Patent ID: 6556859
Filing Date: 2003-04-29
Classification: A61N

Abstract:
A method of classifying signals sensed by an electrode of a medical electrical lead adapted to be positioned within an atrium of a heart of a patient, the lead forming a portion of a cardiac pacing system further comprising an implantable pulse generator for generating pacing pulses, the method comprising:collecting atrial event signals consisting of P-wave signals and far field R-wave signals; rejecting atrial event signals if the pulse generator is not operating under normal conditions; generating an interim form factor histogram based upon a form of collected atrial event signals which, the interim form factor histogram including an interim P-wave form factor histogram and an interim far field R-wave form factor histogram, each having bins of atrial event signals; discarding bins of atrial event signals within the interim form factor histogram which do not meet a discard level; weighting a previously generated form factor histogram including a previously generated P-wave form factor histogram and a previously generated far field R-wave form factor histogram; combining the weighted previously generated form factor histogram with the interim form factor histogram to create a representative form factor histogram; determining if a minimal safety margin is located between a representative P-wave form factor histogram and a representative far field R-wave form factor histogram within the representative form factor histogram; and classifying atrial event signals as either P-wave signals or far field R-wave signals based upon the representative form factor histogram.