Claims
- 1. A system for monitoring and affecting parameters of a patient's body, said system comprising:a plurality of addressable devices each comprised of a housing having an axial dimension of less than 60 mm and a lateral dimension of less than 6 mm and configured for injection into said patient's body; each of said addressable devices including a battery having a capacity of at least one microwatt-hour, an input/output electrode, controllable circuitry for supplying a drive signal to said electrode, means storing an identification address, and signal transmitter/receiver means; a system control unit configured for implantation in said patient's body, said control unit including means for transmitting commands to said device transmitter/receiver means for controlling said controllable circuitry, said commands including address information specifying the identification address of one or more of said devices and parameter information for controlling operating parameters of the controllable circuitry in the identified devices; said system control unit including controller means responsive to data signals transmitted by said addressable device for controlling said commands transmitted by said system control unit; and a power supply contained in said system control unit having a capacity of at least one watt-hour for supplying operating power to said control unit transmitting means and controller means.
- 2. The system of claim 1 wherein said control unit further includes storage means storing a program defining a sequence of operations; and whereinsaid controller means comprises a programmable controller operable to execute the sequence of operations defined by said program.
- 3. The system of claim 2 further including a programmer disposed external to said patient's body for producing program information; andmeans responsive to said externally produced program information for modifying the content of said storage means.
- 4. The system of claim 3 wherein said program storage means includes an alterable portion and a nonalterable portion; and whereinsaid nonalterable portion stores a default program.
- 5. The system of claim 3 wherein said means responsive to said program information includes means for producing a modulated alternating magnetic field.
- 6. The system of claim 1 wherein said system control unit power supply comprises a battery; and further including:an internal coil and a charging circuit for supplying a charging current to said battery.
- 7. The system of claim 6 further including means for generating an alternating magnetic field outside of said patient's body for supplying energy to said charging circuit via said internal coil.
Parent Case Info
This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/048,826, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,894, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/042,447 filed Mar. 27, 1997 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/030,136, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,452, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/039,164 filed Feb. 26, 1997.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Provisional Applications (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60/042447 |
Mar 1997 |
US |
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60/039164 |
Feb 1997 |
US |