Systems and methods for producing asynchronous neural responses to treat pain and/or other patient conditions
First Claim
1. A therapy system for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
- a signal delivery element positionable to deliver an electrical stimulation signal to a target neural population of the patient;
a pulse generator coupleable to the signal delivery element to transmit the 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 neurons of the target neural population via the signal delivery element, wherein the electrical stimulation signal is selected to have a target stimulation frequency that is above a threshold frequency that corresponds to a refractory period for individual neurons of the target neural population, and wherein the target stimulation frequency is in a range of from about 3 kHz to about 10 kHz.
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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.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A therapy system for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
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a signal delivery element positionable to deliver an electrical stimulation signal to a target neural population of the patient; a pulse generator coupleable to the signal delivery element to transmit the 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 neurons of the target neural population via the signal delivery element, wherein the electrical stimulation signal is selected to have a target stimulation frequency that is above a threshold frequency that corresponds to a refractory period for individual neurons of the target neural population, and wherein the target stimulation frequency is in a range of from about 3 kHz to about 10 kHz. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A therapy system for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
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an implantable lead having at least one electrode, wherein the lead is positionable to deliver an electrical stimulation signal to a target neural population of the patient, wherein the target neural population includes multiple neurons, and wherein individual neurons have a refractory period; an implantable pulse generator coupleable to the implantable lead to transmit the electrical stimulation signal to the implantable lead; and a machine-readable medium containing instructions that, when executed, cause the pulse generator to transmit the electrical stimulation signal to the target neural population via the implantable lead, wherein the electrical stimulation signal is selected to have a target frequency that is greater than a threshold frequency corresponding to the refractory period, and wherein the target frequency is in a range of from about 3 kHz to about 10 kHz. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A method for treating a patient'"'"'s pain, comprising:
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selecting a frequency for a stimulation signal based at least in part on a threshold frequency corresponding to a refractory period for neurons of a target neural population, wherein the frequency is in a range of from about 3 kHz to about 10 kHz; and programming a therapy system to direct the stimulation signal to the target neural population to produce an asynchronous sensory neuron response. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification