We report a method of treating an epileptic seizure in a patient, comprising: detecting said epileptic seizure, based on body data from said patient; and reducing a flow of blood to a brain of said patient in response to said detected seizure; wherein said reducing is effected by: increasing the parasympathetic input to said patient's heart, such as by electrically stimulating a parasympathetic nervous structure, applying cooling energy to a sympathetic nervous structure, or administering a cholinergic or a sympatho-blocking agent to said patient. We also report a medical device system configured to implement the method. We also report a non-transitory computer readable program storage unit encoded with instructions that, when executed by a computer, perform the method.

Devices, systems and methods are disclosed for treating a variety of diseases and disorders. A device for treating a disorder in a patient comprises a housing having a contact surface for contacting an outer skin surface of the patient and an energy source within the housing. The energy source is configured to transmit electrical impulses through the outer skin surface of the patient to a selected nerve within the patient. The electrical impulses include bursts of pulses having a burst frequency between 1 Hz and 5000 Hz and a burst duration between 100 microseconds and 20,000 microseconds.

Devices and methods are provided to treat acute and chronic heart failure by using one or more implantable or non-implantable sensors along with phrenic nerve stimulation to reduce intrathoracic pressure and thereby reduce pulmonary artery, atrial, and ventricular pressures leading to reduced complications and hospitalization.

A method of detecting an improvement in a seizure condition of a patient includes identifying a first EEG synchronization of the seizure condition of the patient; applying a therapy configured to improve the seizure condition of the patient; and identifying a second EEG synchronization of the seizure condition of the patient subsequent to application of the therapy, wherein an improvement of the seizure condition of the patient is demonstrated by a reduced EEG synchronization of the patient such that the second EEG synchronization is less than the first EEG synchronization.

Modulation of neural activity in the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) or cervical sympathetic trunk (CST) is effective in treating diseases and conditions mediated by thyroid and parathyroid hormones, in particular diseases associated with calcitonin secretion (e.g. osteoporosis) or diseases associated with thyroxine secretion (e.g. hypothyroid syndrome).

A method for assessing a patient's suitability for receiving a vagus nerve stimulation therapy includes receiving a criterion regarding the patient's suitability for receiving a vagus nerve stimulation therapy; controlling a stimulation device to provide stimulation to a vagus nerve of the patient; receiving, from a sensor, response data indicative of a physiological response of the patient to the stimulation of the vagus nerve; and determining the patient's suitability for receiving the vagus nerve stimulation therapy based on the criterion and the physiological response of the patient to the stimulation.

Disclosed herein are an electrode assembly, an in-ear headphone, an in-ear headphone pair, and an electrode pair assembly, each for non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation. Each of the foregoing items includes a first electrode and a second electrode. An electrode assembly configured for insertion into an ear of a user includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a shim positioned therebetween. An in-ear headphone or headphone pair may include the electrode assembly with a housing and a waveform generator. An electrode pair assembly may include a first electrode configured for insertion into a first ear of a user, and a second electrode configured for insertion into a second ear of the user. Certain embodiments further include audio components positioned within a housing of at least one in-ear headphone to deliver audio stimulation through a central channel of a first electrode or second electrode, respectively.

A neurostimulation system includes a programming control circuit and a user interface. The programming control circuit may be configured to generate a plurality of stimulation parameters controlling delivery of neurostimulation pulses according to one or more neurostimulation programs each specifying a pattern of the neurostimulation pulses. The user interface includes a display screen, a user input device, and a neurostimulation program circuit. The neurostimulation program circuit may be configured to allow for construction of one or more pulse trains (PTs) and one or more train groupings (TGs) of the one or more neurostimulation programs, and to allow for scheduling of delivery of the one or more neurostimulation programs, using the display screen and the user input device. Each PT includes one or more pulse blocks each including a plurality of pulses of the neurostimulation pulses. Each TG includes one or more PTs.

Methods and systems for treating epilepsy by stimulating a cranial nerve and administering to the patient a responsiveness test and comparing a result of the responsiveness test to a baseline responsiveness test and initiating a second therapy or issuing a warning based on the comparison of the result of the responsiveness test to the baseline responsiveness test.

Methods are disclosed for treating a subject having a disease or disorder comprising stimulating a nerve of the subject with a corrective stimulus pattern derived from a disease-specific, condition-specific, endogenous mediator-specific or pharmacologic agent-specific neurogram in an amount and manner effective to treat the disease or disorder.