Siemens Aktiengesellschaft

Pacesetter Ab

Siemens Elema Ab

Jakub Hirschberg

Hans G Strandberg

Heinz Neubauer

Staffan Bowald

Nina Gilljam

Kjell Noren

Martin Obel

Lars-Olof Peterson

Jens Wolf

Malin Alm

Sven-Erik Hedberg

Michael Lenz

Ulf Lindegren

Christer Ekwall

Kurt Hognelid

Tryggve Hemmingsson

Brigitte Stroetmann

Lars Botvidsson

Ulf Fahlstroem

Kjell Nor&eacute;n

Goesta Saell

Mats Wager

Hans Anderson

Bengt Svensson

Ulf Fahlstrom

A heart stimulator has a stimulation energy delivering assembly, including at least one lead adapted for implantation in contact with cardiac tissue, and an atrial arrhythmia detector, and a control unit connected to the stimulation energy delivering assembly and to the detector. The control unit controls the stimulation energy delivering assembly to deliver at least one atrial arrhythmia abolishing therapy and, if continued atrial arrhythmia is detected, to deliver antithrombus stimulation energy pulses of lower energy than a defibrillation shock, but with different timing and with sufficient energy for producing atrial contraction for increasing hemodynamic blood transportation away from the atrium and for preventing thrombi formation in the atrium. For a patient suffering from a chronic or paroxysmal non-curable atrial arrhythmia, the control unit controls the stimulation energy delivering assembly to deliver the antithrombus energy without any preceding arrhythmia abolishing therapy.

Heart stimulator for administering antithrombus therapy

Mathematical functions such as recursive autoregression models which include parameters are used for defining the heart signal and any signals disturbing the heart signal, such as polarization signals. By registering, during a predetermined time interval, the electrode signal for determining the parameters for one or more different mathematical functions, the parameters can be used on their own or in combination to determine the activity of the heart, i.e., whether the registered electrode signal corresponds to a stimulated, spontaneous or absence of heart activity.

Apparatus for tissue stimulation

Implantable multi-electrode device for electrically stimulating a

A tachycardia eliminating apparatus includes a heartbeat detector which detects heartbeats in an input heart activity signal which delivers an output heartbeat signal indicating each detected heartbeat, a tachycardia detector coupled to the output of the heartbeat detector which generates a tachycardia indication signal in response to a detected tachycardia status of a heart as reflected in the heartbeat signal, and a respiratory system stimulator coupled to the output of the tachycardia detector and generating an output respiratory system stimulation signal for stimulating a respiratory system to achieve a stimulated breathing rate, with the ratio of the detected heartbeat rate to the stimulated breathing rate corresponding to a predetermined value.

Perex respiratory system stimulation upon tachycardia detection

In a method and apparatus for physiological signal processing, a number of measured physiological signals are obtained in vivo from a subject and at least one of these measured physiological signals is supplied to the input of each first signal processing unit in a group of first signal processing units. Within each signal processing unit, the physiological measurement signal (or signals) supplied thereto is/are subjected to at least one transfer function so as to produce a pre-treated signal at the output of that first signal processing unit. The pre-treated signals from all of the first signal processing units are combined in a second signal processing unit so as to produce at least one synthesized ECG signal.

Device and method for generating a synthesized ECG

In a medical therapy apparatus, such as a pacemaker, a physiological function which is to be artificially controlled by therapy administration has a natural variability associated therewith. The medical therapy apparatus generates a basic therapy which would otherwise be supplied to the subject in the absence of such natural variability. The medical therapy apparatus further includes a non-linear oscillator which emits a chaotic output, the chaotic output of the non-linear oscillator being matched to the variability of the physiological function in order to produce a variability adjustment. The basic therapy is combined with the variability adjustment and a variability-adjusted therapy is then administered to the subject.

Medical therapy apparatus which administers therapy adjusted to follow

In a method and apparatus for stimulating and/or diagnosing the heart, a voltage is applied to the heart over at least a selected portion of the heart during an activation interval with a rise and fall, with the voltage having a first derivative with an absolute value that is less than the value of the derivative which, for a patient in question, would trigger the patient's heartbeat, and with a duration from beginning to end of each applied voltage signal of at least 30 ms.

Method and apparatus for applying electrical signals to a heart for

A defibrillator has a pulse-generating device with at least three outputs to which electrodes are connectable for delivering defibrillation pulses. A switching network is provided to reverse the polarity and/or to switch the voltages applied by the pulse-generating device, selectively and at predetermined times, among the electrodes.

Defibrillator with output stage using switching network and three

An electrode device, for intracardiac stimulation and/or defibrillation of heart tissue and/or sensing heart signals in a patient, has a soft, flexible electrode cable with an outer coating of insulation containing at least one elongate conductor connected to an electrode arranged on the electrode cable. In order to attain an electrode device of this kind which is structurally very simple and in which all the electrodes on the electrode cable can be applied to the heart wall in a very simple manner so the entire electrode surface faces the wall and firmly presses against it, the electrode cable is at least partially ribbon-shaped.

Cardiac electrode device having at least a portion thereof which is

An implantable electrode system includes a connector for connecting a proximal end of the electrode to an implantable medical apparatus, such as for stimulating living tissue, and a distal end at which a tip electrode is located. The proximal end and the distal end are connected by a conductor which electrically connects the medical apparatus to the electrode tip, and which is surrounded by a flexible insulating sleeve. In order to provide an indifferent electrode having a large surface area relative to the size of the tip electrode, the insulating sleeve is provided with a section formed by an electrically conductive, flexible material, which serves as the indifferent electrode. The flexibility of the electrode system is retained, while providing an indifferent electrode of optional size.

Implantable medical electrode system having an indifferent electrode

In an electrode system for implantation in a heart, both the atrium and ventricle electrically interact with a medical apparatus. The electrode system has a single electrode lead having an atrial electrode at a distal end for implantation in the atrium before the electrode lead is advanced deeper into the heart so that a ventricular electrode in-line with and preceding the atrial electrode along the lead, is connectable in the ventricle of the heart. The electrode lead has a first curvature near the ventricular electrode and a second curvature near the atrial electrode in order to facilitate implantation of the electrode system and reduce mechanical loads on the heart after implantation. The electrode system can also be equipped with defibrillation electrodes and/or physiological sensors, thereby becoming multi-functional.

Medical electrode lead with atrial electrode at the distal and

A device for stimulating heart tissue contains a stimulation unit connected via a switching device to an electrode system. The number of connecting lines between the stimulation unit and the switching device is minimized by emitting control signals and stimulation pulses from a common pulse signal output socket of the stimulation unit. The switching device contains a signal discriminator which separates the control signals from the stimulation pulses, the control signals then controlling the switching device such that the stimulation pulses are delivered to a specific part of the electrode system.

Device for stimulating living tissue

An implantable defibrillator has a charging circuit which charges a capacitance, electrodes for delivering energy from the capacitance to a heart, and a switching stage for discharging the capacitance through the electrodes and across heart tissue to defibrillate the heart, as needed. A non-inductive current limiter is connected in vivo in the discharge path for limiting the current supplied to the heart tissue to predetermined maximum value.

Defibrillator with current limiter

An implantable cardioverter/defibrillator has an electrode system including two electrodes, at least one of the two electrodes being adapted for placement in a peripheral vein of the heart, the peripheral veins constituting the venous side of the coronary vessels running between the base of the heart and the apex of the heart.

Growing community of inventors

Taeby, Sweden

Jakub Hirschberg