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US-20260123837-A1 - ULTRALOW POWER MEMORY FOR IMPLANTED DEVICE

US20260123837A1US 20260123837 A1US20260123837 A1US 20260123837A1US-20260123837-A1

Abstract

An implantable device may comprise a power management unit configured to receive power from an external power source, one or more sensors, and a memory configured to store data detected by the one or more sensors. The memory may include a first binary storage element electrically coupled to the sensors and to a main power supply line coupled to the power management unit, and a second binary storage element coupled to the first binary data memory storage element and to a retention power supply line connected to the power supply. The device may include a digital circuit configured to determine that the power management unit is not receiving power from the external power source, detect that a predetermined condition has been met, store data collected by the sensors in the second binary data memory storage element, and disconnect the main power supply line from the power supply.

Inventors

  • Dwight David Griffin
  • Yasha KARIMI
  • Gaurav Mittal
  • Pujitha Weerakoon
  • Maruthi MUKKANNAIAH

Assignees

  • IOTA BIOSCIENCES, INC.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20231018

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . An implantable device comprising: an energy storage configured to receive power from an external power source; one or more sensors configured to measure physiological signals; a memory configured to store physiological signal data measured by the one or more sensor, the memory comprising: a first binary data memory storage element electrically coupled to the one or more sensors and a main power supply line electrically coupled to the energy storage, and a second binary data memory storage element electrically coupled to the first binary data memory storage element and a retention power supply line electrically coupled to energy storage; and a digital circuit configured to: determine that the power management unit is not receiving power from the external power source; detect that a predetermined condition has been met; store an essential portion of the physiological signal data that has been measured by the one or more sensors in the second binary data memory storage element; and disconnect the main power supply line from the energy storage.
  2. 2 . The implantable device of claim 1 , wherein the main power supply line is configured to transmit a first amount of power from the energy storage to the first binary data memory storage element and the retention power supply line is configured to transmit a second amount of power from the energy storage to the second binary data memory storage element.
  3. 3 . The implantable device of claim 2 , wherein the second amount of power is less than the first amount of power.
  4. 4 . The implantable device of claim 2 or 3 , wherein the second amount of power is less than or equal to 100 picowatts.
  5. 5 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-4 , wherein the essential portion of the physiological signal data that is stored in the second binary data memory storage element comprises data associated with a most recently performed measurement.
  6. 6 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-5 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise a pressure sensor.
  7. 7 . The implantable device of claim 6 , wherein the pressure sensor is configured to measure an intraocular pressure.
  8. 8 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-7 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises one or more electrodes configured to detect an electrophysiological pulse.
  9. 9 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-8 , wherein the one or more sensors comprises a sensor configured to detect a concentration of an analyte, a pH, a temperature, an evoked action potential in a brain, and/or a local field potential in a brain.
  10. 10 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-9 , wherein the device is configured to be fully implantable.
  11. 11 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-10 , wherein the device is configured to be implanted in or attached to a tissue or organ.
  12. 12 . The implantable device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured to be implanted in an eye.
  13. 13 . The implantable device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured to be implanted on a on or in a central nervous tissue.
  14. 14 . The implantable device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured to be implanted on a on or in a brain.
  15. 15 . The implantable device of claim 11 , wherein the device is configured to be implanted on a peripheral nerve.
  16. 16 . The implantable device of claim 15 , wherein the peripheral nerve is a splenic nerve.
  17. 17 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-16 , wherein the energy storage is configured to receive power wirelessly from the external power source.
  18. 18 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-17 , wherein the energy storage is configured to receive power from ultrasonic waves produced by the external power source.
  19. 19 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-18 , wherein the energy storage is configured to receive power from radio frequency waves produced by the external power source.
  20. 20 . The implantable device of any one of claims 1-19 , wherein the energy storage is configured to receive power the external power source via induction.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 63/417,639, filed Oct. 19, 2022, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. FIELD The present invention relates to memory systems for implantable devices, in particular for implantable devices configured to detect a physiological signal in a subject. BACKGROUND Implantable devices for monitoring physiological signals in a subject can collect data that provides a better understanding of health and disease prognosis. For example, implantable devices for blood sugar monitoring may be used to monitor the health of a diabetic patient, and implantable devices for monitoring blood oxygenation levels may be used to monitor compartment syndrome, cancer, or organ transplants. Due to their size, certain implantable devices may rely primarily on energy that is harvested or transferred from a source outside of the device to operate. While implantable devices may have the capacity to store energy provided by the external energy source, this capacity may be extremely limited. When the external source of energy is removed, implantable devices may need to perform operations and retain essential amounts of data without depleting the energy stored on the device. Conventional reprogrammable non-volatile memory elements (e.g., Flash), which retain data when power is lost, require large amounts of energy to program the data. Furthermore, conventional reprogrammable non-volatile memory elements may be too large for applications where only small amounts of data need to be retained. Conventional volatile memory elements (e.g., SRAM) require large amounts of energy to store data and may completely deplete the energy stored on the device when energy is not being provided by the external source. SUMMARY The implantable devices described herein have a memory element that can retain small amounts of data using very low amounts of power while the rest of the device is in a low power “sleep” mode. In some embodiments, the memory element has at least two separate binary data memory storage elements, each of which may be independently coupled to a power supply of the device. When the device is not receiving energy from an external power source, a primary binary data memory storage element, which may store data collected by the device when the device has sufficient power available, may be disconnected from the power supply in order to preserve the stored energy for an extended period of time. A secondary “retention” binary data memory storage element may remain connected to the power supply and may store a small amount of data that is essential to the device's continued operation. An implantable device provided herein may include an energy storage configured to receive power from an external power source, one or more sensors configured to measure physiological signals, a memory configured to store physiological signal data measured by the one or more sensor, and a digital circuit. The memory may include a first binary data memory storage element electrically coupled to the one or more sensors and a main power supply line electrically coupled to the energy storage and a second binary data memory storage element electrically coupled to the first binary data memory storage element and a retention power supply line electrically coupled to the energy storage. The first binary data memory storage element may comprise a flip-flop circuit and the second binary data memory storage element may comprise a retention latch circuit. The digital circuit may be configured to determine that the power management unit is not receiving power from the external power source, detect that a predetermined condition has been met, store an essential portion of the physiological signal data that has been measured by the one or more sensors in the second binary data memory storage element, and disconnect the main power supply line from the energy storage. The essential portion of the physiological signal data that is stored in the second binary data memory storage element comprises data associated with a most recently performed measurement. The main power supply line may be configured to transmit a first amount of power from the energy storage to the first binary data memory storage element and the retention power supply line may be configured to transmit a second amount of power from the energy storage to the second binary data memory storage element. The second amount of power may be less than the first amount of power. In some embodiments, the second amount of power is less than or equal to 100 picowatts. The one or more sensors can include a pressure sensor. The pressure sensor may be configured to measure an intraocular pressure. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more sensors can include one or more electrodes configured to detect an electrophysiological pulse, a sensor configured to detect a conce