System and method for arrhythmia discrimination

A method, comprising:

• sensing a first cardiac complex at a first cardiac region during a cardiac cycle of a patient;
• sensing a second cardiac complex at a second cardiac region during the cardiac cycle;
• selecting a first fiducial feature of the first cardiac complex;
• selecting a second fiducial feature of the second cardiac complex;
• determining a first amplitude for the first fiducial feature relative to a baseline of the first cardiac complex;
• determining a second amplitude for the second fiducial feature relative a baseline of the second cardiac complex;
• comparing the first and second amplitudes to respective first and second thresholds obtained from said patient during normal sinus rhythm;
• and
• characterizing whether the first and second cardiac complexes are arrhythmic using the results of the comparison.

A method, comprising:

• sensing a first cardiac complex at a first cardiac region of a patient during a cardiac cycle;
• sensing a second cardiac complex, associated with the same heart contraction as the first cardiac complex, at a second cardiac region during the cardiac cycle;
• determining a first slope of a portion of the first cardiac complex;
• determining a second slope of a portion of the second cardiac complex;
• comparing the first slope to a first threshold slope and comparing the second slope to a second threshold slope, the first and second threshold slopes obtained from said patient during normal sinus rhythm;
• and
• characterizing whether the first and the second signals are arrhythmic using the results of the comparison.

A system, comprising:

• a control system including first and second inputs to monitor respective first and second signals, each including the same cardiac complex detected at different cardiac locations of a patient;
• a morphology analyzer coupled to the control system, the morphology analyzer adapted to locate a first fiducial feature of a first cardiac complex on the first signal and a second fiducial feature of a second cardiac complex on the second signal, the first and second fiducial features associated with the same heart contraction;
• a signal feature comparison circuit coupled to the morphology analyzer, the signal feature comparison circuit adapted to compare at least one characteristic of at least one of the first and second fiducial features to a template quantity obtained from said patient that is representative of a normal sinus rhythm complex;
• and
• wherein the control system designates the cardiac complex as arrhythmic when the at least one characteristic differs from the corresponding template time difference by at least a predetermined margin.