Patent ID: 6612994
Filing Date: 2003-09-02
Classification: A61N

Abstract:
A system, comprising:at least one electrode disposed around a heart to sense cardiac signals and to deliver a high-energy electrical therapy to the heart; a signal sensing circuit coupled to the at least one electrode to receive and amplify the sensed cardiac signals; a therapy circuit coupled to the at least one electrode to deliver the high-energy electrical therapy to the heart; a controller coupled to the signal sensing and the therapy circuits, the controller further comprises: an analyzer coupled to the sensing circuit to receive sensed cardiac signals and analyze the cardiac signals for the presence of a cardiac arrhythmia, and issue a request to start delivering the high-energy electrical therapy based on an outcome of the analysis; a first processor coupled to the analyzer, the first processor to receive the request to start delivering the high-energy electrical therapy from the analyzer; an interprocess token coupled to the first processor, wherein the first processor sets an interprocess token upon receiving the request to start delivering the high-energy electrical therapy; a second processor coupled to the first processor, the second processor to receive a first message from the first processor about running an algorithm to verify a legitimacy of the received request to start delivering the high-energy electrical therapy, wherein the second processor stores the first message, wherein the first processor starts the algorithm to verify the legitimacy of the request to start delivering the high-energy electrical therapy and sends a second message comprising an outcome of the verification to the second processor, and wherein the second processor enables the start of delivering the high-energy electrical therapy by the first processor based on the outcome of the verification; and a hardware/software lock coupled to the first processor, wherein the first processor unlocks the hardware/software lock to start delivering the high-energy electrical therapy upon enabling by the second processor and further based on the status of the setting of the interprocess token.