Patent ID: 7957805

Claim:
An implantable microstimulator, comprising: a housing defining an interior and an exterior; an electronic subassembly disposed in the interior of, and surrounded by, the housing; a plurality of conductive vias electrically coupled to the subassembly and extending from the interior to the exterior of the housing; an electrode arrangement disposed on the housing and comprising a flexible, non-conductive, polymer film substrate external to the housing and disposed over a portion of the exterior of the housing and forming a portion of an exterior surface of the microstimulator, and a plurality of thin electrodes disposed entirely on the film substrate and exposed on an exterior of the implantable microstimulator, wherein the plurality of electrodes are separated from the housing by the film substrate and the plurality of electrodes are coupled to the electronic subassembly through the plurality of conductive vias and are configured and arranged to stimulate adjacent tissue when implanted; and a plurality of conductors disposed on the film substrate and electrically coupling the plurality of electrodes to the plurality of conductive vias.