Prioritized rule based method and apparatus for diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias

An anti-arrhythmia device, comprising:

• means for sensing aerial and ventricular depolarizations of heart tissue;
• means for measuring R-R intervals separating sensed ventricular depolarizations;
• means for measuring R-P intervals separating sensed atrial depolarizations from preceding ventricular depolarizations;
• means for measuring co-variance of said measured R-R and P-R intervals;
• means for detecting occurrence of an arrhythmia responsive to said measured co-variance of R-R and P-R intervals meeting a defined threshold;
• means responsive to detection of an occurrence of said arrhythmia for delivering an anti-arrhythmia therapy.

An anti-arrhythmia device, comprising:

• means for sensing depolarizations of two heart chambers;
• means for assigning beat codes to intervals between successive depolarizations of one of said heart chambers based on occurrences of depolarizations the other of said heart chambers therebetween;
• means for defining a set of sequences of said beat codes, indicative of an arrhythmia;
• means for detecting occurrence of said arrhythmia in response to a series of said assigned beat codes falling within said defined set of sequences;
• means responsive to detection of an occurrence of said arrhythmia for delivering an anti-arrhythmia therapy.

An anti-arrhythmia device, comprising:

• means for sensing depolarizations of heart tissue in a patient's atrium;
• means for sensing depolarizations of heart tissue in said patient's ventricle;
• means for determining whether sensing of a depolarization in said patient's atrium is likely due to a ventricular depolarization;
• means for determining relative numbers of depolarizations sensed in said patient's atrium and ventricle, over a preceding series of depolarizations sensed in said patient's ventricle;
• means for determining numbers of said depolarizations sensed in said patient's atrium which are likely due to ventricular depolarizations, over a preceding series of depolarizations sensed in said patient's ventricle,
• means for classifying in tachyarrhythmias as being of ventricular or supraventricular origin as a function of said relative numbers of depolarizations sensed in said patient's atrium and ventricle and said numbers of said depolarizations sensed in said patient's atrium which are likely due to ventricular depolarizations;
• means responsive to classification of a tachyarrhythmia as being of ventricular origin for delivering an anti-arrhythmia therapy.