Patent ID: 6580949
Filing Date: 2003-06-17
Classification: A61N

Abstract:
An implantable electrode lead having a lead body for performing at least one of transmission of an electrical stimulation pulse generated by an implantable device to a living body and transmission of an electrical signal from the living body to the implantable device, said lead body having at least one electrode at a distal end thereof,a connector for mechanically and electrically connecting a proximal position of said lead body at an opposite end of said lead body from said at least one electrode to the implantable device, wherein said lead body comprises a conductor coil, said conductor coil being formed from a helical winding of insulation-coated electrical conduction wire, said electrical conduction wire being a multi-layered wire, and said helical winding defining a central cavity of said conductor coil, and an outer surface of said conductor coil being covered by an insulating sheath made of an electrically insulating resin material, a flexible reinforcing tube shaped to deform into a desired shape and being positioned in said central cavity of said conductor coil, said flexible reinforcing tube having a rigidity that is greater than a rigidity of a combination of said conductor coil and said insulating sheath such that said flexible reinforcing tube maintains a predetermined portion of said lead body in the desired shape, said lead body having a size not more than 2 mm, the resin material of which said insulating sheath is made being a flexible material having a Shore hardness of less than 80A, said conductor coil having a spring index D/d of more than 7.8, wherein D/d represents average diameter of coil/diameter of conductor wire, said conductor coil comprising a multi-wire coil obtained by winding a plurality of insulation-coated conductor wires in the same average diameter, and said electrode being divided into a plurality of electrode portions, with one of the wires of said multi-wire coil transmitting one electrical signal and remaining wires of said multi-wire coil transmitting remaining electrical signals.