Patent ID: 7751881

Claim:
A method for treating cardiac fibrillation or cardiac tachycardia, said method comprising: implanting a controller-transmitter at a subcutaneous implantation site to generate acoustic energy, wherein the controller-transmitter comprises sensing electrodes that are configured to detect undesirable cardiac arrhythmias; implanting a receiver-defibrillator at a cardiac implantation site, wherein the receiver-defibrillator comprises one or more electrode assemblies adapted to deliver defibrillation energy to cardiac tissue; generating acoustic energy at the subcutaneous implantation site using the controller-transmitter; receiving said acoustic energy at the cardiac implantation site using the receiver-defibrillator; and using an external programmer to program one or more settings of the controller-transmitter; wherein said acoustic energy is converted to electrical energy by the receiver-defibrillator at a rate of 1-10 J/sec, stored at a level to produce appropriate amplitude, and delivered with an appropriate waveform sufficient to treat the cardiac fibrillation or cardiac tachycardia.