Introduction

The invention is a procedure that allows the characterization of implantable medical devices, such as pacemakers and defibrillators. The proposed procedure is applicable at any operating condition by taking into account also the electromagnetic noise and it is applicable to any implantable medical device.

Technical features

A significant growth in the number of implantable cardiac devices, even in relatively young patients, has led to the develop of new procedures for verifying its correct operation; in fact, it is easily understandable how much important is that these devices are effective in administering treatments and that they are characterized by high reliability. In particular, it should be avoided to incur in malfunctions due to an incorrect interpretation of the cardiac activity of the patient to which they are implanted. In this context, the procedure object of the present invention enables the achievement of the inhibition curve of the implanatable cardiac medical device under test, by monitoring the number of pacing events over a given time horizon; this curve allows carrying out a more accurate assessment on device operation compared to the functionality tests provided by current standards.

Possible Applications

• Support tool for manufacturers of implantable medical devices in order to carry out a more extensive functionality tests at different operating conditions.

Advantages

• Easy implementation of the procedure;
• Extensive characterization of device opration, also at different heart rates.