IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED ANTENNA SYSTEM

• US 20080300658A1
• Filed: 06/02/2008
• Published: 12/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Original Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Inventors: Meskens, Werner
• Granted Patent: US 8,369,959 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/60
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36036 of the outer, middle or inner ear
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/0216 BTE hearing aids having a receiver in the ear mould
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/025 In the ear hearing aids [ITE] hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/51 Aspects of antennas or their circuitry in or for hearing aids
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/55 Communication between hearing aids and external devices via a network for data exchange
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/57 Aspects of electrical interconnection between hearing aid parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/554 using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/556 External connectors, e.g. plugs or modules H04R25/607 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/60 Mounting or interconnection of hearing aid parts, e.g. inside tips, housings or to ossicles ear wax retarders, e.g. mounting thereof H04R25/654
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/607 of earhooks
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/65 Housing parts, e.g. shells, tips or moulds, or their manufacture

Abstract

The present invention is related to active implantable medical devices comprising an antenna and a band diplexer connected to said antenna. The band diplexer comprises first filter means for a first signal to be transmitted and/or received in a first RF band and second filter means for a second signal to be transmitted and/or received in a second RF band. A method of bidirectional wireless communication is disclosed between an active implantable medical device and an external device, comprising the steps of: communicating unidirectionally from the external device to the implantable medical device over a first wireless link in a first RF band in the MI near-field and communicating unidirectionally from the implantable medical device to the external device over a second wireless link in a second RF band in the EM field.

Claims

1. An implantable medical device having an implantable component configured to receive and/or generate internal data and/or power signals, comprising:

an implantable antenna at which external radio frequency (RF) signals are transmitted to and/or received from one or more devices positionable external a patient'"'"'s body; and

a reciprocal frequency multiplexer/filter circuit configured to concurrently frequency-filter high- and low-frequency external RF signals received by said implantable antenna, and to concurrently frequency-multiplex common-mode high-frequency RF signals and differential-mode low-frequency RF signals to form high- and low-frequency external RF signals, respectively, for transmission to said one or more external devices via said internal antenna, said common-mode high- and differential-mode low-frequency RF signals corresponding to said internal signals generated by said implantable component.

2. The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein said circuit comprises:

a common-mode enabling frequency multiplexer/filter circuit configured to filter said high-frequency external RF signals received by said implantable antenna so as to pass only said common-mode high-frequency RF signals for processing to generate one or more of said internal signals, and to multiplex common-mode high frequency RF signals corresponding to said internal signals received from said implantable component to form a high-frequency external RF signal for transmission to the one or more external devices via said implantable antenna; and

a differential-mode enabling frequency multiplexer/filter circuit configured to filter said low-frequency external RF signals received by said implantable antenna so as to pass only said differential-mode low-frequency RF signals for processing to generate one or more of said internal signals, and to multiplex differential-mode low-frequency RF signals corresponding to one or more of said internal signals received from said implantable component to form a low-frequency external RF signal for transmission to the one or more external devices via said implantable antenna.

3. The medical device of claim 1, wherein said internal antenna comprises:

one or more windings.

4. The medical device of claim 1, wherein said low-frequency external RF signals comprise:

a magnetoinductive (MI) near-field signal.

5. The medical device of claim 1, wherein said low-frequency external RF signals comprise:

a reactive near-field signal.

6. The medical device of claim 1, wherein said high-frequency external RF signals comprise:

a radiating near-field signal.

7. The medical device of claim 1, wherein said high-frequency external RF signals comprise:

an electromagnetic (EM) far-field signal.

8. The medical device of claim 1, further comprising:

a lower RF band transceiver, connected to said circuit, configured to process said low-frequency differential-mode RF signals generated by said circuit to generate said one or more of said internal signals; and

an upper RF band transceiver, connected to said circuit, configured to process said high-frequency differential-mode RF signals generated by said circuit to generate said one or more of said internal signals.

9. The medical device of claim 8, wherein said transceivers are each configured to unidirectionally transfer power from said internal antenna to components of the medical device using a reactive near field.

10. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the frequency of said low-frequency external RF signals are below or equal to approximately 40 MHz.

11. The medical device of claim 10, wherein the frequency of said low-frequency external RF signals are below or equal to approximately 30 MHz.

12. The medical device of claim 11, wherein the frequency of said low-frequency external RF signals are below or equal to approximately 25 MHz.

13. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the frequency of said high-frequency external RF signals are above or equal to approximately 20 MHz.

14. The medical device of claim 13, wherein the frequency of said high-frequency external RF signals are above or equal to approximately 30 MHz.

15. The medical device of claim 14, wherein the frequency of said high-frequency external RF signals are above or equal to approximately 50 MHz.

16. The medical device of claim 15, wherein the frequency of said high-frequency external RF signals are above or equal to approximately 100 MHz.

17. The medical device of claim 1, further comprising:

an antenna matching unit, operationally coupled to said circuit, configured to match impedance of said internal antenna to an open-ended antenna for transmitting and receiving said high-frequency external RF signals.

18. The medical device of claim 1, wherein one or more of either said first and second signal comprises a data signal from the group consisting of:

telemetry data signal;

control data signal;

signalling data signal; and

audio streaming data signal.

19. The medical device of claim 1, wherein said medical device comprises:

a cochlear implant.

20. The medical device of claim 1, wherein said internal antenna comprises:

a closed-wire antenna; and

an open-ended antenna.

21. A cochlear implant comprising:

one or more external devices comprising an external sound processor unit to be worn on the body of a recipient; and

an implantable medical device having an implantable component configured to receive and/or generate internal data and/or power signals, comprising;

an implantable antenna at which external radio frequency (RF) signals are transmitted to and/or received from one or more devices positionable external a patient'"'"'s body; and

a reciprocal frequency multiplexer/filter circuit configured to concurrently frequency-filter high- and low-frequency external RF signals received by said implantable antenna, and to concurrently frequency-multiplex common-mode high-frequency RF signals and differential-mode low-frequency RF signals to form high- and low-frequency external RF signals, respectively, for transmission to said one or more external devices via said internal antenna, said common-mode high- and differential-mode low-frequency RF signals corresponding to said internal signals generated by said implantable component.

22. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein said circuit comprises:

a common-mode enabling frequency multiplexer/filter circuit configured to filter said high-frequency external RF signals received by said implantable antenna so as to pass only said common-mode high-frequency RF signals for processing to generate one or more of said internal signals, and to multiplex common-mode high frequency RF signals corresponding to said internal signals received from said implantable component to form a high-frequency external RF signal for transmission to the one or more external devices via said implantable antenna; and

a differential-mode enabling frequency multiplexer/filter circuit configured to filter said low-frequency external RF signals received by said implantable antenna so as to pass only said differential-mode low-frequency RF signals for processing to generate one or more of said internal signals, and to multiplex differential-mode low-frequency RF signals corresponding to one or more of said internal signals received from said implantable component to form a low-frequency external RF signal for transmission to the one or more external devices via said implantable antenna.

23. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein said internal antenna comprises:

one or more windings.

24. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein said low-frequency external RF signals comprise:

a magnetoinductive (MI) near-field signal.

25. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein said low-frequency external RF signals comprise:

a reactive near-field signal.

26. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein said high-frequency external RF signals comprise:

a radiating near-field signal.

27. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein said high-frequency external RF signals comprise:

an electromagnetic (EM) far-field signal.

28. The cochlear implant of claim 21, further comprising:

a lower RF band transceiver, connected to said circuit, configured to process said low-frequency differential-mode RF signals generated by said circuit to generate said one or more of said internal signals; and

an upper RF band transceiver, connected to said circuit, configured to process said high-frequency differential-mode RF signals generated by said circuit to generate said one or more of said internal signals.

29. The cochlear implant of claim 28, wherein said transceivers are each configured to unidirectionally transfer power from said internal antenna to components of the medical device using a reactive near field.

30. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein the frequency of said low-frequency external RF signals are below or equal to approximately 40 MHz.

31. The cochlear implant of claim 30, wherein the frequency of said low-frequency external RF signals are below or equal to approximately 30 MHz.

32. The cochlear implant of claim 31, wherein the frequency of said low-frequency external RF signals are below or equal to approximately 25 MHz.

33. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein the frequency of said high-frequency external RF signals are above or equal to approximately 20 MHz.

34. The cochlear implant of claim 33, wherein the frequency of said high-frequency external RF signals are above or equal to approximately 30 MHz.

35. The cochlear implant of claim 34, wherein the frequency of said high-frequency external RF signals are above or equal to approximately 50 MHz.

36. The cochlear implant of claim 35, wherein the frequency of said high-frequency external RF signals are above or equal to approximately 100 MHz.

37. The cochlear implant of claim 21, further comprising:

an antenna matching unit, operationally coupled to said circuit, configured to match impedance of said internal antenna to an open-ended antenna for transmitting and receiving said high-frequency external RF signals.

38. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein one or more of either said first and second signal comprises a data signal from the group consisting of:

telemetry data signal;

control data signal;

signalling data signal; and

audio streaming data signal.

39. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein said internal antenna comprises:

a closed-wire antenna; and

an open-ended antenna.

40. The cochlear implant of claim 21, wherein said external sound processor unit comprises:

a behind-the-ear (BTE) sound processor unit.

41. The cochlear implant of claim 40, wherein said BTE sound processor unit comprises:

a connector for a closed-wire antenna external to said BTE sound processor unit for transcutaneously transferring power to said implantable components of the cochlear implant.

42. The cochlear implant of claim 40, wherein said one or more external devices further comprises:

a device configured to be located in-the-ear canal of the recipient.

43. The cochlear implant of claim 40, wherein said one or more external devices further comprises:

one or more of either a remote control device and a handheld device.

44. A method of bidirectional wireless communication between an implantable medical device and an external device comprising:

communicating unidirectionally from the external device to the implantable medical device over a first wireless link in a first RF band in the MI near-field; and

communicating unidirectionally from the implantable medical device to the external device over a second wireless link in a second RF band in the EM-field.

45. The method of claim 44, wherein the second RF band is in the EM far field.

46. The method of claim 44, wherein said second RF band is higher in frequency than said first RF band.

47. The method of claim 44, wherein said second RF band is higher in frequency than said first RF band.

48. An implantable medical device comprising:

an internal antenna at which RF signals are transmitted to and/or received from one or more external devices; and

a band diplexer, connected to the internal antenna, comprising;

a first filter configured to filter for a differential-mode first signal to be transmitted and/or received in a first RF band, and a second filter configured to filter for a second signal to be transmitted and/or received in a second RF band, wherein the common-mode second RF band is higher in frequency than the differential-mode first RF band.

49. The implantable medical device of claim 48, wherein the antenna comprises one or multiple windings.

50. The implantable medical device of claim 48, wherein the antenna is arranged to transmit and/or receive the first signal over an MI near-field and arranged to transmit and/or receive the second signal over a radiating near-field or EM far-field.

51. The implantable medical device of claim 48, wherein the antenna is arranged to operate simultaneously for transmitting or receiving the first signal and transmitting or receiving the second signal.

52. The implantable medical device of claim 48, wherein the medical device comprises a cochlear implant.