Patent ID: 8224445

Claim:
A device comprising: sensing amplifiers for incorporating into atrial and ventricular sensing channels with intracardiac electrodes disposed near an atrium and ventricle, respectively; a pulse generator for incorporating into a pacing channel for delivering pacing pulses to a heart chamber; a sensing amplifier for incorporating into a far-field sensing channel having at least two far-field electrodes disposed in order to generate a far-field electrogram that reflects activity in both the atria and ventricles; a controller interfaced to the pacing and sensing channels and programmed with instructions for: upon delivery of a pacing pulse, disabling the atrial and ventricular sensing channels for a blanking interval on the order of 15-20 ms and disabling the far-field sensing channel for a blanking interval on the order of 1-2 ms; and, verifying capture of the heart chamber by the pacing pulse by determining whether an electrogram signal in the far-field sensing channel exceeds a specified threshold during a time window following the pacing pulse.