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The BCI Briefing

Patent familyLikely BCI-related

Phase alignment of ECAPs

Filed by Medtronic, first in 2020.

Granted · EP, USView in Espacenet
Earliest priority
2 Sep 2020 · United States
Status
A grant was published in European Patent Office, United States, first on 6 May 2026
Published in
United States · International (PCT) · China · Australia · European Patent Office
Registered as
Medtronic, Inc. · MEDTRONIC INC · 美敦力公司
Inventors
Dinsmoor, David A. · Bink, Hank · Hageman, Kristin N. · D·a·丁斯莫尔 · H·宾克 · K·n·哈格曼
Family
DOCDB 80356221 · 9 publications

What it concerns

Systems, devices, methods, and techniques are described for phase misalignment correction for evoked compound action potential (ECAP) measurement from alternating polarity stimulation. An example system includes processing circuitry that receives a first ECAP signal elicited by a first polarity configuration of stimulus electrodes and receives a second ECAP signal elicited by a second polarity configuration of the stimulus electrodes opposite the first polarity configuration. The processing circuitry also generates an adjusted second ECAP signal by temporally aligning at least a portion of the second ECAP signal to at least a portion of the first ECAP signal, and generates a composite ECAP signal based on the first ECAP signal and the adjusted second ECAP signal. Additionally, the processing circuitry outputs the composite ECAP signal.

The abstract as published by the patent office, from US2022062638A1. It describes the invention; it is not a statement of what is protected.

Protection themes

  • Interface and electrodes

    Electrodes and arrays · Peripheral interfaces

  • Telemetry

    Wireless telemetry

  • Stimulation

    Stimulation · Closed loop

What the filing appears to be about, read by published rules from its title, abstract and classification codes (A61B5/388, A61B5/4076, A61B5/4836, A61B5/686, A61B5/6877). The claims define what a patent protects, and they are not read here.

Why it matters

Interface and electrodes
Everything downstream works with what the contacts pick up. Their number, size and distance from the neurons set the ceiling on the signal. The problem behind it: more contacts, closer to neurons, that still record after years in tissue that reacts to them.
Telemetry
Thousands of channels produce more data than a low-power radio can carry raw, so what is sent, and how, decides what the system can use. The problem behind it: high data rates at low power through tissue, reliably and securely.
Stimulation
Restoring sensation, sight or movement needs information going in, and a therapy that adapts needs to sense and stimulate at once. The problem behind it: evoking a precise, stable effect without damaging tissue or electrodes, and without blinding the recording.

Why the layer matters to the field, not a judgement of this filing. A patent family shows that protection was sought. It does not show that the technology was built, is used in a product, or works in people. The whole stack

The family

One invention, published 9 times in 5 offices. Each publication opens in Espacenet.

Timeline

  1. 2 Sep 2020First filingEarliest priority, at United States. The family is counted in this year.
  2. 23 Aug 2021ApplicationFiled at United States.
  3. 23 Aug 2021Owner recordedUnited States, on US2022062638A1: assignment; owner named: MEDTRONIC, INC., MINNESOTA.
  4. 24 Aug 2021ApplicationsFiled at International (PCT), China, Australia, European Patent Office.
  5. 3 Mar 2022First publicationUS2022062638A1, United States.
  6. 6 May 2026Grant publishedEP4208250B1, European Patent Office.
  7. 15 Sep 2026Grant publishedUS12734361B2, United States.
  8. 22 Sep 2026Office recordEuropean Patent Office, on EP4208250A1: lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] (PL).

Dates as the offices published them. Office records are in the offices' own words and are a selection: refusals, lapses and withdrawals, and records that name an owner. Each concerns one member of the family, not the family as a whole, and another member in the same office may stand. Whether a patent is in force today is not assessed.

Sources

  • Bibliographic data, family members and office records: European Patent Office, Open Patent Services (the DOCDB and INPADOC databases), read 7 Oct 2026.
  • The record itself, with its claims and description: US2022062638A1 in Espacenet
  • Counted as a BCI patent family: classified A61N1/0531 (brain cortex electrodes); filed by Medtronic, Inc., an organisation already in the graph. How families are found and judged