REMOTELY CONTROLLED AND/OR LATERALLY SUPPORTED DEVICES FOR DIRECT SPINAL CORD STIMULATION
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for treating intractable pain via electrical stimulation of the spinal cord. Remote, non-contact stimulation of a selected region of spinal cord is achieved by placement of a transceiver patch directly on the surface of that region of spinal cord, with said patch optionally being inductively coupled to a transmitter patch of similar size on either the outer or inner wall of the dura surrounding that region of the spinal cord. By inductively exchanging electrical power and signals between said transmitter and transceiver patches, and by carrying out the necessary electronic and stimulus signal distribution functions on the transceiver patch, the targeted dorsal column axons can be stimulated without the unintended stray stimulation of nearby dorsal rootlets. Novel configurations of a pliable surface-sheath and clamp or dentate ligament attachment features which realize undamaging attachment of the patch to the spinal cord are described.
-
Citations
65 Claims
-
1-40. -40. (canceled)
-
41. A method for treating pain in a patient, the method comprising:
-
conformably positioning an electrode array over a surface of the patient'"'"'s spinal cord so that a plurality of individual electrodes in the array directly contact the spinal cord; and delivering electrical stimulation to a targeted sub-region of the spinal cord to relieve pain without stimulating dorsal nerve rootlets. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
-
-
52. A system configured for treating pain in a patient, the system comprising:
-
an array structure comprising a compliant backing with a plurality of electrodes supported thereupon so as to form an electrode array along an interior surface of the array structure, wherein the array structure is configured to conform over a surface of the patient'"'"'s spinal cord so that the electrodes of the array directly contact the spinal cord; and circuitry coupled with the electrodes, thereby configured to deliver electrical stimulation through the electrodes to a targeted sub-region of the spinal cord so as to relieve the pain without stimulating dorsal nerve rootlets. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
-
-
65. A method of manufacturing a system configured for treating pain, comprising:
-
coupling an array structure with an electrical circuitry; wherein the array structure comprises a compliant backing with a plurality of electrodes supported thereupon so as to form an electrode array along an interior surface of the array structure; wherein the array structure is configured to conform over a surface of a spinal cord so that the electrodes of the array directly contact the spinal cord; and whereby the circuitry is coupled with the electrodes so as to deliver electrical stimulation through the electrodes to a targeted sub-region of the spinal cord to relieve pain without stimulating dorsal nerve rootlets.
-
Specification