Active implantable medical devices with refractory period management

Abstract

An active implantable medical device with a sophisticated management of the refractory periods. Such devices typically include a detection circuit and a stimulation circuit and a circuit which applies a refractory period to the detection circuit, including an absolute refractory period (ARP), which can be fixed or pre-programmed, and a relative refractory period (RRP), which is variable. The relative refractory period includes a succession of elementary periods (X) of a fixed or programmable duration, which elementary period is further subdivided into sub-periods (Y) such that an elementary period X is retriggered or restarted at the end of a sub-period Y if a residual potential of a level higher than a given threshold is detected at output of the detection circuit during that sub-period. In the absence of a detected residual potential being detected during the successive sub-periods comprising the elementary period, then the refractory period ends.

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