Granted Patent B2

US 12,734,361 · App. 17/409,484 · Granted Sep 15, 2026

Inventors: David A. Dinsmoor (North Oaks, MN); Hank Bink (Golden Valley, MN); Kristin N. Hageman (Dayton, MN)

Assignee: Medtronic, Inc.

A61N1/36135A61N1/0534A61N1/0551

Abstract

Claims (45)

1 . A system comprising:

stimulation circuitry configured deliver electrical stimulation therapy via one or more stimulus electrodes;

processing circuitry configured to:

receive a first evoked compound action potential (ECAP) signal elicited by a first stimulus generated from a first polarity configuration of the stimulus electrodes;

receive a second ECAP signal elicited by a second stimulus generated from a second polarity configuration of the stimulus electrodes opposite the first polarity configuration;

generate an adjusted second ECAP signal by temporally aligning at least one of a P 1 , N 1 , or P 2 peak of the second ECAP signal to at least one of a corresponding P 1 , N 1 , or P 2 peak of the first ECAP signal;

generate at least a portion of a composite ECAP signal based on the first ECAP signal and the adjusted second ECAP signal; and

control, based on the portion of the composite ECAP signal, the stimulation circuitry to deliver the electrical stimulation therapy via the one or more stimulus electrodes.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to characterize a misalignment of the first ECAP signal and the second ECAP signal, and wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate the adjusted second ECAP signal by temporally aligning, based on the misalignment.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate the adjusted second ECAP signal by temporally aligning an entire second ECAP signal by shifting the entire second ECAP signal by an amount of time.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the amount of time by comparing a first time of a feature of the first ECAP signal to a second time of a corresponding feature of the second ECAP signal.

5 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to determine the amount of time based on a conduction velocity of at least one nerve and a distance between the stimulus electrodes.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the conduction velocity is a patient specific conduction velocity for the at least one nerve.

7 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the conduction velocity is a human average conduction velocity for the at least one nerve.

8 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

sensing circuitry to sense the first ECAP signal and the second ECAP signal with at least one sensing electrode combination; and

an implantable medical device that houses the processing circuitry and the sensing circuitry.

9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the sensing circuitry is configured to sense the first ECAP signal via a first sensing electrode combination and to sense the second ECAP signal via a second sensing electrode combination different than the first sensing electrode combination to compensate for a distance between the stimulus electrodes.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is configured to control delivery of electrical stimulation therapy by at least:

determining a characteristic value from at least the portion of the composite ECAP signal; and

adjusting at least one parameter of a plurality stimulation parameters that define the electrical stimulation therapy to be delivered by the stimulation circuitry.

11 . A method comprising:

receiving, by processing circuitry, a first evoked compound action potential (ECAP) signal elicited by a first polarity configuration of one or more stimulus electrodes;

receiving a second ECAP signal elicited by a second polarity configuration of the stimulus electrodes opposite the first polarity configuration;

generating an adjusted second ECAP signal by temporally aligning at least one of a P 1 , N 1 , or P 2 peak of the second ECAP signal to at least one of a corresponding P 1 , N 1 , or P 2 peak of the first ECAP signal;

generating a composite ECAP signal based on the first ECAP signal and the adjusted second ECAP signal; and

controlling, by the processing circuitry and based on the portion of the composite ECAP signal, stimulation circuitry to deliver the electrical stimulation therapy via the one or more stimulus electrodes.

12 . The method of claim 11 , comprising characterizing a misalignment of the first ECAP signal and the second ECAP signal, and wherein generating the adjusted second ECAP signal include temporally aligning, based on the misalignment.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein generating the adjusted second ECAP signal includes temporally aligning an entire second ECAP signal by shifting the entire second ECAP signal by an amount of time.

14 . The method of claim 13 , comprising determine the amount of time by comparing a first time of a feature of the first ECAP signal to a second time of a corresponding feature of the second ECAP signal.

15 . The method of claim 13 , comprising determining the amount of time based on a conduction velocity of at least one nerve and a distance between the stimulus electrodes.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the conduction velocity is a patient specific conduction velocity for the at least one nerve.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the conduction velocity is a human average conduction velocity for the at least one nerve.

18 . The method of claim 11 , comprising:

sensing the first ECAP signal via a first sensing electrode combination; and

sensing the second ECAP signal via a second sensing electrode different than the first sensing electrode to compensate for a distance between the stimulus electrodes.

19 . The method of claim 11 , wherein controlling the delivery of electrical stimulation therapy comprises:

determining a characteristic value from at least the portion of the composite ECAP signal; and

adjusting at least one parameter of a plurality stimulation parameters that define the electrical stimulation therapy to be delivered by the stimulation circuitry.

20 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause processing circuitry to:

receive a first evoked compound action potential (ECAP) signal elicited by a first polarity configuration of one or more stimulus electrodes;

receive a second ECAP signal elicited by a second polarity configuration of the stimulus electrodes opposite the first polarity configuration;

generate an adjusted second ECAP signal by temporally aligning at least one of a P 1 , N 1 , or P 2 peak of the second ECAP signal to at least one of a corresponding P 1 , N 1 , or P 2 peak of the first ECAP signal;

generate a composite ECAP signal based on the first ECAP signal and the adjusted second ECAP signal; and

control, based on the portion of the composite ECAP signal, stimulation circuitry to deliver the electrical stimulation therapy via the one or more stimulus electrodes.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (216)