Stimulation devices, systems, and methods
AssigneeUnited Therapeutics Corporation
InventorsKevin Tracey, Corinna Lathan, Trevor Hawkins
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Described herein are noninvasive electrical stimulation devices, systems and methods for stimulation of the Vagus nerve through its auricular branch to provide beneficial physiological responses in subjects, including alleviation, mitigation or elimination of symptoms of various disorders, including metabolic and inflammatory disorders.
Claims22
A method of producing a beneficial physiological response in a subject, comprising a stimulating step of stimulating a nucleus tractus solitarius in the subject by applying an electrical stimulus to an auricular branch of the Vagus nerve in the subject, wherein the electrical stimulus comprises one or more of a voltage, a current, a waveform, a frequency, an amplitude, a duration and a periodicity selected to produce the beneficial physiological effect in the subject.
An auricular nerve stimulation system, comprising:
- an auricular stimulation device comprising at least one first and at least one second electrode positioned spaced apart from each other and configured to contact a subject to provide an electrical stimulation to an auricular branch of the subject's Vagus nerve, wherein at least one electrode is configured to be in electrical contact with a surface of a subject's ear;
- a controller, coupled to the stimulation device and configured to control and/or modulate application of electrical stimulation delivered by the device in response to one or more input parameters;
- and
- a monitoring system, coupled to the controller for providing an assessment of the subject, the assessment providing the one or more input parameters to the controller.
A nerve stimulation optimization system, comprising:
- a nerve stimulation device for delivering an electrical stimulation to an auricular branch of a Vagus nerve of a subject;
- an assessment device and controller for modulating the electrical stimulation delivered to the subject and assessing one or more parameters from the subject prior to and in response to electrical stimulation;
- and
- a processor coupled to the assessment device and the controller for receiving one or more of assessment data received by the assessment device and/or control data from the controller, and for determining an optimal set of control parameters for stimulating the auricular branch of the Vagus nerve in the subject in order to elicit one or more beneficial physiological responses in the subject.
A therapeutic system, comprising:
- a housing structure configured to be positioned over, adjacent to, or within an ear of a subject;
- an auricular stimulation device integrated into the housing structure, comprising, comprising at least a first and a second electrode positioned opposite each other and configured to be positioned upon an inner and outer surface of the subjects ear when the housing structure is positioned over, within, or adjacent to the ear of the subject, so as to deliver electrical stimulation to an auricular branch of Vagus nerve of the subject;
- a controller, coupled to the stimulation device and configured to control and/or modulate application of electrical stimulation delivered by the device in response to one or more input parameters;
- and
- an audio delivery system integrated into the housing and positioned to direct audio signals to the subject's ear when the housing structure is placed over, within, or adjacent to the subject's ear.
A therapeutic method, comprising simultaneously delivering to a subject's ear an electrical stimulation to an auricular branch of subject's Vagus nerve in the ear and an audio signal, wherein each of the electrical stimulation and the audio signal are selected to provide a beneficial physiological response.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.