Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.

Mark Schwartz

Yunlong Zhang

Jaeho Kim

James O Gilkerson

Joseph M Bocek

James Kalgren

Eric G Lovett

Jasbir Sra

Craig Michael Stolen

Haris Sih

Les Norman Peterson

Paula Dieterle

John Devlin Foley

Thomas N Anderson

David A Miller

C Denise Thompson

Anthony V Caparso

Lili Liu

Vickie L Conley

Par Lindh

Jihong Qu

John D Higinbotham

Kenneth H Persen

Tala L Bynum

Dorothy Marie Nauman

LanAnh Nguyen

Aaron Raymond Peterson

Mitchell Smith

Dorothy Marie Naumann

Kristen Rodenhiser

Prashant Sinha

A method involves implantably detecting changes in posture of a patient's body. Baroreflex responses to the posture changes are determined. An autonomic tone of the patient is determined based on the baroreflex responses. Based on the autonomic tone, various patient susceptibilities to disease may be determined, including susceptibilities to heart disease, arrhythmia, and/or sudden cardiac death.

Assessing autonomic activity using baroreflex analysis

Embodiments of the invention are related to leads with topographic surface features and related methods, amongst other things. In an embodiment, the invention includes an implantable lead including a lead body having a proximal end and a distal end, the lead body including an outer layer defining a lumen, the lead body further including a first electrical conductor disposed within the lumen of the outer layer. The implantable lead can further include a first electrode coupled to the lead body, the electrode in electrical communication with the first electrical conductor. The implantable lead can also include a cellular modulation segment on the external surface of the lead body, the cellular modulation segment comprising topographic surface features configured to modulate cellular responses. Other embodiments are also included herein.

Implantable leads with topographic features for cellular modulation and related methods

The invention provides a cardiac rhythm management system for stimulating a heart having photosensitive tissue, vectors useful to photosensitize cells expressing the vectors, and methods for light induced depolarization of cells.

Optical depolarization of cardiac tissue

A rate smoothing function used in implantable pulse generators uses detected triggering events, which cause the rate smoothing function to be activated or deactivated, and detected parameter adjusting events, which cause parameter(s) of the rate smoothing function to be changed. In one example, the activation/deactivation and/or change to the parameters of the rate smoothing function are temporary, and the pre-event state of the rate smoothing function is set to a post-adjusting state, such as after a first time interval. Rate smoothing may be selected, activated or deactivated, or adjusted based on a cardiac signal state, or based on an activity or other physiological sensor signal. The adjusted rate smoothing parameters may include an up-smoothing percentage to limit a speed of pacing rate increase and a down-smoothing percentage to limit a speed of pacing rate drop.

Rate smoothing control

The invention provides a cardiac rhythm management system which includes a tachyarrhythmia detection and classification circuit programmed to detect and classify a tachyarrhythmia, a biologic therapy delivery device configured to deliver or regulate an expression cassette suitable for terminating or preventing atrial fibrillation (AF), and a control circuit coupled to the tachyarrhythmia detection and classification circuit and the biologic therapy delivery device. Also provided is an implantable medical device for use in a body having a cardiovascular system, which includes an implantable device body including at least a cardiovascular portion configured to be in the cardiovascular system, and an expression cassette incorporated into the cardiovascular portion of the implantable device body, the expression cassette selected to express a gene product that terminates or prevents AF. Further provided are methods which employ particular expression cassettes to prevent, inhibit or treat AF.

Methods and apparatus to treat and prevent atrial tachyarrhythmias

A device and method are presented for prolonging the atrial effective refractory period with pacing therapy. Such refractory period prolongation renders the atrial tissue less susceptible to the onset of atrial fibrillation. A particularly useful application is during the period after application of electrical therapy to the atria to terminate an episode of atrial fibrillation.

Pacing therapy for extending atrial refractory period

The invention relates to methods and devices for treating and/or preventing atrial fibrillation. In an embodiment, the invention includes a method of treating and/or preventing atrial fibrillation including applying an oscillating electrical stimulus to a tissue of a patient, the oscillating electrical stimulus sufficient to block transmission of electrical signals through the tissue. In an embodiment, the invention includes an implantable medical device including a stimulator configured to generate an oscillating electrical stimulus at a frequency and amplitude sufficient to block transmission of electrical signals through a tissue, a stimulation electrode in communication with the stimulator, the stimulation electrode configured to deliver the oscillating electrical stimulus to the tissue, and control circuitry in communication with the stimulator, the control circuitry configured to selectively deliver the oscillating electrical stimulus to treat and/or prevent atrial fibrillation. Other embodiments are also described herein.

High frequency stimulation for treatment of atrial fibrillation

Systems and methods for a configurable programmer for an implantable cardiovascular medical device are disclosed. A preferred embodiment comprises a graphical user interface to visualize programming processes to alert a clinician to potential problems with the patient's condition or the therapy provided by the device, or the device itself. The programmer is further adapted to minimize the risk of programming potentially dangerous changes to the implantable device's parameter settings by requiring the clinician to first review new value changes before initiating the programming step. The programmer also allows the clinician to view how a change to one or more parameter settings affect other settings before the implantable device is programmed or re-programmed.

Implantable medical device programming apparatus having a graphical user interface

Systems and methods include sensing whether a shock to a heart is needed, and prior to delivering the shock, causing at least a partial contraction of a musculature in a chest, and delivering the shock while the musculature is at least partially contracted to reduce the pain of shock therapy.

System and method to reduce device therapy pain

This document describes systems, devices, and methods that use multiple morphology templates for discriminating between rhythms, such as supraventricular tachyarrhythmias (SVTs) and ventricular tachyarrhythmias (VTs), for delivering a countershock in response to a VT episode, but withholding delivery of such a countershock in response to an SVT episode. In certain examples, the particular morphology used for storing morphological features is selected at least in part using a sensor-indicated activity level of a subject, or a metabolic need of the subject.

Cardiac rhythm management systems and methods using multiple morphology templates for discriminating between rhythms

A system comprising an implantable medical device (IMD). The IMD comprises a ventricular heart signal sensing circuit to provide a ventricular heart signal, at least one sensor operable to provide an electrical signal representative of patient activity, a sensor interface circuit coupled to the at least one sensor to provide an activity signal, and a controller circuit coupled to the heart signal sensing circuit and the sensor interface circuit. The controller circuit is operable to determine whether ventricular ectopy occurs during recovery from exercise using the heart signal, and to set at least one warning indicator if ventricular ectopy occurs during the recovery from exercise.

Risk of death indicator

A medical device programmer automatically adjusts parameters to be programmed to a medical device in response to a user modifying related parameters. Slide controllers on the programmer display screen can adjust parameters. In response to slide controller movement, the programmer automatically adjusts related parameters by moving their slide controllers. This graphically illustrates to the user the automatic adjustments being made to the related parameters. and the relationship between parameters being adjusted by the user and automatically. In response to on screen parameter changes, the system graphically illustrates the parameter values that are changed and those that are programmed to the medical device and those that would cause unsafe condition in the medical device if programmed. The method also prevents the programming to the medical device the parameters that would cause an unsafe condition.

Medical device interface system with automatic rate threshold adjustment

A device and method are presented for prolonging the atrial effective refractory period with pacing therapy. Such refractory period prolongation renders the atrial tissue less susceptible to the onset of atrial fibrillation. A particularly useful application is during the period after application of electrical therapy to the atria.to terminate an episode of atrial fibrillation.

Growing community of inventors

White Bear Lake, MN, United States of America

Mark Schwartz