Patent · US Expired

Optimal pulse defibrillator

US5549643A · kind A · utility

4Cited by
3References
23Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 12, 1994
Grant dateAug 27, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 12, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY02E60/10
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The model that is developed in the invention is based upon the pioneering neurophysiological models of Lapicque and Weiss. The present model determines mathematically the optimum pulse duration, d.sub.p, for a truncated capacitor-discharge waveform employed for defibrillation. The model comprehends the system time constant, RC, where R is tissue resistance and C is the value of the capacitor being discharged, and also the chronaxie time, d.sub.c, defined by Lapicque, which is a characteristic time associated with the heart. The present model and analysis find the optimum pulse duration to be d.sub.p =(0.58)(RC+d.sub.c). Taking the best estimate of the chronaxie value from the literature to be 2.7 ms, permits one to rewrite the optimum pulse duration as d.sub.p =(0.58)RC+1.6 ms. The apparatus makes use of the mathematical definition of optimum pulse duration by storing in the control circuitry of the defibrillation system the actual measured value of the particular capacitor incorporated in the system. The optimized-pulse prescription of this invention can be applied to a monophasic waveform, or to either or both of the phases of a biphasic waveform.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.