Autonomic nerve stimulation to treat a gastrointestinal disorder

• US 20070027492A1
• Filed: 07/28/2005
• Published: 02/01/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LivaNova USA, Inc. (LivaNova Plc)
• Original Assignee: Cyberonics, Inc
• Inventors: Maschino, Steven, Buras, William, Guzman, Albert, Parnis, Steven
• Granted Patent: US 7,856,273 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/40
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36007 of urogenital or gastrointestinal organs, e.g. for incontinence control
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36053 adapted for vagal stimulation A61N1/36114 takes precedence

Abstract

A method and apparatus for stimulating a portion of a vagus nerve of a patient to treat a gastrointestinal disorder is provided. At least one electrode is coupled to at least one portion of a vagus nerve of the patient. The portion of the a vagus nerve may include an esophageal plexus, a myenteric plexus of aurbach, a submucous plexus of the meissner, a principal nerve of the lesser curvature of the stomach, and a gastric branch of said vagus nerve. An electrical signal is applied to the portion of the vagus nerve using the electrode to treat the gastrointestinal disorder.

Claims

1. A method of treating a patient having a gastrointestinal disorder, comprising:

coupling at least one electrode to at least one portion of a vagus nerve of the patient, said portion selected from the group consisting of a an esophageal plexus, a myenteric plexus of aurbach, a submucous plexus of the meissner, a principal nerve of the lesser curvature of the stomach, and a gastric branch of said vagus nerve; and

applying an electrical signal to said at least one portion of said autonomic nerve using said electrode to treat said gastrointestinal disorder.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said gastrointestinal disorder comprises at least one of an motility disorders, gastric disorders, acid secretions disorders, chronic nausea, and an eating disorder from a group consisting of a motility disorder, an anorexia nervosa, a bulimia nervosa, a compulsive overeating disorder, and a binge overeating disorder.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein applying an electrical signal to said at least one portion of said autonomic nerve using said electrode to treat said gastrointestinal disorder comprises reducing an effect of at least one of an acid production, a muscle spasm relating to the diaphragm, a spasm related to an esophagus region, a spasm related to the stomach region, and a condition relating to at least one of a chronic nausea, a motility disorder, an anorexia nervosa, a bulimia nervosa, compulsive overeating, and binge overeating.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a physiological response to said electrical signal that is selected from the group consisting of an afferent action potential, an efferent action potential, an afferent hyperpolarization, a sub-threshold depolarization, and an efferent hyperpolarization.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein applying the electrical signal comprises generating an efferent action potential in combination with an afferent action potential.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

providing a programmable electrical signal generator;

coupling said signal generator said at least one electrode;

generating an electrical signal with the electrical signal generator; and

applying the electrical signal to the electrode.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising programming the electrical signal generator to define the electrical signal by at least one parameter selected from the group consisting of a current magnitude, a pulse frequency, a pulse width, an on-time and an off-time, wherein said at least one parameter is selected to treat the gastrointestinal disorder.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising detecting a symptom of the gastrointestinal disorder, and wherein applying the electrical signal is initiated in response to detecting said symptom.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the detecting the symptom comprises detecting at least one of a motility disorder, a gastric disorders, a acid secretions disorder, a chronic nausea disorder, and an eating disorders from a group consisting of a motility disorder, an anorexia nervosa, a bulimia nervosa, a compulsive overeating, a binge overeating disorder.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the electrical signal comprises applying said signal during a first treatment period, and said method further comprises applying a second electrical signal to the autonomic nerve using said at least one electrode during a second treatment period to treat the gastrointestinal disorder.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising detecting a symptom of said gastrointestinal disorder, wherein detecting the symptom comprises using at least one of an acid production factor, a muscle spasm relating to the diaphragm, a diaphragm measurement, spasms related to the esophagus, spasms related to the stomach region, an external input from the patient relating to nausea.

12. A method of treating a patient having a gastrointestinal disorder, comprising:

coupling at least one electrode to at least a portion of a vagus nerve of the patient selected from a group consisting of an esophageal plexus, a myenteric plexus of aurbach, a submucous plexus of the meissner, a principal nerve of the lesser curvature of the stomach, and a gastric branch of said vagus nerve;

providing an electrical signal generator;

coupling said signal generator to said at least one electrode;

generating an electrical signal with the electrical signal generator; and

applying the electrical signal to the electrode to treat said gastrointestinal disorder.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

detecting a symptom of the gastrointestinal disorder, wherein the step of applying the electrical signal to the electrode is initiated in response to detecting said symptom.

14. A method of treating a patient having a gastrointestinal disorder, comprising:

coupling at least one electrode to at least a portion of an autonomic nerve of the patient comprising at least one of a thoracic splanchnic and a portion of the vagus nerve selected from a group consisting of, an esophageal plexus, a myenteric plexus of aurbach, a submucous plexus of the meissner, a principal nerve of the lesser curvature of the stomach, a gastric branch of the vagus nerve; and

applying an electrical signal to said portion of said autonomic nerve using said electrode to treat said gastrointestinal disorder.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

providing a programmable electrical signal generator;

coupling said signal generator to said at least one electrode;

generating an electrical signal with said electrical signal generator; and

wherein applying an electrical signal to said at least portion of said autonomic nerve comprises applying the electrical signal to said at least one electrode.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

programming the electrical signal generator to define said electrical signal by a plurality of parameters selected from the group consisting of a current magnitude, a pulse width, a pulse frequency, an on-time and an off-time.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein applying an electrical signal to said at least one branch of a vagus nerve comprises applying said signal during a first treatment period, said method further comprising applying a second electrical signal to the at least one branch of a vagus nerve during a second treatment period.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said first treatment period comprises a period ranging from one hour to six months, and wherein said second treatment period comprises a period ranging from one month to 10 years.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least one electrode is selected from the group consisting of a spiral electrode and a paddle electrode.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein applying an electrical signal to said at least one branch of said vagus nerve using said electrode comprises performing an electrical stimulation, the method further comprising performing said electrical stimulation in combination with at least one of a magnetic stimulation, a chemical stimulation, and a biological stimulation.