Leadless Pacemaker End-of-Life Protection Circuit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Implantable medical devices, such as cardiac rhythm management devices, face malfunctions and communication errors due to depleted battery power, leading to ineffective therapy delivery and system failures at the end of their useful life.
Innovation Solution
An implantable medical device with operational circuitry, a communications module, and a power source that includes a deactivation element and power manager to detect end-of-life conditions, allowing for reversible disabling of the device's components, ensuring continued functionality of memory components and enabling potential reactivation or parameter-based restoration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If the power source is allowed to deplete naturally, then the device continues to operate until battery exhaustion, but the device malfunctions and causes therapy errors at end-of-life
Solution Approach 1:
The power manager detects end-of-life conditions of the power source before complete battery exhaustion occurs and proactively activates the deactivation element to prevent malfunction. This preliminary action ensures the device is deactivated at the optimal moment, maintaining therapy reliability while maximizing operational life.
Solution Approach 2:
The power manager continuously monitors the power source status and provides feedback to control deactivation timing. This feedback mechanism ensures the device remains operational during the useful battery life and is deactivated precisely when end-of-life conditions are detected, preventing both premature deactivation and operation during battery exhaustion.
2Reliability
If the deactivation element permanently disables the operational circuitry at end-of-life, then therapy delivery is stopped to prevent errors, but the device cannot be reactivated or restored
Solution Approach 1:
The deactivation element provides dynamic control over the operational circuitry, allowing the device to transition between active and deactivated states based on power source conditions and external commands. This dynamic capability enables both protective deactivation at end-of-life and potential reactivation through external programming, combining reliability with adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational state parameter of the device from active to deactivated based on power source status. This parameter change is controllable and reversible through external programming, allowing the device to adapt its state based on battery conditions while maintaining the capability for restoration if needed.
3Reliability
If the deactivation element is activated at end-of-life, then malfunction is prevented, but complete power delivery interruption may affect memory components
Solution Approach 1:
The power delivery interruption is applied selectively to the operational circuitry while preserving power delivery to memory components. This local differentiation ensures that therapy delivery is stopped to prevent malfunction while memory components continue to receive power to maintain data retention, resolving the contradiction between malfunction prevention and information preservation.
Data Source
AI summary
An implantable medical device includes operational circuitry, such as a therapy circuit. The implantable medical device also includes a power source configured to deliver energy to the operational circuitry, and a deactivation element configured to disable the therapy circuit. A power manager is configured to detect an end-of-life condition of the power source and, in response to detecting the end-of-life condition, cause the deactivation element to reversibly disable the therapy circuit.