An implantable micropower command receiver for telemetry battery power switching.

Command receivers that control the functioning of additional implanted circuitry can be useful in many medical telemetry applications. The authors have designed and constructed a thick-film hybrid command receiver system that directly interfaces with the second-generation ICP telemetry system. This command receiver controls telemetry on/off state through enabling/disabling the telemetry pulse generator stage. Lithium battery powering of the implant is made practical through use of this command receiver. An automatic power shutdown feature is incorporated to guard against accidental battery drain. The unit uses two commercial CMOS integrated circuits, a transistor, a resistor and an RF coil.