Implantable medical device with one or more magnetic field sensors to assist with external charger alignment
First Claim
1. An implantable medical device, comprising:
- a coil configured to receive a magnetic charging field from an external charger, wherein the coil comprises a center axis;
a plurality of magnetic field sensors each configured to measure a strength of the magnetic charging field, wherein one of the plurality of magnetic field sensors is located at the center axis of the coil and wherein others of the plurality of the magnetic field sensors are located equidistant to the center axis;
telemetry circuitry configured to transmit alignment data to the external charger, wherein the alignment data is indicative of external charger alignment with respect to the implantable medical device, and wherein the alignment data comprises or is derived from the measured strengths; and
charging circuitry configured to use the received magnetic charging field to provide operational power to the implantable medical device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An implantable medical device (IMD) is disclosed having one or more magnetic field sensors for measuring a strength of a magnetic charging field provided by an external charger and used to provide operational power to the IMD, for example, to charge its battery. The measured field strength data, or derivations of such data, are telemetered to the external charger, which further process the received data if necessary and can inform a user whether alignment between the external charger and IMD is sufficient, a misalignment direction, and/or a misalignment distance, so that the user can attempt to improve the alignment of the external charger. The one or more sensors are preferably placed at or equidistantly around a center axis of the IMD'"'"'s charging coil. However, the sensors may be placed at any number of locations in the IPG, and at different distances from the center axis.
56 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An implantable medical device, comprising:
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a coil configured to receive a magnetic charging field from an external charger, wherein the coil comprises a center axis; a plurality of magnetic field sensors each configured to measure a strength of the magnetic charging field, wherein one of the plurality of magnetic field sensors is located at the center axis of the coil and wherein others of the plurality of the magnetic field sensors are located equidistant to the center axis; telemetry circuitry configured to transmit alignment data to the external charger, wherein the alignment data is indicative of external charger alignment with respect to the implantable medical device, and wherein the alignment data comprises or is derived from the measured strengths; and charging circuitry configured to use the received magnetic charging field to provide operational power to the implantable medical device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification