System and method suitable for treatment of a patient with a neurological deficit by sequentially stimulating neural pathways using a system of discrete implantable medical devices
First Claim
1. A system for sequentially activating a plurality of distinct neural pathways in a patient'"'"'s body, said system comprising:
- a first set of one or more discrete implantable devices suitable for placement proximate to a first neural pathway for stimulating the first neural pathway;
a second set of one or more discrete implantable devices suitable for placement proximate to a second neural pathway for stimulating the second neural pathway;
wherein each of said discrete implantable devices is contained within a sealed elongate housing having an axial dimension of less than 60 mm and a lateral dimension of less than 6 mm and includes at least two electrodes integral with and on opposing ends of said housing, whereby said housings are suitable for injection into the patient'"'"'s body and said discrete implantable devices are configured for affecting at least one neural pathway of the patient'"'"'s body via said electrodes in response to first communication/control circuitry mounted within each said housing and responsive to a unique predefined identification address for each of said discrete implantable devices;
a system controller having second communication/control circuitry configured for wireless communication with said first communication/control circuitry within each of said discrete implantable devices;
wherein following a first activation sequence of said first neural pathway transmitted from said system controller to said first set of one or more discrete implantable devices, said system controller additionally transmits a temporally displaced, by a predetermined delay, second activation sequence to said second set of one or more discrete implantable devices; and
a position sensor in communication with said system controller for determining the relative position of at least two portions of the patients body; and
wherein said temporal displacement between transmitting said first and second activation sequences to said first and second sets of one or more discrete implantable devices is determined at least in part according to information communicated from said position sensor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method that facilitates stimulating neural pathways, e.g., muscles and/or associated nerves, of a patient'"'"'s body for the purpose of therapeutic medical treatment by rehabilitating weakened muscles and using neuroplasticity to retrain sequential muscle movements and/or to provide the ability to directly deliver functional motor movements. Use of the present invention is of particular value for treating a patient following a stroke. More particularly, such systems are characterized by a plurality of discrete devices, preferably battery powered but may alternatively include RF-powered devices as well or in combination, configured for implanting within a patient'"'"'s body via injection, each device being configured to affect a parameter, e.g., via nerve and/or muscle stimulation and/or to sense a body parameter, e.g., temperature, O2 content, physical position, electrical potential, etc., that operate under control of a system controller that coordinates the sequential stimulation via wireless commands to the implanted devices.
155 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A system for sequentially activating a plurality of distinct neural pathways in a patient'"'"'s body, said system comprising:
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a first set of one or more discrete implantable devices suitable for placement proximate to a first neural pathway for stimulating the first neural pathway; a second set of one or more discrete implantable devices suitable for placement proximate to a second neural pathway for stimulating the second neural pathway; wherein each of said discrete implantable devices is contained within a sealed elongate housing having an axial dimension of less than 60 mm and a lateral dimension of less than 6 mm and includes at least two electrodes integral with and on opposing ends of said housing, whereby said housings are suitable for injection into the patient'"'"'s body and said discrete implantable devices are configured for affecting at least one neural pathway of the patient'"'"'s body via said electrodes in response to first communication/control circuitry mounted within each said housing and responsive to a unique predefined identification address for each of said discrete implantable devices; a system controller having second communication/control circuitry configured for wireless communication with said first communication/control circuitry within each of said discrete implantable devices; wherein following a first activation sequence of said first neural pathway transmitted from said system controller to said first set of one or more discrete implantable devices, said system controller additionally transmits a temporally displaced, by a predetermined delay, second activation sequence to said second set of one or more discrete implantable devices; and a position sensor in communication with said system controller for determining the relative position of at least two portions of the patients body; and wherein said temporal displacement between transmitting said first and second activation sequences to said first and second sets of one or more discrete implantable devices is determined at least in part according to information communicated from said position sensor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A system for sequentially activating a plurality of distinct neural pathways in a patient'"'"'s body, said system comprising:
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a first set of one or more discrete implantable devices suitable for placement proximate to a first neural pathway for stimulating the first neural pathway corresponding to bending of the patient'"'"'s elbow; a second set of one or more discrete implantable devices suitable for placement proximate to a second neural pathway for stimulating the second neural pathway corresponding to bending of the patient'"'"'s wrist; a third set of one or more discrete implantable devices suitable for placement proximate to a third neural pathway for stimulating the third neural pathway corresponding to bending of one or more of the patient'"'"'s fingers; wherein each of said discrete implantable devices is contained within a sealed elongate housing having an axial dimension of less than 60 mm and a lateral dimension of less than 6 mm and includes at least two electrodes integral with and on opposing ends of said housing, whereby said housings are suitable for injection into the patient'"'"'s body and said discrete implantable devices are configured for affecting at least one neural pathway of the patients body via said electrodes in response to first communication/control circuitry mounted within each said housing and responsive to a unique predefined identification address for each of said discrete implantable devices; a system controller having second communication/control circuitry configured for wireless communication with said first communication/control circuitry within each of said discrete implantable devices; wherein following a first activation sequence of said first neural pathway transmitted from said system controller to said first set of one or more discrete implantable devices, said system controller additionally transmits a temporally displaced, by a predetermined delay, second activation sequence to said second set of one or more discrete implantable devices and a third activation sequence to said third set of one or more discrete implantable devices; and a position sensor in communication with said system controller for determining the relative position of at least two portions of the patient'"'"'s body; and wherein said temporal displacement between transmitting said first and second activation sequences to said first and second sets of one or more discrete implantable devices is determined at least in part according to information communicated from said position sensor. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A system for determining the movement of a body portion associated with a selected muscle or muscle group, said system comprising:
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a first discrete implantable device suitable for implantation in a first portion of the selected muscle or muscle group; a second discrete implantable device suitable for implantation in a second portion of the selected muscle or muscle group; wherein each of said discrete implantable devices is contained within a sealed elongate housing having an axial dimension of less than 60 mm and a lateral dimension of less than 6 mm, whereby said housings are suitable for injection into the patient'"'"'s body; and wherein said discrete implantable devices are configured to wirelessly communicate signals to determine their relative distance and accordingly the relative extension or retraction of the selected muscle or muscle group and accordingly movement of the associated body portion. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43)
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Specification