Patent ID: 9636069
Date: 2017-05-02
CPC Classifications: A61B

Claim:
1. A method of detecting and classifying atrial fibrillations (AFs), the method comprising: monitoring an electro-cardiogram (ECG) signal of a patient for a prescribed monitoring period; detecting atrial fibrillation (AF) episodes during the prescribed monitoring period based on the monitored ECG signal; monitoring one or more physiological parameters to determine an activity level of the patient during the prescribed monitoring period; associating a detected AF episode with the determined activity level of the patient at a time of the detected arrhythmia; for each detected AF episode, incrementing a count of active AF episodes detected within the prescribed monitoring period if the AF episode is associated with a period of patient activity and incrementing a count of resting AF episodes detected within the prescribed monitoring period if the AF episode is associated with a period of patient rest; classifying a cause of the detected AF episodes based, at least in part, on the count of resting AF episodes and the count of active AF episodes, wherein the cause of the detected AF episodes is classified as adrenergic if the count of active AF episodes indicates AF episodes occur when the patient is active and wherein the cause of the detected AF episodes is identified as vagal if the count of resting AF episodes indicates AF episodes occur when the patient is at rest; and generating a report regarding the classified causes of the AF episodes, wherein the report includes the count of resting AF episodes and the count of active AF episodes.