Techniques for prevention of atrial fibrillation
AssigneeBiocontrol Medical Ltd.
InventorsTamir Ben-David, Omry Ben-Ezra, Ehud Cohen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method is provided, including identifying that a subject is at risk of suffering from atrial fibrillation (AF). Responsively to the identifying, a risk of an occurrence of an episode of the AF is reduced by applying an electrical current to a site of the subject selected from the group consisting of: a vagus nerve, a sinoatrial (SA) node fat pad, a pulmonary vein, a carotid artery, a carotid sinus, a coronary sinus, a vena cava vein, a jugular vein, an azygos vein, an innominate vein, and a subclavian vein, and configuring the current to stimulate autonomic nervous tissue in the site. Other embodiments are also described.
Claims41
1-174. (canceled)
A method comprising:
- applying an electrical current, at a first strength on average, to a site of a subject containing parasympathetic nervous tissue;
- configuring the current to stimulate the nervous tissue in the site;
- performing at least one action selected from the group consisting of:
- sensing an occurrence of an episode of atrial fibrillation (AF), and predicting an imminent episode of the AF;
- and
- responsively to the performing, applying the current at a second strength on average during a strength reduction period having a duration of at least one minute, which second strength is less than the first strength.
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Apparatus comprising:
- an electrode device, configured to be coupled to a site of the subject at risk of suffering from atrial fibrillation (AF), the site containing parasympathetic nervous tissue;
- and
- a control unit, configured to:
- drive the electrode device to apply an electrical current to the site at a first strength on average,
- configure the current to stimulate the nervous tissue in the site,
- perform at least one action selected from the group consisting of:
- sensing an occurrence of an episode of atrial fibrillation (AF), and predicting an imminent episode of the AF, and
- responsively to the performance, apply the current at a second strength on average during a strength reduction period having a duration of at least one minute, which second strength is less than the first strength.
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A method comprising:
- setting a threshold heart rate;
- sensing a heart rate of a subject;
- comparing the sensed heart rate with the threshold heart rate;
- upon finding that the sensed heart rate is less than the threshold heart rate, applying a current to a site of the subject containing parasympathetic nervous tissue;
- and
- configuring the current to increase vagal tone of the subject by stimulating the nervous tissue in the site, and to minimize an effect of the applying of the current on a heart rate of the subject.
240-245. (canceled)
A method comprising:
- identifying that a subject is at risk of suffering from atrial fibrillation (AF);
- and
- responsively to the identifying, reducing a risk of an occurrence of an episode of the AF by:
- detecting normal sinus rhythm (NSR) of the subject,
- during the detected NSR, applying an electrical current to a site of the subject containing parasympathetic nervous tissue, and
- configuring the current to stimulate the nervous tissue in the site.
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Apparatus comprising:
- an electrode device, configured to be coupled to a site of a subject at risk of suffering from atrial fibrillation (AF), the site containing parasympathetic nervous tissue;
- and
- a control unit, configured to reduce a risk of an occurrence of an episode of the AF by:
- detecting normal sinus rhythm (NSR) of the subject,
- during the detected NSR, driving the electrode device to apply an electrical current to the site, and
- configuring the current to stimulate the nervous tissue in the site.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.