PROBE FOR AN IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICE

• US 20110190860A1
• Filed: 10/08/2009
• Published: 08/04/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Bakken Research Center B.V. (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Wang, Ke, Decre, Michel Marcel Jose, Harberts, Dirk Willem
• Granted Patent: US 8,948,843 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/116
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6864 Burr holes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6865 Access ports
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 90/11 with guides for needles or instruments, e.g. arcuate slides or ball joints
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0529 Electrodes for brain stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0534 Electrodes for deep brain stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/086 Magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] compatible leads

Abstract

The invention relates to a probe (10) for an implantable medical device. The probe has a distal end (2) and a proximal end (3), and the probe (10) moreover comprises an electrode (1) at the distal end. The electrode is connected to a wire (5) extending from the electrode to the proximal end of the probe, where the resistivity of the wire is non-uniform along the length of the wire. The wire may have high resistivity at the distal end of the probe and low resistivity wires elsewhere. The high resistivity wires reduce the peak current density in the tissue of an implanted device, and thus prevents destructive heating and/or undesired stimulation of tissue during MRI examination. This highly contributes to MR safety which is a highly desired feature for these implantable electrical stimulation devices.

Claims

1. A probe (10) for an implantable medical device, said probe having a distal end (2) and a proximal end (3), said probe (10) moreover comprising an electrode (1) at the distal end, where said electrode is connected to a wire (5) extending from the electrode to the proximal end of the probe, wherein the resistivity of the wire is non-uniform along the length of the wire.

2. A probe according to claim 1, wherein the wire comprises a first section (5a) having a first resistivity and a second section (5b) having a second resistivity, said first and second resistivities being different.

3. A probe according to claim 2, wherein the first section (5a) of the wire is contiguous to the electrode and wherein the resistivity of the first section is higher than the resistivity at the second section (5b).

4. A probe according to claim 3, wherein the first section (5a) is made of material of a first resistivity and the second section (5b) is made of material of a second resistivity, where the first resistivity is higher than the second resistivity.

5. A probe according to claim 3, wherein the first section (5a) of the wire has a first sectional area and the second section of the wire has a second sectional area, where the first sectional area is smaller than the second sectional area.

6. A probe according to claim 4, wherein the second section (5b) of the wire is longer than the first section of the wire.

7. A probe according to claim 4, wherein the first section (5a) of the wire constitutes between 2% and 40%, preferably between 5% and 20%, more preferably between 10% and 15% of the wire.

8. A probe according to claim 4, wherein the resistivity of the first section (5a) is 2 to 10 times higher than the resistivity of the second section (5b).

9. A probe according to claim 3, wherein the first section (5a) of the wire is of polysilicon material and the second section (5b) of the wire is of metallic material.

10. A probe according to claim 1, wherein the wire comprises one or more further sections, each further section having a resistivity different from other sections of the wire.

11. A probe according to claim 1, wherein the resistivity of the wire changes continuously along the length of the wire.

12. An implantable medical device comprising a probe according to claim 1. Probe for an implantable medical device