A method for enhancing muscle function of skeletal muscles in connection with a planned spine surgery intervention in a patient's back is provided. The method includes implanting one or more electrodes in or adjacent to tissue associated with one or more skeletal muscles within a back of a patient, the one or more electrodes in electrical communication with a pulse generator programmed for enhancing muscle function of the one or more skeletal muscles. Electrical stimulation is delivered, according to the programming during a time period associated with the planned spine surgery intervention, from the pulse generator to the tissue associated with the one or more skeletal muscles via the one or more electrodes, thereby improving neuromuscular control system performance of the one or more spine stabilizing muscles in connection with the planned spine surgery intervention to reduce the patient's recovery time associated with the planned spine surgery intervention.

This document discusses, among other things, systems and methods for delivering electrostimulation to specific tissue of a patient. An example of a system can receive a three-dimensional voxelized model representing a plurality of regions each specified as a target region or an avoidance region. The system includes control circuitry to determine a metric value using the voxelized model. The metric value indicates a clinical effect of electrostimulation on the plurality of regions according to a stimulation current and a current fractionalization. The control circuitry can determine a desired stimulation current that results in a first metric value satisfying a clinical effect condition. The system can generate a stimulation configuration including the desired stimulation current and the current fractionalization corresponding to the first metric value, and deliver tissue stimulation according to the stimulation configuration.

Current state of the art neural prosthetics, such as cochlear implants, spinal cord stimulators, and deep brain stimulators use implantable pulse generators (IPGs) to excite neural activity. Inhibition of neural firing is typically indirect and requires excitation of neurons that then have inhibitory projections downstream. The present invention is directed to a safe direct current stimulator (SDCS) technology that is designed to convert electronic pulses delivered to electrodes embedded within an implantable device to ionic direct current (iDC) at the output of the device. iDC front the device can then control neural extracellular potential with the intent of being able to not only excite, but also inhibit and sensitize neurons, thereby greatly expanding the possible applications of neuromodulation therapies and neural interface mechanisms. The device of the present invention is designed to reduce power consumption by a factor of 12 and to improve its reliability by a factor of 8.

An electrical stimulation device is provided. The electrical stimulation device includes a boost circuit, a voltage selecting circuit and a control circuit. The boost circuit generates a plurality of voltages, wherein the voltages have different voltage values. The voltage selecting circuit is coupled to the boost circuit and selects one voltage according to a reference voltage on a tissue impedance to generate an output voltage. The control circuit is coupled to the boost circuit and in response to electrical stimulation; it transmits a control signal to enable the boost circuit.

A system and method for operating an implanted medical device (IMD) based on a waveform player. In one arrangement, the IMD may comprise a first module operative to effectuate a communication interface with an external device for receiving a plurality of program records for storage in a persistent memory, the program records each comprising a plurality of pulse definitions and a plurality of time interval definitions, wherein a pulse definition comprises a set of pulse characteristics to be applied in a particular time interval. A second module may be communicatively coupled to the first module, the second module including a buffer for containing a runtime image of a selected program record loaded from the persistent memory. A waveform player provided as part of the second module is operative to interpret the runtime image to generate control signals to drive an output driver circuit for applying pulse characteristics to a select set of electrodes according to the pulse definitions of the selected program record.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for nerve conduction block that can involve the delivery of relatively high amounts of charge safely to tissue. Such systems and methods can include control systems for safely monitoring a direct current electrode system, including delivering direct current via an electrode lead to a target tissue of a patient; measuring the driving voltage across the electrode; comparing the driving voltage across the electrode to predetermined threshold range values; measuring the body impedance; determining a voltage drop across the lead from the body impedance measurement; and adjusting the driving voltage to maintain the voltage drop across the lead within a predetermined voltage range.

An arrangement for electrical charge equalization after generation of stimulation current pulse(s), containing a bridge circuit, switching elements, a bridge branch between two legs of the bridge circuit, into which a load resistance is introducible, and a power source for generating a stimulation current pulse, connected to the legs of the bridge circuit that enables an electrical current via one leg through the bridge branch and through a leg connected to the other end of the bridge branch with corresponding switch position. A capacitive element is in the bridge branch for generating a current for electrical charge equalization for current introduced by stimulation current pulse(s) and is configured such that, between one or more stimulation current pulses and a discharge of the capacitive element via stimulation electrode(s), a delay time window is maintained, which is used for measuring electrical physiological signals induced as a reaction to the stimulation current pulse(s).

A system and method for extracting ETI load parametric data relative to one or more electrodes of an implanted stimulation lead system associated with an IPG. A Kelvin connection scheme is provided for measuring induced voltages present at stimulated electrodes during a stimulation ramping sequence, which may be used for determining the ETI parametric data using a number of techniques, including, without limitation, a waveform analysis.

High frequency stimulation for treating sensory and/or motor deficits in patients with spinal cord injuries and/or peripheral polyneuropathy, and associated systems and methods. A representative method includes addressing the patient's somatosensory dysfunction and/or motor dysfunction, resulting from neuropathy and/or spinal cord injury, by directing an electrical therapy signal to the patient's spinal cord region, the therapy signal having a frequency in a frequency range from 1.5 kHz to 100 kHz.

Cochlear implant systems can include a cochlear electrode and a stimulator in electrical communication with the cochlear electrode. The stimulator can be in communication with a controller, which is in communication with a testing circuit and a switching network. The stimulator can include a plurality of source elements. The controller can control the switching network to place the plurality of source elements into communication with the testing circuit. The controller can further cause one of the plurality of source elements to emit an electrical current and can determine an amount of electrical current emitted from the source element using the testing circuit. The controller can compare the determined amount of electrical current emitted by the source element with a prescribed current. The controller can adjust the output of each of the plurality of source elements based on the determined amount of electrical current emitted by the stimulator.