Medical device having lithium-ion battery

• US 7,879,495 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2004
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Howard, William G., Scott, Erik R., Schmidt, Craig L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yuan; Dah-Wei D
• Assistant Examiner(s): SCULLY, STEVEN M
• Application Number:
  US10/978,680
• Publication Number:
  US 20060093917A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,286 Days
• Field of Search: 607/29, 429/231.95, 429/232, 429/326
• US Class Current: 429/231.95
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3605 Implantable neurostimulators for stimulating central or peripheral nerve system
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/378 Electrical supply
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/0525 Rocking-chair batteries, i.e. batteries with lithium insertion or intercalation in both electrodes; Lithium-ion batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4235 Safety or regulating additives or arrangements in electrodes, separators or electrolyte H01M10/4242 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/131 Electrodes based on mixed oxides or hydroxides, or on mixtures of oxides or hydroxides, e.g. LiCoOx
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/133 Electrodes based on carbonaceous material, e.g. graphite-intercalation compounds or CFx
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/136 Electrodes based on inorganic compounds other than oxides or hydroxides, e.g. sulfides, selenides, tellurides, halogenides or LiCoFy
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/362 Composites
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/382 Lithium H01M4/405 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/485 of mixed oxides or hydroxides for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiTi2O4 or LiTi2OxFy H01M4/505, H01M4/525 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/505 of mixed oxides or hydroxides containing manganese for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiMn2O4 or LiMn2OxFy
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/525 of mixed oxides or hydroxides containing iron, cobalt or nickel for inserting or intercalating light metals, e.g. LiNiO2, LiCoO2 or LiCoOxFy
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/5815 Sulfides
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/5825 Oxygenated metallic salts or polyanionic structures, e.g. borates, phosphates, silicates, olivines
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 4/661 Metal or alloys, e.g. alloy coatings H01M4/669 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A medical device includes a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for providing power to the medical device. The lithium-ion battery includes a positive electrode comprising a current collector and a first active material and a negative electrode comprising a current collector, a second active material, and a third active material. The first active material, second active material, and third active material are configured to allow doping and undoping of lithium ions. The third active material exhibits charging and discharging capacity below a corrosion potential of the current collector of the negative electrode and above a decomposition potential of the first active material.

Claims

1. A medical device comprising:

a rechargeable lithium-ion battery for providing power to the medical device, the lithium-ion battery comprising;

a positive electrode comprising a current collector and a first active material; and

a negative electrode comprising a current collector, a first layer comprising a second active material, and a second layer separate and different from the first layer comprising a third active material, the second active material comprising a lithium titanate material and the third active material selected from the group consisting of LiMn₂O₄, Li_xVO₂ where x is between approximately 0 and 1, LiM_xMn_(2-x)O₄ (where M is a metal and x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.4), V₆O₁₃, V₂O₅, V₃O₈, MoO₃, TiS₂, WO₂, MoO₂, RuO₂, and combinations thereof;

wherein the third active material exhibits charging and discharging capacity below a corrosion potential of the current collector of the negative electrode and above a decomposition potential of the first active material.

2. The medical device of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the medical device is configured for implantation into a body of a patient.

3. The medical device of claim 2, wherein a portion of the medical device including the lithium-ion battery is implanted into the body of the patient, wherein the lithium-ion battery may be charged without removing the battery from the body of the patient.

4. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the medical device comprises a neurological stimulation device.

5. The medical device of claim 4, wherein the neurological stimulation device is configured to provide a therapeutic treatment to a patient by electrically stimulating a portion of at least one of a patient'"'"'s brain and a patient'"'"'s spine.

6. The medical device of claim 5, wherein the neurological stimulation device is programmed to selectively provide a plurality of therapeutic treatments to a patient.

7. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the medical device is selected from the group consisting of a cardiac defibrillator, a cardiac pacemaker, a cardiac contractility modulator, a cardioverter, a drug administration device, a cochlear implant, a hearing aid, a sensor, a telemetry device, and a diagnostic recorder.

8. The medical device of claim 7, wherein the device is an implantable cardiac defibrillator for providing a therapeutic high voltage treatment to a patient.

9. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the positive electrode and the negative electrode have zero voltage crossing potentials below the corrosion potential of the current collector of the negative electrode and above the decomposition potential of the first active material.

10. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the first active material is a material selected from the group consisting of LiCoO₂, LiCo_xNi_(1-x)O₂ where x is between approximately 0.5 and 0.8, LiAl_xCo_yNi_(1-x-y) where x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.3 and y is between approximately 0.1 and 0.3, and combinations thereof.

11. The medical device of claim 10, wherein the current collector of the negative electrode comprises a material selected from the group consisting of copper, titanium, aluminum, and nickel.

12. The medical device of claim 11, wherein the second active material comprises Li₄Ti₅O₁₂.

13. The medical device of claim 12, wherein the third active material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of LiMn₂O₄, Li_xVO₂ where x is between approximately 0 and 1, LiM_xMn_(2-x)O₄ (where M is a metal and x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.4), and combinations thereof.

14. The medical device of claim 12, wherein the third active material does not include lithium.

15. The medical device of claim 14, wherein the third active material comprises V₆O₁₃.

16. The medical device of claim 14, wherein the third active material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of V₂O₅, V₃O₈, MoO₃, TiS₂, WO₂, MoO₂, RuO₂, and combinations thereof

17. The medical device of claim 14, further comprising a lithium patch provided in contact with the current collector of the negative electrode.

18. The medical device of claim 17, wherein the lithium patch is configured to provide a lithium capacity for the negative electrode sufficient to at least compensate for irreversible loss of capacity of the negative electrode.

19. The medical device of claim 11, wherein the first active material comprises LiCoO₂.

20. The medical device of claim 19, wherein the third active material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of LiMn₂O₄, Li_xVO₂ where x is between approximately 0 and 1, LiM_xMn_(2-x)O₄ (where M is a metal and x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.4), and combinations thereof.

21. The medical device of claim 19, wherein the third active material does not include lithium.

22. The medical device of claim 21, wherein the third active material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of V₂O₅, V₆O₁₃, V₃O₈, MoO₃, TiS₂, WO₂, MoO₂, RuO₂, and combinations thereof.

23. The medical device of claim 21, further comprising a lithium patch provided in electrical contact with the current collector of the negative electrode.

24. The medical device of claim 23, wherein the lithium patch is configured to provide a lithium capacity for the negative electrode sufficient to at least compensate for irreversible loss of capacity of the negative electrode.

25. The medical device of claim 1, further comprising a polymeric separator provided intermediate the positive electrode and the negative electrode.

26. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the battery has a capacity between approximately 10 mAh and 1000 mAh.

55. The medical device of claim 1, wherein the third active material is selected from the group comprising LiMn₂O₄, Li_xVO₂ where x is between approximately 0 and 1, LiM_xMn_(2-x)O₄ (where M is a metal and x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.4), MoO₃, WO₂, MoO₂, and RuO₂.

27. A medical device comprising:

a rechargeable lithium-ion battery comprising a positive electrode and a negative electrode, the positive electrode comprising a first active material and the negative electrode comprising a second active material in a first layer and a third active material in a second layer separate and different from the first layer;

wherein the second active material comprises a lithium titanate material;

wherein the third active material exhibits charging and discharging capacity below a corrosion potential of the current collector of the negative electrode and above a decomposition potential of the first active material; and

wherein the battery has a zero voltage crossing potential between the positive and negative electrodes that is below the corrosion potential of the current collector of the negative electrode and above the decomposition potential of the first active material.

28. The medical device of claim 27, wherein at least a portion of the medical device is configured for implantation into a body of a patient, and the lithium-ion battery may be charged without removing the battery from the body of the patient.

29. The medical device of claim 27, wherein the medical device comprises a neurological stimulation device configured to provide a plurality of therapeutic treatments to a patient.

30. The medical device of claim 27, wherein the medical device is selected from the group consisting of a cardiac defibrillator, a cardiac pacemaker, a cardiac contractility modulator, a cardioverter, a drug administration device, a cochlear implant, a hearing aid, a sensor, a telemetry device, and a diagnostic recorder.

31. The medical device of claim 27, further comprising a lithium patch provided in contact with the negative electrode.

32. The medical device of claim 27, wherein the first active material comprises LiCoO₂ and the third active material comprises LiMn₂O₄.

33. The medical device of claim 27, wherein the first active material is selected from the group consisting of LiCoO₂, LiCo_xNi_(1-x)O₂ where x is between approximately 0.5 and 0.8, LiAl_xCo_yNi_(1-x-y) where x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.3 and y is between approximately 0.1 and 0.3, and combinations thereof.

34. The medical device of claim 33, wherein the third active material comprises LiMn₂O₄.

35. The medical device of claim 33, wherein the third active material does not include lithium.

36. The medical device of claim 35, wherein the third active material comprises V₆O₁₃.

37. The medical device of claim 35, wherein the third active is selected from the group consisting of V₂O₅, V₃O₈, MoO₃, TiS₂, WO₂, MoO₂, and RuO₂.

38. The medical device of claim 27, wherein the negative electrode comprises current collector formed of a material selected from the group consisting of copper, titanium, aluminum, and nickel.

39. The medical device of claim 38, wherein the corrosion potential of the negative current collector is approximately 3.5 volts.

40. The medical device of claim 31, wherein the lithium patch provides sufficient electrochemically active lithium to the negative electrode to compensate for an irreversible loss of capacity occurring upon a first charging.

41. The medical device of claim 27, wherein the battery has a capacity between approximately 10 mAh and 1000 mAh.

56. The medical device of claim 27, wherein the third active material is selected from the group comprising LiMn₂O₄, Li_xVO₂ where x is between approximately 0 and 1, LiM_xMn_(2-x)O₄ (where M is a metal and x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.4), MoO₃, WO₂, MoO₂, and RuO₂.

42. A medical device comprising:

a rechargeable lithium-ion battery comprising a positive electrode and a negative electrode, the positive electrode comprising a first active material and the negative electrode comprising a first layer comprising a second active material and a separate and different second layer comprising a third active material;

wherein the second active material comprises Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ and the third active material comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of LiMn₂O₄, Li_xVO₂, LiM_xMn_(2-x)O₄ (where M is a metal and x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.4), V₆O₁₃, V₂O₅, V₃O₈, MoO₃, TiS₂, WO₂, MoO₂, RuO₂, and combinations thereof.

43. The medical device of claim 42, wherein at least a portion of the medical device is configured for implantation into a body of a patient.

44. The medical device of claim 43, wherein the medical device is selected from the group consisting of a neurological stimulation device, a cardiac defibrillator, a cardiac pacemaker, a cardiac contractility modulator, a cardioverter, a drug administration device, a cochlear implant, a hearing aid, a sensor, a telemetry device, and a diagnostic recorder.

45. The medical device of claim 42, wherein the positive electrode and the negative electrode have zero voltage crossing potentials below the corrosion potential of a current collector of the negative electrode and above the decomposition potential of the first active material.

46. The medical device of claim 42, wherein the first active material is selected from the group consisting of LiCoO₂, LiCo_xNi_(1-x)O₂ where x is between approximately 0.5 and 0.8, LiAl_xCo_yNi_(1-x-y) where x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.3 and y is between approximately 0.1 and 0.3, and combinations thereof.

47. The medical device of claim 46, wherein the third active material comprises lithium.

48. The medical device of claim 47, wherein the third active material comprises LiMn₂O₄.

49. The medical device of claim 46, wherein the third active material does not include lithium.

50. The medical device of claim 49, wherein the third active material comprises V₆O₁₃.

51. The medical device of claim 49, wherein the third active is selected from the group consisting of V₂O₅, V₃O₈, MoO₃, TiS₂, WO₂, MoO₂, and RuO₂.

52. The medical device of claim 42, wherein the negative electrode comprises a current collector formed of a material selected from the group consisting of copper, titanium, aluminum, and nickel.

53. The medical device of claim 42, further comprising a lithium patch provided in electrical contact with a current collector of the negative electrode.

54. The medical device of claim 42, wherein the battery has a capacity between approximately 10 mAh and 1000 mAh.

57. The medical device of claim 42, wherein the third active material is selected from the group comprising LiMn₂O₄, Li_xVO₂ where x is between approximately 0 and 1, LiM_xMn_(2-x)O₄ (where M is a metal and x is between approximately 0.05 and 0.4), MoO₃, WO₂, MoO₂, and RuO₂.