COMBINATION OF TONIC AND BURST STIMULATIONS TO TREAT NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS

• US 20110184486A1
• Filed: 04/24/2008
• Published: 07/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Incorporated (Abbott Laboratories Incorporated)
• Inventors: De Ridder, Dirk
• Granted Patent: US 8,364,273 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/45
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/00 Electrotherapy; Circuits therefor A61N2/00 takes precedence; irradiation apparatus A61N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0529 Electrodes for brain stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/0551 Spinal or peripheral nerve electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36067 Movement disorders, e.g. tremor or Parkinson disease stimulating motor muscle A61N1/36003
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36071 Pain
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36096 Mood disorders, e.g. depression, anxiety or panic disorder
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/361 Phantom sensations, e.g. tinnitus
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36178 Burst or pulse train parameters
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37229 Shape or location of the implanted or external antenna
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37264 Changing the program; Upgrading firmware
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 25/75 Electric tinnitus maskers providing an auditory perception

Abstract

The present application relates to a new stimulation design which can be utilized to treat neurological conditions. The stimulation system produces a combination of burst and tonic stimulation which alters the neuronal activity of the predetermined site, thereby treating the neurological condition or disorder.

Claims

1. A method of stimulating nerve tissue of a patient using an implantable pulse generator, the method comprising:

storing, in the implantable pulse generator, one or more first stimulation parameters that define at least one stimulation pulse to be repeated in a tonic manner;

storing, in the implantable pulse generator, one or more second stimulation parameters that define stimulation pulses to be repeated in bursts having a plurality of groups of pulses with an inter-pulse interval of less than 0.005 seconds;

generating, by the implantable pulse generator, a combination of burst stimulation and tonic stimulation according to the first and second stimulation parameters,

providing the burst and tonic stimulation from the implantable pulse generator to a stimulation lead; and

applying the burst and tonic stimulation to nerve tissue of the patient via one or more electrodes of the stimulation lead.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second parameters are stimulation program parameters that are repeated in stimulation cycles by the implantable pulse generator.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the burst and tonic stimulation are applied to nerve tissue of the patient using different electrode combinations.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating generates a respective pulse for the tonic stimulation immediately before beginning pulses for an individual burst of the burst stimulation.

5. The method of claim 1 further wherein pulses for the tonic stimulation are generated between an occurrence of a first pulse of a respective burst and a last burst of the respective burst of the burst stimulation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the neurological disorder is a movement disorder.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the neurological disorder is a sensory disorder.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the sensory disorder is tinnitus or pain.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the nerve tissue comprises the prefrontal cortex.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the nerve tissue comprises the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the nerve tissue comprises Brodmann Area 9, Brodmann 46, or a combination thereof.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the nerve tissue comprises Brodmann Area 32.

32. A method of treating tinnitus by stimulating nerve tissue as defined in claim 1, wherein the method comprises:

positioning an electrical lead within a patient such that at least one electrode of the electrical lead is disposed adjacent to the prefrontal cortex of the patient; and

selecting one or more first and second stimulation parameters for the electrical stimulation system that define burst stimulation and tonic stimulation that is effective for treating tinnitus.

9-24. -24. (canceled)

25-27. -27. (canceled)

33-35. -35. (canceled)

36. A method of treating pain in a patient using spinal cord stimulation, wherein i) the treating protocol has a therapeutic and non-paresthetic effect;

and ii) one or more stimulation leads are positioned within the epidural space of the patient'"'"'s spinal column, the method comprising;

programming an implantable pulse generator having a first set of stimulation parameters for treating the patient'"'"'s pain, the first set of stimulation parameters comprise at least one stimulation pulse that define a tonic stimulus;

programming the implantable pulse generator having a second set of stimulation parameters for treating the patient'"'"'s paresthesia, the second set of stimulation parameters comprise stimulation pulses that define a burst stimulus;

operating, by the implantable pulse generator, a combination of burst stimulation and tonic stimulation according to the first and second stimulation parameters, and

delivering the combination of burst and tonic stimulation using one or more electrodes of one or more stimulation leads wherein the tonic stimulation is delivered during intervals between sequential burst stimulation without the pulses from the burst stimulation overlapping with the tonic stimulation.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the one or more second stimulating parameters include a pulse amplitude parameter, a pulse width parameter, and a frequency parameter, wherein the frequency parameter defines a frequency for the repetition of bursts, the pulse amplitude parameter defining a pulse amplitude within a burst of pulses, and the pulse width parameter defining a width of a pulse within the burst of the pulses.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the frequency parameter is about 40 Hz.

39. The method of claim 36, wherein the burst stimulation comprises a burst stimulus having a plurality of groups of pulses with an inter-pulse interval of less than 0.005 seconds.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein a charge balancing pulse is performed after the last pulse of the burst stimulus.