Stimulus dose system and method for electroconvulsive therapy

Abstract

A method of treating a patient includes administering an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) stimulus to the patient. The current is greater than about 0.9 ampere or 1.0 ampere, or is between about 1.0 and about 2 amperes. The energy delivered is about 100 Joules or less across an impedance of 200 ohms. The stimulus may have a pulsewidth between about 0.5 and about 2.0 msec and/or a frequency in the range of about 10 to about 180 Hz, or the stimulus may have a pulsewidth between about 0.2 and about 0.499 msec and/or a frequency in the range of about 15 to about 300 Hz. An apparatus for ECT comprises a generator adapted to deliver such an electroconvulsive therapy stimulus to a patient. A method of calculating ECT dose comprises multiplying a charge to be delivered by the current (or voltage) to an exponential power between 2 and 4.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.