Voice control system for an implant

1. A system for the control of a medical implant in a mammal body, said system comprising a first and a second part being adapted for communication with each other, in which system the first part is adapted for implantation in the mammal body for the control of and communication with the medical implant, the second part is adapted to be worn on the outside of the mammal body in physical contact with said body and adapted to receive control commands from a user and to transmit these commands to the first part, characterized in that the system is adapted to use the mammal body as a conductor for communication between the first and the second parts and in that the second part is adapted to receive and recognize the control commands from a user as voice commands and is adapted to transform recognized voice commands into signals which are transmitted to the first part via the mammal body as a conductor for the control of said implant, the first part being adapted to convey such signals to the implant, wherein said voice commands comprise a complex of different frequencies translated into one fixed defined output command, wherein said system comprises a first conducting plate in the first part of the system and a second conducting plate in the second part of the system, the system being adapted to create an electrical capacitive field with potential differences between said first and second conducting plates.

2. The system of claim 1 , comprising a detector circuit in the first part of the system for detecting the potential differences between the conducting plates, the system being adapted to use the potential differences for said communication between the first and the second parts of the system.

3. The system of claim 1 , comprising a first and second conducting plate in each of the first and second parts of the system, the system being adapted to create an electrical field with potential differences between the first and second conducting plates in the second part of the system, the system further comprising a detector circuit in the first part of the system, adapted to detect variations in the potential difference in the first and second communication system communicating between the first and the second parts is adapted to use said potential differences for said communication, the system being adapted to use the potential differences for the communication between the first and the second parts of the system.

4. The system of claim 3 , in which one of the first and second transmitter plates in each of the first and second parts of the system is covered by a dielectric material.

5. The system of claim 1 , in which the second part is arranged in a device adapted to be in contact with the skin of the mammal body, so that the electrical field will propagate between the first and second parts by means of the mammal body, i.e. using the mammal body as a conductor.

6. The system of claim 5 , in which said device is an ornament such as a necklace, a bracelet, a ring, an ear ring or a piercing ornament for the human body.

7. The system of claim 5 , in which said device is a watch or a wrist watch.

8. The system of claim 2 , the system being adapted to create a capacitive electrical field with potential differences between said plates, so that the communication between the first and second parts can be in either direction, so that both of the first and second parts can be either a sending part or a receiving part, in which system the second part comprises a detector circuit for detecting said potential difference and interpreting them as said communication, the second part also being adapted to present received communications from the first part EW, 20) to a user.

9. The system of claim 8 , in which a sending part is adapted to create at least two different signal frequencies in said electrical field, and in which system a receiving part comprises a circuit for detecting which frequency that is being received via said electrical field, and for interpreting these two frequencies as said communication between the two parts.

10. The system of claim 8 , in which a sending part is adapted to create pulses with positive and negative amplitudes in said electrical field, and in which system a receiving part comprises a circuit for detecting said pulses with positive and negative amplitudes, and for interpreting these amplitudes as said communication between the two parts.

11. The system of claim 1 , which is adapted to have a relatively high electrical resistance between the first and second parts of the system, in order to reduce the electrical current which flows in the mammal body.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the electrical resistance is at least 1 MΩ.

13. The system of claim 1 , in which the first part comprises a communication transceiver comprising a part of a capacitive energy storage, and being adapted to include injecting an electrical current into or being drawn from the capacitive energy storage for the communication which uses the capacitive field.

14. The system of claim 1 , in which the second part comprises a communication transceiver comprising a part of a capacitive energy storage, and being adapted to include injecting an electrical current into or being drawn from the capacitive energy storage for the communication which uses the capacitive field.

15. The system of claim 1 , in which the second part comprises a communication transceiver comprising a first part of a capacitive energy storage, the external communication unit comprises a communication transceiver comprising a second part ˜f the capacitive energy storage, and being adapted to include injecting an electrical current into or being drawn from the capacitive energy storage for the communication which uses the capacitive field.

16. The system of claim 15 , in which each of the first and second parts of the capacitive energy storage is divided into two separate portions, arranged so that when an electrical current is injected into or is drawn from the one of the two separate portions, an electrical current is simultaneously drawn from or injected into, respectively, the other of the two separate portions.

17. The system of claim 1 , in which the communication between the first and second parts is performed digitally, the information being represented by variations of the derivative of the voltage over the capacitive energy storage.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second parts comprises a comparator for comparing at least two different received frequencies.

19. A system comprising an apparatus according to claim 1 .

20. The system according to claim 19 , further comprising at least one switch implantable in the patient for manually and non-invasively controlling the apparatus.