Adjustable implant and method of use

Abstract

A system includes an adjustable implant configured for implantation internally within a subject and includes a magnet configured for rotation about an axis of rotation, the magnet operatively coupled to a drive transmission configured to alter a dimension of the adjustable implant. The system includes an external adjustment device configured for placement on or adjacent to the skin of the subject having at least one magnet configured for rotation, the external adjustment device further comprising a motor configured to rotate the at least one magnet and an encoder. Rotation of the at least one magnet of the external adjustment device effectuates rotational movement of the magnet of the adjustable implant and alters the dimension of the adjustable implant Drive control circuitry is configured to receive an input signal from the encoder.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 an adjustable implant configured for implantation within a subject, the adjustable implant comprising:
 a housing; 
 a magnet disposed within the housing and configured for rotation about an axis of rotation; and 
 a drive transmission operatively coupled to the magnet and configured to alter a dimension of the adjustable implant, and 
   an external adjustment device configured to be positioned outside the subject and to interact with the adjustable implant, the external adjustment device comprising:
 a motor; 
 at least one permanent magnet configured to rotate in response to actuation of the motor; 
 an encoder configured to monitor positional information of the at least one permanent magnet; and 
 a drive control circuit configured to receive an input signal from the encoder that corresponds to the positional information of the at least one permanent magnet and actuate operation of the motor based at least in part on the input signal, thereby rotating the at least one permanent magnet, 
   wherein rotation of the at least one permanent magnet effectuates rotation of the magnet of the adjustable implant and alters the dimension of the adjustable implant.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the drive transmission comprises a lead screw operatively coupled to the magnet and a nut moveable along a length of the lead screw. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the encoder is an optically-based encoder or an audio-based encoder. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the encoder comprises a light source and a light receiver operatively coupled to the light source. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one permanent magnet comprises a first permanent magnet having a first axis of rotation and a second permanent magnet having a second axis of rotation different from the first axis of rotation. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the input signal corresponds to an angular position of one of the first and second permanent magnets. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the drive control circuit is configured to control at least one of a speed and a rotational direction of the motor. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the drive control circuit is further configured to receive a drive instruction for adjusting the adjustable implant. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the drive instruction comprises a numerical value representing an adjusted dimension of the adjustable implant. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the drive instruction comprises a numerical value representing an increase or a decrease in the dimension of the adjustable implant. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the increase or the decrease in the numerical value representing the dimension of the adjustable implant is proportional to a number of turns of the magnet of the adjustable implant. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the drive control circuit is operatively coupled to one or more of a display, a keyboard, an input device for inputting a numerical value representing an adjusted dimension of the adjustable implant. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the drive control circuit comprises a programmable logic controller. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising a feedback device operatively coupled to the magnet of the adjustable implant and configured to produce a feedback indicative of information relating to rotation of the magnet about the axis of rotation. 
     
     
         15 . A system comprising:
 an adjustable implant configured for implantation within a subject, the adjustable implant comprising:
 a housing; 
 a magnetically responsive unit disposed within the housing and configured to generate rotation about an axis of rotation; and 
 a drive transmission operatively coupled to the magnetically responsive unit and configured to alter a dimension of the adjustable implant in response to the rotation, and 
   an external adjustment device configured to be positioned externally relative to the subject and to interact with the adjustable implant, the external adjustment device comprising:
 an actuating member; 
 at least one permanent magnet configured to rotate in response to actuation of the actuating member; 
 means for monitoring positional information of the at least one permanent magnet and providing an input signal that corresponds to the positional information of the at least one permanent magnet; and 
 a drive control circuit configured to receive the input signal and actuate operation of the actuating member based at least in part on the input signal, thereby rotating the at least one permanent magnet, 
   wherein rotation of the at least one permanent magnet effectuates rotation of the magnetically responsive unit and alters the dimension of the adjustable implant.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the magnetically responsive unit comprises a magnet. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the magnetically responsive unit comprises a resonance beam, and the at least one permanent magnet comprises a magnet having a resonating frequency identical to a resonating frequency of the resonance beam. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the actuating member is a motor and the drive control circuit is configured to control at least one of a speed and a rotational direction of the motor. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the drive control circuit is further configured to receive a drive instruction for adjusting the adjustable implant. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the drive instruction comprises a numerical value representing an adjusted dimension of the adjustable implant.