The University of Texas System

Microtransponder, Inc.

Other

University of California

Scientific Learning Corporation

Michael P Kilgard

Navzer Engineer

David Michael Pierce

Robert Rennaker

Larry Cauller

Will Rosellini

Christa McIntyre

Christa Mcintyre Rodriguez

Nazer Engineer

Christa McIntyre Rodriguez

Michael M Merzenich

Lawrence James Cauller

Will Rossellini

Shaowen Bao

Robert L Rennaker

A motor-deficit-therapeutic method (for treatment of a patient who has hemiparesis) includes: providing, to the patient afflicted with a hemiparesis, a neurostimulator configured to stimulate a vagus nerve of the patient using electrical, magnetic, optical, acoustic or mechanical stimulation; and initiating stimulation of the vagus nerve by the neurostimulator so that at least a portion of the stimulation occurs at least during performance by the patient of a motor therapy session which is hemiparesis-therapeutic, thereby improving the patient's hemiparesis.

Methods, systems, and devices for pairing vagus nerve stimulation with motor therapy in stroke patients

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.

Methods for enhancing exposure therapy using pairing with Vagus nerve stimulation

A method (of treating a patient who has tinnitus) includes: providing to the patient a series of tones including at least a single tone which is at least a half-octave outside a tinnitus frequency of the patient; and applying vagus nerve stimulation to the patient to induce a period of plasticity in a cortex of the patient that is transitory and that represents a transitory opportunity for learning to occur; and wherein the at least a single tone occurs during the transitory opportunity for learning.

Methods for treating tinnitus with VNS

A method of treating motor deficits in a stroke patient, comprising assessing a patient's motor deficits, determining therapeutic goals for the patient, based on the patient's motor deficits, selecting therapeutic tasks based on the therapeutic goals, performing each of the selected therapeutic tasks repetitively, observing the performance of the therapeutic tasks, initiating the stimulation of the vagus nerve manually at approximately a predetermined moment during the performance of the therapeutic tasks, stimulating the vagus nerve of the patient during the performance of the selected therapeutic tasks, and improving the patient's motor deficits.

Disclosed is a method of enhancing exposure therapy including providing an exposure therapy to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy. Also disclosed is a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy method including providing an exposure event to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve during the exposure event. Also disclosed is a phobia disorder therapy method including providing an extinction event to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve during the exposure event. Also disclosed is an obsessive compulsive disorder therapy method including providing a therapy event to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve during the therapy event. Also disclosed is an addiction disorder therapy method including providing a therapy event to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve during the therapy event.

Methods for enhancing exposure therapy using pairing with vagus nerve stimulation

A method of treating tinnitus comprising measuring a patient's hearing, determining the patient's hearing loss and the patient's tinnitus frequency using the measurements of the patient's hearing, programming a clinical controller with the measurements of the patient's hearing, selecting a plurality of therapeutic tones, where the therapeutic tones are selected to be at least a half-octave above or below of the patient's tinnitus frequency, setting an appropriate volume for each of the plurality of tones, repetitively playing each of the plurality of therapeutic tones, and pairing a vagus nerve stimulation pulse train with each playing of a therapeutic tone, thereby reducing the patient's perception of tinnitus.

Methods, systems, and devices for treating tinnitus with VNS pairing

Provided is an effective stereognosis training system that integrates hardware and software to provide a simple, reliable, quantitative system to provide tactile rehabilitation and progress monitoring. The system can include an interactive device including a novel set of objects, that are combined with neuromodulatory systems such as wireless closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation to improve neural plasticity and expedite functional recovery. The system can send updates to therapists or clinicians to monitor progress and encourage compliance with prescribed therapy.

Stereognosis training system and method for patients with chronic stroke, spinal cord injury or neuropathy

Systems, methods and devices for paired training include timing controls so that training and neural stimulation can be provided simultaneously. Paired trainings may include therapies, rehabilitation and performance enhancement training. Stimulations of nerves such as the vagus nerve that affect subcortical regions such as the nucleus basalis, locus coeruleus or amygdala induce plasticity in the brain, enhancing the effects of a variety of therapies, such as those used to treat tinnitus, stroke, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Systems, methods and devices for paired plasticity

Disclosed is a method of enhancing exposure therapy comprising providing an exposure therapy to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve at the same time as the exposure therapy. Also disclosed is a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy method comprising providing an exposure event to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve during the exposure event. Also disclosed is a phobia disorder therapy method comprising providing an extinction event to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve during the exposure event. Also disclosed is an obsessive compulsive disorder therapy method comprising providing a therapy event to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve during the therapy event. Also disclosed is an addiction disorder therapy method comprising providing a therapy event to a patient and stimulating the patient's vagus nerve during the therapy event.

A method for treating neural deficits resulting from multiple sclerosis, involving assessing a subject's motor, sensory, cognitive, or emotional deficits caused by multiple sclerosis; selecting a rehabilitative task based said deficits; determining the subject's acceptable performance threshold for the rehabilitative task; and providing a paired training therapy. The paired training therapy comprises having the subject to perform a trial of the rehabilitative task; classifying the subject's performance on the trial as either acceptable or unacceptable, wherein an acceptable performance is performance at or above the subject's acceptable performance threshold, and an unacceptable performance is performance below the subject's acceptable performance threshold; and reinforcing acceptable performance by selectively stimulating the subject's vagus nerve after completion of the acceptable performance.

Growing community of inventors

Richardson, TX, United States of America

Michael P Kilgard