Patient control for implantable medical device

Abstract

A patient control is disclosed that facilitates operation of an implantable medical device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A patient remote control for an implantable medical device, comprising:
 a housing containing circuitry and including a top surface;   a first electronic input defining a first recess relative to the top surface, having a first size, and having a first shape; and   a second electronic input defining a second recess relative to the top surface, having a second size substantially less than the first size, and having a second shape different than the first shape,   wherein at least one of the respective first and second inputs provides an “on” function and the other respective first and second input provides an “off” function.   
     
     
         2 . The patient remote control of  claim 1 , wherein the implantable medical device comprises an implantable pulse generator for treating obstructive sleep apnea. 
     
     
         3 . The patient remote control of  claim 1 , wherein the circuitry includes a communication module to wireless communicate with at least the implantable medical device. 
     
     
         4 . The patient remote control of  claim 1 , wherein the housing has a generally flat bottom surface and the top surface is sloped from a first end having a first elevation to a second end having a second elevation greater than the first elevation, with the first input being adjacent the first end and the second input being closer to the second end than the first input. 
     
     
         5 . The patient remote control of  claim 1 , comprising:
 a third electronic input raised relative to the top surface and interposed between the first input and the second input, having a third size different than the first and second sizes, and having a third shape different than the first and second shapes.   
     
     
         6 . The patient remote control of  claim 5 , wherein the second input is spaced apart from the third input by a first distance and the first input is spaced apart from the third input by a second distance, wherein the first distance is substantially greater than the second distance. 
     
     
         7 . The patient remote control of  claim 5 , wherein the first input and the third input are generally centered along a central longitudinal axis of the housing extending between the first and second ends of the housing, and the second input is aligned parallel to but spaced laterally apart from the central longitudinal axis. 
     
     
         8 . The patient remote control of  claim 5 , wherein the third input comprises two elements spaced apart from each other and arranged to at least partially surround the first input, and one of the two elements provides an increase stimulation function and the other respective element provides a decrease stimulation function. 
     
     
         9 . The patient remote control of  claim 1  comprising:
 a first display element at least partially surrounding the first input, wherein the first display element provides illumination in a first color to represent an on state of the implantable medical device and in a second color to represent an off state of the implantable medical device. 
 
     
     
         10 . The patient remote control of  claim 1 , wherein the housing includes a bottom surface opposite the top surface, and comprising:
 a display on the bottom surface and including a linear array of visual indicators indicative of a relative stimulation strength setting in which an increased number of active visual indicators corresponds to a relatively higher intensity of stimulation.   
     
     
         11 . The patient remote control of  claim 1 , wherein the first shape of the first input is generally rectangular, and the first size of the first input comprises a first area larger than an area of an average patient's thumb print, and the second size of the second input comprises a second area generally equal to or less than the area of the average patient's thumb print. 
     
     
         12 . A patient remote control including:
 at least one input;   a communications module to wirelessly communicate with an implantable medical device, including sending at least one command identified via the at least one input and receiving a confirmation from the implantable medical device when the at least one command is accepted,   wherein the communications module includes a retry function to periodically repeat sending the at least one command until the confirmation is received, and wherein the retry function is configured to produce a notification regarding the at least one command.   
     
     
         13 . The patient remote control of  claim 12 , wherein the notification is communicated according to a type including at least one of a success indication function, a failure indication function, and a limit indication function. 
     
     
         14 . The patient remote control of  claim 12 , wherein the notification is communicated according to a mode including at least one of an audible indication function, a visual indication function, and a vibration indication function. 
     
     
         15 . The patient remote control of  claim 12 , wherein the communications module operates according to a low power, short range wireless communication protocol and the retry function repeats the at least one command for a frequency and number of iterations sufficient to enable positioning of the patient remote control, relative to a body in which the implantable medical device is implanted, after the at least one command is initiated. 
     
     
         16 . A patient management system associated with an implantable medical device, the system comprising:
 a display device in selective communication with a patient remote control, the display device including:
 a graphical user interface; and 
 a therapy manager, including a processor to execute machine readable instructions, stored in a non-volatile memory, to facilitate patient engagement via:
 a usage function to track at least details regarding use of the patient remote control in therapy; and 
 a goals function to communicate at least one therapy goal via the user interface based on at least the usage function. 
 
   
     
     
         17 . The patient management system of  claim 16 , wherein the goals function includes a weighting component to associate a weight with the at least one goal, wherein an amplitude of the weight is based on the degree to which a patient is adhering to the at least one goal. 
     
     
         18 . The patient management system of  claim 17 , wherein the goals function includes a feedback component to communicate to the patient, relative to the at least one goal, at least one of a positive reinforcement communication and an encourage improvement communication. 
     
     
         19 . The patient management system of  claim 16 , wherein the implantable medical device comprises an implantable pulse generator for treating obstructive sleep apnea via nerve stimulation. 
     
     
         20 . The patient management system of  claim 16 , wherein the display device includes a physician programmer. 
     
     
         21 . The patient management system of claim l 6 , wherein the display device includes a patient-controlled device. 
     
     
         22 . A patient remote control for an implantable medical device, comprising:
 a therapy manager to at least partially manage a therapy applied via the implantable medical device; and   a first input to initiate the therapy and a second input to terminate the therapy,   wherein the therapy manager includes a blood oxygenation sensor function to track and store patient blood oxygenation data.   
     
     
         23 . The patient remote control of  claim 22 , wherein the therapy manager includes a usage function to track and store information on patient use of the patient remote control to implement therapy via the implantable medical device. 
     
     
         24 . The patient remote control of  claim 22 , wherein the patient remote control forms part of a system further comprising a pulse oximeter selectively couplable to the patient remote control to provide the blood oxygenation data to the blood oxygenation sensor function. 
     
     
         25 . The patient remote control of  claim 22 , wherein the therapy manager is configured to modify a therapy parameter, or provide indications to modify a therapy parameter, based on at least the patient blood oxygenation data. 
     
     
         26 . The patient remote control of  claim 25  wherein the therapy manager is configured to calculate an oxygen desaturation index (ODI) based on the patient blood oxygenation data. 
     
     
         27 . The patient remote control of  claim 26 , wherein the therapy manager is configured to modify a therapy parameter, or provide indications to modify a therapy parameter, if the oxygen desaturation index exceeds a threshold. 
     
     
         28 . The patient remote control of  claim 26 , wherein the therapy manager is configured to modify a therapy parameter or provide indications to modify a therapy parameter if the oxygen desaturation index falls below a threshold. 
     
     
         29 . The patient remote control of  claim 25 , wherein the therapy parameter includes at least one of a stimulation amplitude, a stimulation pulse width, a stimulation rate, a stimulation duty cycle, a patient control amplitude limit, a patient control pulse width limit, a stimulation limit and a patient control rate limit. 
     
     
         30 . The patient remote control of  claim 22 , wherein the therapy comprises a sleep apnea therapy. 
     
     
         31 . The patient remote control of  claim 30 , wherein the implantable medical device comprises an implantable pulse generator for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. 
     
     
         32 . The patient remote control of  claim 25 , wherein the therapy manager is configured to communicate to a cloud resource at least one of the patient blood oxygenation data, the therapy parameter, or a modification to the therapy parameter for storage and access by at least one of a clinician and a patient.