System and method for enhancing cardiac signal sensing by cardiac pacemakers through genetic treatment

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In accordance with the above, a primary purpose of Applicants' claimed invention is to provide methods and delivery systems for enhancing cardiac pacemaker signal sensing.
In a particular embodiment, the claimed invention provides methods and delivery systems for enhancing cardiac pacemaker P-wave sensing.
Upon identifying a patient in which the signal to noise ratio for atrial or ventricular sensing is problematic, ion channel protein genetic material is selected such that expression of a selected ion channel protein in cells adjacent to the position of the atrial or ventricle electrode corrects or improves the signal to noise ratio for cardiac signal sensing.
Preferably, expression of a selected ion channel protein can improve or correct the signal to noise ratio for cardiac signal sensing in either or both the ventricles and atria of all persons with pacemakers, especially those persons which have been diagnosed with a low signal to noise ratio for P-wave sensing.
Improvement or correction of P-wave sensing can be manifested by an increase in the amplitude of the P-wave, or other characteristic of the cardiac signal, thus resulting in an increase of the signal to noise ratio of the signal sensed in the pacemaker atrial sensing channel.
Delivery of the ion channel protein genetic material can be accomplished by adaptation of available pacing leads, such as, for example, AAI or DDD leads, as well as by specific modification of leads and catheters.
Delivery of the genetic material may be affected by a pump or may be passive.
The ion channel protein genetic material used in the system and method of this invention comprises recombinant nucleic acid molecules comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding the ion channel protein inserted into a delivery vehicle, such as, for example, plasmids or adenoviral vectors, and the appropriate regulatory elements.
Alternatively, the ion channel protein genetic material comprises the ion channel protein itself.
Expression of the desired ion channel protein from recombinant nucleic acid molecules is controlled by promoters, preferably cardiac tissue-specific promoter-enhancers, operably linked to the nucleic acid molecule encoding the ion channel protein