Patent ID: 11857783
Assignee: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A system comprising:
a stimulator comprising an array of independently addressable electrodes configured to be positioned on a patient's skin, each electrode of the array of electrodes is configured for transcutaneous stimulation and two or more electrodes of the array of electrodes are activated simultaneously;
at least one return electrode; and
a controller comprising:
a non-transitory memory storing instructions; and
a processor configured to access the non-transitory memory and to execute the instructions to at least:
deliver an electrical waveform with a set of stimulation parameters to one or more independently addressable electrodes in the array of electrodes; and
deliver another electrical waveform with another set of stimulation parameters to one or more other independently addressable electrodes in the array of electrodes,
wherein the stimulator is configured to emit a shaped and focused electrical field for stimulation of a target tissue based on the electrical waveform and the other electrical waveform, wherein the electrical waveform and/or the other electrical waveform comprises a plurality of spaced apart stepwise pulse trains configured to mitigate a stimulation edge effect, wherein each stepwise pulse train of the plurality of spaced apart stepwise pulse trains comprises:
a series of step-up stimulation pulses each having a current that incrementally increases until a specified peak stimulation current is achieved;
one or more subsequent peak intensity pulses at the peak stimulation current; and
a series of step-down stimulation pulses each having a current that incrementally decreases, and

wherein an onset time of each of the stepwise pulse trains of the plurality of spaced apart stepwise pulse trains delivered to each of the one or more independently addressable electrodes is interleaved to avoid the concurrent firing of the stepwise pulse trains in separate electrodes to ensure the overall stimulation current does not exceed a safe stimulation limit.