Wireless Pain Relief A Miniaturised Implantable Stimulator Powered and Controlled From Outside the Body

A US medical device company has patented a stimulation apparatus that delivers electrical therapy to implanted nerve or spinal targets while receiving both power and data wirelessly from an external system worn outside the body. The invention eliminates the need for a large implanted battery pack, enabling a far smaller and more flexible implantable component while maintaining the full therapeutic capabilities of a neuromodulation system.

The Problem

Implantable neurostimulation devices – used to manage chronic pain, movement disorders and other neurological conditions by delivering electrical impulses to targeted nerve tissue – have traditionally required substantial implanted hardware, including a relatively large pulse generator containing a battery. While these devices deliver real clinical benefit, the size of the implanted pulse generator creates practical challenges: surgical implantation is more invasive, placement options are limited, and the battery must eventually be replaced through a further surgical procedure.

Miniaturisation of the implanted components has been a long-standing engineering goal in the neuromodulation field. If the implanted device could be reduced to just the stimulation delivery element – eliminating the onboard battery – patients could benefit from less invasive implantation, more flexible placement options and the removal of battery replacement procedures from the care pathway. The challenge is delivering reliable power and bidirectional data communication through body tissue to a tiny implanted device without compromising the precision or reliability of the stimulation therapy.

What This Invention Does

Nalu Medical‘s stimulation apparatus consists of two coordinated components. The external system is worn outside the body and transmits signals wirelessly that carry both power and data to the implanted component. The implantable system receives these transmission signals and uses the received energy to deliver stimulation to the patient – without any onboard battery.

The external system handles the energy management and programming burden, while the implanted system focuses solely on receiving signals and translating them into therapeutic stimulation. This division of responsibility allows the implanted component to be extremely small and simple, while the external system can carry the more complex electronics, user interface and battery needed to support the therapy.

The system also supports methods for delivering stimulation energy – providing a procedural framework for how stimulation is initiated, adjusted and controlled through the wireless link between the two systems.

Key Features

Battery-free implantable system. By receiving power wirelessly from the external system, the implantable component requires no onboard battery – dramatically reducing its size and eliminating the need for battery replacement surgery.

Wireless power and data transmission. A single wireless link carries both the power needed to operate the implanted system and the data needed to program and control stimulation delivery – simplifying the communication architecture.

Miniaturised implant potential. Without a battery, the implanted component can be reduced to a size that enables placement in anatomical locations inaccessible to conventional pulse generators – expanding the therapeutic options available to patients and clinicians.

External system control. All programming, power management and operational control resides in the wearable external system, enabling easy updates, adjustments and monitoring without any interaction with the implanted component beyond the wireless link.

Stimulation delivery methods. The patent covers not just the apparatus but also methods of delivering stimulation energy through the wireless-powered implantable system, providing a comprehensive framework for clinical application.

Who Is Behind It?

Nalu Medical, Inc. is a San Diego-based medical device company specialising in miniaturised neurostimulation systems. The invention has a large team of inventors: Rushidev Buddha, Lakshmi Narayan Mishra, Charlotte Fitzgerald, Casey James O’Connell, Paul Freer, Logan Palmer, Lee Fason Hartley, Ayesha Patel, Manohar Diwakar Joshi, Daniel M. Pivonka, Xinting Lan, Brijesh Sirpatil, Christopher Linden and Sameer Tendulkar. This application is a divisional of AU 2020298574, originating from PCT/US2020/040766 filed 2 July 2020, with priority to US provisional applications from July and August 2019. The application is managed by Spruson & Ferguson in Sydney.

Why It Matters

Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent and economically costly health conditions globally. Neuromodulation therapies – particularly spinal cord stimulation – have proven highly effective for patients who have failed conventional treatments, but the burden of implanted hardware has limited access and acceptability for some patients. Miniaturised, battery-free systems that dramatically reduce implant size and eliminate battery replacement procedures could expand the population of patients who benefit from neuromodulation.

The wireless power delivery architecture also opens possibilities for novel stimulation targets – locations in the body where the size of conventional pulse generators would make implantation impractical or excessively invasive. With IPC classifications spanning electrical stimulation apparatus (A61N 1/00, A61N 1/18) and implantable stimulation systems (A61N 1/372), the patent covers the core hardware architecture of a next-generation neuromodulation platform.

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AU 2026201531 was published in the Australian Official Journal of Patents on 19 March 2026 and is open for public inspection. Patent applications represent inventions that are sought to be protected and do not necessarily reflect commercially available products.

Related Concepts

Wireless power transfer enables energy to be delivered across an air gap using electromagnetic induction or resonance, eliminating the need for physical connectors or implanted batteries. In neuromodulation, miniaturised implants that draw power wirelessly from an external wearable device can treat chronic pain and movement disorders with a greatly reduced surgical footprint – no battery to implant, charge, or eventually replace.