Systems and methods for implantable leadless gastrointestinal tissue stimulation
First Claim
1. A method for stimulating gastrointestinal tissue comprising:
- implanting in a body of a patient a controller-transmitter at an implantation site to generate acoustic energy, wherein the controller-transmitter comprises acoustic transducers disposed in a housing and one or more physiological sensors disposed on an external surface of the housing, and wherein the one or more physiological sensors are configured to detect one or more physiological parameters;
implanting a receiver-stimulator remotely from the controller-transmitter in gastrointestinal tissue of the patient at a gastrointestinal tissue stimulation site, wherein the receiver-stimulator comprises one or more stimulation electrodes such that the stimulation electrodes lie in electrical communication with the gastrointestinal tissue stimulation site;
sensing one or more physiological parameters directly from the body using the one or more physiological sensors;
generating acoustic energy at the controller-transmitter implantation site using the transducers in the controller-transmitter;
receiving the acoustic energy at the gastrointestinal tissue stimulation site using the receiver-stimulator;
converting the received acoustic energy into an electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output using the receiver-stimulator, wherein the stimulation energy output has at least one of pulse amplitude, pulse duration, duty cycle, and timing based on energy and signal information included in the generated acoustic energy;
delivering the electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output to the gastrointestinal tissue stimulation site using the one or more stimulation electrodes;
sensing the electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output, wherein the physiological sensors are adapted to sense the electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output;
adjusting the acoustic energy transmission from the controller-transmitter to compensate for changes in the electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output of the receiver-stimulator; and
using an external programmer to program one or more settings of the controller-transmitter.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed to stimulate gastrointestinal tissue to treat medical conditions such as eating disorders, gastroparesis, and gastric reflux. The invention uses electrical stimulation of the nerve, where vibrational energy from a source is received by an implanted device and converted to electrical energy and the converted electrical energy is used by implanted electrodes to stimulate the pre-determined gastrointestinal tissue site. The vibrational energy is generated by a controller-transmitter, which could be implanted or located externally. The vibrational energy is received by a receiver-stimulator, which could be located in the various regions on or around the gastrointestinal tissue that needs to be stimulated. The implantable receiver-stimulator stimulates different gastrointestinal tissue to provide the desired therapeutic benefit.
160 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method for stimulating gastrointestinal tissue comprising:
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implanting in a body of a patient a controller-transmitter at an implantation site to generate acoustic energy, wherein the controller-transmitter comprises acoustic transducers disposed in a housing and one or more physiological sensors disposed on an external surface of the housing, and wherein the one or more physiological sensors are configured to detect one or more physiological parameters; implanting a receiver-stimulator remotely from the controller-transmitter in gastrointestinal tissue of the patient at a gastrointestinal tissue stimulation site, wherein the receiver-stimulator comprises one or more stimulation electrodes such that the stimulation electrodes lie in electrical communication with the gastrointestinal tissue stimulation site; sensing one or more physiological parameters directly from the body using the one or more physiological sensors; generating acoustic energy at the controller-transmitter implantation site using the transducers in the controller-transmitter; receiving the acoustic energy at the gastrointestinal tissue stimulation site using the receiver-stimulator; converting the received acoustic energy into an electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output using the receiver-stimulator, wherein the stimulation energy output has at least one of pulse amplitude, pulse duration, duty cycle, and timing based on energy and signal information included in the generated acoustic energy; delivering the electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output to the gastrointestinal tissue stimulation site using the one or more stimulation electrodes; sensing the electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output, wherein the physiological sensors are adapted to sense the electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output; adjusting the acoustic energy transmission from the controller-transmitter to compensate for changes in the electrical gastrointestinal tissue stimulation energy output of the receiver-stimulator; and using an external programmer to program one or more settings of the controller-transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification