Method and apparatus for controlling arrhythmia detection and treatment based on patient posture
OwnerPaul J. Degroot, Karel F. A. A. Smits +1inventors
InventorsPaul J. Degroot, Karel F. A. A. Smits, William J. Flickinger
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Abstract
An implantable medical device and method are provided for determining if a patient is in a substantially horizontal position and delaying a programmed cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy in response to determining the patient is in a substantially horizontal position. In various embodiments, the shock therapy may be delayed by adjusting tachycardia detection criteria or scheduling the shock therapy after a maximum tachycardia episode duration.
Claims21
A method for controlling delivery of a therapy for use in an implantable medical device, comprising:
- detecting a tachycardia;
- sensing a signal correlated to a patient's posture;
- determining from the signal if the patient is in a substantially horizontal position;
- delivering a cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy to the patient using the implantable medical device in response to detecting the tachycardia and to determining that the patient is not in a substantially horizontal position;
- delaying the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy delivered using the implantable medical device in response to determining that the patient is in a substantially horizontal position;
- determining from the signal correlated to the patient's posture whether a change in posture has occurred during the delaying of the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy;
- and
- terminating the delaying of cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy in response to determining that a change in posture has occurred.
An implantable medical device, comprising:
- a first sensor for generating a signal responsive to tachycardia;
- an output circuit for generating a cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy;
- an electrode coupled to the output circuit to deliver the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy;
- a second sensor generating a signal corresponding to a patient position;
- and
- a control circuit for setting a tachycardia detection criterion, the control circuit coupled to the first sensor, the second sensor, and the output circuit, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
- detect a tachycardia using the tachycardia detection criterion and the signal responsive to tachycardia from the first sensor,
- determine the patient position using the signal corresponding to the patient position from the second sensor,
- initiate the delivery of the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy to the patient using the electrode and output circuit in response to detecting the tachycardia and determining that the patient is not in a substantially horizontal position,
- delay the delivery of the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy in response to determining the patient is in a substantially horizontal position,
- determine whether a change in posture has occurred using the signal corresponding to the patient position from the second sensor during to the delaying of the delivery of the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy, and
- terminate the delaying of the delivery of cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy in response to determining that a change in posture has occurred.
A computer readable medium storing a set of instructions, which when implemented in an implantable medical device causes the device to perform a method, the method comprising:
- detecting a tachycardia,
- sensing a signal correlated to a patient's posture;
- determining from the signal if the patient is in a substantially horizontal position;
- delivering a cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy to the patient using the implantable medical device in response to detecting the tachycardia and determining that the patient is not in a substantially horizontal position;
- delaying the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy delivered using the implantable medical device in response to determining the patient is in a substantially horizontal position, wherein delaying the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy comprises adjusting a tachycardia detection criterion used by the medical device to determine when the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy is needed in response to a tachycardia detection;
- determining from the signal correlated to the patient's posture whether a change in posture has occurred during the delaying of the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy;
- and
- terminating the delaying of the cardioversion/defibrillation shock therapy in response to determining that a change in posture has occurred.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.