METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STIMULATING A DENERVATED MUSCLE
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for stimulating a subject having a denervated muscle and a corresponding functional muscle, said functional muscle and said denervated muscle being responsible for producing actions on first and second portions, respectively, of said subject'"'"'s body, comprising:
- one or more sensing devices located on or within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said functional muscle, one or more of said one or more sensing devices generating one or more first signals in response to certain activity indicating that said functional muscle has contracted, wherein each of said one or more sensing devices includes a first RF transmitter, wherein the one or more first signals are each an RF signal transmitted by a respective first RF transmitter;
one or more stimulating devices located on or within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said denervated muscle; and
a control unit including;
(i) a controller, (ii) a power supply, wherein power is provided to said one or more sensing devices through near field inductive coupling between said power supply and each of said sensing devices, (iii) an RF receiver for receiving said one or more first signals and providing said one or more first signals to said controller, and (iv) a second RF transmitter;
wherein when said controller receives said one or more first signals said controller causes a second signal to be generated in response thereto, said second signal being an RF signal transmitted by said second RF transmitter and received by said one or more stimulating devices, said second signal causing said one or more stimulating devices to cause said denervated muscle to contract.
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Abstract
A method of stimulating a subject having a denervated muscle and a corresponding functional muscle that are responsible for producing actions, such as blinking, on first and second portions, respectively, of the subject'"'"'s body. The method includes determining whether the functional muscle has contracted, generating a contraction signal if it is determined that it has contracted, and causing the denervated muscle to contract following the generation of the contraction signal. Also, an apparatus for stimulating such a subject including one or more sensing devices operatively associated with the functional muscle and one or more stimulating devices operatively associated with the denervated muscle. One or more of the sensing devices generates one or more first signals in response to activity indicating functional muscle contraction. The one or more stimulating devices are made to cause the denervated muscle to contract in response to the generation of the first signals.
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Citations
88 Claims
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1. An apparatus for stimulating a subject having a denervated muscle and a corresponding functional muscle, said functional muscle and said denervated muscle being responsible for producing actions on first and second portions, respectively, of said subject'"'"'s body, comprising:
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one or more sensing devices located on or within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said functional muscle, one or more of said one or more sensing devices generating one or more first signals in response to certain activity indicating that said functional muscle has contracted, wherein each of said one or more sensing devices includes a first RF transmitter, wherein the one or more first signals are each an RF signal transmitted by a respective first RF transmitter;
one or more stimulating devices located on or within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said denervated muscle; and
a control unit including;
(i) a controller, (ii) a power supply, wherein power is provided to said one or more sensing devices through near field inductive coupling between said power supply and each of said sensing devices, (iii) an RF receiver for receiving said one or more first signals and providing said one or more first signals to said controller, and (iv) a second RF transmitter;
wherein when said controller receives said one or more first signals said controller causes a second signal to be generated in response thereto, said second signal being an RF signal transmitted by said second RF transmitter and received by said one or more stimulating devices, said second signal causing said one or more stimulating devices to cause said denervated muscle to contract. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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44. An apparatus for stimulating a subject having a denervated muscle and a corresponding functional muscle, said functional muscle and said denervated muscle being responsible for producing actions on first and second portions, respectively, of said subject'"'"'s body, comprising:
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one or more sensing devices located on or within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said functional muscle, one or more of said one or more sensing devices generating one or more first signals in response to certain activity indicating that said functional muscle has contracted, wherein each of said one or more sensing devices includes a first RF transmitter, wherein the one or more first signals are each an RF signal transmitted by a respective first RF transmitter;
one or more stimulating devices located on or within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said denervated muscle; and
a control unit including;
(i) a controller, (ii) an RF receiver for receiving said one or more first signals and providing said one or more first signals to said controller, and (iii) a second RF transmitter;
wherein when said controller receives said one or more first signals said controller causes a second signal to be generated in response thereto, said second signal being an RF signal transmitted by said second RF transmitter, wherein each of said stimulating devices includes an antenna for receiving said second signal and conversion circuitry for converting said second signal into a DC signal, and wherein said DC signal is used to provide a stimulus to said denervated muscle that causes said denervated muscle to contract. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
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83. An apparatus for stimulating a denervated muscle of a subject, said subject having a functional muscle corresponding to said denervated muscle, comprising:
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a sensing device located on or implanted within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said functional muscle, said sensing device including;
(i) at least one sensor for sensing a parameter associated with said functional muscle and generating a sensor signal based thereon, and (ii) control circuitry for receiving said sensor signal, determining whether said functional muscle has contracted based on said sensor signal, and causing a first RF transmitter included in said sensing device to transmit a first RF signal if it is determined that said functional muscle has contracted;
a control unit located separately from said sensing device, said control unit having a power supply, wherein power is provided to said sensing device through near field inductive coupling between said power supply and said sensing device, an RF receiver, a controller and a second RF transmitter, wherein said RF receiver receives said first RF signal and provides a signal based on said first RF signal to said controller, and wherein in response to receipt of said signal based on said first RF signal said controller causes said second RF transmitter to transmit a second RF signal; and
a stimulating device located on or implanted within the body of said subject, said stimulating device having stimulation circuitry operatively associated with said denervated muscle, an antenna for receiving said second RF signal and conversion circuitry for converting said second RF signal into a DC signal provided to said stimulation circuitry for powering said stimulation circuitry, wherein when said stimulating device receives said DC signal said stimulation circuitry provides a stimulus to said denervated muscle to cause said denervated muscle to contract. - View Dependent Claims (85)
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84. An apparatus for stimulating a denervated muscle of a subject, said subject having a functional muscle corresponding to said denervated muscle, comprising:
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a sensing device located on or implanted within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said functional muscle, said sensing device including;
(i) at least one sensor for sensing a parameter associated with said functional muscle and generating a sensor signal based thereon, and (ii) an RF transmitter for transmitting a first RF signal based on said sensor signal;
a control unit located separately from said sensing device, said control unit having a power supply, wherein power is provided to said sensing device through near field inductive coupling between said power supply and said sensing device, an RF receiver, a controller and a second RF transmitter, wherein said RF receiver receives said first RF signal and provides a signal based on said first RF signal to said controller, wherein said controller determines whether said functional muscle has contracted based on said signal based on said first RF signal and causes said second RF transmitter to transmit a second RF signal if said controller determines that said functional muscle has contracted; and
a stimulating device located on or implanted within the body of said subject, said stimulating device having stimulation circuitry operatively associated with said denervated muscle, an antenna for receiving said second RF signal and conversion circuitry for converting said second RF signal into a DC signal provided to said stimulation circuitry for powering said stimulation circuitry, wherein when said stimulating device receives said DC power said stimulation circuitry provides a stimulus to said denervated muscle to cause said denervated muscle to contract.
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86. An apparatus for stimulating a subject having a denervated muscle and a corresponding functional muscle, said functional muscle and said denervated muscle being responsible for producing actions on first and second portions, respectively, of said subject'"'"'s body, comprising:
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a sensing device located on or within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said functional muscle, said sensing device generating a first signal in response to certain activity indicating that said functional muscle has contracted, said sensing device including a first antenna electrode; and
a stimulating device located on or within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said denervated muscle, said stimulating device including a second antenna electrode;
wherein said first signal is transmitted from said first antenna electrode to said second antenna electrode within the body of said subject by volume conduction, wherein said stimulating device is made to cause said denervated muscle to contract in response to receipt of said first signal by said second antenna electrode.
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87. An apparatus for stimulating a denervated muscle of a subject, said subject having a functional muscle corresponding to said denervated muscle, comprising:
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a sensing device located on or implanted within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said functional muscle, said sensing device including;
(i) at least one sensor for sensing a parameter associated with said functional muscle and generating a sensor signal based thereon, (ii) control circuitry for receiving said sensor signal, determining whether said functional muscle has contracted based on said sensor signal, and causing a first RF transmitter included in said sensing device to transmit a first RF signal if it is determined that said functional muscle has contracted, and (iii) an energy harvesting circuit including an antenna and conversion circuitry for receiving RF energy transmitted by a far-field source and converting the received RF energy into DC power for powering said control circuitry;
a control unit located separately from said sensing device, said control unit having an RF receiver, a controller and a second RF transmitter, wherein said RF receiver receives said first RF signal and provides a signal based on said first RF signal to said controller, and wherein in response to receipt of said signal based on said first RF signal said controller causes said second RF transmitter to transmit a second RF signal; and
a stimulating device located on or implanted within the body of said subject, said stimulating device having stimulation circuitry operatively associated with said denervated muscle, and an energy harvesting circuit including an antenna and conversion circuitry for receiving said RF energy and converting the received RF energy into DC power for powering said stimulation circuitry, wherein when said stimulating device receives said second RF signal said stimulation circuitry provides a stimulus to said denervated muscle to cause said denervated muscle to contract.
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88. An apparatus for stimulating a denervated muscle of a subject, said subject having a functional muscle corresponding to said denervated muscle, comprising:
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a sensing device located on or implanted within the body of said subject and operatively associated with said functional muscle, said sensing device including;
(i) at least one sensor for sensing a parameter associated with said functional muscle and generating a sensor signal based thereon, (ii) an RF transmitter for transmitting a first RF signal based on said sensor signal, and (iii) an energy harvesting circuit including an antenna and conversion circuitry for receiving RF energy transmitted by a far-field source and converting the received RF energy into DC power for powering said RF transmitter;
a control unit located separately from said sensing device, said control unit having an RF receiver, a controller and a second RF transmitter, wherein said RF receiver receives said first RF signal and provides a signal based on said first RF signal to said controller, wherein said controller determines whether said functional muscle has contracted based on said signal based on said first RF signal and causes said second RF transmitter to transmit a second RF signal if said controller determines that said functional muscle has contracted; and
a stimulating device located on or implanted within the body of said subject, said stimulating device having stimulation circuitry operatively associated with said denervated muscle, and an energy harvesting circuit including an antenna and conversion circuitry for receiving said RF energy and converting the received RF energy into DC power for powering said stimulation circuitry, wherein when said stimulating device receives said second RF signal said stimulation circuitry provides a stimulus to said denervated muscle to cause said denervated muscle to contract.
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Specification
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Current AssigneeUniversity of Pittsburgh of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
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Original AssigneeUniversity of Pittsburgh of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education
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InventorsHackworth, Steven, Lovell, Michael, Mickle, Marlin, Gorin, Michael, Jacob, Doreen, Stepko, Susan
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Application NumberUS11/675,364Publication NumberTime in Patent OfficeDaysField of SearchUS Class Current607/48CPC Class CodesA61N 1/36003 of motor muscles, e.g. for ...A61N 1/36007 of urogenital or gastrointe...A61N 1/3601 of respiratory organsA61N 1/36031 using physiological paramet...A61N 1/36034 specified by the stimulatio...A61N 1/36046 of the eyeA61N 1/36135 using physiological parametersA61N 1/37223 Circuits for electromagneti...A61N 1/3787 from an external energy source
