Patent ID: 8200341

Claim:
A method of implanting a cardiac stimulus device in a patient comprising: physically implanting the cardiac stimulus device, including a canister and a lead system, into the patient, the canister and the lead system having a plurality of electrodes that, when implanted, define at least first and second sensing vectors; initializing the device, including activating the device such that the device captures signals along a sensing vector; directing the patient to assume at least first and second body positions to allow the implanted device to perform assessment of captured signals using at least the first and second sensing vectors; and selecting one of the at least first and second sensing vectors as a default sensing vector for monitoring cardiac activity of the patient regardless of the patient's body position; wherein the assessment of captured signals includes calculating a factor indicating a vector having less variation in signal quality across multiple postures, and the step of selecting one of the at least first and second sensing vectors includes selecting a vector in which sensing data captured in each position varies less than sensing data captured in each position in at least one other vector.