System and method for emulating a surface EKG using internal cardiac signals sensed by an implantable medical device
First Claim
1. A method for emulating a surface electrocardiogram (EKG) of a patient in which an implantable cardiac stimulation device is implanted, the method comprising:
- sensing a single cardiac signal within the heart;
distinguishing portions of the single cardiac signal corresponding to atrial signals from those corresponding to ventricular signals; and
adjusting relative amplitudes of the portions of the single cardiac signal corresponding to atrial signals and the portions corresponding to ventricular signals so as to yield an emulated surface EKG using only the single cardiac signal with the adjusted relative amplitudes.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surface electrocardiogram (EKG) is emulated using signals detected by the internal leads of an implanted device. In one example, the emulation is performed using a technique that concatenates portions of signals sensed using different electrodes, such as by combining far-field ventricular signals sensed in the atria with far-field atrial signals sensed in the ventricles or by combining near-field signals sensed in the atria with near-field signals sensed in the ventricles. In another example, the emulation is performed using a technique that selectively amplifies or attenuates portions of a single signal sensed using a single pair of electrodes, such as by attenuating near-field portions of an atrial unipolar signal relative to far-field portions of the same signal or by attenuating atrial portions of a cross-chamber signal relative to ventricular portions to the same signal. The surface EKG emulation may be performed by the implanted device itself or by an external programmer based on cardiac signals transmitted thereto.
35 Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A method for emulating a surface electrocardiogram (EKG) of a patient in which an implantable cardiac stimulation device is implanted, the method comprising:
-
sensing a single cardiac signal within the heart; distinguishing portions of the single cardiac signal corresponding to atrial signals from those corresponding to ventricular signals; and adjusting relative amplitudes of the portions of the single cardiac signal corresponding to atrial signals and the portions corresponding to ventricular signals so as to yield an emulated surface EKG using only the single cardiac signal with the adjusted relative amplitudes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A system for emulating a surface electrocardiogram (EKG) of a patient, the system comprising:
-
input circuitry operative to input a single cardiac signal sensed by a device implanted within the patient; a surface EKG emulation controller operative to distinguish portions of the single cardiac signal corresponding to atrial signals from those corresponding to ventricular signals and to adjust relative amplitudes of the portions of the cardiac signal corresponding to atrial signals and the portions corresponding to ventricular signals so as to yield an emulated surface EKG using only the single cardiac signal with the adjusted relative amplitudes.
-
-
13. A system for use in an implantable medical device for emulating a surface electrocardiogram (EKG) of a patient in which the device is implanted, the system comprising:
-
means for sensing a single cardiac signal; means for distinguishing portions of the single cardiac signal corresponding to near-field atrial signals from those corresponding to far-field ventricular signals; and means for adjusting the relative amplitudes of the portions of the cardiac signal corresponding to near-field atrial signals and the portions corresponding to far-field ventricular signals so as to yield an emulated surface EKG using only the single cardiac signal with the adjusted relative amplitudes.
-
Specification