FREQUENCY-AGILE SYSTEM FOR TELEMETRY WITH IMPLANTABLE DEVICE
First Claim
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1. A telemetry system for enabling radio-frequency (RF) communications between an implantable medical device and an external device over a wireless medium, comprising:
- an antenna, an RF transmitter, an RF receiver, and a controller incorporated into each of the implantable and external devices, wherein the RF transmitter and receiver of each device are tunable and may be switched among a plurality of different communications channels which differ in frequency;
wherein the controller is interfaced to the RF transmitter and receiver in each device to enable data transfer over a selected channel;
wherein the controllers of the implantable and external devices are programmed to use associated timing circuitry to divide time into frequency hopping frames each of which contains a plurality of time slots of defined length; and
,wherein the external device and implantable device controllers are programmed to synchronously switch among a plurality of communications channels during a communications session according to a synchronous channel scan list that specifies the number of time slots within each frequency hopping frame and assigns a communications channel that is to be used for data transfer during each time slot.
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to an RF telemetry system and method for enabling communication between an implantable medical device and an external device with an improved tolerance to noise from external sources. Multiple communications channels at different frequencies are provided which are synchronously switched between during a communications session by both devices.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A telemetry system for enabling radio-frequency (RF) communications between an implantable medical device and an external device over a wireless medium, comprising:
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an antenna, an RF transmitter, an RF receiver, and a controller incorporated into each of the implantable and external devices, wherein the RF transmitter and receiver of each device are tunable and may be switched among a plurality of different communications channels which differ in frequency; wherein the controller is interfaced to the RF transmitter and receiver in each device to enable data transfer over a selected channel; wherein the controllers of the implantable and external devices are programmed to use associated timing circuitry to divide time into frequency hopping frames each of which contains a plurality of time slots of defined length; and
,wherein the external device and implantable device controllers are programmed to synchronously switch among a plurality of communications channels during a communications session according to a synchronous channel scan list that specifies the number of time slots within each frequency hopping frame and assigns a communications channel that is to be used for data transfer during each time slot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for enabling radio-frequency (RF) telemetry communications between an implantable medical device and an external device over a wireless medium, comprising:
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defining a plurality of different communications channels which differ in frequency; programming the implantable and external devices to use associated timing circuitry to divide time into frequency hopping frames each of which contains a plurality of time slots; and
,programming the external device and implantable device to synchronously switch among a plurality of communications channels during a communications session according to a synchronous channel scan list that specifies the number of time slots within each frequency hopping frame and assigns a communications channel that is to be used for data transfer during each time slot. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification