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US 8,805,507 B2Granted
Methods for controlling labor and treating menstrual cramps in uterine muscle
AssigneeMetacure Limited
InventorsShlomo Ben-Haim, Nissim Darvish, Yuval Mika, Maier Fenster, Bella Felzen, Isaac Shemer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of promoting the healing of a lesion in a smooth muscle (200), comprises selecting a smooth muscle portion having a lesion, and applying a non-excitory electric field (210) to the portion, which reduces the mechanical activity of the portion.
Claims38
A method of controlling labor, the method comprising:
- providing an apparatus adapted to transmit to at least a portion of a uterus a signal comprising at least an electrical field which does not generate a propagating action potential in uterine muscle, which electrical field modifies the reaction of said smooth muscle to an activation signal;
- and
- controlling the apparatus so that the signal produces a desired effect, wherein said desired effect comprises at least one of advancing an onset of labor, increasing a length of labor, and increasing a contractility of the uterine muscle.
A method of treating menstrual cramps, the method comprising:
- determining a time at which a cramp is expected to occur;
- and
- applying a desensitizing electrical field to uterine muscle to dampen the cramp.
A method of reducing undesirable electrical activity in the uterus, the method comprising:
- detecting an area of uterine tissue producing undesirable electrical activity;
- and
- blocking propagation of the undesirable electrical activity in preselected ones of a plurality of locations in the uterus.
A method of controlling labor, the method comprising:
- providing an apparatus adapted to transmit to a plurality of preselected locations of a uterus at least one signal comprising at least one electrical field which does not generate a propagating action potential in uterine muscle, which said at least one electrical field modifies the reaction of said smooth muscle in the plurality of preselected locations to at least one activation signal;
- and
- controlling the apparatus so that selected ones of said at least one signal produces a desired effect in selected ones of the plurality of preselected locations.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.