Implantable heart-monitoring devices, such as defibrillators, pacemakers,
and cardioverters, detect onset of abnormal heart rhythms and automatically apply
corrective electrical therapy, specifically one or more bursts of electric charge,
to abnormally beating hearts. Critical parts in these devices include the capacitors
that store and deliver the bursts of electric charge. Some devices use flat aluminum
electrolytic capacitors have cases with right-angle corners which leave gaps when
placed against the rounded interior surfaces of typical device housings. These
gaps and voids not only waste space, but ultimately force patients to endure implantable
devices with larger housings than otherwise necessary. Accordingly, the inventors
devised several capacitor structures that have curved profiles conforming to the
rounded interior surfaces of device housings. Some exemplary capacitor embodiments
include two or more staggered capacitor elements, and other embodiments stagger
capacitors of different types and/or sizes.