Cardiac defibrillator including an electronic energy transfer circuit
First Claim
1. A defibrillator circuit for delivering a cardiac defibrillation pulse to a pair of defibrillation electrodes that are applicable to a patient, comprising:
- an electrical energy source for supplying electrical energy required to defibrillate the patient;
an energy source means for storing the electrical energy before the cardiac defibrillation pulse is delivered to the patient;
electronic switch means coupled to the energy storage means for controlling the delivery of the cardiac defibrillation pulse from the energy storage means to the pair of defibrillation electrodes;
controller means for controlling the electronic switch means; and
current shunt means coupled to the electronic switch means, for shunting a portion of any leakage current that flows through the electronic switch means until the controller means deliver the cardiac defibrillation pulse to the pair of defibrillation electrodes.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An energy transfer circuit (40) for delivering a cardiac defibrillation pulse to a patient (50). An energy storage capacitor (16) is coupled to a pair of electrodes (52a, 52b) through an electronic switch (42). The electronic switch is controlled by a control circuit (20). A current shunt 56 is connected in parallel with a pair of defibrillation electrodes (52a, 52b) to divert a leakage current that flows through the electronic switch away from the patient when a defibrillation pulse is not being delivered. A current sensor (64) or a voltage sensor (72) provide a feedback signal to the control circuit to regulate the energy of the defibrillation pulse that flows through the patient.
67 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A defibrillator circuit for delivering a cardiac defibrillation pulse to a pair of defibrillation electrodes that are applicable to a patient, comprising:
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an electrical energy source for supplying electrical energy required to defibrillate the patient; an energy source means for storing the electrical energy before the cardiac defibrillation pulse is delivered to the patient; electronic switch means coupled to the energy storage means for controlling the delivery of the cardiac defibrillation pulse from the energy storage means to the pair of defibrillation electrodes; controller means for controlling the electronic switch means; and current shunt means coupled to the electronic switch means, for shunting a portion of any leakage current that flows through the electronic switch means until the controller means deliver the cardiac defibrillation pulse to the pair of defibrillation electrodes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A cardiac defibrillator circuit for delivering a cardiac defibrillation pulse to a patient through a pair of defibrillation electrodes comprising:
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an electrical energy source for supplying electrical energy to defibrillate the patient; an energy storage means for storing the electrical energy before the cardiac defibrillation pulse is delivered to the patient; a switch disposed between the energy storage means and the pair of defibrillation electrodes, wherein the switch is nonconducting when a defibrillation pulse is not being delivered to the patient and conducting at least a portion of the time while the cardiac defibrillation pulse is being delivered to the patient; a switch controller for controlling the switch; and a current shunt that diverts a portion of a leakage current flowing through the switch when it is nominally nonconducting away from the pair of defibrillation electrodes. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A cardiac defibrillator circuit for delivering a cardiac defibrillation pulse to a patient comprising:
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a source of electrical energy; energy storage means for storing energy received from the source of electrical energy; a spark gap; a pair of defibrillation electrodes that are attachable to the patient; a patient path that includes the series connection of the spark gap, the pair of defibrillation electrodes and the patient through which the cardiac defibrillation pulse is delivered to the patient; switch means for selectively transferring energy from the energy storage means to the patient path; and a shunt path disposed in parallel with the patient path for diverting any leakage current flowing through the switch means away from the patient path until the cardiac defibrillation pulse is delivered to the patient, said shunt path having an impedance that is less than the impedance of the patient path such that an electrical potential developed across the shunt path by the leakage current is less than a potential required to cause the spark gap to conduct electrical current. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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Specification