Implantable cardiac stimulator with polarity detection for detecting ectopic beats

US5772691A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Sulzer Intermedics, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Andre G. Routh · Lake Jackson, US
• Annette Bruls · Brussels, BE
• Drury Woodson, III · Alvin, US
• Joseph W. Vandegriff · Brazoria, US
• Yves Verboven · Kessel-Lo, BE
• Parick J. Paul · Lake Jackson, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Apr 14, 1997
• Grant date: Jun 30, 1998
• Expiry date: Apr 14, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61N1/3622
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

An implantable medical device for electrically stimulating the heart to beat including a sense circuit for detecting cardiac electrical activity. The sense circuit includes a sense amplifier, band pass filter, and threshold detector. The threshold detector determines whether sensed cardiac electrical activity resulted from a normal heart beat or an ectopic beat such as a premature ventricular contraction. In a preferred embodiment, latches in the threshold detector are activated by output pulses from a pair of comparators. A positive comparator produces an output pulse upon detection of cardiac electrical activity exceeding a positive threshold voltage and a negative comparator produces an output pulse upon detection of cardiac electrical activity more negative than a negative threshold. Threshold logic produces output signals indicative of which comparator first produced an output pulse. A logic and control unit monitors the output signals from the threshold logic and thus determines whether the associated cardiac electrical activity represented a normal heart beat or resulted from an ectopic beat so that appropriate pacing may be provided by the implantable device.