Patent ID: 7856265

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: an implantable medical device, the implantable medical device including: a printed circuit board having a wiring layer disposed on a dielectric board, the wiring layer coupled to: a voltage source, including first and second terminals coupled to the wiring layer; and a functional circuit, including first and second terminals adapted to be operatively coupled to the first and second terminals of the voltage source via the wiring layer; the wiring layer of the printed circuit board comprising: a fuse defined by the wiring layer, the fuse coupled in series with one of the first and second terminals of the voltage source and one of the first and second terminals of the functional circuit; and a plasma switch, adapted such that when power in the fuse exceeds a fault power threshold, an arcing current is conducted from the fuse to a node at an other one of the first and second terminals of the voltage source such that the current is directed away from the functional circuit, wherein the printed circuit board comprises an insulator layer overlying the fuse and the plasma switch of the wiring layer.