Audible sound communication from an implantable medical device

• US 6,247,474 B1
• Filed: 03/31/1999
• Issued: 06/19/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Greeninger, Daniel R., Thompson, David L., Hartlaub, Jerome T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lacyk, John P.
• Application Number:
  US09/282,531
• Time in Patent Office: 811 Days
• Field of Search: 128/899, 128/904, 607/30-32, 607/59-60
• US Class Current: 128/899
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37258 Alerting the patient
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for communication of implantable medical device (IMD) information, including confirmation of programming and programmed parameter values, operating modes and programmed changes thereof and data stored in the IMD, by emission of audible sounds by the IMD are disclosed. The IMD includes an audio transducer that emits audible sounds including voiced statements or musical tones stored in analog memory correlated to a programming or interrogation operating algorithm or to a warning trigger event. The audible sounds can comprise the sole uplink transmission or may augment the contemporaneous uplink RF transmission of stored data, and/or programmed operating modes and parameters and/or device operations and states in an interrogation or during programming. To conserve energy, the audible sounds accompanying interrogation and programming of the IMD are at a low volume that preferably cannot be heard without use of an external audio amplifier or stethoscope. Voiced statements warning of battery energy depletion or imminent delivery of a therapy are emitted at a higher volume that is sufficient to be heard by the patient, so that the patient can take appropriate action. The volume of audible sounds confirming programmed changes made by a patient using a limited function programmer or magnet is also increased so that the patient can hear them.

Claims

1. In conjunction with an implantable medical device, a system for communicating an audible warning from the implantable medical device implanted in a patient to advise the patient to take appropriate action, the system comprising:

means for monitoring an operation of the implantable medical device indicative of a danger to the patient and for providing a patient warning trigger signal in response thereto; and

an audible sound emitter activated by the patient warning trigger signal and producing an audible sound in an audio frequency range, the audible sound being of sufficient volume to propagate from the implantable medical device through the patient'"'"'s body so as to be audibly heard by the patient;

said audible sound emitter comprising;

an audio transducer located within the implantable medical device;

a memory having addressable memory locations, each memory location storing an audio transducer drive signal for the audio transducer that is correlated to a particular patient warning trigger signal;

a memory address generator providing a particular memory address based upon the patient warning trigger signal;

means for accessing a memory location based upon a particular generated memory address to retrieve the audio transducer drive signal from the memory location; and

an amplifier coupled to the memory accessing means and applying the audio transducer drive signal to the audio transducer at a signal level sufficient to drive the audio transducer to produce the audible sound at the sufficient volume.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the memory stores a plurality of audio transducer drive signals selected from a group consisting of low battery voltage, operation status of the implantable medical device, changed condition or state of the implantable medical device, low medication supply, arrhythmia detection, instruction to seek medical assistance, instruction to take precautions, and instruction to assume a resting position in advance of shock delivery.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein:

the implantable medical device further comprises a power source that depletes with consumption of power by the implantable medical device; and

the monitoring means monitors depletion of the power supply and provides a warning trigger signal in response to a predetermined depletion of the power source, the patient being warned of power supply depletion by emission of the audible signal.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring means monitors the onset of a malignant condition of the patient and provides the warning trigger signal in response to the detection thereof, the patient being warned to seek medical assistance or take other precautions by emission of the audible signal.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the implantable medical device is an automatic cardioverter/defibrillator for monitoring an arrhythmia of a heart chamber and applying cardioversion/defibrillation shocks to the heart chamber.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the audible sound comprises voiced statements in a local human language that conveys the warning.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the local human language is selected by a user.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the audible sound comprises a musical tone that conveys the warning.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the memory is an analog storage/playback integrated circuit.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein the memory address generator and the memory accessing means sequentially address and retrieve a plurality of audio transducer drive signals from memory to be applied sequentially to the audio transducer in forming a voiced phrase statement.