| 摘要 |
<p>Apparatus and method for monitoring the performance of skeletal muscle (22) used in a skeletal muscle powered cardiac assist system. The monitoring is performed by an oxygen sensor (106) which determines the adequacy of circulatory support to the skeletal muscle (22). An adequately supported skeletal muscle can offer the desired cardiac assistance chronically. Insufficient support indicates that the skeletal muscle will easily fatigue until adequate vascularization is achieved. If the circulatory support is chronically insufficient, the risk of ischemia becomes high and additional surgical intervention may be required. A preferred mode employs a two wavelength reflectance oximeter. The sensed data may be stored in memory within an implantable pulse generator. This memory may be interrogated telemetrically.</p> |
