Alfred E. Mann Foundation for Scientific Research

Alfred E. Mann Foundation

Medtronic Minimed, Inc.

Advanced Bionics Corporation

Other

Second Sight Medical Products, Inc.

Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Bioness Inc.

Telex Computer Products, Inc.

Storz Endoskop Gmbh

Storz Endoscope Gmbh

John Charles Gord

Joseph H Schulman

Primoz Strojnik

Charles L Byers

Rajiv Shah

James H Wolfe

David I Whitmoyer

Lyle Dean Canfield

Robert Dan Dell

Lawrence J Karr

Gerald E Loeb

Ronald J Lebel

Guangqiang Jiang

Paul DeRocco

Ross Davis

Robert Jay Greenberg

Michael Allen Faltys

Rongqing Dai

Wayne A Morgan

Dao Min Zhou

Brian R Dearden

Daniel H Villegas

Arkady Glukhovsky

Janusz A Kuzma

Alfred E Mann

Timothy J Starkweather

David Choy

Varaz Shahmirian

Lee Jay Mandell

Philip T Weiss

Einan Regev

Gregoire Cosendai

Siegmar Schmidt

Gregory Jay DelMain

Howard H Stover

Andrew T Barber

Daniel Rodriguez

Eric M Jones

Farid David Imani

John T Armstrong

John D Richert

Kevin Wilkin

Sam W Bowman, Iv

Morten Hansen

Glenn Anthony DeMichele

Juergen Kraft-Kivikoski

Dan Folkman

Stephen D Flanagin

Douglas Kerns

David Yueh-Hua Choy

Anne Marie Ripley

Ytizhak Zilberman

Doug Kuschner

Ruth Turk

Jane Burridge

Scott V Notley

Maria Isabel Arcos-Burgos

Maria-Isabel Arcos-Burgos

Sam W Bowman Iv

Paul De Rocco

J&uuml;rgen Kraft-Kivikoski

Andy Voelkel

Paul D Derocco

Gregory Jay Delmann

Sam W Iv Bowman

David Y Choy

A hermetically sealed biocompatible pressure sensor module configured for implant at a desired site at which a pressure is to be measured. Anodic bonding of the pressure module package components which have similar thermal coefficients of expansion provides low stress bonding and maintains long term reliability, dependability and accuracy. The pressure sensor module includes a pressure sensitive membrane which is in direct contact with the environment at which a pressure is to be measured. The pressure sensor module forms a part of a pressure measuring system which uses a telemetry link between the pressure sensor module and an external controller for data transmission and transfer. Operating power for the pressure sensor module is provided by the external controller and an internal rechargeable energy storage component. Accordingly, the pressure measuring system provides a dual stage power and data transfer capability for use with an implantable system. An exemplary use of the pressure sensor module is in a three pressure sensor system including a flow control valve in a shunt to treat hydrocephalus. The use of integrated circuit chips and an internal coil with an optional ferrite core in the pressure sensor module provides for low power consumption and reliable signal processing. An embodiment of the invention includes a pressure sensor and associated electromagnetic coils embedded in the tip portion of the shunt for measuring the pressure of fluid externally of the shunt at the tip portion.

Implantable shunt system and associated pressure sensors

A pressure sensor module configured for implant at a desired site at which a pressure is to be measured. The pressure sensor module includes a pressure sensitive membrane which is in direct contact with the environment at which a pressure is to be measured. The pressure sensor module forms a part of a pressure measuring system which uses a telemetry link between the pressure sensor module and an external controller for data transmission and transfer. The pressure measuring system provides a dual stage power and data transfer capability for use with an implantable system. An exemplary use is in a three pressure sensor system including a flow control valve in a shunt to treat hydrocephalus. An embodiment of the invention includes a pressure sensor and associated electromagnetic coils embedded in the tip portion of the shunt for measuring the pressure of fluid externally of the shunt at the tip portion.

A brain implant device includes a housing containing communication and control electronics coupled to a conduit configured for monitoring signals from a brain's motor cortex and providing stimulation signals to the brain's sensory cortex. The brain implant device is capable of wireless communication with an external communication and control signal source by means of an antenna provided in the housing. The conduit is flexible and may contain upwards of 128 electrical conductors providing electrical connections between the device electronics and related sites on the motor and/or sensory cortex by means of a plurality of electrically conductive protuberances extending from the conduit and adapted for contact with such sites.

Brain implant device

A system for monitoring temperature in a body, the system comprising at least one implantable device, wherein the implantable device(s) is operable to sense temperature in the body and to generate status signals based on the sensed temperature in the body. The system further comprising a system control unit for wirelessly communicating with the implantable device(s), and the system control unit comprising a signal receiver for receiving the status signals, and also a programmable controller for producing notification signals based on the received status signals. A notification unit can alternatively communicate with the system control unit or the implantable device(s) for disclosing the sensed body temperature based on the notification signals.

System for monitoring temperature

Methods and devices for inductively coupled implants on the human or animal body are disclosed. An external coil assembly to be used with the implant has a transmitting coil and one or more receiving coils. The number of the receiving coils, their distance from the transmitting coil and their shape is chosen to reduce the influence of a noise signal received by the external coil assembly.

External coil assembly for implantable medical prostheses

In some embodiments, an apparatus includes a substrate, a power source, a connector, electrical circuitry, and an electrode assembly. The substrate has a first surface and a second surface different than the first surface. The power source has a positive terminal and a negative terminal Each of the positive terminal and the negative terminal are coupled to the substrate. The power source is configured to provide power to an external stimulator coupled to the apparatus. The connector is disposed proximate to the first surface of the substrate and is electrically coupled to at least one of the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the power source. The connector is configured to electrically couple the external stimulator to the power source. The electrical circuitry is coupled to the substrate. The electrical circuitry is configured to electrically couple the connector to at least one of the positive terminal and the negative terminal of the power source. At least one of the connector or the electrical circuitry is configured to prevent a short circuit of the electrical circuit. The electrode assembly is coupled to the second surface of the substrate. At least one electrode of the electrode assembly is configured to contact bodily tissue and to facilitate transmission of an electrical current through the bodily tissue.

System for transmitting electrical current to a bodily tissue

A wireless implantable device for communicating with a remote unit, wherein the wireless device is capable of self-initializing, namely initial booting without requiring an external general booting program to force the booting process. The implantable device can download program instructions from the remote unit for the operation of the implantable device. Moreover, the implantable device provides for checking the validity and integrity of any program instructions received from the remote unit for the operation of the implantable device. The implantable device has power-saving capability in order to extend the operation of the implantable device between battery charges.

Implantable device and communication integrated circuit implementable therein

An implantable sensor includes electronic circuitry for automatically performing on a periodic basis, e.g., every 1 to 24 hours, specified integrity tests which verify proper operation of the sensor.

Implantable sensor and integrity tests therefor

An implantable substrate sensor has electronic circuitry and electrodes formed on opposite sides of a substrate. A protective coating covers the substrate, effectively hermetically sealing the electronic circuitry under the coating. Exposed areas of the electrodes are selectively left uncovered by the protective coating, thereby allowing such electrodes to be exposed to body tissue and fluids when the sensor is implanted in living tissue. The substrate on which the electronic circuitry and electrodes are formed is the same substrate or 'chip' on which an integrated circuit (IC) is formed, which integrated circuit contains the desired electronic circuitry. Such approach eliminates the need for an hermetically sealed lid or cover to cover hybrid electronic circuitry, and allows the sensor to be made much thinner than would otherwise be possible. In one embodiment, two such substrate sensor may be placed back-to-back, with the electrodes facing outward. As required, capacitors that form part of the sensor's electronic circuits are formed on the substrate by placing metalization layers and a dielectric in vacant areas of the substrate surface.

Implantable substrate sensor with back-to-back electrodes

An electronic circuit for sensing an output of a sensor having at least one electrode pair and circuitry for obtaining and processing the sensor output. The electrode pair may be laid out such that one electrode is wrapped around the other electrode in a U-shaped fashion. The electronic circuitry may include, among other things, a line interface for interfacing with input/output lines, a rectifier in parallel with the line interface, a counter connected to the line interface and a data converter connected to the counter and the electrode pair. The data converter may be a current-to-frequency converter. In addition, the rectifier may derive power for the electronic circuit from communication pulses received on the input/output lines.

Implantable sensor electrodes and electronic circuitry

A system for monitoring and/or affecting parameters of a patient's body and more particularly to such a system comprised of a system control unit (SCU) and one or more other devices, preferably battery-powered, implanted in the patient's body, i.e., within the envelope defined by the patient's skin. Each such implanted device is configured to be monitored and/or controlled by the SCU via a wireless communication channel. In accordance with the invention, the SCU comprises a programmable unit capable of (1) transmitting commands to at least some of a plurality of implanted devices and (2) receiving data signal from at least some of those implanted devices. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the system operates in closed loop fashion whereby the commands transmitted by the SCU are dependent, in part, on the content of the data signals received by the SCU.

System of implantable devices for monitoring and/or affecting body parameters

A system and method that facilitates stimulating neural pathways, e.g., muscles and/or associated nerves, of a patient's body for the purpose of therapeutic medical treatment by rehabilitating weakened muscles and using neuroplasticity to retrain sequential muscle movements and/or to provide the ability to directly deliver functional motor movements. Use of the present invention is of particular value for treating a patient following a stroke. More particularly, such systems are characterized by a plurality of discrete devices, preferably battery powered but may alternatively include RF-powered devices as well or in combination, configured for implanting within a patient's body via injection, each device being configured to affect a parameter, e.g., via nerve and/or muscle stimulation and/or to sense a body parameter, e.g., temperature, Ocontent, physical position, electrical potential, etc., that operate under control of a system controller that coordinates the sequential stimulation via wireless commands to the implanted devices.

System and method suitable for treatment of a patient with a neurological deficit by sequentially stimulating neural pathways using a system of discrete implantable medical devices

A DC to DC transmission system includes at least three conductors between a source and a sink, a first switch which alternately connects each conductor to the source, a second switch which alternately connects each conductor to the sink. The switches are synchronized such that one conductor is alternately coupled between the same polarity side of the source and sink and another conductor is alternately coupled between the other polarity side of the source and sink. The alternating connection between the conductors and source and sink may be undertaken at a wide range of frequencies.

DC to DC transmission system

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Venice, CA, United States of America

John Charles Gord