Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090171346 | HIGH CONDUCTIVITY INDUCTIVELY EQUALIZED ELECTRODES AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods for evenly distributing electric current density over a surface of at least one of an active electrode and a return electrode during electrosurgery, wherein the active and/or return electrode includes a spiral inductor. The spiral inductor may include a low electrical resistivity material or a spiral bare metal surface for contacting the patient's body. In a multi-layer spiral inductor having a plurality of stacked spirals, each turn of a first spiral may be electrically coupled in series to a radially corresponding turn of each successive one of the stacked spirals; and each turn of the innermost spiral may be electrically coupled to an adjacent, radially outward turn of the outermost spiral. | 07-02-2009 |
20090306647 | DYNAMICALLY CONTROLLABLE MULTI-ELECTRODE APPARATUS & METHODS - Apparatus and methods for dynamically controlling a plurality of electrodes during an electrosurgical procedure, wherein each electrode may be controlled with respect to active or return electrode mode, condition, and power level. The electrodes may be disposed within a treatment chamber of a handpiece. Each electrode may comprise a spiral inductor. The handpiece may be equipped with suction and vibration means. The treatment chamber may be configured for receiving at least a portion of the target tissue therein. | 12-10-2009 |
20090318917 | SUBCUTANEOUS ELECTRIC FIELD DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods for dynamically controlling electric field distribution within tissue disposed at various depths beneath the skin at a target region of a patient's body by independently controlling the electric potential of each of a plurality of electrodes in relation to the electric potential of a ground pad. By controlling electric field distribution during a procedure, a target tissue at particular depths beneath the skin can be selectively heated relative to adjacent non-target tissue. At least one of the electrodes and the ground pad may comprise a spiral inductor comprising a substantially planar spiral of electrically conductive material. | 12-24-2009 |
20100022999 | SYMMETRICAL RF ELECTROSURGICAL SYSTEM AND METHODS - Systems, apparatus, and methods for treating a patient's tissue via electric energy delivered concurrently from a first electrode of a first handpiece and a second electrode of a second handpiece. Each of the first and second handpieces may have the same or similar structure and may be separately manipulable to different locations on the patient's skin to allow the rapid treatment of target tissue(s) at various regions of the patient's body. The first and second handpieces may each be coupled to an electrosurgical generator configured for providing first and second AC voltages of equal magnitude and opposite polarity to the first and second electrodes, respectively. The first and second electrodes may each comprise a spiral inductor. | 01-28-2010 |
20100126275 | SELF-CALIBRATING ULTRASOUND SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Systems, apparatus, and methods for controlling acoustic power delivery at ultrasonic frequencies. An embodiment of the invention comprises an ultrasonic device including an ultrasonic transducer and an acoustic sensor having a fixed acoustic coupling to the transducer. A method of the invention may include sensing acoustic power output from the ultrasonic transducer in response to a calibration signal, and determining a drive frequency for a working drive signal to enable efficient and controllable operation of the transducer. The invention may be used for automatically re-calibrating ultrasound systems for optimum performance at frequencies including the range of 3 to 12 MHz. | 05-27-2010 |
20100211061 | Optimizing RF power spatial distribution using frequency control - An electro-surgical system actively maintains an optimal heating profile at the electrode-patient contact surface under varying load resistivity, thereby reducing the risk of burns and maximizing patient comfort at a given power level. A set of temperature sensors is integrated within the electrode assembly of the electrosurgical system. The sensors are located both at the center and the edges of the electrode. The sensors are thermally coupled to the electrode-patient contact surface and have a time response that is short compared to the thermal time constraints of the tissue. Some degree of signal processing may take place at the sensor, inside the transducer assembly. As RF power is applied, a control loop monitors the temperature at the center and edges of the electrode. If the edge temperature of the electrode is high compared to its center temperature, then the control loop increases the operating frequency, effectively driving heat towards the center of the electrode. Conversely, if the edge temperature of the electrode is low compared to its center temperature, then the control loop decreases the operating frequency, effectively driving heat towards the edges of the electrode. By actively adjusting the operating frequency in this way, the control loop maintains any chosen heating profile at the electrode-patient contact surface. | 08-19-2010 |
20120197249 | SUBCUTANEOUS ELECTRIC FIELD DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM AND METHODS - Apparatus and methods for dynamically controlling electric field distribution within tissue disposed at various depths beneath the skin at a target region of a patient's body by independently controlling the electric potential of each of a plurality of electrodes in relation to the electric potential of a ground pad. By controlling electric field distribution during a procedure, a target tissue at particular depths beneath the skin can be selectively heated relative to adjacent non-target tissue. At least one of the electrodes and the ground pad may comprise a spiral inductor comprising a substantially planar spiral of electrically conductive material. | 08-02-2012 |
20120303012 | TREATMENT APPARATUS WITH FREQUENCY CONTROLLED TREATMENT DEPTH - An electro-surgical system actively maintains an optimal heating profile at the electrode-patient contact surface under varying load resistivity, thereby reducing the risk of burns and maximizing patient comfort. A set of temperature sensors is integrated within the electrode assembly of the electrosurgical system. The sensors are located both at the center and the edges of the electrode. The sensors are thermally coupled to the electrode-patient contact surface. As RF power is applied, a control loop monitors the temperature at the center and edges of the electrode. If the edge temperature of the electrode is high compared to its center temperature, then the control loop increases the operating frequency, effectively driving heat towards the center of the electrode. Conversely, if the edge temperature of the electrode is low compared to its center temperature, then the control loop decreases the operating frequency, effectively driving heat towards the edges of the electrode. | 11-29-2012 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120310300 | SYSTEM AND METHOD OF ESTABLISHING A PROTOCOL FOR PROVIDING ELECTRICAL STIMULATION WITH A STIMULATION SYSTEM TO TREAT A PATIENT - A stimulation system, such as a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system, having a programmer and a patient feedback device for establishing a protocol to treat a patient. The programmer uses a computer assisted stimulation programming procedure for establishing the protocol. Also described are methods of treating a patient with a spinal cord stimulation system including the programmer and the patient feedback device. | 12-06-2012 |
20130060299 | IDENTIFYING AN AREA FOR ELECTRICAL STIMULATION TO TREAT A PATIENT - A stimulation system, such as a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system, having a programmer for identifying an area for electrical stimulation to treat a patient. The programmer includes a communication interface, a display screen, and a user interface. The communication interface communicates with the electrical stimulation generator to generate electrical stimulation and the display screen displays a patient model. The user interface receives user input identifying an area of pain on the patient model via a selection of the area of the body part. The programmer then associates the area of pain identified with a spinal column location, and displays on the display screen a suggested medical lead position and/or a suggested stimulation area on an image of a spinal column based on the step of associating. | 03-07-2013 |
20130060300 | POSITIONING LEADS ON PATIENT MODEL USING A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE - A stimulation system, such as a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system, for storing position information of an implanted medical lead implanted in a patient. A communication unit is configured to receive, from a first programmer, position data that indicates an actual position of the implanted medical lead with respect to a spinal column of the patient and an anatomically correct image of the spinal column. The communication unit is further configured to forward the position data, and to transmit both to a second programmer. The second programmer is then able to display a representation of the implanted medical lead on the anatomically correct image in an anatomically correct location and in an actual orientation based on the position data. | 03-07-2013 |
20130060301 | CONFIGURING ELECTRICAL STIMULATION TO TREAT A PATIENT - A stimulation system, such as a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system, having a programmer with a user interface. The programmer determines a position of an implanted medical lead with respect to a patient's spinal column. The programmer overlays the medical lead, an initial stimulation field, and an initial target stimulation area within the initial stimulation field on an image of the spinal column. A user enters, via the user interface, graphical manipulations of displayed boundaries of the initial stimulation field and the initial target stimulation area. The graphical manipulations of the stimulation field and the target stimulation field are independent of each other and they may move and/or alter the shape of the boundaries. The programmer then determines stimulation parameters to drive the implanted medical lead to generate the displayed stimulation field and target stimulation field as manipulated by the user. | 03-07-2013 |
20130166642 | COMMUNICATION FOR IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICES - Systems and methods for communication between an implantable medical device and an external device. Data blocks are generated and transmitted between the implantable device and the external device. The data blocks include a first flag indicating whether the data block is a first data block in a message and when the data block is a subsequent data block in a multiple data block message. When the first flag indicates that the data block is a first data block in a message, the data block also contains a device ID, a command token, and message content. When the first flag indicates that the data block is a subsequent data block in a multiple data block message, the data block contains additional message content that is appended to message content from a previously received data block. | 06-27-2013 |
20140067007 | Touch Screen Finger Position Indicator for a Spinal Cord Stimulation Programming Device - A method of visualizing a user interaction with a clinician programmer is disclosed. A user engagement with respect to a screen of the clinician programmer is detected via one or more sensors associated with the screen of the clinician programmer. One or more locations on the screen of the clinician programmer corresponding to the user engagement is determined. An external monitor is communicatively coupled to the clinician programmer. The external monitor displays one or more cursors that graphically represent the one or more locations on the screen of the clinician programmer corresponding to the user engagement, respectively. | 03-06-2014 |
20140067011 | Systems and Methods for the Identification and Association of Medical Devices - A system for operating a medical device, the system comprises a medical device associated with a machine-readable representation of data and a medical programmer. The medical programmer includes a sensor configured to detect the machine-readable representation of data and a display configured to graphically display a digital image of the medical device associated with the machine-readable representation of data. | 03-06-2014 |
20140067012 | Clinician Programming System and Method - A clinician programming system operable to control an implantable medical device includes a clinician programmer and a secondary unit. The clinician programmer has a housing, and includes a first display configured to display information indicative of the inputs by the clinician or display information indicative of status of an implantable pulse generator, the first display having a first display size. The secondary unit is separate from the housing of the clinician programmer and includes a secondary display. The secondary display is configured to communicate with the clinician programmer via the secondary display communication interface and configured to display information received via the secondary display communication interface. | 03-06-2014 |
20150080983 | CLINICIAN PROGRAMMING SYSTEM AND METHOD - In a method for programming an implantable device, an input is received at a user interface on a tablet-style clinician programmer. A first display signal is generated on the clinician programmer that updates content on a first display based on the received user input. The first display has a first size. A second display signal is generated for transmission to a secondary unit having a second display separate from the clinician programmer. The second display has a second size larger than the first size. The generating of the second display signal includes enhancing the content of the second display signal to provide a clear image on the second size display. The second display signal is transmitted from the clinician programmer to the second display. | 03-19-2015 |
20150249495 | COMMUNICATION FOR IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICES - Systems and methods for communication between an implantable medical device and an external device. Data blocks are generated and transmitted between the implantable device and the external device. The data blocks include a first flag indicating whether the data block is a first data block in a message and when the data block is a subsequent data block in a multiple data block message. When the first flag indicates that the data block is a first data block in a message, the data block also contains a device ID, a command token, and message content. When the first flag indicates that the data block is a subsequent data block in a multiple data block message, the data block contains additional message content that is appended to message content from a previously received data block. | 09-03-2015 |