Modulate pacing rate to increase the percentage of effective ventricular capture during atrial fibrillation
AssigneeMedtronic, Inc.
InventorsRichard M. T. Lu, Subham Ghosh, Robert W. Stadler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure pertains to cardiac pacing methods and systems, and, more particularly, to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). In particular, the present disclosure pertains to determining whether a patient is experiencing atrial fibrillation (AF). If the patient is experiencing AF, the efficacy of CRT is determined. A signal is sensed in response to a ventricular pacing stimulus. Through signal processing, a number of features are parsed from the signal and a determination is made as to whether the ventricular pacing stimulus evoked a response from the ventricle.
Claims26
An implantable medical device comprising:
- a control module configured to be coupled to at least one electrode and to deliver ventricular pacing therapy to a patient at a pacing rate to increase effective ventricular capture during atrial fibrillation in an active mode and a power conservation mode, wherein the control module is configured to:
- determine that the patient is experiencing atrial fibrillation based on cardiac signals sensed by the at least one electrode;
- initiate delivery of the ventricular pacing therapy using the at least one electrode in response to determining the patient is in atrial fibrillation;
- sense cardiac signals using the at least one electrode in response to the delivery of the ventricular pacing therapy;
- enable effective capture analysis during the active mode, wherein the effective capture analysis comprises determining capture of the ventricular pacing therapy based on the sensed cardiac signals and modifying the pacing rate in response to the determined capture of the ventricular pacing therapy;
- and
- disable the effective capture analysis during the power conservation mode to maximize battery life.
A method comprising:
- delivering ventricular pacing therapy to a patient at a pacing rate to increase effective ventricular capture during atrial fibrillation in an active mode and a power conservation mode;
- determining that the patient is experiencing atrial fibrillation based on cardiac signals sensed by at least one electrode;
- initiating delivery of the ventricular pacing therapy using the at least one electrode in response to determining the patient is in atrial fibrillation;
- sensing cardiac signals using the at least one electrode in response to the delivery of ventricular pacing therapy;
- enabling effective capture analysis during the active mode, wherein the effective capture analysis comprises determining capture of the ventricular pacing therapy based on the sensed cardiac signals and modifying the pacing rate in response to the determined capture of the ventricular pacing therapy;
- and
- disabling the effective capture analysis during the power conservation mode to maximize battery life.
An implantable medical device comprising:
- a control module configured to be operably coupled to at least one electrode to deliver ventricular pacing therapy at a pacing rate to increase effective ventricular capture and to sense cardiac signals from the patient's heart, wherein the control module is further configured to:
- determine that the patient is experiencing atrial fibrillation based on cardiac signals sensed by the at least one electrode;
- initiate delivery of the ventricular pacing therapy using the at least one electrode in response to determining the patient is in atrial fibrillation;
- sense cardiac signals using the at least one electrode in response to the delivery of the ventricular pacing therapy;
- and
- periodically determine effective capture of the ventricular pacing therapy based on the sensed cardiac signals and modify the pacing rate of the ventricular pacing therapy in response to the determined effective capture of the ventricular pacing therapy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.