Devices and methods for monitoring non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation
First Claim
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1. A system for treating a medical condition of a patient, comprising:
- a stimulator comprising a housing having an electrically permeable contact surface for contacting an outer skin surface of the patient;
an energy source within the housing configured to generate an electric field sufficient to transmit an electric current non-invasively through the outer skin surface of the patient to a nerve at a target region within the patient; and
a device configured to detect whether said electric current is being transmitted to said nerve by measuring a physiological response directly associated with stimulation of said nerve.
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Abstract
Devices and methods are disclosed that treat a medical condition, such as migraine headache, by electrically stimulating a nerve noninvasively, which may be a vagus nerve situated within a patient'"'"'s neck. Preferred embodiments allow a patient to self-treat his or her condition. Disclosed methods assure that the device is being positioned correctly on the neck and that the amplitude and other parameters of the stimulation actually stimulate the vagus nerve with a therapeutic waveform. Those methods comprise measuring properties of the patient'"'"'s larynx, pupil diameters, blood flow within an eye, electrodermal activity and/or heart rate variability.
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21 Claims
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1. A system for treating a medical condition of a patient, comprising:
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a stimulator comprising a housing having an electrically permeable contact surface for contacting an outer skin surface of the patient; an energy source within the housing configured to generate an electric field sufficient to transmit an electric current non-invasively through the outer skin surface of the patient to a nerve at a target region within the patient; and a device configured to detect whether said electric current is being transmitted to said nerve by measuring a physiological response directly associated with stimulation of said nerve. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification