EP0001708A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Heart pacemaker and monitor
Assignee: Medtronic Inc
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Filing: 1978-10-17
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Granted: —
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Expires: 1998-10-17
Abstract
Abstract A heart pacemaker and monitor comprises a first unit 10 (Fig.4) positioned externally of the body and a second unit 12 surgically implanted within the body. The first unit transmits r.f. electromagnetic energy to the second unit to provide the sole energisation for the second unit and also transmits con- t-ol pu!ses for controlling the ar plication of stimulation pulses to the atrium 40 and. or ventricle 42 of the heart via circuits 62 and 64. The second unit 12 also senses atrial and ventricular activity and signals representative thereof are successively sampled and puise-widte modulated by circuit 74 and transmitted to the first unit 10. The first unit 10 is arranged to demodulate and demultiplex these signals for display on a monitor and also controls the timing of the stimulation pulses.
Inventors
- 👤 Dennis G. Hepp
- 👤 Robert A. Neumann
- 👤 Paul Citron
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 22:19
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61N; A61N1/00; A61N1/18; A61N1/32; A61N1/36; A61N1/362; A61N1/37; A61N1/3706; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/0002; A61B5/0004; A61B5/0006; A61B5/0031; A61B5/72; A61B5/7203; A61N1/3625; A61N1/372; A61N1/37211; A61N1/378; A61N1/3787
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
181 words
Cardiac stimulating and monitoring apparatus for monitoring a patient's heart activity and for selectively applying first and second stimulating pulses to respective first and second portions of the patient's-heart, comprising a first unit arranged to be disposed externally of the patient's body and including means for transmitting electromagnetic energy into the patient's body; and a second unit adapted to be surgically implanted within the patient's body; said second unit including a power supply circuit arranged to be responsive to the externally generated electromagnetic energy for providing the sole energisation of said second unit, means for sensing a condition of the patient's heart for providing an electrical signal indicative of the sensed heart condition, a modulator connected to receive said electrical signal, means connected to said modulator for transmitting the modulated signal to the first unit, and means for selectively applying first and second stimulating pulses to the first and second portions of the heart; said first unit further comprising a demodulator arranged to provide a signal representative of said sensed electrical signal for providing an indication of the patient's heart activity.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
181 words
Cardiac stimulating and monitoring apparatus for monitoring a patient's heart activity and for selectively applying first and second stimulating pulses to respective first and second portions of the patient's-heart, comprising a first unit arranged to be disposed externally of the patient's body and including means for transmitting electromagnetic energy into the patient's body; and a second unit adapted to be surgically implanted within the patient's body; said second unit including a power supply circuit arranged to be responsive to the externally generated electromagnetic energy for providing the sole energisation of said second unit, means for sensing a condition of the patient's heart for providing an electrical signal indicative of the sensed heart condition, a modulator connected to receive said electrical signal, means connected to said modulator for transmitting the modulated signal to the first unit, and means for selectively applying first and second stimulating pulses to the first and second portions of the heart; said first unit further comprising a demodulator arranged to provide a signal representative of said sensed electrical signal for providing an indication of the patient's heart activity.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
55 words
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said sensing means is arranged to provide first and second electrical signals of first and second conditions of the heart, such as atrial and ventricular activity, and wherein said modulator and transmitting means are arranged to modulate and transmit the first and second signals to the first unit.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 wherein said modulator is arranged to produce a frequency modulated signal representing said sensed electrical signal(s).
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3 wherein said modulator is arranged to produce a pulse-width modulated signal representing said sensed electrical signal(s).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
Apparatus as claimed in Claims 2 and 4 wherein said secord unit includes means for repeatedly sampling said first and second electrical signals before they are mcdulated and transmitted.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
42 words
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5 wherein a timing signal is also repeatedly transmitted with said sampled first and second electrical signals, said first unit including means for identifying said timing signal and separating and demodulating said sampled first and second signals.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
55 words
Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the first unit includes a first coil for transmitting r.f. electromagnetic energy to the second unit, and the second unit includes a second coil for receiving the r.f. energy from the first unit and a third coil for inductively counting the modulated signal(s) to the first coil.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
44 words
Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the first unit includes an antenna changeover switch disposable in a first position in which the first unit transmits electromagnetic energy or in a second position in which the modulated signal(s) are coupled to the demodulator.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
40 words
Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the first unit is arranged to transmit a relatively short burst of electromagnetic energy and the power supply circuit includes storage means for energising the second unit for a relatively longer period.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
53 words
Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein said first unit is arranged to transmit a power signal in the form of a pulse electromagnetic energy and a control signal in the form of first and second shorter pulses of electromagnetic energy in first and second sequential time slots after said power signal.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
77 words
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 wherein the second unit includes means adapted to detect the trailing edge of the power signal and to set first and second timing windows corresponding to the predetermined transmission times of the first and second shorter pulses of energy and means responsive to the reception of said first and second shorter pulses within the respective timing windows for controlling the application of the first and second stimulating pulses to the heart:.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
66 words
Apparatus as claimed in Claim 11 wherein the first unit is arranged to transmit a third short pulse as part of said control signal and wherein said second unit is arranged to apply the first stimulating pulse to the heart on reception of the first short control pulse and to apply the second stimulating pulse to the heart on reception of the second short control pulse.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim wherein the second unit includes limiting means for preventing the application of the second stimulating pulse to the heart at a rate greater than a predetermined rate.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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