Implantable device for providing electrical stimulation of cervical vagus nerves for treatment of chronic cardiac dysfunction with leadless heart rate monitoring
First Claim
1. A vagus nerve neurostimulator for treating chronic cardiac dysfunction with leadless heart rate monitoring, comprising:
- an implantable neurostimulator comprising;
a pulse generator configured to deliver electrical therapeutic stimulation tuned to restore autonomic balance through continuously-cycling, intermittent and periodic electrical pulses simultaneously delivered at an intensity that avoids acute physiological side effects and with an unchanging cycle not triggered by physiological markers in both afferent and efferent directions of a cervical vagus nerve through a pair of helical electrodes via an electrically coupled nerve stimulation therapy lead; and
a leadless heart rate sensor configured to sense and record heart rate while the electrical therapeutic stimulation is delivered by the pulse generator without influencing how the electrical therapeutic stimulation is tuned and delivered.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An implantable device for providing electrical stimulation of cervical vagus nerves for treatment of chronic cardiac dysfunction with leadless heart rate monitoring is provided. A stimulation therapy lead includes helical electrodes configured to conform to an outer diameter of a cervical vagus nerve sheath, and a set of connector pins electrically connected to the helical electrodes. A neurostimulator includes an electrical receptacle into which the connector pins are securely and electrically coupled. The neurostimulator also includes a pulse generator configured to therapeutically stimulate the vagus nerve through the helical electrodes in alternating cycles of stimuli application and stimuli inhibition that are tuned to both efferently activate the heart'"'"'s intrinsic nervous system and afferently activate the patient'"'"'s central reflexes by triggering bi-directional action potentials. Finally, the neurostimulator includes an integrated leadless heart rate sensor configured to sense heart rate and to record the sensed heart rate as data into a memory.
290 Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A vagus nerve neurostimulator for treating chronic cardiac dysfunction with leadless heart rate monitoring, comprising:
an implantable neurostimulator comprising; a pulse generator configured to deliver electrical therapeutic stimulation tuned to restore autonomic balance through continuously-cycling, intermittent and periodic electrical pulses simultaneously delivered at an intensity that avoids acute physiological side effects and with an unchanging cycle not triggered by physiological markers in both afferent and efferent directions of a cervical vagus nerve through a pair of helical electrodes via an electrically coupled nerve stimulation therapy lead; and a leadless heart rate sensor configured to sense and record heart rate while the electrical therapeutic stimulation is delivered by the pulse generator without influencing how the electrical therapeutic stimulation is tuned and delivered. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
7. An implantable device for treating chronic cardiac dysfunction with leadless heart rate monitoring, comprising:
-
an implantable neurostimulator comprising a pulse generator configured to deliver electrical therapeutic stimulation tuned to restore autonomic balance at an intensity that avoids acute physiological side effects and with an unchanging cycle not triggered by physiological markers through continuously-cycling, intermittent and periodic electrical pulses simultaneously delivered in both afferent and efferent directions of a cervical vagus nerve in continuous alternating cycles of stimuli application and stimuli inhibition; a cervical vagus nerve stimulation therapy lead electrically coupled to the pulse generator and terminated by a pair of helical electrodes through which the therapeutic electrical stimulation is delivered to the cervical vagus nerve; and an integrated leadless heart rate sensor configured to monitor and continually record heart rate while the electrical therapeutic stimulation is delivered by the pulse generator without influencing how the electrical therapeutic stimulation is tuned and delivered. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. An implantable device for providing electrical stimulation of cervical vagus nerves for treatment of chronic cardiac dysfunction with leadless heart rate monitoring, comprising:
-
a cervical vagus nerve stimulation therapy lead, comprising; a pair of helical electrodes configured to conform to an outer diameter of a cervical vagus nerve sheath of a patient; and a set of connector pins electrically connected to the helical electrodes by an insulated electrical lead body; and a neurostimulator powered by a primary battery and enclosed in a hermetically sealed housing, further comprising; an electrical receptacle comprised on an outer surface of the housing into which the connector pins are securely and electrically coupled; a pulse generator configured to therapeutically stimulate the cervical vagus nerve through the helical electrodes in alternating cycles of stimuli application and stimuli inhibition that are tuned to restore autonomic balance at an intensity that avoids acute physiological side effects and with an unchanging cycle not triggered by physiological markers through continuously-cycling, intermittent and periodic electrical pulses simultaneously delivered in both afferent and efferent directions of the vagus nerve to both efferently activate the heart'"'"'s intrinsic nervous system and afferently activate the patient'"'"'s central reflexes by triggering bi-directional action potentials; and an integrated leadless heart rate sensor configured to sense the patient'"'"'s heart rate during the alternating cycles of stimuli application and stimuli inhibition without influencing how the electrical therapeutic stimulation is tuned and delivered and to record the sensed heart rate as data into a memory. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
-
17. A computer-implemented system for providing electrical stimulation of cervical vagus nerves for treatment of chronic cardiac dysfunction with leadless heart rate monitoring, comprising:
-
an external programmer, comprising; a programming computer configured to execute using a processor program code that is stored in a memory and comprising a set of stimulation parameters stored in the memory that cooperatively define alternating cycles of stimuli application and stimuli inhibition for a pulse generator that are tuned to restore autonomic balance at an intensity that avoids acute physiological side effects and with an unchanging cycle not triggered by physiological markers through continuously-cycling, intermittent and periodic electrical pulses simultaneously delivered in both afferent and efferent directions of a cervical vagus nerve to both efferently activate the heart'"'"'s intrinsic nervous system and afferently activate the patient'"'"'s central reflexes; and a programming wand interfaced to the programming computer and configured to provide the set of stimulation parameters to the pulse generator through wireless telemetry; and an implantable neurostimulator comprising; the pulse generator, which is configured to drive electrical therapeutic stimulation as specified by the set of stimulation parameters, and a cervical vagus nerve stimulation therapy lead terminated by a pair of helical electrodes and electrically coupled to the neurostimulator through which the electrical therapeutic stimulation is delivered to the cervical vagus nerve; and an integrated leadless heart rate sensor configured to sense the patient'"'"'s heart rate during the alternating cycles of stimuli application and stimuli inhibition without influencing how the electrical therapeutic stimulation is tuned and delivered and to record the sensed heart rate as data into a memory. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
Specification