Surrogate implanted medical device for energy dissipation of existing implanted leads during mri scans

An auxiliary implantable medical device, comprising:

• a thermally conductive and electrically conductive housing receiver;
• a connector block comprising a block body, the block body attached to the housing receiver;
• at least one connector cavity located within the block body configured to be attachable to an implantable lead;
• and
• at least one conductive leadwire disposed within the block body having a first end and a second end, wherein the at least one conductive leadwire's first end is electrically connected to the at least one connector cavity and the at least one conductive leadwire's second end is electrically connected to the housing receiver;
• wherein the housing receiver is configured to receive and electrically connect to at least a portion of a housing of an active implantable medical device.

A method of performing an MRI scan on a patient with an active implanted medical device (AIMD), the method comprising:

• providing a patient with an AIMD for surgery;
• providing a surrogate implantable medical device (SIMD), comprising:
• a thermally conductive and electrically conductive housing;
• a header connector block comprising a header block body, the header block body attached to the housing;
• at least one connector cavity located within the header block body configured to be attachable to an implantable lead;
• and at least one conductive leadwire disposed at least partially within the header block body having a first end and a second end, wherein the at least one conductive leadwire's first end is electrically connected to the at least one connector cavity and the at least one conductive leadwire's second end is electrically connected to an outside or an inside of the housing;
• wherein the housing does not contain active electronics;
• removing the AIMD from the patient's pre-existing AIMD pocket;
• unplugging at least one proximal plug of a pre-existing implanted lead from the AIMD;
• plugging the at least one proximal plug of the pre-existing implanted lead into the at least one connector cavity of the SIMD;
• implanting the SIMD into the patient's pre-existing AIMD pocket;
• performing and completing an MRI scan of the patient;
• removing the SIMD from the patient's pre-existing AIMD pocket;
• unplugging the at least one proximal plug of the pre-existing implanted lead from the SIMD;
• plugging the at least one proximal plug of the pre-existing implanted lead into the AIMD or a new AIMD;
• and
• implanting the AIMD or the new AIMD into the pre-existing AIMD pocket.

A method of performing an MRI scan on a patient with an active implanted medical device (AIMD) having a conductive housing, the method comprising:

• providing a patient with an AIMD for surgery;
• providing an auxiliary implantable medical device (IMD), comprising:
• a thermally conductive and electrically conductive housing receiver;
• a connector block comprising a block body, the block body attached to the housing receiver;
• at least one connector cavity located within the block body configured to be attachable to an implantable lead;
• and at least one conductive leadwire disposed within the block body having a first end and a second end, wherein the at least one conductive leadwire's first end is electrically connected to the at least one connector cavity and the at least one conductive leadwire's second end is electrically connected to the housing receiver;
• wherein the housing receiver is configured to receive and electrically connect to a conductive housing of the AIMD;
• implanting the auxiliary IMD into the patient's pre-existing AIMD pocket while also attaching the auxiliary IMD's housing receiver onto at least a portion of the conductive housing of the AIMD;
• unplugging at least one proximal plug of a pre-existing implanted lead from the AIMD;
• plugging the at least one proximal plug of the pre-existing implanted lead into the at least one connector cavity of the auxiliary IMD;
• performing and completing an MRI scan of the patient;
• unplugging the at least one proximal plug of the pre-existing implanted lead from the auxiliary IMD;
• removing the auxiliary IMD from the patient's pre-existing AIMD pocket;
• and
• plugging the at least one proximal plug of the pre-existing implanted lead into the AIMD.