US5480413A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus and method for stabilizing the ventricular rate of a heart during atrial fibrillation
Assignee: Pacesetter Inc
•
Filing: 1994-11-30
•
Granted: 1996-01-02
•
Expires: 2014-11-30
Abstract
Abstract A pacemaker is provided in which ventricular rate instability is detected and automatically corrected by gradually increasing the ventricular pacing rate. Once the ventricle is stabilized, its pacing rate is gradually decreased as much as possible without losing ventricular stability. Ventricular instability can be a result of an atrial tachyrhythmia such as atrial fibrillation. Therefore, if the pacemaker is a dual chamber pacemaker, its operation is switched to a single chamber pacing mode thereby decoupling the ventricular pacing signals from the atrial pacing signals and atrial triggered ventricular pacing is inhibited until the atrial fibrillation terminates.
Inventors
- 👤 Saul Greenhut
- 👤 Bruce Steinhaus
- 👤 Albert Dawson
- 👤 Tibor Nappholz
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 13:55
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61N; A61N1/00; A61N1/18; A61N1/32; A61N1/36; A61N1/362; A61N1/3621; A61N1/3622; A61N1/365; A61N1/36514; A61N1/36521
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
101 words
An implantable pacemaker for insertion into a patient for stimulating the patient's heart, said pacemaker comprising: means for detecting R--R intervals between consecutive R-waves in said heart, said R--R intervals defining a ventricular rate in a ventricle of said heart; means for detecting an atrial tachyrhythmia in an atrium of said heart; means for determining if said ventricular rate is unstable in response to said atrial tacharrhythmia based on said R--R intervals; means for pacing said ventricle at a ventricular pacing rate; and means for stabilizing said ventricular rate by increasing said ventricular pacing rate when said ventricular rate is unstable.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
101 words
An implantable pacemaker for insertion into a patient for stimulating the patient's heart, said pacemaker comprising: means for detecting R--R intervals between consecutive R-waves in said heart, said R--R intervals defining a ventricular rate in a ventricle of said heart; means for detecting an atrial tachyrhythmia in an atrium of said heart; means for determining if said ventricular rate is unstable in response to said atrial tacharrhythmia based on said R--R intervals; means for pacing said ventricle at a ventricular pacing rate; and means for stabilizing said ventricular rate by increasing said ventricular pacing rate when said ventricular rate is unstable.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
The pacemaker of claim 1 wherein said means for determining includes means for monitoring a ventricular rate variability, said ventricular rate variability being determined by comparing a predetermined number of R--R intervals to an average R--R interval.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
The pacemaker of claim 1 further comprising means for decreasing said ventricular pacing rate gradually while maintaining cardiac stability.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
The pacemaker of claim 1 further comprising means for detecting an atrial fibrillation of said heart.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
29 words
The pacemaker of claim 4 further comprising means for pacing the atrium at an atrial pacing rate, said atrial pacing means being disabled when said atrial fibrillation is detected.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
47 words
The pacemaker of claim 1 wherein said means for detecting said R--R intervals includes means for detecting a plurality of intervals RR i between R waves, means for determining normalized value for said RR i and means for determining when said normalized value exceeds a preselected threshold.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
36 words
The pacemaker of claim 1 further comprising means for generating a metabolic indicated rate, said means for determining if said ventricular rate is stable including means for comparing said metabolic indicated rate with said ventricular rate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
108 words
A pacemaker implantable in a patient for stimulating the heart, said pacemaker comprising: means for generating atrial induced pacing signals for pacing an atrium; means for generating ventricular induced pacing signals for pacing a ventricle, in a normal mode of operation, said ventricular induced signals being coupled to said atrial induced pacing signals; means for detecting R--R intervals between consecutive R-waves in said heart; means for detecting a ventricular rate instability of a ventricular rate by analyzing said R--R intervals; means for detecting atrial tachyrhythmia; and means for increasing said ventricular induced pacing signals gradually when said ventricular rate instability is detected until the ventricular rate is stabilized.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
108 words
A pacemaker implantable in a patient for stimulating the heart, said pacemaker comprising: means for generating atrial induced pacing signals for pacing an atrium; means for generating ventricular induced pacing signals for pacing a ventricle, in a normal mode of operation, said ventricular induced signals being coupled to said atrial induced pacing signals; means for detecting R--R intervals between consecutive R-waves in said heart; means for detecting a ventricular rate instability of a ventricular rate by analyzing said R--R intervals; means for detecting atrial tachyrhythmia; and means for increasing said ventricular induced pacing signals gradually when said ventricular rate instability is detected until the ventricular rate is stabilized.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
12 words
The pacemaker of claim 8 further comprising means for detecting atrial fibrillation.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
28 words
The pacemaker of claim 9 further comprising decoupling means for decoupling said ventricular induced pacing signals from said atrial induced pacing signals when the atrial fibrillation is detected.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
33 words
The pacemaker of claim 8 wherein said means for detecting R--R intervals includes means for measuring an interval between adjacent ventricular signals and comparing means for comparing said intervals to a threshold level.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
67 words
A method of providing pacing signals to a heart with an implanted pacemaker, said method comprising the steps of: applying ventricular pacing signals to a ventricle; monitoring an atrium to determine atrial instability wherein said atrium exhibits random atrial beats by measuring R--R intervals between consecutive R waves in said ventricle; and increasing a rate of said ventricular pacing signals gradually until ventricular rate stability is achieved.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
67 words
A method of providing pacing signals to a heart with an implanted pacemaker, said method comprising the steps of: applying ventricular pacing signals to a ventricle; monitoring an atrium to determine atrial instability wherein said atrium exhibits random atrial beats by measuring R--R intervals between consecutive R waves in said ventricle; and increasing a rate of said ventricular pacing signals gradually until ventricular rate stability is achieved.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of decreasing said rate while maintaining ventricular stability.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US4998974A
Cited
AU4044493A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1999-01-01 | 1999-07-03 | 2000-01-02 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2003-01-01 | 2003-07-03 | 2004-01-02 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2007-01-01 | 2007-07-03 | 2008-01-02 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |