DETERMINATION OF DIPOLE FOR TISSUE CONDUCTANCE COMMUNICATION

• US 20120109258A1
• Filed: 10/29/2010
• Published: 05/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Cinbis, Can, Anderson, David A., Shen, Xiaonan, Carney, James K., Terry, Michael B., Reinert, Michael A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,867,990 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/60
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0028 Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37217 characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/005 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body

Abstract

Aspects of the present disclosure include a medical device system including an implantable medical device and an external device with three or more electrodes configured to contact a patient'"'"'s skin. The external device either transmits or receives a test signal to or from the implantable medical device using a plurality of possible receive dipoles, where each possible receive dipole is formed by a pair of electrodes. A signal quality monitor, either at the implantable medical device or at the external device, measures a signal quality for the possible receive dipoles.

Claims

1. An external device comprising:

a plurality of electrodes positionable at different tissue contact points on an external tissue surface of a patient; and

a communication unit configured to communicate with an implantable medical device via a plurality of dipoles formed by different combinations of the electrodes; and

a processor configured to identify a dipole that provides at least a minimum signal quality with the implantable medical device.

2. The external device of claim 1, wherein the communication unit is configured to transmit test signals using the plurality of dipoles.

3. The external device of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to identify the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the implantable medical device based at least in part on signal quality test results transmitted from the implantable medical device.

4. The external device of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to identify the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the implantable medical device based at least in part on a signal from the implantable medical device identifying the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the implantable medical device.

5. The external device of claim 1, wherein the communication unit is configured to receive test signals from the implantable medical device using the plurality of dipoles.

6. The external device of claim 5, wherein the processor is configured to identify the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the implantable medical device based at least in part on the test signals received from the implantable medical device.

7. An implantable medical device comprising:

a communication receiving unit configured to

receive, from an external device, a plurality of test signals via a plurality of dipoles formed by different combinations of electrodes, the electrodes being from a plurality of electrodes positionable at different tissue contact points on an external tissue surface of a patient;

identify within each test signal, a signal identification for the test signals;

a signal quality monitor configured to determine a signal quality for each test signal;

a communication transmitting unit configured to transmit, to the external device, an indicator of at least one signal identification for at least one test signal.

8. The implantable medical device of claim 7, further comprising:

a processor configured to select the at least one signal identification based at least in part on the signal quality for each test signal.

9. The implantable medical device of claim 7, wherein the communication transmitting unit is configured to transmit to the external device the signal quality for each test signal.

10. A medical device system comprising:

an implantable medical device (IMD) comprising;

a first communication unit;

a first processor;

an external device comprising;

a plurality of electrodes positionable at different tissue contact points on an external tissue surface of a patient; and

a second communication unit configured to communicate with the IMD via a plurality of dipoles formed by different combinations of the electrodes; and

a second processor configured to identify a dipole that provides at least a minimum signal quality with the IMD.

11. The medical device system of claim 10, wherein the second communication unit is configured to transmit, to the IMD, test signals using the plurality of dipoles.

12. The medical device system of claim 11, wherein the second processor is configured to identify the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the IMD based at least in part on signal quality test results received from the IMD.

13. The medical device system of claim 11, wherein the first processor is configured to identify the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the IMD based at least in part on the test signals, and the first communication unit is configured to transmit to the external device an indicator of the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the IMD.

14. The medical device system of claim 10, wherein the first communication unit is configured to transmit one or more test signals to the external device, and the second communication unit is configured to receive the one or more test signals via the plurality of dipoles formed by different combinations of the electrodes.

15. The medical device system of claim 14, wherein the second processor is configured to identify the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the IMD based at least in part on the one or more test signals received from the IMD.

16. The medical device system of claim 10, wherein the external device is configured to transmit to the IMD an instruction, and in response to receiving the instruction, the first communication unit is configured to either increase or decrease a signal transmission power.

17. The medical device system of claim 10, wherein

the first communication unit is configured to

receive, from the external device, a plurality of test signals via the plurality of dipoles formed by different combinations of electrodes;

identify within each test signal, a signal identification for the test signals; and

wherein the IMD further comprises;

a signal quality monitor configured to determine a signal quality for each test signal;

a communication transmitting unit configured to transmit, to the external device, an indicator of at least one signal identification for at least one test signal.

18. A method comprising:

communicating with an implantable medical device (IMD) via a plurality of dipoles formed by different combinations of electrodes positioned at different tissue contact points on an external tissue surface of a patient; and

identifying a dipole that provides at least a minimum signal quality with the implantable medical device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the communicating comprises transmitting test signals to the IMD using the plurality of dipoles.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving signal quality test results from the IMD; and

wherein the identifying the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the implantable medical device is based at least in part on the signal quality test results.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

receiving, from the IMD, a signal identifying the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

wherein the communicating comprises receiving test signals from the IMD using the plurality of dipoles.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising

wherein the identifying the dipole that provides at least the minimum signal quality with the IMD is based at least in part on the test signals received from the implantable medical device.