Patent · US Expired

Atrial defibrillation methods and apparatus

US6081746A · kind A · utility

76Cited by
6References
23Claims
0Family size

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Key dates

Filing dateAug 7, 1998
Grant dateJun 27, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 7, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
  • CPC primaryA61N1/395
  • WIPO fieldMedical technology
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for achieving atrial defibrillation in a heart. Atrial pacing is first conducted from multiple pacing sites in a synchronous manner so as to have the desired effect of maximizing the extent of phase-locked area of atrial tissue. Next, an ADF shock is introduced, if still needed, to achieve atrial defibrillation. ADFT energy requirements have been shown to be dramatically reduced on account of using pacing rates set proportionally to the sensed atrial fibrillation cycle length(s) such that large areas of atrial tissues are phase-locked, and consequently atrial defibrillation can be effected in the patient with greatly reduced energy requirements for ADFTs.

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