Patent ID: 9283392
Filing Date: 2016-03-15
CPC Classification: A61B,A61N

Claim Text:
1. A method for determining whether tissue is excitable, comprising: positioning a delivery system with an implantable and detachable receiver-stimulator attached to a distal end of the delivery system at a location in a patient's heart, wherein the receiver-stimulator comprises a cathode and an anode for stimulating the heart and a first detachable temporary electrical connection between the cathode and the distal end of the delivery system, wherein the first temporary electrical connection provides a first conductive path from the cathode to an external monitor via a first conductive wire routed through the delivery system; transmitting acoustic energy from a controller-transmitter to the receiver-stimulator; converting the acoustic energy to electrical energy by the receiver-stimulator; stimulating the heart using the receiver-stimulator at the location in the patient's heart by delivering electrical energy to the heart; determining a likelihood of pacing based on the excitability of the heart tissue by monitoring the electrical activity using the external monitor; quantifying the delivered electrical energy by using the external monitor; determining an efficiency of conversion of acoustic energy to electrical stimulation energy at the location that is determined to be excitable by comparing a level of the delivered electrical energy against the acoustic energy transmitted by the controller-transmitter; and correlating the efficiency of conversion with the likelihood of pacing of the heart issue; wherein the controller-transmitter is separate from the receiver-stimulator and the external monitor.