ENERGY TRANSFER CONTROL ADAPTED TO A MEDICAL DEVICE SYSTEM

• US 20100217352A1
• Filed: 11/27/2008
• Published: 08/26/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kirk Promotion Ltd., Peter Forsell, Texlux Holding SA
• Original Assignee: Kirk Promotion Ltd.
• Inventors: Forsell, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 8,600,517 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/61
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36125 Details of circuitry or electric components
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37211 Means for communicating with stimulators
• 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 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/80 involving the exchange of data, concerning supply or distribution of electric power, between transmitting devices and receiving devices
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/02 for charging batteries from ac mains by converters

Abstract

The disclosed invention varies the width of the energy pulses with constant frequency and constant amplitude to regulate the amount of energy transferred from an energy transmitting device placed outside a patient to an energy receiver inside the patient. The pulse width is achieved with a modulation technique, PWMT, to control the amount of energy transferred from the external energy transmitting coil in the system to the implanted receiver. The PWMT is used to digitally vary the amount of power from the power amplifier that drives the transmitting coil. Compared to previous analog systems a PWM system is a great deal more efficient and can easily be controlled from a digital domain system such as a microprocessor.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting wireless energy from an external energy transmitting device placed externally to a human body to an internal energy receiver placed internally in the human body, the method comprising:

applying to the external transmitting device electrical pulses from a first electric circuit to transmit the wireless energy, the electrical pulses having leading and trailing edges,

varying the lengths of first time intervals between successive leading and trailing edges of the electrical pulses and/or the lengths of second time intervals between successive trailing and leading edges of the electrical pulses, and

transmitting wireless energy, the transmitted energy generated from the electrical pulses having a varied power, the varying of the power depending on the lengths of the first and/or second time intervals.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein in varying the first and/or second time intervals the frequency of the electrical pulses is not varied.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses, the electrical pulses remain unchanged except varying the first and/or second time intervals.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein in varying the first and/or second time intervals the amplitudes of the electrical pulses are not varied.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses, the electrical pulses are varied by only varying the lengths of first time intervals between successive leading and trailing edges of the electrical pulses.

6. The method according to claim 1, supplying a train of two or more electrical pulses in a row, wherein in the step of applying the train of pulses, said train having a first electrical pulse at the start of the pulse train and having a second electrical pulse at the end of the pulse train, and

supplying two or more pulse trains in a row, wherein the lengths of the second time intervals between successive trailing edge of the second electrical pulse in a first pulse train and leading edge of the first electrical pulse of a second pulse train are varied.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses, the electrical pulses have a substantially constant current and a constant voltage.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses, the electrical pulses have a substantially constant current and a constant voltage.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses, the electrical pulses have a substantially constant frequency.

10. The method according to claim 5, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses, the electrical pulses have a substantially constant frequency.

11. The method according to claim 6, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses, the electrical pulses within the pulse trains have a substantially constant frequency.

12. The method according to claim 5, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses to the external energy transmitting device, the electrical pulses cause a electromagnetic field over the external energy transmitting device, the electromagnetic field being varied by the varying of said first and second time intervals, and

inducing by the electromagnetic field electrical pulses in a receiver, the induced pulses carrying energy transmitted to the receiver.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the wireless energy is in a substantially purely inductive way transmitted from the external energy transmitting device to the receiver.

14. The method according to claim 5, wherein the electrical pulses are released from the first electrical circuit with such a frequency and/or time period between leading edges of the consecutive pulses, so that when the lengths of the first and/or second time intervals are varied, the resulting transmitted energy are varied.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein in the step of applying electrical pulses, the electrical pulses have a substantially constant frequency.

16. The method according to claim 5, wherein the circuit formed by the first electric circuit and the external energy transmitting device has a first characteristic time period or first time constant, and in the step of effectively varying the transmitted energy, such frequency time period is in the range of the first characteristic time period or time constant or shorter.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the lengths of the first and/or the second time intervals are varied only within a range that includes the first characteristic time period or the first time constant or that is located relatively close to the first characteristic time period or the first time constant, compared to the magnitude of the first characteristic time period or the first time constant.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein, when the lengths of the first time intervals are reduced, the energy transmission over the first coil is reduced.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein, when the lengths of the second time intervals are reduced, the resulting energy transmission over the first coil is increased.

20. The method according to claim 5, wherein a medical device, comprising said internal energy receiver, is sending feed back information affecting said energy transmitting device, the transmitted energy having varied power depending on the lengths of the first and/or second time intervals, being varied depending on said feed back information, and

controlling the transmission of wireless energy supplied to the medical device, the internal energy receiver supplying direct and/or indirect received energy thereto, the method comprising the steps of:

determining an energy balance between the energy received by the internal energy receiver and the energy used for the medical device, and

controlling the transmission of wireless energy from the external energy transmitting device, based on the determined energy balance,

having varied power depending on the lengths of the first and/or second time intervals.

21-223. -223. (canceled)