PAUL HOWARD LEVINE, LCSW
Social Work at The Old Rd, Santa Clarita, CA

5891178, Apr 6, 1999

May 13, 1997

8/855548

Brian M. Mann - Edgartown MA
Melinda Endaya - Granada Hills CA
Paul A. Levine - Santa Clarita CA

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sylmar CA

A61N 1362

607 27

An improved pacemaker programmer and diagnostic system retrieves information stored within a pacemaker and analyzes the retrieved data in real time. The information stored within the pacemaker can be retrieved by means of a telemetry communication link. The system automatically identifies significant patient events (such as regions of increased heart rate, or loss of atrial or ventricular capture) and displays the significant events to the monitoring physician so that the physician is not required to scroll through the retrieved data to identify significant events. Furthermore, the system automatically suggests modifications to pacemaker parameters based upon certain retrieved data. The physician need only confirm the changes in order to modify the parameters within the pacemaker, so that the modification of pacemaker parameters is reduced to a "one step" process. The system also includes features for allowing the physician to interactively adjust program parameters while viewing the results of parameter changes in real-time.

6408210, Jun 18, 2002

Jan 11, 2000

09/481086

Gene A. Bornzin - Simi Valley CA
Paul A. Levine - Santa Clarita CA
Kenneth Valikai - Palos Verdes Pen. CA
Jason A. Sholder - Whippany NJ

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sylmar CA

A61N 137

607 28

An implantable dual chamber stimulation device provides a novel detection scheme for automatically detecting atrial capture and performing an atrial pacing threshold assessment. The stimulation device preferably waits until the patient is at or near rest and monitors the patients P-wave activity to determine an detection window where a next P-wave is expected to occur. The stimulation device then delivers an atrial pulse prior to the next detection window, and monitors the window to determine whether a P-wave occurs therein. If a P-wave does not occur, then atrial capture is present, while occurrence of a P-wave indicates absence of atrial capture. If atrial capture is absent, the stimulation device automatically determines an appropriate atrial pacing threshold by monitoring the detection window while adjusting the stimulation pulse energy level. Advantageously, the present invention further employs a “bottom-up” adjusting scheme which starts at a low energy level, below the expected atrial pacing threshold, and increases the energy level until atrial capture is detected, thus saving energy and further avoiding corruption by large polarization signals. The latter feature is compatible with the present detection scheme and conventional evoked response detection schemes.

6766197, Jul 20, 2004

Jan 11, 2002

10/043718

Paul A. Levine - Santa Clarita CA

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sylmar CA

A61N 1362

607 27

An implantable cardiac stimulation system capable of automatic capture verification is provided with an associated method for performing automatic testing functions using programmable, or automatically determined, atrioventricular delays. Automatic threshold testing and evoked response sensitivity testing performed at a user-specified delay setting, rather than a preset setting, allows assessment of automatic capture verification based on an atrioventricular delay relevant to daily system function. Further features of the present invention are an adjustable frequency with which automatic threshold tests are performed and an adjustable frequency with which threshold test results are stored in memory in a threshold record for better monitoring of lead stability or impending clinical problems. The frequency of performing threshold tests and the frequency of storing threshold test results may be varied according to the threshold stability. Stored threshold test results are advantageously displayed with respect to a fixed or variable time scale.

8147416, Apr 3, 2012

Aug 31, 2007

11/848586

Timothy A. Fayram - Gilroy CA, US
Eric S. Fain - Sunnyvale CA, US
Paul A. Levine - Santa Clarita CA, US
Anders Björling - Solna, SE

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sunnyvale CA

A61B 5/02, A61B 5/021

600486, 600485, 600481, 600504

Implantable systems, and methods for use therewith, for monitoring arterial blood pressure on a chronic basis are provided herein. A first signal indicative of electrical activity of a patient's heart, and a second signal indicative of mechanical activity of the patient's heart, are obtained using implanted electrodes and an implanted sensor. By measuring the times between various features of the first signal relative to features of the second signal, values indicative of systolic pressure and diastolic pressure can be determined. In specific embodiments, such features are used to determine a peak pulse arrival time (PPAT), which is used to determine the value indicative of systolic pressure. Additionally, a peak-to-peak amplitude at the maximum peak of the second signal, and the value indicative of systolic pressure, can be used to determine the value indicative of diastolic pressure.

6129746, Oct 10, 2000

Dec 14, 1998

9/211314

Paul A. Levine - Newhall CA
Lisa P. Weinberg - Moorpark CA

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sylmar CA

A61N 137

607 27

An implantable cardiac device, such as a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator that has a control unit which is adapted to sample a time-varying parameter relating to either the patient's changing physiological condition or to the delivery of therapeutic electrical stimulation pulse to the heart at a sampling frequency. The control unit is adapted to increase the sampling frequency when the variation between successive measurements of the parameter exceed a preselected value. The control unit is further adapted to decrease the sampling frequency when the variation between successive measurements of the parameter are less than a preselected value. In alternate embodiments, the parameter to be sampled is capture threshold, sensing threshold, lead-tissue impedance, and battery performance.

6285908, Sep 4, 2001

Aug 23, 1999

9/379043

Brian M. Mann - Edgartown MA
Melinda Endaya - Granada Hills CA
Paul A. Levine - Newhall CA

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sylmar CA

A61N 1362

607 28

A pacemaker programmer and diagnostic system retrieves information stored within a pacemaker and analyzes the retrieved data in real time. The stored information can be retrieved by means of a telemetry communication link. The pacemaker automatically lengthens a post-ventricular atrial refractory period (PVARP). The pacemaker determines atrial capture threshold by generating atrial stimulation pulses while maintaining the ventricular stimulation pulse amplitude at a level known to ensure ventricular capture, and by detecting loss of atrial capture. In response to the loss of atrial capture, a processor automatically shortens the AV delay in a subsequent cardiac cycle, to reduce the possibility of a retrograde P-wave initiating a pacemaker-mediated tachycardia (PMT). Also in response to the loss of atrial capture, the pacemaker records the atrial capture threshold, restores the PVARP to its pre-test value, and sets the atrial stimulation pulse amplitude to a value above the atrial capture threshold.

6327501, Dec 4, 2001

Nov 2, 1999

9/432918

Paul A. Levine - Newhall CA
Bruce L. Wilkoff - So. Russell OH
Brian M. Mann - Edgartown MA
Allan R. Schwartz - Moorpark CA

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sylmar CA

A61N 108

607 27

A system and method for identifying and displaying safety alert advisories. The system automatically performs a comparison of identification data with a safety alert advisory. The system stores identification data in a plurality of dedicated fields. Each of dedicated fields contains information related to the patient. Upon the telemetric retrieval of the data by an external programmer, the external programmer automatically cross-correlates the data in the dedicated fields with the safety alert advisories. Upon identification of a match between the data and one of the safety alert advisories, the identified safety alert advisory is displayed to a medical practitioner. In addition, the system provides a dedicated memory to store an advisory flag. The advisory flag is marked when the programmer identifies a safety alert condition that is relevant to one of the dedicated fields. When a subsequent external programmer retrieves the data from the dedicated fields, the external programmer can notify the medical practitioner that a safety alert advisory exists even though the safety alert advisory was never directly input into the subsequent external programmer.

6928326, Aug 9, 2005

Mar 31, 2003

10/405212

Paul A. Levine - Santa Clarita CA, US

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sylmar CA

A61N001/05

607122

Exemplary methods and devices for determining whether fusion or pseudofusion have occurred. An exemplary method includes delivering a stimulus, sensing cardiac activity, determining whether the stimulus resulted in capture, and if the determining indicates that the stimulus did not result in capture, then, determining whether the sensed cardiac activity includes characteristics of native cardiac activity by comparing at least some of the sensed cardiac activity to a template. Accordingly, if the sensed activity includes native activity, then a diagnosis is made that the stimulus resulted in fusion or pseudofusion. Another exemplary method includes determining whether a stimulus resulted in capture, and if the determining indicates that the stimulus did not result in capture, then, adjusting sensitivity of a sensor and sensing cardiac activity using the sensor. According to this method, if cardiac activity is sensed, then a diagnosis is made that the stimulus resulted in fusion or pseudofusion. Various methods and/or devices are suitable for use with autocapture.

2011017, Jul 21, 2011

Mar 30, 2011

13/076250

Xing Pei - Thousand Oaks CA, US
Paul A. Levine - Santa Clarita CA, US

PACESETTER, INC. - Sylmar CA

A61N 1/365

607 25

A method includes providing an optimal interventricular interval, determining an atrio-ventricular conduction delay for the ventricle having faster atrio-ventricular conduction, determining an interventricular conduction delay and determining an advance atrio-ventricular pacing interval, for use in pacing the ventricle having slower atrio-ventricular conduction, based at least in part on the optimal interventricular interval and the interventricular conduction delay.

7606618, Oct 20, 2009

Apr 7, 2006

11/400114

Gene A. Bornzin - Simi Valley CA, US
Peter Boileau - Valencia CA, US
Paul A. Levine - Santa Clarita CA, US
Corey L. Brown - Los Angeles CA, US

Pacesetter, Inc. - Sylmar CA

A61N 1/00

607 27

An implantable medical device with a notification system. The device monitors itself and an implantee for one or more condition indicating notification and delivers the notification at a time the patient is determined to be wakeful and, optionally, at relative rest. The notification can be repeated periodically until acknowledged by the user or the system is evaluated and reprogrammed by the physician. A user input can be included to provide the device confirmation of receipt of the notification as well as to delay delivery of any indicated subsequent notifications. The notification is provided without requiring any additional or special dedicated hardware.