Medtronic, Inc.

Other

Ursula Gebhardt

Kenneth M Anderson

George J Klein

Glenn C Zillmer

Charles L Dennis

Marc Hendriks

Fredric W Lindemans

Michael F Hess

Lawrence J Mulligan

An implantable medical device is configured so that all of the major components including a housing and attached leads are disposed within the vasculature of a patient. A tether extends from the housing of the device to an implant location where the tether is secured to tissue outside of the vasculature. In this manner, an intravascular medical device may be implanted at a location remote from final placement, delivered via the vasculature and anchored at the initial entry point.

Intravascular medical device

A system and method for detecting and discriminating atrial arrhythmias based on mechanical signals of cardiac wall motion and electrical signals of cardiac depolarizations. A mechanical event rate determined from sensed mechanical events is used to corroborate an electrical event rate determined from sensed EGM or ECG signals to classify the heart rhythm. If the event rates are not correlated, other parameterized data from the mechanical signal and electrical signal are evaluated to detect evidence of an arrhythmia. If electrical and mechanical event data do not corroborate a common arrhythmia condition, electrical and mechanical sensing parameters may be adjusted.

Use of accelerometer signal to augment ventricular arrhythmia detection

Methods and devices for improving ventricular contractile status of a patient suitably exploit changes in ventricular pressure and/or dP/dtto provide and/or optimize a response to a patient. The ventricular pressure may be appropriately correlated to intracellular calcium regulation, which is indicative of contractile status. To assess ventricular contractile status, the device suitably observes a cardiac perturbation of the patient and measures force interval potentiation following the perturbation. The contractile potentiation can then be stored and/or quantified in the implantable medical device to determine the ventricular contractile status of the patient, and an appropriate response may be provided to the patient as a function of the ventricular contractile status. Examples of responses may include administration of drug or neuro therapies, modification of a pacing rate, or the like. Force interval potentiation may also be used to optimize or improve a parameter for a response provided by the implantable medical device.

Method and apparatus for assessing ventricular contractile status

A method of making a temporary medical electrical lead for pacing or defibrillating a heart of a patient. The method comprises providing at least one electrical conductor having proximal and distal ends; providing an insulating sheath formed of biocompatible material extending over and covering at least portions of the at least one electrical conductor, attaching an electrical connector assembly to the proximal end of the at least one electrical conductor for attachment to a device capable of providing pacing or defibrillation pulses; providing an electrode mounting pad in the form of a cast matrix structure made of a biodegradable, biocompatible material soluble in human body fluids and having an outer heart non-contacting surface and an inner heart contacting surface, the outer surface being less permeable to passage of body fluids than the inner surface and wherein the inner surface of the pad has larger interstices and is less dense than the outer surface; providing a drug for treating for treating a medical condition of the patient's heart; loading the drug into the matrix of the pad; and attaching at least portions of the distal end of the at least one electrical conductor or of the electrode member to the electrode mounting pad.

Method of making a temporary medical lead having biodegradable electrode mounting pad loaded with therapeutic drug

A temporary cardiac electrical stimulating lead comprises a stimulating electrode mounted in or on a biodegradable electrode mounting pad disposed at a distal end of the lead. The electrode mounting pad is capable of biodegradably dissolving over time in human body fluids and is loaded with a drug for therapeutically treating a medical condition of a patient's heart. The electrode mounting pad may be loaded with any of a variety of different drugs, such anti-arrhythmia or anti-inflammatory drugs. When the lead body is pulled away from the electrode mounting pad and removed from the patient, any portion of the electrode mounting pad remaining within the patient dissolves over time and disappears.

Growing community of inventors

Sint Lambrechts Woluwe, Belgium

Ursula Gebhardt