SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AVOIDING NEURAL STIMULATION HABITUATION
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- delivering a heart failure therapy, including stimulating a vagus nerve and avoiding physiological habituation to stimulating the vagus nerve, wherein;
stimulating the vagus nerve includes non-selectively stimulating both afferent axons and efferent axons in the vagus nerve using a stimulation signal having a plurality of modifiable stimulation parameters, wherein the modifiable stimulation parameters include at least one modifiable neural stimulation schedule parameter; and
avoiding physiological habituation includes stimulating the vagus nerve according to a stimulation schedule independent of heart rate, and limiting modification of the at least one neural stimulation schedule parameter using a programmed limit for allowed modifications to the at least one modifiable neural stimulation schedule parameter.
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Abstract
An embodiment relates to a method for delivering a vagal stimulation therapy to a vagus nerve, including delivering a neural stimulation signal to non-selectively stimulate both afferent axons and efferent axons in the vagus nerve according to a predetermined schedule for the vagal stimulation therapy, and selecting a value for at least one parameter for the predetermined schedule for the vagal stimulation therapy to control the neural stimulation therapy to avoid physiological habituation to the vagal stimulation therapy. The parameter(s) include at least one parameter selected from the group of parameters consisting of a predetermined therapy duration parameter for a predetermined therapy period, and a predetermined intermittent neural stimulation parameter associated with on/off timing for the intermittent neural stimulation parameter.
17 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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delivering a heart failure therapy, including stimulating a vagus nerve and avoiding physiological habituation to stimulating the vagus nerve, wherein; stimulating the vagus nerve includes non-selectively stimulating both afferent axons and efferent axons in the vagus nerve using a stimulation signal having a plurality of modifiable stimulation parameters, wherein the modifiable stimulation parameters include at least one modifiable neural stimulation schedule parameter; and avoiding physiological habituation includes stimulating the vagus nerve according to a stimulation schedule independent of heart rate, and limiting modification of the at least one neural stimulation schedule parameter using a programmed limit for allowed modifications to the at least one modifiable neural stimulation schedule parameter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A neural stimulator, comprising:
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a neural stimulation delivery system configured to non-selectively stimulate both afferent axons and efferent axons in a vagus nerve; and a controller operationally connected to the neural stimulation delivery system, the controller configured to deliver a programmed heart failure therapy through the neural stimulation delivery system according to a programmed neural stimulation schedule independent of heart rate, the programmed heart failure therapy including a stimulation signal with modifiable stimulation parameters, the modifiable stimulation parameters including at least one modifiable schedule parameter, the controller including a neural stimulation scheduler with a programmed limit for allowed modifications to the at least one neural stimulation schedule parameter. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A neural stimulator, comprising:
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a neural stimulation delivery system configured to non-selectively stimulate both afferent axons and efferent axons in a vagus nerve; a therapy feedback sensor; and a controller operationally connected to the neural stimulation delivery system and to the therapy feedback sensor, wherein; the controller is configured to deliver a programmed heart failure therapy through the neural stimulation delivery system according to a programmed neural stimulation schedule independent of heart rate, the programmed heart failure therapy including a stimulation signal with modifiable stimulation parameters, the modifiable stimulation parameters including at least one modifiable schedule parameter; the controller is configured to receive a therapy feedback signal from the therapy feedback sensor and modify at least one modifiable stimulation parameter in response to the therapy feedback signal; and the controller includes a neural stimulation scheduler with a programmed limit for allowed modifications to the at least one neural stimulation schedule parameter. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification