Cardiac Pacemaker Enlarging Heart Chambers via Rate Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals with sedentary lifestyles and hypertension experience reduced cardiac chamber volumes, leading to decreased cardiac output and limited exercise capacity, with no effective treatment for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
Innovation Solution
An implantable cardiac pacemaker with a sensor and processor that detects resting heart rates and stimulates the heart to increase its rate, optionally including motion and position detectors, to enlarge heart chambers and improve cardiac output.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If a pacemaker is used to increase heart rate, then cardiac chamber size and cardiac output are improved, but the device complexity and potential harmful effects increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pacemaker changes the heart rate parameter from resting rate to elevated rate to achieve cardiac chamber enlargement and improved cardiac output. This parameter change approach allows the device to address the volume reduction issue without requiring complex structural modifications to the heart itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The pacemaker incorporates sensors to detect heart rate and provides feedback to the processor, which then adjusts the pacing output accordingly. This feedback mechanism enables the device to monitor and regulate heart rate, ensuring safe and effective operation while achieving the desired cardiac remodeling.
2Productivity
If a pacemaker is used to increase heart rate, then cardiac output is improved, but harmful factors such as arrhythmia risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pacemaker uses heart rate sensors to continuously monitor cardiac activity and provides feedback to the processor. This enables the device to detect and respond to arrhythmia risks, adjusting pacing parameters to maintain safe heart rates while still achieving the goal of improved cardiac output through controlled rate elevation.
Solution Approach 2:
The pacemaker dynamically adjusts the heart rate based on real-time conditions rather than maintaining a fixed elevated rate. This dynamic control allows the device to optimize cardiac output while preventing harmful arrhythmias by adapting to the patient's physiological state and responding to sensor feedback.
3Measurement precision
If the pacemaker continuously monitors heart rate, then accuracy of resting heart rate detection is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pacemaker employs periodic heart rate monitoring rather than continuous monitoring. The sensor detects heart rate at specific intervals to determine resting rate, which reduces energy consumption while still providing sufficient data for accurate assessment and appropriate pacing adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The pacemaker uses the heart's own electrical activity, detected by the sensor, to determine resting heart rate without requiring external intervention or continuous power-intensive monitoring. The system leverages the natural physiological signals already present in the heart to achieve accurate measurement with minimal energy expenditure.
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
The pacemaker effectively enlarges heart chambers, improving cardiac output and exercise capacity, and has been shown to provide symptomatic relief for heart failure patients by normalizing heart size and function.
Implementation Method 1
a sensor for detecting a heart rate
Implementation Method 2
a processor that is configured to produce an output signal based on detection of a resting heart rate level, the output signal designed to elevate the heart rate over the resting heart rate level
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to improved cardiac pacemakers and methods of use thereof. In particular the cardiac pacemakers are useful for normalizing heart rates over resting heart rates in order to condition the heart to improve overall cardiac output.