Recognition of implantable medical device

Abstract

Controlling the interaction between an external device and an implanted device, including a method of controlling interaction between an external device and an implanted device, the method including at least the steps of: establishing communications between the implanted device and the external device; the external device determining an identification of the implant and comparing the identification with identifications in a stored list; if the device matches one of said identifications, then using a corresponding set of operating parameters to interact with said implant; and otherwise, not interacting with said device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

When the test passes, stimulation can start. If the test fails, it is repeated to rule out statistical errors. When after five (5) tests, the test still fails the speech processor should refrain from stimulating and give a helper message on the LCD display of the implant.

It may be desirable in some applications that the user be able to overrule the error and start stimulation by a specific button press combination to manually select the correct operating program for the implant.

It will be understood that a different process may be used to implement the invention if desired, and that alternative processes are likely for different external devices.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the process which can be employed in the BTE device 116 software. It is noted that it would be possible to perform the ID process primarily from the implant itself, however, in general it is preferred to minimise the complexity and processing load for the implanted device.

FIG. 3 shows the step 50 by which the identifier is detected. This will obviously differ depending upon the identifier used. Once the identifier is located, at step 51, the appropriate parameters and mode of operation will be selected, corresponding to the implant identified. It will be appreciated that the exact set of parameters will depend upon the type of implant, and apart from the map as such, may include other operating parameters, mode of stimulation, type of speech processing algorithm, and such other parameters as are desired.

It is preferred that the identification process occur as often as required to ensure safe operation. This may include, for example, at power on of the BTE device, or whenever communications between the implant and BTE are interrupted for more than some predetermined period, for example 3 seconds. In each case, the ID process should be completed before stimulation occurs.

Once the parameters are determined at step 51, operation of the device can be initiated. At step 53, operation can continue until conditions require the ID to be re-checked, as noted above.

It will be understood that the present invention may be applied to include more than two sets of operating parameters. For example, in a household where there are multiple implant users, all the SP devices could be loaded with the parameters for the implants of everyone in the house. This may be of particular benefit with small children. The present invention further provides flexibility for the user. If one SP device is not operating, for example due to low battery power, the remaining device can be used for the better ear.

Further features and advantages of the present invention may be found in International Application No. PCT/AU2007/000142 entitled “IMPLANT ID RECOGNITION”, filed on Feb. 9, 2007, which claims priority from Australian Provisional Patent Application No. 2006900628, filed on Feb. 10, 2006, which are hereby incorporated by reference.

It will be appreciated that any other suitable identification process can be used in accordance with the present invention. Variations and additions can be readily added as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. An external hearing device adapted to interact with an implanted internal device, the external device being able to be operatively positioned to interact with either a left ear or right ear implanted device, said external device including a detector operatively adapted to detect whether the external device is positioned to interact with the left ear or the right ear internal device, and in response to said detection, select and utilize a stored set of operating parameters corresponding to the left ear or the right ear internal device to allow the external device to operate with the internal device.

2. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the internal device is a cochlear implant and the external device is a speech processor.

3. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the detector includes one or more of a proximity sensor, a thermal sensor or a source localization algorithm stored in the external device.

4. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the operating parameters are selected from a group including one or more of an electrode map including stimulation levels, selection of electrodes to stimulate, speech processing strategy or algorithm, parameters of the speech processing strategy, or when to switch between different speech processing strategies.

5. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the external device is configured to allow a user to manually select whether the set of operating parameters corresponding to the left ear or the right ear internal device are utilized by the external device.

6. The external device according to claim 1, further comprising a display, wherein the display is configured to display a message indicating at least the internal device that the external device is interacting with.

7. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the detector is configured to determine at least one identifier of the left ear or the right ear internal device.

8. The external device according to claim 7, wherein the identifier is a transmitted identification signal.

9. The external device according to claim 7, wherein the identifier is determined from a set of measured parameters related to one or more of either the internal device and physiological properties of the left ear or the right ear internal device.

10. The external device according to claim 7, wherein the identifier is an identification tag or device operating independently of the normal communication path between the left ear or the right ear internal device and the external device.

11. The external device according to claim 7, wherein the detector is configured to compare the identifier of the left ear or right ear internal device to a list of known identifiers to confirm that the internal device is known.

12. The external device according to claim 11, wherein the detector is configured to select and utilize the set of operating parameters stored on the external device, the operating parameters corresponding to the internal device, and enabling the external device to operate with the internal device based on the comparison of the identifier of the left ear or right ear internal device to the list of known identifiers.

13. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the operating parameters are selected from a group including one or more of an electrode map including stimulation levels, selection of electrodes to stimulate, speech processing strategy or algorithm, parameters of the speech processing strategy, or when to switch between different speech processing strategies.

14. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the external device automatically selects a set of operating parameters to be utilized by the external device.

15. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the detector is configured to select and utilize the set of operating parameters from a plurality of operating parameter sets, wherein each operating parameter set of the plurality of operating parameter sets corresponds to a particular internal device.

16. The external device according to claim 1, wherein the external device is a behind-the-ear (BTE) external device.

17. The external device according to claim 11, wherein the detector is configured to periodically determine a new identifier and compare the new determined identifier to the list of known identifiers to confirm that the identifier is known.

18. The external device according to claim 7, wherein the detector is configured to terminate operation of the external device if the identifier is determined not to be known.

19. A method for operating an external device with an implanted device implanted in a recipient of the implanted device, comprising:

establishing communications between the implanted device and the external device;

determining, by the external device, a feature of the implanted device;

based on an analysis of the determined feature, enabling the external device to operate with the implanted device; and

selecting and utilizing, by the external device, a set of operating parameters from among a plurality of sets of operating parameters stored in the external device, the operating parameters corresponding to particular operating parameters for use with implanted device, and using those parameters during operation with the implanted device to cause the implanted device to stimulate tissue of the recipient.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the feature of the implanted device is a feature statistically unique to the implanted device.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the feature of the implanted device is an identification of the implanted device.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

comparing, by the external device, the identification of the implanted device to a list of known identifiers, which comparing corresponds to the analysis.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the sets of operating parameters of the plurality of sets of operating parameters correspond respective different maps for different ears of the recipient, wherein the external device is an external device of a hearing prosthesis.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the external device is a behind the ear device configured to be worn on a left ear of the recipient and configured to be worn on a right ear of the recipient.

25. A method for operating an external device with an implanted device implanted in a recipient of the implanted device, comprising:

placing the external device on a side of a head of the recipient;

automatically identifying, by the external device, indicia indicative of which side of the head the external device has been placed; and

based on the action of identifying, operating the external device using operating parameters particular for the side of the head the external device has been placed.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising:

placing the external device on another side of the head of the recipient opposite the side of the head of the recipient;

automatically identifying a second time, by the external device, second indicia indicative of which side of the head the external device has been placed when placed on the another side of the head of the recipient; and

based on the action of identifying a second time, operating the external device using second operating parameters particular for the another side of the head the external device has been placed, which second operating parameters are different from those for the side of the head the external device had previously been placed.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

after placing the external device on the another side of the head of the recipient opposite the side of the head of the recipient, placing a second external device on the side of the head of the recipient;

automatically identifying a third time, by the second external device, indicia indicative of which side of the head the second external device has been placed; and

based on the action of identifying a third time, operating the second external device using operating parameters particular for the side of the head the external device has been placed while also operating, based on the action of identifying a second time, the external device using the second operating parameters particular for the another side of the head the external device has been placed.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the recipient is a bilateral implantee of a hearing prosthesis system, and the external device is one of two separate external devices configured so that it does not matter which of the external devices is placed on which side of the head, and wherein the hearing prosthesis system applies respective different maps for respectively different ears of the recipient when evoking hearing percepts using the two separate external devices.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the implant has not been designed to produce a specific implant ID signal.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the action of automatically identifying which side of the head the external device has been placed is executed based on latent variables unrelated to the implanted device.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the action of automatically identifying which side of the head the external device has been placed is executed based on telemetric data from the implanted device.

32. The method of claim 25, wherein:

the action of automatically identifying indicia indicative of which side of the head the external device has been placed is executed based on telemetric data from the implanted device.

33. An external hearing device, the external device being configured to be respectively operatively positioned at a first position to interact with a left ear implant and operatively positioned at a second position to interact with a right ear implant, said external device configured to detect whether the external device is positioned to interact with the left ear implant as opposed to the right ear implant, said external device configured to detect whether the external device is positioned to interact with the right ear implant as opposed to the left ear implant, and in response to said detection, utilize a stored set of operating parameters already present before the detection in the external device corresponding to the left ear implant if the detection indicates that the external device is position to interact with the left ear implant, and utilize a stored set of operating parameters already present before the detection in the external device corresponding to the right ear implant if the detection indicates that the external device is position to interact with the right ear implant.

34. The external hearing device of claim 33, wherein the external device includes, to detect the positioning, at least one of:

a sensor that is configured to detect body heat;

a sensor that is configured to detect proximity;

a source localization algorithm; or

logic that compares a received feature of the left ear implant and/or a received feature of the right ear implant to data stored in the hearing device.

35. The external hearing device of claim 33, wherein:

the external hearing device is configured to prevent operation with an implant that is not an approved implant.

36. The external hearing device of claim 33, wherein:

the external device is a behind-the-ear (BTE) device configured to be worn behind a left ear of the recipient and configured to be worn behind the right ear of the recipient.

37. The external hearing device of claim 33, wherein:

the external device is configured to receive telemetric data from the implant and evaluate such to detect whether the external device is positioned to interact with the right ear implant as opposed to the left ear implant, and visa-versa.

38. The external hearing device of claim 33, wherein the external device includes, to detect the positioning, at least one of:

a sensor that is configured to detect body heat;

a sensor that is configured to detect proximity; or

a source localization algorithm.