Patent ID: 8249707
Filing Date: 2012-08-21
Classification: A61N

Abstract:
1. A method for use by a non-implanted system configured to communicate with an implantable cardiac device implanted within a patient, wherein the implantable cardiac device is configured to detect potential episodes of tachycardia and to store data corresponding to the detected potential episodes of tachycardia, and wherein the implantable cardiac device has programmable arrhythmia discriminators and corresponding discriminator settings that the device uses to discriminate between different types of tachycardia, the method comprising: (a) receiving, from the implantable cardiac device implanted within the patient, data corresponding to detected potential episodes of tachycardia; (b) displaying a representation of the data corresponding to the detected potential episodes of tachycardia; (c) accepting a user diagnosis for each of the detected potential episodes of tachycardia; (d) simulating the implantable cardiac device's use of the discriminator settings to produce device diagnoses based on the data for the detected potential episodes of tachycardia, and repeating step (d) a plurality of times, wherein between each successive iteration of step (d) one or more of the discriminator settings is automatically adjusted, and wherein a result of each iteration of step (d) comprises a simulated device diagnosis for each of the detected potential episodes of tachycardia; (e) comparing the simulated device diagnoses produced during multiple iterations of step (d) to the user diagnoses accepted at step (c) to thereby identify discriminator settings, and/or adjustments to currently programmed discriminator settings, that cause the device diagnoses to more closely match the user diagnoses; and (f) displaying information about the identified discriminator settings, and/or adjustments to currently programmed discriminator settings, that cause the device diagnoses to more closely match the user diagnoses; wherein each of steps (a), (b) and (c) occur prior to each of steps (d), (e) and (f); and wherein at step (e), if a plurality of different settings for a specific one of the discriminators results in the same match between the simulated device diagnoses and the user diagnoses, then selecting one of the plurality of different settings for the specific one of the discriminators based on: