Temperature-controlled cardiac pacemaker responsive to body motion

Abstract

Method and appartaus are disclosed for stimulating the heart with a pacemaker in response to a nonambient temperature of a body, which is sensed, for example, in the right ventricle of the heart. The pacemaker stimulates the heart at one of at least three different nominal rates which have been selected by the physician for the various activity levels of the patient. When the heart is stimulated at an interim rate for mild or brief exercise conditions, the activity level of the patient is sensed using a motion sensor. A control circuit terminates a predetermined time period selected for the pacemaker to stimulate at the interim rate when the sensed level is less than a predetermined activity level. The stimulation rate of the heart is controlled by the nonambient body temperature sensed in the right ventricle of the heart, but the sensed motion or activity level of the patient is used to terminate the interim time period when the sensed activity level of the patient does not correspond to the level of activity intended for the selected stimulation rate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.