Gas-absorbing pacer and method of fabrication
First Claim
1. An implantable cardiac pacer comprising:
- circuitry which, when energized, operates to controllably generate electrical pulses suitable for cardiac stimulation;
means for energizing said circuitry, including at least one electro-chemical cell of a type which gives off hydrogen during depletion of the cell;
a case enclosing said circuitry and said cell for protecting them from body fluids, said case being hermetically sealed and having at least one feed-through terminal for coupling pulses generated by said circuitry to a lead adapted for contacting a patient'"'"'s heart;
also within said case, a getter comprising a solid mass of palladium metal for absorbing hydrogen given off by the cell, said solid mass having a thin layer of palladium oxide formed on the outer surface thereof for greatly increasing the rate of absorption of hydrogen into the mass of palladium metal.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The cardiac pacer disclosed herein is of the type in which pulse-generating circuitry is energized by an electro-chemical cell of a type which gives off hydrogen during depletion of the cell, e.g. a mercury battery. A hermetically sealed case is provided for enclosing both the circuitry and the electro-chemical cell to protect them from body fluids, the case having at least one feed-through terminal for coupling pulses generated by the circuitry to a lead adapted for contacting a patient'"'"'s heart. A getter is disposed within the case consisting essentially of a solid mass of palladium metal having a thin layer of palladium oxide formed on the outer surface thereof. A preferred method of forming the palladium oxide is by anodizing the mass of palladium metal in a sulphuric acid bath.
-
Citations
7 Claims
-
1. An implantable cardiac pacer comprising:
-
circuitry which, when energized, operates to controllably generate electrical pulses suitable for cardiac stimulation; means for energizing said circuitry, including at least one electro-chemical cell of a type which gives off hydrogen during depletion of the cell; a case enclosing said circuitry and said cell for protecting them from body fluids, said case being hermetically sealed and having at least one feed-through terminal for coupling pulses generated by said circuitry to a lead adapted for contacting a patient'"'"'s heart; also within said case, a getter comprising a solid mass of palladium metal for absorbing hydrogen given off by the cell, said solid mass having a thin layer of palladium oxide formed on the outer surface thereof for greatly increasing the rate of absorption of hydrogen into the mass of palladium metal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A method of fabricating a cardiac pacer which comprises:
-
providing a suitably shaped solid mass of palladium metal; anodizing said metallic mass to form on the outer surface thereof a thin layer of palladium oxide; hermetically sealing within a case; the anodized mass of palladium metal; circuitry which, when energized, operates to generate electrical pulses suitable for cardiac stimulation; and means for energizing said circuitry, including at least one electro-chemical cell of a type which gives off hydrogen during depletion of the cell; said case having a feed-through terminal for coupling pulses generated by said circuitry to a lead adapted for contacting a patient'"'"'s heart. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
-
Specification