Voice suppression of vagal stimulation
First Claim
1. A medical device for stimulating the vagus nerve of a patient to modulate the electrical activity thereof as part of a prescribed therapy, comprising:
- signal generating means for generating a predetermined signal to stimulate the vagus nerve, andsensing means responsive to speech by the patient for automatically inhibiting said signal from stimulating the nerve.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In conjunction with a medical device for stimulating the vagus nerve of a patient to modulate the electrical activity thereof as part of a prescribed therapy, apparatus is provided to selectively suppress the stimulation while the patient is speaking, to avoid undesirable modulation of the voice. The suppression apparatus includes a speech sensor and discriminator, to detect speech by the patient while avoiding false detection attributable to sounds other than speech. The suppression of nerve stimulation is ceased after a preset time interval regardless of continued detection of speech, to assure that beneficial therapy is not unduly inhibited in favor of mere cosmetic considerations or in the presence of prolonged false detections. In the preferred embodiment, the discriminator selectively varies the sensitivity of the suppression apparatus to speech by the patient to enhance its selectivity over sounds attributable to other sources, such as by changing the value of a threshold level which must be crossed before the suppression of nerve stimulation can occur or continue, and by filtering out disturbances.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A medical device for stimulating the vagus nerve of a patient to modulate the electrical activity thereof as part of a prescribed therapy, comprising:
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signal generating means for generating a predetermined signal to stimulate the vagus nerve, and sensing means responsive to speech by the patient for automatically inhibiting said signal from stimulating the nerve. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. In conjunction with a medical device for stimulating the vagus nerve of a patient to modulate the electrical activity of the nerve as part of a prescribed therapy, the improvement comprising:
sensing means responsive to speaking by the patient for automatically suppressing the nerve stimulation. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of avoiding undesirable modulation of the voice of a patient as a consequence of stimulation of the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve by a medical device to modulate the electrical activity of the nerve as part of a prescribed therapy, said method comprising:
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sensing speech by the patient, and responding to said sensing of speech by automatically suppressing the nerve stimulation. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification