Electrical muscle controller

摘要

A method of modifying the force of contraction of at least a portion of a heart chamber, including providing a subject having a heart, comprising at least a portion having an activation, and applying a non-excitatory electric field having a given duration, at a delay after the activation, to the portion, which causes the force of contraction to be increased by a least 5%.

主权项

1. Apparatus for non-excitatory modulation of activity of a heart, comprising:
an implantable housing; a power supply within the housing; at least one electrode coupled to said power supply and adapted to apply an electric field to a portion of a heart; memory storing therein at least a first activation state indication of an activation state of a heart or portion thereof and an associated first timing parameter value and at least a second activation state indication of an activation state of a heart or a portion thereof and an associated second timing parameter value; and circuitry which determines a delay using said timing parameter values in said memory and a present activation state of the heart and which controls said power supply to electrify said at least one electrode according to said delay to be within a refractory period of tissue at said portion.