Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080208074 | Methods and Systems for Characterizing and Generating a Patient-Specific Seizure Advisory System - A method of developing a brain state advisory system including the following steps: deriving a brain state advisory algorithm; applying the brain state advisory algorithm to patient EEG data to identify occurrences of the target patient brain state (such as, e.g., a pro-ictal state or a contra-ictal state) in the patient EEG data; determining if a performance measure of the advisory algorithm for the target brain state exceeds the performance measure of a chance predictor for the target brain state; and if the performance measure of the advisory algorithm for the target brain state exceeds the performance measure of a chance predictor for the target brain state, storing the advisory algorithm in memory of the brain state advisory system. The invention also includes seizure advisory systems. | 08-28-2008 |
20080234598 | Implantable Systems and Methods for Identifying a Contra-ictal Condition in a Subject - Systems and methods of monitoring a subject's neurological condition are provided. In some embodiments, the method includes the steps of analyzing a physiological signal (such as an EEG) from a subject to determine if the subject is in a contra-ictal condition; and if the subject is in a contra-ictal condition, providing an indication (e.g., to the subject and/or to a caregiver) that the subject is in the contra-ictal condition. The systems and methods may utilize a minimally invasive, leadless device to monitor the subject's condition. In some embodiments, if the subject is in a pro-ictal condition, the method includes the step of providing an indication (such as a red light) that the subject is in the pro-ictal condition. | 09-25-2008 |
20090030403 | Methods and Systems for Attenuating the Tolerance Response to a Drug - Methods are provided for modulating a drug response comprising determining that a patient has an elevated or reduced susceptibility for a neurological event; outputting a signal that indicates to the patient to administer an acute dosage of a pharmacological agent that is sufficient to modulate the patient's susceptibility for the neurological event, wherein the drug response is modulated. Systems are also provided for treating epilepsy comprising an electrode array configured to receive a signal from a patient; a processing assembly configured to receive and process the signal to determine the patient's susceptibility for a neurological event; an output assembly configured to produce an output that indicates to the patient to administer an acute dosage of a pharmacological agent that is sufficient to reduce the patient's susceptibility for the neurological event, wherein the drug response to the pharmacological agent is attenuated. | 01-29-2009 |
20090062682 | Patient Advisory Device - A patient advisory device (“PAD”) and its methods of use. The PAD may be configured to alert the patient about an estimated brain state of the patient. In preferred embodiments, the PAD is adapted to alert the patient of the patient's brain state, which corresponds to the patient's propensity of transitioning into an ictal brain state, e.g., having a seizure. Based on the specific type of alert, the patient will be made aware whether they are highly unlikely to have a seizure for a given period of time, an elevated propensity of having a seizure, a seizure is occurring or imminent, or the patient's brain state is unknown. | 03-05-2009 |
20090171168 | Systems and Method for Recording Clinical Manifestations of a Seizure - A method of comparing a patient's neurological data to data that is indicative of the patient's clinical manifestation of a seizure. In some embodiments, the method includes the steps of monitoring neurological data from a patient indicative of the patient's propensity for having a seizure; automatically recording clinical manifestation data from the patient that may be indicative of the occurrence of a clinical seizure; and analyzing the automatically recorded clinical manifestation data and the monitored neurological data to determine if one of the clinical manifestation data and the neurological data indicates the occurrence of a seizure while the other does not. Systems are described including a monitoring device having a communication assembly for receiving neurological data transmitted external to a patient from a transmitter implanted in a patient; a processor that processes the neurological data to estimate the patient's brain state; and an assembly for automatically recording clinical manifestation data in response to a brain state estimate by the processor. | 07-02-2009 |
20090171420 | Housing for an Implantable Medical Device - An implantable medical device having a concave ceramic housing component; a concave metal housing component attached to the ceramic housing component to form a hermetically sealed enclosure; and an electronic trans-housing magnetic flux component disposed within the enclosure. Another aspect of the invention provides an implantable medical device having a ceramic housing component; a metal housing component; a circumferential sealing member attached to a periphery of the ceramic housing component and to a periphery of the metal housing component to form a hermetically sealed enclosure; and an electronic trans-housing magnetic flux component disposed within the enclosure. Still another aspect of the invention provides an implantable medical device with a first metal housing component; a second metal housing component, the second metal housing component forming an opening; a ceramic housing component disposed in the opening, the first metal housing component, the second metal housing component and the ceramic housing component cooperating to form a hermetically sealed enclosure; and an electronic trans-housing magnetic flux component disposed within the enclosure. | 07-02-2009 |
20100125219 | MINIMALLY INVASIVE SYSTEM FOR SELECTING PATIENT-SPECIFIC THERAPY PARAMETERS - The present invention provides systems and methods for ambulatory, long term monitoring of a physiological signal from a patient. At least a portion of the systems of the present invention may be implanted within the patient in a minimally invasive manner. In preferred embodiments, brain activity signals are sampled from the patient and are transmitted to a handheld patient communication device for further processing. | 05-20-2010 |
20100168604 | Processing for Multi-Channel Signals - Method and apparatus for improved processing for multi-channel signals. In an exemplary embodiment, an anomaly metric is computed for a multi-channel signal over a time window. The magnitude of the anomaly metric may be used to determine whether an anomaly is present in the multi-channel signal over the time window. In an exemplary embodiment, the anomaly metric may be a condition number associated with the singular values of the multi-channel signal over the time window, as further adjusted by the number of channels to produce a data condition number. Applications of the anomaly metric computation include the scrubbing of signal archives for epileptic seizure detection/prediction/counter-prediction algorithm training, pre-processing of multi-channel signals for real-time monitoring of bio-systems, and boot-up and/or adaptive self-checking of such systems during normal operation. | 07-01-2010 |
20100179627 | Medical Lead Termination Sleeve for Implantable Medical Devices - A wire and electrode combination suitable for use with implanted medical devices, and a method for coupling the wire and electrode to achieve a robust electrical connection suitable for use with such medical devices are disclosed. The apparatus employs a wire that is optimized for strength, an electrode optimized for biocompatibility, and a termination sleeve with a closed distal end for coupling the wire to the electrode, while eliminating the potential for galvanic corrosion, enhancing weld quality, and facilitating manufacture of the apparatus. The method involves compressing the sleeve to engage the wire at two locations, where contact between the sleeve and wire at the first location seals the interior of the sleeve, and contact between the sleeve and wire at the second location electrically couples the wire to the sleeve. The sleeve, which is easier to manipulate than the wire, is then spot welded to the electrode. | 07-15-2010 |
20100302270 | Processing for Multi-Channel Signals - Method and apparatus for improved processing for multi-channel signals. In an exemplary embodiment, an anomaly metric is computed for a multi-channel signal over a time window. The magnitude of the anomaly metric may be used to determine whether an anomaly is present in the multi-channel signal over the time window. In an exemplary embodiment, the anomaly metric may be a condition number associated with the singular values of the multi-channel signal over the time window, as further adjusted by the number of channels to produce a data condition number. Applications of the anomaly metric computation include the scrubbing of signal archives for epileptic seizure detection/prediction/counter-prediction algorithm training, pre-processing of multi-channel signals for real-time monitoring of bio-systems, and boot-up and/or adaptive self-checking of such systems during normal operation. | 12-02-2010 |
20110166430 | SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR ANALYZING SEIZURE ACTIVITY - The present invention provides systems and methods for ambulatory, long term monitoring of a physiological signal from a patient. At least a portion of the systems of the present invention may be implanted within the patient in a minimally invasive manner. In preferred embodiments, brain activity signals are sampled from the patient and are transmitted to a handheld patient communication device for further processing. | 07-07-2011 |
20110172554 | Patient Entry Recording in an Epilepsy Monitoring System - Systems and methods for monitoring a patient are provided. The system includes: an implantable sensor adapted to collect neurological signals; an implantable assembly configured to sample the neurological signals collected by the sensor; and a rechargeable external assembly configured to wirelessly receive the sampled neurological signals from the implantable assembly, said external assembly being further configured to record a patient entry in response to receiving an input from the patient. The method includes: collecting neurological signals with a sensor implanted in the patient; sampling the neurological signals collected by the sensor with an implantable assembly implanted in the patient; and transmitting the sampled neurological signals from the implantable assembly to a rechargeable external assembly external to the patient; and recording a patient entry in response to receiving an input from the patient. | 07-14-2011 |
20110201944 | NEUROLOGICAL MONITORING AND ALERTS - A system for providing alerts of neurological events occurring in a human subject is provided. The system includes: a monitoring module adapted to detect and sample a neurological signal; an event detection module coupled to the monitoring module for detecting one or more types of predetermined reportable events based on the detected neurological signal; and an alert module coupled to the event detection module, wherein upon the detection of a reportable event by the event detection module, said alert module selects a first alert contact from a plurality of contacts contained in a contact list, and generates a first alert communication to the first alert contact. | 08-18-2011 |
20110213222 | Communication Error Alerting in an Epilepsy Monitoring System - Systems and methods for monitoring neurological signals in a patient are provided. The system includes: an implantable sensor adapted to collect neurological signals; an implantable assembly configured to sample the neurological signals collected by the sensor; and a rechargeable communication device external to the patient's body, said communication device configured to wirelessly communicate with the implantable assembly and to transmit a communication error alert to a caregiver advisory device in the event of a communication error between the implantable assembly and the communication device. | 09-01-2011 |
20110319785 | Implantable Systems and Methods for Identifying a Contra-ictal Condition in a Subject - Systems and methods of monitoring a subject's neurological condition are provided. In some embodiments, the method includes the steps of analyzing a physiological signal (such as an EEG) from a subject to determine if the subject is in a contra-ictal condition; and if the subject is in a contra-ictal condition, providing an indication (e.g., to the subject and/or to a caregiver) that the subject is in the contra-ictal condition. The systems and methods may utilize a minimally invasive, leadless device to monitor the subject's condition. In some embodiments, if the subject is in a pro-ictal condition, the method includes the step of providing an indication (such as a red light) that the subject is in the pro-ictal condition. | 12-29-2011 |
20120257339 | Multi-Channel Amplifier Techniques - Techniques for amplifying a plurality of input voltages to generate a corresponding plurality of output voltages. In an exemplary embodiment, each of the plurality of input voltages is referenced to a common voltage comprising the average of the plurality of input voltages, without the need to reference an independently provided common voltage. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, techniques are provided for automatically measuring the input impedance between any two nodes corresponding to the plurality of input voltages. Further techniques are provided for coupling input nodes of the amplifier modules to a common reference voltage, and to the housing of the apparatus. | 10-11-2012 |
20130046358 | Systems and Methods of Reducing Artifact in Neurological Stimulation Systems - Systems and methods for neuromonitoring a subject are described. The system may include a stimulation assembly including a pulse generator that generates one or more stimulus waveforms; an electrode array coupled to the stimulation assembly and configured to deliver a stimulation signal to nervous system of the subject; a sensing assembly adapted to acquire a signal from a subject indicative of the subject's brain activity; a power supply configured to supply power to the stimulation assembly and the sensing assembly; and a timing controller programmed to control the use of the power supply by the stimulation assembly and the sensing assembly, said timing controller being programmed to control the time the sensing assembly is powered to acquire the signal to be substantially different than the time the stimulation assembly is powered to stimulate the subject. | 02-21-2013 |
20140012111 | IMPLANTABLE SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING A CONTRA-ICTAL CONDITION IN A SUBJECT - Systems and methods of monitoring a subject's neurological condition are provided. In some embodiments, the method includes the steps of analyzing a physiological signal (such as an EEG) from a subject to determine if the subject is in a contra-ictal condition; and if the subject is in a contra-ictal condition, providing an indication (e.g., to the subject and/or to a caregiver) that the subject is in the contra-ictal condition. The systems and methods may utilize a minimally invasive, leadless device to monitor the subject's condition. In some embodiments, if the subject is in a pro-ictal condition, the method includes the step of providing an indication (such as a red light) that the subject is in the pro-ictal condition. | 01-09-2014 |
20140074212 | MEDICAL LEAD TERMINATION SLEEVE FOR IMPLANTABLE MEDICAL DEVICES - A wire and electrode combination suitable for use with implanted medical devices, and a method for coupling the wire and electrode to achieve a robust electrical connection suitable for use with such medical devices are disclosed. The apparatus employs a wire that is optimized for strength, an electrode optimized for biocompatibility, and a termination sleeve with a closed distal end for coupling the wire to the electrode, while eliminating the potential for galvanic corrosion, enhancing weld quality, and facilitating manufacture of the apparatus. The method involves compressing the sleeve to engage the wire at two locations, where contact between the sleeve and wire at the first location seals the interior of the sleeve, and contact between the sleeve and wire at the second location electrically couples the wire to the sleeve. The sleeve, which is easier to manipulate than the wire, is then spot welded to the electrode. | 03-13-2014 |
20140142458 | IMPLANTABLE MONITORING DEVICE WITH SELECTABLE REFERENCE CHANNEL AND OPTIMIZED ELECTRODE PLACEMENT - Techniques for amplifying a plurality of input voltages to generate a corresponding plurality of output voltages. In an exemplary embodiment, each of the plurality of input voltages is referenced to a common voltage comprising the average of the plurality of input voltages, wherein for each of the input voltages, the common voltage is coupled to a common node via a corresponding switch. | 05-22-2014 |
20140257118 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR RECOMMENDING AN APPROPRIATE PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT TO A PATIENT FOR MANAGING EPILEPSY AND OTHER NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS - The present invention provides systems and methods for managing epilepsy. In one embodiment, a method of the present invention characterize a patient's propensity for a future epileptic seizure and communicates to the patient and/or a health care provider a therapy recommendation. The therapy recommendation is typically a function of the patient's propensity for the future epileptic seizure. | 09-11-2014 |