Method and system for energy conservation in implantable stimulation devices
First Claim
1. A method for reducing power consumption in an implantable stimulation device, the implantable stimulation device delivering a repeating pattern of substantially continuously occurring pulses to one or more tissues in vivo, the repeating pattern being produced by (i) cycling through an array of stimulation sets and (ii) generating and delivering pulses to one or more tissues according to each respective stimulation set, wherein each stimulation set of the array defines at least an electrode configuration for delivery of a corresponding pulse, the method comprising:
- dropping one or more pulses in the repeating pattern of pulses; and
counting with a drop counter each of the one or more pulses dropped to determine completion of a dropped set within the repeating pattern of pulses when a number of dropped pulsed equals a drop parameter.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to a stimulation device with power conservation functionality. In implantable devices, power supplies may be limited. Replenishing these power supplies may require costly surgery or periodic recharging depending on the model. A method may be implemented that skips or drops periodic pulses without apparently changing the frequency of the pulses. In this manner, the dropped pulses may be undetected by the patient. On the other hand, the dropped pulse represents power savings. Dropping one in ten pulses may lead to a 10% energy savings. The stimulation device may implement the method with one or more counters implemented in hardware or software.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A method for reducing power consumption in an implantable stimulation device, the implantable stimulation device delivering a repeating pattern of substantially continuously occurring pulses to one or more tissues in vivo, the repeating pattern being produced by (i) cycling through an array of stimulation sets and (ii) generating and delivering pulses to one or more tissues according to each respective stimulation set, wherein each stimulation set of the array defines at least an electrode configuration for delivery of a corresponding pulse, the method comprising:
-
dropping one or more pulses in the repeating pattern of pulses; and counting with a drop counter each of the one or more pulses dropped to determine completion of a dropped set within the repeating pattern of pulses when a number of dropped pulsed equals a drop parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A method for reducing power consumption in an implantable stimulation device, the implantable stimulation device delivering a repeating pattern of substantially continuously occurring pulses to one or more tissues in vivo, the repeating pattern being produced by (i) cycling through an array of stimulation sets and (ii) generating and delivering pulses to one or more tissues according to each respective stimulation set wherein each stimulation set of the array defines at least an electrode configuration for delivery of a corresponding pulse, the method comprising:
-
counting with a first pulse counter each stimulation pulse in the repeating pattern of pulses to determine completion of stimulation set of pulses within the repeating pattern of pulses when a number of stimulation pulses equals a stimulation parameter; dropping one or more pulses within the repeating pattern of pulses to form a dropped set of pulses; counting with a second pulse counter each of the one or more pulses dropped to determine completion of the dropped set of pulses when a number of dropped pulses equals a drop parameter; and resetting the first pulse counter and the second pulse counter upon completion of the repeating pattern of pulses. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. An implantable neurostimulator, the implantable neurostimulator delivering a repeating pattern of of substantially continuously occurring pulses to one or more tissues, the repeating pattern being produced by (i) cycling through an array of stimulation sets and (ii) generating and delivering pulses to one or more tissues according to each respective stimulation set, wherein each stimulation set of the array defines at least an electrode configuration for delivery of a corresponding pulse, the neurostimulator device comprising:
-
a first means for counting each stimulation pulse in the repeating pattern of pulses to determine completion of a stimulation set upon counting a first number of pulses associated with a stimulation parameter; circuitry configurable to drop one or more pulses within the repeating pattern of pulses to form a dropped set of pulses; and a second means for counting each of the one or more pulses in the dropped set to determining completion of the dropped set upon counting a second number of pulses associated with a drop parameter, resettling the first means and second means upon completion of the repeating pattern of pulses. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. A method for delivering a repeating pattern of pulses to tissue within a patient by an implantable neurostimulation device, the method comprising:
-
storing a plurality of sets of stimulation parameters within the implantable neurostimulation device, each set of the plurality of sets including an electrode combination and a pulse characteristic, wherein at least two sets of the plurality of sets define mutually distinct electrode combinations; storing a frequency parameter, within the implantable neurostimulation device, defining an interval between generated pulses within the repeating pattern; storing a drop parameter, within the implantable neurostimulation device, defining a number of pulses to be dropped; and cycling through the plurality of sets to generate pulses and deliver the pulses to tissue according to the frequency parameter, the cycling producing successive and substantially continuous pulses defined by the respective pulse characteristics and delivered to tissue through electrodes defined by the respective electrode combinations, wherein the cycling drops a subset of pulses associated with at least one set of the plurality of sets according to the drop parameter. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
-
Specification