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Abstract

A method for external treatment of dysrhythmias including fibrillation of a patient's heart utilizes an externally located control box which generates electrical waveforms including shocks of variable energy content sufficient for terminating the dysrhythmias. A lead having transvenous defibrillation electrodes is inserted through a portion of the patient's venous system to position the electrodes to produce an electric field vector through the patient's heart when an electrical shock of sufficient energy content is applied across the electrodes. The control box is electrically connected to the lead to deliver electrical shocks from the control box to the electrodes, and to deliver a representation of the patient's ECG waveform to the control box. A display screen on the control box aids in synchronously triggering the electrical shocks in response to detection of the QRS complex of the ECG waveform. The energy content of each electrical shock is adjusted from the control box to a value within a range from one to thirty joules, to terminate a detected event of fibrillation.

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First Claim