Vagus nerve stimulation method
First Claim
1. A method of treating a brain disorder in a patient having a cardiac cycle, a vagus nerve, and a brain, the method comprising:
- detecting at least a portion of the cardiac cycle of the patient;
applying to a selected location on the vagus nerve of the patient, in response to having detected the portion of the cardiac cycle of the patient, a pulsed electrical signal configured to increase afferent activity on the vagus nerve to be conducted thereby to the brain to treat the brain disorder, the pulsed electrical signal comprising a plurality of microbursts, wherein each microburst other than a last of the plurality of microbursts is separated from an adjacent microburst by an interburst interval, and at least one interburst interval is varied from at least one other interburst interval, wherein each microburst of the pulsed electrical signal comprises;
from 3 to 6 pulses per microburst;
a plurality of interpulse intervals, each interpulse interval being between adjacent pulses of the microburst, each interpulse interval ranging from about 5 to about 10 milliseconds, wherein at least one interpulse interval of the plurality of interpulse intervals within the microburst is varied from at least one other interpulse interval of the plurality of interpulse intervals within the microburst; and
a microburst duration less than or equal to 100 milliseconds.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An implanted electrical signal generator delivers a novel exogenous electrical signal to a vagus nerve of a patient. The vagus nerve conducts action potentials originating in the heart and lungs to various structures of the brain, thereby eliciting a vagal evoked potential in those structures. The exogenous electrical signal simulates and/or augments the endogenous afferent activity originating from the heart and/or lungs of the patient, thereby enhancing the vagal evoked potential in the various structures of the brain. The exogenous electrical signal includes a series of electrical pulses organized or patterned into a series of microbursts including 2 to 20 pulses each. No pulses are sent between the microbursts. Each of the microbursts may be synchronized with the QRS wave portion of an ECG. The enhanced vagal evoked potential in the various structures of the brain may be used to treat various medical conditions including epilepsy and depression.
-
Citations
35 Claims
-
1. A method of treating a brain disorder in a patient having a cardiac cycle, a vagus nerve, and a brain, the method comprising:
-
detecting at least a portion of the cardiac cycle of the patient; applying to a selected location on the vagus nerve of the patient, in response to having detected the portion of the cardiac cycle of the patient, a pulsed electrical signal configured to increase afferent activity on the vagus nerve to be conducted thereby to the brain to treat the brain disorder, the pulsed electrical signal comprising a plurality of microbursts, wherein each microburst other than a last of the plurality of microbursts is separated from an adjacent microburst by an interburst interval, and at least one interburst interval is varied from at least one other interburst interval, wherein each microburst of the pulsed electrical signal comprises; from 3 to 6 pulses per microburst; a plurality of interpulse intervals, each interpulse interval being between adjacent pulses of the microburst, each interpulse interval ranging from about 5 to about 10 milliseconds, wherein at least one interpulse interval of the plurality of interpulse intervals within the microburst is varied from at least one other interpulse interval of the plurality of interpulse intervals within the microburst; and a microburst duration less than or equal to 100 milliseconds. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A non-transitory computer readable program storage device encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform a method, comprising:
-
detecting at least a portion of the cardiac cycle of the patient; applying to a selected location on a vagus nerve of the patient, in response to having detected the portion of the cardiac cycle of the patient, a pulsed electrical signal configured to increase afferent activity on the vagus nerve to be conducted thereby to a brain to treat a brain disorder, the pulsed electrical signal comprising a plurality of microbursts, wherein each microburst other than a last of the plurality of microbursts is separated from an adjacent microburst by an interburst interval, and at least one interburst interval is varied from at least one other interburst interval, wherein each microburst of the pulsed electrical signal comprises; from 3 to 6 pulses per microburst; a plurality of interpulse intervals, each interpulse interval being between adjacent pulses of the microburst, each interpulse interval ranging from about 5 to about 10milliseconds, wherein at least one interpulse interval of the plurality of interpulse intervals within the microburst is varied from at least one other interpulse interval of the plurality of interpulse intervals within the microburst; and a microburst duration less than or equal to 100 milliseconds. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. An implantable medical device comprising one or more processors configured to implement a method to treat a brain disorder in a patient, the method comprising:
-
detecting a portion of a cardiac cycle of the patient; applying to a predetermined location on a vagus nerve of the patient based on the detected portion of the cardiac cycle, a pulsed electrical signal configured to increase afferent activity on the vagus nerve which is conducted to the brain to treat the brain disorder, the pulsed electrical signal comprising a plurality microbursts, wherein each microburst other than a last of the plurality of microbursts is separated from an adjacent microburst by an interburst interval, and at least one interburst interval is varied from at least one other interburst interval, and wherein each microburst of the pulsed electrical signal includes; from 2 to 5 pulses per microburst; a plurality of interpulse intervals, each interpulse interval being between adjacent pulses of the microburst, each interpulse interval ranging from about 5 to about 10 milliseconds, wherein at least one interpulse interval of the plurality of interpulse intervals within the microburst is varied from at least one other interpulse interval of the plurality of interpulse intervals within the microburst; and a microburst duration in a range of 4 to 40 milliseconds. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
-
Specification