Adjustable Sense Channel for Implantable Medical Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Implantable medical devices face challenges in extending their effective lifetime due to limited power supply capacity, as they require balancing performance and power consumption for effective monitoring and therapy delivery.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a dynamically adjustable sense channel in implantable medical devices, which allows for varying performance levels based on current conditions and needs, adjusting parameters such as signal-to-noise ratio, noise floor, resolution, sample rate, and duty cycle to optimize power usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the sense channel operates at a higher performance level to improve monitoring accuracy and therapy delivery, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sense channel performance level is made dynamically adjustable rather than fixed. The controller can switch between multiple performance levels (first, second, third levels) based on operational conditions, allowing the device to optimize the balance between measurement precision and power consumption in real-time
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes operational parameters of the sense channel including noise floor level, resolution, and sample rate. By adjusting these parameters between different performance levels, the device can reduce power consumption while maintaining adequate monitoring accuracy when high precision is not critical
2Reliability
If the sense channel operates continuously at high performance to ensure reliable monitoring, then reliability is improved, but the effective lifetime of the power supply decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The sense channel operates at different performance levels periodically or conditionally rather than continuously at maximum performance. The controller selects appropriate performance levels based on whether high-reliability monitoring is currently needed, allowing the power supply to conserve energy during periods when maximum performance is not required
Solution Approach 2:
The performance level is dynamically adjusted based on operational needs. When reliable monitoring is critical, the device operates at higher performance levels; when therapeutic delivery is the primary function or conditions are stable, it operates at lower performance levels to extend battery life
3Measurement precision
If the sense channel uses higher resolution and sample rate to improve signal quality, then measurement precision is improved, but power consumption and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent adjusts resolution and sample rate parameters dynamically based on the selected performance level. At lower performance levels, resolution and sample rate are reduced to decrease power consumption and simplify processing requirements, while maintaining adequate signal quality for the current operational context
Data Source
AI summary
An implantable medical device (IMD) may include a sensor for providing a sensor output signal and a sense channel configured to receive the sensor output signal from the sensor. The sense channel may be configured to process the sensor output signal and output a sense channel output signal. The sense channel may have an adjustable performance level, wherein for a higher performance level the sense channel consumes more power than for a lower performance level. A controller may be configured to adjust the performance level of the sense channel to achieve more performance and more power consumption when a higher degree of sense channel performance is desired and to achieve less performance and less power consumption when a higher degree of performance is not desired.