Implantable stimulation system and method for terminating cardiac arrhythmias
US5431689A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 23, 1993 |
| Grant date | Jul 11, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 23, 2013 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61N1/3621
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A cardiac arrhythmia is terminated by stimulating the heart during the narrow "region of susceptibility" or termination window of the arrhythmia cycle based upon a statistically significant starting value. The present invention will store a plurality of successful critically timed intervals and compute a central value (e.g., average, mean, median, etc.) and a measure of variability (sample range, standard deviation, etc.). The measure of variability is used to determine the termination window size. In one embodiment, the present invention then "scans" symmetrically-centrifugally about the statistically significant starting value. In an alternate embodiment, the present invention employs ranked scanning, that is, scanning according to the frequency of occurrence of previously successful starting values. The number and size of steps could be either programmable, or automatically computed by the pulse generator based upon the termination window size. With each successful termination, the statistically significant starting value is updated, thereby providing an intelligent stimulation device which can adapt itself to the patient's ever-changing needs. Histograms of the data could also …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.