SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STIMULATING THE HEART IN COMBINATION WITH CARDIAC RHYTHM MANAGEMENT PHARMACEUTICALS

摘要

Sensors are applied to the heart and sensor data is supplied to a rules engine. The rules engine applies rules that reflect a CRM pharmaceutical regime of the patient to the sensor data to determine whether an electrical waveform should be applied to the heart. When electrical stimulation is warranted, the drug “awareness” rules are used by the rules engine to instruct a multi-phase cardiac stimulus generator to generate an electrical waveform that improves the performance of the drugs administered to the patient, allow the patient to be administered a lower dose of a particular drug, and/or reduce or eliminate side effects from the drugs.

主权项

1. An apparatus configured to deliver electrical waveforms to a patient's heart comprising:
a processor coupled to a memory and configured to: receive sensor data from one or more sensors configured to sense a condition of the patient's heart; apply at least one rule stored in the memory to the sensor data to determine whether the sensor date indicates weakening contractions of the patient's heart; determine, based on application of the at least one rule to the sensor data, whether to deliver a sub-threshold electrical waveform that is insufficient to cause the heart to beat to at least one electrode configured to be implanted in, on or proximate to at least one chamber of the patient's heart; cause delivery of the sub-threshold electrical waveform to the at least one chamber of the patient's heart via the at least one electrode upon determination that the sub-threshold electrical waveform is to be delivered to the at least one chamber; receive updated sensor data from the one or more sensors after delivery of the sub-threshold electrical waveform; and determine whether to suspend delivery of the sub-threshold electrical waveform based on presence of a QRS waveform in the updated sensor data.