Leadless magnetic cardiac pacemaker
First Claim
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1. A cardiac pacemaker for controlling heart rate comprising:
- first function generating means for generating a first electrical signal having a first wave shape and a first frequency;
second function generating means for generating a second electrical signal having a second wave shape and a second frequency;
delay timer means coupled between said first and second function generators for triggering said second function generator as a delayed function of a trigger signal generated by said first function generator;
adder means coupled to said first and second function generating means for adding said first and second electrical signals;
field coil means coupled to the output of said adder means for generating pulsed magnetic field signals as a function of said added first and second electrical signals; and
a housing containing said first and second function generating means, said adder means, and said field coil means, said housing comprising, at least partially, magnetically transparent material, said housing being adapted to be located externally or subcutaneously near the hear to thereby control heart rate as a function of said pulsed magnetic field signals.
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Abstract
The magnetic cardiac pacemaker utilizes bisphasic pulses of mixed frequencies and waveforms that are applied to a field coil to generate magnetic pulses of relatively low intensity (less than 200 Gauss) without the use of leads. The device can be worn externally on the chest near the heart to enable the magnetic field to penetrate the body and control the heart muscle as a non-invasive cardiac pacemaker or it can be inserted subcutaneously as a permanent non-lead system cardiac pacemaker.
312 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A cardiac pacemaker for controlling heart rate comprising:
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first function generating means for generating a first electrical signal having a first wave shape and a first frequency; second function generating means for generating a second electrical signal having a second wave shape and a second frequency; delay timer means coupled between said first and second function generators for triggering said second function generator as a delayed function of a trigger signal generated by said first function generator; adder means coupled to said first and second function generating means for adding said first and second electrical signals; field coil means coupled to the output of said adder means for generating pulsed magnetic field signals as a function of said added first and second electrical signals; and a housing containing said first and second function generating means, said adder means, and said field coil means, said housing comprising, at least partially, magnetically transparent material, said housing being adapted to be located externally or subcutaneously near the hear to thereby control heart rate as a function of said pulsed magnetic field signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of controlling heart rate without the use of endocardial leads comprising the steps of:
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generating a first electrical signal having a first wave shape and a first frequency; generating a second electrical signal having a second wave shape and a second frequency; triggering said second electrical signal as a delayed function of a trigger signal corresponding to said first electrical signal; adding said first and second electrical signals; generating pulsed magnetic field signals as a function of said added first and second electrical signals; and transmitting said pulsed magnetic field signals from position extrinsic to the chest or subcutaneously over the heart into the chest to thereby control the heart rate of the animal or human as a function of said pulsed magnetic field signals. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A cardiac pacemaker for controlling heart rate comprising:
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means for generating first and second electrical signals having selected wave shapes selected from the group consisting of sinusoidal, triangular, trapezoidal and biphasic waveforms in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 3000 Hz; delay timer means coupled between said first and second generating means for triggering said second generator means as a delayed function of a trigger signal generated by said first generator means; means for adding said first and second signals; means for supplying the sum of said first and second signals to magnetic field generating means for generating magnetic fields corresponding to said sum of said first and second signals; and means for applying said magnetic fields to a heart for controlling heart rate as a function of said magnetic fields.
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20. A cardiac pacemaker for controlling heart rate comprising means for generating at least first and second magnetic field pulses;
- delay timer means coupled between said first and second generating means for triggering said second generator means as a delayed function of a trigger signal generated by said first generator means; and
means for applying said first and second magnetic field pulses sequentially to a heart with the first pulse bringing the cardiac cells in the heart close to the threshold of depolarization and said second following, or second and subsequent following, pulses bringing the cardiac cells to the point of firing to depolarization.
- delay timer means coupled between said first and second generating means for triggering said second generator means as a delayed function of a trigger signal generated by said first generator means; and
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21. A method for controlling heart rate comprising the steps of:
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generating first and second electrical signals having selected wave shapes selected from the group consisting of sinusoidal, triangular, trapezoidal and biphasic waveforms and variations thereof in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 3000 Hz; triggering said second electrical signal as a delayed function of a trigger signal corresponding to said first electrical signal; adding said first and second signals; supplying the sum of said first and second signals to magnetic field generating means; generating magnetic fields corresponding to said sum of said first and second signals; and applying said magnetic fields to a heart for controlling heart rate as a function of said magnetic fields.
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22. A method for controlling heart rate comprising the steps of:
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generating at least first and second magnetic field pulses; triggering said second electrical signal as a delayed function of a trigger signal corresponding to said first electrical signal; applying said first and second magnetic field pulses sequentially to a heart; bringing the cardiac cells in the heart close to the threshold of depolarization with said first pulse; and bringing the cardiac cells to the point of firing to depolarization with said second following, or second and subsequent following, pulses.
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Specification