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US 10,646,714 B2Granted
Apparatus, system, and method for selective stimulation
AssigneeImThera Medical, Inc.
InventorsPaul M. Meadows, Marcelo G. Lima, Stanley R. Craig
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An implantable neurostimulator system is disclosed, the neurostimulator system comprising a hollow cylindrical electronics enclosure having a top, a bottom, and a side; a coil extending from a first part of the electronics enclosure; and at least one electrode operatively connected to the electronics enclosure.
Claims21
A method of treating sleep apnea using neurostimulation to control a position of a patient's tongue, comprising the steps of:
- implanting an electrode having a plurality of contacts into the patient to electrically couple the plurality of contacts to a Hypoglossal nerve of the patient;
- implanting an implantable pulse generator (IPG) into a sub-mandibular space of the patient, the IPG being electronically coupled to the electrode;
- programming the IPG to deliver at least two electric signals to the plurality of contacts during a therapy session without taking into account a timing of respiration;
- and
- applying the at least two electric signals via the plurality of contacts to a portion of the Hypoglossal nerve, where one of the at least two electric signals overlaps with another of the at least two electric signals, to stimulate at least two muscles of the tongue to prevent the tongue from blocking an airway during the therapy session,
- wherein applying the at least two electric signals includes driving each of the plurality of contacts by their own independent current source by field steering;
- and
- wherein the field steering uses two electrode contacts, each of the two electrode contacts having a sub-threshold phase current field, wherein the subthreshold phase current of each of the two electrode contacts combine to form an overlapping current field with a supra-threshold current field.
5 more elements
A method of treating sleep apnea using neurostimulation to control the position of a patient's tongue, comprising the steps of:
- implanting an electrode having a plurality of contacts into the patient to electrically couple the plurality of contacts to a Hypoglossal nerve of the patient;
- implanting an implantable pulse generator (IPG) including a plurality of current generators into the sub-mandibular space of the patient, the IPG being electronically coupled to the electrode;
- programming the IPG to deliver at least two electric signals to the plurality of contacts during a therapy session without taking into account a timing of respiration;
- and
- applying the at least two electric signals via the plurality of contacts to a portion of the Hypoglossal nerve, where one of the at least two electric signals overlaps with another of the at least two electric signals, to stimulate at least two muscles of the tongue to prevent the tongue from blocking an airway during the therapy session,
- wherein each of the plurality of contacts is driven by its own one of the plurality of current generators by field steering;
- and
- wherein the field steering uses two electrode contacts, each of the two electrode contacts having a sub-threshold phase current field, wherein the subthreshold phase current of each of the two electrode contacts combine to form an overlapping current field with a supra-threshold current field.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.