A biomedical percutaneous connector is described which includes a socket having an enlarged disk shaped base portion for being implanted below the patient's skin and cylindrical portion which is integral with the base portion and extends outwardly of the skin. A conical recess in an upper end of the cylindrical portion has a magnet located in the base. Inclined conductive strips are carried on an upper end of the cylindrical portion to which electrical conductors are attached and extend into the patient's body. A complementary shaped plug which also has electrical contacts provided thereon is adapted to fit within the conical recess of the socket. The plug is held in the socket by magnetic force

Owens, L. J.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

United States Patent ~ 9 1  
Owens 
[ I l l  4,025,964 
[451 May 31, 1977 
[ 54) MAGNETIC ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS 
FOR BIOMEDICAL PERCUTANEOUS 
IMPLANTS 
[ 751 Inventor: Lester J. Owens, Titusville, Fla. 
[73] Assignee: The United States of America as 
represented by the Administrator of 
the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration, Washington, D.C. 
[ 22 1 Filed: July 30, 1976 
[21] Appl. No.: 709,849 
[52] 
[SI ] 
[58] 
U.S. CI. ....................................... 3/1; 128/1 R; 
339/12 R 
Int. CL2 ........................................... A61F 1/00 
Field of Search ............. 339/12 R, 12 G ,  12 L, 
339/12 S, 27,46,48,47 R, 47 C, 65,64 R, 64 
M, 222, 126 R, 126 J; 128/1 R; 3/1 
[561 References Cited 
UNITED STATES PATENTS 
3,521,216 7/1970 Tolegian .......................... 339/12 R 
3,663,965 5/1972 Lee, Jr. et al. ............................ 3/1 
3,808,577 4/1974 Mathauser ....................... 339/12 R 
3,810,258 5/1974 Mathauser ....................... 339/12 R 
3,952.726 4/1976 Hennig et al. ..................... 128/1 R 
Primary Examiner-Roy Lake 
Assistant Examiner-DeWalden W. Jones 
Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James 0. Harrell; John R. 
Manning . 
ABSTRACT [571 
A biomedical percutaneous connector for providing 
electrical connection between electrical conductors 
carried externally of a patient’s body and electrical 
conductors implanted within the body of the patient. 
The connector includes a socket having an enlarged 
disk shaped base portion for being implanted below the 
patient’s skin. A cylindrical portion is integral with the 
base portion and extends outwardly of the skin. A coni- 
cal recess is provided in an upper end of the cylindrical 
portion and has a magnet located in the base thercof. 
Inclined conductive strips are carried on an upper end 
of the cylindrical portion adjacent the conical recess to 
which electrical conductors are attached and extend 
into the patient’s body. A complementary shaped plug 
which also has electrical contacts provided thereon is 
adapted to fit within the conical recess of the socket. 
Guide grooves and protrusions are provided on the 
socket and plug for aiding in positioning the plug rela- 
tive to the socket. The plug is held in the socket by the 
magnetic force between the magnet located in the base 
of the cylindrical portion and magnetic material pro- 
vided in the plug. 
6 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure 
I 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19770018828 2020-03-20T07:24:07+00:00Z
U.S. Patent May31, 1977 4,825,964 
I I 
4,025,964 
1 
MAGNETIC ELECTRICAL CONNECTORS FOR 
BIOMEDICAL PERCUTANEOUS IMPLANTS 
ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION 
The invention described herein was made by an em- 
ployee of the United States Government and may be 
manufactured and used by or for the Government for 
governmental purposes without payment of any royal- 
ties thereon or therefor. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an electrical biomed- 
ical percutaneous connector and more particularly to a 
connector which includes a socket and plug which can 
be readily connected and disconnected. 
Electrical plugs and biomedical percutaneous im- 
plants are well known; however, one problem with such 
devices is to provide an implanted connector which can 
be readily connected and disconnected. The various 
percutaneous implants which have been developed in 
the past normally protrude beyond the skin of the pa- 
tient. These protrusions created a problem in that they 
have a tendency to snag on clothing and bedding. An- 
other difficulty with percutaneous implants heretofore 
developed was in maintaining such in satisfactory hy- 
genic conditions. 
One particular bacteria-resistance percutaneous con- 
duit device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,663,965. 
While this device facilitates passage of wires and tubes 
through the external epidermis in a hygenic manner, 
there is no means of connecting and disconnecting the 
wires therefrom. 
Magnetic plugs and socket assemblies such as dis- 
closed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,521,216 and 3,810,258 are 
well known, however, there is no showing in any of 
these references of a bacteria-resistant plug and socket 
assembly which can be readily implanted below the 
skin of a patient while permitting quick connection and 
disconnection. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a biomedical percutaneous 
connector for providing electrical connection between 
electrical conduits carried externally of the body and 
electrical conduits implanted within the body of a pa- 
tient. The connector includes a socket having an en- 
larged disk shaped base portion for being implanted 
below the skin of a patient. A cylindrical portion inte- 
gral with the base member extends outwardly there- 
from and passes through the skin of the patient. A 
conical recess is provided in an upper end of the cylin- 
drical portion and has a magnet carried adjacent the 
base thereof. Inclined conductive strips are carried in 
an upper end of said cylindrical portion adjacent the 
conical recess. Electrical conductors are connected to 
the conductive strips and extend through the cylindri- 
cal portion and said base portion. 
A non-conductive plug which is complementary in 
shape to the conical recess is provided for being in- 
serted into the socket. The plug includes an inclined 
wall provided adjacent a bottom portion of a non-con- 
ductive body which has inclined electrically conductive 
elements thereon that mate with the inclined conduc- 
tive strips carried within the recess so that when the 
plug is inserted in the socket, a sure and certain electri- 
cal connection is provided therebetween. Electrical 
conductors are connected to the conductive elements 
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of the plug and extend through the non-conductive 
body. 
A magnetic material is carried adjacent the bottom 
portion of the non-conductive body of the plug so that 
as the plug is inserted within the socket, the magnetic 
force between the magnetic material and the magnet 
holds the plug in the socket. 
The socket and the plug also have cooperating guide 
slots and protrusions so as to prevent the plug from 
rotating within the socket once inserted therein and for 
also aiding in properly placing the plug within the 
socket. 
Accordingly, it is an important object of the present 
invention to provide a percutaneous implant which is 
relatively safe in that it can be disconnected readily 
without damaging the implanted female socket. 
Still another important object of the present inven- 
tion is to provide an implanted connector which mini- 
mizes accidental tearing of the implant from the pa- 
tient's skin. 
Still another important object of the present inven- 
tion is to provide a biomedical percutaneous connector 
which includes a socket that can be readily cleaned. 
Still another important object of the present inven- 
tion is to insure a certain and repeatable force on each 
set of electrical contacts as the result of the wedging 
action of the conical interface between the electrical 
contacts and the magnetic attraction between the con- 
nector socket and plug. 
Still another important object of the present inven- 
tion is to provide a percutaneous implant which re- 
mains relatively flush with the surface of the skin so as 
to minimize the chance of such snagging on clothing or 
bedding. 
These and other objects and advantages of the inven- 
tion will become apparent upon reference to the fol- 
lowing specification, attendant claims, and drawing. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
The Figure on the drawing is an enlarged perspective 
view, partially in section illustrating a biomedical per- 
cutaneous connector constructed in accordance with 
the present invention. 
DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring in more detail to the drawing, there is illus- 
trated a biomedical percutaneous connector con- 
structed in accordance with the present invention. 
The biomedical percutaneous connector consists of a 
pair of mating connector elements which include a 
male plug generally designated by the reference char- 
acter 10 and a female socket generally designated by 
the reference character 12. In normal uses, the female 
socket is implanted in a patient with a lower portion 
thereof extending below the skin of the patient. It is to 
be understood that when reference is made to the 
socket portion extending outwardly beyond the skin of 
the patient, after the skin grows up around a central 
portion of the socket, the skin is normally level with the 
lower edge of the rim of the cylindrical portion to be 
described in more detail hereinafter. 
The socket 12 may be constructed of any suitable 
biocompatible material such as biocompatible vitreous 
carbon material. 
The socket includes an enlarged disk shaped member 
14 which is normally implanted below the skin of the 
patient. Integral with the disk shaped portion 14 and 
extending upwardly therefrom is a hollow, cylindrical 
4,025.964 
portion 16 which has an axial bore extending there- 
through. Integral with an upper end of the cylindrical 
portion 16 is a rim 18. The rim 18 has an inner conical 
wall surface 18a which forms a conical recess 18b in 
the outer end of the cylindrical portion 16. This conical 
recess 18b is shallow and exposed; therefore, it can be 
readily cleaned with a cotton pad or the like. 
The socket includes electrical conductors 20 and 22 
which provide an electrical path to various members 
such as nerves or muscles within the patient’s body. 
These electrical conductors are, in turn, attached to 
lower ends of electrically conductive foil or strip 
contact members 24 and 26. These foil members 24 
and 26 may be solid gold or gold plated where such is 
desirable for certain applications. 
The electrical conductive foil members 24 and 26 
include an inclined upper portion which has a vertically 
extending intermediate portion 28 integral therewith 
which terminates in a horizontally extending leg 30. 
Each of the foil members 24 and 26 are shaped in the 
same manner. However, only one of such is illustrated 
in detail for purposes of clarity. The foil members 24 
and 26 are sandwiched between insulating plastic lay- 
ers 32 and 34 which are utilized for holding them 
within the axial bore of the cylindrical portion 16. As 
noted, the electrical conductors 22 and 20 are welded 
or connected by any suitable means to the horizontal 
portion 30 of a respective foil member 24 or 26. The 
electrical conductors 22 and 20 extend through a bore 
14b provided within the lower end of cylindrical por- 
tion 16 for communication therewith and is sealed with 
any suitable biocompatible plastic 36 so that fluids 
from the patient’s body will not penetrate upwards into 
the socket. 
A cylindrical shaped magnet 40 is carried within the 
axial bore of the cylindrical portion 16 with the wzdl 
thereof being flush against the insulating plastic or 
epoxy layer 34. An upper surface of the magnet 40 is 
planar and terminates substantially at the junction be- 
tween the inclined portions of the foil strips 24 and 26 
and the vertically extending portions 28. All voids 
within the axial bore of the cylindrical portion 16 from 
the top of the magnet 40 to the base plane are filled 
with insulating plastic. 
Wedge shaped guide protrusions 42 are provided on 
the inner conical wall surface 188 of the conical recess 
18b which, in turn, cooperates with complementary 
wedge shaped slots formed in a lower surface of the 
Referring now to the plug 10, such consists of an 
inner cylindrical magnetic material 44 which has an 
insulating plastic body 46 molded thereon. Positioned 
in the insulating plastic body 46 are a pair of foil or 
strip contacts 48 and 49, each of which includes an 
upper horizontal portion 50, a vertically extending 
portion 52 and an inclined lower portion 54. Electrical 
conductors 56 and 58 are attached to the foil or strip 
contacts 48 and 49 respectively. The entire plug is 
enclosed within a plastic potting compound and is sub- 
stantially cylindrical in shape. As can be seen in the 
drawing, the plastic potting compounds form a solid 
integral unit. 
The lower portion of the plug 10 has an inclined wall 
surface 46a which is conical so as to conform to the 
complementary inner wall surface 18a of the plug 12. 
The inclined lower portions 54 of the contacts 48 and 
49 lay against the inclined wall surface 46a. The angles 
of the inner conical wall surface 188 and inclined wall 
plug 10. 
4 
surface 46a are such that when the plug 10 is inserted 
in the socket 12, the magnetic material 44 is prevented 
from touching the magnet 40 and thereby causes the 
foil contacts 48 and 49 of plug 10 to be wedged into 
5 engagement with the foil contacts 24 and 26 of socket 
12. This particular construction insures that there is 
always a positive contact between the foil contacts 24 
and 26 of the socket 12 and 48 and 49 of the plug 10 
even when the contacts become worn or when there is 
10 a slight misalignment therebetween. It is to be under- 
stood, of course, that instead of using a single magnet 
40 and magnetic material 44, two magnets of opposite 
polarity could be used or a magnet could be placed in 
the plug 10 and magnetic material in the socket 12. The 
15 primary purpose of the magnets is to provide a mag- 
netic force of a predetermined value for holding the 
plug within the socket. 
The inclined wall surface 46a is provided with one or 
more wedge shaped slots 60 into which the inclined 
20 wedge shaped protrusions 42 extend when the plug 10 
is inserted in the socket 12. These protrusions 42 and 
slots 60 serve as a combined key and guide means for 
positioning the foil contacts 24,26,48 and 49 in proper 
wedging engagement and for preventing the plug 10 
The wedge shaped slot 42 and the wedge shaped 
protrusion 60 should be machined flat enough so that 
there is no locking force therebetween. This allows the 
foil contacts 24,26,48 and 40 to readily separate and 
30 prevents accidental tearing of the socket 12 out of the 
patient’s body if the plug or conductors connected 
thereto are accidentally pulled upon. Other types of 
key and guide members may be used to position the 
plug 10 and prevent it from rotating in the socket 12. 
35 For example, the protrusion 42 and slot 60 could be 
reversed on the plug 10 and socket 12. The key and 
guide members may also be positioned in any conve- 
nient manner and be of any sue or shape. 
While FIG. 1 merely discloses a bipolar connector, it 
40 is to be understood that a tripolar connector could be 
manufactured in the same manner with the exception 
that instead of using two foil contacts as illustrated, 
three foil contacts are placed on both the plug 10 and 
the socket 12 for providing electrical connection be- 
45 tween three electrical conductors. Normally, if three 
foil members are used, they are equally spaced within 
the socket 12. The disk shaped portion 14 of socket 12 
may be solid or provided with spaced openings 14a to 
seat the socket on the flesh beneath the skin of the 
While a preferred embodiment of the invention has 
been described using specific terms, such description is 
for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood 
that changes and variations may be made without de- 
55 parting from the spirit or scope of the following claims. 
What is claimed is: 
1. A biomedical percutaneous connector for provid- 
ing electrical connection between electrical conductors 
located externally of a patient’s body and electrical 
60 conductors implanted underneath the patient’s skin, 
said connector comprising: 
25 from rotating in the socket 12. 
50 patient. 
a. pair of mating connector elements; 
b. a magnet carried within one of said mating connec- 
c. magnetic material carried within the other of said 
d. one of said matirg connector elements being a 
tor elements; 
mating connector elements; 
female socket including: 
65 
5 
4,025,964 
6 
i. a hollow portion having an outer end portion 
thereof adapted to be extended outwardly 
through said patient’s skin; 
ii. an inclined inner wall surface provided on said 
outer end portion to form a conical recess within 
said hollow portion; 
iii. inclined electrically conductive contacts posi- 
tioned adjacent said inclined inner wall surface 
and connected to said electrical conductors im- 
planted underneath said patient’s skin; 
e. the other end of said mating connector elements 
being a male plug including: 
i. a nonconductive body having an inclined outer 
wall surface complementary in shape to said 
conical recess within said female socket; 
ii. inclined electrically conductive contacts carried 
on said inclined outer wall surface and connected 
to said electrical conductors located externally of 
said patient’s body; 
f. whereby when said male plug is inserted in said 
conical recess of said female socket, said inclined 
electrically conductive contacts thereof are held in 
wedging engagement with each other by the mag- 
netic force between said magnet and said magnetic 
material. 
2. The biomedical percutaneous connector as set 
forth in claim 1 wherein said inclined electrically con- 
ductive contacts on said female socket and said male 
plug are inclined at an angle so that when said male 
plug is inserted in said female socket, the wedging en- 
gagement of said inclined electrically conductive 
contacts causes said magnet to be slightly spaced from 
said magnetic material. 
3. The biomedical percutaneous connector as de- 
fined in claim l wherein said female socket further 
includes: 
a. an enlarged disk shaped base portion for being 
implanted underneath said patient’s skin; 
b. said hollow portion being cylindrical in shape and 
formed integral with said enlarged disk shaped base 
portion; 
c. a bore extending through said enlarged disk shaped 
base portion and communicating with said hollow 
portion, and 
d. said electrical conductors extending through said 
bore with the ends thereof attached to said inclined 
electrically conductive contacts of said female 
4. The biomedical percutaneous connector as set 
forth in claim 1 wherein said female socket is con- 
structed of a bio-compatible vitreous carbon material. 
5. The biomedical percutaneous connector as set 
20 forth in claim 1 wherein said female socket and said 
male plug are provided with a combined guide and key 
means to guide said inclined electrically conductive 
contacts thereof into cngagement and to prevent said 
male plug from rotating with respect to said female 
6. The biomedical percutaneous connector as set 
forth in claim 5, wherein said combined guide and key 
means comprises: 
a. a protrusion carried on said inclined inner wall 
b. a slot formed in said inclined outer wall surface of 
5 
10 
15 socket. 
25 socket. 
30 surface of said female socket; and 
said male plug. * * * * *  
35 
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45 
50 
55 
60 
65 


Magnetic electrical connectors for biomedical percutaneous implants

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