Patent ID: 6865422

Claim:
A method of monitoring the performance of an automatic capture verification feature in a cardiac stimulation device, the method comprising: monitoring the number of backup stimulation pulses delivered at a high-energy output setting, and storing the number of backup stimulation pulses delivered at the high-energy output setting; monitoring the number of primary stimulation pulses delivered at each of a plurality of stimulation output settings, and storing the number of primary stimulation pulses at the respective output settings; wherein at least one of the plurality of stimulation output settings of the primary stimulation pulses is at the high-energy output setting; and comparing the stored number of backup stimulation pulses to the stored number of primary stimulation pulses to evaluate the performance of the automatic capture verification feature; wherein the step of comparing the stored number of backup stimulation pulses to the stored number of primary stimulation pulses comprises selectively comparing the number of backup stimulation pulses delivered at the high-energy output setting with the number of primary stimulation pulses delivered at the high-energy output setting.