US 12,491,369 B2
Implantable medical device with electrode dislocation recognition
Thomas Doerr, Berlin (DE); Frank Becker, Berlin (DE); and Christian Rehdorf, Berlin (DE)
Assigned to BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, Berlin (DE)
Appl. No. 18/001,919
Filed by BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG, Berlin (DE)
PCT Filed Jun. 1, 2021, PCT No. PCT/EP2021/064639
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 15, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/259600, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 30, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 20181572 (EP), filed on Jun. 23, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0233866 A1, Jul. 27, 2023
Int. Cl. A61N 1/00 (2006.01); A61N 1/362 (2006.01); A61N 1/37 (2006.01)
CPC A61N 1/3712 (2013.01) [A61N 1/3624 (2013.01); A61N 1/3714 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. Implantable medical device for stimulating a human or animal heart, comprising a processor, a memory unit, a stimulation unit comprising a stimulation electrode configured to stimulate a first cardiac region of a human or animal heart, and a detection unit configured to detect an intracardiac electrogram at a second cardiac region of the same heart, the second cardiac region being a ventricle,
wherein
the memory unit comprises a computer-readable program that causes the processor to perform the following steps when executed on the processor:
deliver a stimulation pulse to a human or animal heart by the stimulation unit;
evaluate a signal of an intracardiac electrogram detected by the detection unit, the evaluation being based on a point in time in which the signal occurs and at least one morphologic parameter of the signal, the signal having been caused in response to the stimulation pulse, wherein the at least one morphologic parameter includes:
an absolute value of an amplitude of the signal, and
at least one of:
a width of the signal, wherein the width of the signal is defined by a time interval between the time the amplitude of the signal exceeds a predefined threshold level and the time the amplitude of the signal falls below the predefined threshold level,
a positive and/or a negative and/or a total area under at least a part of the signal, or
a number of occurrences and/or an occurrence of zero crossings of the signal,
identify a dislocation of the stimulation electrode if a) the point in time of the signal is below a first threshold value and b) the morphologic parameter exceeds at least one further threshold value; and
prevent a delivery of further stimulation pulses by the stimulation unit when a dislocation of the stimulation electrode has been identified.