Controlling therapy based on sleep quality

• US 7,881,798 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2007
• Issued: 02/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Werder, Jonathan C., LaPorte, Steve R., Heruth, Kenneth T., Miesel, Keith A., Graves, Nina M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Layno; Carl H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gedeon; Brian T
• Application Number:
  US11/691,430
• Publication Number:
  US 20080071327A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,408 Days
• Field of Search: 607/2, 607/3, 607/45, 607/116
• US Class Current: 607/48
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/36082 Cognitive or psychiatric applications, e.g. dementia or Alzheimer's disease

Abstract

A medical device, such as an implantable medical device (IMD), determines values for one or more metrics that indicate the quality of a patient'"'"'s sleep, and controls delivery of a therapy based on the sleep quality metric values. For example, the medical device may compare a sleep quality metric value with one or more threshold values, and adjust the therapy based on the comparison. In some embodiments, the medical device adjusts the intensity of therapy based on the comparison, e.g., increases the therapy intensity when the comparison indicates that the patient'"'"'s sleep quality is poor. In some embodiments, the medical device automatically selects one of a plurality of therapy parameter set available for use in delivering therapy based on a comparison sleep quality metric values associated with respective therapy parameter sets within the plurality of available therapy parameter sets.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

monitoring at least one physiological parameter of a patient via a medical device that delivers at least one of a movement disorder therapy, psychological disorder therapy, or deep brain stimulation to a patient;

determining a value of a metric that is indicative of sleep quality based on the at least one physiological parameter; and

automatically controlling delivery of the at least one of the movement disorder therapy, psychological disorder therapy, or deep brain stimulation by the medical device based on the sleep quality metric value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sleep quality metric comprises sleep efficiency, and determining the value of the sleep quality metric comprises:

identifying when the patient is attempting to sleep;

identifying when the patient is asleep; and

determining a percentage of time that the patient is asleep while the patient is attempting to sleep.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the sleep quality metric comprises sleep latency, and determining the value of the sleep quality metric comprises:

identifying a first time when the patient begins attempting to sleep;

identifying a second time when the patient falls asleep; and

determining an amount of time between the first and second times.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the value of the sleep quality metric comprises:

identifying when the patient is within a sleep state; and

determining an amount of time that the patient was within the sleep state.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the sleep state comprises at least one of an S3 sleep state and an S4 sleep state.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein identifying when the patient is within a sleep state comprises:

monitoring a frequency of an electroencephalogram (EEG) signal of the patient; and

identifying the sleep state based on the frequency.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling delivery of the therapy comprises:

comparing the sleep quality metric value to a threshold value; and

adjusting the therapy based on the comparison.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein adjusting the therapy comprises adjusting the therapy in an amount proportional to at least one of a difference and a ratio between the sleep quality metric value and the threshold value.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein adjusting the therapy comprises increasing the intensity of the therapy at a first rate and decreasing the intensity of the therapy at a second rate.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a plurality of values of the sleep quality metric over time;

associating each of the determined values of the sleep quality metric with a current therapy parameter set; and

for each of a plurality of therapy parameter sets, determining a representative value of the sleep quality metric based on the values of the sleep quality metric associated with the therapy parameter set, and

wherein controlling the therapy comprises automatically selecting one of the therapy parameter sets for delivery of the therapy based on the representative sleep quality metric values for the therapy parameter sets.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically controlling delivery of the at least one of the movement disorder therapy, psychological disorder therapy, or deep brain stimulation comprises automatically controlling delivery of deep brain stimulation by the medical device based on the sleep quality metric value.

21. The medical device of claim 11,

further comprising a memory to store information identifying a plurality of therapy parameter sets,

wherein the processor determines a plurality of values of the sleep quality metric over time, and associates each of the deter mined values of the sleep quality metric with a current one of the therapy parameter sets,

wherein, for each of the therapy parameter sets, the processor determines a representative value of the sleep quality metric based on the values of the sleep quality metric associated with the therapy parameter set, and stores the representative value of the sleep quality metric in association with the therapy parameter set within the memory, and

wherein the processor automatically selects one of the therapy parameter sets for delivery of the therapy based on the representative sleep quality metric values for the therapy parameter sets.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions that cause the programmable processor to control delivery of the at least one of the movement disorder therapy, psychological disorder therapy, or deep brain stimulation by the medical device based on the sleep quality metric value cause the programmable processor to control the medical device to deliver deep brain stimulation based on the sleep quality metric value.

12. A medical device comprising:

a therapy module to deliver at least one of a movement disorder therapy, psychological disorder therapy, or deep brain stimulation to a patient; and

a processor to monitor at least one physiological parameter of a patient based on at least one signal received from at least one sensor, determine a value of a metric that is indicative of sleep quality based on the at least one physiological parameter, and control delivery of the at least one of the movement disorder therapy, psychological disorder therapy, or deep brain stimulation by the therapy module based on the sleep quality metric value.

13. The medical device of claim 12, wherein the sleep quality metric comprises sleep efficiency, and the processor identifies when the patient is attempting to sleep, identifies when the patient is asleep, and determines a percentage of time that the patient is asleep while the patient is attempting to sleep as the value of the sleep quality metric.

14. The medical device of claim 12, wherein the sleep quality metric comprises sleep latency, and the processor identifies a first time when the patient begins attempting to sleep, identifies a second time when the patient falls asleep, and determines an amount of time between the first and second times as the value of the sleep quality metric.

15. The medical device of claim 12, wherein the processor identifies when the patient is within a sleep state, and determines an amount of time that the patient was within the sleep state as the value of the sleep quality metric.

16. The medical device of claim 15, wherein the sleep state comprises at least one of an S3 sleep state and an S4 sleep state.

17. The medical device of claim 12, further comprising an electroencephalogram (EEG) module that monitors a frequency of an EEG signal of the patient, wherein the EEG module identifies the sleep state based on the frequency.

18. The medical device of claim 12, wherein the processor compares the sleep quality metric value to a threshold value, and adjusts the therapy based on the comparison.

19. The medical device of claim 18, wherein the processor adjusts the therapy in an amount proportional to at least one of a difference and a ratio between the sleep quality metric value and the threshold value.

20. The medical device of claim 18, wherein the processor increases the intensity of the therapy at a first rate and decreases the intensity of the therapy at a second rate.

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

monitor at least one physiological parameter of a patient via a medical device delivers at least one of a movement disorder therapy, psychological disorder therapy, or deep brain stimulation to the patient;

determine a value of a metric that is indicative of sleep quality based on the at least one physiological parameter; and

control delivery of the at least one of the movement disorder therapy, psychological disorder therapy, or deep brain stimulation by the medical device based on the sleep quality metric value.

23. The medical device of claim 22, wherein the therapy module delivers deep brain stimulation, and the processor controls delivery of the deep brain stimulation by the therapy module based on the sleep quality metric value.