Current generation architecture for an implantable stimulator device having coarse and fine current control

摘要

A current generation architecture for an implantable stimulator device such as an Implantable Pulse Generator (IPG) is disclosed. Current source and sink circuitry are both divided into coarse and fine portions, which respectively can provide coarse and fine current resolutions to a specified electrode on the IPG. The coarse portion is distributed across all of the electrodes and so can source or sink current to any of the electrodes. The coarse portion is divided into a plurality of stages, each of which is capable via an associated switch bank of sourcing or sinking a coarse amount of current to or from any one of the electrodes on the device. The fine portion of the current generation circuit preferably includes source and sink circuitry dedicated to each of the electrode on the device, which can comprise digital-to-analog current converters (DACs).

主权项

1. An implantable stimulator device, comprising:
a plurality of electrode nodes implantable adjacent to tissue to be stimulated; at least one first stage, each at least one first stage comprising:
a first current, anda plurality of first switches controllable to provide the first current to more than one of the plurality of electrode nodes; and a plurality of second stages, each second stage comprising:
a second current, wherein each of the second stages are configured to provide the second current to an associated one of the plurality of electrodes.