Patent ID: 7991459

Claim:
A method of generating a template for use in morphology analysis of cardiac activity, as represented by electric signals, in an implantable medical device, the implantable medical device comprising a plurality of implantable electrodes coupled to operational circuitry including at least memory and a controller, the method comprising: capturing a cardiac signal using implanted electrodes; forming a preliminary template; selecting a fiducial point in the preliminary template; optimizing the preliminary template; and verifying the preliminary template if the preliminary template provides a valid representation of a cardiac event or, otherwise, discarding the preliminary template; wherein the step of optimizing the preliminary template comprises masking a portion of the preliminary template by eliminating portions of the preliminary template that do not apparently contain QRS information of the cardiac signal; and wherein the step of verifying the preliminary template comprises: capturing a cardiac signal and identifying a secondary template; selecting a fiducial point in the secondary template in a manner consistent with the step of selecting a fiducial point in the preliminary template, such that both fiducial points are selected in a similar manner; optimizing the secondary template in a manner consistent with the step of optimizing the preliminary template; and comparing the secondary template to the preliminary template to determine whether the two are sufficiently similar to imply that the preliminary template provides a valid representation of a cardiac event.