Method and apparatus for affecting the autonomic nervous system
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- applying at least one stimulus to a subject, wherein the at least one stimulus is modulated by at least one variable stimulus parameter;
monitoring at least one subject parameter of the subject;
separately analyzing at least one of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of the subject based on the monitored subject parameter; and
controlling the application of the at least one stimulus by modulating the at least one variable stimulus parameter in accordance with separate analysis from the sympathetic activity or the parasympathetic activity of the subject.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for affecting the autonomic nervous system of a subject using stimuli based on separate analysis of the sympathetic and/or parasympathetic branches of the subject'"'"'s autonomic nervous system. The present invention also relates to a method and apparatus for affecting the autonomic nervous system, wherein stimuli is applied in coordination with cyclical activities of the subjects body such as respiration or cardiac cycle.
113 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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applying at least one stimulus to a subject, wherein the at least one stimulus is modulated by at least one variable stimulus parameter; monitoring at least one subject parameter of the subject; separately analyzing at least one of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of the subject based on the monitored subject parameter; and controlling the application of the at least one stimulus by modulating the at least one variable stimulus parameter in accordance with separate analysis from the sympathetic activity or the parasympathetic activity of the subject. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 53)
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17. A method for affecting the autonomic nervous system of a subject comprising:
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measuring the heart rate variability of the subject; separately analyzing at least one of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of the subject based on the heart rate variability measurement; and applying at least one stimulus to the subject in response to at least one of the sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of the subject.
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18. An apparatus for affecting the autonomic nervous system of a subject comprising:
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means for obtaining a plurality of power spectra, wherein each power spectrum depicts heart rate variability of the subject as a function of frequency, and the power spectra are obtained over predetermined time windows; means for measuring area under each power spectrum in at least one predetermined frequency range, and the maximum value of variability in the predetermined frequency range; and modulating means for modulating a first parameter of a stimulus to be applied to the subject based on a change in the area between two power spectra and for modulating a second parameter of the stimulus based on a change in the maximum value of variability between the two power spectra.
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21. A computer-readable storage device having instructions stored thereon, execution of which, by a computing device, causes the computing device to perform operations comprising:
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applying at least one stimulus to a subject, wherein the at least one stimulus is modulated by at least one variable stimulus parameter; monitoring at least one subject parameter of the subject; separately analyzing at least one of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of the subject based on the subject parameter; and controlling the application of the at least one stimulus by modulating the at least one variable stimulus parameter in accordance with separate analysis from the sympathetic activity or the parasympathetic activity of the subject. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. An apparatus comprising:
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a patient monitor device configured to monitor at least one subject parameter of a subject and to separately analyze at least one of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of the subject based on the subject parameter; and a stimuli modulating unit configured to; apply at least one stimulus to the subject, wherein the at least one stimulus is modulated by at least one variable stimulus parameter, and control the application of the at least one stimulus by modulating the at least one variable stimulus parameter in accordance with separate analysis from the sympathetic activity or the parasympathetic activity of the subject. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification