External power devices and systems

Inventors

Yeh, Alexander Jueshyan • Morris, Milton M.

Assignees

Neuspera Medical Inc

Abstract

Described herein are devices, systems, and methods for wireless power transfer utilizing a midfield source and implant. In one variation, a midfield source may be realized by a patterned metal plate composed of one of more subwavelength structures. These midfield sources may manipulate evanescent fields outside a material (e.g., tissue) to excite and control propagating fields inside the material (e.g., tissue) and thereby generate spatially confined and adaptive energy transport in the material (e.g., tissue). The energy may be received by an implanted device, which may be configured for one or more functions such as stimulation, sensing, or drug delivery.

Core Innovation

The invention is directed to an external power transmission device that includes a planar plate having a first side and a second side opposing the first side, with two or more slot antennas formed in the planar plate. Material is disposed on the second side of the plate, where the material is either shaped to conform to a surface of tissue or flexible to conform to the surface of the tissue, and circuitry is located on the first side.

Power transmission is achieved by coherent interference of respective electromagnetic fields generated by the slot antennas. The coherent interference is configured to generate a propagating wave in the tissue, so that electrical power is delivered from the external device to an at least partially implantable, biocompatible device located in tissue.

The invention further includes a system in which the slot antennas, the tissue-conforming material layer on the second side, and the circuitry on the first side cooperate to transmit electrical power through tissue by coherent interference of electromagnetic fields that generate a propagating wave. The at least partially implantable, biocompatible device receives the electrical power from the slot antennas and generates electrical stimulation.

Claims Coverage

The partial content includes two independent claims, one directed to an external power transmission device and one directed to a system including an implantable device configured to generate electrical stimulation. Across the independent claims, the coverage is grounded in coherent interference from multiple slot antennas to generate a propagating wave in tissue, and in tissue-conforming material on the opposite side of the plate/antennas relative to the circuitry.

The independent claims primarily cover slot-antenna-based external power transmission using a planar plate with tissue-conforming material, coherent interference of electromagnetic fields from the multiple slot antennas to generate a propagating wave in tissue for power transfer, and, in the system claim, an implantable biocompatible device that receives the electrical power and generates electrical stimulation.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications