Device and Method for Calibration of Invasive, Electrical and Desynchronizing Neurostimulation

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This invention is a device and method for the calibration (tuning) of an implantable electrical neurostimulation system to treat neurological and psychiatric diseases characterized by abnormally synchronous and oscillatory brain activity (like Parkinson's, tremor, dystonia, epilepsy, etc.). The device is implanted in the brain or spinal cord and uses multiple electrodes to deliver electric pulses, with an external or implantable controller analyzing the resulting neural activity. The patented process automatically identifies which electrode contacts and stimulation parameters are best for disrupting (desynchronizing) the pathological brain wave patterns, optimizing therapy to the individual patient. The feedback from measured brain activity is used to select the best contacts and stimulation patterns, replacing the previous manual and trial-and-error setup.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Treatment of Parkinson's disease by deep brain stimulation calibration.
• Optimization of neurostimulation for essential tremor, epilepsy, or dystonia.
• Reducing symptoms in psychiatric disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, or Tourette syndrome by targeted desynchronization of brain networks.
• Spinal cord stimulation for movement disorders or pain where pathological neural synchronization plays a role.
• Personalized configuration of neurostimulation systems for other diseases with abnormal brain rhythms, such as Alzheimer's disease or certain types of migraines.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Enables automatic, objective, and efficient calibration of neurostimulation parameters, reducing setup time and patient discomfort.
• Improves therapeutic outcomes by optimizing which electrodes and patterns are used for each patient, based on their actual brain response.
• Reduces reliance on subjective, trial-and-error approaches by clinicians, increasing reliability and reproducibility.
• Can reduce side effects by allowing more targeted stimulation.
• Allows ongoing adjustment as disease or patient responses change over time.

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Patent Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus (1) for stimulating neurons having a pathological synchronous and oscillatory neural activity, said apparatus including a stimulation unit (11) that comprises a plurality of stimulation contacts (25-28) to stimulate neurons in a patient's brain and/or spinal cord with electric stimuli (22), a measurement unit (12) for recording test signals (23) that represent a neural activity of the stimulated neurons, and a control and analysis unit (10). The stimulation contacts (25-28) of the stimulation unit (11) apply stimuli (22), and the control and analysis unit (10) selects the stimulation contacts (25-28), the stimuli (22) of which cause the phase of the pathological synchronous and oscillatory neural activity of the stimulated neurons to be reset. The selected stimulation contacts (25-28) then apply phase-resetting stimuli (22) with a time delay, and the control and analysis unit (10) verifies whether the pathological synchronous and oscillatory neural activity of the stimulated neurons is suppressed by said time-delayed stimuli.