Touch screen safety controls for clinician programmer

A method of providing safety controls for an electronic programmer configured to program an implantable medical device, comprising:

• receiving a request, from a user via a touch screen interface of the electronic programmer, to start or stop an electrical stimulation program;
• determining whether the user intends to start the electrical stimulation program or to stop the electrical stimulation program;
• when it has been determined that the user intends to start the electrical stimulation program, starting the electrical stimulation program when the request indicates that the touch screen interface has been engaged by the user for a period of time exceeding a predefined threshold;
• when it has been determined that the user intends to stop the electrical stimulation program, stopping the electrical stimulation program immediately;
• querying a battery level of the electronic programmer;
• and
• performing at least one of the following actions when the battery level obtained by the querying is less than a predefined battery level:
• disabling programming of the electronic programmer, stopping an electrical stimulation program in progress, and preventing activation of a prospective electrical stimulation program.

An electronic programmer for programming an implantable medical device to provide a medical therapy for a patient, the electronic programmer comprising:

• a user interface for communicating with a user;
• a memory storage for storing executable instructions;
• and
• a computer processor for executing the instructions to perform operations that include:
• displaying one or more virtual objects that represent initiating and terminating a delivery of the medical therapy to the patient, wherein the one or more virtual objects comprise a start/stop virtual button;
• sensing, from the user, an actuation of the one or more virtual objects via a press of the start/stop button, wherein the sensing comprises measuring how long the start/stop button is pressed;
• terminating the delivery of the medical therapy immediately when the actuation of the one or more virtual objects corresponds to terminating the delivery of the medical therapy;
• initiating the delivery of the medical therapy in a delayed manner when the actuation of the one or more virtual objects corresponds to starting the delivery of the medical therapy, wherein the initiating the delivery of the medical therapy in a delayed manner comprises delaying the delivery of the medical therapy until after the start/stop button has been continuously pressed for a predefined length of time;
• monitoring a battery level of the electronic programmer;
• and
• performing at least one of the following tasks when the battery level is lower than a target battery level:
• disallowing programming of the electronic programmer;
• terminating the delivery of an existing medical therapy;
• and
• precluding the delivery of a prospective medical therapy.