摘要:
A pacer which facilitates the measurements of both electrode impedance and stimulation threshold. When activated by an external magnet, a sequence of reducing-amplitude stimulating pulses is generated, with successive pulses in the sequence being separated by full-amplitude pulses. This pulse alternation scheme allows long test sequences, and therefore measurements with greater resolution, because full-amplitude pacing pulses are always present (even though at a slightly reduced rate). The reduction in amplitude of successive pulses is determined by the electrode impedance rather than being predetermined, and thus the examination of a skin potential recording allows electrode impedance to be determined along with the capture threshold.
摘要:
A porous cardiac pacemaker electrode comprising a concavo-convex electrode cap having a plurality of apertures therethrough and an electrode shaft having a supporting edge formed thereon to which the concave surface of the electrode cap is joined. The porous cardiac pacemaker electrode is produced by deforming a platinum plate into a concavo-convex shaped cap member, forming a plurality of selectively spaced apertures through the electrode cap member to make the electrode cap substantially porous, forming an electrode shaft having a supporting edge, and joining the supporting edge of the electrode shaft to the concave surface of the electrode cap member.
摘要:
There is disclosed an implantable bone growth stimulator whose direct-current output can be monitored. Rather than to interrogate the device, e.g., by using a control magnet as in the heart pacer art, the device continuously transmits pulses of electromagnetic energy at a rate proportional to the current being delivered. The continuous transmission expends no more than about five percent of the total power. Instead of using an electrode lead as an antenna for radiating the pulses, a separate coil inside the device is utilized so that the therapeutic current itself is in no way affected by the pulse transmission. Effective transmission is achieved despite the fact that the device is hermetically sealed in a titanium case. Also included is an electronic switch for drastically limiting power drawn from the battery until implantation takes place, in order to provide an extended shelf life.
摘要:
There is disclosed a bridge circuit which finds particularly advantageous use in medical prostheses which can be programmed externally and which can transmit telemetry signals. The entire circuit is implemented on a single CMOS integrated circuit. Depending upon the values of two control bits, the bridge circuit functions to derive a powering potential from an externally transmitted signal, with or without regulation. Externally transmitted programming signals are detectable, and telemetry signals can be transmitted from the chip as well. There is no active switching of bridge devices during power rectification mode, and instead they are biased on continuously. This allows the rectifier to operate at carrier frequencies as high as several megahertz. All of this is achieved by using conventional CMOS processing techniques, without requiring any extra diffusion steps.
摘要:
A transmitter for a medical prosthesis which is highly efficient, and also permits rapid starting and stopping so that the same coil can be used for both transmission and reception without undue delays between the two modes of operation. During transmission, a tuned circuit, consisting of the coil and a capacitor, is pumped at a frequency equal to the resonant frequency. Transmission is concluded when almost all of the energy in the tuned circuit is in the form of a voltage across the capacitor and when the current through the inductor is approximately zero. This allows the inductor to be used immediately for reception. At the start of the next transmission cycle, the voltage which is maintained across the capacitor is used to initially energize the tuned circuit.
摘要:
A cochlear implant system includes an electrode array (1) comprising multiple platinum ring electrodes in a silastic carrier to be implanted in the cochlea of the ear. A receiver-stimulator (3) containing a semiconductor integrated circuit and other components is implanted in the patient adjacent the ear to receive data information and power through tuned coil (5) using an inductive link (6) from a patient-wearable external speech processor (7) including an integrated circuit and various components which is configured or mapped to emit data signals from an EPROM programmed to suit each patient electrical stimulation perceptions through testing of the patient and his implanted stimulator/electrode using a diagnostic and programming unit (12) connected to the processor by an interface unit (10). The system allows use of various speech processing strategies including dominant spectral peak and amplitude and compression of voice pitch so as to include voiced sounds, unvoiced glottal sounds and prosodic information. Biphastic pulses are supplied to various combinations of electrodes by a switch controlled current sink in various modes of operation. In-place testing of the implant is also provided. Various safety features are incorporated to insure that harmful impulses are not imposed on the patient.Transmission of data is by a series of discrete data bursts which represent the chosen electrode(s), the electrode mode configuration, the stimulating current, and amplitude determined by the duration of the amplitude burst.
摘要:
There is disclosed an implantable tissue-stimulating prosthesis, such as a cochlear prosthesis, which can not only be implemented in single-chip form, but which also permits great flexibility in stimulation strategy and data transmission format. Only sixteen electrodes are required for stimulating fifteen different sites. Each site is stimulated by a biphasic pulse under control of two adjacent electrodes whose polarities are reversed in the middle of the site stimulation cycle. Although the transmission scheme requires a pulse-width modulation format, the precise form of the format can be varied in order to accommodate widely different stimulation strategies. For example, only a single site may be stimulated during each transmission frame or multiple sites may be stimulated during the same frame. Although only one site can be stimulated at any instant of time, the system cycling is so fast that "simultaneous" site stimulations are perceived. The system is designed for minimum power usage, and its operation is fail-safe in that no site may be stimulated for longer than a pre-set time interval.
摘要:
There is disclosed a heart pacer in which the sensed signal is processed in the time domain rather than the frequency domain. A delta modulator operates directly on the sensed electrogram signal, without any intervening filtering, to derive a sequence of bits whose states represent increments or decrements in the sensed signal amplitude. Decisions as to cardiac activity are based on the sequence of bit values thus generated. The particular delta modulator disclosed is highly advantageous in that it allows highly accurate tracking and representation of the sensed signal.
摘要:
There is disclosed a direct-coupled output stage which is especially advantageous for use in an implantable heart pacer. In order to provide for charge balancing at the electrode/electrolyte interfaces, the electrodes are shorted to each other after a pacing pulse is generated. Not only is the use of a bulky coupling capacitor avoided, but the stored charge dissipates in a much shorter time, thereby minimizing the "blind" interval in the sensing cycle.
摘要:
An auditory prosthesis includes a sound sensor that senses both ambient sounds and sounds uttered by the patient. The prosthesis includes a monitor that senses a physiological parameter indicative of the intensity of the sounds as perceived by the patient and/or the onset of a prospective speech episode during which the patient utters sounds. For example, the monitor may detect the activity of the stapedius muscle. This muscle contracts in the presence of subjectively perceived high level sounds or just prior to and during a speech episode. This parameter is used dynamically by the prosthesis to process the received sounds, for example, by changing the amplification level of these sounds dependent on the activity.