Methods and devices for accurately classifying cardiac activity

1. A method of cardiac signal analysis in an implantable medical device (IMD), the IMD including a number of implantable electrodes and operational circuitry coupled to the implantable electrodes for performing the method of cardiac signal analysis, the method comprising:

a) the operational circuitry detecting events in a signal;

b) the operational circuitry determining which detected events to certify for use in rhythm identification by:

i) applying interval analysis on a set of detected events in order to identify overdetected events such that, if a likely overdetection is identified, the likely overdetection is not certified;

ii) applying analysis to identify overdetected events using interval and shape characteristics of pairs of consecutive events such that, if a likely overdetection is identified, the likely overdetection is not certified; and

iii) certifying at least some detected events of the set of detected events; and

c) the operational circuitry determining whether a malignant cardiac rhythm is occurring using only the certified detected events.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the operational circuitry performing waveform appraisal on detected events and, for each event, either passing the detected event or marking the detected event as suspect, wherein step b) is performed only on detected events that pass waveform appraisal; wherein waveform appraisal operates to determine whether a detected event is noisy and, if so, to prevent any noisy detected events from passing further into the analysis.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein step c) comprises the following:

determining that an X/Y condition has been met, wherein X represents how many malignant events have been identified in a set of Y certified detected events; and

determining that the X/Y condition meets a persistence condition.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the signal in which events are detected is created by:

x) capturing a subject signal from electrodes configured to be implanted in a patient subject; and

y) conditioning the signal for use in cardiac signal analysis;

wherein steps x) and y) are performed on a continuous basis, while step a) is performed iteratively using the conditioned signal.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein step b)iii) is performed by certifying all events that pass steps i) and ii) without being identified as overdetections.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising d) the operational circuitry delivering therapy in response to an identified malignant rhythm.

7. An implantable cardiac stimulus device (ICSD) comprising electrodes for capturing data from a recipient of the ICSD and operational circuitry coupled to the electrodes to analyze signal captured from the patient, wherein the operational circuitry is configured to perform a method comprising the following steps:

a) detecting events in a signal;

b) determining which detected events to certify for use in rhythm identification by:

i) applying interval analysis on a set of detected events in order to identify overdetected events such that, if a likely overdetection is identified, the likely overdetection is not certified; and

ii) applying analysis to identify overdetected events using interval and shape characteristics of pairs of consecutive events such that, if a likely overdetection is identified, the likely overdetection is not certified; and

iii) certifying at least some detected events of the set of detected events; and

c) determining whether a malignant cardiac rhythm is occurring using only the certified detected events; and

d) delivering therapy in response to the malignant rhythm.

8. The ICSD of claim 7 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured such that the method further comprises performing waveform appraisal on detected events and, for each event, either passing the detected event or marking the detected event as suspect, wherein step b) is performed only on detected events that pass waveform appraisal; wherein waveform appraisal operates to determine whether a detected event is noisy and, if so, to prevent any noisy detected events from passing further into the analysis.

9. The ICSD of claim 7 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured such that step c) comprises the following:

determining that an X/Y condition has been met, wherein X represents how many malignant events have been identified in a set of Y certified detected events; and

determining that the X/Y condition meets a persistence condition.

10. The ICSD of claim 7 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured such that the signal in which events are detected is created by:

x) capturing a subject signal from electrodes configured to be implanted in a patient subject; and

y) conditioning the signal for use in cardiac signal analysis;

wherein steps x) and y) are performed on a continuous basis, while step a) is performed iteratively using the conditioned signal.

11. The ICSD of claim 7 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured such that step b)iii) is performed by certifying all events that pass steps i) and ii) without being identified as overdetections.

12. The ICSD of claim 7 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured to perform the following: d) delivering therapy in response to an identified malignant rhythm.

13. An implantable cardiac stimulus device (ICSD) comprising a canister housing operational circuitry, the canister configured for coupling to a lead having one or more electrodes thereon, the operational circuitry configured to receive a signal from a plurality of electrodes when a lead is coupled to the canister, wherein the operational circuitry is configured to perform the following:

a) detecting events in a signal;

b) determining which events to certify for use in rhythm identification by:

i) applying interval analysis on a set of detected events in order to identify overdetected events such that, if a likely overdetection is identified, the likely overdetection is not certified;

ii) applying analysis to identify overdetected events using interval and shape characteristics of pairs of consecutive events such that, if a likely overdetection is identified, the likely overdetection is not certified;

iii) certifying at least some detected events of the set of detected events; and

c) determining whether a malignant cardiac rhythm is occurring using only the certified detected events.

14. The ICSD of claim 13 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured such that the method further comprises performing waveform appraisal on detected events and, for each event, either passing the detected event or marking the detected event as suspect, wherein step b) is performed only on detected events that pass waveform appraisal; wherein waveform appraisal operates to determine whether a detected event is noisy and, if so, to prevent any noisy detected events from passing further into the analysis.

15. The ICSD of claim 13 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured such that step c) comprises the following:

determining that an X/Y condition has been met, wherein X represents how many malignant events have been identified in a set of Y certified detected events; and

determining that the X/Y condition meets a persistence condition.

16. The ICSD of claim 13 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured such that the signal in which events are detected is created by:

x) capturing a subject signal from electrodes configured to be implanted in a patient subject; and

y) conditioning the signal for use in cardiac signal analysis;

wherein steps x) and y) are performed on a continuous basis, while step a) is performed iteratively using the conditioned signal.

17. The ICSD of claim 13 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured such that step b)iii) is performed by certifying all events that pass steps i) and ii) without being identified as overdetections.

18. The ICSD of claim 13 wherein the operational circuitry is further configured to perform the following:

d) delivering therapy in response to an identified malignant rhythm.