Systems and methods for use by an implantable medical device for evaluating ventricular dyssynchrony based on T-wave morphology
First Claim
1. A method for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the method comprising:
- sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted;
identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal;
evaluating a morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony;
detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event, wherein detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient includes detecting ventricular dyssynchrony based on the presence of two or more peaks within an individual repolarization event; and
evaluating a degree of severity of ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the number of peaks within individual repolarization events.
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Abstract
Techniques are provided for detecting and evaluating ventricular dyssynchrony based on morphological features of the T-wave and for controlling therapy in response thereto. For example, the number of peaks in the T-wave, the area under the peaks, the number of points of inflection, and the slope of the T-wave can be used to detect ventricular dyssynchrony and evaluate its severity. As ventricular dyssynchrony often arises due to heart failure, the degree of dyssynchrony may also be used as a proxy for tracking the progression of heart failure. Pacing therapy is automatically and adaptively adjusted based on the degree of ventricular dyssynchrony so as to reduce the dyssynchrony and thereby improve cardiac function.
102 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A method for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the method comprising:
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sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted; identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; evaluating a morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony; detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event, wherein detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient includes detecting ventricular dyssynchrony based on the presence of two or more peaks within an individual repolarization event; and evaluating a degree of severity of ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the number of peaks within individual repolarization events. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the method comprising:
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sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted; identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; evaluating a morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony, wherein evaluating a morphological feature of the repolarization event includes evaluating an area associated with the repolarization event; detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event, wherein detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event includes; evaluating a numerical area associated with at least a portion of an individual repolarization event curve relative to an isoelectric line; comparing the area against a baseline area indicative of a lack of ventricular dyssynchrony; and associating a larger amount of area relative to the baseline area as being indicative of ventricular dyssynchrony; and evaluating the degree of severity of ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the area. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the method comprising:
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sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted; identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; evaluating a morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony, wherein evaluating a morphological feature of the repolarization event includes evaluating points of inflection associated with the repolarization event; and detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the method comprising:
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sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted; identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; evaluating a morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony, wherein evaluating a morphological feature of the repolarization event includes evaluating one or more slope values associated with the repolarization event; detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event; and adjusting pacing timing parameters to reduce the magnitude of the slope of individual repolarization event curves. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the method comprising:
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sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted; identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; measuring a morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony; detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event; evaluating a degree of severity of ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event; and evaluating progression of heart failure based on changes in the severity of ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient over time. - View Dependent Claims (31, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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32. A method for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the method comprising:
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sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted; identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; measuring a plurality of morphological features of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony; and detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the plurality of morphological features of the repolarization event. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A method for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the method comprising:
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sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted; identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; measuring a morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony; and detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event, wherein the device is equipped to selectively deliver pacing at any of a plurality of pacing sites and wherein pacing sites are selected so as to reduce ventricular dyssynchrony. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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45. A system for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the system comprising:
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means for sensing an electrical cardiac signal within the patient in which the device is implanted; means for identifying a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; means for evaluating at least one morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony, wherein the morphological feature is selected from the group consisting of a number of peaks of an individual T-wave, an area under one or more peaks of an individual T-wave, a number of inflections within an individual T-wave, a slope of an individual T-wave, and combinations thereof; means for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event; means for evaluating the degree of dyssynchrony based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event; and means for adaptively adjusting the pacing parameters of the implantable medical device based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event.
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46. A system for use with an implantable medical device for detecting ventricular dyssynchrony, the system comprising:
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an electrical cardiac signal sensing unit operative to sense electrical cardiac signals within the patient in which the device is implanted; a ventricular repolarization event detection unit operative to identify a ventricular repolarization event within the electrical cardiac signal; a ventricular repolarization event morphological feature evaluation unit operative to evaluate at least one morphological feature of the repolarization event that is affected by ventricular dyssynchrony, wherein the morphological feature is selected from the group consisting of a number of peaks of an individual T-wave, an area under one or more peaks of an individual T-wave, a number of inflections within an individual T-wave, a slope of an individual T-wave, and combinations thereof; a ventricular repolarization-based ventricular dyssynchrony evaluation system operative to detect ventricular dyssynchrony within the patient based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event; and a pacing site and timing unit for adaptively adjusting the pacing parameters of the implantable medical device based on the morphological feature of the repolarization event. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification