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US3866616A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Heart pacer

Assignee: Coratomic Inc
•
Filing: 1973-07-12
•
Granted: 1975-02-18
•
Expires: 1993-07-12
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Abstract

Abstract A nuclear heart pacer having a heat-to-electricity converter including a solid-state thermoelectric unit embedded in rubber which is compressed to impress hydrostatic precompression on the unit. The converter and the radioactive heat source are enclosed in a container which includes the electrical circuit components for producing and controlling the pulses; the converter and components being embedded in rubber. The portions of the rubber in the converter and in the container through which heat flows between the radioactive primary source and the hot junction and between the cold junction and the wall of the container are of thermally conducting silicone rubber. The primary radioactive source material Pu238 is encapsuled in a refractory casing of WC-222 which in turn is encapsuled in a corrosion-resistant casing of platinum rhodium, a diffusion barrier separating the WC-222 and Pt-Rh casings. The Pt-Rh casing is in a closed basket of tantalum. The tantalum protects Pt-Rh from reacting with other materials during cremation of the host, if any. The casings and basket suppress the transmission of hard X-rays generated by the alpha particles from the Pu238. The outside casing of the pacer is typically of titanium but its surface is covered by an electrically insulating coating, typically EPOXY resin, except over a relatively limited area for effective electrical grounding to the body of the host. It is contemplated that the pacer will be inserted in the host with the exposed titanium engaging a non-muscular region of the body.

Inventors

  • 👤 David L Purdy
  • 👤 George J Magovern
  • 👤 Nicholas Smyth

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-23 17:51
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61N; A61N1/00; A61N1/18; A61N1/32; A61N1/36; A61N1/372; A61N1/378; A61N1/375; A61N1/37512; G; G21; G21H; G21H1/00; G21H1/10; G21H1/103

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim 149 words
A heart pacer for a host including a primary source of heat energy, a converter connected to said source for converting said energy into electrical energy, means, connected to said converter, for deriving electrical pulses from said electrical energy, output-conductor means including a catheter, connected to said deriving means and to be connected to the heart of said host, for impressing said pulses on said heart, and a container for said source, converter and deriving means, the said container being composed of electrically conducting material and being electrically connected to said deriving means to serve as ground therefor, the outer region of said container being coated with electrically insulating material except over a relatively small limited area thereof on one side only, the conducting material of said limited area to be connected electrically to non-muscular body parts of said host connecting said ground to the body of said host.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 149 words
A heart pacer for a host including a primary source of heat energy, a converter connected to said source for converting said energy into electrical energy, means, connected to said converter, for deriving electrical pulses from said electrical energy, output-conductor means including a catheter, connected to said deriving means and to be connected to the heart of said host, for impressing said pulses on said heart, and a container for said source, converter and deriving means, the said container being composed of electrically conducting material and being electrically connected to said deriving means to serve as ground therefor, the outer region of said container being coated with electrically insulating material except over a relatively small limited area thereof on one side only, the conducting material of said limited area to be connected electrically to non-muscular body parts of said host connecting said ground to the body of said host.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 25 words
The heart pacer of claim 1 wherein the limited area is in the form of a dimple extending outwardly from the remainder of the container.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 19 words
The heart pacer of claim 2 wherein the insulating coating is flush with the outer surface of the dimple.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 74 words
The heart pacer of claim 1 wherein the deriving means includes electrical circuit-component means for convertinG the electrical energy from the converter into pulses, and the output circuit-conductor means includes output assembly means, said output-assembly means including a feed-through assembly means, said output assembly being connected through the feed-through assembly means to the deriving means within the container and extending out of the container and being connected outside of the container to the catheter.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 26 words
The heart pacer of claim 1 wherein the container is of generally ellipsoidal form and the small limited area is a dimple of generally oval form.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3253595A Cited
US3421512A Cited
US3649367A Cited
US3598128A Cited
US3735766A Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1978-02-17 1978-08-19 1979-02-18 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1982-02-17 1982-08-19 1983-02-18 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1986-02-17 1986-08-19 1987-02-18 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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