Method and apparatus for providing arrhythmia discrimination

#1. Filed of the Invention

#The present invention is directed to medical treatment devices and more specifically to a method and apparatus for providing arrhythmia discrimination.

#2. Description of the Prior Art

#These and other features of the preferred embodiments of the invention will become more apparent in the following detailed description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of apparatus for providing arrhythmia discrimination;

#FIG. 2 is a enlarged view of a processor and a database for use in providing arrhythmia discrimination;

#Turning to FIG. 1, a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the apparatus for providing arrhythmia discrimination is shown. The apparatus 10 includes a set of electrodes 12 (seen as atrial electrode 12a and ventricular electrode 12b) which are preferably located on the endocardium or epicardium of the atrium 14 and ventricle 16 of a patient's heart 18. A set of leads 20a and 20b connect the electrodes 12 to I/O ports 22 (seen as I/O ports 22a and 22b) located within a housing 24. The housing 24 further includes a processor 26, a heart signal monitor 28 to receive and compile signals from electrodes 12 and transmit them to processor 26 over communication bus 36. The housing 22 also includes a treatment centre 32, in communication with the processor 26 via communication bus 40, to deliver a treatment protocol to the heart through the electrodes 12. The housing 22 may also include a database 34 which stores a list of diagnostic tests along with a list of appropriate treatments corresponding to detected types of arrhythmia. These lists are accessed by the processor 26 via communication bus 38.

#The processor 26 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2. The processor 26 includes memory 50, preferably in the form of First-in-First-out (FIFO) memory, to store the signals which are received from the heart signal monitor 28. A central processing unit (CPU) 52 accesses the memory 50 over communication bus 54 to retrieve the stored signals and to calculate rate signals corresponding to the stored signals. After the rate signals are retrieved, they are stored in a rate memory location 56. The CPU 52 may also retrieve morphology signals from the stored signals representing the shape of the heart signals which are then stored in a morphology memory location 57. The rate signals are then transmitted to a comparator 58 which compares the rate signals with predetermined stored values 60, such as a pre-stored detection threshold 62. This will be described in more detail below. Once an arrhythmia state has been detected, the CPU 52 accesses the database 34 via communication bus 38, to access a diagnostic test from the list of diagnostic tests 64. In order to determine the appropriate treatment for a type of arrhythmia, the CPU 52 accesses a treatment look-up table 66 within the database 34. The look-up table 66 preferably includes a listing of types of arrhythmia along with their corresponding treatment.

#While U.S. Pat. 6,076,014 discloses one method of implanting the electrodes 12 and leads 20 within a patient's heart, other methods of implanting the electrodes 12 will be apparent to persons skilled in the art.