Methods for manufacturing an implantable medical device

• US 8,555,498 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2010
• Issued: 10/15/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pacesetter Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories)
• Original Assignee: Pacesetter Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories)
• Inventors: Xie, Jian, Sahabi, Kavous
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Paul D
• Application Number:
  US12/695,068
• Publication Number:
  US 20100132184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,357 Days
• Field of Search: 295/921, 298/31, 298/44, 298/46, 298/54, 298/58, 607/36, 607/37, 600/25, 600/372
• US Class Current: 29/854
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/375 Constructional arrangements, e.g. casings
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37512 Pacemakers
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3754 Feedthroughs
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3758 Packaging of the components within the casing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49002 Electrical device making
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49128 Assembling formed circuit to base
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49151 by deforming or shaping
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49155 Manufacturing circuit on or in base
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49169 Assembling electrical component directly to terminal or elongated conductor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49176 with molding of electrically insulating material

Abstract

A method for hermetically sealing electronic circuitry within a housing of an implantable medical device is provided. The method comprises assembling the housing having an interior cavity, joining a feed-through assembly to the housing, and joining a back-fill member to the feed-through housing. The back fill member has an opening there through communicating with the interior cavity of the housing. The housing is back-filled with an inert gas through the opening in the back-fill member, and the interior cavity is hermetically sealed by closing the opening through the back-fill member with a sealing element. The sealing element and back-fill member are formed of different first and second materials, respectively.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing an implantable medical device, comprising:

assembling a device housing defining an interior cavity;

joining a feed-through assembly to the device housing, the feed-through assembly including a feed-through housing and conductors held in the feed-through housing;

joining a back-fill member to the feed-through housing, the back fill member having an opening there through communicating with the interior cavity of the device housing;

back-filling the device housing with an inert gas through the opening in the back-fill member; and

hermetically sealing the interior cavity by closing the opening through the back-fill member with a sealing element, where the sealing element and back-fill member are formed of different first and second materials, respectively;

wherein the sealing further comprises holding the back-fill member in a support tool in a self-aligning manner when closing the opening with the sealing element, while permitting the back-fill member and device housing to self-align within the support tool while a press load is induced onto the sealing element.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising loading a ceramic terminal into an aperture provided through the feed-through housing, and loading the conductors into the ceramic terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first material constitutes titanium and the second material constitutes a titanium alloy.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the sealing element constitutes a titanium ball and the sealing operation deforms the titanium ball when pressed into the opening in the back-fill member.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising brazing a terminal holding the conductors to the feed-through housing.

6. A method for manufacturing an implantable medical device, comprising:

assembling a device housing defining an interior cavity;

joining a feed-through assembly to the device housing, the feed-through assembly including a feed-through housing and conductors held in the feed-through housing;

joining a back-fill member to the feed-through housing, the back fill member having an opening there through communicating with the interior cavity of the device housing;

back-filling the device housing with an inert gas through the opening in the back-fill member; and

hermetically sealing the interior cavity by closing the opening through the back-fill member with a sealing element, where the sealing element and back-fill member are formed of different first and second materials, respectively;

wherein the sealing further comprises retaining the back-fill member with a support tool that defines a support X-Y plane, inducing a press load onto the sealing element in a direction that intersects the X-Y plane and permitting the device housing to shift in at least one of the X-Y plane and a tilting direction out of the X-Y plane while the press load is induced.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the back-filling is performed while the device housing is in a nitrogen chamber and the inert gas is nitrogen.

8. A method for manufacturing an implantable medical device, comprising:

assembling a device housing defining an interior cavity;

joining a feed-through assembly to the device housing, the feed-through assembly including a feed-through housing and conductors held in the feed-through housing;

joining aback-fill member to the feed-through housing, the back fill member having an opening there through communicating with the interior cavity of the device housing;

back-filling the device housing with an inert gas through the opening in the back-fill member; and

hermetically sealing the interior cavity by closing the opening through the back-fill member with a sealing element, where the sealing element and back-fill member are formed of different first and second materials, respectively;

wherein the sealing permits the back-fill member to at least one of linearly shift and tilt while a sealing force is applied to the sealing element to deform the sealing element into the opening in the back-fill member.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising polishing an interior surface of the opening through the back-fill member prior to the sealing.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising forming the back-fill member with a cylindrical body having distal and proximal ends relative to the feed-through housing, and a base platform extending about the body proximate the proximal end, the base platform abutting against, and being sealed to, an exterior surface of the feed-through housing during the joining.