Three-dimensional coil set used for neuromodulation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11426599-B2
Application number	US-201916692639-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 22, 2019
Priority date	Nov 22, 2019
Publication date	Aug 30, 2022
Grant date	Aug 30, 2022

Abstract

A neuromodulator includes one or more coil sets. Each of the coil sets has three coils aligned to produce magnetic and electric fields in three different directions. A plurality of conductors couple the coils of the one or more coil sets to one or more input signals such that each of the coils is independently activated via an individually selectable current applied through the conductors. The individual activation creates a resultant field that is a combination of the magnetic and electric fields in three different directions for each of the coil sets.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A neuromodulator, comprising:
one or more coil sets, each of the one or more coil sets comprising three coils aligned to produce magnetic and electric fields in three different directions;
a plurality of conductors that couple the coils of the one or more coil sets to one or more input signals such that each of the coils is independently activated via an individually selectable current applied through the conductors, the individual activation creating a resultant field that is a combination of the magnetic and electric fields in the three different directions for each of the one or more coil sets; and
a controller coupled to the plurality of conductors, the controller operable to input a plurality of signals to the one or more coils sets to combine the magnetic and electric fields from each of the coils of the one or more coil sets, wherein the controller is further configured to control phases and amplitudes of each of the plurality of signals and induce at least one of constructive and destructive interference between the magnetic and electric fields inside an organic tissue.

2. The neuromodulator of claim 1 , wherein the three different directions are orthogonal.

3. The neuromodulator of claim 1 , further comprising a sensor configured to be located proximate a target region of the organic tissue, the sensor measuring an effect of the resultant field on the organic tissue and providing a feedback signal to the controller, the feedback signal used for closed-loop control of the resultant field.

4. The neuromodulator of claim 1 , wherein the three coils of each of the one or more coil sets are scaled such that a target volume of the resultant field is 1.5-5 mm 3 .

5. The neuromodulator of claim 1 , further comprising a treatment surface that is configured for transcutaneous treatment of the organic tissue, and wherein the one or more coil sets comprise an array of coil sets embedded beneath the treatment surface.

6. The neuromodulator of claim 5 , further comprising heat sinks between individual coils sets of the array.

7. The neuromodulator of claim 3 , wherein the constructive and destructive interference is guided by the closed-loop control of the resultant field.

8. The neuromodulator of claim 1 , wherein the individually selectable currents are selected to steer the resultant field to address specific regions of the organic tissue.

9. A neuromodulation system, comprising:
one or more coil sets, each of the coil sets comprising three coils aligned to produce magnetic and electric fields in three different directions; and
a controller coupled to the one or more coil sets, the controller operable to independently activate each of the coils via individually selectable currents causing each of the coils to emit an individual field, the individual fields creating a resultant field that is a combination of the magnetic and electric fields in the three different directions for each of the one or more coil sets, wherein the controller is further configured to control phases and amplitudes of each of the individually selectable currents and induce at least one of constructive and destructive interference between the magnetic and electric fields inside an organic tissue.

10. The neuromodulation system of claim 9 , wherein the three different directions are orthogonal.

11. The neuromodulation system of claim 9 , wherein the three coils of the one or more coil sets each have a first side connected to a common line of a plurality of conductors, wherein a second side of each of the three coils are coupled to separate lines of the plurality of conductors.

12. The neuromodulation system of claim 9 , further comprising a sensor configured to be located proximate a target region of the organic tissue, the sensor measuring an effect of the resultant field on the organic tissue and providing a feedback signal to the controller, the feedback signal used for closed-loop control of the resultant field within the organic tissue.

13. The neuromodulation system of claim 7 , wherein the three coils of each of the one or more coil sets are scaled such that a target volume of the resultant field is 1.5-5 mm 3 .

14. A method comprising:
independently applying three or more individually selectable currents to three or more coils aligned to produce magnetic and electric fields in at least three different directions;
in response to the application of the currents, creating a resultant field that is a combination of the magnetic and electric fields in three different directions for each of the three or more coils;
applying the resultant field to neuromodulate organic tissue;
controlling phases and amplitudes of each of the individually selectable currents and causing at least one of constructive and destructive interference between the magnetic and electric fields in response to the application of the currents.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
measuring a response of the organic tissue to the resultant field; and
using the response to modify the resultant field to achieve a target response.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the response is measured via at least one of magnetic resonance imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and electroencephalogram.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein measuring the response comprises measuring changes in a material property of the organic tissue.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the material property comprises at least one of temperature, electrical conductivity, and chemical balance.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the resultant field is applied to neurostimulate the organic tissue.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein the resultant field is applied to neurosuppress the organic tissue.

Assignees

• Palo Alto Res Ct Inc

Inventors

• THYAGARAJAN Krishnan
• Casse Bernard D
• Paulson Christopher
• Daniel George
• Volkel Armin R

Classifications

• A61N2/002

  in combination with another treatment · CPC title

• A61N2/02 Primary

  using magnetic fields produced by coils, including single turn loops or electromagnets (A61N2/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/055

  involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging · CPC title

• A61B5/4064

  Evaluating the brain (for intracranial pressure A61B5/031; for cerebral blood gases A61B5/14553; using EEG A61B5/369) · CPC title

• A61N2/006 Primary

  for magnetic stimulation of nerve tissue · CPC title