IMPLANTABLE SENSOR LEAD

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an implantable sensor lead for sensing mechanical cardiac activity of a person, to an electronic device, an implantable cardiac stimulator as well as a method for sensing mechanical cardiac activity of a person.

Background

Sensor signals can be used for such purposes as optimization of biventricular synchronization or setting the AV-delay in connection with cardiac stimulation, diagnosis of congestive heart failure, etc.

Leads comprising mechanical sensor elements, like accelerometers, pressure sensing elements, strain gauges or tensiometers, often suffer from disturbances caused by local forces acting on the sensor elements. Thus, such a sensor element placed on e.g. the left side of the heart in a coronary vein is heavily influenced by local forces close to the sensor element. Similar problems occur in connection with the use of so-called CMES - sensors, Cardio Mechanical Sensors, placed in the right ventricle, in coronary sinus, in great cardiac vein or in a coronary vein. Moreover, the placement of the sensor element of a cardiac sensor are seldom freely selectable.

Sensing elements having a certain extension are previously known as well as the use of more than one sensing element spread out over a part of the heart.

In EP 0 473 070 a myocardial tensiometer incorporated within an implantable electrotherapy apparatus to measure the contraction of the heart muscle is described. The tensiometric element consists of piezoelectric material or a variable resistivity material, the mechanical stresses to which the tensiometric element is subjected causing the element to produce a voltage or resistivity variation. The tensiometric element is disposed at a location which is subject to bending when the heart contracts. Thus the tensiometric element may be in the form of a strip disposed on a surface of a patch electrode, or a strip or a tube located at the bend of an implantable J-shaped pacing lead.

US 5 423 883 discloses an implantable myocardial lead. At the distal end of the lead a plurality of appendages are disposed. These appendages are intended to embrace the tissue of the heart and will flex forward and backward to move with the tissue of the heart. At least one sensor element, like a piezoelectric crystal or an accelerometer, is secured to an appendage for detecting the heart wall motion.

In WO 95/03086 implantable leads incorporating accelerometer-based cardiac wall sensors are described. The sensed cardiac wall motion is used to discriminate among potentially malignant cardiac arrhythmias. The cardiac wall motion sensor may be incorporated in a flexible epicardial patch electrode or be incorporated in an endocardial lead.

Summary of the Invention

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above discussed problem related to disturbances caused by local forces acting on the sensor element when sensing mechanical cardiac activity.

This purpose is obtained by an implantable sensor lead according to claim 1, by an electronic device according to claim 9 to which the mentioned lead is connectable, by an implantable heart stimulator according to claim 13 comprising such an electronic device, and by a method for sensing mechanical cardiac activity of a person according to claim 15.

Thus by using a plurality of sensing elements arranged along an implantable lead body for sensing mechanical cardiac activity and delivering corresponding electric signals according to the invention the cardiac activity is sensed over a larger part or in a larger volume of the heart. The resulting global signals obtained by such a spread out sensing over a larger part or a larger volume of the heart will normally be in phase, whereas local signals often are more or less unsynchronised.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, from the electrical point of view, the sensing elements are connected in parallel between two conductors common to all sensing elements. With such an embodiment a sensor signal averaging will be obtained. Signals in phase will be added, while signals out of phase will be more or less reduced.

According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention each sensing element of the plurality of sensing elements is connected to at least one conductor of its own. With such an embodiment it is possible to study the propagation of a mechanical cardiac activity, such as mechanical heart muscle contractions, pressure pulses, blood flow along a vein, by analysis of the pattern of electric signals from the plurality of sensing elements. Thus e.g. the cardiac activity propagation speed can be determined, since the distances along the lead body between the individual sensing elements are known.

Brief Description of the Drawings To explain the invention in greater detail embodiments of the invention, chosen as examples, will now be described with reference to the enclosed drawings, on which figures 1 - 3 show three different possible locations in a person's heart of a lead according to the invention, and figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating the electric circuitry of a heart stimulator according to the invention.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

Figure 1 shows a lead 2 implanted in a person's heart 4 with a plurality of sensing elements 6 located in the right ventricle 8 of the heart 4. The sensing elements 6 are distributed along a part of the lead body for sensing cardiac activity from a larger part or a larger volume of the right ventricle 8

Figures 2 and 3 show two embodiments of the lead according to the invention implanted in a coronary vein 10 on the left side of the heart 4. The lead 12 shown in figure 2 is provided with a plurality of sensing elements 14 distributed along a part of the lead body adapted for implantation in the Coronary sinus for sensing the movement of the valve plane of the heart 4. The movement of the valve plane can reveal diastolic heart failure. The lead 18 shown in figure 3 is provided with a plurality of sensing elements 20 distributed along a part of the lead body adapted for sensing mechanical cardiac activity in the left ventricle 22 ofthe heart 4.

In the embodiments illustrated above the sensing elements are distributed over a length of the lead body in the range of 2 - 10 cm, preferably 5 - 10 cm.

Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating the electric circuitry of a heart stimulator to which a lead according to the invention is connected. The sensing elements 24 of the lead are electrically connected in parallel between two electric conductors 26, 28. One of the conductors 26 is intended to conduct stimulation pulses, a stimulation electrode being schematically indicated at 27, and the other conductor 28 is arranged independent of the stimulation circuitry. By this arrangement of the sensors 24, in which the polarization of each sensor 24 is of the same polarity, a sensor signal averaging is provided. By summing the signals in this way from each sensor signals in phase are added to the averaged signal, while signals out of phase will be more or less reduced. Global signals picked up from a larger volume of the heart are thus obtained on which signal local disturbances have only a minor influence.

According to an alternative embodiment each sensing element is equipped with its own conductor, or with at least one conductor of its own.

The heart simulator electric circuitry comprises, in addition to normal main circuitry 30, pacing and sensing circuitry 32 and sensor interface 34. The conductor 26 is intended to conduct stimulation pulses, whereas the conductor 28 is independent of the pacing circuitry.

The summing of the signals will be performed in a summing means of electric sensor signal processing means in the sensor interface shown in figure 4 or in subsequent electric circuitry.

In the above-mentioned embodiment with each sensing element having a conductor of its own the propagation in the heart of a mechanical cardiac activity, like a heart muscle contraction, a pressure pulse or blood flow along a vein, can be determined by adapting the sensor signal processing electronics to recognize electric signal patterns caused by progressive activation of the sensing elements along a lead by a propagating mechanical activity. The speed of propagation of the activity can also be calculated since the distances between the individual sensing elements along the lead are known.