Gastric stimulation for altered perception to treat obesity
In general, an implantable medical device is disclosed for generating and applying an electric stimulation signal to a portion of a patient's gastrointestinal tract to induce symptoms of gastroparesis in the patient without substantially reducing normal stomach motility. The induced symptoms of gastroparesis may reduce a patient's desire to consume large portions of food and thus provide an effective treatment for obesity.
1. A method for providing gastric stimulation to induce symptoms in a patient, the method comprising:
generating an electric stimulation signal for inducing symptoms in the patient; and
applying the electric stimulation signal to a gastrointestinal tract of the patient;
wherein the electric stimulation signal induces symptoms of gastroparesis in the patient without substantially disrupting stomach motility.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electric stimulation signal has a frequency significantly greater than a normal gastric slow wave of the patient.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the symptoms include at least one of nausea, satiety, and gastric discomfort.
4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving an external command for initiating and terminating electric stimulation; and
generating the electric stimulation signal in response to the external command.
5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the external command comprises:
a command operation; and
a command time of day when the command operation is to occur.
6. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the external command indicates initiation of the application of the electric stimulation signal.
7. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the external command indicates termination of the application of the electric stimulation signal.
8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electric stimulation signal comprises a set of signal parameters comprising an amplitude, a signal frequency, a pulse width, and a duty cycle, and at least one of the parameters is selected to be insufficient to cause disruption of normal stomach motility.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electric stimulation signal comprises a set of signal parameters, the set of signal parameters comprising:
an amplitude between approximately 1 mA and 100 mA;
a signal frequency between approximately 0.5 Hz and 500 Hz;
a pulse width between approximately 10 microseconds and 5000 microseconds;
an on duty cycle between approximately 0.1 seconds and 1 second; and
an off duty cycle between approximately 1 second and 60 seconds.
10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electric stimulation signal comprises a set of signal parameter, the set of signal parameters comprising:
an amplitude between approximately 0.1 mA and 10 mA;
a signal frequency between approximately 10 Hz and 250 Hz;
a pulse width between approximately 100 microseconds and 1000 microseconds;
an on duty cycle between approximately 0.1 seconds and 0.5 seconds; and
an off duty cycle between approximately 1 second and 10 seconds.
11. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the electric stimulation signal comprises a set of signal parameter, the set of signal parameters comprising:
an amplitude of approximately 5 mA;
a signal frequency of approximately 14 Hz;
a pulse width of approximately 330 microseconds;
an on duty cycle of approximately 0.1 seconds; and
an off duty cycle of approximately 5 seconds.
12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
sensing a physiological parameter associated with the gastrointestinal tract; and
adjusting the set of signal parameters based upon the sensed physiological parameter.
13. The method according to claim 12 , wherein adjusting the set of signal parameters results in termination of generation of the electric stimulation signal.