Method and apparatus for using heart rate variability as a safety check in electrical therapies

摘要

A cardiac rhythm management system modulates the delivery of pacing and/or autonomic neurostimulation pulses based on heart rate variability (HRV). An HRV parameter being a measure of the HRV is produced to indicate a patient's cardiac condition, based on which the delivery of pacing and/or autonomic neurostimulation pulses is started, stopped, adjusted, or optimized. In one embodiment, the HRV parameter is used as a safety check to stop an electrical therapy when it is believed to be potentially harmful to continue the therapy.

主权项

1. A method for delivering electrical stimulation to a patient, comprising:
sensing a cardiac signal; measuring a variance in cardiac cycle lengths over a predetermined period of time to produce a heart rate variability (HRV) parameter based on the sensed cardiac signal; delivering electrical stimulation pulses by executing at least a remodeling control therapy (RCT) pacing algorithm; stopping the execution of the RCT pacing algorithm and starting an execution of a cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) pacing algorithm or a bradycardia pacing algorithm when the HRV parameter falls out of a safety window; and adjusting the safety window dynamically based on the patient's heart rate.