Patent ID: 7672731

Claim:
An implantable medical device (IMD), comprising: a housing; at least two radio frequency (RF) antennas disposed external and adjacent the housing, each RF antenna configured to receive RF signals transmitted to the IMD from a remote RF signal source, wherein the RF antennas are spaced-apart from one another by a distance that is at least one quarter of the center frequency wavelength; an RF communication circuit disposed within the housing and configured to selectively receive the RF signals received by one or more of the RF antennas, wherein the RF communication circuit is configured to operate at a center frequency, the center frequency having a wavelength; and an antenna switch coupled between each of the RF antennas and the RF communication circuit, the antenna switch configured to receive a switch control signal and operable, in response thereto, to selectively couple the RF communication circuit to one of the RF antennas, whereby one of the RF antennas is an active antenna.