External charger for a medical implantable device using field sensing coils to improve coupling
AssigneeBoston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation
InventorsDaniel Aghassian, Lev Freidin, Joey Chen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
By incorporating magnetic field sensing coils in an external charger, it is possible to determine the position of an implantable device by sensing the reflected magnetic field from the implant. In one embodiment, two or more field sensing coils are arranged to sense the reflected magnetic field. By comparing the relative reflected magnetic field strengths of the sensing coils, the position of the implant relative to the external charger can be determined. Audio and/or visual feedback can then be communicated to the patient to allow the patient to improve the alignment of the charger.
Claims19
An external charger for use with an implantable medical device, comprising:
- a primary coil for producing a magnetic field for providing power to an implantable medical device;
- a plurality of sensing coils for sensing reflections of the magnetic field from the implantable medical device;
- and
- an alignment sensing circuit for determining an alignment of the primary coil relative to the implantable medical device, wherein the determination is based on electrical measurements taken from the plurality of sensing coils in response to the sensed reflections.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.