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US 9,452,287 B2Granted
Devices and methods for controlling tremor
AssigneeCala Health, Inc.
InventorsKathryn H. Rosenbluth, Scott Lee Delp, John Paderi, Vijaykumar [[Vijay]] Rajasekhar, Tahel Altman
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Abstract
A peripheral nerve stimulator can be used to stimulate a peripheral nerve to treat essential tremor, Parkinson tremor, and other forms of tremor. The peripheral nerve stimulator can be either a noninvasive surface stimulator or an implanted stimulator. Stimulation can be electrical, mechanical, or chemical. Stimulation can be delivered using either an open loop system or a closed loop system with feedback.
Claims27
A wearable device for treating tremor in a patient, the device comprising:
- a decision unit;
- a first peripheral nerve effector, comprising at least one stimulation electrode configured to be positioned to modulate an afferent nerve pathway;
- and
- at least one biomechanical sensor configured to measure movement of the patient's extremity to characterize one or more features of the tremor, the one or more features of the tremor selected from the group consisting of tremor frequency, tremor period, and tremor magnitude;
- wherein the decision unit comprises a processor and a memory for storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the device to:
- measure the movement of the patient's extremity using the measurement unit to generate motion data;
- determine one or more of a tremor frequency, period and magnitude based on an analysis of the motion data;
- set one or more parameters of a first electrical stimulus based on one or more of the tremor frequency, period or magnitude;
- and
- deliver the first electrical stimulus to a first afferent nerve through the first peripheral nerve effector to reduce tremor in the patient's extremity by reducing synchronicity in a brain network and modifying the patient's neural network dynamics.
7 more elements
A method of reducing tremor in a patient, the method comprising:
- measuring one or more characteristics of the tremor using one or more biomechanical sensors worn on one of the patient's extremities;
- positioning a first peripheral nerve effector on the patient's skin to stimulate a first afferent nerve;
- delivering a first electrical nerve stimulation signal from an effector to the first afferent nerve through the first peripheral nerve effector;
- modifying the patient's neural network dynamics by reducing synchronicity in a brain network with the first electrical nerve stimulation signal to the first afferent nerve;
- and
- reducing the tremor amplitude.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.