Patent ID: 8278871

Claim:
A system, comprising: a secondary coil implantable within a living body; a rechargeable power source; and a recharging device external to the living body configured to induce in an open-loop manner a sequence of pulses in a primary coil that is coupled to the secondary coil, wherein the recharging device is not receiving feedback associated with recharging the rechargeable power source, the sequence including high-amplitude pulses alternating with low-amplitude pulses, each high-amplitude pulse having an amplitude selected to result in transfer of charge to the rechargeable power source during times of poor coupling between the primary coil and the secondary coil, each low-amplitude pulse having an amplitude selected to result in transfer of charge to the rechargeable power source during times of good coupling between the primary coil and the secondary coil, and wherein the sequence of pulses is selected to prevent violation of a limiting condition associated with recharging the rechargeable power source when recharging occurs in the open-loop manner.