Multiple Telemetry and/or Charging Coil Configurations for an Implantable Medical Device System
First Claim
1. An implantable medical device system, comprising:
- an implantable medical device having at least one device coil for receiving electromagnetic energy comprising data for the implantable medical device; and
an external controller having a plurality of external coils, wherein one or more of the plurality of external coils is activated to generate the electromagnetic energy to be received by the device coil in the implantable medical device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of an improved implantable medical device system for orientation-independent telemetry to and from the device are disclosed. The system includes an external controller which produces an electromagnetic field to induce a current in a coil in the implantable medical device and vise versa. In a preferred embodiment, the external controller comprises three orthogonal coils, each of which is potentially activated to generate or receive the electromagnetic field. Algorithms are disclosed to allow for the choice of one or more of the coils best suited for telemetry based on the chosen coil'"'"'s orientation with respect to the telemetry coil in the implantable medical device. Because all three of the orthogonal coils are potentially activated if necessary, the result is that at least one of the coils will be in a proper orientation with respect to the coil in the implantable medical device, thereby improving telemetry efficiency. The disclosed techniques may be used to improve induction-based powering or charging of the device as well.
147 Citations
40 Claims
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1. An implantable medical device system, comprising:
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an implantable medical device having at least one device coil for receiving electromagnetic energy comprising data for the implantable medical device; and an external controller having a plurality of external coils, wherein one or more of the plurality of external coils is activated to generate the electromagnetic energy to be received by the device coil in the implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An implantable medical device system, comprising:
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an external controller having at least one external coil, wherein the external coil is activated to generate electromagnetic energy; and an implantable medical device having a plurality of device coils, wherein one or more of the device coils can be activated to receive the electromagnetic energy comprising data for the implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for communication from an external device to an implantable medical device, comprising:
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transmitting a test signal from a first of a plurality of telemetry coils in the external device; receiving at the first telemetry coil a response to the test signal from the implantable medical device; assessing the response at the external device; repeating the above steps for subsequent of the plurality of telemetry coils until all telemetry coils have been assessed; choosing at least one of the telemetry coils based on the assessed response for that coil; and activating the chosen at least one telemetry coil to generate electromagnetic energy to be received by at least one device coil in the implantable medical device comprising data for the implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for communication from an external device to an implantable medical device, comprising:
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(a) transmitting a test signal from a first of a plurality of telemetry coils in the external device; (b) receiving at the first telemetry coil a response to the test signal from the implantable medical device; (c) assessing the response at the external device; (d) if the response at the first telemetry coil is satisfactory, activating the first coil to generate electromagnetic energy to be received by at least one device coil in the implantable medical device comprising data for the implantable medical device; (e) if the response is at the first telemetry coil is not satisfactory, repeating steps (a)-(c) for a second telemetry coil; and (f) if the response at the second telemetry coil is satisfactory, activating the second telemetry coil to generate electromagnetic energy to be received by the at least one device coil in the implantable medical device comprising the data for the implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. An implantable medical device system, comprising:
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an implantable medical device having at least one device coil for receiving electromagnetic energy that provides power to the implantable medical device; and an external device having a plurality of coils, wherein one or more of the plurality of coils is activated to generate the electromagnetic energy to be received by the device coil in the implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (40)
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Specification