Electrode sling for treating stress and urge incontinence

1. An implantable pelvic treatment apparatus, comprising:

an implantable mechanical support comprising mesh shaped to support a portion of a urethra of a patient;

three or more electrodes, coupled to the mechanical support;

one or more circuitry units on the mechanical support; and

a control unit electrically coupled to the one or more circuitry units;

wherein the one or more circuitry units are configured to direct a current from the control unit to a subset of the electrodes in response to a signal from the control unit.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical support comprises mesh that is shaped to define a longitudinal axis thereof, and wherein all of the electrodes are greater than 2 mm from a center point of the longitudinal axis.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operative to configure the treatment current to stimulate a pelvic muscle of the patient and induce contraction of the muscle.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operative to configure the treatment current to induce in a nerve of the patient action potential propagation that induces contraction of a pelvic muscle of the patient.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operative to configure the treatment current to induce in a nerve of the patient action potential propagation that induces relaxation of a pelvic muscle of the patient.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical support comprises a sling.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical support comprises a plurality of beads selected from the group consisting of: carbon beads, and polymer beads.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the mechanical support comprises an electrode lead, and wherein the electrode lead couples the control unit to at least one of the electrodes.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is wirelessly coupled to the one or more electrodes.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit comprises a drug and a pump operative to pump the drug from the control unit after implantation in the patient.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pelvic condition is selected from the group consisting of urge incontinence and stress incontinence.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pelvic condition is selected from the group consisting of: bladder dysfunction, mixed incontinence, overactive bladder, interstitial cystitis, and fecal incontinence.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operative to set a frequency of the treatment current to be between 5 and 15 Hz.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operative to set a duration of pulses of the treatment current to be between 50 μs and 1 ms.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the control unit is operative to set a pulse duration of pulses of the treatment current to be greater than 1 ms.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising a sensor operative to generate a signal indicative of imminent stress incontinence.

17. A method of treating a pelvic condition of a patient comprising:

supporting a portion of a urethra of a patient comprising implanting a mechanical support comprising mesh in the patient; and

selectively driving a current from a control unit through a subset of three or more electrodes attached to the mechanical support in response to a signal from the control unit using one or more circuitry units on the mechanical support; and

treating the pelvic condition in response to selectively driving the current.