Treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders by near-diaphragmatic nerve stimulation
First Claim
1. A method of treating patients with neuropsychiatric disorder, which comprises the step of stimulating a patient'"'"'s vagus nerve with an electrical pulse signal applied directly or indirectly thereto at a location in the immediate vicinity of the patient'"'"'s diaphragm, including selectively programming electrical and timing parameters of said electrical pulse signal according to a predetermined therapy regimen for alleviating the disorder.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for treating patients with neuropsychiatric disorder includes unilaterally or bilaterally stimulating one or both of the left and right branches of a patient'"'"'s vagus nerve directly or indirectly with an electrical pulse signal generated by an implantable neurostimulator with at least one operatively coupled nerve electrode to apply the pulse signal to the selected nerve branch at a location in the vicinity of the patient'"'"'s diaphragm, either slightly above or slightly below the diaphragm. The implantable neurostimulator is programmable to enable physician programming of electrical and timing parameters of the pulse signal, to generate the desired therapy regimen for alleviating the disorder. Patient activation of the device is permitted in the case of treating a neuropsychiatric disorder such as depression, where the patient is able to sense a symptom of a disorder.
48 Citations
28 Claims
- 1. A method of treating patients with neuropsychiatric disorder, which comprises the step of stimulating a patient'"'"'s vagus nerve with an electrical pulse signal applied directly or indirectly thereto at a location in the immediate vicinity of the patient'"'"'s diaphragm, including selectively programming electrical and timing parameters of said electrical pulse signal according to a predetermined therapy regimen for alleviating the disorder.
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14. A method of treating patients exhibiting neuropsychiatric disorder, including, among others, schizophrenia, depression, or borderline personality disorder, which comprises the steps of:
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implanting at least one programmable electrical pulse generator in the patient together with at least one electrical lead having at least one distal nerve electrode and at least one proximal electrical connector operatively coupled to said pulse generator, implanting a distal nerve electrode of a said electrical lead on at least one branch of the vagus nerve at a location slightly above or below the patient'"'"'s diaphragm, and activating said pulse generator to stimulate said branch of the vagus nerve with electrical pulses according to a programmed regimen to ameliorate the disorder. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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- 18. A method of treating patients suffering from neuropsychiatric disorder by stimulating a selected cranial nerve of the patient with an electrical signal applied to induce a signal up the nerve toward the brain from a location in the vicinity of the patient'"'"'s diaphragm, including programming electrical and timing parameters of said electrical signal to alleviate said disorder.
- 23. Apparatus for treating patients suffering from a specified neuropsychiatric disorder, comprising a pulse generator sanctioned by government authority for implantation in a patient together with electrode means to stimulate a selected cranial nerve of the patient with a predetermined sequence of electrical impulses from said pulse generator applied to the selected cranial nerve at a location in a range from about two to about three inches above or below the patient'"'"'s diaphragm, for ameliorating symptoms of the specified neuropsychiatric disorder in the patient.
Specification