WIRELESS COMMUNICATION WITH AN IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICE

• US 20110184491A1
• Filed: 01/28/2010
• Published: 07/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Kivi, Gary P.
• Granted Patent: US 9,186,519 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/60
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37276 characterised by means for reducing power consumption during telemetry

Abstract

The disclosure relates generally to wireless communication with an implantable medical device. An implantable medical device (IMD) may initiate the establishment of a communication session by sending a wakeup communication to an external device with which the IMD desires to communicate. The external device may operate in low power state (sometimes referred to as a sleep state or a low current state) in which the external device occasionally powers up telemetry circuitry to monitor for the wakeup communication from the IMD. Upon receiving the wakeup communication, the external device transitions from the low power state to a high power state to establish the communication session with the IMD. Operating the external device in the low power state when no communication session is established reduces the amount of power consumed by the external device when no telemetry is occurring, thus enabling the external device to be powered by a battery.

Claims

1. A method of communicating between a device and an implantable medical device, the method comprising:

operating a telemetry module of the device in a low power state in which the telemetry module interleaves intervals during which one or more components of the telemetry module are powered down with intervals during which the one or more components of the telemetry module are powered up;

receiving a wakeup communication from the implantable medical device;

transitioning the telemetry module from the low power state to a high power state in response to receiving the wakeup communication; and

transmitting one or more communications from the device to the implantable medical device to establish a communication session.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein transitioning the telemetry module from the low power state to the high power state comprising transitioning the telemetry module to a high power state in which the one or more components of the telemetry module remain powered up.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transitioning the telemetry module from the low power state to the high power state comprising transitioning the telemetry module to a high power state in which the one or more components of the telemetry module are powered up with a different duty cycle than the low power state, wherein the one or more components are powered up more often in the high power state than in the low power state.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the one or more communications comprises:

transmitting at least one wakeup communication in a first communication mode; and

transmitting at least one packet in a second communication mode indicating a desire to open the communication session subsequent to the at least one wakeup communication.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first communication mode includes at least one of an encoding scheme, a data rate, a packet size, a packet structure, and a frequency that is different from the second communication mode.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the one or more communications in response to the wakeup communication comprises transmitting one or more packets indicating a desire to open the communication session in a communication mode that is different than the communication mode with which the wakeup communication was received.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a communication from the implantable medical device confirming receipt of the packet indicating the desire to open the communication session to establish the communication session; and

transmitting data packets to the implantable medical device or receiving data packets from the implantable medical device via the established communication session.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising powering the receiver of the device using a battery, wherein the low power state extends a service life of the battery.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting one of a plurality of channels for transmitting the one or more communications from the device to the implantable medical device in response to the wakeup communication.

10. A device for communicating with an implantable medical device, the device comprising:

an antenna to transmit or receive communications from the medical device; and

a telemetry module coupled to the antenna, the telemetry module configured to operate in a low power state in which the telemetry module interleaves intervals during which one or more components of the telemetry module are powered down with intervals during which the one or more components of the telemetry module are powered up, receive a wakeup communication from the implantable medical device, transition from the low power state to a high power state in response to receiving the wakeup communication, and transmit one or more communications to the implantable medical device to establish a communication session.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the telemetry module transitions from the low power state to a high power state in which the one or more components of the telemetry module remain powered up.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein the telemetry module transitions from the low power state to a high power state in which the one or more components of the telemetry module are powered up with a different duty cycle than the low power state, wherein the one or more components are powered up more often in the high power state than in the low power state.

13. The device of claim 10, wherein the telemetry module transmits at least one wakeup communication in a first communication mode and transmits at least one packet in a second communication mode indicating a desire to open the communication session subsequent to the at least one wakeup communication.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the first communication mode includes at least one of an encoding scheme, a data rate, a packet size, a packet structure, and a frequency that is different from the second communication mode.

15. The device of claim 10, wherein the telemetry module transmits one or more packets indicating a desire to open the communication session in a communication mode that is different than the communication mode with which the wakeup communication was received.

16. The device of claim 10, wherein the telemetry module receives a communication from the implantable medical device confirming receipt of the packet indicating the desire to open the communication session to establish the communication session and transmits data packets to the implantable medical device or receives data packets from the implantable medical device via the established communication session.

17. The device of claim 10, further comprising a power supply for powering the components of the device, wherein the low power state extends a service life of the power supply.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the power supply comprises one of a rechargeable battery and a non-rechargeable battery.

19. The device of claim 10, wherein the telemetry module includes a channel selection module to select one of a plurality of channels for transmitting the one or more communications to the implantable medical device in response to the wakeup communication.

20. A method comprising:

detecting an event with an implantable medical device;

transmitting one or more wakeup communications in accordance with a first communication mode to a second device with which the implantable medical device desires to communicate to transition the second device from a low power state to a high power state;

receiving one or more communications from the second device to establish a communication session; and

transmitting one or more communications to the second medical device in accordance with a second communication mode.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein detecting the event comprises detecting a medical event with the implantable medical device.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein detecting the event comprises detecting a desire to initiate a communication session.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein the first communication mode includes at least one of an encoding scheme, a data rate, a packet size, a packet structure, and a frequency that is different from the second communication mode.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein receiving one or more communications from the second device to establish the communication session comprises:

receiving a wakeup communication in accordance with the first communication mode to transition the implantable medical device from a low power state to a high power state; and

receiving, subsequent to the wakeup communication, a communication in accordance with the second communication mode indicating a desire to open the communication session.

25. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

operating the implantable medical device in a low power state in which one or more components are occasionally powered up to monitor for a wakeup communication from the second device in the first communication mode; and

transitioning the implantable medical device from the low power state to a high power state in response to sending the one or more wakeup communications,

wherein receiving the one or more communications from the second device to establish the communication session comprises receiving one or more communications in accordance with the second communication mode indicating a desire to open the communication session.

26. An implantable medical device comprising:

an antenna to transmit or receive communications from a second medical device; and

a telemetry module coupled to the antenna, the telemetry module configured to transmit one or more wakeup communications in accordance with a first communication mode to the second device to transition the second device from a low power state to a high power state in response to detecting an event with the implantable medical device, receiving one or more communications from the second device to establish a communication session, and transmitting one or more communications to the second medical device in accordance with a second communication mode.

27. The device of claim 26, further comprising a sensing module to detect a medical event with the implantable medical device.

28. The device of claim 26, further comprising means for detecting a desire to initiate a communication session.

29. The device of claim 26, wherein the first communication mode includes at least one of an encoding scheme, a data rate, a packet size, a packet structure, and a frequency that is different from the second communication mode.

30. The device of claim 26, wherein the telemetry module receives a wakeup communication in accordance with the first communication mode to transition the implantable medical device from a low power state to a high power state and receives, subsequent to the wakeup communication, a communication in accordance with the second communication mode indicating a desire to open the communication session.

31. The device of claim 26, wherein the telemetry module operates in a low power state in which one or more components are occasionally powered up to monitor for a wakeup communication from the second device in the first communication mode, transitions from the low power state to a high power state in response to sending the one or more wakeup communications, and receives one or more communications in accordance with the second communication mode indicating a desire to open the communication session.