Systems, devices and methods for the treatment of tinnitus
AssigneeSilere Medical Technology, Inc.
InventorsJay Rubinstein, William Harrison
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided herein are systems, devices and methods for stimulation of the cochlea that are sufficient to mimic or replace the spontaneous background neural activity of the cochlea thereby reducing or eliminating tinnitus.
Claims32
A system for treating tinnitus by electrically stimulating the cochlea to supplement the baseline spontaneous neural activity of a subject's cochlea, the system comprising:
- an implantable lead configured for insertion through the round window of the cochlea so that one or more electrical contacts at the distal end of the lead is within the cochlear scala tympani to a depth of 1 mm or less;
- a signal generator configured to deliver a train of current pulses;
- and
- a controller coupled to the signal generator and configured to modify the train of current pulses from the signal generator so that the current applied by the implanted lead triggers a pattern of cochlear stimulation that is similar to the baseline spontaneous neural activity of a normal cochlea.
A system for treating tinnitus by electrically stimulating the cochlea to supplement the baseline spontaneous neural activity of a subject's cochlea, the system comprising:
- an implantable lead having one or more electrodes, the lead configured for insertion of the one or more electrodes through the round window into the cochlear scala tympani;
- a stimulator configure to apply current to the implantable lead, the stimulator comprising a pulse generator configured to emit a train of current pulses;
- a pulse shape modulator configured to modulate the shape of the current pulses emitted by the pulse generator;
- a burst mode modulator configured to modulate the emitted train of current pulses to an adjustable burst on-time and burst off-time;
- a dose control modulator configured to modulate the emitted train of current pulses to an adjustable dose level;
- and
- a controller configured to control the dose control modulator, burst modulator and pulse shape modulator to emit a pattern of current pulses from the implantable lead that trigger neural activity in a subject's cochlea having a pattern similar to a baseline spontaneous neural activity pattern.
A method of treating tinnitus by electrically stimulating the cochlea to mimic the baseline spontaneous neural activity of a subject's cochlea, the method comprising:
- inserting an electrical lead within the cochlea;
- and
- applying current pulses within the cochlea from the electrical lead to trigger neural activity that mimics baseline spontaneous neural activity of the subject's cochlea.
A method of treating tinnitus by electrically stimulating the cochlea to supplement the baseline spontaneous neural activity of a subject's cochlea, the method comprising:
- inserting an electrical lead within the cochlea;
- sensing the spontaneous neural activity of the subject's cochlea;
- and
- applying current pulses within the cochlea from the electrical lead to supplement the spontaneous neural activity of the subject's cochlea and reduce the tinnitus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.