Patent ID: 11925803
Assignee: VISCARDIA, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. An apparatus for affecting pressure in an intrathoracic cavity of a patient through delivery of asymptomatic diaphragm stimulation (ADS) therapy, the apparatus comprising:
one or more electrodes configured for placement on or near a diaphragm; and
a controller coupled to the one or more electrodes, and configured to:
deliver ADS therapy to the diaphragm of the patient, the ADS therapy comprising a plurality of ADS pulses defined by a one or more stimulation parameters, wherein each of the plurality of ADS pulses is configured to induce a transient, partial contraction of the diaphragm wherein the transient, partial contraction of the diaphragm is characterized by a time duration, and the ADS therapy includes at least one of:
a dual-pulse therapy consisting of a single diastolic ADS pulse delivered during a diastolic phase of a cardiac cycle, and a single systolic ADS pulse delivered during a systolic phase of the cardiac cycle,
a paired-pulse therapy consisting of a first ADS pulse and a second ADS pulse delivered during the time duration of the transient, partial contraction of the diaphragm that is induced by the first ADS pulse, and
a multiple-pulse therapy consisting of ADS pulses delivered at a rate that is based on a heart rate of the patient and the time duration of the transient, partial contraction of the diaphragm that is induced by previously delivered ADS pulses;

periodically sense electromyography (EMG) electrical activity produced by one or more skeletal muscles of the diaphragm in accordance with one or more sensing parameters;
determine if the EMG electrical activity satisfies a criterion relative to baseline EMG electrical activity of the patient; and
adjust at least one of the one or more stimulation parameters and the one or more sensing parameters if the criterion is not satisfied.