METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR STIMULATING AND/OR SENSING NEURONS IN A PATIENT
First Claim
1. An instrument for stimulating and/or sensing neurons in the nervous system of a patient, comprising:
- a body configured to be implanted into a patient;
an electrode contact carried by the body and an electrically conductive line coupled to the electrode contact; and
a marker carried by the body, the marker having a transponder configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted excitation energy and to wirelessly transmit a location signal in response to the excitation energy.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Instruments and method of using instruments for implanting electrodes into a patient. The instrument can include a body configured to be implanted into a patient, an electrode contact carried by the body, and a marker carried by the body. The electrode contact has an electrically conductive surface exposed at a location along the body to sense electrical activity and/or deliver electrical stimulation to the target neural structure. The marker can include a transponder configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted excitation energy and to wirelessly transmit a location signal in response to the excitation energy. The instrument is tracked as it is implanted into the patient by time multiplexing the wirelessly transmitted excitation energy and the location signal such that the absolute location of the marker can be determined in real time.
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Citations
87 Claims
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1. An instrument for stimulating and/or sensing neurons in the nervous system of a patient, comprising:
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a body configured to be implanted into a patient; an electrode contact carried by the body and an electrically conductive line coupled to the electrode contact; and a marker carried by the body, the marker having a transponder configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted excitation energy and to wirelessly transmit a location signal in response to the excitation energy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An instrument for stimulating and/or sensing neurons in the nervous system of a patient, comprising:
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an elongated shaft configured to be implanted into a patient; an electrode contact carried by the shaft and an electrically conductive line coupled to the electrode contact; and a marker attached to the shaft, the marker having an alternating magnetic circuit configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted pulsed magnetic excitation field and to wirelessly transmit a pulsed magnetic location signal in response to the magnetic excitation field. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. An electrode for subdural sensing and/or stimulation in a brain of a patient, comprising:
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an elongated body having a distal section configured to be implanted at a subdural location in the brain of the patient and a proximal section; a lead connector at the proximal section of the body; an electrode contact on the distal section of the body; an electrical conductor coupled to the electrode contact and the lead connector; and a marker carried by the body at a fixed location with respect to the electrode contact, the marker comprising an alternating magnetic transponder configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted excitation energy and produce a wirelessly transmitted location signal in response to the excitation energy. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A stimulation system, comprising:
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an implantable stimulus unit having an energy source and a pulse generator coupled to the energy source for providing an electrical stimulation waveform; a stimulation lead configured to be coupled to the implantable stimulus unit, the simulation lead having a flexible dielectric cover and a conductor within the cover, and the simulation lead being configured to be implanted within the patient; and an instrument having a body configured to be implanted into a patient, an electrode contact carried by the body and configured to be electrically coupled to the stimulation lead for delivering the stimulation waveform to the patient, and a marker carried by the body, wherein the marker comprises a transponder configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted excitation energy and to wirelessly transmit a location signal in response to the excitation energy. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A stimulation system, comprising:
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an implantable stimulus unit having an energy source and a pulse generator coupled to the energy source for providing an electrical stimulation waveform; a stimulation lead configured to be coupled to the implantable stimulus unit, the simulation lead having a flexible dielectric cover and a conductor within the cover, and the simulation lead being configured to be implanted within the patient; and an instrument having an elongated body including a distal section configured to be implanted at a subdural location in the brain of the patient and a proximal section configured to be connected to the stimulation lead, an electrode contact on the distal section of the body for delivering the stimulation waveform to the patient, and a marker carried by the body at a fixed location with respect to the electrode contact, the marker comprising a leadless alternating magnetic transponder configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted excitation energy and to wirelessly transmit a location signal in response to the excitation energy.
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38. A system for sensing and/or stimulating a population neurons in the central nervous system of a patient, comprising:
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an instrument having a body configured to be implanted into a patient, an electrode contact carried by the body, and a marker carried by the body, wherein the marker comprises a transponder having a circuit configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted pulsed magnetic excitation field and to wirelessly transmit a pulsed location signal in response to the pulsed magnetic excitation field; and an excitation source comprising an energy storage device, a source coil, and a switching network coupled to the energy storage device and the source coil, the source coil being configured to wirelessly transmit the pulsed magnetic excitation field to energize the transponder, and the switching network being configured to alternately transfer (a) stored energy from the energy storage device to the source coil and (b) energy in the source coil back to the energy storage device. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56)
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57. A system for sensing and/or stimulating a population neurons in the central nervous system of a patient, comprising:
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an instrument having a body configured to be implanted into a patient, an electrode contact carried by the body, and a marker carried by the body, wherein the marker comprises a transponder having a circuit configured to be energized by a wirelessly transmitted pulsed excitation field and to wirelessly transmit a pulsed location signal in response to the pulsed excitation field; and a sensing assembly comprising a support member and a plurality of field sensors carried by the support member, the field sensors being at least substantially locally planar relative to one another and configured to sense the pulsed location signal from the marker. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. A method of implanting an instrument used for sensing and/or stimulating a population of neurons at a selected stimulation site in a patient, comprising:
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inserting into the patient an instrument having an electrode contact and a marker including a transponder; and tracking the instrument in a reference volume when the instrument is in the patient by (a) wirelessly delivering a pulsed excitation signal to energize the transponder, (b) wirelessly transmitting a pulsed location signal from the transponder to a location outside of the patient, (c) sensing the pulsed location signal at a sensor located outside of the patient, and (d) calculating the location of the marker in the three-dimensional reference volume. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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77. A method for tracking an instrument used for sensing and/or stimulating a population of neurons at a selected stimulation site in a patient, comprising:
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implanting an instrument into the patient, the instrument having an electrode contact and a marker including a transponder; tracking the instrument with respect to the stimulation site by (a) wirelessly delivering a pulsed excitation signal to energize the transponder, (b) wirelessly transmitting a location signal from the transponder to a location outside of the patient, (c) sensing the pulsed location signal at a sensor located outside of the patient, and (d) periodically calculating the location of the marker in a reference volume; and providing an output of the location of the marker in the reference volume at least every tf seconds and within tl seconds from sensing the location signal, wherein tf and tl are not greater than 1 second. - View Dependent Claims (78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86)
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87. A method for implanting an instrument for sensing and/or stimulating a population of neurons at a selected stimulation site in a patient, comprising:
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implanting into the patient an instrument having an electrode contact and a marker including a transponder; determining the location of the instrument in a reference volume by (a) wirelessly delivering a pulsed excitation signal to energize the transponder, (b) wirelessly transmitting a pulsed location signal from the transponder to a location outside of the patient, (c) sensing the pulsed location signal at a sensor located outside of the patient, and (d) calculating the location of the marker in a three-dimensional reference volume; and receiving electrical signals at the electrode contact from the population of neurons and/or delivering electrical stimulation from the electrode contact.
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Specification