Vagal stimulation
First Claim
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1. A device for delivering vagal stimulation comprising:
- monitoring apparatus configured to monitor physiological parameters of a patient, wherein the monitoring apparatus comprises at least one electrode to monitor the electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart;
a sensing module coupled to the monitoring apparatus and configured to receive the monitored physiological parameters;
a therapy delivery module configured to deliver electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve and to deliver ventricular arrhythmia therapy to patient'"'"'s heart; and
a control module coupled to the sensing module and to the therapy delivery module and configured to;
detect a supraventricular tachycardia using the monitored physiological parameters,initiate delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve upon detecting the supraventricular tachycardia,analyze the monitored physiological parameters after the delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve,adjust the electrical stimulation delivered to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve based on the analysis of the monitored physiological parameters,terminate the delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve after exhausting adjustments to the electrical stimulation delivered to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve, andinitiate delivery of ventricular arrhythmia therapy to the patient'"'"'s heart following the termination of the delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve after the exhaustion of adjustments.
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Abstract
The disclosure herein relates generally to methods for treating heart conditions using vagal stimulation, and further to systems and devices for performing such treatment. Such methods may include monitoring physiological parameters of a patient, detecting cardiac conditions, and delivering vagal stimulation (e.g., electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve or neurons having parasympathetic function) to the patient to treat the detected cardiac conditions.
364 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device for delivering vagal stimulation comprising:
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monitoring apparatus configured to monitor physiological parameters of a patient, wherein the monitoring apparatus comprises at least one electrode to monitor the electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart; a sensing module coupled to the monitoring apparatus and configured to receive the monitored physiological parameters; a therapy delivery module configured to deliver electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve and to deliver ventricular arrhythmia therapy to patient'"'"'s heart; and a control module coupled to the sensing module and to the therapy delivery module and configured to; detect a supraventricular tachycardia using the monitored physiological parameters, initiate delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve upon detecting the supraventricular tachycardia, analyze the monitored physiological parameters after the delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve, adjust the electrical stimulation delivered to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve based on the analysis of the monitored physiological parameters, terminate the delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve after exhausting adjustments to the electrical stimulation delivered to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve, and initiate delivery of ventricular arrhythmia therapy to the patient'"'"'s heart following the termination of the delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve after the exhaustion of adjustments. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A device for delivering vagal stimulation comprising:
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monitoring apparatus configured to monitor physiological parameters of a patient, wherein the monitoring apparatus comprises at least one electrode to monitor the electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart; a sensing module coupled to the monitoring apparatus and configured to receive the monitored physiological parameters; a therapy delivery module configured to deliver electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve; and a control module coupled to the sensing module and to the therapy delivery module and configured to; detect a supraventricular tachycardia using the monitored physiological parameters, initiate delivery of bursts of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve upon detecting indication of a supraventricular tachycardia, wherein each burst of electrical stimulation comprises one or more pulses, analyze the monitored physiological parameters after the delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve, and adjust the bursts of electrical stimulation delivered to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve based on the analysis of the monitored physiological parameter, wherein adjusting the bursts of electrical stimulation comprises at least one of changing the voltage of the bursts of electrical stimulation, changing the frequency of the bursts of electrical stimulation, changing the pulse width of each pulse of the bursts of electrical stimulation, and changing the amount of pulses per burst of pulses of the bursts of electrical stimulation. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of delivering vagal stimulation comprising:
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monitoring physiological parameters of a patient, wherein the physiological parameters comprise the electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart; detecting a supraventricular tachycardia using the monitored physiological parameters; delivering electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve upon detecting the supraventricular tachycardia; analyzing the monitored physiological parameters after delivering electrical Stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve; adjusting the electrical stimulation delivered to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve based on the analysis of the monitored physiological parameters; terminating the delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve After exhausting the adjustments to the electrical stimulation delivered to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve; and delivering ventricular arrhythmia therapy to the patient'"'"'s heart after terminating The delivery of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of delivering vagal stimulation comprising:
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monitoring physiological parameters of a patient, wherein the physiological parameters comprise the electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart and at least one of the chemical activity of the patient'"'"'s heart, the hemodynamic activity of the patient'"'"'s heart, and the electrical activity of the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve; detecting a supraventricular tachycardia using the monitored physiological parameters; delivering bursts of electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve upon Detecting indication of a supraventricular tachycardia, wherein each burst of electrical stimulation comprises one or more pulses; analyzing the monitored physiological parameters after delivering electrical stimulation to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve; and adjusting the bursts of electrical stimulation delivered to the patient'"'"'s vagus nerve based on the analysis of the monitored physiological parameters, wherein adjusting the bursts of electrical stimulation comprises at least one of changing the voltage of the bursts of electrical stimulation within a range of about 1 volt and about 8 volts, changing the frequency of the bursts of electrical stimulation within a range of about 1 hertz to about 50 hertz, changing the pulse width of each pulse of the bursts of electrical stimulation within a range of about 0.2 milliseconds to about 1 milliseconds, and changing the number of pulses per burst of the bursts of electrical stimulation within a range of about 3 pulses to about 20 pulses. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An implantable medical device (IMD) comprising:
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a processor; a pulse generator coupled with the processor for selectively delivering atrial and ventricular pulses; an atrial lead operatively coupled with the processor and the pulse generator; a ventricular lead operatively coupled with the processor and the pulse generator so that cardiac events sensed by the atrial lead or ventricular lead are provided to the processor as data; memory coupled to the processor; computer instructions stored in the memory and executed by the processor, the computer instructions comprising; counting V-V intervals, determining whether counted V-V intervals indicates presence of VT/VF, determining lack of A-V synchrony, determining SVT exists, delivering electrical stimulation near or to vagal nerve tissue to slow ventricular rate in response to determining existence of SVT, analyzing the V-V intervals after delivering electrical stimulation near or to vagal never tissue, adjusting the electrical stimulation delivered near or to vagal tissue based on the analysis of the V-V intervals, and terminating the delivery of electrical stimulation near or to vagal nerve tissue after exhausting adjustments to the electrical stimulation.
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Specification