Implantable Electroacupuncture System and Method for Treating Depression and Similar Mental Conditions

摘要

A method of treating a mental disorder of a patient includes 1) generating, by an electroacupuncture device implanted beneath a skin surface of the patient at or near an acupoint corresponding to at least one of a trigeminal nerve and an occipital nerve of the patient, stimulation sessions at a duty cycle that is less than 0.05, and 2) applying, by the electroacupuncture device, the stimulation sessions to at least one of the trigeminal nerve and the occipital nerve by way a central electrode and an annular electrode located on the electroacupuncture device in accordance with the duty cycle.

主权项

1. A method of treating a mental disorder of a patient, comprising:
generating, by an electroacupuncture device implanted beneath a skin surface of the patient at or near an acupoint corresponding to at least one of a trigeminal nerve and an occipital nerve of the patient, stimulation sessions at a duty cycle that is less than 0.05, wherein
each stimulation session included in the stimulation sessions comprises a series of stimulation pulses,the duty cycle is a ratio of T3 to T4,each stimulation session included in the stimulation sessions has a duration of T3 minutes and occurs at a rate of once every T4 minutes, andthe electroacupuncture device comprises a central electrode of a first polarity centrally located on a first surface of a housing of the electroacupuncture device and an annular electrode of a second polarity and that is spaced apart from the central electrode; and applying, by the electroacupuncture device, the stimulation sessions to at least one of the trigeminal nerve and the occipital nerve by way of the central electrode and the annular electrode in accordance with the duty cycle.