129 results about "Nerve activity" patented technology

A method and apparatus for treatment of cardiac and renal diseases associated with the elevated sympathetic renal nerve activity by implanting a device to block the renal nerve signals to and from the kidney. The device can be a drug pump or a drug eluding implant for targeted delivery of a nerve-blocking agent to the periarterial space of the renal artery.

This invention provides methods for mapping and ablating renal nerves to treat disease caused by systemic renal nerve hyperactivity, e.g. hypertension, heart failure, renal failure and diabetes. Also provided are catheters for performing the mapping and ablating functions.

The present disclosure describes methods and apparatus for renal neuromodulation via stereotactic radiotherapy for the treatment of hypertension, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic disorder or other ailments. Renal neuromodulation may be achieved by locating renal nerves and then utilizing stereotactic radiotherapy to expose the renal nerves to a radiation dose sufficient to reduce neural activity. A neural location element may be provided for locating target renal nerves, and a stereotactic radiotherapy system may be provided for exposing the located renal nerves to a radiation dose sufficient to reduce the neural activity, with reduced or minimized radiation exposure in adjacent tissue. Renal nerves may be located and targeted at the level of the ganglion and / or at postganglionic positions, as well as at pre-ganglionic positions.

Apparatus, systems, and methods are provided for the generation and control of energy delivery in a dosage to elicit a therapeutic response in diseased tissue. A balloon catheter can have electrodes attached to a power generator and controller such that the balloon and electrodes contact tissue during energy treatment. Energy selectively may be applied to tissue based on measured impedance to achieve gentle heating. Calibration of the apparatus and identification of attached accessories by computing the circuit impedance prior to energy dosage facilitate regulation of power delivery about a set point. Energy delivery can be controlled to achieve substantially uniform bulk tissue temperature distribution. Energy delivery may beneficially affect nerve activity.

A method and an apparatus for treating a patient suffering from, or at risk for, a condition mediated by the inflammatory cytokine cascade, by electrically stimulating vagus nerve activity in an amount sufficient to inhibit the inflammatory cytokine cascade.

The invention provides a system and method for treating a subject having unwanted or overactive nerve activity. The method involves applying one or more of direct current, charge imbalanced time varying current and pulsatile current to a target nerve; and controlling the amplitude and the duration of the current such that there is a net charge delivered to the target nerve at a sufficient charge density to cause controlled ablation to the target nerve until unwanted or overactive nerve activity is reduced in one or both of the target nerve and a target body tissue innervated by the target nerve.

At least one of a plurality of disorders of a patient are treated where the disorders are associated with a gastrointestinal tract of a patient where the disorders are characterized at least in part by hyper-tonal vagal activity innervating at least one of a plurality of alimentary tract organs of the patient at an innervation site. The treatment includes applying a neural conduction block to a vagus nerve of the patient at a blocking site proximal to the innervation site. The neural conduction block is selected to at least partially block nerve impulses on the vagus nerve at the blocking site. A treatment apparatus has an electrically controllable neural conduction electrode adapted to be placed on a vagus nerve of a patient at a blocking site proximal to an innervation site.

Methods are provided for treating a subject for a condition. In accordance with the subject methods, at least a portion of a subject's autonomic nervous system is modulated during at least one predetermined phase of the subject's menstrual cycle to alter the parasympathetic activity / sympathetic activity ratio in a manner that is effective to treat the subject for the condition. The subject methods find use in the treatment of a variety of different conditions, including various disease conditions, that increase in severity and / or occurrence during one or more phases of the menstrual cycle. Also provided are systems and kits for use in practicing the subject methods.

Apparatus and method detect a detection cluster that is associated with a neurological event, such as a seizure, of a nervous system disorder and update therapy parameters that are associated with a treatment therapy. The occurrence of the detection cluster is detected when the maximal ratio exceeds an intensity threshold. If the maximal ratio drops below the intensity threshold for a time interval that is less than a time threshold and subsequently rises above the intensity threshold, the subsequent time duration is considered as being associated with the detection cluster rather than being associated with a different detection cluster. Consequently, treatment of the nervous system disorder during the corresponding time period is in accordance with one detection cluster. Treatment therapy may be provided by providing electrical stimulation, drug infusion or a combination. Therapy parameters may be updated for each mth successive group of applications of the treatment therapy or for each nth detection cluster.

Described herein are methods for treating a subject suffering from or at risk for a condition mediated by an inflammatory cytokine cascade, by electrically or mechanically stimulating vagus nerve activity in an amount sufficient to inhibit the inflammatory cytokine cascade.

The present invention is a method and apparatus for quantifying nerve and neural-muscular integrity related to pelvic organs or pelvic floor functions. In one embodiment, the invention is a method and device to measure muscle or nerve activity in the pelvis or pelvic floor. In a modification of this embodiment, the invention includes means for inducing an efferent nerve signal in the spinal cord or sacral nerves and then measuring the resulting nerve activity of the nerves of the pelvic floor region. In a preferred embodiment, the invention includes placing a probe in the anal canal or vagina, the probe having proximal recording electrodes along its outer surface. In one possible embodiment, the probe has a distensible sheath having recording electrodes located on its outside surface. In another embodiment, the probe has an inflatable balloon at its distal end with recording electrodes located on the outside surface of the inflatable balloon. In a further embodiment, the proximal recording electrodes will be located on the outside of the distal end of the probe itself. In yet another embodiment, a disk having recording electrodes is placed in the rectum in contact with the tissue above the submucous space. In yet another embodiment of the invention, an essentially “C” shaped clip is provided having a core made of a spring-like material.

Methods and devices to treat discogenic lumbar back pain are disclosed. Electrodes are implanted within the anterior epidural space of the patient. A pulse generator that is connected to the electrodes delivers electrical impulses to sympathetic nerves located within the posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL) of the lumbar spine and outer posterior annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc. In alternate embodiments, energy directed to nerves in the PLL may be from light or mechanical vibrations, or the nerves may be cooled. The electrodes may also be used diagnostically to correlate spontaneous nerve activity with spinal movement, fluctuations in autonomic tone and the patient's experience of pain. The electrodes may also be used to generate diagnostic evoked potentials. The diagnostic data are used to devise parameters for the therapeutic nerve stimulation. Automatic analysis of the data may be incorporated into a closed-loop system that performs the nerve stimulation automatically.

Methods, systems, and apparatus for detecting an epileptic event, for example, a seizure in a patient using a medical device. The determination is performed by providing an autonomic signal indicative of the patient's autonomic activity; providing a neurologic signal indicative of the patient's neurological activity; and detecting an epileptic event based upon the autonomic signal and the neurologic signal.

An intravascular catheter for nerve activity ablation and / or sensing includes one or more needles advanced through supported guide tubes (needle guiding elements) which expand to contact the interior surface of the wall of the renal artery or other vessel of a human body allowing the needles to be advanced though the vessel wall into the extra-luminal tissue including the media, adventitia and periadvential space. The catheter also includes structures which provide radial and lateral support to the guide tubes so that the guide tubes open uniformly and maintain their position against the interior surface of the vessel wall as the sharpened needles are advanced to penetrate into the vessel wall. Electrodes near the distal ends of the needles allow sensing of nerve activity before and after attempted renal denervation. In a combination embodiment ablative energy or fluid is delivered from the needles in or near the adventitia to ablate nerves outside of the media while sparing nerves within the media.

The present disclosure provides methods for improving drug efficacy in a patient having an obstructed airway in a lung. Such methods modulate nerve activity in the autonomic nervous system of a patient to reduce obstruction of an airway in a lung of the patient prior to administering a drug to the patient. These methods are especially useful in improving efficacies of bronchodilators in treating obstructive lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Methods and devices to treat discogenic lumbar back pain are disclosed. Electrodes are implanted within the anterior epidural space of the patient. A pulse generator that is connected to the electrodes delivers electrical impulses to sympathetic nerves located within the posterior longitudinal ligament (PLL) of the lumbar spine and outer posterior annulus fibrosus of the intervertebral disc. In alternate embodiments, energy directed to nerves in the PLL may be from light or mechanical vibrations, or the nerves may be cooled. The electrodes may also be used diagnostically to correlate spontaneous nerve activity with spinal movement, fluctuations in autonomic tone and the patient's experience of pain. The electrodes may also be used to generate diagnostic evoked potentials. The diagnostic data are used to devise parameters for the therapeutic nerve stimulation. Automatic analysis of the data may be incorporated into a closed-loop system that performs the nerve stimulation automatically.

The present invention provides devices and methods for modulating or blocking renal sympathetic nerve activity by applying laser energy to the renal artery wall to effect ablation of the renal nerve or nerves. The devices and methods of the invention may be useful in the treatment of cardiovascular and renal disease resulting from hypertension. In addition the devices and methods of the invention may be useful for reducing reflex hypertension following cyclosporine administration after organ transplantation.

The present invention provides a self anchoring electrode for recording, measuring and / or stimulating nerve activity in nerves and / or nerve fascicles of the peripheral nervous system, and methods for using such a self anchoring electrode.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for ameliorating neurological or memory disorders and improving learning and cognition through the increase of cyclic AMP. Gilatides, peptides comprising the nine amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:1), and functional analogs thereof are disclosed to modulate neurological activity when administered to a subject. The methods of the invention can be used to prevent or treat neurological disorders as well as improve memory retention and acquisition. In addition, the invention can be used to modulate insulin levels and blood glucose. The invention includes pharmaceutical compositions comprising a therapeutically or prophylactically effective amount of a Gilatide peptide or a functional analog thereof.

The present invention provides a nerve monitoring device. The device includes a cannula, a sensor for monitoring the nerve and an alignment device. The cannula can be any surgical cannula, and is preferably an endotracheal tube. The sensor can be an electrode or other sensor that is capable of sensing nerve activity. The alignment device is a device that ensures that after insertion of the nerve sensor into a patient, the sensors are aligned to properly monitor the target nerve or muscle. The internal alignment device may communicate externally to surgeon by using electromagnetic energy as either a transmittor or a receiver. The mismatch of triangular laryngeal anatomy to circular cannula anatomy can be compensated for by a) altering the geometry (external shape) of the cannula and b) using soft, felt-like expandable electrodes. Rotational error can be compensated for by using a multi-electrode array wherein the optimized recording montage can be simply selected on the external recording device.

Some implementations provide a method for treating urological disorders in a patient, the method including: placing an introducer into a patient's body through an incision site on the patient's body, the patient suffering from an urological disorder; placing an implantable wireless device into an inner lumen of the introducer, the implantable wireless device suitable to fit into the inner lumen and configured to receive electromagnetic energy non-inductively from a source located outside the patient's body; through the inner lumen of the introducer, positioning the implantable wireless device adjacent to or near one or more excitable tissue in the patient, the one or more excitable tissue regulating a nerve activity associated with the urological disorder; and causing neural modulation of the one or more excitable tissue through one or more electrodes on the implantable wireless device.

A training apparatus 1000 using a method of decoding nerve activity includes: a brain activity detecting device 108 for detecting brain activity at a prescribed area within a brain of a subject; and an output device 130 for presenting neurofeedback information (presentation information) to the subject. A processing device 102 decodes a pattern of cranial nerve activity, generates a reward value based on a degree of similarity of the decoded pattern with respect to a target activation pattern obtained in advance for the event as the object of training, and generates presentation information corresponding to the reward value.

An intravascular catheter for nerve activity ablation and / or sensing includes one or more needles advanced through supported guide tubes (needle guiding elements) which expand to contact the interior surface of the wall of the renal artery or other vessel of a human body allowing the needles to be advanced though the vessel wall into the extra-luminal tissue including the media, adventitia and periadvential space. The catheter also includes structures which provide radial and lateral support to the guide tubes so that the guide tubes open uniformly and maintain their position against the interior surface of the vessel wall as the sharpened needles are advanced to penetrate into the vessel wall. Electrodes near the distal ends of the needles allow sensing of nerve activity before and after attempted renal denervation. In a combination embodiment ablative energy or fluid is delivered from the needles in or near the adventitia to ablate nerves outside of the media while sparing nerves within the media.

An intravascular catheter for nerve activity ablation and / or sensing includes one or more needles advanced through supported guide tubes (needle guiding elements) which expand to contact the interior surface of the wall of the renal artery or other vessel of a human body allowing the needles to be advanced though the vessel wall into the extra-luminal tissue including the media, adventitia and periadvential space. The catheter also includes structures which provide radial and lateral support to the guide tubes so that the guide tubes open uniformly and maintain their position against the interior surface of the vessel wall as the sharpened needles are advanced to penetrate into the vessel wall. Electrodes at the distal ends of the guide tubes allow sensing of nerve activity before and after attempted renal denervation. In a combination embodiment ablative energy or fluid is delivered to ablate nerves outside of the media.