External transmitter for implanted medical device
First Claim
1. A battery powered external power source for powering an implanted medical device having a receiver coil, of the type that inductively couples energy to the receiver coil through the skin of a patient, wherein the power source includesa first battery operated power supply and a second battery operated power supply, an FPGA powered by the first battery operated power supply, a class D amplifier powered by the second battery operated power supply, a local oscillator providing an input signal to the FPGA and, an antenna driven by the class D amplifier to inductively couple energy to the receiver coil, wherein the FPGA produces a modulation controlled pulse of RF frequency energy as an input for amplification by said amplifier to drive the antenna.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An external transmitter assembly for powering and controlling an implanted medical device, wherein a battery drives first and second power supplies that energize a modulation circuit and an amplifier, respectively, to apply programmed current pulses to a transmitting antenna. The second power supply is output limited and couples through holdup capacitors and a filter network to the amplifier, allowing momentary high current operation without affecting oscillator or modulation portions of the circuit. The transmitting antenna has a diameter greater than that of the implanted receiving antenna, and is adhered to the skin of the patient over the implanted device and is tuned by a trimmer element to resonate at the resonant frequency of the receiver and enhance energy coupling between the two coils A local oscillator operating at high frequency is divided down to form a clock, and the pulse-defining modulation circuit includes an FPGA that controls pulse shape and timing regimens for a defined neurologic treatment. The two power supplies have high switching frequencies that are different from each other and from the main transmitter operating frequency to minimize aliasing effects between the units. In addition an auto power-down circuit connects the battery to the power supplies. Upon user actuation of the main power switch, that circuit connects power to boot the FPGA, which then provides a switching enable gate signal; the auto circuit disconnects the battery when the state of the FPGA signal indicates a treatment cycle is over. The auto power down circuit draws little power, thus assuring that battery life is unimpaired if the user forgets to turn off the transmitter, or leaves it in a shut down state for extended periods of time.
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Citations
5 Claims
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1. A battery powered external power source for powering an implanted medical device having a receiver coil, of the type that inductively couples energy to the receiver coil through the skin of a patient, wherein the power source includes
a first battery operated power supply and a second battery operated power supply, an FPGA powered by the first battery operated power supply, a class D amplifier powered by the second battery operated power supply, a local oscillator providing an input signal to the FPGA and, an antenna driven by the class D amplifier to inductively couple energy to the receiver coil, wherein the FPGA produces a modulation controlled pulse of RF frequency energy as an input for amplification by said amplifier to drive the antenna.
Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeUroplasty Incorporated (2941881 Canada, Inc.)
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Original AssigneeMmc/Gatx Partnership No 1
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InventorsNowick, Matthew, Malaney, James
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Primary Examiner(s)Schaetzle, Kennedy
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Application NumberUS09/472,071Time in Patent Office1,048 DaysField of Search607/61, 607/60, 607/32, 607/33, 607/16, 607/3, 607/31, 607/40, 607/41, 607/46, 128/902, 128/903US Class Current607/61CPC Class CodesA61N 1/37205 Microstimulators, e.g. impl...A61N 1/3787 from an external energy sourceH02J 2310/23 The load being a medical de...H02J 50/12 of the resonant typeH02J 50/90 involving detection or opti...H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a...
