Remotely powered remotely adjustable gastric band system
View Patent ↗A remotely adjustable remotely power gastric band system may include a control device, an implant electronic device, and an implantable gastric band. The control device may telemetrically power and communicate with the implant electronic device, which may be used for adjusting the diameter of the implantable gastric band. The implant electronic device may store the gastric band adjustment history records of a patient and regulate the power received from the control device. To improve transmission efficiency, the implant electronic device may adopt a double modulation scheme for communicating with the control device. Furthermore, the implant electronic device may detect and resolve motor blockage issues related to the implantable gastric band.
1. A remotely powered and remotely adjustable gastric band system, comprising:
a remote control device configured to transmit a telemetric signal having an amplitude and a carrier frequency, wherein a magnitude of the amplitude of the telemetric signal varies to adjust a transmitted power of the telemetric signal in response to a telemetric feedback signal received by the remote control device;
an implantable power device telemetrically coupled to the remote control device, and configured to convert the transmitted power of the telemetric signal and to generate the telemetric feedback signal in response to the implantable power device sensing that the converted power exceeds a predetermined threshold, the telemetric feedback signal having a message frequency based on a difference between the converted power and the threshold; and
a gastric band for forming a ventral ring surface around a stomach of a patient, the gastric band coupled to the implantable power device, and configured to receive at least a portion of the converted power from the implantable power device and adjust the ventral ring surface in response to the telemetric signal transmitted from the remote control device.
2. The gastric band system of claim 1 , wherein the implantable power device includes:
an implantable antenna for receiving the telemetric signal from the remote control device,
a rectifying device coupled to the implantable antenna, and configured to rectify the received telemetric signal to form a DC input voltage at a DC input node,
a power sensing device configured to receive a DC input voltage and generate a regulation signal when the DC input voltage exceeds a predetermined threshold,
a regulation device coupled to the power sensing device, and configured to generate a regulation voltage in response to the regulation signal, and
a frequency modulation device coupled to the regulation device, and configured to generate a frequency modulation signal with a modulated frequency representing the regulation voltage,
wherein the message frequency of the feedback signal tracks the modulated frequency of the frequency modulation signal.
3. The gastric band system of claim 2 , wherein the implantable power device includes:
a switch coupled to the frequency modulation device, and configured to perform an amplitude modulation at the implantable antenna, the amplitude modulation adjusting the amplitude of the telemetric signal based on the frequency modulation signal.
4. The gastric band system of claim 1 , wherein the remote control device includes:
an external antenna configured to transmit the telemetric signal and receive the feedback signal,
a sensing device coupled to the external antenna, and configured to sense the feedback signal,
a demodulation device coupled to the sensing device, and configured to extract the message frequency from the sensed feedback signal and generate a voltage control signal based on the message frequency, and
a modulation device coupled to the demodulation device and the external antenna, and configured to adjust the amplitude of the telemetric signal based on the voltage control signal and transmit the adjusted telemetric signal to the external antenna.
5. The gastric band system of claim 4 , wherein the sensing device includes a directional coupler configured to separate the feedback signal from the telemetric signal.
6. The gastric band system of claim 1 , wherein the threshold power is associated with a physical condition of the implantable power device when the implantable device is subject to a power level at or above the threshold power.
7. The gastric band system of claim 1 , wherein the threshold power is associated with an overheating condition of the implantable power device when the implantable device is subject to a power level at above the threshold power.