Cardiac electrical events are detected by comparing
signal vectors with pre-determined classification zones representative of different cardiac events. The
signal vector is generated by sensing the voltages between various combinations of electrodes, such as A-tip to V-tip, A-tip to A-ring, and A-ring to V-ring. The
signal vector is compared with a set of classification zones corresponding to different events, such as P-
waves, R-
waves, T-
waves, A-pulses, and V-pulses, to determine whether the vector lies within any of the classification zones. In this manner, cardiac events are detected using only the voltages received from the electrodes and no
refractory periods or blanking periods are required to distinguish one event from another. The classification zones vary from patient to patient and a technique is provided herein for generating a set of vector classification zones for a particular patient.
Signal vectors corresponding to various unknown cardiac events are generated by the
implanted device and are transmitted to an external device
programmer. ECG signals, generated by a
surface ECG detector, are simultaneously received by the external
programmer. The external
programmer identifies the cardiac electrical event corresponding to each signal vector based on the ECG signals and then generates classification zones for each
event type using only the signal vectors corresponding to the event.