System for Characterizing Chronic Physiological Data

Abstract

An implantable medical device (IMD) senses physiological episodes and stores data associated with the physiological episodes in the IMD. The data is then processed based on a pattern of recurrence of the physiological episodes.

1 . A system comprising:
 an implantable medical device (IMD) operable to sense and store chronic data representative of a physiological episode; and   a processing unit operable to receive the chronic data and to characterize the chronic data based on temporal patterns in the chronic data.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further operable to control an output of the IMD based the characterization of the chronic data. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the processing unit controls an output of the IMD by establishing a schedule for reporting the chronic data from the IMD based on the characterization of the chronic data. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the chronic data is characterized by establishing a dominant frequency of repetition of the chronic data and the reporting interval is a multiple of a dominant frequency of repetition. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing unit is further operable to modify settings in the IMD based on the characterization of the chronic data. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing unit characterizes the chronic data by categorizing the chronic data in a group according to a frequency and duration of recurrence of the physiological episode. 
     
     
         7 . An implantable medical device (IMD) comprising:
 sensor circuitry that generates chronic data representative of a physiological episode;   memory circuitry that stores the chronic data; and   processing circuitry that characterizes the chronic data based on temporal patterns in the chronic data.   
     
     
         8 . The IMD of  claim 7 , and further comprising:
 means for providing an output based the characterization of the chronic data.   
     
     
         9 . The IMD of  claim 8 , wherein the means for providing an output based on the characterization of the chronic data comprises communication circuitry operable to report the chronic data at a reporting interval based on the temporal patterns in the chronic data. 
     
     
         10 . The IMD of  claim 8 , wherein the processing circuitry characterizes the chronic data by determining a dominant frequency of repetition of the chronic data and the reporting interval is a multiple of the frequency of repetition. 
     
     
         11 . The IMD of  claim 10 , wherein the dominant frequency of repetition is determined by performing a fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the chronic data. 
     
     
         12 . The IMD of  claim 8 , wherein the means for providing an output based the characterization of the chronic data comprises communication circuitry for reporting a change in the temporal patterns in the chronic data. 
     
     
         13 . The IMD of  claim 8 , wherein the means providing an output based the characterization of the chronic data comprises therapy delivery circuitry for administering therapy based on the characterization of the chronic data. 
     
     
         14 . The IMD of  claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry modifies settings in the IMD based on the characterization of the chronic data. 
     
     
         15 . The IMD of  claim 14 , wherein the processing circuitry modifies settings in the IMD based on the characterization of the chronic data by adjusting therapy administered by the IMD based on the characterization of the chronic data. 
     
     
         16 . The IMD of  claim 14 , wherein the processing circuitry modifies settings in the IMD based on the characterization of the chronic data by adjusting a resolution of chronic data stored in the IMD based on the characterization of the chronic data. 
     
     
         17 . The IMD of  claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry characterizes the chronic data based on temporal patterns in the chronic data by categorizing the chronic data based on a frequency and duration of recurrence of the physiological episodes.