Systems and methods for producing asynchronous neural responses to treat pain and/or other patient conditions
First Claim
1. A method for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
- based at least in part on the value of a threshold frequency that corresponds to a refractory period for neurons of a target sensory neural population, selecting a target stimulation frequency that is above the threshold frequency; and
producing a patient sensation of paresthesia by directing an electrical signal to multiple sensory neurons of the target sensory neural population at the target stimulation frequency, with individual neurons of the target sensory neural population completing corresponding individual refractory periods at different times, resulting in an asynchronous sensory neuron response to the electrical signal.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for producing asynchronous neural responses to treat pain and/or other patient conditions are disclosed. A method in accordance with a particular embodiment includes selecting a target stimulation frequency that is above a threshold frequency, with the threshold frequency corresponding to a refractory period for neurons of a target sensory neural population. The method can further include producing a patient sensation of paresthesia by directing an electrical signal to multiple sensory neurons of the target sensory neural population at the stimulation frequency, with individual neurons of the sensory neural population completing corresponding individual refractory periods at different times, resulting in an asynchronous sensory neuron response to the electrical signal.
474 Citations
36 Claims
-
1. A method for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
-
based at least in part on the value of a threshold frequency that corresponds to a refractory period for neurons of a target sensory neural population, selecting a target stimulation frequency that is above the threshold frequency; and producing a patient sensation of paresthesia by directing an electrical signal to multiple sensory neurons of the target sensory neural population at the target stimulation frequency, with individual neurons of the target sensory neural population completing corresponding individual refractory periods at different times, resulting in an asynchronous sensory neuron response to the electrical signal.
-
-
2. A method for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
-
implanting an electrical stimulation device proximate to a target sensory neural population of the patient'"'"'s spinal cord, the target sensory neural population including sensory neurons having a characteristic refractory period and a corresponding threshold frequency; directing an electrical signal to multiple sensory neurons of the target sensory neural population at a target stimulation frequency that is greater than the threshold frequency, with individual neurons of the sensory neural population completing corresponding individual refractory periods at different times; and producing a patient sensation of paresthesia resulting from an asynchronous, sensory neuron response to the electrical signals.
-
-
3. A method for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
-
directing a stream of pulses to a target neural population at a frequency of from about 3 kHz to about 10 kHz; and as a result of the pulses directed to the patient, producing an asynchronous action potential response at the target neural population, and a patient sensation of paresthesia.
-
-
4. A method for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising
directing an electrical signal to multiple sensory neurons of a target sensory neural population, the electrical signal having a stimulation frequency; -
varying the simulation frequency; and receiving an indication that the electrical signal produces an asynchronous sensory neuron response at one or more frequencies.
-
-
5. A therapy system for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
-
a pulse generator coupleable to a signal delivery element to transmit an electrical stimulation signal to the signal delivery element; and a machine-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed, cause the pulse generator to transmit the electrical stimulation signal to multiple neurons of a target sensory neural population via the signal delivery element, wherein the electrical stimulation signal has a target stimulation frequency that is above a threshold frequency that corresponds to a refractory period for individual neurons of the target sensory neural population, and wherein the electrical stimulation signal produces an asynchronous sensory neuron response and a patient sensation of paresthesia.
-
-
6. A system for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising
a signal delivery element positionable to deliver an electrical stimulation signal to a target sensory neural population of a patient; -
a pulse generator coupled to the signal delivery element to transmit the electrical stimulation signal to the signal delivery element; a patient sensor positionable relative to the patient to detect a patient neural response to the electrical stimulation signal delivered by the signal delivery element; and a machine-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed, adjust the frequency of the electrical stimulation signal and determine when the electrical stimulation signal produces an asynchronous sensory neuron response to the electrical stimulation signal.
-
-
7. A method for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
-
based at least in part on the value of a threshold frequency that corresponds to a refractory period for neurons of a target sensory neural population, selecting a target stimulation frequency that is above the threshold frequency and above 1,500 Hz; and directing an electrical signal to multiple sensory neurons of the target sensory neural population at the target stimulation frequency, with individual neurons of the target sensory neural population completing corresponding individual refractory periods at different times, resulting in an asynchronous sensory neuron response to the electrical signal, without blocking afferent sensory signals from the target sensory neural population. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
22. A method for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
-
based at least in part on the value of a threshold frequency that corresponds to a refractory period for neurons of a target sensory neural population, selecting a target stimulation frequency that is above the threshold frequency and above 1,500 Hz; and programming a spinal cord stimulation device to direct an electrical signal to multiple sensory neurons of the target sensory neural population at the target stimulation frequency, with individual neurons of the target sensory neural population completing corresponding individual refractory periods at different times, resulting in an asynchronous sensory neuron response to the electrical signal, without blocking afferent sensory signals from the target sensory neural population. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
-
Specification