Cranial nerve stimulation to treat seizure disorders
A method includes applying, by an implantable medical device (IMD), stimulation to a cranial nerve of a patient responsive to a determination that a level of synchrony between neural activity of one or more regions of an autonomic nervous system of the patient and one or more regions of a central nervous system of the patient falls below a first threshold and discontinuing the application of stimulation by the IMD when the level of synchrony exceeds a second threshold.
1. A method comprising:
applying, by an implantable medical device (IMD), stimulation to a cranial nerve of a patient responsive to a determination that a level of synchrony between neural activity of one or more regions of an autonomic nervous system of the patient and one or more regions of a central nervous system of the patient falls below a first threshold; and
discontinuing the application of stimulation by the IMD when the level of synchrony exceeds a second threshold.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first threshold corresponds to a level of synchrony indicative of the onset of a seizure.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second threshold corresponds to a level of synchrony indicative of a non-seizure state.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first threshold and the second threshold correspond to a rate of change of the level of synchrony.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the stimulation is applied in a first stimulation mode, the method further comprising applying, by the IMD, stimulation to the cranial nerve of the patient in a second stimulation mode in response to discontinuing the application of stimulation in the first stimulation mode.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first stimulation mode comprises microburst stimulation and the second stimulation mode comprises non-microburst stimulation.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first stimulation mode comprises non-microburst stimulation and the second stimulation mode comprises microburst stimulation.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, based on body parameter data collected by one or more sensors positioned on the patient, a first measurement indicative of the level of synchrony.
9. An implantable medical device (IMD) comprising:
a processor; and
a memory device having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:
applying, by one or more electrodes, stimulation to a cranial nerve of a patient responsive to a determination that a level of synchrony between neural activity of one or more regions of an autonomic nervous system of the patient and one or more regions of a central nervous system of the patient falls below a first threshold; and
discontinuing the application of stimulation when the level of synchrony exceeds a second threshold.
10. The IMD of claim 9 , wherein the first threshold corresponds to a level of synchrony indicative of the onset of a seizure.
11. The IMD of claim 9 , wherein the second threshold corresponds to a level of synchrony indicative of a non-seizure state.
12. The IMD of claim 9 , wherein the first threshold and the second threshold correspond to a rate of change of the level of synchrony.
13. The IMD of claim 9 , wherein the stimulation is applied in a first stimulation mode, the operations further comprising applying, by the one or more electrodes, stimulation to the cranial nerve of the patient in a second stimulation mode in response to discontinuing the application of stimulation in the first stimulation mode.
14. The IMD of claim 13 , wherein the first stimulation mode comprises microburst stimulation and the second stimulation mode comprises non-microburst stimulation.
15. The IMD of claim 13 , wherein the first stimulation mode comprises non-microburst stimulation and the second stimulation mode comprises microburst stimulation.
16. The IMD of claim 9 , the operations further comprising determining, based on body parameter data collected by one or more sensors positioned on the patient, a first measurement indicative of the level of synchrony.
17. A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions thereon that, when executed by a processor of an implantable medical device (IMD), cause the IMD to:
apply stimulation to a cranial nerve of a patient responsive to a determination that a level of synchrony between neural activity of one or more regions of an autonomic nervous system of the patient and one or more regions of a central nervous system of the patient falls below a first threshold; and
discontinue the application of stimulation when the level of synchrony exceeds a second threshold.
18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the first threshold corresponds to a level of synchrony indicative of the onset of a seizure and wherein the second threshold corresponds to a level of synchrony indicative of a non-seizure state.
19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the first threshold and the second threshold correspond to a rate of change of the level of synchrony.
20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the stimulation is applied in a first stimulation mode, the instructions further causing the IMD to apply stimulation to the cranial nerve of the patient in a second stimulation mode in response to discontinuing the application of stimulation in the first stimulation mode.