Use of a Dedicated Remote Control as an Intermediary Device to Communicate with an Implantable Medical Device

• US 20180147413A1
• Filed: 01/26/2018
• Published: 05/31/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation (Boston Scientific Corporation)
• Inventors: Ter-Petrosyan, Habet, Gupta, Gaurav, Kothandaraman, Sridhar
• Granted Patent: US 10,413,738 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37211 Means for communicating with stimulators
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37223 Circuits for electromagnetic coupling
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37229 Shape or location of the implanted or external antenna
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37247 User interfaces, e.g. input or presentation means

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed in which an external device such as a consumer mobile device (e.g., smart phone) is used as an external controller to bi-directionally communicate with an Implantable Medical Device (IMD) using a dedicated patient remote control (RC) as an intermediary device to translate communications between the two. The dedicated RC contains a graphical user interface allowing for control and monitoring of the IMD even if the mobile device is not present in the system, which is useful as a back-up should the mobile device experience problems. Use of the dedicated RC as an intermediary device broadens the utility of other computing devices to operate as an external controller for an IMD even if the computing device and IMD do not have compliant communication means.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a remote control for communicating with an Implantable Medical Device (IMD), the remote control comprising;

a housing;

communication circuitry within the housing configured to communicate information with the IMD via a first wireless link and to communicate information with an external device via a second wireless link;

a first user interface configured to enable a user to transmit a first control instruction for the IMD via the first wireless link; and

control circuitry coupled to the communication circuitry, wherein the control circuitry is configured to transmit information received via the first or second wireless link from the other of the first or second wireless link.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the housing is hand-held and portable housing.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication circuitry comprises at least one antenna to communicate the information with the IMD via the first wireless link and to communicate the information with the external device via the second wireless link.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one antenna comprises at least one short-range RF antenna.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the at least one antenna comprises at least one Bluetooth antenna.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication circuitry comprises a first antenna configured to communicate with the IMD via the first wireless link, and a second antenna configured to communicate with the external device via the first wireless link.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the first and second antennas comprise short-range RF antennas.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the first antenna comprises a coil, and wherein the second antenna comprises a short-range RF antenna.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first and second wireless links comprise short-range RF links.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the first wireless link comprises a magnetic induction link, and the second wireless link comprises a short-range RF link.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first wireless link carries the information in a first format, and wherein the second wireless link carries the information in a second format.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for a Medical Device Application (MDA) executable on the external device, wherein the MDA is configured to provide a second user interface on the external device to enable a user to transmit a second control instruction for the IMD via the second wireless link.

13. A method for communicating with an implantable device, comprising:

receiving at a user interface of a remote control an input used to transmit a first control instruction for the IMD via a first short-range RF wireless link;

receiving a second control instruction for the IMD at the remote control via a second short-range RF wireless link; and

transmitting the second control instruction from the remote control to the IMB via the first wireless link.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the remote control comprises a hand-held and portable housing.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the remote control comprises at least one antenna to communicate with the IMD via the first wireless link and to communicate with the external device via the second wireless link.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one antenna comprises at least one short-range RF antenna.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one antenna comprises at least one Bluetooth antenna.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second short-range RF wireless links comprise Bluetooth links.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the first wireless link carries information in a first format, and wherein the second wireless link carries information in a second format.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the external device comprises a mobile device.