Patent ID: 7529583

Claim:
A method of internally monitoring a subject and providing, if appropriate, cardiac electrical therapy to the subject, the method comprising: implanting within the subject a cardiac defibrillator comprising a pulse generator, processing circuitry, and electrodes that are positioned to sense cardiac electrical waveforms and to provide, if needed, cardiac therapy in a form of electrical defibrillation stimulation; implanting within the subject a pressure sensing device comprising a pressure transmission catheter and a transducer in communication with the pressure transmission catheter, the pressure sensing device being implanted so that a distal sensing tip of the pressure transmission catheter is positioned within an artery accessible in a subcutaneous pectoral region of the chest, but the transducer of the pressure sensing device remains outside of the artery; receiving, within the implanted cardiac defibrillator, cardiac electrical activity waveform information sensed by the electrodes and pressure waveform information for the artery sensed by the implanted pressure sensor; and providing the cardiac therapy in the form of electrical defibrillation stimulation if the processing circuitry of the implanted cardiac therapeutic device determines that an evaluation of both the cardiac electrical activity waveform information and the pressure waveform information shows there is occurring an aberrant rhythm for which therapy is appropriate.