Measurement of sleep apnea duration and evaluation of response therapies using duration metrics
First Claim
1. An implantable cardiac device comprising:
- sensing circuitry to sense whether a patient is at rest;
a sleep apnea detector to detect when a patient, who is at rest, is experiencing an episode of sleep apnea and to measure a duration of the episode of sleep apnea;
a therapy module to prescribe a pacing therapy for treating sleep apnea from among multiple different pacing therapies;
a pulse generator to generate pacing pulses according to the prescribed pacing therapy for an evaluation timeframe; and
the sleep apnea detector measuring durations of episodes experienced during the evaluation timeframe of the prescribed pacing therapy.
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Abstract
An implantable cardiac device is programmed to detect an episode of sleep apnea, measure the duration of the episode, and store this information in memory. When multiple episodes are recorded, the device computes statistics on the apnea durations, such as average apnea duration and total apnea duration for a preselected time period (e.g., 8-hour rest period, 24-hour day, etc.). The implantable cardiac device may further be used to administer pacing therapy in response to detecting sleep apnea. Under the control of a physician, the implantable device may be programmed to administer different types of responsive therapies to evaluate whether certain therapies are more effective at treating apnea than others. For instance, a pacing therapy that results in lowering the average apnea duration or total apnea duration may be preferred over other pacing therapies that do not achieve such results.
448 Citations
48 Claims
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1. An implantable cardiac device comprising:
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sensing circuitry to sense whether a patient is at rest;
a sleep apnea detector to detect when a patient, who is at rest, is experiencing an episode of sleep apnea and to measure a duration of the episode of sleep apnea;
a therapy module to prescribe a pacing therapy for treating sleep apnea from among multiple different pacing therapies;
a pulse generator to generate pacing pulses according to the prescribed pacing therapy for an evaluation timeframe; and
the sleep apnea detector measuring durations of episodes experienced during the evaluation timeframe of the prescribed pacing therapy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method implemented by an implantable cardiac device, comprising:
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detecting an episode of sleep apnea;
determining a duration of the sleep apnea episode;
stimulating a heart in response to at least selected episodes of sleep apnea;
administering multiple different pacing therapies to treat the sleep apnea; and
evaluating the pacing therapies based on how the pacing therapies affect the duration of the sleep apnea episodes.
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14. An implantable cardiac device comprising:
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a rest-indicating sensor to sense whether a patient is at rest;
a respiration sensor to sense respiration;
a processor to confirm that a patient is at rest based on data from the rest-indicating sensor and while the patient is resting, to detect an episode of sleep apnea based on changes in the respiration, the processor being further configured to measure a duration of the episode of sleep apnea; and
a memory to store apnea data pertaining to the episode of sleep apnea and the duration of the episode;
wherein the processor is configured to detect the episode of sleep apnea in an event that the respiration exceeds a first threshold indicative of hyperventilation and then falls below a lower second threshold for a predetermined time period and wherein the processor measures the duration of the episode of sleep apnea as a time period starting when the respiration falls below the second threshold until and ending when the respiration once again exceeds the second threshold. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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administering multiple different pacing therapies to treat sleep apnea using an implantable cardiac device, such that each pacing therapy is administered to treat all episodes of sleep apnea that occur within a corresponding evaluation timeframe;
compiling duration metrics pertaining to duration of the sleep apnea episodes; and
analyzing the duration metrics to evaluate how effective the different pacing therapies are at treating the sleep apnea. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. An implantable cardiac device comprising:
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a rest-indicating sensor to sense whether a patient is at rest;
a respiration sensor to sense respiration;
a processor to confirm that a patient is at rest based on data from the rest-indicating sensor and while the patient is testing, to detect an episode of sleep apnea based on changes in the respiration, the processor being further configured to measure a duration of the episode of sleep apnea; and
a memory to store apnea data pertaining to the episode of sleep apnea and the duration of the episode;
wherein the processor stores apnea data for multiple episodes and computes statistics on the apnea data and wherein the processor derives an average duration and a total duration of the multiple episodes. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. An implantable and programmable cardiac device having a memory and a processor, the cardiac device being programmed to perform tasks comprising:
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sensing an oxygen-related parameter;
detecting an episode of sleep apnea in an event that the oxygen-related parameter falls below a threshold for a predetermined time period suggestive of apnea; and
measuring a duration of the episode of steep apnea taken from a start time when the oxygen-related parameter first falls below the threshold until an end time when the oxygen-related parameter subsequently rises above the threshold. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. An implantable cardiac device comprising:
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a rest-indicating sensor to sense whether a patient is at rest;
an oxygen sensor to sense O2 saturation;
a processor to confirm that a patient is at rest based on data from the rest-indicating sensor and while the patient is resting, to detect an episode of sleep apnea based on changes in the O2 saturation, the processor being further configured to measure a duration of the episode of sleep apnea; and
a memory to store apnea data pertaining to the episode of sleep apnea and the duration of the episode;
wherein the processor is configured to detest the episode of sleep apnea in an event that the O2 saturation falls below a threshold for a predetermined time period and wherein the processor measures the duration of the episode of sleep apnea as a time period starting when the O2 saturation falls below the threshold until and ending when the O2 saturation once again exceeds the threshold. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. An implantable cardiac device comprising:
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a rest-indicating sensor to sense whether a patient is at rest;
an oxygen sensor to sense O2 saturation;
a processor to confirm that a patient is at rest based on data from the rest-indicating sensor and while the patient is resting, to detect an episode of sleep apnea based on changes in the O2 saturation, the processor being further configured to measure a duration of the episode of sleep apnea;
a memory to store apnea data pertaining to the episode of sleep apnea and the duration of the episode a therapy module to prescribe a pacing therapy for treating sleep apnea from among multiple different pacing therapies;
a pulse generator to generate pacing pulses according to the prescribed pacing therapy for an evaluation timeframe; and
the sleep apnea detector measuring durations of episodes experienced during the evaluation timeframe of the prescribed pacing therapy.
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28. A method implemented by an implantable cardiac device, comprising:
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detecting an episode of sleep apnea;
determining a duration of the sleep apnea episode; and
stimulating a heart in response to at least selected episodes of sleep apnea;
wherein the detecting comprises determining when a respiration signal exceeds a first threshold indicative of hyperventilation and then falls below a lower second threshold for a predetermined period of time and wherein the determining comprises measuring the duration from a start time when the respiration signal falls below the second threshold until an end time when the respiration signal rises above the second threshold. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A method comprising:
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determining that a patient is at rest;
monitoring a respiration signal;
detecting an episode of sleep apnea in an event that, while the patient is at rest, the respiration signal exceeds a first threshold associated with hyperventilation and then falls below a lower second threshold for a predetermined time period suggestive of apnea;
measuring a duration of the episode of sleep apnea; and
storing the duration of the sleep apnea;
wherein measuring comprises timing the duration from a start time when the respiration signal first falls below the second threshold until an end time when the respiration signal subsequently rises above the second threshold. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. An implantable and programmable cardiac device having a memory and a processor, the cardiac device being programmed to perform tasks comprising:
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detecting when a patient is experiencing an episode of sleep apnea;
determining a duration of the sleep apnea episode; and
stimulating a heart in response to at least selected episodes of sleep apnea;
storing durations measured for multiple apnea episodes; and
computing at least one of an average duration and a total duration from the multiple episodes. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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40. An implantable and programmable cardiac device having a memory and a processor, the cardiac device being programmed to perform tasks comprising:
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sensing a respiration signal;
detecting an episode of sleep apnea in an event that the respiration signal exceeds a first threshold associated with hyperventilation followed by falling below a lower second threshold for a predetermined time period suggestive of apnea; and
measuring a duration of the episode of sleep apnea taken from a start time when the respiration signal first falls below the second threshold until an end time when the respiration signal subsequently rises above the second threshold. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
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43. An implantable cardiac device comprising:
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a rest-indicating sensor to sense whether a patient is at rest;
a respiration sensor to sense respiration;
a processor to confirm that a patient is at rest based on data from the rest-indicating sensor and while the patient is resting, to detect an episode of sleep apnea based on changes in the respiration, the processor being further configured to measure a duration of the episode of sleep apnea;
a memory to store apnea data pertaining to the episode of sleep apnea and the duration of the episode;
a therapy module to prescribe a pacing therapy for treating sleep apnea from among multiple different pacing therapies;
a pulse generator to generate pacing pulses according to the prescribed pacing therapy for an evaluation timeframe; and
the sleep apnea detector measuring durations of episodes experienced during the evaluation timeframe of the prescribed pacing therapy.
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44. A system comprising:
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an implantable cardiac device configured to detect episodes of sleep apnea and to administer different pacing therapies for treating the sleep apnea, the implantable cardiac device being further configured to collect duration metrics pertaining to durations of sleep apnea episodes measured for the different pacing therapies and to export the duration metrics to an external computing device; and
a computing system to analyze the duration metrics collected by the implantable cardiac device. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48)
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Specification