Patent ID: 8855784

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: an implantable medical device comprising: an implantable housing including a conductive portion; an implantable electrostimulation output circuit located within the housing, the electrostimulation output circuit including: one or more reference voltages coupled to a respective diode; a can electrode terminal configured to be controllably connected to the conductive portion of the housing, the can electrode terminal configured to be connected to the one or more reference voltages each via the respective diode; and a programmable switch control signal generator circuit configured to generate a control signal in response to one or more of a user-programmed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) mode or in response to a detected magnetic field in excess of a specified threshold and to output the control signal using a switch control output; and a switch, physically separate from the electrostimulation output circuit, located within the housing, and electrically coupled between the can electrode terminal and the conductive portion of the housing, the switch configured to controllably electrically isolate the conductive portion of the housing from the can electrode terminal of the electrostimulation output circuit in response to the control signal provided by the switch control output.