Renal Neuromodulation System Using Cardiac Data for Sympathetic Tone Assessment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current pharmacologic strategies for managing excessive renal sympathetic nervous system activity, which contributes to hypertension and other disease states, have limitations such as limited efficacy, compliance issues, and side effects.
Innovation Solution
The development of systems and methods for assessing sympathetic nervous system tone before and after renal neuromodulation therapy, using monitoring systems to detect cardiac data and provide diagnostic indices associated with sympathetic tone, such as heart rate variability and impedance variability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If pharmacologic strategies are used to manage excessive renal sympathetic nervous system activity, then sympathetic tone can be reduced, but limited efficacy, compliance issues, and side effects occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces pharmacologic (chemical) strategies with a neuromodulation device that uses electrical fields to modulate renal sympathetic nervous system activity. The device delivers electrical pulses through electrodes positioned in the renal artery to directly influence nerve function, substituting chemical intervention with physical/electrical intervention to achieve sympathetic tone reduction without pharmacologic side effects
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces electrical fields as an intermediary mechanism to modulate sympathetic nerve activity. Rather than using drugs that systemically affect multiple pathways, the electrical field acts as a targeted intermediary that selectively influences renal sympathetic nerves, providing more precise control and reducing unwanted side effects
2Reliability
If renal neuromodulation therapy is implemented, then therapeutic effects such as reduced blood pressure can be achieved, but patient selection and assessment of sufficient neuromodulation are challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms by continuously monitoring cardiac data (heart rate, blood pressure, impedance) and using this information to assess sympathetic tone and adjust neuromodulation therapy. The system provides real-time feedback on therapeutic effect, allowing clinicians to determine when sufficient neuromodulation has been achieved and to optimize treatment parameters based on measured physiological responses
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces subjective or indirect measures of sympathetic tone with direct electrical and hemodynamic measurements. By using impedance variability and heart rate variability as objective metrics, the system substitutes traditional difficult-to-measure assessments with quantifiable electrical parameters that can be continuously monitored and analyzed
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for assessing sympathetic nervous system (SNS) tone for renal neuromodulation therapy are disclosed herein. A system configured in accordance with embodiments of the present technology can include, for example, a detector attached to or implanted in a patient and a receiver communicatively coupled to the detector. The detector can measure cardiac data and the receiver and/or a device communicatively coupled thereto can analyze the cardiac data to provide one or more SNS tone indicators. The SNS tone indicators can be used to determine whether a patient will be responsive to a neuromodulation therapy and/or whether a neuromodulation therapy was effective.