Patent ID: 8406873

Claim:
A high voltage switching and control circuit for an implantable medical device (IMD), comprising: a high voltage (HV) node, the HV node being one of either a high voltage positive (HVP) node adapted to receive a positive high voltage signal from a high energy storage source, or a high voltage negative (HVN) node adapted to receive a negative high voltage signal from a high energy storage source; first and second output terminals adapted to be connected to electrodes for delivering high voltage energy; first and second Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCR) switches connected in series with one another and connected to the HV node, the first and second SCR switches connected to the first and second output terminals respectively, the first and second SCR switches connecting the HV node to the first and second output terminals respectively; the first and second SCR switches having gating terminals; and a control circuit connected to the gating terminals programmed to deliver first and second gating signals to turn ON the first and second SCR switches, respectively, the control circuit temporally offsetting the first and second gating signals to turn ON the first and second SCR switches in a serial delayed manner such that the second switch is turned ON before the first switch and no current flows to the second switch before the first switch is turned ON.