Implantable electronic system with acute myocardial infarction detection and patient warning capabilities
US6272379A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 17, 1999 |
| Grant date | Aug 7, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 17, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B5/0006
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Disclosed is a system for detecting a myocardial infarction (i.e., a heart attack) at the earliest possible time and promptly warning the patient that he should immediately seek medical care. Specifically, a first embodiment of the present invention has an implantable electronic system that can sense a change in the patient's electrogram that is indicative of a myocardial infarction. If a myocardial infarction is sensed, the device would then cause an implantable or externally located alarm means such as an audio sound to be actuated to warn the patient of his condition. The patient could then promptly seek medical care, for example, at a hospital emergency room. Having been trained to recognize such an alarm, most patient would neither fail to recognize such an indication of a myocardial infarction nor would they ignore such an alarm signal if it were to occur. Since an implantable heart pacemaker or defibrillator already has within its structure many of the elements required for the device to recognize a myocardial infarction, it would be expeditious to add a capability to these existing devices to detect a myocardial infarction and provide an implantable or external alarm means …
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.