Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.

Medtronic Monitoring, Inc.

Thomas Piaget

Keith R Maile

Abhijeet V Chavan

Jeffrey E Stahmann

Bin Mi

Abhi Chavan

Lance Eric Juffer

Arthur Lai

Jonathan Engel

Cheng Zhang

Scott Williams

Brett A Landrum

Senthil Swaminathan

John D Hatlestad

Ron A Balczewski

Paul J Huelskamp

Binh C Tran

A patient monitoring device includes reusable and disposable portions. The disposable portion includes two or more electrodes for coupling to the skin of the patient, a battery, and a first set of electrical contacts. The reusable portion includes a processor, memory, a second set of electrical contacts, and sensing circuitry coupled to the at least two electrodes, wherein the reusable portion is mechanically coupleable to the disposable portion and wherein the reusable portion is electrically coupleable to the disposable portion through the first and second electrical contacts. The sensing circuitry and the processor are powered from the battery through the coupled first and second electrical contacts, and wherein when the reusable portion and the disposable portion are mechanically uncoupled after having been mechanically coupled, the disposable portion is rendered unusable by the process of mechanically uncoupling the reusable portion and the disposable portion.

Separable monitoring device and method

Devices, systems, and methods for sensing cardiac electrical activity and blood pressure within a blood vessel are disclosed. A vascular sensor includes a fixation element configured to secure the vascular sensor within a blood vessel, a sensor module housing coupled to the fixation element, a pressure sensor disposed within an interior portion of the housing and configured to sense blood pressure within the vessel, and a number of electrocardiogram sensing electrodes exposed to tissue and blood within the blood vessel and configured to sense cardiac electrical data within the blood vessel. A controller module processes the sensed cardiac electrical data and blood pressure data and stores the data within a memory unit and/or transmits the data to a communicating device in wireless communication with the vascular sensor.

Vascular pressure sensor with electrocardiogram electrodes

Methods, systems, and apparatus for powering and/or recharging medical devices implanted within the body are described. An illustrative power generation module disposable within the interior space of an implantable medical device includes a module body that defines an interior cavity as well as a flexible diaphragm that spans the interior cavity. The flexible diaphragm includes a first electrical conductor, a piezoelectric layer disposed adjacent to the first electrical conductor, and a second electrical conductor disposed adjacent to the piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric layer is configured to displace within the interior cavity and generate a voltage differential between the first electrical conductor and the second electrical conductor.

Implantable medical device with internal piezoelectric energy harvesting

Methods, systems, and apparatus for powering and/or recharging medical devices implanted within the body are described. An illustrative implantable medical device includes a housing having an internal cavity and a flexible anchor assembly that is coupled to the housing. The flexible anchor assembly includes a first electrical conductor, a second electrical conductor, and a piezoelectric layer that is disposed between the first and second electrical conductors and that is configured to displace in response to a physiologic force applied to the flexible anchor assembly and generate a voltage differential between the first and second electrical conductors. The implantable medical device includes power circuitry that converts the voltage differential between the first and second electrical conductors into an operating current for powering one or more components within the implantable medical device and/or for recharging a rechargeable power supply within the device.

Implantable medical devices with piezoelectric anchoring member

Systems and methods of acoustically interrogating a packaged medical implant such as an implantable sensor are disclosed. An illustrative system includes a sterilizable package including a package tray and a cover, a sensor module disposed within the package, and an acoustic coupling member disposed within an interior space of the package tray. An external interrogator located outside of the sealed package can be used to acoustically communicate with the sensor module.

Wireless acoustic interrogation of a packaged medical implant

A physiological sensor is located within the airway of the subject's body, such as for measuring barometric pressure and communicating this value to a blood pressure or other monitoring device, which can derive gauge pressure using the barometric pressure and a measured absolute pressure within the body. The physiological sensor may also detect one or more other physiological parameters such as air flow, sound, or a chemical property. It may be anchored within the airway with the ability to communicate wirelessly to one or more other medical devices, such as an implanted cardiac function management device. Methods of use are also described.

Implanted air passage sensors

An implantable medical device is adapted for implantation into body tissue. The implantable medical device comprises a housing and a header coupled to the housing. A cavity is located in the header. An ultrasonic transducer adapted to transmit acoustic waves at a communication frequency is located in the cavity, and a coupling surface is interposed between the ultrasonic transducer and the body tissue and is acoustically coupled with the body tissue.

Growing community of inventors

Saint Paul, MN, United States of America

Thomas Piaget