Telemetry-Based Wake Up of an Implantable Medical Device in a Therapeutic Network
First Claim
1. A method for communicating with an implantable medical device in a therapeutic network comprising a plurality of implantable medical devices, comprising:
- broadcasting a wake-up signal from an external device desiring to send a communication to a first of the implantable medical devices, wherein the wake-up signal corresponds to the first implantable medical device;
powering a receiving circuit in each of the implantable medical devices to receive the wake-up signal at each implantable medical device;
assessing the validity of the wake-up signal at each implantable medical device;
if at least a portion of the wake-up signal is assessed as valid at a given implantable medical device, sending an acknowledgment from that implantable medical device to the external device, and thereafter receiving at that implantable medical device the communication from the external device; and
if at least a portion of the wake-up signal is not assessed as valid at a given implantable medical device, powering off the receiving circuit at that implantable medical device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An external controller wishing to communicate with a particular microstimulator in a microstimulator therapeutic network broadcasts a unique wake-up signal corresponding to a particular one of the microstimulators. Each microstimulator has its unique wake-up signal stored in memory, and the wake-up signals for each microstimulator are also stored in the external controller. The microstimulators power up their receiver circuits to listen for a wake-up signal at the beginning of a power-on window. Each microstimulator not recognizing the received wake-up signal (because it does not match the wake-up signal stored in its memory) will power off their receivers at the end of the power-on window, or earlier once recognition cannot be established. The one microstimulator recognizing the received wake-up signal (because it matches the wake-up signal stored in its memory) will realize that the external controller wishes to communicate with it, and will send an acknowledgment to the external controller, which will in turn send the desired communication to the now-active microstimulator.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for communicating with an implantable medical device in a therapeutic network comprising a plurality of implantable medical devices, comprising:
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broadcasting a wake-up signal from an external device desiring to send a communication to a first of the implantable medical devices, wherein the wake-up signal corresponds to the first implantable medical device; powering a receiving circuit in each of the implantable medical devices to receive the wake-up signal at each implantable medical device; assessing the validity of the wake-up signal at each implantable medical device; if at least a portion of the wake-up signal is assessed as valid at a given implantable medical device, sending an acknowledgment from that implantable medical device to the external device, and thereafter receiving at that implantable medical device the communication from the external device; and if at least a portion of the wake-up signal is not assessed as valid at a given implantable medical device, powering off the receiving circuit at that implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for communicating with an implantable medical device in a therapeutic network comprising a plurality of implantable medical devices, comprising:
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broadcasting a wake-up signal from an external device desiring to send a communication to a first of the implantable medical devices, wherein the wake-up signal corresponds to the first implantable medical device; powering a receiving circuit in each of the implantable medical devices to receive a first portion of the wake-up signal at each implantable medical device; assessing the validity of the first portion at each implantable medical device; if the first portion is assessed as valid at a given implantable medical device, continuing to power the receiver circuit at that implantable medical device to receive at least a second portion of the wake-up signal; and if the first portion is not assessed as valid at a given implantable medical device, powering off the receiving circuit at that implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An external device for communicating with a plurality of implantable medical devices, comprising:
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controller circuitry; memory coupled to or comprising part of the controller circuitry, wherein the memory comprises a unique wake-up signal and an associated unique address for each of the plurality of implantable medical devices; a transmitter coupled to the controller circuitry, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit from the memory a first of the plurality of wake-up signals corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of implantable medical devices; and a receiver, wherein the receiver is configured to receive an acknowledgment from the selected implementable medical device, wherein the transmitter is further configured after receipt of the acknowledgment to transmit data from the controller circuitry to the selected implantable medical device, wherein the data is accompanied by a first of the plurality of addresses associated with the first wake-up signal. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. An external device for communicating with a plurality of implantable medical devices, comprising:
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controller circuitry; memory coupled to or comprising part of the controller circuitry, wherein the memory comprises a unique address for each of the plurality of implantable medical devices; a transmitter coupled to the controller circuitry, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit from the memory a first of the plurality of addresses corresponding to a selected one of the plurality of implantable medical devices; and a receiver, wherein the receiver is configured to receive an acknowledgment from the selected implementable medical device, wherein the transmitter is further configured after receipt of the acknowledgment to transmit data from the controller circuitry to the selected implantable medical device, wherein the data is accompanied by the first address. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification