The invention includes a family of miniaturized, hermetic electrical
feedthrough assemblies having at least one passive electrical component
electrically coupled to a conductive pathway traversing each said
assembly which are adapted for implantation within a biological system.
The electrical feedthrough assembly according to the invention can be
used as a component of an implantable medical device (IMD) such as an
implantable pulse generator, cardioverter-defibrillator, physiologic
sensor, drug-delivery system and the like. Such assemblies require
biocompatibility and resistance to degradation under applied bias current
or voltage. Such an assembly is fabricated by interconnected electrical
pathways, or vias, of a conductive metallic paste disposed between
ceramic green-state material. The layers are stacked together and
sintered to form a substantially monolithic dielectric structure with at
least one embedded metallization pathway extending through the structure.