Techniques for reducing pain associated with nerve stimulation
First Claim
1. Apparatus comprising:
- an electrode device, which comprises;
an electrically-insulating cuff, configured to be placed around a nerve of a subject; and
electrodes mounted in the cuff; and
a control unit, configured to;
drive the electrode device, during stimulation periods, to apply to the site a current during “
on”
periods that alternate with low stimulation periods, the “
on”
periods having on average an “
on”
duration equal to at least 1 second, and the low stimulation periods having on average a low stimulation duration equal to at least 50% of the “
on”
duration, wherein the current applied on average during the low stimulation periods is less than 20% of the current applied on average during the “
on”
periods, anddrive the electrode device to provide rest periods, which alternate with the stimulation periods, during which rest periods the current applied on average is less than 20% of the current applied on average during the “
on”
periods,wherein the rest periods have on average a rest period duration equal to between 1 and 50 times a cycle duration that equals a duration of a single “
on”
period plus a duration of a single low stimulation period, and wherein the cycle duration is between 10 seconds and 10 minutes, andwherein the stimulation periods have on average a stimulation period duration equal to less than two hours.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus is provided including an electrode device and a control unit. The electrode device is configured to be coupled to a site of a subject selected from the group consisting of: a vagus nerve, an epicardial fat pad, a pulmonary vein, a carotid artery, a carotid sinus, a coronary sinus, a vena cava vein, a right ventricle, a right atrium, and a jugular vein. The control unit is configured to drive the electrode device to apply to the site a current in at least first and second bursts, the first burst including a plurality of pulses, and the second burst including at least one pulse, and set (a) a pulse repetition interval (PRI) of the first burst to be on average at least 20 ms, (b) an interburst interval between initiation of the first burst and initiation of the second burst to be less than 10 seconds, (c) an interburst gap between a conclusion of the first burst and the initiation of the second burst to have a duration greater than the average PRI, and (d) a burst duration of the first burst to be less than a percentage of the interburst interval between, the percentage being less than 67%. Other embodiments are also described.
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Citations
17 Claims
-
1. Apparatus comprising:
-
an electrode device, which comprises; an electrically-insulating cuff, configured to be placed around a nerve of a subject; and electrodes mounted in the cuff; and a control unit, configured to; drive the electrode device, during stimulation periods, to apply to the site a current during “
on”
periods that alternate with low stimulation periods, the “
on”
periods having on average an “
on”
duration equal to at least 1 second, and the low stimulation periods having on average a low stimulation duration equal to at least 50% of the “
on”
duration, wherein the current applied on average during the low stimulation periods is less than 20% of the current applied on average during the “
on”
periods, anddrive the electrode device to provide rest periods, which alternate with the stimulation periods, during which rest periods the current applied on average is less than 20% of the current applied on average during the “
on”
periods,wherein the rest periods have on average a rest period duration equal to between 1 and 50 times a cycle duration that equals a duration of a single “
on”
period plus a duration of a single low stimulation period, and wherein the cycle duration is between 10 seconds and 10 minutes, andwherein the stimulation periods have on average a stimulation period duration equal to less than two hours. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification