# US 8,571,681 B2 · Method for controlled shutdown of an implantable medical device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,571,681 B2 - Document ID: US8571681B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/873,398 - Filed: 2013-04-30 - Published: 2013-09-12 - Granted: 2013-10-29 - Earliest claimed: 2010-03-26 - Assignees: Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation - Applicants: Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation - Inventors: Goran N. Marnfeldt; Jordi Parramon - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8571681B2 ## CPC - A61N 1/37217: {characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile} - A61N 1/32: alternating or intermittent currents {(applying electric fields by inductive or capacitive coupling A61N1/40; microwave apparatus A61N5/02)} - A61N 1/378: Electrical supply - A61N 1/3925: {Monitoring; Protecting} - A61N 1/37223: {Circuits for electromagnetic coupling} - A61N: ELECTROTHERAPY; MAGNETOTHERAPY; RADIATION THERAPY; ULTRASOUND THERAPY (measurement of bioelectric currents A61B; surgical instruments, devices or methods for transferring non-mechanical forms of energy to or from the body A61B18/00; anaesthetic apparatus in general A61M; incandescent lamps H01K; infrared radiators for heating H05B) ## Abstract An improved implantable pulse generator (IPG) containing graceful shutdown circuitry is disclosed. A magnet sensor senses the presence of an emergency shutdown magnet. Output of the magnet sensor is conditioned by a signal conditioning circuit. Output of the signal conditioning circuit is delayed by a delay element before being fed to a power cut-off switch, which cuts-off power to the IPG circuitry. An interrupt signal is routed from before the delay element to the IPG processor as an indicator of imminent shutdown. The processor launches shutdown routine that carries out shutdown operations such as logging the emergency shutdown event, saving and closing open files, saving data from volatile memory to non-volatile memory, etc., before the power cut-off switch is activated upon elapsing of delay provided by the delay element. The magnet sensor, signal conditioning circuit, and delay element are powered separately from the rest of the circuitry of the IPG. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An implantable medical device, comprising: sensor circuitry configured to produce a sensor output upon wirelessly detecting an external signal; delay circuitry configured to produce a delayed output a delay time after the sensor output is produced; implant circuitry configured to perform an action upon receipt of the sensor output, wherein the action is configured to be completed within the delay time; and a switch configured to disconnect a power supply from the implant circuitry upon receipt of the delayed output. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the external signal comprises a magnetic field produced by a magnet. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the external signal comprises a telemetry signal. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the action comprises stopping therapeutic operation of the implantable medical device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the action comprises initiating a shutdown routine. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the action comprises closing open or active files in the implant circuitry. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the implant circuitry comprises a counter, and wherein the action comprises resetting the counter. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein implant circuitry is further configured to perform operations, and wherein the action comprises stopping at least some of operations being performed in the implant circuitry. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The implantable medical device of claim 8, wherein one of the stopped operations comprises receiving commands from an external controller configured to communicating with the implantable medical device. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the implant circuitry comprises a non-volatile memory, and wherein the action comprises writing data to the non-volatile memory. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The implantable medical device of claim 10, wherein the data comprises data regarding the status of the implantable medical device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The implantable medical device of claim 10, wherein the data comprises at least one time stamp. ### Claim 13 (depends on 10) The implantable medical device of claim 10, wherein the data comprises an indication of an emergency shutdown. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the sensor circuitry comprises conditioning circuitry configured to condition the sensor output. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the power supply comprises a battery. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the delay time is fixed. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the delay circuitry comprises a capacitor configured to set the delay time. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the implant circuitry comprises a processor. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The implantable medical device of claim 1, wherein the implant circuitry comprises a stimulation circuit configured to stimulate a patient's tissue.