Control of urge incontinence
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence in a patient, comprising:
- a sensor, which is coupled to generate a signal responsive to a fill level of the patient'"'"'s bladder; and
a control unit, which receives and analyzes the signal so as to determine a fill level of the bladder and, responsive to the determination;
applies electrical stimulation to cause the contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient, so as to inhibit the urinary incontinence when the fill level of the bladder is above a threshold level.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device (20) for treatment of a patient'"'"'s urinary incontinence, including a sensor (44), which generates a signal responsive to a physiological characteristic indicative of a likelihood of incontinence. A control unit (22) receives the signal from the sensor. At least one electrode (29) is preferably implanted in the patient. The electrode is coupled to cause contraction of the pelvic muscle of the patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode. Responsive to the signal, the control unit applies an electrical waveform to the electrode, so as to inhibit the incontinence.
323 Citations
61 Claims
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1. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence in a patient, comprising:
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a sensor, which is coupled to generate a signal responsive to a fill level of the patient'"'"'s bladder; and
a control unit, which receives and analyzes the signal so as to determine a fill level of the bladder and, responsive to the determination;
applies electrical stimulation to cause the contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient, so as to inhibit the urinary incontinence when the fill level of the bladder is above a threshold level.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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at least one electrode, which is placed in electrical contact with a pelvic muscle of a patient; and
a control unit, which receives signals indicative of impending urine flow, and distinguishes signals indicative of possible imminent incontinence from signals indicative of voluntary voiding by the patient, and responsive thereto applies an electrical waveform to the electrode which stimulates the muscle to contract, so as to inhibit incontinence. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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at least one electrode, coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode; and
a control unit, which receives at a sample rate substantially greater than 1000 Hz signals indicative of possible imminent incontinence, analyzes the signals so as to determine when the incontinence is likely, and, responsive thereto, applies an electrical waveform to the electrode which causes the muscle to contract, so as to inhibit the incontinence. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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at least one electrode, coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode;
a first processor, which receives signals indicative of a likelihood of imminent incontinence and analyzes the signals substantially continuously at a low data analysis rate; and
a second processor, which, responsive to a determination by the first processor that incontinence is imminent, is actuated by the first processor to analyze the signals at a high data analysis rate and, responsive to the analysis at the high data rate, applies an electrical waveform to the electrode which stimulates the muscle to contract, so as to inhibit the incontinence. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A method for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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coupling an electrode to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving a signal from the patient'"'"'s body indicative of impending urine flow;
analyzing the received signal to distinguish between a signal indicating that incontinence is likely and another signal indicative of voluntary voiding; and
responsive to the analysis, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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coupling an electrode to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving at a sample rate substantially greater than 1000 Hz signals indicative of imminent urination;
analyzing the signals so as to determine when incontinence is likely; and
responsive to the analysis, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A method for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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receiving a signal indicative of a fill level of a patient'"'"'s bladder; and
applying stimulation to a pelvic muscle of the patient when the fill level of the bladder is above a threshold level, so as to inhibit incontinence. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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27. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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a sensor, which generates a signal responsive to a physiological characteristic indicative of a likelihood of incontinence;
a control unit, which receives the signal from the sensor; and
at least one electrode, implanted in a patient and coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode, to which electrode the control unit applies an electrical waveform responsive to the signal so as to inhibit the incontinence, wherein the sensor comprises a detecting electrode, and wherein the signal comprises an electromyographic (EMG) signal generated by the detecting electrode.
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28. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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a sensor, which generates a signal responsive to a physiological characteristic indicative of a likelihood of incontinence;
a control unit, which receives the signal from the sensor; and
at least one electrode, implanted in a patient and coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode, to which electrode the control unit applies an electrical waveform responsive to the signal so as to inhibit the incontinence, wherein the control unit analyzes the sensor signal to determine a time of voiding, and applies the electrical waveform at a designated time interval subsequent to the time of voiding.
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29. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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a sensor, which generates a signal responsive to a physiological characteristic indicative of a likelihood of incontinence;
a control unit, which receives the signal from the sensor; and
at least one electrode, implanted in a patient and coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode, to which electrode the control unit applies an electrical waveform responsive to the signal so as to inhibit the incontinence, wherein the urinary incontinence comprises urinary urge incontinence.
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30. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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a sensor, which generates a signal responsive to a physiological characteristic indicative of a likelihood of incontinence;
a control unit, which receives the signal from the sensor; and
at least one electrode, implanted in a patient and coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode, to which electrode the control unit applies an electrical waveform responsive to the signal so as to inhibit the incontinence, wherein the control unit is implanted in a vicinity of the patient'"'"'s sacral spine.
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31. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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a sensor, which generates a signal responsive to a physiological characteristic indicative of a likelihood of incontinence;
a control unit, which receives the signal from the sensor; and
at least one electrode, implanted in a patient and coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode, to which electrode the control unit applies an electrical waveform responsive to the signal so as to inhibit the incontinence, wherein at least one electrode comprises a pair of bipolar electrodes.
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32. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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a sensor, which generates a signal responsive to a physiological characteristic indicative of a likelihood of incontinence;
a control unit, which receives the signal from the sensor; and
at least one electrode, implanted in a patient and coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode, to which electrode the control unit applies an electrical waveform responsive to the signal so as to inhibit the incontinence, wherein the control unit receives data indicative of a fill level of the patient'"'"'s bladder and, responsive to the data, does not apply the electrical waveform when the fill level of the bladder is low, even when the signal generated by the sensor is indicative of involuntary urination.
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33. A device for treatment of urinary incontinence, comprising:
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a sensor, which generates a signal responsive to a physiological characteristic indicative of a likelihood of incontinence;
a control unit, which receives the signal from the sensor; and
at least one electrode, implanted in a patient and coupled to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient responsive to application of electrical energy to the electrode, to which electrode the control unit applies an electrical waveform responsive to the signal so as to inhibit the incontinence, wherein the control comprises a processor, which analyzes the signal so as to determine when an involuntary urine flow is likely, whereupon the waveform is applied. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. A method for treatment of urinary stress incontinence of a patient, comprising:
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implanting an electrode so as to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive of application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving a signal from the patient'"'"'s body indicative of imminent incontinence; and
responsive to the signal, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence, wherein the incontinence comprises urge incontinence.
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47. A method for treatment of urinary stress incontinence of a patient, comprising:
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implanting an electrode so as to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive of application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving a signal from the patient'"'"'s body indicative of imminent incontinence; and
responsive to the signal, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence, wherein applying the waveform comprises varying a parameter of the waveform selected from the group consisting of amplitude, frequency, duration, wave shape and duty cycle.
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48. A method for treatment of urinary stress incontinence of a patient, comprising:
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implanting an electrode so as to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive of application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving a signal from the patient'"'"'s body indicative of imminent incontinence; and
responsive to the signal, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence, wherein applying the waveform comprises applying a pulse burst.
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49. A method for treatment of urinary stress incontinence of a patient, comprising:
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implanting an electrode so as to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive of application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving a signal from the patient'"'"'s body indicative of imminent incontinence; and
responsive to the signal, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence, wherein implanting the electrode comprises placing at least two electrodes in electrical contact with the muscle, and wherein applying the waveform comprises applying a waveform between the electrodes in a bipolar mode.
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50. A method for treatment of urinary stress incontinence of a patient, comprising:
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implanting an electrode so as to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive of application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving a signal from the patient'"'"'s body indicative of imminent incontinence;
responsive to the signal, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence; and
determining a time of voiding, wherein applying the electrical waveform comprises applying the waveform at a designated time interval subsequent to the time of voiding.
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51. A method for treatment of urinary stress incontinence of a patient, comprising:
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implanting an electrode so as to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive of application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving a signal from the patient'"'"'s body indicative of imminent incontinence;
responsive to the signal, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence; and
receiving a signal indicative of a fill level of the patient'"'"'s bladder, wherein applying the electrical waveform comprises applying a waveform responsive to the fill level. - View Dependent Claims (52)
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53. A method for treatment of urinary stress incontinence of a patient, comprising:
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implanting an electrode so as to cause contraction of a pelvic muscle of a patient responsive of application of electrical energy to the electrode;
receiving a signal from the patient'"'"'s body indicative of imminent incontinence; and
responsive to the signal, applying an electrical waveform to the electrode, which stimulates the muscle to contract so as to inhibit incontinence, wherein applying the waveform comprises analyzing the signal to determine when an involuntary urine flow is likely, and applying a waveform responsive to the determination. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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Specification