Fibrillation/Tachycardia Monitoring and Preventive System and Methodology
A cardiac assist device senses conditions of a heart and controls the generation of various electrical stimuli in response to sense conditions of the heart. The cardiac assist device generates a electrical pulse so as to defibrillate a fibrillated heart when the cardiac assist device determines from the sensed conditions a state of fibrillation. The cardiac assist device generates a chaos control electrical signal so as to bring a pre-fibrillated heart condition back into a normal beating condition when the cardiac assist device determines from the sensed conditions a pre-state of fibrillation. Lastly, the cardiac assist device generates an electrical enhancement signal that causes a threshold of pacing cells in the heart to be exceeded in response to a subthreshold stimulus when the cardiac assist device determines from the sensed conditions a subthreshold pacing signal.
1 - 31 . (canceled)
32 . A bio-function assist device, comprising:
a sensor to sense conditions of a predetermined bio-function; and
a control circuit, in operative communication with said sensor, to control generation of various electrical stimuli in response to sense conditions of the predetermined bio-function;
a chaos control generator to generate a pre-malfunction state electrical signal so as to bring a pre-malfunction bio-function condition back into a normal bio-function condition when said control circuit determines from the sensed conditions a pre-state of malfunction; and
an environment enhancement generator to generate an electrical enhancement signal, said electrical enhancement signal effectively lowering a threshold for enabling proper functioning of the predetermined bio-function when said control circuit determines from the sensed conditions that a natural signal of the predetermined bio-function has fallen below a threshold to trigger the predetermined bio-function to function properly.
33 . The bio-function device as claimed in claim 32 , wherein said electrical enhancement signal comprises a noise signal.
34 . The bio-function device as claimed in claim 32 , wherein said electrical enhancement signal comprises a periodic signal.
35 . The bio-function device as claimed in claim 32 , wherein said electrical enhancement signal comprises a high frequency deterministic signal.
36 . The bio-function device as claimed in claim 32 , wherein said electrical enhancement signal comprises a randomly fluctuating intensity signal.
37 . The bio-function device as claimed in claim 32 , wherein said electrical enhancement signal comprises a randomly fluctuating frequency signal.
38 . The bio-function device as claimed in claim 32 , wherein said electrical enhancement signal is modulated in response to the sensed subthreshold signal.
39 . The bio-function device as claimed in claim 32 , wherein said sensor comprises a two-dimensional high resolution patch to measure, capacitively, a voltage waveform.
40 . The bio-function device as claimed in claim 39 , wherein said two-dimensional high resolution patch comprises a two-dimensional array of individual non-destructive floating-gate charge-sensing amplifiers.
41 . A method for assisting a bio-function to perform normally, comprising:
(a) sensing conditions of a predetermined bio-function;
(b) determining a state of the predetermined bio-function from the sensed conditions;
(c) generating a pre-malfunction state electrical signal so as to bring a pre-state of malfunction condition back into a normal bio-function condition when it is determined, from the sensed conditions, a pre-state of malfunction exists, and
(d) generating an electrical enhancement signal, the electrical enhancement signal effectively lowering a threshold for enabling proper functioning of the predetermined bio-function when it is determined, from the sensed conditions, that a natural signal of the predetermined bio-function has fallen below a threshold to trigger the predetermined bio-function to function properly.
42 . The method as claimed in claim 41 , wherein the electrical enhancement signal comprises a noise signal.
43 . The method as claimed in claim 41 , wherein the electrical enhancement signal comprises a periodic signal.
44 . The method as claimed in claim 41 , wherein the electrical enhancement signal comprises a high frequency deterministic signal.
45 . The method as claimed in claim 41 , wherein the electrical enhancement signal comprises a randomly fluctuating intensity signal.
46 . The method as claimed in claim 41 , wherein the electrical enhancement signal comprises a randomly fluctuating frequency signal.
47 . The method as claimed in claim 41 , wherein the electrical enhancement signal is modulated in response to the sensed subthreshold signal.
48 . The method as claimed in claim 41 , wherein the conditions of the bio-function are sensed by capacitively measuring a voltage waveform.