Implantable medical device with antenna
First Claim
1. An implantable medical device for use in a patient management system, said implantable medical device comprising:
- a sensor capable of measuring a body characteristic and generating a data signal describing the measured body characteristic;
a processor configured to analyze the data signal and configured to identify one or more significant events that warrant attention for the well-being of a patient;
a first communications unit comprising a first wireless transmitter/receiver capable of establishing a first communications link with a host computer using an external local transmitter/receiver unit, when said first wireless transmitter/receiver unit is within a short-range telemetry communication range of said local transmitter/receiver unit, to deliver at least notification of the one or more significant events to said host computer using said first communications link;
a second communications unit comprising a second wireless transmitter/receiver unit capable of establishing a second communications link with said host computer over a pervasive wireless communications network to deliver at least notification of the one or more significant events to said host computer over said second communications link;
wherein said first and second communications units are housed within the implantable medical device; and
a single antenna operatively connected to both the first and second communications units.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An implantable medical device for use in a patient management system is described including a sensor, a processor, and a first communications unit. The first communications unit can deliver notification of significant events to a host computer using a short-range telemetry first communications link. A second communications unit can deliver notification of the significant events to the host computer over a second communications link, which is over a pervasive wireless communications network, such as a cell phone network. The device includes an antenna that is operatively connected to both the first and second communications units.
190 Citations
22 Claims
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1. An implantable medical device for use in a patient management system, said implantable medical device comprising:
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a sensor capable of measuring a body characteristic and generating a data signal describing the measured body characteristic; a processor configured to analyze the data signal and configured to identify one or more significant events that warrant attention for the well-being of a patient; a first communications unit comprising a first wireless transmitter/receiver capable of establishing a first communications link with a host computer using an external local transmitter/receiver unit, when said first wireless transmitter/receiver unit is within a short-range telemetry communication range of said local transmitter/receiver unit, to deliver at least notification of the one or more significant events to said host computer using said first communications link; a second communications unit comprising a second wireless transmitter/receiver unit capable of establishing a second communications link with said host computer over a pervasive wireless communications network to deliver at least notification of the one or more significant events to said host computer over said second communications link;
wherein said first and second communications units are housed within the implantable medical device; anda single antenna operatively connected to both the first and second communications units. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of telemetry between an implantable medical device used in a patient management system and a host computer, comprising:
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providing said implantable medical device comprising a sensor and an antenna; measuring a body characteristic using the sensor and generating a data signal that describes the measured body characteristic; analyzing the data signal and identifying one or more significant events that merit attention; wirelessly transmitting over the antenna by a first communication unit from the implantable medical device to an external local transmitter/receiver unit in the host computer over a first communications link, when said implantable medical device is within a short-range telemetry communication range of said local transmitter/receiver unit, to deliver at least notification of said one or more significant events to said host computer using said first communications link; and when said implantable medical device is out of range of the local transmitter/receiver unit, wirelessly transmitting over the antenna notification of said one or more significant events from the implantable medical device to the host computer by a second communications unit over a pervasive wireless communications network;
wherein said first and second communications units are housed within the implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification