Noninvasively adjustable gastric band
First Claim
1. A method of noninvasively adjusting a gastric band used for treating an eating disorder, the method comprising:
- providing an implantable gastric band unit comprisinga gastric band comprising an inner periphery for contacting at least a portion of a patient'"'"'s gastrointestinal tract that is innervated by at least one of the anterior branch and the posterior branch of the vagus nerve, an adjustment element, a receiver coupled to said adjustment element, a plurality of stimulation electrodes on said inner periphery and at least one pressure sensor on said inner periphery;
providing an external adjustment controller for transmitting an adjustment signal to said receiver;
surgically coupling said implantable gastric band unit to said portion of the gastrointestinal tract;
noninvasively transmitting an adjustment signal to said receiver;
adjusting the constriction provided by said gastric band to said at least a portion of the gastrointestinal tract using said adjustment element in response to said adjustment signal; and
regulating said adjustment signal based on a pressure signal sensed by the at least one pressure sensor to maintain a desired constant pressure on said portion of said patient'"'"'s gastrointestinal tract, when said gastric band unit is used to treat obesity, compulsive overeating, bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for treatment of an eating disorder includes electrically stimulating the vagus nerve of the lower esophagus, cardia, esophageal/cardia junction, cardia/fundus junction or upper stomach so as to induce afferent action potentials on the vagus nerve. A device comprising a gastric band including stimulation electrodes may be noninvasively adjusted after implantation to provide increased or decreased restriction on the patient'"'"'s gastrointestinal tract. Each stimulus may be administered as a series of programmed pulses of defined amplitude, duration and period, to evoke a responsive signal to the brain by the target nerve, effective for producing a temporary feeling of satiety in the person. A programmable implantable stimulus generator may be operatively coupled to a nerve electrode. Methods are also provided to identify electrodes nearest to a branch of the vagus nerve to apply an electrical stimulation signal with improved efficiency.
-
Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A method of noninvasively adjusting a gastric band used for treating an eating disorder, the method comprising:
-
providing an implantable gastric band unit comprising a gastric band comprising an inner periphery for contacting at least a portion of a patient'"'"'s gastrointestinal tract that is innervated by at least one of the anterior branch and the posterior branch of the vagus nerve, an adjustment element, a receiver coupled to said adjustment element, a plurality of stimulation electrodes on said inner periphery and at least one pressure sensor on said inner periphery; providing an external adjustment controller for transmitting an adjustment signal to said receiver; surgically coupling said implantable gastric band unit to said portion of the gastrointestinal tract; noninvasively transmitting an adjustment signal to said receiver; adjusting the constriction provided by said gastric band to said at least a portion of the gastrointestinal tract using said adjustment element in response to said adjustment signal; and regulating said adjustment signal based on a pressure signal sensed by the at least one pressure sensor to maintain a desired constant pressure on said portion of said patient'"'"'s gastrointestinal tract, when said gastric band unit is used to treat obesity, compulsive overeating, bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A noninvasively adjustable gastric band system for treating an eating disorder comprising,
an implantable gastric band comprising an inner periphery for contacting at least a portion of a patient'"'"'s gastrointestinal tract that is innervated by at least one of the anterior branch and the posterior branch of the vagus nerve, a plurality of stimulation electrodes positioned on said inner periphery configured for electrically coupling to said at least one of the anterior branch and the posterior branch of said vagus nerve on said at least a portion of the gastrointestinal tract, and at least one pressure sensor on said inner periphery configured to sense the pressure between said band and said portion of the gastrointestinal tract, and to send a pressure signal; -
an implantable adjustment element coupled to said implantable gastric band and configured for adjusting the constriction of said implantable gastric band on said gastrointestinal tract in response to an adjustment signal; an implantable receiver configured for receiving said adjustment signal and providing said adjustment signal to said adjustment element; an external adjustment controller configured for generating and noninvasively transmitting said adjustment signal to said implantable receiver and configured to receive said pressure signal and programmed to regulate said adjustment signal based on said received pressure signal to maintain a desired constant pressure on said portion of said patient'"'"'s gastrointestinal tract; and the gastric band system configured for treating obesity, compulsive overeating, bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
-
Specification