Adaptation of heart pacing to physical activity
AssigneeBiocontrol Technology, Inc.
InventorsCharles M. Rapach, David L. Purdy, Orlando Maytin
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Abstract
A rate-changing implantable heart-stimulating device is disclosed, one that avoids use of moving parts and making unwanted rate changes. The device senses and responds to skeletal myopotential signals derived from the body of the wearer, preferably considering both amplitude and frequency of myopotential voltage signals which exceed a predetermined threshold value. The device preferably has two-way radio communication with an external programmer means.
Claims20
A heart pacemaker which in operation accommodates the physical activity of the host in whom said pacemaker is implanted;
- said pacemaker including pulse-generating means, means for conditioning said pulse-generating means to produce heart-stimulating pulses at predetermined intervals, means, connected to said conditioning means, for impressing said heart-stimulating pulses on the heart of the host, means connected to said conditioning means, for impressing on said conditioning means, myopotential pulses generated as a result of the physical activity of the host and means, responsive to said impressed myopotential pulses, for varying said predetermined intervals in dependence upon said physical activity to accommodate the length of said intervals to said physical activity.
A heart pacemaker which in operation accommodates the physical activity of the host in whom said pacemaker is implanted as manifested by myopotential voltage-value signals resulting from the physical activity derived from the body of said host;
- said pacemaker including
- (a) an electrode to engage the heart of said host,
- (b) pulse-generating means and
- (c) means, including timing means, for conditioning said pulse-generating means to generate heart-stimulating pulses at pacing cycle intervals of predetermined duration,
- (d) a first channel means, connected to said electrode and to said pulse-generating means and to said conditioning means, for transmitting only pulses generated in the heart of the host to said conditioning means and, in the absence of a pulse generated in the heart prior to the end of an interval timed by said timing means, a second channel means for transmitting pulses generated by said pulse-generating means to said heart said timing means establishing a refractory interval following each pulse, whether generated by the heart or by said conditioning means during which pulses generated by the heart during the refractory interval are suppressed, said timing means also establishing a sampling interval during said refractory interval,
- (e) an additional channel means connected to said electrode and to said timing means for transmitting during each said sampling interval, myopotential signals generated as a result of physical activity of the host to said timing means, and
- (f) means, connected to said timing means, for varying the duration of said pacing cycle intervals in dependence upon said myopotential signals to accommodate said duration to said physical activity of said host.
As an article of manufacture, a pacemaker to be implanted in a host, said pacemaker including means, to be physically connected to the heart of said host, when conditioned for stimulating heart contractions of said host, the said stimulating means also including means electrically connected to said physically-connected means, for maintaining the stimulation of the heart of said host at a rate always remaining within predetermined limits, and also actuable for increasing or decreasing said rate while said rate remains between said limits, and means, connected to said physically-connected means and to said electrically-connected means, for actuating said electrically-connected means to increase or decrease said rate predominantly in accordance with the respective presence or absence of myopotential signals that are generated by physical activity of said host, said actuable means when actuated accommodating said rate to said physical activity of said host.
The method of accommodating a heart pacemaker to the physical activity of the host in whom said pacemaker is implanted;
- said method comprising:
- conditioning said pacemaker to generate successive heart-stimulating pulses at intervals, sensing the myopotential signals resulting from the physical activity of the host, and, responsive to said myopotential signals, conditioning the pacemaker to modify the generation of said successive heart-stimulating pulses so that said heart-stimulating pulses are produced at intervals whose duration accommodates the physical activity of the host.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.