INTRA-OCCULAR PRESSURE SENSOR

• US 20090069648A1
• Filed: 08/22/2008
• Published: 03/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Purdue Research Foundation (Purdue University)
• Original Assignee: Purdue Research Foundation (Purdue University)
• Inventors: Ziaie, Babak, Yang, Chin-Lung, Chappell, William J., Irazoqui, Pedro P., Chow, Eric Y.
• Granted Patent: US 8,475,374 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/302
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0247 Pressure sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/16 for measuring intraocular pressure, e.g. tonometers
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0004 characterised by the type of physiological signal transmitted
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0028 Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/03 Detecting, measuring or recording fluid pressure within the body other than blood pressure, e.g. cerebral pressure; Measuring pressure in body tissues or organs A61B5/205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/686 Permanently implanted devices, e.g. pacemakers, other stimulators, biochips A61B5/6861 takes precedence

Abstract

A system is provided for monitoring intraocular pressure, the system comprising: a sensor package configured to be disposed in the suprachoroidal space of a patient'"'"'s eye; a pressure sensor; a wireless transceiver disposed within the sensor package and coupled to the pressure sensor; an external transceiver, the external receiver being wirelessly coupled to the wireless transceiver when the transceiver is disposed proximate to the patient'"'"'s eye.

Claims

1. An active, implantable system for monitoring pressure, the system comprising:

a sensor package configured to be disposed in a human body;

a pressure sensor;

a wireless transceiver disposed within the sensor package and coupled to said pressure sensor;

an external transceiver, said external receiver being wirelessly coupled to said wireless transceiver when said transceiver is disposed proximate to said patient'"'"'s eye; and

a wireless power supply disposed externally to the patient'"'"'s body.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said wireless power supply comprises an inductive power supply.

3. The system according to claim 2 further comprising a coil disposed within said sensor package, wherein a current is induced by a second coil disposed externally to the human body.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein said wireless power supply is a radio frequency receiver, configured to receive radio frequency transmissions from an external base station and convert said radio frequency transmissions into electrical current.

5. The system according to claim 4 wherein said wireless radio frequency receiver provides an antenna, said antenna being configured for both the reception of data and the transmission of power to the wireless transceiver

6. The system according to claim 1 further comprising a power storage unit.

7. The system according t claim 6 wherein said power storage unit is a capacitor.

8. The system according to claim 6 wherein said power storage unit is a battery.

9. The system according to claim 1 wherein said sensor package actively monitors pressure within the human body, stores data collected by said monitoring, and transmits said data.

10. The system according to claim 9 wherein said monitoring is either periodic or continuous.

11. The system according to claim 1, said system being configured to be disposed within the eye of said human body.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein said system is configured to be disposed within the suprachoroidal space of said eye of said human body.

13. The system according to claim 1 wherein said implantable system is a biocompatible package.

14. The system according to claim 13 wherein said biocompatible package is configured from a biocompatible material selected from the group of biocompatible materials consisting of ceramic, silicon, alumina, and liquid crystal polymer.

15. The system according to claim 1 further comprising a conductive polymer bonding components of said sensor package.

16. The system according to claim 1, wherein said pressure sensor is a piezoresisistive micro-electro-mechanical system pressure sensor.

17. The system according to claim 1, wherein said pressure sensor is a capacitive sensor.

19. The system according to claim 12, said internal radio frequency transceiver being configured to transmit data from said implant unit to said external radio transceiver.

18. A system for the transmission of power through living tissue, said system comprising;

an implanted radio frequency transceiver disposed within an implant unit, said implant unit being configured to be disposed within a subject'"'"'s body and beneath living tissue;

an external radio frequency transceiver coupled to a power supply;

said external radio frequency transceiver being configured to transmit radio waves through said living tissue to said implanted radio transceiver whereby said radio waves are converted to electrical energy.

20. A system for the transmission of data from a biomedical implant, the system comprising:

an antenna, selected from the group of antennae consisting of loop antenna, patch antenna and inverted-F antenna;

a low temperature co-fired ceramic substrate upon which said antenna is disposed;

an integrated means of wireless power transfer; and

said antenna is configured with single layer shorting pins and from high-K material disposed about the perimeter of the implantable device in a single loop.