Apparatus, System, and Method for Transcutaneously Transferring Energy

• US 20080319512A1
• Filed: 08/27/2008
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Depuy Products Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Depuy Products Incorporated (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Sherman, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 8,244,368 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/61
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0219 of externally powered implanted units
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4528 Joints A61B5/4533, A61B5/4538 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/30 Joints
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2/389 Tibial components A61F2/3868 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2002/3067 for data transfer
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2250/0002 for data transfer

Abstract

An apparatus for transcutaneously transferring an amount of energy to an implantable orthopaedic device includes a primary coil. The primary coil has a resonant frequency matched to a resonant frequency of a secondary coil, which may form part of the implantable orthopaedic device. The primary coil may have an aperture configured to receive a portion of a patient'"'"'s body or may include a substantially “C”-shaped core. A power circuit may be coupled with the primary coil to provide power to the coil. The apparatus may also include a wireless receiver, a measuring device, and/or a display.

Claims

1. A system for transcutaneously transferring an amount of energy, the system comprising:

a knee orthopaedic prosthesis including a tibial tray having a platform and a stem extending downwardly from the platform to be inserted into a tibia of a patient;

a bobbin secured to a distal end of the stem of the knee orthopaedic prosthesis, the bobbin being external from the stem and formed from a non-magnetic material;

a secondary coil wound around the bobbin and having a resonant frequency; and

a primary coil wound around a portion of a “

C”

-shaped core, the primary coil having a resonant frequency matched to the resonant frequency of the secondary coil to transcutaneously transfer energy to the tibial tray via the secondary coil.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the knee orthopaedic prosthesis includes a threaded aperture defined in the distal end of the stem of the knee orthopaedic prosthesis and the bobbin includes a threaded post received in the threaded aperture.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising a sleeve positioned over the bobbin such that the secondary coil is covered by the sleeve.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the resonance of the secondary coil has a quality factor substantially less than the quality factor of the resonance of the primary coil.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the knee orthopaedic prosthesis includes an electrical circuit positioned in the stem and electrically coupled to the secondary coil, the electrical circuit including a transmitter.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the electrical circuit is configured to receive power only from the secondary coil.

7. A system for transcutaneously transferring an amount of energy, the system comprising:

a tibial tray and a hand-held device to transcutaneously transfer the amount of energy to the tibial tray, wherein

the tibial tray includes a platform, a stem extending downwardly from the platform, a bobbin secured to a distal end of the stem, a secondary coil wound around the bobbin and having a resonant frequency, and an electrical circuit electrically coupled to the secondary coil; and

the hand-held device includes a primary coil to inductively power the secondary coil of the tibial tray, and an adjustable tuning capacitor coupled to the primary coil to permit adjusting a resonant frequency of the primary coil to match to the resonant frequency of the secondary coil of the tibial tray.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the primary coil of the hand-held device is wound around a portion of a “

C”

-shaped core.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising an orthopaedic implant that includes a secondary coil having a resonant frequency that differs from the resonant frequency of the secondary coil of the tibial tray, wherein the adjustable tuning capacitor further permits adjusting the resonant frequency of the primary coil to match the resonant frequency of the secondary coil of the orthopaedic implant instead of the resonant frequency of the secondary coil of the tibial tray.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the bobbin is external to the stem and formed from a non-magnetic material;

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the tibial tray includes a threaded aperture defined in the distal end of the stem and the bobbin includes a threaded post received in the threaded aperture.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising a sleeve positioned over the bobbin such that the secondary coil is covered by the sleeve.

13. The system of claim 7, wherein the resonance of the secondary coil has a quality factor substantially less than the quality factor of the resonance of the primary coil.

14. The system of claim 7, wherein the electrical circuit is positioned in the stem and includes a transmitter.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the hand-held device includes a receiver to receive data from the transmitter of the tibial tray.

16. The system of claim 7, wherein the hand-held device further includes

a measurement circuit to measure the amount of energy supplied by the primary coil, and

a display to present an indication of the amount of energy supplied by the primary coil.

17. The system of claim 7, wherein the hand-held device further includes an indicator to alert a user when the amount of energy supplied by the primary coil exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

18. The system of claim 7, wherein the primary coil is tuned to transfer energy to the secondary coil of the tibial tray while the hand-held device is positioned away from a patient'"'"'s skin to prevent damage to the patient'"'"'s skin.

19. A hand-held device for transcutaneously transferring an amount of energy to a tibial tray implanted in a patient, the system comprising:

a primary coil to inductively transfer energy to a secondary coil of the tibial tray implanted in the patient, the primary coil wound around a portion of a “

C”

-shaped core, and

an adjustable tuning capacitor coupled to the primary coil to permit adjusting a resonant frequency of the primary coil to match to a resonant frequency of the secondary coil of the tibial tray implanted in the patient.

20. The hand-held device of claim 19, further comprising

an electrical circuit to measure the amount of energy supplied by the primary coil, and

an indicator to alert a user when the amount of energy supplied by the primary coil exceeds a predetermined threshold value.