The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 29, 2002
Filed:
Oct. 13, 1999
Reese S. Terry, Jr., Houston, TX (US);
Burke Barrett, Houston, TX (US);
Alan Adkins, Angleton, TX (US);
Cyberonics, Inc., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
A method is disclosed for treating patients suffering from heart failure to increase cardiac output. The patient's vagus nerve is electrically stimulated or modulated with a sequence of substantially equally spaced pulses by an implanted neurostimulator, and the frequency of the stimulating pulses is adjusted until the patient's heart rate reaches a target rate within a relatively stable target rate range below the low end of the patient's customary resting heart rate. The frequency of the stimulating pulses is maintained at the frequency which ultimately produced the relatively stable target rate range so as not to deviate markedly from the target rate, at least so long as the patient remains at rest. An activity sensor associated with the implanted neurostimulator detects physical activity of the patient and adjusts the frequency of the stimulating pulses accordingly, to elevate the heart rate during periods of physical activity by the patient. When the patient ceases the activity, the vagal stimulation reverts along a prescribed fall-back path to a frequency that will reproduce the target heart rate.