Programming system having means for recording and analyzing a patient's cardiac signal

A programming system for optimizing a set of arrhythmia detection criteria for use in a cardiac stimulating device, the cardiac stimulating device being capable of detecting an episode of arrhythmia based on the set of arrhythmia detection criteria, and of applying a corresponding antiarrhythmia therapy to a patient's heart, the programming system comprising:

• means, within the cardiac stimulating device, for recording a patient's cardiac signal;
• means for playing back the cardiac signal;
• and
• means for analyzing the response of the cardiac stimulating device to the played back cardiac signal and determining a set of optimized arrhythmia detection criteria, wherein the analyzing means comprises means for adjusting the value of each parameter in the set of arrhythmia detection criteria until detection of the arrhythmia is optimal;
• and
• means for simulating the response of the cardiac stimulating device to the played back cardiac signal.

A method for optimizing a plurality of programmable parameters for use in a cardiac stimulating device, the cardiac stimulating device being capable of applying a corresponding therapy to a patient's heart based on a plurality of programmable parameters selected, the method comprising the steps of:

• recording a patient's cardiac signal to play back;
• playing back the cardiac signal;
• analyzing the response of the cardiac stimulating device to the played back cardiac signal based on the plurality of programmable parameters selected;
• producing a default cardiac signal;
• and
• displaying the default cardiac signal when desired.

A method for optimizing a set of arrhythmia detection criteria for use in a cardiac stimulating device, the cardiac stimulating device being capable of detecting an episode of arrhythmia in a patient based on the set of arrhythmia detection criteria, and of applying a corresponding antiarrhythmia therapy to a patient's heart, the method comprising the steps of:

• recording the episode of arrhythmia as a cardiac signal;
• receiving the recorded cardiac signal;
• playing back the cardiac signal;
• analyzing the response of the cardiac stimulating device to the played back cardiac signal based on the set of arrhythmia detection criteria;
• analyzing the cardiac signal;
• and
• creating recommended arrhythmia detection criteria accordingly.

A programmer for programming a cardiac stimulating device with arrhythmia detection criteria, the cardiac stimulating device being capable of detecting an episode of arrhythmia based on the set of arrhythmia detection criteria, the cardiac stimulating device applying a corresponding antiarrhythmia therapy to a patient's heart, the programmer comprising:

• a control unit for implementing a programming system;
• a telemetry head connected to the control unit for communicating with the cardiac stimulating device via telemetry;
• a program storage unit connected to the control unit for storing programs and data;
• an input interface connected to the control unit for receiving commands from a user;
• a display connected to the control unit, the control unit playing back a cardiac signal that is representative of an intracardiac electrogram of an episode of arrhythmia to test the response of the cardiac stimulating device;
• means for receiving a recorded cardiac signal from a cardiac stimulating device;
• and
• means for simulating the response of the medical device to the recorded cardiac signal based on the set of arrhythmia detection criteria.