The present invention involves approaches for selecting one or more electrode combinations. Various method embodiments can include implanting a plurality of cardiac electrodes supported by one or more leads in a patient, attaching the one or more leads to a patient external analyzer circuit, delivering electrical stimulation to the patient's heart using the plurality of cardiac electrodes and the analyzer circuit, evaluating, for each electrode combination of a plurality of electrode combinations of the plurality of cardiac electrodes, one or more first parameters and one or more second parameters produced by the electrical stimulation delivered using the electrode combination, selecting one or more electrode combinations of the plurality of cardiac electrodes based on the evaluation, and programming an implantable pacing circuit to deliver a cardiac pacing therapy that preferentially uses the selected one or more electrode combinations relative to other electrode combinations of the plurality of cardiac electrodes.

An algorithm programmed into the control circuitry of a rechargeable-battery Implantable Medical Device (IMD) is disclosed that can quantitatively forecast and determine the timing of an early replacement indicator (tEOLi) and an IMD End of Life (tEOL). These forecasts and determinations of tEOLi and tEOL occur in accordance with one or more parameters having an effect on rechargeable battery capacity, such as number of charging cycles, charging current, discharge depth, load current, and battery calendar age. The algorithm consults such parameters as stored over the history of the operation of the IMD in a parameter log, and in conjunction with a battery capacity database reflective of the effect of these parameters on battery capacity, determines and forecasts tEOLi and tEOL. Such forecasted or determined values may also be used by a shutdown algorithm to suspend therapeutic operation of the IMD.

An external medical device includes a battery that can support a plurality of charge-discharge cycles prior to a predetermined battery life threshold. The device also includes a battery circuit that is operative for monitoring a condition of the battery, determining a battery life status of the battery based on the monitored condition and the predetermined battery life threshold, and, responsive to the determined battery life status, causing the device to enter into a low power operating mode. The low power operating mode can include modifying device functions that are performed, or modifying the manner in which a capacitor of the device is charged, or changing the battery that charges the capacitor, or isolating the capacitor from charge drainage, or causing the device to operate from charge stored on the capacitor.

Systems and methods for evaluating multiple candidate electrostimulation vectors for use in therapeutic cardiac stimulation are disclosed. The system can include a programmable electrostimulator circuit for delivering electrostimulation to one or more sites of a heart according to multiple candidate electrostimulation vectors. One or more physiologic sensors can detect resulting physiologic responses to the electrostimulation. A processor circuit can generate categories of indicators including therapy efficacy indicators, battery longevity indicators, or complication indicators using the sensed physiologic responses. The candidate electrostimulation vectors can be ranked according to the categories of indicators in specified orders. The system can include a user interface for displaying the ranked candidate electrostimulation vectors, and allowing the user to select one or more electrostimulation vectors and programming the electrostimulator circuit to deliver therapeutic electrostimulation to at least one site of the heart using the selected electrostimulation vectors.

Electrical stimulation may be delivered to a patient's heart using a plurality of cardiac electrodes. Each electrode combination may be evaluated based on one or more first parameters and one or more second parameters. In many cases, the one or more first parameters are supportive of cardiac function consistent with a prescribed therapy and the one or more second parameters are not supportive of cardiac function consistent with the prescribed therapy. The electrode combination selected to deliver a cardiac pacing therapy may be more associated with the one or more first parameters supportive of cardiac function consistent with the prescribed therapy and less associated with the one or more second parameters inconsistent with cardiac function.

An implant system includes an implant device configured to generate a stimulation signal for a user using a power manager according to an operation mode based on biometric information of the user, and a wake-up device configured to switch the operation mode based on either one or both of an energy supply received through an external energy source different from the power manager and a result of counting a timer.

A computer implemented method for programming leadless cardiac pacemakers including assigning a unique identifier to each of the first leadless cardiac pacemaker and the second leadless cardiac pacemaker by means of the computing device, and preconfiguring the parameters of the first leadless cardiac pacemaker and/or the second leadless cardiac pacemaker by means of the computing device regardless of a location of the first leadless cardiac pacemaker and the second leadless cardiac pacemaker with respect to a transmit-receive unit of the computing device. Moreover, the invention relates to a system for programming leadless cardiac pacemakers. In addition, a computer program and a computer-readable data carrier are also disclosed.

An implantable leadless pacemaker configured to provide antibradycardia pacing of a human or animal heart, comprising: an electrical energy source, a sensor configured to sense intracardiac potentials of the heart, a pulse generator configured to generate electrical pacing pulses, a control unit for controlling the pulse generator, wherein the control unit is configured to inhibit generation of an electrical pacing pulse when an intracardiac potential is sensed, wherein the control unit is further configured to permanently switch off the pulse generator after passing of a predetermined timespan and/or after a pre-defined event detected by the pacemaker, an electrode pole for electrical stimulation and sensing intracardiac potentials, at least one fastening element for fastening the pacemaker to heart tissue, wherein the implantable leadless pacemaker is adapted such that a lifetime of the implantable leadless pacemaker is smaller than one year, particularly smaller than one month, particularly smaller than two weeks.

A system and method of quantifying, maintaining and managing the functional status and/or therapy settings of an IMD based on code path metrics is disclosed. The codebase of device firmware modules may be instrumented to obtain tracing data and timing metrics data corresponding to different code paths that may be taken when a device subsystem or associated functionality is accessed or activated. Code path metrics of actual code paths may be analyzed to detect a deviation from baseline code path metrics and generate a corresponding graduated response.

Implanted pulse generators with reduced power consumption via signal strength-duration characteristics, and associated systems and methods are disclosed. A representative method for treating a patient in accordance with the disclosed technology includes receiving an input corresponding to an available voltage for an implanted medical device and identifying a signal delivery parameter value of an electrical signal based on a correlation between values of the signal delivery parameter and signal deliver amplitudes. The signal deliver parameter can include at least one of pulse width or duty cycle. The method can further include delivering an electrical therapy signal to the patient at the identified signal delivery parameter value using a voltage within a margin of the available voltage.