Extra-cardiovascular cardiac pacing system for delivering composite pacing pulses

A medical device comprising:

• a therapy module having a capacitor array comprising a plurality of capacitors and an output signal line, the therapy module configured to generate a composite pacing pulse comprising a series of at least two individual pulses by:
• generating a first pulse of the at least two individual pulses by selectively coupling a first portion of the plurality of capacitors to the output signal line, the selectively coupled first portion of the plurality of capacitors having a first effective capacitance and the first pulse of the at least two individual pulses having a first decay rate corresponding to the first effective capacitance, and
• generating a second pulse of the at least two individual pulses by selectively coupling a second portion of the plurality of capacitors to the output signal line, the selectively coupled second portion of the plurality of capacitors having a second effective capacitance different than the first effective capacitance and the second pulse of the at least two individual pulses having a second decay rate different that the first decay rate, the second decay rate corresponding to the second effective capacitance.

A method comprising:

• generating a composite pacing pulse comprising a series of at least two individual pulses by:
• generating a first pulse of the at least two individual pulses by selectively coupling a first portion of a plurality of capacitors to an output signal line, the selectively coupled first portion of the plurality of capacitors having a first effective capacitance and the first pulse of the at least two individual pulses having a first decay rate corresponding to the first effective capacitance, and
• generating a second pulse of the at least two individual pulses by selectively coupling a second portion of the plurality of capacitors to the output signal line, the selectively coupled second portion of the plurality of capacitors having a second effective capacitance different than the first effective capacitance and the second pulse of the at least two individual pulses having a second decay rate different that the first decay rate, the second decay rate corresponding to the second effective capacitance.

A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium comprising a set of instructions which, when executed by a control module of a medical device, cause the medical device to:

• generate a composite pacing pulse comprising a series of at least two individual pulses by:
• generating a first pulse of the at least two individual pulses by selectively coupling a first portion of a plurality of capacitors to an output signal line, the selectively coupled first portion of the plurality of capacitors having a first effective capacitance and the first pulse of the at least two individual pulses having a first decay rate corresponding to the first effective capacitance, and
• generating a second pulse of the at least two individual pulses by selectively coupling a second portion of the plurality of capacitors to the output signal line, the selectively coupled second portion of the plurality of capacitors having a second effective capacitance different than the first effective capacitance and the second pulse of the at least two individual pulses having a second decay rate different that the first decay rate, the second decay rate corresponding to the second effective capacitance.