Systems configured to power at least one device disposed in a living subject, and related apparatuses and methods

• US 20100070003A1
• Filed: 02/11/2009
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gearbox LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Wood, Lowell L. JR., Rivet, Dennis J., Hyde, Roderick A., Wood, Victoria Y.H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,295,941 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/61
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37211 Means for communicating with stimulators
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37217 characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3787 from an external energy source
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/23 The load being a medical device, a medical implant, or a life supporting device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/30 using light, e.g. lasers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/807 Optical power feeding, i.e. transmitting power using an optical signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/005 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to systems configured to power at least one device disposed in a living subject, apparatuses configured to be disposed in a living subject and export power stored in an energy-storage device, and related methods of powering at least one device disposed in the living subject.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an optical-electrical converter configured to be disposed within a living subject, receive one or more optical power signals transmitted transdermally into the living subject, and convert the one or more optical power signals into electrical energy; and

a power conditioning unit configured to be disposed within a living subject and coupled to the optical-electrical converter to receive at least a portion of the electrical energy therefrom, the power conditioning unit further configured to selectively condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy in response to receiving conditioning instructions.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one device configured to be disposed within the living subject and operably coupled to the power conditioning unit to receive the one or more electrical power signals therefrom.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one device includes at least one of a drug delivery device, a micro-electro-mechanical device, a bone extension device, a biosensor, a heart pacemaker, a heart stimulator, or a neurostimulator.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy in response to receiving conditioning instructions from the at least one device.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy in response to receiving conditioning instructions from at least one another device other than the at least one device.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one power exporter configured to be disposed in the living subject, coupled to the power conditioning unit, and transmit the one or more electrical power signals.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one power exporter includes at least one of a wire, an optical fiber, or an ultrasound transmitter.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the optical-electrical converter is configured to convert one or more conditioning signals transmitted transdermally into the living subject to conditioning instructions; and

the power conditioning unit is configured to condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy in response to the one or more conditioning instructions.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an energy-storage device configured to be disposed within a living subject and coupled to the optical-electrical converter to receive the at least a portion of the electrical energy from the optical-electrical converter, the energy-storage device further configured to store the at least a portion of the electrical energy received from the optical-electrical converter and to output at least a portion of the stored electrical energy, and

wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to be coupled to the energy-storage device and condition the at least a portion of the electrical energy received from the energy-storage device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the energy-storage device includes at least one of a capacitive device or a battery.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising an energy-storage device configured to be disposed within a living subject and coupled to the power conditioning unit to receive the one or more electrical power signals therefrom.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the energy-storage device includes at least one of a capacitive device or a battery.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit includes a DC-to-AC converter.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit includes an AC-to-DC converter.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit includes a DC-to-DC converter.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit includes an AC-to-AC converter.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to selectively condition the at least a portion of the electrical energy so that the one or more electrical power signals exhibit a frequency selected to limit interference with biomedical devices disposed in the living subject.

22. The system of claim 1, further comprising a biocompatible packaging enclosing at least one of the optical-electrical converter or the powering conditioning unit.

23. The system of claim 1, further comprising an external optical power source configured to output the one or more optical power signals.

10. (canceled)

11. (canceled)

21. (canceled)

24. A method, comprising:

receiving one or more optical power signals, that are transmitted transdermally into a living subject, with an optical-electrical converter disposed within the living subject;

converting the one or more optical power signals into electrical energy using the optical-electrical converter; and

selectively conditioning at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein receiving one or more optical power signals, that are transmitted transdermally into a living subject, with an optical-electrical converter disposed within the living subject includes receiving the one or more optical power signals with one or more photodiodes.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein selectively conditioning at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals includes converting at least a portion of the electrical energy from an AC waveform to a DC waveform.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein selectively conditioning at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals includes converting at least a portion of the electrical energy from a DC waveform to an AC waveform.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein selectively conditioning at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals includes converting at least a portion of the electrical energy from a first DC waveform to a second DC waveform.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein selectively conditioning at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals includes converting at least a portion of the electrical energy from a first AC waveform to a second AC waveform.

31. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

receiving one or more optical conditioning signals that are transmitted transdermally into the living subject;

converting the one or more optical conditioning signals into one or more electrical conditioning signals using an optical-electrical signal converter; and

wherein selectively conditioning at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals includes selectively conditioning the at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals in response to receiving the one or more electrical conditioning signals.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the optical-electrical signal converter and the optical-electrical converter are the same device.

33. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

receiving one or more conditioning signals; and

wherein selectively conditioning at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals includes selectively conditioning the at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals in response to receiving the one or more conditioning signals

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising powering at least one device disposed within the living subject using the one or more electrical power signals.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the at least one device includes at least one of a drug delivery device, a micro-electro-mechanical device, a bone extension device, a biosensor, a heart pacemaker, a heart stimulator, or a neurostimulator.

36. The method of claim 24, wherein selectively conditioning at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals includes selectively conditioning the at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals in response to receiving one or more conditioning signals from at least one device disposed within the living subject.

37. The method of claim 24, further comprising powering at least one device disposed within the living subject using the one or more electrical power signals.

38. The method of claim 24, further comprising storing at least a portion of the electrical energy with an energy-storage device.

26. (canceled)

39. A method, comprising:

transmitting one or more conditioning signals to a signal converter or a power conditioning unit disposed within a living subject; and

transmitting one or more optical power signals transdermally into the living subject and to an optical-electrical converter disposed therein.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein transmitting one or more conditioning signals to a signal converter or a power conditioning unit disposed within a living subject includes optically transmitting the one or more conditioning signals transdermally into the living subject and to an optical-electrical converter.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein transmitting one or more conditioning signals to a signal converter or a power conditioning unit disposed within a living subject includes transmitting the one or more conditioning signals from a device disposed in the living subject.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein transmitting one or more conditioning signals to a signal converter or a power conditioning unit disposed within a living subject includes transmitting the one or more conditioning signals with information encoded therein indicating the manner in which one or more electrical signals converted by the optical-electrical converter from the one or more optical power signals are to be conditioned by the power conditioning unit disposed in the living subject.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein the transmitting the one or more conditioning signals occurs substantially simultaneously with the transmitting the one or more optical power signals.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein the transmitting the one or more conditioning signals occurs at a different time than the transmitting the one or more optical power signals.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more conditioning signals are one or more optical conditioning signals.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the one or more optical conditioning signals exhibit at least one of a wavelength, polarization, or time-profile that is different from the one or more optical power signals.

49. The method of claim 39, wherein the one or more conditioning signals are at least one of one or more radio-frequency conditioning signals, one or more ultrasound conditioning signals, one or more electrical signals, or one or more optical signals.

47. (canceled)

48. (canceled)

50. A system, comprising:

an optical-electrical converter configured to be disposed within a living subject, receive one or more first optical signals transmitted transdermally into the living subject, and convert the one or more first optical signals into electrical energy;

an energy-storage device configured to be disposed within the living subject and coupled to the optical-electrical converter to receive at least a portion of the electrical energy therefrom, the energy-storage device further configured to store the at least a portion of the electrical energy received from the optical-electrical converter; and

an electrical-optical converter configured to be disposed within a living subject and coupled to the energy-storage device, the electrical-optical converter further configured to receive the at least a portion of the electrical energy from the energy-storage device and convert the at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more second optical signals.

52. The system of claim 50, wherein the energy-storage device includes a capacitive device.

53. The system of claim 50, wherein the energy-storage device includes a battery.

54. The system of claim 50, wherein the electrical-optical converter includes one or more light-emitting devices.

55. The system of claim 50, further comprising one or more optical waveguides optically coupled to the electrical-optical converter and configured to guide the one or more second optical signals to a selected location within the living subject.

56. The system of claim 55, wherein the one or more optical waveguides include one or more optical fibers.

57. The system of claim 55, further comprising at least one device including an additional optical-electrical converter positioned to receive the one or more second optical signals from the one or more waveguides and configured to convert the one or more second optical signals into one or more electrical power signals that power the at least one device.

58. The system of claim 50, further comprising a beam director configured to direct the one or more second optical signals.

59. The system of claim 50, further comprising an optical element configured to focus the one or more second optical signals.

60. The system of claim 50, further comprising a biocompatible packaging enclosing at least one of the optical-electrical converter, the energy-storage device, or the electrical-optical converter.

61. The system of claim 50, further comprising an external optical power source configured to output the one or more first optical signals.

51. (canceled)

62. A method, comprising:

receiving one or more first optical signals, that are transmitted transdermally into a living subject, with an optical-electrical converter disposed within the living subject;

converting the one or more first optical signals into electrical energy with the optical-electrical converter;

storing at least a portion of the electrical energy in an energy-storage device disposed within the living subject; and

converting at least a portion of the stored electrical energy into one or more second optical signals with an electrical-optical converter disposed within the living subject.

63. The method of claim 62, further comprising guiding the one or more second optical signals to a selected location within the living subject.

64. The method of claim 62, further comprising scanning the one or more second optical signals across a field-of-view.

65. The method of claim 62, further comprising focusing the one or more second optical signals.

66. The method of claim 62, further comprising irradiating an internal region of the living subject with the one or more second optical signals.

67. The method of claim 62, further comprising initiating release of one or more therapeutic drugs using the one or more second optical signals.

68. The method of claim 62, further comprising:

converting the one or more second optical signals into one or more electrical power signals; and

powering at least one device using the one or more electrical signals.

70. The method of claim 62, wherein converting at least a portion of the stored electrical energy into one or more second optical signals with an electrical-optical converter disposed within the living subject includes outputting the one or more second optical signals from a light-emitting device.

69. (canceled)

71-111. -111. (canceled)