| 摘要 |
An implantable electroacupuncture device (IEAD) treats a disease or medical condition of a patient through application of stimulation pulses applied at a specified acupoint or other target tissue location. In a preferred implementation, the IEAD is an implantable, coin-sized, self-contained, leadless electroacupuncture device having at least two electrodes attached to an outside surface of its housing. The device generates stimulation pulses in accordance with a specified stimulation regimen. Power management circuitry within the device allows a primary battery, having a high internal impedance, to be used to power the device. The stimulation regimen generates stimulation pulses during a stimulation session of duration T3 minutes applied every T4 minutes. The duty cycle, or ratio T3/T4, is very low, no greater than 0.05. The low duty cycle and careful power management allow the IEAD to perform its intended function for several years. |
| 主权项 |
1. An implantable electroacupuncture device (IEAD) adapted to generate and apply electrical stimulus pulses to a target tissue location of a patient when the IEAD is implanted above the target tissue location, the IEAD comprising:
a thin, disc-shaped, hermetically-sealed case having a front side, a back side, and an edge side, the edge side joining the front side to the back side around the perimeter of the sealed case, the front and back sides having a longest linear dimension D2 that is no greater than about 25 mm, and the edge side defining an overall thickness or width W2 of the disc-shaped case to be no greater than about 2.5 mm; an anodic electrode and a cathodic electrode secured to an outside surface of the thin, disc-shaped, hermetically-sealed case, wherein the cathodic electrode comprises a central electrode located substantially in the center of the front side of the disc-shaped case, and wherein the anodic electrode comprises an annular ring electrode concentric with and located around and at least 5 mm distant from the closest point of the central electrode; electronic circuitry housed within the thin, disc-shaped, hermetically-sealed case that causes electrical stimulus pulses to be generated and applied to the central cathodic electrode and the anodic annular ring electrode in accordance with a prescribed stimulation regimen: feed-through means for electrically connecting the electronic circuitry on the inside of the hermetically-sealed case to the concentric electrodes on the outside of the hermetically-sealed case, wherein the concentric configuration of the electrodes on the front side of the disc-shaped case causes electrical stimuli to flow between the anodic annular ring electrode and the cathodic electrode as steered by electric field gradient lines that are strongest along an acupoint axis line that extends perpendicularly out from the central cathodic electrode on the front side of the disc-shaped case, whereby the electrical stimuli is guided to the target tissue location along the acupoint axis line and at a tissue depth below the location of the central cathodic electrode on the front side of the disc-shaped case; and a thin, coin-cell type primary battery on the inside of the thin, disc-shaped, hermetically sealed case connected to the electronic circuitry that provides operating power for the electronic circuitry, the coin-cell primary battery having a nominal output voltage of VBAT volts, where VBAT ranges from as low 2.2 volts to as high as 3.6 volts; wherein the primary battery has an internal impedance greater than 5 ohms; and wherein the electronic circuitry includes power management circuitry that limits the amount of instantaneous current that can be withdrawn from the battery; and wherein the prescribed stimulation regimen causes electrical stimulus pulses to be generated and applied only during a stimulation session having a duration of T3 minutes, wherein T3 is at least 10 minutes, and wherein the time interval between stimulation sessions is T4 minutes, and wherein the ratio of T3/T4 is no greater than 0.05. |
