Method and apparatus for electrical stimulation
First Claim
1. Apparatus for applying pulsed electrical stimulation to a human or animal subject, the apparatus comprising a control circuit having a number of output terminals each of which is connectable, in use, to at least one of an array (greater than two) of electrodes placed on and/or in the subject;
- the control circuit including means for providing stimulation pulses to two or more of the electrodes simultaneously whereby the pulses are subdivided into a plurality of contiguous time periods, and for each time period, each output terminal may be connected as either anode, cathode or neither to provide discrimination between stimulated and non-stimulated regions of tissue and/or nerve types of the subject by controlling the time-summated current flow applied via each electrode during each pulse.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Pulsed electrical stimulation is applied to selected tissues via electrodes positioned on and/or in the body. Each electrode is connected to an output (108) of the apparatus. Each output (108) is connected between a high side switch (110) and a low side switch (112) of a switching array. Each stimulation pulse is subdivided into a number of time periods. By operation of the switches (110, 112) each electrode can be selected to operate as an anode or a cathode or neither during any given time period. The spatial and/or time summation of the anode-cathode currents is controlled to selectively to stimulate selected regions and/or types of tissues, typically nerve tissues.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. Apparatus for applying pulsed electrical stimulation to a human or animal subject, the apparatus comprising a control circuit having a number of output terminals each of which is connectable, in use, to at least one of an array (greater than two) of electrodes placed on and/or in the subject;
- the control circuit including means for providing stimulation pulses to two or more of the electrodes simultaneously whereby the pulses are subdivided into a plurality of contiguous time periods, and for each time period, each output terminal may be connected as either anode, cathode or neither to provide discrimination between stimulated and non-stimulated regions of tissue and/or nerve types of the subject by controlling the time-summated current flow applied via each electrode during each pulse.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 30)
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14. Apparatus for applying electrical stimulation to a human or animal subject, the apparatus comprising a control circuit having a number of outputs each of which is connectable, in use, to a respective one of an array (greater than two) of electrodes placed on and/or in the subject;
- the control circuit being arranged to generate stimulation pulses for application via two or more of the electrodes to the subject simultaneously;
the pulses being subdivided into a plurality of contiguous time periods, and the control circuit including means for selectively connecting the outputs for each time period such that each of the electrodes act as anode(s) or cathode(s) or neither to provide discrimination between stimulated and non-stimulated regions of tissue and/or nerve types of the subject by controlling the time-summated current flow applied via each electrode during each pulse. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
- the control circuit being arranged to generate stimulation pulses for application via two or more of the electrodes to the subject simultaneously;
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25. A method of applying electrical stimulation to a human or animal subject, comprising placing a plurality of spaced stimulation electrodes on and/or in the subject, each electrode being capable of selectively acting as an anode, a cathode or neither, and applying electrical stimulation pulses to the subject via a plurality of electrodes simultaneously;
- the duration of each pulse comprising a plurality of contiguous time periods during each of which none, some or all of the electrodes are selected to act as anode(s) or cathode(s) or neither to provide discrimination between stimulated and non-stimulated regions of tissue and/or nerve types of the subject by controlling the time-summated current flow applied via each electrode during each pulse.
- View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
Specification