Systems and methods for establishing a communication link between an implantable medical device and an external instrument

• US 10,021,733 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2017
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pacesetter Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Pacesetter Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: Hellman, Heidi, Singh, Tejpal, Wu, Yongjian, Shahandeh, Reza, Huang, Youjing, Young, Chao-Wen
• Primary Examiner(s): Bilodeau, David
• Application Number:
  US15/851,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20180139799A1
• Time in Patent Office: 201 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/076 Permanent implantations telemetry using implanted circuitry A61B5/0031; implanted stimulators for therapy A61N1/3605, A61N1/362, A61N1/372
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37252 Details of algorithms or data aspects of communication system, e.g. handshaking, transmitting specific data or segmenting data
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37276 characterised by means for reducing power consumption during telemetry
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37288 Communication to several implantable medical devices within one patient
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0216 using a pre-established activity schedule, e.g. traffic indication frame
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/28 Discontinuous transmission [DTX]; Discontinuous reception [DRX]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 999/99 dummy group
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for establishing a bi-directional communication link with an implantable medical device. The systems and methods include an implantable medical device (IMD) and an external instrument configured to establish a wireless bi-directional communication link there between over a wireless protocol. The wireless bi-directional communication link is established based on a scanning interval. The external instrument includes one or more processors electrically coupled to a radio frequency (RF) circuit and a memory device. The one or more processors are configured to define the scanning interval based on an advertising schedule received from the IMD.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an implantable medical device (IMD) having a sensing circuit to collect sensed data, a radio frequency (RF) circuit and a memory configured to store an advertising schedule based on a wireless protocol, the stored advertising schedule having an advertisement interval having a length longer than a defined advertisement interval of the wireless protocol, and

an external instrument having one or more processors electrically coupled to an RF circuit and a memory, wherein the IMD is configured to transmit the advertising schedule to the external instrument during a first communication session with the external instrument, wherein the RF circuit of the IMD is further configured to periodically transmit an advertisement notice along a dedicated advertisement channel based on the advertising schedule and wherein the advertising schedule includes an advertisement delay defining a length of time a first advertisement notice is transmitted relative to a termination of the first communication session.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the RF circuit of the IMD is configured to transmit first and second advertisement notices based on the advertising schedule, the external instrument further comprising one or more processors, the one or more processors being configured to receive a request for a communication session interposed between the first and second advertisement notices.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the request is based on a user input or a predetermined schedule stored in the memory.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are configured to define a scanning interval based on the advertising schedule, the RF circuit of the external instrument is configured to establish a wireless bi-directional communication link with the IMD over the wireless protocol based on the scanning interval, wherein the scanning interval is configured to occur during the second advertisement notice.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the scanning interval is based on when the request is received.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the advertising schedule is transmitted by the IMD in response to a termination request transmitted by the external instrument.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless protocol constitutes at least one of a Bluetooth protocol, a Bluetooth low energy protocol, or a Medical Implant Communication Service protocol.

8. A method for establishing a bi-directional communication link between an implantable medical device (IMD) and an external instrument, the method comprising:

storing an advertising schedule in a memory of the IMD, wherein the advertising schedule includes an advertisement delay defining a length of time until an advertisement notice is transmitted by an RF transmitter of the IMD subsequent to a termination of a first communication session;

transmitting the advertising schedule via the RF transmitter of the IMD to the external instrument for storage in a memory of the external instrument;

configuring the external instrument to define a scanning interval based on the advertising schedule transmitted by the implantable medical device (IMD); and

configuring an RF transmitter of the external instrument to establish a wireless bi-directional communication link with the IMD based on an advertisement notice transmitted by the RF transmitter of the IMD occurring during the scanning interval defined by a wireless protocol.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising configuring the IMD to periodically transmit the advertisement notice through a dedicated advertisement channel based on an advertisement interval of the advertising schedule, wherein the advertisement interval conflicts with the wireless protocol.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving a request for a communication session at the external instrument interposed between a preceding advertisement notice and the advertisement notice.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the receiving operation is based on a user input or a predetermined schedule.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the scanning interval is defined based on when the request is received.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the scanning interval is defined based on a length of time between the preceding advertisement notice and when the request is received.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the scanning interval is defined to occur during the advertisement notice.

15. The method of claim 8, further comprising configuring the IMD to transmit the advertising schedule in response to a termination request transmitted by the external instrument.

16. The method of claim 8, wherein the wireless protocol constitutes at least one of a Bluetooth protocol, a Bluetooth low energy protocol, or a Medical Implant Communication Service protocol.

17. A method for establishing a bi-directional communication link between an implantable medical device (IMD) and an external instrument, the method comprising:

storing an advertising schedule in a memory of the IMD;

transmitting the advertising schedule via an RF transmitter of the IMD to the external instrument for storage in a memory of the external instrument;

configuring the external instrument to define a scanning interval based on the advertising schedule transmitted by the implantable medical device (IMD);

configuring an RF transmitter of the external instrument to establish a wireless bi-directional communication link with the IMD based on an advertisement notice transmitted by the RF transmitter of the IMD occurring during the scanning interval defined by a wireless protocol;

receiving a request for a communication session at the external instrument interposed between a preceding advertisement notice and the advertisement notice, wherein the scanning interval is defined based on a length of time between the preceding advertisement notice and when the request is received.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the scanning interval is defined to occur during the advertisement notice.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising configuring the IMD to transmit the advertising schedule in response to a termination request transmitted by the external instrument.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the wireless protocol constitutes at least one of a Bluetooth protocol, a Bluetooth low energy protocol, or a Medical Implant Communication Service protocol.