Multi-phase Cardiac Stimulus Generator for Heart Failure
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Heart failure patients often experience disturbances in electrical impulse conduction to the ventricles, leading to inefficient pumping of blood due to asynchronous ventricular contractions, which are not effectively addressed by existing treatments such as antiarrhythmics or drugs like beta blockers and ACE inhibitors, especially in patients with severe asthma or lung disease.
Innovation Solution
A multi-phase cardiac stimulus generator that uses sensors to apply sub-threshold biphasic waveforms to the heart, improving cardiac contractions and reducing the need for higher drug doses or side effects, by generating electrical waveforms based on cardiac rhythm management rules and pharmaceutical awareness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional pacemakers use cathodal current to stimulate the myocardium, then the stimulation threshold is lower, but the battery life is reduced due to higher current requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic biphasic waveforms consisting of alternating cathodal and anodal phases. The cathodal phase provides effective myocardial stimulation while the anodal phase follows periodically, creating a balanced periodic action that reduces net current drain on the battery while maintaining effective stimulation thresholds
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the electrical parameters by using biphasic waveforms with specific amplitude, duration, and polarity sequences. By adjusting these parameters (voltage, current, pulse width, phase duration), the system optimizes both stimulation effectiveness and energy consumption, extending battery life while maintaining low stimulation thresholds
2Reliability
If higher doses of pharmaceuticals are administered to treat heart failure, then cardiac function improves, but side effects increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces electrical stimulation as an intermediary mechanism that works synergistically with pharmaceuticals. The electrical signals act as a mediator that enhances cardiac contractility and coordination independently of drug pathways, allowing reduced pharmaceutical doses to achieve the same therapeutic effect, thereby reducing side effects while maintaining cardiac function
3Productivity
If asynchronous ventricular contractions occur due to conduction delays, then pumping efficiency decreases, but the heart compensates by beating faster and dilating, which worsens heart failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary electrical stimulation to the ventricles before natural contraction occurs, using sensed atrial activity as a trigger. This preliminary action pre-coordinates the ventricular myocardium, ensuring synchronous contraction follows the electrical stimulus, thereby maintaining pumping efficiency without requiring compensatory tachycardia or dilation that would worsen heart failure structure
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances cardiac contraction efficiency, reduces drug side effects, and prolongs pacemaker battery life by optimizing electrical stimulation with lower voltage requirements, allowing for safer and more effective heart function in heart failure patients.
Implementation Method 1
A multi-phase cardiac stimulus generator that uses sensors to apply sub-threshold biphasic waveforms to the heart, improving cardiac contractions
Data Source
AI summary
Sensors are applied to the heart and sensor data is supplied to a rules engine. The rules engine applies rules that reflect a CRM pharmaceutical regime of the patient to the sensor data to determine whether an electrical waveform should be applied to the heart. When electrical stimulation is warranted, the drug “awareness” rules are used by the rules engine to instruct a multi-phase cardiac stimulus generator to generate an electrical waveform that improves the performance of the drugs administered to the patient, allow the patient to be administered a lower dose of a particular drug, and/or reduce or eliminate side effects from the drugs.