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US 11,173,307 B2Granted
Vagus nerve stimulation pre-screening test
AssigneeSetPoint Medical Corporation
InventorsJacob A. Levine, Ralph J. Zitnik
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Diagnostic screening tests that can be used to identify if a patient is a good candidates for an implantable vagus nerve stimulation device. One or more analyte, such as a cytokine or inflammatory molecule, can be measured from a blood sample taken prior to implantation of a vagus nerve stimulator to determine the patient's responsiveness to VNS for treatment of an inflammatory disorder.
Claims12
A method of treating a patient having an inflammatory disorder with vagus nerve stimulation, the method comprising:
- challenging a first sample of blood with a first concentration of a toxin, wherein the first sample is taken from the patient prior to implantation of a vagus nerve stimulator;
- challenging a second sample of blood with a second concentration of the toxin that is at least 2 times the first concentration, wherein the second sample is taken from the patient prior to implantation of the vagus nerve stimulator;
- and
- implanting the vagus nerve stimulator to treat the patient for the inflammatory disorder when an amount of an inflammatory cytokine released in response to the second concentration of the toxin is greater than an amount of the inflammatory cytokine released in response to the first concentration of the toxin by a threshold.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.