Portable power charging of implantable medical devices

1. An implantable medical system, comprising:

an implantable component having an implantable power supply; and

an external wireless charger having a charger power supply, a driver, an inductive coil, a battery recharger, and a routing system connected between the driver, the inductive coil, and the battery recharger,

wherein the routing system has a first configuration that passes signals from the driver to the inductive coil in order to transcutaneously transmit power from the charger power supply to the implantable power supply via the inductive coil, and wherein the routing system has a second different configuration that passes power received from an auxiliary charger at the inductive coil to the battery recharger for recharging of the charger power supply.

2. The medical system of claim 1 , further comprising a power detector, wherein the inductive coil of the external wireless charger is connected to the power detector, and the power detector is configured to periodically determine whether the auxiliary charger is capable of supplying power sufficient to recharge the charger power supply.

3. The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the external wireless charger is a Behind-the-Ear (BTE) device.

4. The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the external wireless charger is a body worn device.

5. The medical system of claim 1 , wherein an energy storage capacity of the charger power supply is larger than an energy storage capacity of the implantable power supply.

6. The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the external wireless charger has a housing, and wherein the inductive coil is separated from the housing by a cable.

7. The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the external wireless charger has a housing, and wherein the inductive coil is integrated into the housing.

8. The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the external wireless charger is configured to:

sense the presence of an inductive field suitable for recharging the charger power supply; and

in response to sensing the presence of the inductive field, switch to automatically recharge the charger power supply.

9. The medical system of claim 1 , further comprising:

an external accessory configured to transcutaneously transmit data to the implantable component.

10. The medical system of claim 9 , wherein the external accessory comprises a microphone and a sound processor.

11. The medical system of claim 1 , wherein the external wireless charger is further configured to transcutaneously transmit data to the implantable component via the inductive coil.

12. The medical system of claim 11 , wherein the external wireless charger comprises a microphone and a sound processor.

13. The medical system of claim 1 , further comprising:

the auxiliary charger.

14. The medical system of claim 13 , wherein the auxiliary charger comprises an array of inductive coils for transmitting power to the external wireless charger.

15. The medical system of claim 9 , wherein the external wireless charger is configured to transmit power to the external accessory via the inductive coil.

16. The medical system of claim 1 , further comprising a power detector configured to detect the presence of the auxiliary charger.

17. A method for operating a cochlear implant comprising an implantable component having an implantable power supply, an external wireless charger having a charger power supply, a driver, an inductive coil, a battery recharger, and a routing system connected between the driver, the inductive coil, and the battery recharger, the method comprising:

providing, via the routing system, power signals from the driver to the inductive coil;

transmitting, based on the power signals received via the routing system, power from the charger power supply to the implantable power supply via the inductive coil;

disabling, using the routing system, transmission of power from the charger power supply to the implantable power supply;

wirelessly receiving, via the inductive coil, power from an auxiliary charger; and

providing, via the routing system, the power received from the auxiliary charger to the battery recharger to recharge the charger power supply.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising:

checking for at least one of the presence and absence of the auxiliary charger or implantable component, while the transmission of power from the charger power supply to the implantable power supply is disabled.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein receiving power from the auxiliary charger comprises:

determining that the auxiliary charger is present;

activating a wireless link between the auxiliary charger and the wireless charger, wherein the wireless link is formed by the inductive coil and a coil in the auxiliary charger; and

receiving, with the inductive coil, power from the auxiliary charger for recharging of the charger power supply.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

determining whether the charger power supply is fully charged prior to activating the wireless link between the auxiliary charger and the wireless charger.

21. A cochlear implant system, comprising:

an implantable component having an implantable power supply;

an external auxiliary charger; and

an external wireless charger having:

a charger power supply,

a driver,

a battery recharger,

an inductive coil, and

a routing system connected between the driver, the inductive coil and the battery charger wherein the routing system passes signals from the driver to the inductive coil in order to transcutaneously transmit power from the charger power supply to the implantable power supply via the inductive coil and wherein the routing system; and passes power received from the auxiliary charger at the inductive coil to the battery recharger for recharging of the charger power supply.

22. The cochlear implant system of claim 21 , wherein an energy storage capacity of the charger power supply of the external wireless charger is larger than an energy storage capacity of the implantable power supply of the implantable component.

23. The cochlear implant system of claim 21 , wherein the external wireless charger has a housing, and wherein the inductive coil is separated from the housing by a cable.

24. The cochlear implant system of claim 21 , wherein the external wireless charger has a housing, and wherein the inductive coil is integrated into the housing.

25. The cochlear implant system of claim 21 , wherein the external wireless charger is configured to:

sense the presence of an inductive field suitable for recharging the charger power supply of the external wireless charger; and

in response to sensing the presence of the inductive field, switch to automatically recharge the charger power supply of the wireless charger.

26. The cochlear implant system of claim 21 , further comprising:

an external accessory configured to transcutaneously transmit data to the implantable component.

27. The cochlear implant system of claim 21 , wherein the external wireless charger is further configured to transcutaneously transmit data to the implantable component.

28. The cochlear implant system of claim 21 , further comprising a power detector configured to detect the presence of the auxiliary charger.