Systems configured to power at least one device disposed in a living subject, and related apparatuses and methods

• US 9,333,343 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2012
• Issued: 05/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gearbox LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Gearbox LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Rivet, Dennis J., Wood, Lowell L. Jr., Wood, Victoria Y. H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bertram, Eric D.
• Application Number:
  US13/626,715
• Publication Number:
  US 20130030502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,323 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37211 Means for communicating with stimulators
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37217 characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3787 from an external energy source
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 2310/23 The load being a medical device, a medical implant, or a life supporting device
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 50/30 using light, e.g. lasers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/807 Optical power feeding, i.e. transmitting power using an optical signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/005 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein are directed to systems configured to power at least one device disposed in a living subject, apparatuses configured to be disposed in a living subject and export power stored in an energy-storage device, and related methods of powering at least one device disposed in the living subject.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an optical-electrical converter configured to be disposed within a living subject, receive one or more optical power signals transmitted transdermally into the living subject, convert one or more conditioning signals transmitted transdermally into the living subject to conditioning instructions, and convert the one or more optical power signals into electrical energy; and

a power conditioning unit configured to be disposed within a living subject and coupled to the optical-electrical converter to receive at least a portion of the electrical energy therefrom, the power conditioning unit further configured to selectively condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals responsive to the one or more conditioning instructions.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one device configured to be disposed within the living subject and operably coupled to the power conditioning unit to receive the one or more electrical power signals therefrom.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one device includes at least one of a drug delivery device, a micro-electro-mechanical device, a bone extension device, a biosensor, a heart pacemaker, a heart stimulator, or a neurostimulator.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy in response to receiving conditioning instructions from the at least one device.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy in response to receiving conditioning instructions from at least one another device other than the at least one device.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one power exporter configured to be disposed in the living subject, coupled to the power conditioning unit, and transmit the one or more electrical power signals.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one power exporter includes at least one of a wire, an optical fiber, or an ultrasound transmitter.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditioning signals are optical signals.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more conditioning signals are radio-frequency signals.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an energy-storage device configured to be disposed within a living subject and coupled to the optical-electrical converter to receive the at least a portion of the electrical energy from the optical-electrical converter, the energy-storage device further configured to store the at least a portion of the electrical energy received from the optical-electrical converter and to output at least a portion of the stored electrical energy, and

wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to be coupled to the energy-storage device and condition the at least a portion of the electrical energy received from the energy-storage device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the energy-storage device includes at least one of a capacitive device or a battery.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an energy-storage device configured to be disposed within a living subject and coupled to the power conditioning unit to receive the one or more electrical power signals therefrom.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the energy-storage device includes at least one of a capacitive device or a battery.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit includes a DC-to-AC converter.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit includes an AC-to-DC converter.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit includes a DC-to-DC converter.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit includes an AC-to-AC converter.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the power conditioning unit is configured to selectively condition the at least a portion of the electrical energy so that the one or more electrical power signals exhibit a frequency selected to limit interference with biomedical devices disposed in the living subject.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical-electrical converter includes one or more photodiodes.

20. The system of claim 1, further comprising a biocompatible packaging enclosing at least one of the optical-electrical converter or the powering conditioning unit.

21. The system of claim 1, further comprising an external optical power source configured to output the one or more optical power signals.

22. A system, comprising:

an optical-electrical converter configured to be disposed within a living subject, receive one or more optical power signals transmitted transdermally into the living subject, and convert the one or more optical power signals into electrical energy;

a receiver configured to receive one or more conditioning signals transmitted transdermally into the subject and convert the one or more conditioning signals to one or more electrical conditioning signals encoding conditioning instructions; and

a power conditioning unit configured to be disposed within a living subject and coupled to the optical-electrical converter to receive at least a portion of the electrical energy therefrom, the power conditioning unit further configured to receive the one or more conditioning instructions from the receiver and selectively condition the received at least a portion of the electrical energy into one or more electrical power signals responsive to the one or more conditioning instructions.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the receiver includes a radio-frequency receiver.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the receiver includes an optical receiver.