Arrangement for determining a heart rate automatically establishing the optimal refractory time for heart rate determination

摘要

An arrangement for determining the heart rate (f.sub.RR) or the refractoryime of the cardiac tissue, particularly for detecting tachycardia or fibrillation, has an electrode (E) for sensing heart action signals (SIG), an input stage, connected to the electrode, for processing the heart action signals, a refractory member for ascertaining a refractory time value of the arrangement, in each case after a predetermined segment of a heart action signal, and a processing device, connected to the output of the input stage or of the refractory member, for determining the rate of the heart action signals, processed with blanking of the component that occurs during the refractory time, or for determining the refractory time value of the cardiac tissue. The arrangement further includes a device which is connected at least indirectly to the output of the processing device or of the input stage for automatically adjusting the refractory time of the refractory member as a function of a previously determined value of the heart rate or of a signal parameter of a previously determined heart action signal.