Pulse burst electrical stimulation of nerve or tissue fibers
First Claim
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1. A method of stimulating auditory nerve fibers comprising:
- generating a stimulation signal comprising a plurality of pulse bursts, each said pulse burst comprising a succession of pulses, wherein at least one of said successive pulses and its immediate preceding pulse have at least one parameter that is different;
distributing a selected pulse burst from said plurality of pulse bursts to a selected electrode of one or more electrodes operatively coupled to a selected group of auditory nerve fibers wherein the at least one different parameter causes said succession of pulses to deliver a charge to the auditory nerve fibers that causes firings in the auditory nerve fibers that are substantially stochastic in time and dispersed along the auditory nerve fibers, wherein the firings occur at substantially normal physiological rates and wherein said plurality of pulse bursts are separated in one or more of space and time to provide substantially normal recovery periods.
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Abstract
A method for stimulating nerve or tissue fibers and a prosthetic hearing device implanting same. The method comprises: generating a stimulation signal comprising a plurality of pulse bursts each comprising a plurality of pulses; and distributing said plurality of pulse bursts across one or more electrodes each operatively coupled to nerve or tissue fibers such that each of said plurality of pulse bursts delivers a charge to said nerve or tissue fibers to cause dispersed firing in said nerve or tissue fibers.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method of stimulating auditory nerve fibers comprising:
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generating a stimulation signal comprising a plurality of pulse bursts, each said pulse burst comprising a succession of pulses, wherein at least one of said successive pulses and its immediate preceding pulse have at least one parameter that is different; distributing a selected pulse burst from said plurality of pulse bursts to a selected electrode of one or more electrodes operatively coupled to a selected group of auditory nerve fibers wherein the at least one different parameter causes said succession of pulses to deliver a charge to the auditory nerve fibers that causes firings in the auditory nerve fibers that are substantially stochastic in time and dispersed along the auditory nerve fibers, wherein the firings occur at substantially normal physiological rates and wherein said plurality of pulse bursts are separated in one or more of space and time to provide substantially normal recovery periods. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method of stimulating nerve fibers using electrodes operatively coupled to the nerve fibers comprising:
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generating a stimulation signal comprising a first plurality of pulse bursts having a first duration and a second plurality of pulse bursts having a second duration that is less than said first duration, wherein the first plurality of pulse bursts comprises a first succession of pulses having at least one different first parameter for each successive pulse, and wherein the second plurality of pulse bursts comprises a second succession of pulses having at least one different second parameter for each successive pulse; distributing said first plurality of pulse bursts across one or more of said electrodes operatively coupled to first nerve fibers responsive to low frequency stimulation such that the at least one different first parameter of each said successive pulse causes said first succession of pulses to deliver a first charge to said first nerve fibers, wherein said first charge causes stochastic and dispersed firing in said first nerve fibers; and distributing said second plurality of pulse bursts across one or more of said electrodes operatively coupled to second nerve fibers responsive to high frequency stimulation such that the at least one different second parameter of each said successive pulse causes said second succession of pulses to deliver a second charge to said second nerve fibers, wherein said second charge causes stochastic and dispersed firing in said second nerve fibers. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A prosthetic hearing device, comprising:
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means for generating a stimulation signal from an ambient sound; means for defining one or more pulse bursts in said stimulation signal, each of the one or more pulse bursts comprising a succession of pulses, wherein at least one of said successive pulses and its immediate preceding pulse have at least one parameter that is different; means for distributing a selected pulse burst from said pulse bursts to a selected electrode from one or more electrodes operatively coupled to a selected group of auditory nerve fibers, wherein the at least one different parameter causes said succession of pulses to deliver a charge to the auditory nerve fibers that causes firings in the nerve fibers that are substantially stochastic in time and dispersed along the auditory nerve fibers, wherein the firings occur at substantially normal physiological rates and wherein said plurality of pulse bursts are separated in one or more of space and time to provide substantially normal recovery periods. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification