Dual power supply

• US 10,425,751 B2
• Filed: 05/26/2016
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Original Assignee: Cochlear Limited
• Inventors: Meskens, Werner, Nygard, Tony, Van den Heuvel, Koen
• Primary Examiner(s): Porter, Allen
• Application Number:
  US15/165,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20170180887A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,216 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36036 of the outer, middle or inner ear
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36038 Cochlear stimulation
• 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 50/12 of the resonant type
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0044 specially adapted for holding portable devices containing batteries H02J7/0045 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02M 7/08 arranged for operation in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/26 using coils
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/72 for local intradevice communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 5/79 for data transfer in combination with power transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/31 Aspects of the use of accumulators in hearing aids, e.g. rechargeable batteries or fuel cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 2225/33 Aspects relating to adaptation of the battery voltage, e.g. its regulation, increase or decrease
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/305 Self-monitoring or self-testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/554 using a wireless connection, e.g. between microphone and amplifier or using Tcoils
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/602 of batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/606 acting directly on the eardrum, the ossicles or the skull, e.g. mastoid, tooth, maxillary or mandibular bone, or mechanically stimulating the cochlea, e.g. at the oval window

Abstract

A device comprises a tank circuit including a parallel tank circuit and a series tank circuit. In this example, the parallel tank circuit and the series tank circuit share a capacitive component and an inductive component. The device also includes electronics, and circuitry configured to selectively couple the electronics to the parallel tank circuit for a first application and to couple the electronics to the series tank circuit for a second application.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a tank circuit comprising at least one inductive component and at least one capacitive component electrically connected to one another;

medical device stimulation electronics connected in parallel with the at least one capacitive component such that the at least one inductive component and the at least one capacitive component form a parallel tank circuit relative to the medical device stimulation electronics;

a rechargeable battery circuit connected in series with the at least one capacitive component such that the at least one inductive component and the at least one capacitive component form a series tank circuit relative to the rechargeable battery circuit; and

circuitry comprising at least one switching component connected between the at least one capacitive component and ground, wherein the least one switching component is configured to be selectively closed to only provide one or more of power and data received at the at least one inductive component to the medical device stimulation electronics via the parallel tank circuit, and wherein the least one switching component is configured to be selectively opened to provide power received at the at least one inductive component to the rechargeable battery circuit via the series tank circuit.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the medical device stimulation electronics include hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics.

3. The device of claim 2, further comprising a microphone electrically connected to the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics and configured to receive sound signals, wherein the tank circuit, the circuitry, the rechargeable battery circuit, the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics, and the microphone are hermetically sealed within a single operational unit.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the medical device stimulation electronics comprise a first rectifier circuit connected to the parallel tank circuit, and wherein the rechargeable battery circuit comprises at least one rechargeable battery and a second rectifier circuit connected between the at least one rechargeable battery and the series tank circuit.

5. The device of claim 1, further comprising a controller coupled to the circuitry and configured to selectively open or close the at least one switching component.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the rechargeable battery circuit comprises at least one rechargeable battery, and wherein the controller is configured to:

detect when a life of the at least one rechargeable battery is below a predetermined threshold; and

in response to detecting that the life of the at least one rechargeable battery is below the predetermined threshold, open the at least one switching component to allow power received via the at least one inductive component to flow to the rechargeable battery circuit.

7. The device of claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to:

detect when a life of the at least one rechargeable battery is above a predetermined threshold; and

in response to detecting that the life of the at least one rechargeable battery is above the predetermined threshold, close the at least one switching component to short the at least one capacitive component to ground and prevent the power received via the at least one inductive component from flowing to the rechargeable battery circuit.

8. The device of claim 5, wherein the rechargeable battery circuit comprises at least one rechargeable battery, and wherein the controller is configured to:

monitor an operative life of the at least one rechargeable battery;

determine that the rechargeable battery has reached the end of its operative life; and

in response to determining that the at least one rechargeable battery has reached the end of its operative, close the at least one switching component to short the at least one capacitive component to ground and prevent the power received via the at least one inductive component from flowing to the rechargeable battery circuit.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein to monitor an operative life of the at least one rechargeable battery, the controller is configured to:

track a number of charge/discharge cycles of the at least one rechargeable battery; and

predetermine whether the number of charge/discharge cycles are near an expected cycle limit associated with the end of the operative life of the at least one rechargeable battery.

10. The device of claim 1, further comprising a transformer coupled between the at least one inductive component and the resonant tank circuit.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one switching component includes a transistor switch.

12. A method comprising:

receiving, by at least one inductive component of a medical device, a first electrical signal over a wireless link, wherein the at least one inductive component is part of a resonant tank circuit that also comprises at least one capacitive component, and wherein at least one switch is connected between the at least one capacitive component and ground, and

wherein the medical device comprises medical device stimulation electronics connected in parallel with the at least one capacitive component such that the at least one inductive component and the at least one capacitive component form a parallel tank circuit relative to the medical device stimulation electronics, and wherein the medical device comprises a rechargeable battery circuit connected in series with the at least one capacitive component such that the at least one inductive component and the at least one capacitive component form a series tank circuit relative to the rechargeable battery circuit;

selectively opening the at least one switch to supply the first electrical signal to the rechargeable battery of the device via the at least one inductive component and the at least one capacitive component connected to form the series tank circuit relative to the rechargeable battery;

receiving, by the at least one inductive component, a second electrical signal over the wireless link; and

selectively closing the at least one switch to supply the second electrical signal to only the medical device stimulation electronics of the device via the at least one inductive component and the at least one capacitive component connected to form the parallel tank circuit relative to the medical device stimulation electronics.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the device is a hearing prosthesis, and wherein the medical device stimulation electronics include hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the device further includes a microphone electrically connected to the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics and configured to receive sound signals.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the microphone, audible sounds through skin of a recipient of the hearing prosthesis;

converting the audible sounds into stimulation signals; and

applying, using the hearing prosthesis stimulation electronics, the stimulation signals to the recipient.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

detecting when a life of the rechargeable battery is below a predetermined threshold; and

opening the at least one switch only in response to detecting that the life of the rechargeable battery is below the predetermined threshold.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

monitoring an operative life of the rechargeable battery;

determining that the rechargeable battery has reached the end of its operative life; and

in response to determining that the rechargeable battery has reached the end of its operative, closing the at least one switch to short the at least one capacitive component to ground.

18. An implantable medical device, comprising:

a resonant tank circuit comprising a capacitive component, an inductive component, a first output node, and a second output node, wherein at least one inductive component is connected to the capacitive component and is configured to receive signals from an external coil;

medical device stimulation electronics connected to the first output node of the resonant tank circuit;

a rechargeable battery circuit connected to the second output node of the resonant tank circuit; and

circuitry comprising at least one switch connected between the at least one capacitor and ground configured to be selectively closed to couple the capacitive component and the inductive component in parallel with one another to form a parallel tank circuit useable to provide one or more of power and data received at the inductive component to only the medical device stimulation electronics, and to be selectively opened to couple the capacitive component and the inductive component in series with one another to form a series tank circuit useable to provide power received at the inductive component to the rechargeable battery circuit.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the medical device stimulation electronics comprise a first rectifier circuit connected to the first output node, and wherein the rechargeable battery circuit comprises at least one rechargeable battery and a second rectifier circuit connected between the at least one rechargeable battery and the second output node.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the rechargeable battery circuit comprises at least one rechargeable battery, and wherein the circuitry comprises a controller configured to:

detect when a life of the at least one rechargeable battery is below a predetermined threshold; and

in response to detecting that the life of the at least one rechargeable battery is below the predetermined threshold, open the at least one switch to allow power received via the at least one inductive component to flow to the rechargeable battery circuit.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein the controller is configured to:

detect when a life of the at least one rechargeable battery is above a predetermined threshold; and

in response to detecting that the life of the at least one rechargeable battery is above the predetermined threshold, close the at least one switch to short the at least one capacitive component to ground and prevent the power received via the at least one inductive component from flowing to the rechargeable battery circuit.

22. The device of claim 18, wherein the rechargeable battery circuit comprises at least one rechargeable battery, and wherein the circuitry comprises a controller configured to:

monitor an operative life of the at least one rechargeable battery;

determine that the rechargeable battery has reached the end of its operative life; and

in response to determining that the at least one rechargeable battery has reached the end of its operative, close the at least one switch to short the at least one capacitive component to ground and prevent the power received via the at least one inductive component from flowing to the rechargeable battery circuit.

23. The device of claim 18, further comprising a transformer coupled between the inductive component and the capacitive component.