Mobile phone for treating a patient with dementia

A method for treating a patient with a neurodegenerative disease, the method comprising:

• receiving a signal at a mobile phone from a signal source external to the mobile phone, wherein the mobile phone includes a housing, an electrode, and a contact surface, wherein the housing hosts the electrode and the contact surface, wherein the electrode is spaced apart from the contact surface, wherein the electrode resides within the housing;
• positioning the contact surface in contact with an outer surface of a skin of the patient;
• and
• applying, as the contact surface is in contact with the outer surface, an electrical impulse, formed based on the signal, from the electrode through the contact surface to the outer surface such that the electrical impulse passes from the outer surface through the skin to a vagus nerve within the patient, wherein the electrical impulse modulates the vagus nerve and thereby modifies the neurodegenerative disease.

A method for treating a patient with a neurodegenerative disease, the method comprising:

• receiving a signal at a mobile phone from a signal source external to the mobile phone, wherein the mobile phone includes a housing, wherein the housing is encased in a case, wherein the case includes a contact surface;
• positioning the contact surface in contact with an outer surface of a skin of the patient;
• and
• applying, as the contact surface is in contact with the outer surface, an electrical impulse, formed based on the signal, from the contact surface to the outer surface such that the electrical impulse passes from the outer surface through the skin to a vagus nerve within the patient, wherein the electrical impulse modulates the vagus nerve and thereby modifies the neurodegenerative disease.