Counter-Based Timing for Electrical Stimulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrical stimulation therapies face challenges in delivering stimulation at precise temporal accuracy due to processing and communication delays, which can lead to inefficiencies and suboptimal therapy outcomes, especially when synchronizing with patient-specific electrical activities like theta waves.
Innovation Solution
A medical device system that maintains a counter tied to a clock to deliver electrical stimulation, allowing for precise timing by identifying and delivering stimulation based on sensed electrical signals referenced to counter counts, ensuring synchronization with patient activities such as theta wave peaks, even if initial timing has passed, within a 'tardy margin'.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If electrical stimulation is delivered based on processed sensed signals, then therapy efficacy is improved, but temporal accuracy deteriorates due to processing and communication delays
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by maintaining a counter tied to the clock and pre-processing sensed signals to identify the count at which stimulation should be delivered. This allows the system to prepare stimulation timing in advance, compensating for subsequent processing and communication delays, thereby maintaining temporal accuracy while ensuring therapy efficacy.
2Loss of time
If stimulation timing is adjusted to account for delays, then temporal accuracy is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The counter serves as an intermediary between the clock and the stimulation delivery mechanism. By referencing the counter value rather than directly processing time delays, the system simplifies the timing adjustment process. The counter acts as a mediator that translates clock cycles into actionable stimulation timing without requiring complex delay compensation algorithms.
3Loss of time
If precise timing is implemented using counter references, then temporal accuracy is improved, but processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by having the medical device maintain its own counter tied to its clock and reference all timing decisions to this internal counter. This eliminates the need for complex external synchronization or sophisticated delay compensation algorithms, as the device independently manages its timing references, thereby reducing processing complexity while maintaining temporal accuracy.
Data Source
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AI summary
An example method for controlling delivery of electrical stimulation therapy includes maintaining, by one or more processors of a medical device configured to deliver electrical stimulation to a patient, a counter tied to a clock used by the medical device to deliver the electrical stimulation to the patient; and obtaining, by the one or more processors, one or more representations of sensed electrical signals for the patient that are referenced to counts of the counter. In this example, the method also includes identifying, based on the one or more representations of the sensed electrical signals for the patient, a count of the counter at which stimulation is to be delivered to the patient; and delivering, by the medical device and to the patient, electrical stimulation based on the identified count of the counter.