Patent ID: 11896387
Assignee: PACESETTER, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A  G

Claim 11:
12. A method for use by an implantable medical device (IMD) including sensing circuitry, electrodes, an accelerometer, and at least one processor, the method comprising:
using the sensing circuitry, coupled to the electrodes, to sense an electrocardiogram (ECG) or electrogram (EGM) signal indicative of cardiac electrical activity of a patient's heart;
using the accelerometer to obtain posture information and activity information for the patient;
during a first period of time, the at least one processor classifying the patient as being asleep based on the posture information and the activity information obtained from the accelerometer, and in response thereto the at least one processor enabling monitoring for apnea, which includes
determining a measure of short-term variation (STV) and a measure of long-term variation (LTV) of a feature of the ECG or EGM signal over a measurement period that includes a plurality of cardiac cycles; and
detecting a potential apnea event in the measurement period based on the measure of STV and the measure of LTV in the feature of the ECG or EGM signal;
wherein the feature comprises one of a morphological feature or a temporal feature; and

during a second period of time, the at least one processor classifying the patient as being awake based on further posture information and further activity information obtained from the accelerometer, and in response thereto the at least one processor disabling the monitoring for apnea.