The invention involves a device for reliably sensing ventricular fibrillation (VF) in combination with effective blanking of the T wave to prevent T wave oversensing. The invention also relates to an implantable cardiac stimulator for the treatment of tachycardiac arrhythmias.
Tachycardia, the term referring to abnormally high heart rate, includes conditions such as tachycardiac arrhythmias, in which case an affected chamber of the heart (ventricle or atrium) contracts in an orderly manner, although at a physiologically inappropriately high rate. In the case of fibrillation, however, a heart chamber contracts in a disorderly manner due to circulating excitation, and the affected heart chamber basically no longer assists in pumping blood volume. Ventricular fibrillations (VF) can therefore be fatal. If they are detected quickly and reliably, they can be terminated using a defibrillation shock from a defibrillator.
Implantable cardiac stimulators in the form of cardiac pacemakers or implantable cardioverters/defibrillators (ICDs) are well known. Such cardiac stimulators are typically connected to electrode leads which include stimulation or defibrillation electrodes in or near a heart chamber. A cardiac pacemaker can use a stimulation electrode to deliver an electrical stimulation pulse to the muscle tissue of a heart chamber to thereby induce a stimulated contraction of the heart chamber, provided the stimulation pulse has sufficient intensity and the cardiac muscle tissue (myocardium) is not in a refractory phase at the moment. Electrode leads including stimulation electrodes having relatively small surface areas are typically used to trigger a stimulated contraction of a heart chamber in this manner, since the initial stimulation of only a small portion of the myocardium of the heart chamber is sufficient to trigger a stimulated contraction. Such a stimulated contraction of a heart chamber is referred to in this document as a “stimulated” event. If a natural contraction of the heart chamber occurs, this is referred to as a “natural” or “intrinsic” event. For example, a contraction of the right atrium of a heart may be referred to as an atrial event, which can be a natural (or intrinsic) atrial event, or where triggered by an atrial cardiac pacemaker or similar device, can be a stimulated atrial event. Similar distinctions can be made between natural (intrinsic) and stimulated left ventricular events and right ventricular events.
A local excitation of the myocardium propagates from the excitation site by conduction in the myocardium, resulting in depolarization of the muscle cells and thus contraction of the myocardium. After a short period of time the muscle cells are repolarized and the myocardium therefore relaxes. During the depolarization phase, the cardiac muscle cells are insensitive to excitation, i.e. they are refractory. The electrical potentials associated with depolarization and repolarization can be sensed, and the course thereof over time—referred to as an electrocardiogram—can be evaluated. In the electrocardiogram, a so-called R peak represents a depolarization of the ventricular myocardium and therefore a contraction of the ventricle. The repolarization of the ventricular myocardium is expressed as a so-called T wave. These signal features can be detected automatically using an appropriate sensing unit, typically by comparing signal values with threshold values. When this is done, a T wave can exceed the threshold value for detecting R peaks, and therefore a T wave is incorrectly identified as an alleged R peak. This phenomenon is referred to as T wave oversensing.
Such natural (intrinsic) events are detected by determining the electrical potentials of the myocardium of a selected heart chamber using sensing electrodes which are part of a corresponding electrode lead. The sensing electrodes can also serve as stimulation electrodes, wherein the electrodes alternate between stimulation and sensing functions (i.e., delivery and detection of potentials). Typically, a pair of electrodes composed of a tip electrode and a ring electrode is provided for the sensing, wherein the tip electrode is also used as the stimulation electrode. A bipolar recording of an intracardiac electrocardiogram (IEGM) is obtained in this manner. In that case, sensing and stimulation take place in the ventricle using a ventricular electrode lead, and stimulation and sensing take place in the (right) atrium using an atrial electrode lead which is separately connected to the cardiac stimulator. If a left ventricular electrode lead is also provided, it typically extends via the coronary sinus and a lateral vein branching off therefrom into the vicinity of the left ventricle, where it can include a stimulation electrode and/or sensing electrode having a small surface area.
During operation of the cardiac stimulator, the sensing electrodes are connected to appropriate sensing units which are designed to evaluate a recorded electrocardiogram using a sensing electrode (or a pair of sensing electrodes), and, in particular, to detect intrinsic atrial or ventricular events, i.e. natural atrial or ventricular contractions. This takes place, for example, by comparison with a threshold value, i.e. an intrinsic event is detected when a particular intracardiac electrocardiogram exceeds a suitably specified threshold value. Sensing units, which are connected to intracardiac electrodes during operation, are typically provided in an implantable cardiac stimulator for the detection of intrinsic events.
So-called blanking periods and refractory periods are typically provided during the course of sensing intrinsic events. A blanking period is started once an R peak is detected, to prevent the same event from being detected twice. No events are sensed during the blanking period. When an R peak is detected, a refractory period is also started, during which intrinsic events are sensed (outside of the blanking period), but are not detected as such. If the refractory period is dimensioned such that it extends beyond the moment when a T wave is expected, such a T wave is not detected as an intrinsic event (contraction of the heart chamber).
The intrinsic atrial heart rate (atrial frequency) or ventricular heart rate (ventricular frequency) can be derived from the frequency at which the atrial and ventricular events follow one another, thus enabling the detection of tachycardias, for example. T wave oversensing is a problem here, since T wave oversensing can suggest the alleged presence of tachycardia.
The invention assists with improving the detection of ventricular fibrillation (VF) in combination with good suppression of T wave oversensing. The solution is particularly advantageous for VF signals having significantly fluctuating amplitudes.
Input stages of modern implantable cardioverter/defibrillators (ICDs) or cardiac stimulators for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT-Ds) already provide algorithms for the automatic adaptation of sensing thresholds to the signal conditions. However, they typically utilize sensing thresholds that derived from measured signal amplitudes. Furthermore, to blank the T wave after detection of an R wave, a so-called upper threshold (e.g. 75% of the R wave amplitude) is often used, which is then switched to a lower threshold (e.g. 25%) after the expected duration of the T wave (e.g. after 360 ms). The result is that the T wave can be blanked in that it remains below the threshold, yet smaller fibrillation waves can then be detected using the subsequently activated lower threshold.
Typical methods have the disadvantage that fibrillation waves having greatly fluctuating amplitudes cannot be adequately sensed by using a so-called upper threshold of 75%, for example, for a period of 360 ms. However, if the upper threshold is set lower (e.g. 50%), a large T wave cannot be blanked, and so patients with large T waves are at risk of limited VF sensing.
The invention relates to an implantable cardiac stimulator, such as a cardioverter/defibrillator (ICD, CRT-D), which seeks to address the problem of combining effective T wave suppression with good VF sensing. A preferred version of the cardiac stimulator includes a sensing unit with automatic threshold adaptation which is connected (or connectable to) at least one ventricular sensing electrode and a ventricular defibrillation electrode. Signals recorded using the sensing electrodes are processed in the sensing unit with automatic threshold adaptation. The sensing unit operates using at least two switchable sensing thresholds as follows:
The first and second lower thresholds can be identical, and they can differ from the second sensing threshold, or the first and the second lower thresholds can differ from each other and from the second sensing threshold. Each sensing threshold represents a value which, when exceeded, triggers an event provided it occurs outside of a blanking period.
The implantable cardiac stimulator is preferably a single-chamber ICD, a dual-chamber ICD, or a three-chamber ICD.
The cardiac stimulator preferably includes a control unit which is designed to adjust the duration of the VF detection window (period) depending on the measured heart rate. Therefore the VF detection window is shortened when the heart rate is higher, and the VF detection window is extended when the heart rate is relatively lower. For example, the VF detection window can have a duration that corresponds to a defined fraction of a duration of a cardiac cycle (the reciprocal of the heart rate) measured for a specified number of previous cardiac cycles. In this manner the duration of the VF detection window can be adapted to current physiological conditions.
Preferably the duration of the VF detection window (period) is adapted as a function of a heart rate that was measured only if T wave blanking had been activated (i.e., a T wave blanking window was started) in a preceding cardiac cycle, that is, if the threshold value was not exceeded in the VF detection window within a preceding cardiac cycle.
Preferably the sensing unit is or may be connected to a sensing electrode such that intracardiac electrical potentials are detected in a bipolar manner, e.g., using two adjacent relatively small surface-area electrode poles (ring electrodes or tip electrodes) of a sensing electrode.
Alternatively, the sensing unit can also be connected or connectable to a sensing electrode such that intracardiac electrical potentials are detected in a unipolar manner, e.g., using a single relatively small surface-area electrode pole (ring electrode or tip electrode) of a sensing electrode and a relatively larger neutral pole (e.g., formed by a housing of the cardiac stimulator).
Alternatively or additionally, the sensing unit can also be connected or connectable to a sensing electrode such that it detects far-field intracardiac electrical potentials, as by using two electrode poles having a relatively large surface area, e.g. a defibrillation coil on the sensing electrode, and the housing of the cardiac stimulator as the other electrode.
Finally, the sensing unit can also be connected or connectable to several sensing electrodes such that intracardiac electrical potentials are detected using several vectors, e.g., the intracardiac potentials are detected using more than two electrode poles, wherein each vector is formed by the potential that exists between any two electrode poles.
and
Electrode leads 14 and 16 are electrically connected to female contacts in a header (connection housing) 11 of the cardiac stimulator 10 using conventional plug connections. In this manner, the electrode leads 14 and 16 are also connected to electronic components in the interior of a hermetically sealed metal the housing 42 of the cardiac stimulator 10. These components, which define the operation of the cardiac stimulator 10, are presented schematically in
The electrode lead 14 is a right-atrial electrode lead having a distal end bearing an atrial tip electrode RA Tip 18 and a nearby atrial ring electrode RA Ring 20, both of which are located in right atrium 26 of heart 12.
The electrode lead 16 is a right-ventricular electrode lead having a distal end bearing a right-ventricular tip electrode RV Tip 22 and a nearby right-ventricular ring electrode RV Ring 24, both of which are located in the apex of the right ventricle of the heart. The right-ventricular electrode lead 16 also includes a large surface-area electrode for delivering defibrillation shocks, shown as right-ventricular shock coil RV Shock 38.
Some of the functional units of the cardiac stimulator 10 are depicted in
The electrical connections for the various electrodes 18, 20, 22, 24, and 38 are shown on the left side of
The connection for the right-ventricular tip electrode RV Tip 18 and the connection for the right-ventricular ring electrode RV Ring 20 are each connected to a the right-ventricular stimulation unit 56 and a The right-ventricular sensing unit 58. The right-ventricular stimulation unit 56 and the right-ventricular sensing unit 58 are both connected to the stimulation control unit 54.
The right-ventricular stimulation unit 56 is designed to generate a right-ventricular stimulation pulse in response to a trigger signal from the stimulation control unit 54 and deliver it via the right-ventricular ring electrode RV Ring 20 and the right-ventricular tip electrode RV Tip 18. As an alternative, the housing 42 of the cardiac stimulator 10 may form a neutral electrode, and the right-ventricular stimulation unit 56 may be connected to the right-ventricular tip electrode RV Tip 18 and the housing 42 to delivering a stimulation pulse. A right-ventricular stimulation pulse differs from a defibrillation shock in that the pulse intensity of the stimulation pulse is substantially lower, and thus unlike a defibrillation shock, it does not stimulate all of the cardiac tissue (myocardium) of a ventricle at once, but only the cardiac muscle cells in the immediate vicinity of the right-ventricular tip electrode RV Tip 18. This stimulation then propagates by natural conduction across the entire ventricle, thereby stimulating contraction of the ventricle.
The right-ventricular sensing unit 58 is designed to initially amplify and filter electrical potentials present at the connection for the right-ventricular ring electrode RV Ring 20 and the right-ventricular tip electrode RV Tip 18 using an input amplifier. Furthermore, the right-ventricular sensing unit 58 is designed to evaluate the course of electrical signals present at the inputs thereof such that the right-ventricular sensing unit 58 automatically detects a natural (intrinsic) contraction of the right ventricle. This can take place, for example, by comparing the course of the signal present at the inputs of the right-ventricular sensing unit 58 with a threshold value. Typically, the greatest amplitude of the signal—the R peak—is characteristic of a natural contraction of the right ventricle, which can be detected by comparison with a threshold value. In response, the right-ventricular sensing unit 58 provides a corresponding output signal indicating a natural contraction of the right ventricle to the stimulation control unit 54.
Analogously, the connection for the right-atrial tip electrode RA Tip 22 and the connection for the right-atrial ring electrode RA Ring 24 are connected to a right-atrial stimulation unit 60 and a right-atrial sensing unit 62 which, in turn, are connected to the stimulation control unit 54. The right-atrial stimulation unit 60 is designed to generate stimulation pulses having an intensity that is sufficient to stimulate the right-atrial myocardium. The right-atrial stimulation pulses can have a pulse intensity that differs from that of the right-ventricular stimulation pulses. The right-atrial sensing unit 62 is designed to detect a P wave, which characterizes a natural (intrinsic) contraction of the right atrium, on the basis of the course of the differential signal present at the inputs thereof. If the right-atrial sensing unit 62 detects a P wave, it generates an output signal indicating a natural contraction of the right atrium and forwards it to the stimulation control unit 54.
The cardiac stimulator 10 also includes an activity sensor 72 in connection with the stimulation control unit 54. The activity sensor 72 is designed to detect a signal which is dependent on a patient's physical activity, e.g. a motion signal, and to output a corresponding signal indicating the patient's physical activity to the stimulation control unit 54. This makes it possible for the stimulation control unit 54 to adapt the timing of the stimulation pulses to the patient's needs (hemodynamic demand).
The cardiac stimulator 10 also includes a memory unit 80 which is connected to the stimulation control unit 54 and permits it to store signals that were generated or evaluated by the stimulation control unit 54. It also enables the memory unit 80 to store control programs, in changeable form, for the stimulation control unit 54. Furthermore, the stimulation control unit 54 is connected to a timer 82.
The cardiac stimulator 10 further includes at least one bidirectional telemetry interface 84 for transmitting stored data from the stimulator 10 to an external device 100, and conversely to receive program settings and treatment commands from the external device 100.
The electrode lead 30 is a left-ventricular electrode lead having a left-ventricular tip electrode LV Tip 34 and a nearby left-ventricular ring electrode LV Ring 32 at its distal end. In addition, the left-ventricular electrode lead 30 includes a left-ventricular shock coil 36 for delivering defibrillation shocks to the left ventricle 44. The left-ventricular shock coil 36 is disposed such that it extends from the left ventricle 44 upwardly to the left atrium 46. The housing 42 of the implant 10 serves as a further electrode for shock delivery.
The left-ventricular electrode lead 30 is routed out of the right atrium 26 of the heart 12 via the coronary sinus into a lateral vein branching off therefrom, and is therefore also referred to as coronary sinus electrode lead or CS electrode lead.
As shown in dotted/phantom lines in
A prior arrangement is depicted in
The illustrated refractory period (REF) is started with the ventricular sense (Vs). Although a Vs that occurs within the refractory period is evaluated for the tachycardial rhythm assessment, it does not influence the pacemaker timer. The refractory period (REF) is independent of the control of the ventricular sensing thresholds.
The aforementioned arrangement improves the sensing of ventricular fibrillation in combination with high T wave suppression. It is therefore possible to develop automatic ICD systems that no longer require manual adjustment of the sensing parameters. This arrangement is also useful for unipolar ICD sensing electrodes, since the expression of the T wave and, mainly, the VF signal fluctuations are particularly critical here. The method can also be used with subcutaneously implanted ICD systems.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and variations of the described examples and versions are possible in light of the foregoing discussion. The described examples and versions are presented for purposes of illustration only, and alternative versions may include some or all of the features disclosed herein. The invention is therefore not intended to be limited to the exemplary versions of the invention described above, but rather is intended to be limited only by the claims set out below. Thus, the invention encompasses all different versions that fall literally or equivalently within the scope of these claims.
This application claims priority under 35 USC §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/475,252 filed Apr. 14, 2011, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
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