Systems and methods for intermittent multipoint pacing

1. An implantable cardiac device for providing cardiac resynchronization therapy, the implantable cardiac device comprising:

a plurality of electrodes; and

a controller configured to cause alternating between multipoint pacing (MPP) and standard biventricular (BiV) pacing being applied to a patient's heart using the plurality of electrodes or one or more subsets thereof;

wherein whenever the MPP is applied to the patient's heart, two left ventricular (LV) pulses are delivered per cardiac cycle; and

wherein whenever the standard BiV pacing is applied to the patient's heart, only one LV pulse is delivered per cardiac cycle.

2. The implantable cardiac device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied based on a user input received at an input device communicatively coupled to the controller.

3. The implantable cardiac device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied based on battery usage information of the implantable cardiac device.

4. The implantable cardiac device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:

cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied in accordance with a first therapy scheme;

cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied in accordance with a second therapy scheme; and

switch from the first therapy scheme to the second therapy scheme in response to a trigger event.

5. The implantable cardiac device of claim 4 , wherein the trigger event is detection of phrenic nerve stimulation.

6. The implantable cardiac device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:

calculate an MPP ON interval that facilitates optimizing battery life; and

cause the MPP to be applied for a duration of the MPP ON interval.

7. The implantable cardiac device of claim 1 , further comprising one or more sensors communicatively coupled to the controller, wherein the controller is configured to cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied based on at least one parameter value measured by at least one of the one or more sensors.

8. The implantable cardiac device of claim 7 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of a pressure sensor, an impedance sensor, a volume sensor, a cardiac activity sensor, or an optical sensor.

9. A computing device for use in an implantable cardiac device that includes a plurality of electrodes, the computing device comprising:

a memory device including program code stored therein; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory device, the processor, by executing the program code stored in the memory device, configured to cause alternating between multipoint pacing (MPP) and standard biventricular (BiV) pacing being applied to a patient's heart using the plurality of electrodes or one or more subsets thereof;

wherein whenever the MPP is applied to the patient's heart, two left ventricular (LV) pulses are delivered per cardiac cycle; and

wherein whenever the standard BiV pacing is applied to the patient's heart, only one LV pulse is delivered per cardiac cycle.

10. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied based on a user input received at an input device communicatively coupled to the processor.

11. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied based on battery usage information of the implantable cardiac device.

12. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to:

cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied in accordance with a first therapy scheme;

cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied in accordance with a second therapy scheme; and

switch from the first therapy scheme to the second therapy scheme in response to a trigger event.

13. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the trigger event is detection of phrenic nerve stimulation.

14. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to:

calculate an MPP ON interval that facilitates optimizing battery life; and

cause the MPP to be applied for a duration of the MPP ON interval.

15. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the processor is configured to cause the alternating between the MPP and the standard BiV pacing being applied based on a parameter value measured by a sensor communicatively coupled to the processor.

16. A method for applying cardiac resynchronization therapy to a patient, the method comprising:

communicatively coupling a plurality of electrodes to a controller; and

causing, using the controller, the plurality of electrodes to alternate between applying multipoint pacing (MPP) and standard biventricular (BiV) pacing to a heart of the patient;

wherein whenever the MPP is applied to the patient's heart, two left ventricular (LV) pulses are delivered per cardiac cycle; and

wherein whenever the standard BiV pacing is applied to the patient's heart, only one LV pulse is delivered per cardiac cycle.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the causing the plurality of electrodes to alternate between applying the MPP and the standard BiV pacing is based on a user input received at an input device communicatively coupled to the controller.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the causing the plurality of electrodes to alternate between applying the MPP and the standard BiV pacing is based on battery usage information of an implantable cardiac device that includes the controller.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the causing the plurality of electrodes to alternate between applying the MPP and the standard BiV pacing comprises:

causing the plurality of electrodes to alternate between applying the MPP and the standard BiV pacing in accordance with a first therapy scheme;

detecting a trigger event; and

in response to the detection, causing the plurality of electrodes to alternate between applying the MPP and the standard BiV pacing in accordance with a second therapy scheme.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the causing the plurality of electrodes to alternate between applying the MPP and the standard BiV pacing comprises:

calculating an MPP ON interval that facilitates optimizing battery life; and

causing the plurality of electrodes to apply the MPP for a duration of the MPP ON interval.