Electrochemical capacitor for implantable medical device
AssigneeMedtronic, Inc.
InventorsBoone B. Owens, James M. Speckien
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Abstract
A hermetically sealed medical device such as a cardioverter is disclosed, where the device contains an electrochemical capacitor having at least one electrode formed from a particularly efficacious electrode material. In one embodiment of the present invention, the electrode material comprises electrically conductive carbon, a soluble salt, a non-aqueous liquid solvent and a gel-former. The electrode material of the present invention is especially well adapted for use in multi-layer capacitors in which very thin layers are desirable. The thin layers of the electrochemical capacitor of the present invention are characterized in having very low electrical resistance, and thus permit the capacitor to be discharged very rapidly.
Claims40
A hermetically sealed implantable cardioverter, comprising:
- (a) an electrochemical capacitor for storing a charge, and
- (b) means for delivering the charge stored in the capacitor to cardiac tissue,
- the capacitor further comprising a plurality of electrode layers, each electrode layer comprising electrically conductive carbon, at least one soluble salt, at least one non-aqueous liquid solvent and at least one polymer, and a plurality of ionically conductive electrolyte layers interleaved between the plurality of electrode layers, each electrolyte layer comprising at least one alkali metal salt and at least one polymer.
A hermetically sealed implantable cardioverter, comprising:
- (a) an electrochemical capacitor for storing a charge, and
- (b) means for delivering the charge stored in the capacitor to cardiac tissue,
- the capacitor further comprising an electrode assembly comprising a current collector, at least one soluble salt, at least one non-aqueous liquid solvent, at least one gel-former and an electrically conductive composition comprising at least about five weight percent electrically conductive carbon having a surface area greater than about 200 m.sup.2 /g, the composition being pressed onto the current collector.
A hermetically sealed implantable cardioverter, comprising:
- (a) an electrochemical capacitor for storing a charge, and
- (b) means for delivering the charge stored in the capacitor to cardiac tissue,
- wherein the electrochemical capacitor is characterized in having a discharge response time less than about 1 second.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.