IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED ACOUSTIC TRANSDUCER

• US 20100004718A1
• Filed: 07/17/2009
• Published: 01/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Remon Medical Technologies Ltd. (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Remon Medical Technologies Ltd. (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Inventors: Penner, Abraham, Doron, Eyal
• Granted Patent: US 8,744,580 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/60
• 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: A61N 1/372 Arrangements in connection with the implantation of stimulators
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37217 characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3785 generated by biological activity or substance, e.g. body movement

Abstract

An implantable medical device comprises a hermetically sealed housing having a housing wall with an interior surface, and an ultrasonic acoustic transducer, the transducer comprising one or more piezoelectric discs fixed to the interior surface of the housing wall, such that the housing wall acts as a diaphragm in response to induced movement by the one or more piezoelectric material discs.

Claims

1. An implantable medical device adapted to be acoustically coupled to a second medical device, the implantable medical device comprising:

a hermetically sealed housing having a housing wall with an interior surface;

an ultrasonic transducer disposed within the housing and configured to acoustically couple to the second medical device, the ultrasonic transducer configured to transmit an outgoing acoustic signal to the second medical device and receive an incoming acoustic signal from the second medical device;

a metallic membrane interposed between the interior surface of the housing wall and the ultrasonic transducer, the membrane configured to couple the ultrasonic transducer to the interior surface of the housing wall; and

wherein the ultrasonic transducer is configured to operate at a resonance frequency at or above 20 KHz.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic transducer includes one or more piezoelectric discs.

3. The device of claim 2, further including an annular ring radially surrounding the one or more piezoelectric discs and attached to the interior surface of the housing wall.

4. The device of claim 2, wherein the one or more piezoelectric discs comprise two discs, and further including an electrode positioned between the piezoelectric discs.

5. The device of claim 4, further including a respective electrical lead coupled to each of the two piezoelectric discs and the electrode.

6. The device of claim 2, further including an amplifier integrated with the one or more piezoelectric discs, the amplifier configured to minimize parasitic effects and noise in the incoming acoustic signal received from the second medical device.

7. The device of claim 2, wherein the membrane has a substantially greater thickness than a thickness of the housing wall.

8. The device of claim 7, wherein the membrane is mounted on a pedestal, the pedestal attached to the interior surface of the housing wall, the pedestal having a smaller diameter than each of the one or more piezoelectric discs.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the second medical device is an implantable device.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the second medical device is an extracorporeal device.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the implantable medical device is an implantable pulse generator.

12. An implantable medical device adapted to be acoustically coupled to a second medical device, the implantable medical device comprising:

a hermetically sealed housing having a housing wall with an interior surface;

an ultrasonic transducer disposed within the housing and configured to acoustically couple to the second medical device, the ultrasonic transducer including one or more piezoelectric discs configured to transmit an outgoing acoustic signal to the second medical device and receive an incoming acoustic signal from the second medical device;

an annular ring radially surrounding the one or more piezoelectric discs; and

wherein the ultrasonic transducer is configured to operate at a resonance frequency at or above 20 KHz.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the one or more piezoelectric discs comprise two piezoelectric discs, and further including an electrode positioned between the piezoelectric discs.

14. The device of claim 13, further including a respective electrical lead coupled to each of the two piezoelectric discs and the electrode.

15. The device of claim 12, further including an amplifier integrated with the one or more piezoelectric discs, the amplifier configured to minimize parasitic effects and noise in the incoming acoustic signal received from the second medical device.

16. The device of claim 12, wherein the annular ring is attached to the interior surface of the housing wall.

17. The device of claim 12, further including a metallic membrane integrated with the annular ring, the membrane interposed between the interior surface of the housing wall and the ultrasonic transducer.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the membrane has a substantially greater thickness than a thickness of the housing wall.

19. The device of claim 17, wherein the membrane is mounted on a pedestal, the pedestal attached to the interior surface of the housing wall, the pedestal having a smaller diameter than each of the one or more piezoelectric discs.

20. The device of claim 12, wherein the second medical device is an implantable device.

21. The device of claim 12, wherein the second medical device is an extracorporeal device.

22. The device of claim 12, wherein the implantable medical device is an implantable pulse generator.

23. An implantable medical device adapted to be acoustically coupled to a remote device implanted within the body, the implantable medical device comprising:

a hermetically sealed housing having a housing wall with an interior surface;

an ultrasonic transducer disposed within the housing and configured to acoustically couple to the remote device, the ultrasonic transducer configured to transmit an outgoing acoustic signal to the remote device at a frequency at or above 20 KHz; and

a metallic membrane interposed between the interior surface of the housing wall and the ultrasonic transducer, the membrane configured to couple the ultrasonic transducer to the interior surface of the housing wall.