Generation of therapy programs and program groups

• US 20070123953A1
• Filed: 01/26/2007
• Published: 05/31/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Goetz, Steven, Lee, Michael, Torgerson, Nathan
• Granted Patent: US 8,068,915 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 607/48
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36082 Cognitive or psychiatric applications, e.g. dementia or Alzheimer's disease
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36185 Selection of the electrode configuration
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37247 User interfaces, e.g. input or presentation means
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 128/903 Radio telemetry

Abstract

A programmer allows a clinician to identify desirable combinations of electrodes from within an electrode set implanted in a patient that enable delivery of desirable neurostimulation therapy by an implantable medical device. The clinician may create neurostimulation therapy programs that include identified desirable electrode combinations. In some embodiments, the clinician may use the programmer to select a program, such as a program identified during a neurostimulation programming session, and direct the programmer to replicate the selected program. The programmer may change one or more parameters of the selected program, such as pulse amplitude or duty cycle, when generating the copy of the selected program. In some embodiments, the programmer may associate each of a plurality of programs identified during a neurostimulation therapy programming session with one or more program categories, and may automatically generate program groups that include two or more of the programs based on the program categories.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying a plurality of neurostimulation therapy programs during a neurostimulation therapy programming session;

associating each of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs with at least one of a plurality of program categories, wherein each of the program categories is related to a characteristic of at least one of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs; and

automatically generating a plurality of program groups based on the program categories, each of the program groups including at least two of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically generating a program group based on the program categories comprises automatically generating the program group to include neurostimulation therapy programs associated with different program categories.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically generating a program group based on the program categories comprises automatically generating the program group to include neurostimulation therapy programs associated with a common program category.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of paresthesia location categories.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of electrode location categories.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of neurostimulation intensity categories.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of program categories include at least one of a plurality of patient posture categories, a plurality of patient activity categories, a plurality of time of day categories, a plurality of symptom state categories, or a plurality of side effect state categories.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically generating a plurality of program groups comprises combinatorially generating a plurality of program groups based on the program categories.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting rating information for the plurality of neurostimulation therapy programs during the neurostimulation therapy programming session, wherein generating a plurality of program groups comprises generating the program groups based on the program categories and the rating information.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a command from a user, wherein automatically generating a plurality of program groups comprises automatically generating the plurality of program groups in response to the command.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the generated program groups to at least one of a programming device or a medical device, wherein a selected one of the program groups controls delivery of neurostimulation therapy to a patient by a medical device.

12. A device comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of neurostimulation therapy programs identified during a neurostimulation therapy programming session; and

a processor to associate each of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs with at least one of a plurality of program categories, and automatically generate a plurality of program groups based on the program categories, wherein each of the program categories is related to a characteristic of at least one of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs, and each of the program groups includes at least two of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the processor automatically generates the program groups to include neurostimulation therapy programs associated with different program categories.

14. The device of claim 12, wherein the processor automatically generates the program groups to include neurostimulation therapy programs associated with a common program category.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of paresthesia location categories.

16. The device of claim 12, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of electrode location categories.

17. The device of claim 12, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of neurostimulation intensity categories.

18. The device of claim 12, wherein the plurality of program categories include at least one of a plurality of patient posture categories, a plurality of patient activity categories, a plurality of time of day categories, a plurality of symptom state categories, or a plurality of side effect state categories.

19. The device of claim 12, wherein the processor combinatorially generates a plurality of program groups based on the program categories.

20. The device of claim 12, wherein the processor collects rating information for the plurality of neurostimulation therapy programs during the neurostimulation therapy programming session, and generates the plurality of program groups based on the program categories and the rating information.

21. The device of claim 12, further comprising a user interface, wherein the processor receives a command from a user via the user interface and automatically generates the plurality of program groups in response to the command.

22. The device of claim 12, further comprising a communication circuit, wherein the processor provides the generated program groups to at least one of a programming device or a medical device via the communication circuit, and a selected one of the program groups controls delivery of neurostimulation therapy to a patient by a medical device.

23. A computer-readable medium comprising program instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

identify a plurality of neurostimulation therapy programs during a neurostimulation therapy programming session;

associate each of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs with at least one of a plurality of program categories, wherein each of the program categories is related to a characteristic of at least one of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs; and

automatically generate a plurality of program groups based on the program categories, each of the program groups including at least two of the identified neurostimulation therapy programs.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions that cause the programmable processor to automatically generate a program group based on the program categories comprise instructions that cause the programmable processor to automatically generate the program group to include neurostimulation therapy programs associated with different program categories.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions that cause the programmable processor to automatically generate a program group based on the program categories comprise instructions that cause the programmable processor to automatically generate the program group to include neurostimulation therapy programs associated with a common program category.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of paresthesia location categories.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of electrode location categories.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the plurality of program categories include a plurality of neurostimulation intensity categories.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the plurality of program categories include at least one of a plurality of patient posture categories, a plurality of patient activity categories, a plurality of time of day categories, a plurality of symptom state categories, or a plurality of side effect state categories.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the instructions that cause the programmable processor to automatically generate a plurality of program groups comprise instructions that cause the programmable processor to combinatorially generate a plurality of program groups based on the program categories.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to collect rating information for the plurality of neurostimulation therapy programs during the neurostimulation therapy programming session, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to generate a plurality of program groups comprise instructions that cause the processor to generate the program groups based on the program categories and the rating information.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions that cause the programmable processor to receive a command from a user, wherein the instructions that cause the programmable processor to automatically generate a plurality of program groups comprise instructions that cause the programmable processor to automatically generate the plurality of program groups in response to the command.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions that cause the programmable processor to provide the generated program groups to at least one of a programming device or a medical device, wherein a selected one of the program groups controls delivery of neurostimulation therapy to a patient by a medical device.