SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR THE TREATMENT OF PAIN THROUGH NEURAL FIBER STIMULATION

摘要

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for the treatment of pain through activation of select neural fibers. The neural fibers may comprise one or more afferent neural fibers and/or one or more efferent neural fibers. If afferent fibers are stimulated, alone or in combination with efferent fibers, a therapeutically effective amount of electrical stimulation is applied to activate afferent pathways in a manner approximating natural afferent activity. The afferent fibers may be associated with primary receptors of muscle spindles, golgi tendon organs, secondary receptors of muscle spindles, joint receptors, touch receptors, and other types of mechanoreceptors and/or proprioceptors. If efferent fibers are stimulated, alone or in combination with afferent fibers, a therapeutically effective amount of electrical stimulation is applied to activate intrafusal and/or extrafusal muscle fibers, which results in an indirect activation of afferent fibers associated therewith.

主权项

1. A method of reducing a perception of pain, the method comprising the steps of:
inserting a single contact electrode in-vivo a therapeutically effective distance from a target afferent nerve fiber; electrically stimulating through the electrode the target afferent nerve fiber to generate an action potential in the target afferent nerve fiber while avoiding generation of unwanted responses in non-target nerve fiber.