Patent ID: 8126551

Claim:
A system comprising: an implantable medical device including: an atrial sensing channel configured to receive an atrial event; and a ventricular sensing channel configured to receive a ventricular event including at least one of a ventricular paced event or a ventricular sensed event; a processor configured to provide an atrioventricular (AV) delay using information from the atrial sensing channel and the ventricular sensing channel, wherein the processor is configured to increase the AV delay from a first AV delay to a first extended AV delay after a first condition is satisfied to allow a heart to regain intrinsic control of ventricular activation, and wherein the processor is configured to change the AV delay from the first extended AV delay to a second extended AV delay after a second condition is satisfied to allow the heart to remain in intrinsic control of ventricular activation; and wherein at least one of the first extended AV delay or the second extended AV delay violates a constraint established using a maximum tracking rate (MTR) and a post ventricular atrial refractory period (PVARP).