when the device is implanted, for exposing said electrodes to tissue in a portion of the patient'"'"'s body generally occupied by the lungs, said circuit module including circuitry that performs impedance-derived ventilation measurements of said body portion solely through said surface electrodes of the device and determines directly from said impedance-derived ventilation measurements whether the patient is exhibiting a condition of congestive heart failure.
- 27. A body-implantable medical device for monitoring the condition of a patient at risk for congestive heart failure, comprising circuitry, including plural surface electrodes on the devices for making impedance-derived ventilation measurements between a measurement set of said electrodes from a predetermined electrical parameter injected in a circuit path between an excitation set of said electrodes and for determining, when said device is implanted at a site where said circuit path includes the patient'"'"'s cardiovascular and pulmonary system through said plural surface electrodes, whether said impedance-derived ventilation measurements are indicative of a state of congestive heart failure of the patient.
- 29. A body-implantable device to detect and monitor congestive heart failure in a patient, comprising a circuit module having surface-mounted electrodes of the device arranged, when the device is implanted, for positioning outside the thoracic cage and for exposing said electrodes to tissue in a portion of the patient'"'"'s body generally occupied by the lungs, said circuit module including circuitry that measures impedance of said body portion exclusively through said electrodes and detects from the impedance measurements of a condition of congestive heart failure other than solely from the existence of a state of edema of the patient.
Specification