Medical devices for enhancing intrinsic neural activity
First Claim
1. A neurostimulation system for treating a patient with a medical condition comprising:
- a stimulus generator to generate an electrical biasing signal for at least a target portion of a neural structure of a patient, said electrical biasing signal comprising a pulsed electrical signal defined by at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of a voltage magnitude, a current magnitude, a pulse width, a pulse period, an on-time and an off-time, and wherein at least one of said voltage magnitude, said current magnitude, said pulse width, said pulse period, said on-time and said off-time comprises a random value that varies within a defined range;
at least one electrode coupled to said stimulus generator and to a neural structure of the patient; and
a controller operatively coupled to said stimulus generator, said controller being adapted to apply said electrical biasing signal to said neural structure to bias an intrinsic neural signal on the neural structure.
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Abstract
A method, system, and an apparatus are provided for providing an electrical neurostimulation therapy to a patient. The method comprises generating an electrical biasing signal defined by a plurality of parameters, at least one of which comprises a random value within a defined range, and applying the electrical biasing signal to a neural structure to bias an intrinsic neural signal on the structure. Neurostimulators and neurostimulation systems are provided for generating such a biasing signal and applying the signal to the neural structure, and include a stimulus generator for generating the signal, one or more electrodes for delivering the signal to a neural structure, and a controller for applying the signal to the electrodes.
296 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A neurostimulation system for treating a patient with a medical condition comprising:
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a stimulus generator to generate an electrical biasing signal for at least a target portion of a neural structure of a patient, said electrical biasing signal comprising a pulsed electrical signal defined by at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of a voltage magnitude, a current magnitude, a pulse width, a pulse period, an on-time and an off-time, and wherein at least one of said voltage magnitude, said current magnitude, said pulse width, said pulse period, said on-time and said off-time comprises a random value that varies within a defined range;
at least one electrode coupled to said stimulus generator and to a neural structure of the patient; and
a controller operatively coupled to said stimulus generator, said controller being adapted to apply said electrical biasing signal to said neural structure to bias an intrinsic neural signal on the neural structure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A neurostimulator for providing an electrical stimulation therapy to a patient comprising:
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a stimulus generator to generate an electrical biasing signal for an intrinsic neural signal in a neural structure of the patient, said electrical biasing signal comprising a pulsed electrical signal defined by a plurality of parameters comprising at least a current magnitude, a pulse width, and a pulse period, wherein said pulse period comprises a random value that varies within a defined range;
at least one electrode coupled to said stimulus generator and to said neural structure; and
a controller coupled to said stimulus generator and adapted to apply said electrical biasing signal to said neural structure of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36)
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33. A neurostimulator for providing an electrical stimulation therapy to a patient comprising:
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a stimulus generator to generate an electrical biasing signal for an intrinsic neural signal in a neural structure of the patient, said electrical biasing signal comprising a pulsed electrical signal defined by a plurality of parameters comprising a constant current magnitude, a constant pulse width, an on-time and an off-time, wherein at least one of said on-time and said off-time comprises a random value that varies within a defined range;
at least one electrode coupled to said stimulus generator and to said neural structure; and
a controller coupled to said stimulus generator and adapted to apply said electrical biasing signal to said neural structure of the patient.
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37. A neurostimulator for providing an electrical stimulation therapy to a patient comprising:
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a stimulus generator to generate an electrical biasing signal for an intrinsic neural signal in a neural structure of the patient, said electrical biasing signal comprising an electrical signal defined by a plurality of parameters comprising a current magnitude and at least one of an on-time and an off-time, wherein at least one of said current magnitude, said on-time and said off-time comprises a random value that varies within a defined range;
at least one electrode coupled to said stimulus generator and to said neural structure; and
a controller coupled to said stimulus generator and adapted to apply said electrical biasing signal to said neural structure of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A neurostimulator for providing an electrical stimulation therapy to a patient comprising:
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a stimulus generator to generate an electrical biasing signal for an intrinsic neural signal in a neural structure of the patient, said electrical biasing signal comprising a non-pulsed, continuous electrical signal defined by at least a current magnitude, wherein said current magnitude is random and varies within a range within the range of from −
8.0 to 8.0 milliamps;
at least one electrode coupled to said stimulus generator and to said neural structure; and
a controller coupled to said stimulus generator and adapted to apply said electrical biasing signal to said neural structure of the patient.
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43. A neurostimulator for providing an electrical stimulation therapy to a patient comprising:
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a stimulus generator to generate an electrical biasing signal comprising an electrical noise signal for biasing an intrinsic neural signal in a neural structure selected from the group consisting of a cranial nerve, a brain structure, a spinal cord structure, and a sympathetic nerve structure;
at least one electrode coupled to said stimulus generator and to said neural structure; and
a controller coupled to said stimulus generator and adapted to apply said electrical biasing signal to said neural structure of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (44)
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Specification