Methods for enhancing exposure therapy using pairing with Vagus nerve stimulation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12064563-B2
Application number	US-202318154280-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2023
Priority date	Jul 2, 2008
Publication date	Aug 20, 2024
Grant date	Aug 20, 2024

Abstract

A therapy method (for a patient having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)) includes: providing an exposure event, to the patient, which is related to a traumatic event that contributed to the PTSD; and, during a therapy session which includes the exposure event, applying vagus nerve stimulation (VNS). A therapy method (for a patient having a given disorder, e.g., a phobia disorder or an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or an addiction disorder) includes: providing a therapy event (e.g., an extinction event for a phobia disorder), to the patient, which is related to one or more things that contributed to the given disorder; and during a therapy session which includes the therapy event, applying VNS.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A therapy method for a patient having post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the therapy method comprising:
providing an exposure event to the patient which is related to a traumatic event that contributed to the PTSD; and
providing vagus nerve stimulation to the patient electrically during a therapy session which includes the exposure event using a neurostimulator.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the therapy method is a memory extinction therapy method.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation intensity equal to or less than about 0.8 mA.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the exposure event includes a trigger event; and
timing of the vagus nerve stimulation is based on the trigger event.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the exposure event contains sensory recreations of a traumatic event.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation is performed electrically and invasively.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing an exposure event and the vagus nerve stimulation results in a reduction in symptoms of PTSD experienced by the patient.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient is a patient where the PTSD took months to develop following an initial exposure to a traumatic event that resulted in the PTSD.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing an exposure event and the vagus nerve stimulation occur long after a traumatic event that resulted in the PTSD.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing an exposure event and the vagus nerve stimulation facilitate a natural extinction process of the patient that protects most people from developing post-traumatic stress disorder.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the therapy method is a memory extinction therapy method, the memory extinction therapy method alleviating, at least in part, the post-traumatic stress disorder.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation duration of about 100 msec to about 30 sec.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation frequency of about 10 Hz to about 150 Hz.

14. A therapy method for a patient having a phobia disorder, therapy method comprising:
providing an extinction event to the patient which is related to something that contributed to the phobia disorder; and
providing vagus nerve stimulation to the patient electrically during a therapy session which includes the extinction event using a neurostimulator, thereby at least partially alleviating the phobia disorder.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
executing a retention test to determine a duration of an extinction of the phobia disorder.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation is performed electrically and invasively.

17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation intensity equal to or less than about 0.8 mA.

18. The method of claim 14 , wherein a duration of the vagus nerve stimulation is about 100 msec to about 30 sec.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein a frequency of the vagus nerve stimulation is about 10 Hz to about 150 Hz.

20. The method of claim 14 , wherein the providing an extinction event and the vagus nerve stimulation results in a reduction in symptoms of the phobia disorder experienced by the patient.

21. A therapy method for a patient having an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the therapy method comprising:
providing a therapy event to the patient which is related to something that contributed to the OCD; and
providing vagus nerve stimulation to the patient electrically during a therapy session which includes the therapy event using a neurostimulator.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the providing a therapy event includes providing an exposure event to the patient.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the providing a therapy event and the vagus nerve stimulation results in a reduction in symptoms of the OCD experienced by the patient.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation is performed electrically and invasively.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation intensity equal to or less than about 0.8 mA.

26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation duration of about 100 msec to about 30 sec.

27. The method of claim 21 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation frequency of about 10 Hz to about 150 Hz.

28. A therapy method for a patient having an addiction disorder, the therapy method comprising:
providing a therapy event to a patient which is related to one or more things that contributed to the addiction disorder; and
providing vagus nerve stimulation to the patient electrically during a therapy session which includes the therapy event using a neurostimulator.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the providing a therapy event includes providing an exposure event to the patient.

30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the providing a therapy event and the vagus nerve stimulation results in a reduction in symptoms of the addiction disorder experienced by the patient.

31. The method of claim 28 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation intensity equal to or less than about 0.8 mA.

32. The method of claim 28 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation duration of about 100 msec to about 30 sec.

33. The method of claim 28 , wherein the vagus nerve stimulation has a stimulation frequency of about 10 Hz to about 150 Hz.

Assignees

• Univ Texas
• Microtransponder Inc

Inventors

• Rodriguez Christa Mcintyre
• Engineer Navzer Dara
• Kilgard Michael P

Classifications

• G09B23/28

  for medicine · CPC title

• A61N1/36103

  Neuro-rehabilitation; Repair or reorganisation of neural tissue, e.g. after stroke · CPC title

• A61N1/361

  Phantom sensations, e.g. tinnitus · CPC title

• A61N1/36096

  Mood disorders, e.g. depression, anxiety or panic disorder · CPC title

• A61N1/36092

  Mental training · CPC title