Method and Apparatus for Providing Complex Tissue Stimulation Parameters

An electrical neurostimulator for stimulating living tissue, comprising:

• memory storing a plurality of stimulation sets of stimulation parameters with each set of stimulation parameters defining at least a pulse characteristic and an electrode configuration;
• the memory further storing a repetition parameter for at least one of the plurality of stimulation sets, wherein the repetition parameter identifies a number of times that a pulse is to be repeated in a consecutive manner for the at least one stimulation set;
• a pulse generator that outputs a pulse having a pulse characteristic;
• and a microprocessor operating under executable instructions that:
• (i) successively selects a stimulation set from the plurality of stimulation sets in a cyclical manner;
• (ii) loads the pulse characteristic into a pulse control associated with the pulse generator;
• (iii) configures an output switch matrix according to the electrode configuration of the selected stimulation set;
• (iv) causes the pulse generator to output at least one pulse after the loading and configuring, wherein the microprocessor causes the pulse generator to generate adjacent pulses according to a frequency parameter;
• and (v) when the selected stimulation set is the at least one stimulation set associated with the repetition parameter, repeating (iv) according to the repetition parameter within a stimulation cycle.

A method for stimulating living tissue(s) with an electrical neurostimulator, the method comprising:

• maintaining a plurality of stimulation sets of stimulation parameters with each set of stimulation parameters defining at least a pulse characteristic and an electrode configuration in memory of the neurostimulator;
• maintaining a repetition parameter for at least one of the plurality of stimulation sets in memory of the neurostimulator, wherein the repetition parameter identifies a number of times that a pulse is to be repeated within a single cycle through the plurality of stimulation sets;
• and stimulating living tissue(s) using a substantially continuous set of pulses wherein the stimulating includes (i) successively selecting a stimulation set from the plurality of stimulation sets in a cyclical manner;
• (ii) generating a pulse according to the pulse characteristic of the selected stimulation set;
• and (iii) delivering the generated pulse to living tissue(s) through electrodes according to the electrode configuration of the selected stimulation set;
• wherein the stimulating generates and delivers each adjacent pulse within a single stimulation cycle through the plurality of stimulation sets using a fixed interval;
• wherein the stimulating repeats the generating and delivering for the at least one of the plurality of stimulation sets to generate and deliver a number of pulses equal to the repetition parameter within the single stimulation cycle.