Device and method for nerve block by local cooling to room temperature
AssigneeUniversity of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education
InventorChangfeng Tai
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Provided herein are methods of nerve blockage, for example for treatment of obesity, heart failure, cardiovascular disease, muscle spasms, chronic pain, or urinary retention in a patient. The method comprises first heating a nerve above physiological temperature (e.g., 37° C. in a human), such as from 43° C. to 54° C. for a duration that leads to reversible nerve blockage as opposed to nerve damage. Second, reversible nerve blockage is produced by cooling the nerve below physiological temperature to a temperature in which reversible nerve blockage is achieved, for example from 15° C. to 30° C.
Claims20
A method of reversibly blocking a sensory nerve in a patient, comprising:
- placing a temperature controller in proximity to the sensory nerve to heat and cool the sensory nerve, the temperature controller comprising a heating element, a cooling element, and a temperature sensor;
- first heating, with the heating element, the sensory nerve to a temperature ranging from 42° to 54° C. for a time period sufficient to increase the threshold temperature for producing a cold conduction block within the nerve and below a temperature and time duration at which an irreversible nerve block is produced;
- and
- then cooling, with the cooling element, the sensory nerve to a temperature ranging from 15° C. to 30° C. to produce a reversible nerve block at a higher temperature than would be required without the heating step.
A system for reversibly blocking a nerve, comprising:
- a device configured to heat and cool the nerve;
- a temperature sensor configured to be placed in proximity to the nerve;
- a power source to provide power to the device;
- a processor in communication with the temperature sensor;
- and
- memory having stored thereon programming instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to control the device to:
- first heat the nerve to a temperature ranging from 42° C. to 54° C. for a time period sufficient to increase the threshold temperature for producing a cold conduction block within the nerve and below a temperature and time duration at which an irreversible nerve block is produced;
- and
- then cool the nerve to a temperature ranging from 15° C. to 30° C. to produce a reversible nerve block at a higher temperature than would be required without the heating step.
A method of reversibly blocking a sensory nerve in a patient experiencing pain, comprising:
- placing a temperature controller in proximity to the sensory nerve to heat and cool the sensory nerve, the temperature controller comprising a heating element, a cooling element, and a temperature sensor;
- first heating, with the heating element, the nerve to a temperature above 37° C. for a time period sufficient to increase the threshold temperature for producing a cold conduction block within the nerve and below a temperature and time duration at which an irreversible nerve block is produced;
- and
- then cooling, with the cooling element, the nerve to a temperature below 37° C. and above a temperature at which an irreversible nerve block is produced, thereby reversibly blocking the sensory nerve at a higher temperature than would be required without the heating step and treating the pain.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.