Background

PhysioTel Digital implants have three modes of operation: Off, Standby, and Active. 

The use of a magnet is required to change the mode of the implant from Off to Standby mode.  The implant will stay in Standby mode until Acquisition is started, which will automatically transition the implant to Active mode. The implant will stay in the Active mode as long as it is communicating and transferring data to the software during the acquisition. 

Once acquisition is stopped, the implant will transition back to Standby mode. The implant will remain in Standby as long as it maintains communication with the CLC.  If the implant fails to communicate with the CLC, it will eventually (user definable - default 3 hours) revert back to the Off mode.  Several scenarios exist as to when the implant will move to the Off mode depending on whether or not it is trying to make initial contact with the CLC or if it was previously connected but has recently lost contact (see PhysioTel Digital manual for details).

When in Standby mode, the implant is in a reduced power state designed to conserve battery and extent implant life. This aids the user by allowing them to keep the implant powered without the need to perform a magnet swipe for each implant on the day of collection.  This is important if acquisition needs to start at a specific time or the animals are not easily accessible. It also reduces the amount of time spent preparing the system for collection.

Battery Consumption

Depending on the PhysioTel Digital implant used, warranted battery life will differ; consult the DSI website for implant specific information.  For example, the warranted battery life of the L21 is 84 days.  This means that the implant is warranted for a cumulative period of 84 days of ON (Active) time, or collection time.

When the PhysioTel Digital implants are in Standby mode, they consume roughly 0.23% of the battery per day.  It is important to note that this is an approximation and is a theoretically calculated value.  If, for example the L21 is magnet swiped into Standby mode and left in this state continuously, the battery would last for approximately 15 months.

This information should serve as a means to better understand the impact of Standby mode on battery life and should not be used as a guide to determine exactly how much battery life remains for the implant. To accurately determine the remaining battery life for an implant, it is recommended to use the Implant Status dialog that is displayed during acquisition when using the Ponemah software.  

• In Ponemah v5.20
  This information is also placed in the Excel output file from acquisition and is located in the Log worksheet.
  
  
  
  
• In Ponemah v6.x
  It is recommended to add the Battery Days Remaining channel to the Active list within the Implant details page of the PhysioTel Digital Configuration dialog. This channel can then be graphed and/or the NPMN parameter can be enabled via Subject Setup | Channel Details to obtain Battery Days Remaining values in the Derived List Views.