Battery-powered patient implantable device

A system for stimulating tissue within a patient's body, said system including:

• a plurality of devices configured for implantation in said patient's body, each of said devices comprising:
• a housing having an axial dimension less than about 60 mm and a lateral dimension less than about 6 mm;
• power consuming circuitry mounted in said housing including at least one electrode extending externally of said housing, said power consuming circuitry including:
• a stimulation circuit including a capacitor, and pulse control circuitry for controlling (1) the charging of said capacitor and (2) the discharging of said capacitor to produce a current pulse through said electrode;
• controller circuitry including an addressable controller for controlling said pulse control circuitry
• a receiver for receiving externally transmitted command signals coupled to said controller;
• a battery having a capacity of at least one microwatt-hour mounted in said housing for supplying power to said power consuming circuitry;
• a secondary coil mounted in said housing and coupled to said battery;
• and
• a power source adapted to be located externally of said body, for generating an alternating magnetic field for coupling energy to said secondary coil to supply a charging current to said battery.

A system configured for monitoring internal body parameters, said system comprising:

• a sealed elongate housing configured for implantation in said patient's body, said housing having an axial dimension of less than 60 mm and a lateral dimension of less than 6 mm;
• power consuming circuitry carried by said housing including at least one electrode extending externally of said housing, said power consuming circuitry including a sensor coupled to said electrode for providing an indication representative of a sensed body parameter and a transmitter coupled to said sensor for transmitting a signal representative of said sensed body parameter;
• a battery disposed in said housing for supplying power to said power consuming circuitry, said battery having a capacity of at least one microwatt-hour;
• an internal coil and a charging circuit disposed in said housing for supplying a charging current to said battery;
• an external coil adapted to be mounted outside of said patient's body;
• and
• means for energizing said external coil to generate an alternating magnetic field for supplying energy to said charging circuit via said internal coil.