Multi-Electrode Implantable Stimulator Device with a Single Current Path Decoupling Capacitor
First Claim
1. A stimulator device, comprising:
- a body for the device;
a plurality of electrodes for providing a simulation current to the tissue of a patient, comprising;
an anode, wherein the anode is coupled to an anode current path within the body, anda plurality of cathodes; and
selection circuitry for selecting one of the cathodes as an active cathode, wherein the active cathode is coupled to a cathode current path within the body,wherein the stimulation current flows from the anode current path to the cathode current path, andwherein the anode current path comprises a decoupling capacitance, and wherein the cathode current path does not comprise a decoupling capacitance.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed herein are circuits and methods for a multi-electrode implantable stimulator device incorporating one decoupling capacitor in the current path established via at least one cathode electrode and at least one anode electrode. In one embodiment, the decoupling capacitor may be hard-wired to a dedicated anode on the device. The cathodes are selectively activatable via stimulation switches. In another embodiment, any of the electrodes on the devices can be selectively activatable as an anode or cathode. In this embodiment, the decoupling capacitor is placed into the current path via selectable anode and cathode stimulation switches. Regardless of the implementation, the techniques allow for the benefits of capacitive decoupling without the need to associate decoupling capacitors with every electrode on the multi-electrode device, which saves space in the body of the device. Although of particular benefit when applied to microstimulators, the disclosed technique can be used with space-saving benefits in any stimulator device.
26 Citations
40 Claims
-
1. A stimulator device, comprising:
-
a body for the device; a plurality of electrodes for providing a simulation current to the tissue of a patient, comprising; an anode, wherein the anode is coupled to an anode current path within the body, and a plurality of cathodes; and selection circuitry for selecting one of the cathodes as an active cathode, wherein the active cathode is coupled to a cathode current path within the body, wherein the stimulation current flows from the anode current path to the cathode current path, and wherein the anode current path comprises a decoupling capacitance, and wherein the cathode current path does not comprise a decoupling capacitance. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A stimulator device, comprising:
-
a body for the device; a plurality of electrodes for providing a simulation current to the tissue of a patient, comprising; a cathode, wherein the cathode is coupled to a cathode current path within the body, and a plurality of anodes; and selection circuitry for selecting one of the anodes as an active anode, wherein the active anode is coupled to an anode current path within the body, wherein the stimulation current flows from the anode current path to the cathode current path, and wherein the cathode current path comprises a decoupling capacitance, and wherein the anode current path does not comprise a decoupling capacitance. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
-
-
29. A stimulator device, comprising:
-
a body for the device; a plurality of electrodes for providing a simulation current to the tissue of a patient; and selection circuitry for selecting one of the electrodes as an anode and for selecting one of the electrodes as a cathode, wherein the anode comprises an anode current path within the body, and wherein the cathode comprises a cathode current path within the body, wherein the stimulation current flows from the anode current path to the cathode current path, and wherein only a single decoupling capacitance is provided in either of the anode or cathode current paths, and wherein no decoupling capacitance is provided in the other of the anode or cathode current paths. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
-
Specification