Patent ID: 8463376

Claim:
A method for electrically stimulating a sympathetic nerve to improve heart function, the method comprising the steps of: positioning an electrode on the epicardial surface of the heart in an epicardial vein adjacent the sympathetic nerves; connecting a pacing device to the electrode to electrically activate contractions of the heart muscle at a predetermined rate for controlling a desired frequency of heart muscle cycles per minute, wherein each heart muscle electrical cycle includes a refractory period when heart muscle activation is effectively prevented, and a diastole when the heart is filling and excitable; connecting a stimulator to the electrode in the epicardial vein to electrically stimulate the sympathetic nerves with a train of electric pulses for a specified time interval during the refractory period of the heart muscle cycle; using the pacing device to monitor for premature contractions of the heart during diastole in the heart muscle electrical cycle to detect competing electrical activity that interrupts a heart cycle to inhibit electrical outputs; and resetting the start of a heart muscle electrical cycle upon sensing a premature contraction of the heart during the monitoring step by inhibiting a voltage output from the pacing device until a predetermined time interval is sensed in which there is no competing electrical activity.