Radio frequency identification and tagging for implantable medical devices and medical device systems
First Claim
1. A medical device system comprising a plurality of implantable components, including:
- a plurality of radio frequency identification tags, wherein each of said tags is attached to or included with one of the plurality of implantable components and includes information specific to said one of the plurality of implantable components which said tag is attached to or included with, at least one of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags being powered by a power source of at least one of the plurality of implantable components, the power source powering at least one of the radio frequency identification tags and powering at least one of the plurality of implantable components other than the radio frequency identification tag;
a communications module, operatively connected to each identification tag, adapted to transmit an activation signal to each of said tags; and
an identification module, operatively connected to said communications module, adapted to automatically identify each of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for radio frequency identification and tagging of implantable medical devices and their components are disclosed. A preferred embodiment includes tagging a device and its components with manufacturing information relating to the device and it components and with information identifying a patient using the device. The information can be automatically transmitted or extracted from the device when the device or its components come into communication range of an external programmer or other device adapted to read or sense the RFID information. Some embodiments of a system disclosed herein can also be configured as a component of an Advanced Patient Management System that helps better monitor, predict and manage chronic diseases.
44 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A medical device system comprising a plurality of implantable components, including:
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a plurality of radio frequency identification tags, wherein each of said tags is attached to or included with one of the plurality of implantable components and includes information specific to said one of the plurality of implantable components which said tag is attached to or included with, at least one of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags being powered by a power source of at least one of the plurality of implantable components, the power source powering at least one of the radio frequency identification tags and powering at least one of the plurality of implantable components other than the radio frequency identification tag; a communications module, operatively connected to each identification tag, adapted to transmit an activation signal to each of said tags; and an identification module, operatively connected to said communications module, adapted to automatically identify each of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A medical device system comprised of a plurality of implantable medical device components, further comprising:
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a plurality of radio frequency identification tags, wherein each of said plurality of tags is attached to or included with one of the plurality of implantable medical device components, and includes information specific to the associated implantable medical device component, at least one of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags being powered by a power source of at least one of the plurality of implantable medical device components, the power source powering at least one of the radio frequency identification tags and powering at least one of the plurality of implantable medical device components other than the radio frequency identification tag; an identification module operatively communicating with the plurality of radio frequency identification tags and adapted to identify each of the plurality of radio frequency identification tags; and a communications module operatively communicating with the identification module and adapted to communicate the identified plurality of radio frequency identification tags to a system processor operatively connected to the communications module.
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18. A method, comprising:
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tagging a plurality of implantable medical device components with unique radio frequency identification tags, at least one of the radio frequency identification tags being powered by a power source of at least one of the implantable components, the power source powering at least one of the radio frequency identification tags and powering at least one of the plurality of implantable components other than the radio frequency identification tag; automatically identifying the radio frequency identification tags of the implantable components; communicating the identified implantable components to a computer database; and analyzing the identified implantable components. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method, comprising:
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tagging at least one of a plurality of implantable medical device components with a unique radio frequency identification tag, the radio frequency identification tag being powered by a power source of the at least one of the plurality of implantable components, the power source powering at least one of the radio frequency identification tags and powering at least one of the plurality of implantable components other than the radio frequency identification tag; automatically identifying the radio frequency identification tags of each of the plurality of implantable components; storing information in the radio frequency identification tag of the identified implantable component; communicating the identified implantable component information to a computer database; and analyzing the identified implantable components and the identified implantable component information.
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Specification