WIRELESS RECHARGING SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FLEXIBLE IMPLANTABLE SUBCUTANEOUS MEDICAL DEVICE

• US 20160175600A1
• Filed: 12/21/2015
• Published: 06/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Newpace Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Newpace Ltd.
• Inventors: Broder, Avraham, Amir, Jack, Mocha, Moty, Strommer, Gera, Kelley, James
• Granted Patent: US 9,717,922 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/056 Transvascular endocardial electrode systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0563 specially adapted for defibrillation or cardioversion
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36125 Details of circuitry or electric components
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36189 using modulation techniques
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37229 Shape or location of the implanted or external antenna
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3758 Packaging of the components within the casing
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3787 from an external energy source
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3956 Implantable devices for applying electric shocks to the heart, e.g. for cardioversion
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3968 Constructional arrangements, e.g. casings A61N1/375 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3975 Power supply A61N1/378 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/10 using inductive coupling
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/04 Regulation of charging current or voltage

Abstract

Flexible subcutaneous implantable medical device (IMD), including an elongated and flexible body (256), a plurality of electronic components, at least one rechargeable battery (426), at least one antenna (260, 422), at least one lead (254) and at least one transition unit (252), the antenna for receiving and transmitting electromagnetic radiation and the lead for providing an electric shock, wherein the elongated and flexible body is structured from a plurality of units, wherein a first one of the plurality of units encapsulates the rechargeable battery, wherein each one of the other plurality of units respectively encapsulates a respective one of the plurality of electronic components, wherein the antenna is positioned in the transition unit, wherein the transition unit is covered with a biocompatible polymer, wherein the antenna receives electromagnetic radiation for recharging the rechargeable battery and wherein the antenna includes a copper coil having a generally cylindrical shape.

Claims

1. Flexible subcutaneous implantable medical device (IMD), comprising:

an elongated and flexible body (256);

a plurality of electronic components;

at least one rechargeable battery (426), for powering said plurality of electronic components;

at least one antenna (260, 422), for receiving and transmitting electromagnetic radiation;

at least one lead (254), for providing an electric shock; and

at least one transition unit (252), for coupling said at least one lead to at least one end of said elongated and flexible body,

wherein said elongated and flexible body is structured from a plurality of units;

wherein a first one of said plurality of units encapsulates said at least one rechargeable battery;

wherein each one of said other plurality of units respectively encapsulates a respective one of said plurality of electronic components;

wherein said at least one antenna is positioned in said at least one transition unit;

wherein said at least one transition unit is covered with a biocompatible polymer;

wherein said at least one antenna receives electromagnetic radiation for recharging said at least one rechargeable battery; and

wherein said at least one antenna comprises a copper coil having a generally cylindrical shape.

2. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 1, wherein a first one of said at least one antenna is coupled with a second one of said at least one antenna in series.

3. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 2, wherein said first one of said at least one antenna is coupled with said second one of said at least one antenna using a coupler.

4. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 3, wherein said coupler is selected from the list consisting of:

a semi-circular shaped coupler;

a ‘

C’

-shaped coupler; and

a ‘

U’

-shaped coupler.

5. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 1, further comprising:

a dielectric feed-through (264), coupled with said at least one lead, for enabling electrical coupling between said elongated and flexible body and said at least one transition unit, and said at least one lead while not compromising a hermetic seal on said elongated and flexible body; and

a bus (262), for coupling said at least one antenna with said dielectric feed-through, for enabling said received electromagnetic radiation to be transferred electrically into said elongated and flexible body.

6. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 1, wherein said at least one transition unit is made from a polymer, thereby minimizing heat increases when said electromagnetic radiation is received for recharging said at least one rechargeable battery.

7. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 1, further comprising at least one interface (424), coupled between said at least one antenna and said at least one rechargeable battery, for interfacing an energy transfer of said received electromagnetic radiation between said at least one antenna and said at least one rechargeable battery.

8. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, wherein said at least one interface is placed in a position selected from the list consisting of:

in said at least one transition unit; and

in said plurality of units.

9. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, wherein said at least one interface is embodied as part of said plurality of electronic components.

10. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, wherein each one of said at least one antenna is coupled with a respective one of said at least one interface.

11. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, said at least one interface comprising an energy container for storing said received electromagnetic radiation from said at least one antenna.

12. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, wherein said energy container is selected from the list consisting of:

a capacitor; and

a coil.

13. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, wherein said interfacing comprises providing said received electromagnetic radiation as a pulse width modulated signal for recharging said at least one rechargeable battery.

14. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 11, wherein said interfacing comprises providing said stored received electromagnetic radiation at a constant current and voltage to said at least one rechargeable battery.

15. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, wherein said interfacing comprises sampling at least one of a current and a voltage of said received electromagnetic radiation for ensuring proper recharging of said at least one rechargeable battery.

16. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, wherein said interfacing comprises determining a temperature of at least one of said at least one antenna and said at least one rechargeable battery.

17. The flexible subcutaneous IMD according to claim 7, said at least one interface comprising a communication unit, for demodulating said received electromagnetic radiation and extracting modulated data within said received electromagnetic radiation.

18. Wireless antenna configuration (180) for a flexible subcutaneous implantable medical device (IMD), comprising:

a copper coil (184),

wherein said copper coil is wound around a hollow ferrite core, thereby giving said copper coil a generally cylindrical shape.

19. The wireless antenna configuration according to claim 18, wherein said generally cylindrical shape enables said copper coil to conform to a shape of said flexible subcutaneous IMD.

20. The wireless antenna configuration according to claim 18, wherein said generally cylindrical shape enables said copper coil to be omnidirectional for receiving transmitted energy.

21. Method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly to a subcutaneous rechargeable implantable medical device (IMD), comprising the procedures of:

transmitting electromagnetic radiation for recharging said subcutaneous rechargeable IMD; and

modulating said electromagnetic radiation for communicating data to said subcutaneous rechargeable IMD.

22. The method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly according to claim 21, wherein said electromagnetic radiation is transmitted over a plurality of frequencies.

23. The method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly according to claim 22, wherein said plurality of frequencies are independent of one another.

24. The method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly according to claim 21, wherein said data is selected from the list consisting of:

an amount of electromagnetic radiation transferred;

an amount of time elapsed since a start of a recharge procedure; and

device programmable parameters of said subcutaneous rechargeable IMD.

25. The method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly according to claim 21, wherein said electromagnetic radiation is transmitted continuously.

26. The method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly according to claim 21, wherein said electromagnetic radiation is transmitted in a pulsed manner.

27. Method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly to a subcutaneous rechargeable implantable medical device (IMD), comprising the procedures of:

transmitting electromagnetic radiation over a channel for recharging said subcutaneous rechargeable IMD; and

simultaneously modulating said electromagnetic radiation over said channel for communicating data to said subcutaneous rechargeable IMD.

28. Subcutaneous implantable medical device (IMD) recharging system, comprising:

a flexible rechargeable subcutaneous IMD, implanted in a patient, said flexible rechargeable subcutaneous IMD comprising;

at least one receiver antenna; and

at least one rechargeable battery; and

a charger transmitter (442), for providing electromagnetic (EM) radiation to said at least one receiver antenna wirelessly for recharging said at least one rechargeable battery, said charger transmitter comprising at least one transmitter antenna (446A),

wherein said at least one transmitter antenna is encased in a structure for temporarily coupling said at least one transmitter antenna to the skin of said patient.

29. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, wherein said structure is selected from the list consisting of:

a suction bulb (448A);

a sticker; and

a patch.

30. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, said charger transmitter comprising:

a display; and

a plurality of indicators, for providing at least one of information and messages regarding said recharging of said at least one rechargeable battery.

31. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, said charger transmitter comprising at least one rechargeable battery.

32. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, wherein each one of said at least one transmitter antenna comprises a respective driver, for transmitting said EM radiation at an independent frequency.

33. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, wherein a number of said at least one receiver antenna is equal to a number of said at least one transmitter antenna.

34. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, wherein said at least one transmitter antenna is flexible in at least one of a horizontal and vertical direction, for conforming to a curvature of a body of said patient.

35. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, wherein said at least one transmitter antenna has a wide antenna footprint and wherein said at least one receiver antenna has a narrow antenna footprint.

36. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, said charger transmitter comprising:

a radio frequency (RF) channel, for transmitting status information; and

a translator, for converting received status information over said RF channel to at least one of a Bluetooth channel and a serial channel.

37. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, said charger transmitter comprising a modulator, for modulating said EM radiation and for simultaneously transmitting programming information to said flexible rechargeable subcutaneous IMD as said modulated EM radiation.

38. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 37, wherein said programming information is selected from the list consisting of:

an amount of provided EM radiation;

an amount of time elapsed since a recharging procedure began; and

device programmable parameters of said flexible rechargeable subcutaneous IMD.

39. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 37, said flexible rechargeable subcutaneous IMD further comprising a communication unit for demodulating said modulated EM radiation.

40. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 28, wherein said flexible rechargeable subcutaneous IMD provides at least one metric to said charger transmitter using said at least one receiver antenna.

41. The subcutaneous IMD recharging system according to claim 40, wherein said at least one metric is selected from the list consisting of:

a charging current of said at least one rechargeable battery;

a current voltage of said at least one rechargeable battery; and

an internal temperature of different sections of said flexible rechargeable subcutaneous IMD.

42. Wireless antenna configuration (150) for a flexible subcutaneous implantable medical device (IMD), comprising:

a flexible foil (154); and

an embedded copper antenna (156) in said flexible foil,

wherein said flexible foil is folded over into a cylindrical shape.

43. The wireless antenna configuration according to claim 42, wherein said flexible foil is made from a biocompatible metal.

44. The wireless antenna configuration according to claim 42, wherein said biocompatible metal is titanium.

45. Method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly to a subcutaneous rechargeable implantable medical device (IMD), comprising the procedures of:

transmitting energy for recharging said subcutaneous rechargeable IMD; and

modulating said energy for communicating data to said subcutaneous rechargeable IMD.

46. The method for simultaneously recharging and communicating data wirelessly according to claim 45, wherein said energy is selected from the list consisting of:

acoustic energy;

ultrasound energy; and

mechanical energy.

47. Flexible subcutaneous implantable medical device (IMD), comprising:

an elongated and flexible body;

a plurality of electronic components (294, 296);

at least one rechargeable battery, for powering said plurality of electronic components;

at least one antenna (298), for receiving and transmitting electromagnetic radiation; and

at least one lead, for providing an electric shock,

wherein said at least one lead terminates at least one end of said elongated and flexible body;

wherein said elongated and flexible body is structured from a plurality of units (292);

wherein a first one of said plurality of units encapsulates said at least one rechargeable battery;

wherein each one of said other plurality of units respectively encapsulates a respective one of said plurality of electronic components;

wherein at least one of said plurality of units may be electrically active;

wherein said at least one antenna is positioned around at least one of said plurality of units which is not electrically active;

wherein said at least one antenna is covered with a biocompatible polymer (302); and

wherein said at least one antenna receives electromagnetic radiation for recharging said at least one rechargeable battery.