External charger for a medical implantable device using field inducing coils to improve coupling
First Claim
1. An external charger for providing power to an implantable medical device, comprising:
- one or more current or voltage sources configured to provide a plurality of currents that produce a plurality of magnetic fields at different locations in the external charger;
an alignment sensing circuit configured to determine an alignment of the external charger relative to the implantable medical device, wherein the determination is based on electrical measurements for each of the plurality of currents taken from the one or more current or voltage sources; and
at least one indicator, wherein the at least one indicator indicates the determined alignment of the external charger relative to the implantable medical device.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
By incorporating magnetic field-inducing position determination coils (PDCs) in an external charger, it is possible to determine the position of an implantable device by actively inducing magnetic fields using the PDCs and sensing the reflected magnetic field from the implant. In one embodiment, the PDCs are driven by an AC power source with a frequency equal to the charging coil. In another embodiment, the PDCs are driven by an AC power source at a frequency different from that of the charging coil. By comparing the relative reflected magnetic field strengths at each of the PDCs, the position of the implant relative to the external charger can be determined. Audio and/or visual feedback can then be communicated to the patient to allow the patient to improve the alignment of the charger.
17 Citations
32 Claims
-
1. An external charger for providing power to an implantable medical device, comprising:
-
one or more current or voltage sources configured to provide a plurality of currents that produce a plurality of magnetic fields at different locations in the external charger; an alignment sensing circuit configured to determine an alignment of the external charger relative to the implantable medical device, wherein the determination is based on electrical measurements for each of the plurality of currents taken from the one or more current or voltage sources; and at least one indicator, wherein the at least one indicator indicates the determined alignment of the external charger relative to the implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A method for providing power to an implantable medical device using an external charger, comprising:
-
providing a first magnetic field from the external charger to provide power to the implantable medical device; providing from one or more current or voltage sources a plurality of currents that produce a plurality of second magnetic fields at different locations in the external charger; and determining an alignment of the external charger relative to the implantable medical device, wherein the determination is based on electrical measurements taken from the one or more current or voltage sources; and indicating the determined alignment to a user. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. An external charger for providing power to an implantable medical device, comprising:
-
one or more current or voltage sources configured to provide a plurality of currents that produce a plurality of magnetic fields at different locations in the external charger; and an alignment sensing circuit configured to determine an alignment of the external charger relative to the implantable medical device, wherein the determination is based on electrical measurements for each of the plurality of currents taken from the one or more current or voltage sources; a primary coil, wherein the primary coil is configured to produce a primary coil magnetic field to provide power to the implantable medical device, wherein a central axis of the primary coil magnetic field and central axes of the plurality of magnetic fields are parallel, wherein the primary coil magnetic field has a first frequency, the plurality of magnetic fields have second frequencies, and the first frequency is different from the second frequency.
-
Specification