Greatbatch-hittman, Incorporated

Thomas W Shipman

Kevin M Allen

Allan S Gelb

Christine A Frysz

A feedthrough device and brazing process for joining the constituent parts of the feedthrough while allowing a lead to pass therethrough in a nonconductive manner is described. The feedthrough comprises at least one lead, a ferrule defining a capacitor recess and an insulator recess. An insulator disposed in the insulator recess defines a passageway allowing the lead to pass therethrough. A capacitor disposed in the capacitor recess defines a capacitor passageway allowing the lead to pass therethrough. The capacitor comprises first and second sets of plates, the first set being conductively coupled to the ferrule and the second set being conductively coupled to the lead. The braze joints between the insulator and the lead and between the insulator and ferrule are formed first at a first temperature using an insulator braze material. Next, a capacitor braze material is used to braze the first set of capacitor plates to the lead and the second set of capacitor plates to the ferrule at a lower temperature than the brazing of the insulator braze materials.

Installation of filter capacitors into feedthroughs for implantable medical devices

A filtered feedthrough including a ferrule surrounding an insulator supporting one or more lead wires and at least one ground pin is described. The insulator defines a channel cutout extending from a first insulator side to a channel cutout bottom part way through the thickness of the insulator and in communication with the ferrule. An attached filter capacitor shunts electromagnetic interference from the lead wire to the ground pin, and the ground pin is in electrical communication with the ferrule by way of a ferrule-ground pin braze joint formed in the channel cutout.

Multipin feedthrough containing a ground pin passing through an insulator and directly brazed to a ferrule

A feedthrough device and brazing process for joining the constituent parts of the feedthrough device, while allowing a lead to pass therethrough in a nonconductive manner. The feedthrough comprises at least one lead, a ferrule defining a capacitor recess and defining an insulator recess, an insulator disposed in the insulator recess of the ferrule, the insulator defining a passageway sized to allow the lead to pass therethrough. The feedthrough further comprises a capacitor disposed in the capacitor recess and defining a capacitor passageway sized to allow the lead to pass threrethrough, and the capacitor comprises first and second sets of plates, wherein the first set of plates is conductively coupled to the ferrule and the second set of plates is conductively coupled to the lead. Brazing is a two step process wherein the braze joints between the insulator and the lead and between the insulator and ferrule are formed first at a first temperature using an insulator braze material. The second step of brazing is performed at a lower temperature than the brazing in the first step, and utilizes capacitor braze materials that are different from the insulator braze materials in that they have lower melting temperatures than the insulator braze materials.

Growing community of inventors

Columbia, MD, United States of America

Thomas W Shipman