Stimulation prosthesis with configurable data link

Abstract

The present application discloses systems and methods for operating a stimulation prosthesis that contains a command module and a stimulator module that communicate by a data link. The stimulation prosthesis has at least two operating states: a configuration state and a stimulation state. In one embodiment, the stimulation prosthesis may use a communication protocol that is suitable for the current operating state. The risk of unintended transitions between the operating states due to data transmission errors is substantially eliminated. And in accordance with another embodiment, in addition to switching stimulation strategies, the stimulation prosthesis may also switch stimulation data formats to a format that is optimized for the new stimulation strategy.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A stimulator module comprising:
 a receiver configured for receiving data that is transmitted by a command module across a data link, wherein the received data includes stimulation data and configuration data; and   a data link processor configured for operating any one of at least two states, wherein:
 the at least two states comprise a stimulation state and a configuration state; 
 operating in the stimulation state comprises generating one or more stimulation pulses by processing the stimulation data according to one of (i) a first stimulation protocol, the first stimulation protocol defining at least a first format of stimulation data for implementing a first stimulation strategy for stimulating one or more channels of the stimulation module, or (ii) a second stimulation protocol, the second stimulation protocol defining at least a second format of stimulation data for implementing a second stimulation strategy for stimulating one or more channels of the stimulation module, wherein the first stimulation strategy and the second stimulation strategy are different stimulation strategies; 
 processing stimulation data according to the first stimulation strategy comprises the data link processor (a) processing the received data to determine an amplitude for each of M channels of the stimulation module, (b) based on the determined amplitudes, selecting N of the M channels based on an N-of-M stimulation strategy, and (c) for each of the N selected channels, generating one of the one or more stimulation pulses, wherein N and M are positive integers and M is greater than N; 
   operating in the configuration state comprises processing the configuration data according to a configuration protocol, wherein the configuration data includes instructions for processing the stimulation data according to one of the first stimulation protocol or the second stimulation protocol, and   the first stimulation protocol, the second stimulation protocol, and the configuration protocol are different protocols.   
     
     
       2. The stimulator module of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the configuration data includes an indication of a conditioning level,   the stimulator module is further configured to apply conditioning pulses to at least some stimulation channels between application of successive electric signals to the stimulation channels, and   the conditioning pulses have an amplitude about equal to the conditioning level.   
     
     
       3. The stimulator module of  claim 1 , wherein a stimulation rate of the stimulation module depends at least in part on whether the data link processor processes stimulation data according to (a) the first stimulation protocol or (b) the second stimulation protocol. 
     
     
       4. The stimulation module of  claim 3 , wherein the stimulation rate is greater when the data link processor processes stimulation data according to the first stimulation protocol than when the data link processor processes stimulation data according to the second stimulation protocol. 
     
     
       5. The stimulator module of  claim 1 , wherein, for a given set of stimulation data, a number of channels stimulated by the stimulation module depends at least in part on whether the data link processor processes stimulation data according to (a) the first stimulation protocol or (b) the second stimulation protocol. 
     
     
       6. The stimulation module of  claim 5 , wherein the number of channels is greater when the data link processor processes stimulation data according to the first stimulation protocol than when the data link processor processes stimulation data according to the second stimulation protocol. 
     
     
       7. The stimulation module of  claim 1 , wherein the configuration protocol has a higher degree of error control than either the first stimulation protocol or the second stimulation protocol. 
     
     
       8. The stimulation module of  claim 1 , wherein the second stimulation protocol comprises implementing an interpolation technique, and wherein, to implement the interpolation technique, the data link processor is further configured for:
 determining a plurality of stimulation values included in a set of processed stimulation data; and   determining, for at least one stimulation channel of the stimulation module, an amplitude of an electrical signal by interpolating between any two individual amplitude values in the plurality of amplitude values.   
     
     
       9. The stimulation module of  claim 1 , wherein the N-of-M strategy is an advanced combination encoder strategy for stimulating the one or more channels. 
     
     
       10. The stimulation module of  claim 1 , wherein the N-of-M strategy is a spectral peak strategy for stimulating the one or more channels. 
     
     
       11. The stimulation module of  claim 1 , wherein the data link processor is further configured for, prior to processing the configuration data:
 (a) operating the stimulation module in the stimulation state;   (b) determining that the stimulation data is not received within a period of time after receiving previous stimulation data; and   (c) responsive to the determining, operating the stimulation module in the configuration state.   
     
     
       12. The stimulation module of  claim 1 , wherein operating in the stimulation state further comprises processing additional stimulation data according to one or more additional stimulation protocols, wherein the one or more additional stimulation protocols differ from each of the first stimulation protocol and the second stimulation protocol. 
     
     
       13. A hearing prosthesis, comprising:
 a stimulator module configured to generate stimulation signals for delivery to a recipient of the hearing prosthesis; and   a command module configured to send configuration data and stimulation data to the stimulator module via a data link, and   wherein the command module is configured to use a first communication protocol to send the configuration data to the stimulator module and to use a second communication protocol to send the stimulation data to the stimulator module, and wherein the first and second communication protocols are different from one another,   wherein the first communication protocol has a higher degree of error control than the second communication protocol.   
     
     
       14. The hearing prosthesis of claim 13, wherein the stimulation signals are based on a received audio signal, and wherein the stimulation data comprises parameters of the stimulation signals that vary dynamically according to the received audio signal. 
     
     
       15. The hearing prosthesis of claim 13, wherein the stimulation signals are based on a received audio signal, and wherein the configuration data comprises parameters of the stimulation signals that do not vary dynamically according to the received audio signal. 
     
     
       16. The hearing prosthesis of claim 13, wherein the data link is a wireless link. 
     
     
       17. The hearing prosthesis of claim 16, wherein the data link is a transcutaneous radio frequency (RF) inductive link. 
     
     
       18. The hearing prosthesis of claim 13, wherein the command module and the stimulator module are implantable in the recipient. 
     
     
       19. The hearing prosthesis of claim 13, wherein the command module is an external component configured to he worn by the recipient. 
     
     
       20. A method, comprising:
 sending, via a data link, configuration data from a command module to a stimulator module of a hearing prosthesis using a first communication protocol; and   sending, via the data link, stimulation data from the command module to the stimulator module using a second communication protocol,   wherein the first and second communication protocols are different from one another and wherein the first communication protocol has a higher degree of error control than the second communication protocol.   
     
     
       21. The method of claim 20, comprising:
 detecting absence of stimulation data across the data link for a predetermined duration of time; and   based on the absence of stimulation data for a predetermined duration of time, determining a reconfiguration of the stimulator module.   
     
     
       22. The method of claim 20, wherein the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol have different data formats. 
     
     
       23. A method, comprising:
 sending, via a data link, first stimulation data for a first sound coding strategy from a command module to a stimulator module of a hearing prosthesis using a first communication protocol;   generating, at the stimulator module, first stimulation pulses for delivery to a recipient of the hearing prosthesis using the first stimulation data;   determining, at the command module, a reconfiguration of the stimulator module for use of a second sound coding strategy that is different from the first sound coding strategy;   sending, via the data link, second stimulation data for a second sound coding strategy from the command module to the stimulator module using a second communication protocol that is different from the first communication protocol; and   generating, at the stimulator module, second stimulation pulses for delivery to the recipient of the hearing prosthesis using the second stimulation data.   
     
     
       24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol have different data formats. 
     
     
       25. The method of claim 23, wherein determining a reconfiguration of the stimulator module comprises:
 sending, via the data link, configuration data identifying the second sound coding strategy; and   initiating the second sound coding strategy at the stimulator module.   
     
     
       26. The method of claim 25, wherein prior to receiving the configuration data, the method comprises:
 detecting absence of first stimulation data across the data link for a predetermined duration of time;   in response to detecting the absence of the first stimulation data for the predetermined duration of time, initiating a reset of internal registers in the stimulator module; and initiating a configuration state at the stimulator module.   
     
     
       27. The method of claim 25, wherein sending the configuration data identifying the second sound coding strategy comprises:
 sending the configuration data using a third communication protocol that is different from the first and second communication protocols.   
     
     
       28. The method of claim 27, wherein the third communication protocol has a higher degree of error control than either the first or second communication protocols. 
     
     
       29. A hearing prosthesis, comprising:
 a stimulator module configured to generate stimulation signals for delivery to a recipient of the hearing prosthesis, wherein the stimulator module is configured to generate the stimulation signals according to a current sound coding strategy, wherein the current sound coding strategy is selected from among a plurality of different sound coding strategies; and   a command module configured to send stimulation data to the stimulator module via a data link, wherein the stimulation data is sent using a communication protocol that varies based on the current sound coding strategy of the stimulator module.   
     
     
       30. The hearing prosthesis of claim 29, wherein the plurality of different sound coding strategies comprise at least a first and second sound coding strategies, wherein during a first time period the stimulator module generates first stimulation pulses for delivery to a recipient of the hearing prosthesis using the first sound coding strategy and the during a second time period the stimulator module generates second stimulation pulses for delivery to a recipient of the hearing prosthesis using the second sound coding strategy. 
     
     
       31. The hearing prosthesis of claim 30, wherein during the first time period the command module is configured to send first stimulation data to the stimulator module using a first communication protocol, and during the second time period the command module is configured to send second stimulation data to the stimulator module using a second communication protocol that is different from the first communication protocol. 
     
     
       32. The hearing prosthesis of claim 31, wherein the first stimulation data and the second stimulation data are each based on received audio signals, and wherein the first stimulation data and the second stimulation data each comprises parameters of the first and second stimulation pulses, respectively, that vary dynamically according to the received audio signals. 
     
     
       33. The hearing prosthesis of claim 29, wherein a data format of the communication protocol varies based on the current sound coding strategy of the stimulator module. 
     
     
       34. A hearing prosthesis, comprising: a command module; a stimulator module, comprising:
 a receiver configured to receive data transmitted across a data link from a command module; and
 a data link processor configured to operate the stimulator module in first and second operating states, wherein the first operating state of the stimulator module is a configuration state in which data received by the receiver via the data link is configuration data and the second operating state of the stimulator module is a stimulation state in which data received by the receiver is stimulation data for use in generating stimulation signals for delivery to a recipient and 
   wherein the configuration data is sent by the command module using a first communication protocol and the stimulation data is sent by the command module using a second communication protocol, and wherein the first communication protocol has a higher degree of error control than the second communication protocol.   
     
     
       35. The hearing prosthesis of claim 34, wherein first state of the stimulator module is a first stimulation state in which the stimulator module receives first stimulation data via the data link and generates first stimulation pulses from the first stimulation data according to a first sound coding strategy, and wherein the second state of the stimulator module is a second stimulation state in which the stimulator module receives second stimulation data via the data link and generates second stimulation pulses from the second stimulation data according to a second sound coding strategy. 
     
     
       36. The hearing prosthesis of claim 35, wherein the first stimulation data is sent by the command module using a first communication protocol and the second stimulation data is sent by the command module using a second communication protocol that is different from the first communication protocol. 
     
     
       37. The hearing prosthesis of claim 36, wherein the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol have different data formats.