System and methods for monitoring and/or controlling nerve activity in a subject are provided. In one embodiment, a system includes electrodes configured to be placed proximate to a subject's skin, and a signal detector configured to detect electrical signals using the electrodes. The system also includes a signal processor configured to receive the electrical signals from the signal detector, and apply a filter to the received electrical signals to generate filtered signals, the filter configured to attenuate at least signals having frequencies corresponding to heart muscle activity during a heartbeat. The signal processor is also configured to identify a skin nerve activity using the filtered signals, estimate a sympathetic nerve activity using the identified skin nerve activity, and further to generate a report indicative of the estimated sympathetic nerve activity. In some aspects, the system further includes a signal generator to deliver the electrical stimulation to the subject's skin.

Disclosed are methods and systems for treating epilepsy by stimulating a main trunk of a vagus nerve, or a left vagus nerve, when the patient has had no seizure or a seizure that is not characterized by cardiac changes such as an increase in heart rate, and stimulating a cardiac branch of a vagus nerve, or a right vagus nerve, when the patient has had a seizure characterized by cardiac changes such as a heart rate increase.

A method for processing a neural measurement obtained in the presence of artifact, in order to detect whether a neural response is present in the neural measurement. A neural measurement is obtained from one or more sense electrodes. The neural measurement is correlated against a filter template, the filter template comprising at least three half cycles of an alternating waveform, amplitude modulated by a window. From an output of the correlating, it is determined whether a neural response is present in the neural measurement.

Methods and devices are disclosed for inducing analgesia in a localized region of tissue. Inducing analgesia may be performed by identifying a nerve associated with the localized region, determining a resonant frequency for target neuronal cell membranes of the nerve, and generating a peripheral nerve blockade using the determined resonant frequency. The resonant frequency may be a frequency at which impedance of the nerve approaches a maximum.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure is directed to a method for providing a neural stimulation therapy to treat chronic pain of a patient. The method comprises: recording, using a neural sensing system, neural activity of the patient at one or more sites within the nervous system of the patient related to the chronic pain of the patient, modifying a computational neural modeling system to model the sensed neural activity of the patient; computing a respective neural response of the patient for each of a plurality of different temporal stimulation patterns using the modified computational neural modeling system; selecting, based on the respective neural responses, one of the plurality of temporal stimulation patterns; and programming an implantable stimulation system to provide the selected one of the plurality of temporal stimulation patterns to the patient to treat the chronic pain of the patient.

The novel flexible electrodes disclosed herein utilize the low bending stiffness of electrospun nanofiber mats to achieve the material properties required for surgical implantation and sustained bidirectional communication with peripheral nerves without compromising electronic functionality. According to certain embodiments disclosed herein, implantable neural electrode probes are provided which comprise a polymeric substrate having proximal and distal ends, an electrode interface at the proximal end of the substrate; at least one neural contact at the distal end of the substrate; and electrically conductive traces formed on the fibrous substrate providing electrical communication between the at least one neural contact and the electrode interface, wherein the substrate comprises a nonwoven mass of polymeric nanofibers.

Systems and related methods for identifying and/or ablating targeted nerves are provided. A probe with stimulating electrodes and/or ablation members are provided. The probe may be inserted into a nasal cavity and current may be introduced through the electrodes to stimulate a targeted area. The response to stimulation may be used to identify the targeted nerve. Once identified, the ablation member may ablate the targeted nerve.

A system and method of treating a sleep disorder, including: detecting signals associated with at least one symptom or sign of the sleep disorder at one or more sensors; processing the signals to create a symbolic representation of the sleep disorder, wherein the symbolic representation indicates a relationship of the signals to the sleep disorder empirically and not based on physiologic mapping of the signals to the sleep disorder; and stimulating a region of a human body to alter the symbolic representation between detected signals and the sleep disorder, wherein the symbolic representation as altered indicates treatment of the sleep disorder.

The disclosure provides systems and methods for treating obstructive sleep apnea using an inertial measurement unit (IMU) comprising an accelerometer and a gyroscope, wherein the IMU is configured to detect chest and/or abdominal movement by a patient during the inspiration and expiration stages of a respiratory cycle and to generate positional data based on the detected movement. Positional data generated by the IMU is used by an implanted stimulation system to determine when to deliver electrical stimulation to a nerve which innervates an upper airway muscle, such as the hypoglossal nerve, to treat sleep apnea.

A method for fabricating electrodes sized and dimensioned to record, measure, and/or stimulate very fine nerve structures (e.g., microscale or less) is described herein. The method can include securing a tip of an electrode, comprising a conductor substantially encased by an insulator, to a proximal portion of an inserter. The electrode can be wound around a proximal portion of the inserter and a portion of the electrode can be secured to a distal portion of the inserter. A tension in the electrode can be maintained during the winding to keep the electrode in place during the winding.