Automated Programmer for Implantable Hypertension Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for configuring implantable hypertension treatment devices are manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors due to the need for clinician intervention and separate monitoring equipment, which is not suitable for the sustained physiological responses associated with hypertension treatment.
Innovation Solution
An automated system integrating a real-time heart rate monitor and hemodynamic monitoring system with the programmer for implantable hypertension treatment devices, allowing for automatic parameter setting without clinician intervention, using a series of tests to determine optimal programmable parameters based on heart rate stability and sympathetic/parasympathetic tone indicators.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual configuration methods are used with separate monitoring equipment, then device functionality can be established, but the process becomes time-consuming and prone to errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the programmer system with heart rate monitoring and hemodynamic measurement capabilities into an integrated system. This merging eliminates the need for separate monitoring equipment and manual operations, allowing automated configuration that reduces both time and errors by having all functions operate cohesively under program control.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated system enables automated testing and configuration where the system monitors its own performance and self-adjusts parameters. The programmer automatically conducts dose-response tests, measures hemodynamic parameters, and configures device settings without requiring continuous clinician intervention, thereby reducing configuration time and improving reliability.
2Reliability
If frequent clinician intervention is required for monitoring and adjustment, then safety can be maintained, but the complexity of the configuration process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates automated feedback mechanisms where hemodynamic measurements and heart rate data are continuously monitored and fed back to the programmer. The system automatically adjusts configuration parameters based on this feedback, maintaining patient safety through real-time monitoring while reducing configuration complexity by eliminating manual interpretation and adjustment steps.
3Manufacturing precision
If manual dose-response testing is performed with separate equipment, then parameter optimization is possible, but the process becomes operator-intensive and subject to measurement variability
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating the programmer with heart rate monitoring and hemodynamic measurement systems, the patent eliminates operator-intensive manual procedures. The merged system automatically performs dose-response testing with consistent measurement protocols, reducing operator burden while improving parameter optimization accuracy by eliminating human error and measurement variability.
Data Source
AI summary
A real time, heart rate monitor and a hemodynamic monitoring system are operably integrated with the programmer system for an implantable hypertension treatment device. A series of tests are automatically performed to set programmable parameters for the implantable hypertension treatment device without clinician intervention. In one embodiment, a predetermined level of a dose-response evaluation is initiated for each test in the series. Preferably, the programmer system monitors the heart rate to determine whether a hemodynamic measurement should be initiated at all for a given test, as well as whether the hemodynamic measurement should be initiated earlier or later than a predetermined settling period for assessing the sympathetic nervous response to the test dose. In one embodiment, this determination is based on heart rate stability/instability. Alternatively, other indicators of sympathetic/parasympathetic tone, such as heart rate variability, may be used to trigger/delay the timing of the hemodynamic measurement.