DONALD BRIAN JOHNSON
Pilots at Crystal Ct, Lino Lakes, MN

2008014, Jun 12, 2008

Nov 15, 2007

11/940734

Jeffrey T. Keacher - Stanford CA, US
Donald R. Johnson - Lino Lakes MN, US
Andrew H. Houchins - Lino Lakes MN, US
Theodore J. Stone - St. Louis Park MN, US

A61N 1/00

607 60

In general, the disclosure is directed towards a small telemetry device with a limited user interface that allows a patient to program an implantable medical device. The user interface may comprise a safe mode button. In some embodiments, a consumer electronic device with a more complex user interface may communicate with the implantable medical device via the telemetry device.

6584356, Jun 24, 2003

Jan 5, 2001

09/755425

Paul G. Wassmund - Bethel MN
Paul A. Penrose - Hastings MN
Donald Johnson - Lino Lakes MN
Jeffrey David Wilkinson - Vadnais Heights MN

Medtronic, Inc. - Minneapolis MN

A61N 120

607 30, 607 4, 607 9, 607 55

A method is provided, the method comprising controlling an implantable medical device using a controller using a pre-emptive real-time operating system (RTOS) having a scheduling mechanism utilizing a priority inheritance protocol, the controller having a firmware architecture allowing at least one of modular feature design, modular feature implementation, extensible feature design and extensible feature implementation. The device also comprises analyzing the pre-emptive real-time operating system (RTOS) using rate monotonic analysis, providing an interface with downloadable software for the implantable medical device and backing up at least some of the downloadable software using a non-volatile memory device, protecting the at least some of the downloadable software from a reset of the implantable medical device.

7774067, Aug 10, 2010

Apr 12, 2006

11/402652

Jeffrey T. Keacher - St. Paul MN, US
Steven M. Goetz - Brooklyn Center MN, US
Andrew H. Houchins - Lino Lakes MN, US
Theodore J. Stone - St. Louis Park MN, US
Donald R. Johnson - Lino Lakes MN, US
Shyam Gokaldas - Minneapolis MN, US

Medtronic, Inc. - Minneapolis MN

A61N 1/08

607 48, 607 46

Techniques for automatically generating neurostimulation therapy program groups are disclosed. The techniques may include receiving rating information and information describing actual therapy effects for a plurality of tested programs, and receiving target therapy data describing target therapy effects. The techniques may include automatically generating plurality of program groups based on the rating information and a comparison of actual effects to the target therapy effects. Actual effects and target therapy effects may be, for example, actual paresthesia areas and target paresthesia areas. The techniques may also include determining whether a sufficient number of programs have been tested to generate a desired number of programs groups and, if a sufficient number have not been tested, automatically generating additional programs based on the tested programs, and automatically generating program groups from the tested and automatically generated programs.

7848819, Dec 7, 2010

Nov 15, 2007

11/940573

Steven M. Goetz - Brooklyn Center MN, US
Donald R. Johnson - Lino Lakes MN, US
Touby A. Drew - Golden Valley MN, US
Andrew H. Houchins - Lino Lakes MN, US
Jeffrey T. Keacher - Stanford CA, US
Theodore J. Stone - St. Louis Park MN, US
Earle T. Roberts - Maple Grove MN, US

Medtronic, Inc. - Minneapolis MN

A61N 1/08

607 59, 607 31, 607 63

Techniques for increasing the safety of medical device programming using general purpose hardware, such as a general purpose personal computer, are described. Some embodiments include a watchdog module that is serviced by the general purpose hardware, a mediator module that monitors programming instructions from the general purpose hardware, and/or a safe mode input that may be activated by a user. In some embodiments, a system comprises an implantable medical device, an intermediate device, a computing device that communicates with the implantable medical device via the intermediate device. The intermediate device may provide any one or more of the safety measures described above. In some embodiments, the intermediate device is dedicated hardware, and critical programming functions are provided by the intermediate device, rather than the general purpose hardware. In some embodiments, an implantable medical device provides one or more of the above-discussed safety features, rather than a separate intermediate device.

7885712, Feb 8, 2011

Nov 15, 2007

11/940604

Steven M. Goetz - Brooklyn Center MN, US
Donald R. Johnson - Lino Lakes MN, US
Touby A. Drew - Golden Valley MN, US
Andrew H. Houchins - Lino Lakes MN, US
Jeffrey T. Keacher - Stanford CA, US
Theodore J. Stone - St. Louis Park MN, US
Earle T. Roberts - Maple Grove MN, US

Medtronic, Inc. - Minneapolis MN

A61N 1/08

607 30, 607 31, 607 32, 607 60

Techniques for increasing the safety of medical device programming using general purpose hardware, such as a general purpose personal computer, are described. In some embodiments, a system includes an intermediate computing device comprising an applications module. Information from the applications module, such as instructions for an implantable medical device (IMD), may be presented to a user via a user input terminal that is separate from the intermediate computing device. A user may interact with the user input terminal to select an instruction from the applications module, and the intermediate computing device may transmit the selected instruction to the IMD. In some embodiments, the intermediate computing device comprises a web server and the user input terminal comprises a web browser configured to access the web server. In other embodiments, the intermediate computing device comprises a client server and the user input terminal comprises a client.

2007024, Oct 18, 2007

Apr 12, 2006

11/402657

Steven Goetz - Brooklyn Center MN, US
Donald Johnson - Lino Lakes MN, US
Andrew Houchins - Lino Lakes MN, US
Jeffrey Keacher - St. Paul MN, US
Theodore Stone - St. Louis Park MN, US
Kenneth Heruth - Edina MN, US
Gary King - Fridley MN, US
Roy Testerman - New Hope MN, US

Medtronic, Inc. - Minneapolis MN

G06F 9/44

717135000

Techniques that involve application of one or more rules to a “parent” program to generate a plurality of different “child” programs are described. Each of the rules may define a respective electrode configuration modification, and each child program may be a variation of the parent based on a modification of the electrode configuration of the parent according to one of the rules. The systems or devices may generate further generations of child programs from a previous generation child program using the same one or more rules. The child programs may be provided to a user, so that the user may test the efficacy of the new programs, assisting the user in identifying desirable programs. The child programs may be relatively minor variations of the parent program, and the user may “fine tune” a generally desirable parent program by testing the child programs.

8630715, Jan 14, 2014

Dec 19, 2011

13/330016

Steven M. Goetz - North Oaks MN, US
Donald R. Johnson - Lino Lakes MN, US
Andrew H. Houchins - Lino Lakes MN, US
Jeffrey T. Keacher - Stanford CA, US
Theodore J. Stone - St. Louis Park MN, US
Kenneth T. Heruth - Edina MN, US
Gary W. King - Fridley MN, US
Roy L. Testerman - New Hope MN, US

Medtronic, Inc. - Minneapolis MN

A61N 1/372

607 59, 607 30, 607117

Techniques that involve application of one or more rules to a “parent” program to generate a plurality of different “child” programs are described. Each of the rules may define a respective electrode configuration modification, and each child program may be a variation of the parent based on a modification of the electrode configuration of the parent according to one of the rules. The systems or devices may generate further generations of child programs from a previous generation child program using the same one or more rules. The child programs may be provided to a user, so that the user may test the efficacy of the new programs, assisting the user in identifying desirable programs. The child programs may be relatively minor variations of the parent program, and the user may “fine tune” a generally desirable parent program by testing the child programs.