Devices and methods for electrical stimulation and their use for vagus nerve stimulation on the neck of a patient
A method for modulating a nerve within a body of a patient includes generating a single signal comprising an electrical impulse, contacting an interface with an outer skin surface of a patient and delivering the electrical impulse from an electrode through the interface and the outer skin surface of the patient to a vagus nerve, thereby modulating the vagus nerve. The electrical impulse may comprise bursts of pulses with a silent intra-burst interval between each of the bursts based on the single signal, wherein each of the bursts has a frequency of about 5 Hz to about 100 Hz and each of the pulses has a duration from about 50 microseconds to about 1000 microseconds. The electrode may be spaced from the interface by a distance of about 0.25 to about 4 times an outer dimension of the interface.
1. A method for modulating a nerve within a body of a patient, the method comprising:
generating a single signal comprising an electrical impulse;
contacting an interface with an outer skin surface of a patient;
delivering the electrical impulse from an electrode through the interface and the outer skin surface of the patient to a vagus nerve, thereby modulating the vagus nerve; and
wherein the electrical impulse comprises bursts of pulses with a silent intra-burst interval between each of the bursts based on the single signal, wherein each of the bursts has a frequency of about 5 Hz to about 100 Hz and each of the pulses has a duration from about 50 microseconds to about 1000 microseconds.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the bursts have a frequency of about 15 Hz to 50 Hz.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the pulses have a duration of about 100 microseconds to about 400 microseconds.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the pulses have a duration of about 200 microseconds.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the bursts of pulses comprises about 4 to 10 pulses.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating an electric field at or near the vagus nerve, wherein the electric field has an amplitude of about 10 to 600 V/m.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the electric field comprises a gradient greater than about 2 V/m/mm.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the interface comprises a material that is permeable to charged particles.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the interface comprises a dielectric material.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the interface comprises a metal.
11. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating the single signal within a housing having an outer enclosure housing the electrode and a source of energy, wherein at least a portion of the housing comprises the interface.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the interface comprises a first membrane and a second membrane and the electrode comprises a first electrode corresponding to the first membrane and a second electrode corresponding to the second membrane, the method further comprising spacing each electrode from its corresponding membrane by a distance of about 0.25 to about 4 times a diameter of its corresponding membrane.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the vagus nerve is modulated sufficiently to treat a medical condition of the patient.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the medical condition comprises epilepsy, depression, Alzheimer's disease, primary headache, bronchoconstriction, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, postoperative cognitive dysfunction or postoperative delirium.
15. The method of claim 13 wherein the medical condition comprises migraine or cluster headache.
16. The method of claim 13 wherein the medical condition comprises rheumatoid arthritis.