Apparatus and method for determining the relative position...

Surgery: light – thermal – and electrical application – Light – thermal – and electrical application – Electrical therapeutic systems

Reexamination Certificate

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Reexamination Certificate

active

06993384

ABSTRACT:
Interelectrode impedance or electric field potential measurements are used to determine the relative orientation of one lead to other leads in the spinal column or other body/tissue location. Interelectrode impedance is determined by measuring impedance vectors. The value of the impedance vector is due primarily to the electrode-electrolyte interface, and the bulk impedance between the electrodes. The bulk impedance between the electrodes is, in turn, made up of (1) the impedance of the tissue adjacent to the electrodes, and (2) the impedance of the tissue between the electrodes. In one embodiment, the present invention makes both monopolar and bipolar impedance measurements, and then corrects the bipolar impedance measurements using the monopolar measurements to eliminate the effect of the impedance of the tissue adjacent the electrodes. The orientation and position of the leads may be inferred from the relative minima of the corrected bipolar impedance values. These corrected impedance values may also be mapped and stored to facilitate a comparison with subsequent corrected impedance measurement values. Such comparison allows a determination to be made as to whether the lead position and/or orientation has changed appreciably over time. In another embodiment, one or more electrodes are stimulated and the resulting electric field potential on the non-stimulated electrodes is measured. Such field potential measurements provide an indication of the relative orientation of the electrodes. Once known, the relative orientation may be used to track lead migration, to setup stimulation configurations and parameters for nominal stimulation and/or navigation. Also, such measurements allow automatic adjustment of stimulation energy to a previously-defined optimal potential field in the case of lead migration or postural changes.

REFERENCES:
patent: 4911174 (1990-03-01), Pederson et al.
patent: 5184624 (1993-02-01), Brown et al.
patent: 6052624 (2000-04-01), Mann
patent: 6393325 (2002-05-01), Mann et al.
patent: 6516227 (2003-02-01), Meadows et al.
patent: 6587724 (2003-07-01), Mann
patent: WO 02/09808 (2002-02-01), None

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for the USA inventors and patents. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Apparatus and method for determining the relative position... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Apparatus and method for determining the relative position..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus and method for determining the relative position... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3527106

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.