Patent ID: 8032213

Claim:
A method for estimating a patient's ventricular defibrillation threshold (VDFT), comprising: (a) delivering a plurality of stimulation pulses to the patient's right ventricle (RV), the stimulation pulses being of at least three different energy levels up to 2 Joules, wherein each said stimulation pulse is delivered during a window defined between an R-wave and a vulnerable period that follows the R-wave; (b) measuring voltage potentials induced in response to the RV stimulation pulses delivered at step (a), at or near a location of the patient's left ventricle (LV) where it is predicted that potential gradients induced in response to RV stimulation pulses will be lowest, wherein the voltage potentials are measured between one or more pairs of electrodes of a plurality of electrodes implanted at or near the location of the patient's LV where it is predicted that potential gradients induced in response to RV stimulation pulses will be lowest; (c) using the voltage potentials measured at step (b) to compute the potential gradients, induced in response to the RV stimulation pulses delivered at step (a), for the location of the patient's LV where it is predicted that potential gradients induced in response to RV stimulation pulses will be lowest; and (d) estimating the patient's VDFT by estimating, based on the potential gradients computed at step (c), the RV stimulation energy level that would be required to achieve a minimum acceptable potential gradient at the location of the patient's LV where it is predicted that potential gradients induced in response to RV stimulation pulses will be lowest; wherein the location within the patient's LV, where it is predicted that potential gradients induced in response to RV stimulation pulses will be lowest, is the apex and/or posterior lateral wall of the patient's LV.