Optimizing energy transmission in a leadless tissue stimulation system

A method of locating an acoustic receiver-stimulator, the method comprising:

• transmitting, via a controller-transmitter, focused acoustic energy to a tissue location;
• receiving, at the receiver-stimulator, the focused acoustic energy;
• converting, via the receiver-stimulator, the focused acoustic energy into electrical energy;
• delivering, via the receiver-stimulator, the electrical energy to tissue;
• and
• detecting, via a spike detector of the controller-transmitter, an electrical spike indicative of the delivered electrical energy to determine whether the receiver-stimulator is present at the tissue location.

A method for transmitting acoustic energy into a body, the method comprising:

• transmitting acoustic energy into a region of the body;
• receiving the acoustic energy at an acoustic receiver located in the region of the body;
• converting the acoustic energy into electrical energy;
• delivering the electrical energy into the region of the body;
• and
• detecting the delivered electrical energy via one or more electrodes of an acoustic transmitter that are in contact with the body to determine whether the transmitted acoustic energy is focused on the acoustic receiver.

A method for transmitting acoustic energy into tissue, the method comprising:

• transmitting an acoustic locator signal into the tissue;
• receiving the acoustic locator signal at an acoustic receiver implanted in the tissue;
• generating an electrical location signal;
• transmitting the electrical location signal into the tissue;
• detecting the electrical location signal via one or more electrodes of an acoustic transmitter that are electrically connected to the tissue;
• and
• transmitting focused acoustic energy toward a region of the tissue associated with the detected electrical location signal.

A method for transmitting acoustic energy into tissue, the method comprising:

• transmitting an acoustic locator signal into the tissue;
• receiving the acoustic locator signal at an acoustic receiver implanted in the tissue;
• generating an electrical location signal;
• transmitting the electrical location signal into the tissue;
• detecting the electrical location signal;
• and
• transmitting focused acoustic energy toward a region of the tissue associated with the detected electrical location signal, wherein transmitting the focused acoustic energy toward the region of the tissue includes adjusting a transducer array to transmit the focused acoustic energy based on a characteristic of the electrical location signal, and wherein the characteristic is at least one of a frequency, duration, amplitude, phase, and time of flight of the electrical location signal.

A method for transmitting acoustic energy into tissue, the method comprising:

• transmitting an acoustic locator signal into the tissue;
• receiving the acoustic locator signal at an acoustic receiver implanted in the tissue;
• generating an electrical location signal;
• transmitting the electrical location signal into the tissue;
• detecting the electrical location signal by detecting an electrical spike at one or more electrodes electrically connected to the tissue;
• and
• transmitting focused acoustic energy toward a region of the tissue associated with the detected electrical location signal.