Systems and methods for facilitating selecting of one or more vectors in a medical device

Abstract

Some systems and methods may facilitate selection of a vector for delivering electrical stimulation to a patient's heart. One method may include displaying a plurality of vectors on a display screen wherein each vector represents a different combination of three or more electro-stimulation electrodes, determining an electrical impedance for each of the plurality of vectors, displaying on the display screen the electrical impedance for each of the plurality of vectors, receiving a selection of a set of the plurality of vectors, determining, for each of the vectors in the set of vectors, a capture threshold, displaying on the display screen the capture threshold for each of the vectors in the set of vectors, receiving a selection of a vector from the set of vectors for delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient's heart, and programming the electro-stimulation device electrical stimulation to the patient's heart via the selected vector.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for facilitating selection of at least one vector for delivering electrical stimulation to a chamber of a patient's heart via an electro-stimulation device, the system comprising:
 a display screen; and   a controller configured to initiate capture threshold testing comprising:
 present, at the display screen, a plurality of vectors, wherein each vector represents a different combination of electro-stimulation electrodes used to deliver the electrical stimulation; 
 measure an electrical delay for each of the plurality of vectors using the electro-stimulation electrodes; 
 present, at the display screen, the measured electrical delay for each of the plurality of vectors; 
 receive a selection of a set of vectors from the plurality of vectors as a selected first subset of the plurality of vectors in response to the presenting on the display screen the measured electrical delay for each of the plurality of vectors; 
 determine a capture threshold for each of the vectors of the first subset of the plurality of vectors; 
 present, at the display screen, the determined capture threshold for each of the vectors of the first subset of the plurality of vectors; 
 receive a further selection of a vector from the received first subset of the plurality of vectors, in response to the presented determined capture threshold, for delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient's heart; and 
 program the electro-stimulation device to use the selected vector when delivering electrical stimulation to the patient's heart. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein, to measure the electrical delay, the controller is configured to measure an RV-LV delay for each of the plurality of vectors. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 measure an electrical pacing impedance for each of the plurality of vectors using the electro-stimulation electrodes;   present, at the display screen, the measured electrical delay and the measured electrical pacing impedance for each of the plurality of vectors; and   sort on the display screen the plurality of vectors based on the measured electrical pacing impedance.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 sort on the display screen the plurality of vectors based on the measured electrical delay.   
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 determine a phrenic nerve stimulation threshold value for the first sub-set of the plurality of vectors; and   present, at the display screen, the determined phrenic nerve stimulation threshold value for each of the plurality of vectors.   
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
 sort on the display screen the plurality of vectors based on the determined phrenic nerve stimulation threshold value.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a pulse generator configured to deliver electrical stimulation pulses to the patient's heart,   wherein the controller is configured to program the pulse generator to deliver electrical stimulation pulses to the patient's heart using the selected vector.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the selected first subset of the plurality of vectors comprises less than all of the plurality of vectors. 
     
     
         9 . A method of facilitating selection of a vector for delivering electrical stimulation to a patient's heart via an electro-stimulation device having three or more electro-stimulation electrodes using a device-based cardiac capture threshold test, the method comprising:
 displaying a plurality of vectors on a display screen, wherein each vector represents a different combination of the three or more electro-stimulation electrodes;   measuring an electrical delay for each of the plurality of vectors using the electro-stimulation electrodes;   displaying on the display screen the measured electrical delay for each of the plurality of vectors;   receiving a selection of a set of the plurality of vectors as a selected first sub-set of the plurality of vectors in response to the displaying on the display screen the measured electrical delay for each of the plurality of vectors;   determining a capture threshold for each of the vectors of the first subset of the plurality of vectors;   displaying on the display screen the determined capture threshold for each of the vectors of the first subset of the plurality of vectors;   receiving a further selection of a vector from the received first subset of the plurality of vectors, in response to the displaying on the display screen the determined capture threshold, for delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient's heart; and   programming the electro-stimulation device to use the selected vector when delivering electrical stimulation to the patient's heart.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein measuring the electrical delay comprises measuring an RV-LV delay for each of the plurality of vectors. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 sorting on the display screen the plurality of vectors based on the measured electrical delay.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein, after displaying the plurality of vectors on the display screen but before receiving the selection of the set of the plurality of vectors, the method further comprising:
 measuring an electrical pacing impedance for each of the plurality of vectors;   displaying on the display screen the measured electrical delay and the measured electrical impedance for each of the plurality of vectors; and   sorting on the display screen the plurality of vectors based on the measured electrical pacing impedance.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 displaying on the display screen the measured electrical delay and the measured electrical impedance for each of the plurality of vectors in a table format, wherein the plurality of vectors are each represented in a row, and the measured electrical delay and the measured electrical impedance are represented in columns.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 receiving a selection of a first column; and   in response to the receiving the selection of the first column, sorting the table by the selected first column.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 after receiving the selection of the first column, receiving a selection of a second column; and   in response to the receiving the selection of the second column, sorting the table by the first column and if duplicate entries exist in the first column, sorting the duplicate entries by the selected second column.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 after receiving the selection of the first column, receiving a selection of one or more rows from the table;   after receiving the selection of the one or more rows, receiving a selection of a second column; and   sorting the selected one or more rows by the selected second column.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 determining a phrenic nerve stimulation threshold value for the first sub-set of the plurality of vectors; and   displaying on the display screen the determined phrenic nerve stimulation value for each of the plurality of vectors.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 sorting the plurality of vectors based on the determined phrenic nerve stimulation threshold value.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the selected first subset of the plurality of vectors comprises less than all of the plurality of vectors. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 programming a pulse generator to deliver electrical stimulation pulses to the patient's heart using the selected vector.