Patent ID: 7813801

Claim:
A system, comprising: an implantable medical device including a power source including: a rechargeable battery; a battery status monitor coupled to the rechargeable battery, the battery status monitor including a terminal voltage detector adapted to detect a terminal voltage of the rechargeable battery; a recharging controller coupled to the battery status monitor, the recharging controller adapted to control a process of recharging the rechargeable battery using the terminal voltage and including a phase controller, the process including a fast-charge phase and a trickle-charge phase, the phase controller adapted to initiate the fast-charge phase in response to a recharging command, to switch from the fast-charge phase to the trickle-charge phase when the terminal voltage reaches a predetermined phase-switch threshold voltage, and to terminate the trickle-charge phase when the terminal voltage reaches a predetermined end-of-charge threshold voltage; and a recharging circuit coupled to the recharging controller and the rechargeable battery, the recharging circuit including: a power receiver adapted to receive a power-transmission signal; and a power converter adapted to convert the power-transmission signal to a constant-current signal during the fast-charge phase and to a constant-voltage signal during the trickle-charge phase.