Implantable cardiac device having a system for detecting T wave alternan patterns and method
First Claim
1. In an implantable cardiac device, a system for detecting a T wave alternan pattern of a patient'"'"'s heart, comprising:
- a sensing circuit that generates an electrical signal representing electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart;
morphology detector that receives the electrical signal from the sensing circuit and that measures a metric of a characteristic for each T wave in the electrical signal; and
a discriminator that receives the measured T wave characteristic metrics from the morphology detector and that determines, responsive to the measured T wave characteristic metrics for a plurality of T waves, if a T wave alternan pattern is present;
wherein the discriminator determines if a number of measured T wave characteristic magnitudes greater than and less than a T wave characteristic magnitude baseline are substantially equal and each greater than a given number.
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Abstract
A system and method for use in an implantable cardiac device that delivers electrical therapy to a patient'"'"'s heart determines if a T wave alternan pattern of the patient'"'"'s heart exists. The system includes a sensing circuit that generates an electrical signal representing electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart. A morphology detector measures a magnitude of a T wave characteristic of each T wave in the electrical signal of a predetermined number of cardiac cycles of the heart. A discriminator then determines, responsive to the measured T wave characteristic magnitudes, if a T wave alternan pattern exists. A T wave alternan pattern may be determined to exist if the number of measured T wave characteristic magnitudes greater than and less than a T wave characteristic magnitude baseline are substantially equal and each greater than a given number.
27 Citations
51 Claims
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1. In an implantable cardiac device, a system for detecting a T wave alternan pattern of a patient'"'"'s heart, comprising:
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a sensing circuit that generates an electrical signal representing electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart; morphology detector that receives the electrical signal from the sensing circuit and that measures a metric of a characteristic for each T wave in the electrical signal; and a discriminator that receives the measured T wave characteristic metrics from the morphology detector and that determines, responsive to the measured T wave characteristic metrics for a plurality of T waves, if a T wave alternan pattern is present; wherein the discriminator determines if a number of measured T wave characteristic magnitudes greater than and less than a T wave characteristic magnitude baseline are substantially equal and each greater than a given number. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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2. The system of claim 2 wherein the T wave characteristic baseline is an average of the measured T wave characteristic magnitudes and wherein the system includes a processor that averages the measured T wave characteristic magnitudes.
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18. In an implantable cardiac device that delivers electrical therapy to a patient'"'"'s heart, a system for detecting a T wave alternan pattern of the patients heart, comprising:
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sensing means for generating an electrical signal representing electrical activity of the patients heart; measuring means for measuring a magnitude of a T wave characteristic for each T wave in the electrical signal; and detecting means, responsive to the measured T wave characteristic magnitudes for a plurality of T waves, for detecting a T wave alternan pattern; wherein the detecting means includes means for determining if a number of measured T wave characteristic magnitudes greater than and less than a T wave characteristic magnitude baseline are substantially equal and each greater than a given number. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. In an implantable cardiac device, a method of detecting a T wave alternan pattern in a patient'"'"'s heart, the method comprising:
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sensing electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart; generating an electrical signal representing electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart; computing a metric of a T wave characteristic for each T wave in the electrical signal; and processing the measured T wave characteristic metrics for a plurality of T waves to determine whether a T wave alternan pattern exists; wherein the detecting step includes the step of determining if a number of measured T wave characteristic magnitudes greater than and less than a T wave characteristic magnitude baseline are substantially equal and each greater than a given number. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification