Leadless cardiac pacemaker for generating cardiac pressure volume loop

A leadless cardiac pacemaker (LCP) configured to sense cardiac activity and to pace a patient's heart, the LCP comprising:

• a housing;
• a first electrode secured relative to the housing and exposed to the environment outside of the housing;
• a second electrode secured relative to the housing and exposed to the environment outside of the housing, the second electrode is spaced from the first electrode;
• a pressure sensor secured relative to the housing and is coupled to the environment outside of the housing;
• and
• circuitry in the housing in communication with the first electrode, the second electrode, and the pressure sensor, the circuitry configured to determine, at each of a plurality of times during each of a plurality of cardiac cycles, an impedance between the first electrode and the second electrode and also a corresponding pressure via the pressure sensor, resulting in a plurality of impedance-pressure data pairs for each of the plurality of cardiac cycles.

A system comprising:

• a leadless cardiac pacemaker (LCP) configured to sense and pace a patient's heart, the LCP comprising:
• a housing;
• a first electrode positioned proximate a distal end of the housing;
• a second electrode positioned proximate a proximal end of the housing, wherein a current flowing between the first electrode and the second electrode is used to calculate impedance;
• a pressure sensor;
• and
• circuitry in communication with the first electrode, the second electrode, and the pressure sensor;
• an external support device comprising a processor and a display;
• wherein the circuitry of the LCP is configured to sample impedance between the first electrode and the second electrode and pressure at a plurality of times within each of a plurality of cardiac cycles, and to generate a plurality of impedance-pressure data pairs, the circuitry of the LCP further configured to transit the plurality of impedance-pressure data pairs to the external support device via conducted communication;
• and
• wherein the external support device is configured to generate and display a pressure-volume loop using at least some of the plurality of impedance-pressure data pairs.