Compact and conformal telemetry antennas for implantable medical devices
First Claim
1. An implantable medical device (“
- IMD”
) comprising;
a housing having a housing perimeter;
a header block coupled to said housing, said header block having a header block perimeter;
a dielectric sheath having a first section located around at least a portion of said housing perimeter, and a second section located around at least a portion of said header block perimeter, said dielectric sheath being a distinct component from said header block; and
an antenna arrangement comprising a first antenna element completely contained within said dielectric sheath and having no portion located within said header block, and a second antenna element completely contained within said dielectric sheath and having no portion located within said header block, said second antenna element being physically distinct from said first antenna element;
said first antenna element having a first feed point from said housing and a first endpoint in said first section of said dielectric sheath;
said second antenna element having a second feed point from said housing and a second endpoint in said second section of said dielectric sheath, said second feed point being physically distinct from said first feed point; and
said first feed point being adjacent to said second feed point.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An implantable medical device (“IMD”) configured in accordance with an example embodiment of the invention generally includes a housing, a connector header block coupled to the housing, a dielectric sheath located around at least a portion of the housing and/or around at least a portion of the header block, and a telemetry antenna located within the dielectric sheath. The antenna is configured to support far field telemetry with an external device such as a programmer. In one example embodiment, the antenna is configured as a balanced antenna having two separate antenna elements driven 180 degrees out of phase. Each of the antenna elements has a feed point on a perimeter edge of the IMD housing and a floating endpoint. A number of alternate embodiments are also provided.
59 Citations
16 Claims
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1. An implantable medical device (“
- IMD”
) comprising;a housing having a housing perimeter; a header block coupled to said housing, said header block having a header block perimeter; a dielectric sheath having a first section located around at least a portion of said housing perimeter, and a second section located around at least a portion of said header block perimeter, said dielectric sheath being a distinct component from said header block; and an antenna arrangement comprising a first antenna element completely contained within said dielectric sheath and having no portion located within said header block, and a second antenna element completely contained within said dielectric sheath and having no portion located within said header block, said second antenna element being physically distinct from said first antenna element; said first antenna element having a first feed point from said housing and a first endpoint in said first section of said dielectric sheath; said second antenna element having a second feed point from said housing and a second endpoint in said second section of said dielectric sheath, said second feed point being physically distinct from said first feed point; and said first feed point being adjacent to said second feed point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- IMD”
-
8. An implantable medical device (“
- IMD”
) comprising;a housing having a housing perimeter; a header block coupled to said housing, said header block having a header block perimeter; a dielectric sheath having a first section located around at least a portion of said housing perimeter, and a second section located around at least a portion of said header block perimeter, said dielectric sheath being a distinct component from said header block; an antenna arrangement comprising a first antenna element completely contained within said dielectric sheath and having no portion located within said header block, and a second antenna element completely contained within said dielectric sheath and having no portion located within said header block, said second antenna element being physically distinct from said first antenna element; and a radio frequency (“
RF”
) module contained in said housing and coupled to said antenna arrangement, said antenna arrangement being dimensioned to provide far field radiation of RF transmit energy provided by said RF module;said first antenna element having a first feed point from said housing and a first endpoint in said first section of said dielectric sheath; and said second antenna element having a second feed point from said housing and a second endpoint in said second section of said dielectric sheath, said second feed point being physically distinct from said first feed point. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
- IMD”
-
11. A far field telemetry antenna assembly for an implantable medical device (“
- IMD”
) having a housing and a header block, the housing having a housing perimeter and the header block having a header block perimeter, said antenna assembly comprising;a dielectric sheath having a first section configured for positioning around at least a portion of the housing perimeter, and a second section configured for positioning around at least a portion of the header block perimeter, said dielectric sheath being a distinct component from said header block; a first antenna element completely contained within said dielectric sheath without any portion thereof contained within said header block, and having a first feed point and a first endpoint, said first endpoint being located in said first section of said dielectric sheath; and a second antenna element completely contained within said dielectric sheath without any portion thereof contained within said header block, and having a second feed point and a second endpoint, said second endpoint being located in said second section of said dielectric sheath, wherein said first antenna element and said second antenna element are physically distinct, and wherein said first feed point and said second feed point are physically distinct; said first feed point being adjacent to said second feed point. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
- IMD”
Specification