Percutanous Charging Platform

Active implantable medical devices or AIMDs are battery operated micro-electronic devices, designed to be fully implanted in human body for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Example of AIMDs include pacemakers, defibrillators, drug infusion pumps, ventricular assisted devices, cochlear implants and neurostimulators.

Currently AIMDs fall in two major categories. They are either rechargeable or not. The non-rechargeable ones are those that require large amounts of energy to operate, or are safety critical in nature and cannot depend on patients to ensure they have proper energy to do their job. Typically these devices can operate around 3-7 years before they need to be surgically replaced because of battery depletion. These devices range from $20,000 to $65,000 each. The cost of implantation is around $12,000. So, every time they run out of battery, the patient or their insurance company has to pay the cost of replacement surgery and a new device. This is totally unnecessary with today’s available technology. Those that have a rechargeable battery inside have a small battery and require daily recharge of 2 to 4 hours in duration, done by the patients themselves. This translates to over 1000 hours of time being spent babysitting your implanted device while it is being charged. Since these devices are used for chronic conditions, they are needed for many years of use, if not to the end of one’s life. Due to number of charge/discharge, the battery inside these devices loses its viability and requires replacement in 4-6 year time. Similar to those mentioned above, patients have to pay large amounts of money to have their device replaced. Replacement surgeries are not easy procedures. They expose the patient to the risks associated with a major surgery that requires anesthesia, hospital stay, possible infections, and damage to other components of the system that may require total extraction and replacement. It is clear that there is a need for a solution that allows devices to last longer and not require daily commitment of time from patients for their recharging. We have developed a platform technology that can be used with any AIMD to increase their longevity to 20 years of more. Devices that use our platform technology require charging to be done in office by a medical professional, to be safe and done right. By using our technology and selecting the right rechargeable battery, devices can last one full year on a single charge. Components of the platform have been developed and are going into testing.

Innovation That Matters

Charge Platform

Percutanous Charging

Platform

Currently AIMDs fall in two major categories. They are either rechrageable or not. The ones with non-rechrageable are those that require large amounts of energy to operate, or are safety critical in nature and cannot depend on patient to ensure they have proper energy to do their job. Typically these devices can operate around 3-7 years before they need to be surgically replaced because of battery depletion. These devices range fro $20,000 to $65,000 each. The cost of implantation is around $12,000. So every time they run out of battery, the patient or their insurance company has to pay the cost of replacement surgery and a new device. This is totally unnecessary with today’s available technology. Those that have a rechargeable battery inside have a small battery and require daily recharge of 2 to 4 hours in duration, done by the patients themselves. Since these devices are used for chronic conditions, they are needed for many years of use, if not to the end of one’s life. Due to number of charge/discharge, the battery inside these devices looses its viability and require replacement in 4-6 year time. Similar to those mentioned above, patients have to pay large amounts of money to have their device replaced. Replacement surgeries are not easy procedures. They introduce the patient to the risks associated with a major surgery that requires anesthesia, possible infections, and damage to other components of the system that may require total extraction and replacement. It is clear that there is a need for a solution that allows devices to last longer and not require daily commitment of time from patients for their recharging. We have developed a platform technology that can be used with any AIMD to increase their longevity to 20 years of more. Devices that use our platform technology require charging to be done in office by a medical professional, to be safe and done right. By using our technology and selecting the right rechargeable battery, devices can last one full year on a single charge. Components of the platform have been developed and are going into testing.