Patent ID: 8731665

Claim:
An implantable cardiac stimulation system for a patient comprising: at least one lead adapted to be implanted within the patient so as to be able to provide electrical stimulation to the heart of the patient; at least one electrical sensor that senses internal electrogram signals which include signals indicative of intrinsic heart activity and evoked heart activity in response to the delivery of therapeutic electrical stimulations via the at least one lead; a pressure sensor that senses a pressure within at least one chamber of the heart; an orientation sensor that detects parameters of the patient that are indicative of an orientation of the patient, wherein the orientation sensor comprises at least one accelerometer and wherein the orientation of the patient is determined using both the pressure sensor and the accelerometer; a controller that induces the cardiac system to deliver electrical stimulation to the heart of the patient via the at least one lead wherein the controller receives internal electrogram signals from the at least one electrical sensor and signals from the orientation sensor, wherein the controller evaluates the internal electrogram signals from the at least one electrical sensor to determine whether the internal electrogram signals are potentially indicative of possible abnormality in the patient's heart function and when the controller determines that the internal electrogram signals are potentially indicative of possible abnormalities in the patient's heart function, the controller then evaluates the orientation sensor to determine whether the possible abnormalities are due, at least in part, to a change in the orientation of the patient.