Atrial fibrillation discrimination using heart rate clustering

1. A system, comprising:

an atrial fibrillation (AF) detection circuit configured to receive information about a heart over a first period including a number of cardiac intervals, and to discriminate between an AF event and a non-AF event, the AF detection circuit including:

a first AF detection circuit configured to determine a first AF indication in the first period using the received information about the heart; and

a second AF detection circuit configured to receive depolarization information about the heart over the first period, to bin the cardiac intervals into separate rate bins using the received depolarization information, and to cluster the received depolarization information,

wherein the AF detection circuit is configured to discriminate between an AF event and a non-AF event in the first period using the determined first AF indication and the clustered depolarization information, and

wherein, to cluster the received depolarization information, the second AF detection circuit is configured to group successive rate bins having bin counts greater than a bin threshold and a group bin count greater than a threshold percentage of the number of cardiac intervals over the first period.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein, when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period, the second AF detection circuit is configured to cluster the received depolarization information to verify the first AF indication, and

wherein the AF detection circuit is configured to provide an indication of an AF event in the first period when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period and the clustered depolarization information is indicative of an AF event in the first period.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein, when the first AF indication is indicative of a non-AF event over the first period, the second AF detection circuit does not cluster the received depolarization information, and the AF detection circuit is configured to provide an indication of a non-AF event over the first period using only the first AF indication.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the AF detection circuit is configured to receive information about a ventricle of the heart, wherein the depolarization information includes ventricular depolarization information, and

wherein the first AF detection circuit is configured to determine a ventricular rate stability over the first period using the ventricular depolarization information, and to determine the first AF indication using the determined ventricular rate stability.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the AF detection circuit is configured to receive information about a ventricle of the heart, including ventricular depolarizations, over the first period, and

wherein the first AF detection circuit is configured to determine the first AF indication using V-V intervals between successive ventricular depolarizations over the first period.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the received depolarization information includes ventricular depolarization information for cardiac intervals in the first period.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the AF detection circuit is configured to provide an indication of an AF event in the first period when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period and the determined number of clusters over the first period is less than or equal to a cluster threshold.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the number of cardiac intervals includes a positive integer, X, greater than or equal to 100,

wherein the separate rate bins have respective values at least X/20 beats apart,

wherein the bin threshold is at least 4% of X,

wherein the threshold percentage is at least 20% of X, and

wherein the cluster threshold is less than or equal to 1.

9. A method, comprising:

receiving information about a heart over a first period including a number of cardiac intervals using an atrial fibrillation (AF) detection circuit;

determining, using a first AF detection circuit, a first AF indication in the first period using the received information about the heart; and

when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period:

receiving depolarization information about the heart over the first period using a second AF detection circuit;

binning, using the second AF detection circuit, the cardiac intervals into separate rate bins using the received depolarization information;

clustering, using the second AF detection circuit, the received depolarization information, comprising grouping successive rate bins having bin counts greater than a bin threshold and a group bin count greater than a threshold percentage of the number of cardiac intervals over the first period; and

discriminating between an AF event and a non-AF event in the first period using the clustered depolarization information.

10. The method of claim 9 , including providing an indication of an AF event in the first period using the AF detection circuit when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period and the clustered depolarization information is indicative of an AF event in the first period.

11. The method of claim 9 , including, when the first AF indication is indicative of a non-AF event over the first period, providing an indication of a non-AF event over the first period using the AF detection circuit.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving information about the heart over the first period includes receiving information about a ventricle of the heart over the first period,

wherein receiving depolarization information about the heart over the first period includes receiving a ventricular rate, and

the method further including:

determining a ventricular rate stability over the first period using the second AF detection circuit,

wherein determining the first AF indication in the first period using the received information about the heart includes using the determined ventricular rate stability.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving information about the heart over the first period includes receiving information about a ventricle of the heart, including ventricular depolarizations, over the first period, and

wherein determining the first AF indication in the first period includes using V-V intervals between successive ventricular depolarizations over the first period.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving depolarization information about the heart over the first period includes receiving ventricular depolarization information for cardiac intervals in the first period.

15. The method of claim 14 , including:

providing an indication of an AF event in the first period when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period and the determined number of clusters over the first period is less than or equal to a cluster threshold.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the number of cardiac intervals includes a positive integer, X, greater than or equal to 100,

wherein the separate rate bins have respective values at least X/20 beats apart,

wherein the bin threshold is at least 4% of X,

wherein the threshold percentage is at least 20% of X, and

wherein the cluster threshold is less than or equal to 1.

17. At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions that, when performed by a medical device, cause the medical device to:

receive information about a heart over a first period including a number of cardiac intervals;

determine a first atrial fibrillation (AF) indication in the first period using the received information about the heart; and

when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period:

receive depolarization information about the heart over the first period;

bin the cardiac intervals into separate rate bins using the received depolarization information;

cluster the received depolarization information, including grouping successive rate bins having bin counts greater than a bin threshold and a group bin count greater than a threshold percentage of the number of cardiac intervals over the first period; and

discriminate between an AF event and a non-AF event in the first period using the clustered depolarization information.

18. The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 , including instructions that, when performed by the medical device, cause the medical device to:

provide an indication of an AF event in the first period when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period and the clustered depolarization information is indicative of an AF event in the first period.

19. The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instructions that, when performed by the medical device, cause the medical device to receive depolarization information about the heart over the first period include instructions to:

receive ventricular depolarization information for cardiac intervals in the first period.

20. The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19 , including instructions that, when performed by the medical device, cause the medical device to:

provide an indication of an AF event in the first period when the first AF indication is indicative of an AF event in the first period and the determined number of clusters over the first period is less than or equal to a cluster threshold,

wherein the number of cardiac intervals includes a positive integer, X, greater than or equal to 100,

wherein the separate rate bins have respective values at least X/20 beats apart, and

wherein the bin threshold is at least 4% of X,

wherein the threshold percentage is at least 20% of X, and

wherein the cluster threshold is less than or equal to 1.