Minimally invasive lead system for vagus nerve stimulation

A system for stimulating a select region of a patient's vagus nerve located within the patient's carotid sheath from a location adjacent the vagus nerve, the system comprising:

• a first neurostimulation lead adapted to be deployed at a location within a region of the patient's internal jugular vein adjacent the select region of the vagus nerve located within the carotid sheath, the first lead comprising a lead body extending from a proximal end adapted to be coupled to a pulse generator to a distal portion having a distal end, at least one conductor extending within the lead body from the proximal end towards the distal end, and at least one electrode operatively coupled to the at least one conductor and located on the distal portion, the at least one electrode adapted to deliver an electrical pulse to the vagus nerve;
• a second neurostimulation lead adapted to be deployed at a stimulation site adjacent the select region of the vagus nerve, the second lead comprising a lead body extending from a proximal end adapted to be coupled to a pulse generator to a distal portion having a distal end, a conductor extending within the lead body from the proximal end towards the distal end, and at least one electrode operatively coupled to the at least one conductor located on the distal portion such that when the distal portion is positioned relative to the vagus nerve, the at least one electrode is oriented in a direction towards the vagus nerve and the first neurostimulation lead located within the internal jugular vein;
• and
• a pulse generator adapted to send and receive a signal for selectively applying an electrical stimulation to an electrode array defined by the one or more electrodes located on the first and second leads, wherein the electrode array is configured such that electrical stimulation applied to the electrode array facilitates steering of stimulation current density fields between the electrodes in and around the select region of the vagus nerve as desired to treat a particular medical, psychiatric or neurological disorder, and wherein different combinations of electrodes in the electrode array may be selected so as to change the stimulation current density fields in and around the select region of the vagus nerve.

A method for stimulating a portion of a patient's vagus nerve located within a carotid sheath, the method comprising:

• implanting a first neurostimulation lead within the carotid sheath at a location adjacent the vagus nerve, the first lead comprising a lead body extending from a proximal end adapted to be coupled to a pulse generator to a distal portion having a distal end, at least one conductor extending within the lead body from a proximal end towards the distal end, and at least one electrode operatively coupled to the at least one conductor located on the distal portion and adapted to deliver an electrical pulse to the vagus nerve;
• positioning a second neurostimulation lead at a position adjacent the vagus nerve and the first neurostimulation lead, the second neurostimulation lead comprising a lead body extending from a proximal end adapted to be coupled to a pulse generator to a distal portion having a distal end, and at least one electrode located on the distal portion such that when the distal portion is positioned adjacent the carotid sheath, the at least one electrode is oriented in a direction towards the vagus nerve and the first neurostimulation lead located within the carotid sheath;
• positioning the first and second neurostimulation leads such that the one or more electrodes on the first and second neurostimulation leads define an electrode array that is configured such that electrical stimulation applied to the electrode array results in an electrode vector between the electrodes in and around the vagus nerve as desired to treat a particular medical, psychiatric or neurological disorder, and wherein different combinations of electrodes in the electrode array may be selected so as to change the electrode vector that stimulates the vagus nerve;
• selecting an electrode vector for stimulating the vagus nerve;
• and
• delivering the electrical stimulation pulse to the vagus nerve.