Systems and methods are provided for optimizing hemodynamics within a patient's heart, e.g., to improve the patient's exercise capacity. In one embodiment, a system is configured to be implanted in a patient's body to monitor and/or treat the patient that includes at least one sensor configured to provide sensor data that corresponds to a blood pressure within or near the patient's heart; at least one component designed to cause dyssynchrony of the right ventricle, and a controller configured for adjusting the function of the at least one component based at least in part on sensor data from the at least one sensor.

A cardiac pacing system having a pulse generator for generating therapeutic electric pulses, a lead electrically coupled with the pulse generator having an electrode, a first sensor configured to monitor a physiological characteristic of a patient, a second sensor configured to monitor a second physiological characteristic of a patient and a controller. The controller can determine a pacing vector based on variables including a signal received from the second sensor, and cause the pulse generator to deliver the therapeutic electrical pulses according to the determined pacing vector. The controller can also modify pacing characteristics based on variables including a signal received from the second sensor.

A system for application of neurostimulation includes an outer sheath, an elongate inner member in the outer sheath and movable relative to the outer sheath. The inner lumen has a distal end. An expandable member is coupled to the distal end of the inner member and is in the outer sheath. The expandable member is self-expanding upon from a compressed state in the outer sheath to an expanded state out of the outer sheath. The expandable member includes a distal portion including a plurality of wires woven together and a proximal portion including the plurality of wires extending parallel to a longitudinal axis. The system includes a plurality of electrode assemblies outward of the expandable member and circumferentially spaced around the expandable member. Each electrode assembly is coupled to two of the wires extending parallel to the longitudinal axis. Each electrode assembly includes a plurality of longitudinally-spaced electrodes.

A medical device senses cardiac electrical signals including T-waves attendant to ventricular myocardial repolarizations and detects a T-wave template condition associated with non-pathological changes in T-wave morphology. The device generates a T-wave template from T-waves sensed by the sensing circuit during the T-wave template condition. After generating the T-wave template, the device acquires a T-wave signal from the cardiac electrical signal and compares the acquired T-wave signal to the T-wave template. The device detects a pathological event in response to the acquired T-wave signal not matching the T-wave template.

A system comprising: one or more sensors for detecting parameters of a respiratory cycle in a patient; and an implantable cardiac device comprising: at least one lead comprising one or more electrodes for applying cardiac contractility modulation stimulation to the heart; and circuitry for controlling and activating the leads, the circuitry programmed to set parameters of the cardiac contractility modulation stimulation according to the parameters of the respiratory cycle detected by the one or more sensors.

Systems, methods and devices to facilitate insertion of a lead for cardiac therapy into an intercostal space associated with the cardiac notch of a patient are described including devices, methods and medical procedure templates to facilitate insertion proximate to a lateral margin of the patient's sternum.

In some examples, an electromechanical disassociation state (EMD) of a heart of a patient can be treated by delivering electrical stimulation to a tissue site to at least one of modulate afferent nerve activity or inhibit efferent nerve activity upon determining that the heart is in an electromechanical dissociation state, where the tissue site comprises at least one of a nonmyocardial tissue site or a nonvascular cardiac tissue site. The delivery of electrical stimulation may effectively treat the EMD state of the heart, e.g., by enabling effective mechanical contraction of the heart. In another example, an electromechanical disassociation state of a heart of a patient can be treated by determining autonomic nervous system activity associated with a detected EMD state of the heart of a patient, and delivering electrical stimulation therapy to the patient based on the determined autonomic nervous system activity of the patient associated with the EMD state.

Methods and apparatuses for use in medical procedures are disclosed. Some implementations may include a medical procedure guide that can overlay portions of anatomy of a patient. The guide may include alignment markings to facilitate proper placement, procedure markings to facilitate determination of a position at which to commence a medical procedure, and/or imaging markers incorporated within the guide to facilitate commencement or completion of the medical procedure in conjunction with imaging.

Systems and methods for ambulatory detection of medical events such as cardiac arrhythmia are described herein. An embodiment of an arrhythmia detection system may include a detection criterion circuit that determines a patient-specific detection criterion using a baseline cardiac characteristic when the patient is free of cardiac arrhythmias. The detection criterion circuit generates a patient-specific threshold of a signal metric by adjusting a population-based threshold of the signal metric, where the manner and the amount of adjustment is based on information about patient baseline cardiac characteristic. The arrhythmia detection system detects an arrhythmia episode using a physiologic signal sensed from the patient and the patient-specific arrhythmia detection threshold.

A cardiac pacing system having a pulse generator for generating therapeutic electric pulses, a lead electrically coupled with the pulse generator having an electrode, a first sensor configured to monitor a physiological characteristic of a patient, a second sensor configured to monitor a second physiological characteristic of a patient and a controller. The controller can determine a pacing vector based on variables including a signal received from the second sensor, and cause the pulse generator to deliver the therapeutic electrical pulses according to the determined pacing vector. The controller can also modify pacing characteristics based on variables including a signal received from the second sensor.