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Neural blocking therapyRelated Patent Categories: Surgery: Light, Thermal, And Electrical Application, Light, Thermal, And Electrical Application, Electrical Therapeutic Systems, Treating Mental Or Emotional DisorderNeural blocking therapy description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070073354, Neural blocking therapy. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] This application pertains to method and apparatus for treating conditions associated with neuronal activity. [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art [0004] a. Neural Stimulation Treatments [0005] The prior art contains numerous examples of treatments involving stimulation signals to nerves, muscles or organs for treating a wide variety of medical disorders. [0006] U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,702,254 and 5,229,569 (both assigned to Cyberonics, Inc.) describe various central nervous system (CNS) treatments using electrical stimulation applied to the vagus nerve. For example, the '254 patent describes treatment of epilepsy. The '569 patent describes treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. U.S. patent application Publ. No. 2003/0144709 (also assigned to Cyberonics, Inc.) describes treatment of pain through nerve stimulation. [0007] U.S. patent application publication No. 2004/0243205 A1 to Keravel et al. published Dec. 2, 2004 and assigned to Medtronic, Inc., Minneapolis, Minn., USA (incorporated herein by reference) describes a paddle lead with multiple electrodes. The paddle is placed beneath the skull overlying a target area of the cerebral cortex. The electrodes record somaestheic-evoked potentials. The same electrodes may be used for a stimulation therapy. [0008] Nerve stimulation and muscle stimulation have been suggested for treating gastro-intestinal (GI) disorders. Treatments of gastrointestinal diseases through nerve stimulation have been suggested. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,238,423 to Bardy dated May 29, 2001 describes a constipation treatment involving electrical stimulation of the muscles or related nerves of the gut. U.S. Pat. No. 6,571,127 to Ben-Haim et al. dated May 27, 2003 describes increasing motility by applying an electrical field to the GI tract. U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,730 to Terry, Jr. et al., dated Jul. 30, 1996 describes a motility treatment involving vagal stimulation to alter GI contractions in response to a sense condition indicative of need for treatment. U.S. Pat. No. 6,610,713 to Tracey dated Aug. 26, 2003 describes inhibiting release of a proinflammatory cytokine by treating a cell with a cholinergic agonist by stimulating efferent vagus nerve activity to inhibit the inflammatory cytokine cascade. U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,047 to Barret et al dated Sep. 16, 2003 described obesity treatment through vagal stimulation. [0009] b. Neural Blocking [0010] The fore-going treatments are stimulation for treatments. For those applying a signal to a nerve, the signal parameters (pulse width, frequency and amplitude) are selected to initiate neural action potentials to be propagated along the nerve to an organ (e.g., brain or stomach). [0011] Not all electrical signals applied to nerves are stimulation signals. Certain parameters can result in a signal that inhibits the nerve or blocks the propagation of action potentials along the nerve. [0012] Many different forms of nerve blocking are known. The present invention is an improvement upon a neural blocking to avoid antidromic influences during stimulation or to otherwise down-regulate nerve activity. Cryogenic nerve blocking of the vagus is described in Dapoigny et al., "Vagal influence on colonic motor activity in conscious nonhuman primates", Am. J. Physiol., 262: G231-G236 (1992). Electrically induced nerve blocking is described in Van Den Honert, et al., "Generation of Unidirectionally Propagated Action Potentials in a Peripheral Nerve by Brief Stimuli", Science, Vol. 206, pp. 1311-1312. An electrical nerve block is described in Solomonow, et al., "Control of Muscle Contractile Force through Indirect High-Frequency Stimulation", Am. J. of Physical Medicine, Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 71-82 (1983) and Petrofsky, et al., "Impact of Recruitment Order on Electrode Design for Neural Prosthetics of Skeletal Muscle", Am. J. of Physical Medicine, Vol. 60, No. 5, pp. 243-253 (1981). A neural prosthesis with an electrical nerve block is also described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0055779 A1 to Andrews published May 9, 2002. A cryogenic vagal block and resulting effect on gastric emptying are described in Paterson C A, et al., "Determinants of Occurrence and Volume of Transpyloric Flow During Gastric Emptying of Liquids in Dogs: Importance of Vagal Input", Dig Dis Sci, (2000); 45:1509-1516. [0013] A frequency of the blocking signal is greater than a 200 Hz threshold and, preferably, greater than 500 Hz. Solomonow, et al. "control of muscle contractile force through indirect high-frequency stimulation", American Journal of Physical Medicine, Volume 62, No. 2, pages 71-82 (1983). Higher frequencies of as high as 5,000 Hz result in more consistent neural conduction block. Kilgore, et al., "Nerve Conduction Block Utilizing High-Frequency Alternating Current", Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing, Vol. 24, pp. 394-406 (2004). [0014] The nerve conduction block is applied with electrical signals selected to block the entire cross-section of the nerve (for example, both afferent, efferent, myelinated and non-myelinated fibers) at the site of applying the blocking signal (as opposed to selected sub-groups of nerve fibers or just afferent and not efferent or vice versa). [0015] c. Use of Neural Blocking in Treatments [0016] U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,104 to Wernicke et. al. Dated Feb. 23, 1993 describes sub-selection of fibers in a nerve by selecting a treatment frequency by which blocks certain nerve fiber types in the nerve while stimulating other nerve fiber types. Since certain fibers are stimulated while other fibers are blocked, there is no cross-section inhibition or blocking of the entire nerve and all of its nerve fiber types (for example, both afferent, efferent, myelinated and non-myelinated fibers). [0017] U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,105 to Cohen et al. dated Jan. 27, 2004 (assigned to Biocontrol Medical Ltd.) teaches collision blocking in which a stimulation signal is applied to a nerves and an appropriately timed stimulus is applied to nerve to create neural impulses which collide with and thereby block propagation of the stimulation signal in a given direction. No therapy is achieved by the blocking. Such blocking avoids adverse side effects associated with permitting the stimulation signal propagating in an undesired direction to an organ not targeted for therapy. [0018] U.S. patent application Publ. No. 2002/0055779 A1 published May 9, 2002 describes applying a high frequency block to a sciatic nerve to block undesired neural impulses which would otherwise contribute to spastic movement. With such spasm-inducing signals blocked, a therapy signal is applied to the muscle to stimulated desired muscle contractions. U.S. patent application Publ. No. 2005/0149148 A1 published Jul. 7, 2005 (assigned to Medtronic, Inc.) teaches using a blocking signal to avoid undesired side effect (i.e., pain) otherwise associated with a stimulation signal. [0019] The use of a blocking signal as a therapy is described in various patent applications assigned to EnteroMedics, Inc. These applications pertain to use of a conduction block technology to a nerve for a treatment of a variety of disorders. These applications include the following (all filed Sep. 29, 2003): U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/674,330 (published Sep. 2, 2004 as Publication No. US 2004/0172086 A1); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/675,818 (published Sep. 9, 2004 as US Patent Application Publication No. US 2004/0176812 A1) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/674,324 (published Sep. 2, 2004 as US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0172085 A1). The same assignee is assigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/752,994 and 10/752,940 both filed Jan. 6, 2004 with respective publication dates of Aug. 26, 2004 and Sep. 2, 2004, Publication Nos. US 2004/0167583 A1 and 2004/0172088 A1. [0020] The foregoing EnteroMedics patent applications describe, in a preferred embodiment, the application of neural conduction block therapy to a vagus nerve alone or in combination with a stimulation of the nerve. The conduction block therapy of the these patent applications includes application of an electrical signal with parameters selected to down-regulate vagal activity by creating conditions in which normal nerve propagation potentials are blocked at the application of the signal on both afferent and efferent nerves fibers of the vagus. Representative treatments described in these applications include the treatment of obesity, pancreatitis, pain, inflammation, functional GI disorders, irritable bowel syndrome and ileus. [0021] d. Accommodation [0022] Blockage of a nerve can result in nerve accommodation in which other nerve groups assume, in whole in part, the function of the blocked nerve. For example, sub-diaphragm blocking of the vagus nerve may be accommodated by the enteric nervous system. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/881,045 filed Jun. 30, 2004 (published Feb. 17, 2005 as Publication No. US 2005/0038484 A1) (assigned to EnteroMedics, Inc.) notes that a duty cycle of electrical impulses to the nerve to block neural conduction on the nerve can be adjusted between periods of blocking and no blocking in order to vary the amount of down regulation of the vagus nerve as well as preventing accommodation by the enteric nervous system. [0023] e. Drug Treatments Continue reading about Neural blocking therapy... Full patent description for Neural blocking therapy Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Neural blocking therapy patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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