Method and apparatus for synchronized treatment of obstructive sleep apnea
First Claim
1. A system for treating obstructive sleep apnea in a patient, comprising:
- means for determining when the patient has entered a sleep state;
means for electrically stimulating a nerve in the upper airway tract of the patient to elicit a contraction by an innervated muscle through the provision of electrical stimuli thereto, the electrical stimulating means being operably connected to the sleep state determining means and being operative continuously over a pre-determined period of time after the sleep state determining means has determined the patient has entered the sleep state;
means for sensing the respiratory effort of a patient operably connected to the electrical stimulating means and comprising first and second electrodes suitable for placement on opposite sides of the patient'"'"'s diaphragm, the respiratory effort sensing means delivering high frequency current between the electrodes to thereby measure the impedance therebetween;
wherein the electrical stimulating means provides electrical stimuli to the innervated muscle in coordination with the sensed respiratory effort of the patient.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for synchronized treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. In one embodiment such stimulation is provided by an implantable pulse generator, the implantable pulse generator having a stimulation stage to output stimulation pulses to a body structure, a sensing stage to sense the respiratory effort of a patient, and a controller, to coordinate, and preferably to synchronize, the output stimulation pulses with the sensed respiratory effort. The respiratory effort of a patient is sensed through the use of two electrodes disposed such that the diaphragm is positioned between, and the high frequency current is injected from one electrode to the other and the corresponding impedance is measured, the corresponding impedance thus being a function of the diaphragm position, itself indicating the respiratory effort of the patient. In such a manner the present invention permits the delivery of stimulation to be precisely controlled by the actual respiratory effort of the patient.
414 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A system for treating obstructive sleep apnea in a patient, comprising:
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means for determining when the patient has entered a sleep state;
means for electrically stimulating a nerve in the upper airway tract of the patient to elicit a contraction by an innervated muscle through the provision of electrical stimuli thereto, the electrical stimulating means being operably connected to the sleep state determining means and being operative continuously over a pre-determined period of time after the sleep state determining means has determined the patient has entered the sleep state;
means for sensing the respiratory effort of a patient operably connected to the electrical stimulating means and comprising first and second electrodes suitable for placement on opposite sides of the patient'"'"'s diaphragm, the respiratory effort sensing means delivering high frequency current between the electrodes to thereby measure the impedance therebetween;
wherein the electrical stimulating means provides electrical stimuli to the innervated muscle in coordination with the sensed respiratory effort of the patient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification