This invention relates to the field of medical devices implantable within a human patient and having the ability to communicate with remote equipment.
Known implantable devices including pacemakers and Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators (ICDs) include the capability to communicate with remote equipment while implanted in the body of a patient. Such communication occurs by means of an antenna of the remote equipment placed within inches of the implant to be able to reliably send and receive data to/from that implant. Recently, Biotronik Company has developed a long range telemetry system for pacemakers that allows data from the pacemakers to be transmitted to a remote receiver disposed several meters away from the patient. However, the Biotronik long range data communication system is unidirectional, meaning that data are transmitted in one direction, e.g., only from the implant to the remote receiver. This precludes error checking and such other useful functions as device programmability without employing a separate near field antenna.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,023 issued to Fischell, et al., describes a two-way long range data communication system for data transmission between an implanted cardiac event detection system and remote equipment in both directions. In the Fischell, et al.'s system, data transmission from the remote equipment to the implant is enabled by the implant turning ON its telemetry sub-system at regular intervals to “listen” for the data to be received. Such telemetry sub-systems, for example, the CC1000 chipset from CHIPCOM, consume significant power during the “listening” phase of their operation. In order to save power and to extend the operational life of the implant, such intervals for “listening” for the data to be received are kept on the order of 30 seconds or longer. This precludes fast time response of the implanted devices to commands from the remote equipment.
Since a telemetry antenna is an essential part of a medical implantable system, specific arrangements have been developed to improve the operational characteristics of implantable medical devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,408 describes a telemetry system for an implantable cardiac device in which a telemetry antenna is placed in a plastic header of an implanted cardiac device to facilitate high speed communication between external equipment, such as an external programmer, and the cardiac implant device. Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,698 describes a pacemaker in which a telemetry antenna is placed in a plastic outer casing (or “shroud”) of the implant. Yet another arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,406 wherein an antenna is placed in an antenna compartment made of a dielectric material extending from the header to wrap circumferentially around a curved portion of the device housing. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,543,955 and 5,058,581 describe body implantable devices which use their respective leads as a telemetry antenna for the implantable device.
None of the above arrangements is ideal, for the placement of a telemetry antenna in the header or a plastic outer casing of the implant limits the usable antenna length, while employing a lead of the implant as the antenna causes RF energy to be delivered into the heart. Although the Fischell's AMI detection implant described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,023 only requires a unipolar lead, the device is typically implanted with a standard bipolar pacemaker lead so that if a pacemaker is needed by the patient, no new lead needs to be implanted. Using a second conductor in the lead as the antenna is not desirable as it also has the negative effect associated with delivering RF energy into the heart.
It would be therefore highly desirable to realize an implantable medical system free of these and other shortcomings of prior implantable devices.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system including an implanted medical device (implant) and an external transceiver between which long range two-way data communication may be effected. In accordance with the present invention, factors such as antenna location, antenna configuration, and remote electromagnetic signaling to the implant to turn ON/OFF the long range telemetry sub-system are advantageously combined.
It is another object of this invention to provide an implantable medical device with long range telemetry where the antenna is positioned in a connecting cable located between a device casing and an implantable lead of the device.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an implantable medical device with long range telemetry where an antenna may be located outside of the device casing and provided with its own feed through the casing.
Still another object of this invention is to provide an implantable medical device with long range telemetry where the antenna is located in close proximity (outside, inside or within) to a window made from a non-conductive material placed in the casing of the implant.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an implantable medical device with long range telemetry where the device includes a magnetic switch function to enable two-way long range telemetry.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an implantable medical device with long range telemetry where the device has a near field (<200KHz) electromagnetic sensor for enabling two-way long range telemetry when external equipment placed within 6 inches or closer proximity of the implanted device sends an appropriate low power electromagnetic signal to the implant.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an implantable medical device with long range telemetry where the implant has a near field (<200KHz) electromagnetic sensor for enabling two-way long range telemetry when external equipment located more than 6 inches away from the implant sends an appropriate high power electromagnetic signal.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an implantable medical device having an antenna which is arranged as the proximal section of one of the conducting wires of a modified pacemaker lead and where a connecting module within the lead connects the proximal section of the wire to the distal section of the wire for use with a pacemaker or Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD).
In one embodiment of the antenna configuration, a multi-conductor connecting cable is located between a header of the implant casing and an implantable lead. In the connecting cable, one conductor is used as the antenna, while the other conductors are used for connection to the lead. The proximal end of such a connecting cable may either connect through feed-throughs directly to the electronic circuitry of the implant or attach to a standard implantable device header. The distal end of the connecting cable includes measures for connecting to an implantable lead.
In certain embodiments, such lead may be a standard bipolar pacemaker lead. One conductor of the connecting cable may then connect to one electrode of the bipolar lead, while other conductor may terminate within the connecting cable's length to serve as the antenna.
In an alternate embodiment, the antenna may be located outside of the casing of the implant. This may either be in the form of a loose wire, or a wire attached to a non-conducting casing extension.
In another embodiment of the antenna configuration, a non-conducting window is formed in a side wall of the implant casing with the antenna placed in close proximity to the window, the antenna may then be disposed inside the implant casing, within the window material, or attached to the window outside the implant casing.
Another alternate embodiment of the system of the present invention employs a modified bipolar pacemaker lead in which a wire connected to a ring electrode is normally discontinuous at a location part way down the lead. In this state, the wire has a proximal section and a distal section which are normally displaced each from the other. The proximal section of the wire is designed to function as an antenna for the implant's telemetry sub-system. A connecting module provides for connection between the proximal and distal sections of the wire to allow the bipolar pacemaker lead to function with a standard pacemaker. This concept is applicable to any wire within any lead. For example, the connectable lead wire concept may be implemented using the tip wire in a bipolar lead or using any one of the wires in an Implantable Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) or dual chamber pacemaker lead.
To reduce power consumption in a “listening” mode of operation for receiving commands from a remote device, numerous different techniques may be used in the system of the present invention. These techniques include the use of magnetic switching, near field activation, or a remote high power signal burst activation.
The use of magnetic switching is perhaps the simplest of these techniques. Most implantable devices have a magnetic switch for switching ON and OFF specific functions. In this case, placement of a magnet near the implant would cause the device to turn ON the long range telemetry receiver for a preset period of time to “listen” for long range telemetry commands. After the preset period elapses, the receiver is turned OFF to save power. The receiver may remain ON continuously during the preset period or may alternatively be switched periodically (e.g. for 100 ms every 2 seconds) during the preset time period to provide even more efficient energy saving.
The near field activation technique uses a typical near field receive circuit, as is found in most pacemakers. In this case, an electromagnetic signal sent by a device held close to the implant's location will be received by the near field receive circuit which then triggers the implant to switch the long range telemetry ON for a preset period of time, either continuously or periodically.
The high power burst technique sends an electromagnetic signal burst from a device located six inches or more away from the implant. The signal has sufficient intensity when received by the near field receiver circuitry in the implant to activate the long range telemetry system, much as with the near field activation technique. Specific security codes may be included in the near field activation signal or high power burst signal to minimize or eliminate the chance of inadvertently activating the long range telemetry circuitry for other signal sources.
The antenna for the near field receive circuitry can either be the same as the long range telemetry antenna or it can be a separate antenna located within the header or within the casing of the implant.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in this art upon reading of the detailed description of this invention including the associated drawings as presented herein.
Regarding
The external portion 20 includes an external transceiver 25. A battery 21 may be embedded into the external transceiver 25 which is connected to other equipment 30. The other equipment 30 may include a physician's programmer and other display and command devices such as PDAs or cell phones. If power is provided by the other equipment 30 to the external transceiver 25 then no battery 21 is necessary. The external transceiver 25 also includes one or more control buttons 22, long range communications circuitry 23 provided with an antenna 24, and an electromagnetic signal generator 26 provided with an antenna 27. These components are managed by a CPU 28 having an acoustic transducer 29 coupled thereto.
A magnet 32 may also be included as a part of the external portion 20. The magnet 32 may be arranged as a separate part, or may alternatively be integrated into the external transceiver 25.
Patient alerting is provided by the alarm sub-system 48 which may use vibrational, acoustic, electrical tickle or other suitable techniques to alert the patient to a specific event identified by the CPU 44.
A magnet sensor 190 permits triggering of device commands by placing the magnet 32 of
Current long range telemetry chip sets such as the Chipcom CC1000 chipset or the RF Microdevices Ash hybrid consume significant power even in the “listening” mode of operation of the implant 70. Consequently, the electromagnetic sensor 56 and/or magnet sensor 190 are the extremely important for efficient use of supplied power and significantly longer life of the battery 22 in the device of the present invention. Efficiency is heightened by an arrangement in which the long range telemetry sub-system 46 is normally turned OFF and only turned ON responsive to placement of the magnet 32 of
Once activated, the long range telemetry sub-system 46 operates to “listen” continuously or intermittently for a preset period. It listens for incoming long range data communication from the long range communications circuitry 23 of the external transceiver 25 shown in
It is envisioned that the electromagnetic sensor 56 would be similar to the near field telemetry sub-systems present in current pacemakers and ICDs and would operate at frequencies below 200 KHz, for example, preferably in the range of 80-100 KHz. The antenna 55 may be of a suitable type known in the art, such as a simple inductive coil antenna used in current pacemakers.
The proximal fastening screw 67P secures the proximal ring of an attachable bipolar lead to the proximal contact 63. Although no connection is shown between either of the rings 61D or 61P of the connecting cable 60 and the distal contact 69, it is envisioned that if a third ring is added to the distal end of the connecting cable 60, then both poles of a bipolar lead may be connected through to the implanted medical device 70 that would then require three contacts in its header 72 (one for the antenna wire 64 and two for both poles of a connected bipolar lead).
The connecting module 170 preferably serves to connect a proximal lead body 166 and a distal lead body 168. In the configuration of
Suitable variations of these measures may be employed. For instance, instead of cutting and resealing the sheath 178, a self-sealing slit may be used.
While the set screw 175 mechanically pushes the proximal end 176 of the distal wire 165 to make or break connection with the distal end 174 of the proximal wire 164, other alternate techniques may be employed in accordance with the present invention. For example, turning the set screw may extend a telescopic piece that connects the ends 174 and 176. Another alternate mechanism may be of the “fastener” type often used in assembling shelving units where one half turn locks or unlocks the “fastened” connection.
In accordance with yet another alternate embodiment of the present invention, an indicator may be used to show the state (connected or detached) of the lead wire connection. Such an indicator may change color, much as in the strip closures used in plastic bags, or may employ specific marks to visually indicate the state of lead wire connection.
Although
Various other modifications, adaptations, and alternate configurations are of course possible in light of the teachings of the present invention presented above. Therefore, it should be understood at this time that, within the scope of the appended Claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
This application is a Divisional Patent Application of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/994,466, filed on 23 Nov. 2004.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60524077 | Nov 2003 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10994466 | Nov 2004 | US |
Child | 11635623 | Dec 2006 | US |