Extended pain relief via high frequency spinal cord modulation, and associated systems and methods
Extended pain relief via high frequency spinal cord modulation, and associated systems and methods. A method for treating a patient in accordance with a particular embodiment includes selecting a neural modulation site to include at least one of a dorsal root entry zone and dorsal horn of the patient's spinal cord, and selecting parameters of a neural modulation signal to reduce patient pain for a period of time after ceasing delivery of the signals, the period of time being at least one tenth of one second.
1. A method for programming a spinal cord stimulation system to treat pain in a patient, comprising:
programming a pulse generator to:
generate a non-paresthesia-producing neural modulation signal having a signal frequency in a frequency range of from 1.5 kHz to 100 kHz; and
direct the neural modulation signal to a dorsal horn of the patient via an implantable signal delivery device, thereby desensitizing one or more wide dynamic range neurons in the dorsal horn.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the pulse generator is an implantable pulse generator.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal is, on a repeated basis, (a) automatically deactivated for a period of at least one second and (b) automatically reactivated at the conclusion of the period.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal is, on a repeated basis, (a) automatically deactivated for a period of at least one minute and (b) automatically reactivated at the conclusion of the period.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal is, on a repeated basis, (a) automatically deactivated for a period of at least one hour and (b) automatically reactivated at the conclusion of the period.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal is, on a repeated basis, (a) automatically deactivated for a period of at least one day and (b) automatically reactivated at the conclusion of the period.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising programming the pulse generator to direct the neural modulation signal to the dorsal horn without undergoing a paresthesia mapping process to identify which, of multiple contacts carried by the signal delivery device, the neural modulation signal is to be directed to in order to apply the neural modulation signal to the dorsal horn.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the frequency range is from 1.5 kHz to 50 kHz.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the frequency range is from 3 kHz to 20 kHz.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the frequency range is from 3 kHz to 15 kHz.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the frequency range is from 5 kHz to 15 kHz.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the frequency range is from 3 kHz to 10 kHz.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal has an amplitude in an amplitude range of from 0.1 mA to 20 mA.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal has an amplitude in an amplitude range of from 0.5 mA to 10 mA.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 10 microseconds to 333 microseconds.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 25 microseconds to 166 microseconds.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 33 microseconds to 100 microseconds.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein the neural modulation signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 50 microseconds to 166 microseconds.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the frequency range is from 5 kHz to 15 kHz, and wherein the signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 10 microseconds to 333 microseconds, and wherein the signal has an amplitude in an amplitude range of 0.5 mA to 10 mA.
20. A patient therapy system, comprising:
a pulse generator programmed to:
generate a non-paresthesia-producing neural modulation signal having a signal frequency in a frequency range of from 1.5 kHz to 100 kHz; and
direct the neural modulation signal to a dorsal horn of the patient via an implantable signal delivery device, wherein the neural modulation signal is configured to desensitize one or more wide dynamic range neurons in the dorsal horn.
21. The system of claim 20 , further comprising the implantable signal delivery device, and wherein the implantable signal delivery device is coupled to the pulse generator.
22. The system of claim 20 wherein the pulse generator is implantable.
23. The system of claim 20 wherein the pulse generator is programmed to, on a repeated basis, (a) automatically deactivate the therapy signal for a period of at least one second and (b) automatically reactivate the therapy signal at the conclusion of the period.
24. The system of claim 20 wherein the pulse generator is programmed to, on a repeated basis, (a) automatically deactivate the therapy signal for a period of at least one minute and (b) automatically reactivate the therapy signal at the conclusion of the period.
25. The system of claim 20 wherein the frequency range is from 1.5 kHz to 50 kHz.
26. The system of claim 20 wherein the frequency range is from 3 kHz to 20 kHz.
27. The system of claim 20 wherein the frequency range is from 3 kHz to 15 kHz.
28. The system of claim 20 wherein the frequency range is from 5 kHz to 15 kHz.
29. The system of claim 20 wherein the frequency range is from 3 kHz to 10 kHz.
30. The system of claim 20 wherein the neural modulation signal has an amplitude in an amplitude range of from 0.1 mA to 20 mA.
31. The system of claim 20 wherein the neural modulation signal has an amplitude in an amplitude range of from 0.5 mA to 10 mA.
32. The system of claim 20 wherein the neural modulation signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 10 microseconds to 333 microseconds.
33. The system of claim 20 wherein the neural modulation signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 25 microseconds to 166 microseconds.
34. The system of claim 20 wherein the neural modulation signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 33 microseconds to 100 microseconds.
35. The system of claim 20 wherein the neural modulation signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 50 microseconds to 166 microseconds.
36. The system of claim 20 wherein the frequency range is from 5 kHz to 15 kHz, and wherein the signal has a pulse width in a pulse width range of from 10 microseconds to 333 microseconds, and wherein the signal has an amplitude in an amplitude range of 0.5 mA to 10 mA.