Patent Document ID: 8406868
Application ID: 13094231
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A device for use in treatment of a patient comprising: perturbation apparatus configured to perturb at least one physiological system of a patient, wherein the perturbation apparatus comprises at least one electrode to stimulate the patient's vagus nerve; monitoring apparatus configured to monitor physiological parameters of the patient, wherein the monitoring apparatus comprises at least one electrode to monitor the electrical activity of the patient's vagus nerve; a sensing module coupled to the monitoring apparatus and configured to receive the monitored physiological parameters; a therapy delivery module configured to deliver therapy to the patient; and a control module coupled to the perturbation apparatus, to the sensing module, and to the therapy delivery module, and configured to: perturb at least one physiological system of the patient using the perturbation apparatus by at least delivering electrical stimulation to the patient's vagus nerve, monitor electrical activity from the vagus nerve, wherein the electrical activity includes at least one direct component and an indirect component of a compound action potential (CAP), wherein the indirect component is not in direct response to the delivered electrical stimulation as indicated by a latency between the electrical stimulation delivered to the patient's vagus nerve and the indirect component; provide a response index comprising data representative of an effect on the indirect component of the monitored electrical activity of the vagus nerve in response to one or more perturbations to the at least one physiological system, assess a status of the patient's heart by comparing the response index with the indirect component monitored after perturbing the at least one physiological system of the patient, and determine whether to deliver therapy to the patient using the therapy delivery module based on the assessed status of the patient's heart.