Shifting of electrical stimulation electrode combinations among differently sized electrode arrays

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9937342-B2
Application number	US-11090608-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2008
Priority date	Apr 30, 2007
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

The disclosure provides techniques for parameter-directed shifting of electrical stimulation electrode combinations. An external programmer permits a user to shift electrode combinations, e.g., along the length of a lead or leads. The external programmer accepts shift input and causes an electrical stimulator to shift electrode combinations as indicated by the input. Different sets of electrodes may have different electrode counts. For example, an array of electrodes carried by one lead may have a greater number of electrodes than an array of electrodes carried on another lead. The disclosure provides techniques for shifting electrode combinations among leads with different electrode counts. For example, an external programmer may execute shifts in a series of shift operations, where the number of shift operations along the length of a lead having a greater electrode count is greater than the number of shift steps along the length of a lead having a lesser electrode count.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
delivering electrical stimulation via an electrode combination comprising at least one active electrode in a first array of electrodes and at least one active electrode in a second array of electrodes, wherein the second array includes a greater number of electrodes than the first array, wherein each electrode of the first array is positioned at a respective level within the first array, and wherein each electrode of the second array is positioned at a respective level within the second array; and
shifting the electrical stimulation to different electrode combinations in a series of shift operations, wherein one of the shift operations includes shifting a position of all active electrodes in the second array while maintaining a position of all active electrodes in the first array, and wherein shifting the position of all active electrodes in the second array comprises performing a single level shift of the position of all active electrodes in the second array.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrode combination further comprises at least one active electrode in a third array of electrodes, wherein the third array and the first array include a common number of electrodes, and wherein one of the shift operations includes shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array while maintaining the position of all the active electrodes in the first array and maintaining a position of all the active electrodes in the third array.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first array consists of four electrodes, the second array consists of eight electrodes, and the third array consists of four electrodes.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one of the shift operations comprises a first shift operation, and wherein the series of shift operations comprises a second shift operation that includes shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array and shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the first array.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising, on a substantially alternating basis, shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array while maintaining the position of all the active electrodes in the first array, and shifting the positions of both all the active electrodes in the second array and all the active electrodes in the first array.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein shifting includes shifting the electrical stimulation in one of a first direction and a second direction based on user input.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array while maintaining the position of all the active electrodes in the first array when the shifting is in the first direction and all the active electrodes in the second array is at an odd-numbered position within the second array.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array and shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the first array when the shifting is in the first direction and the most proximal of the active electrodes in the second array is at an even-numbered position within the second array.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array while maintaining the position of all the active electrodes in the first array when the shifting is in the second direction and the most proximal active electrode in the second array is at an even-numbered position within the second array.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array and shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the first array when the shifting is in the second direction and the most proximal active electrode in the second array is at an odd-numbered position within the second array.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first array consists of four electrodes and the second array consists of eight electrodes.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first array of electrodes is arranged on a first implantable lead, and the second array of electrodes is arranged on a second implantable lead.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first and second implantable leads are coupled to a stimulation pulse generator.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising shifting the electrical stimulation in response to one or more shift commands received from a programmer.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising shifting the electrical stimulation for multiple programs within a group of programs.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electrode combination includes multiple electrodes in at least one of the first and second arrays.

17. The method of claim 1 , further comprising shifting the electrical stimulation in response to user input indicating a parameter adjustment that indicates the shift operations to different electrode combinations.

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising prohibiting shifting if a program associated with one of the electrode combinations is indicated as not being shiftable.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein delivering the electrical stimulation comprises delivering one of spinal cord stimulation, pelvic floor stimulation, gastric stimulation, brain stimulation, or peripheral nerve stimulation.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein delivering electrical stimulation via the electrode combination comprises delivering voltage-based or current-based stimulation.

21. An electrical stimulation device comprising:
a first array of electrodes, wherein each electrode of the first array is positioned at a respective level within the first array;
a second array of electrodes including a greater number of electrodes than the first array of electrodes, wherein each electrode of the second array is positioned at a respective level within the second array;
an electrical stimulation generator that generates electrical stimulation and delivers the electrical stimulation via an electrode combination comprising at least one active electrode in the first array and at least one active electrode in a second array; and
a processor that controls the electrical stimulation generator to shift the electrical stimulation to different electrode combinations in a series of shift operations, wherein one of the shift operations includes shifting a position of the all active electrodes in the second array while maintaining a position of all the active electrodes in the first array, and wherein shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array comprises performing a single level shift of the position of all the active electrodes in the second array.

22. The device of claim 21 , further comprising a third array of electrodes, wherein the third array and the first array include a common number of electrodes, wherein the electrode combination further comprises an active electrode in the third array, and wherein one of the shift operations includes shifting the position of all the active electrodes in the second array while maintaining the position of all the active electrodes in the first array and maintaining a position of all the active electrodes in the third array.

23. The device of claim 22 , wherein the first array consists of four electrodes, the second array consists of eight electrodes, and the third array consists of fou

Assignees

• Skelton Dennis M
• Nolan Joseph J
• Torgerson Nathan A
• Dewing Wende L
• Smith Todd V
• Gokaldas Shyam
• Goetz Steven M
• Houchins Andrew H
• Keacher Jeffrey T
• Medtronic Inc

Inventors

• Skelton Dennis M
• Nolan Joseph J
• Torgerson Nathan A
• Dewing Wende L
• Smith Todd V
• Gokaldas Shyam
• Goetz Steven M
• Houchins Andrew H
• Keacher Jeffrey T

Classifications

• A61N1/37247

  User interfaces, e.g. input or presentation means · CPC title

• A61N1/0531

  Brain cortex electrodes · CPC title

• A61N1/0534

  Electrodes for deep brain stimulation · CPC title

• A61N1/0553 Primary

  Paddle shaped electrodes, e.g. for laminotomy · CPC title