Patent ID: 7815597
Filing Date: 2010-10-19
Classification: A61F,A61M,A61N

Abstract:
1. A method for therapeutically treating stuttering in a patient having a vocal fold, comprising: delivering a drug using a pump and at least one catheter having a proximal end coupled to the pump and having a discharge end adjacent to a predetermined site in the brain selected from a group consisting of the supplementary motor area, the centromedian circuit, the dorsomedial nuclei, the lateral prefrontal circuit, the red nucleus, the habenulointerpeduncular tract, the prerubral area, the zona incerta, the thalamic primary sensory relay nuclei, the parafasicular nucleus, and the intralaminar nucleus; generating a signal responsive to activity of the patient's speech-producing muscles using a sensor positioned near the vocal fold of the patient; and regulating dosage of the drug using a controller in response to the signal from the sensor to reduce activity, corresponding to stuttering, of the patient's speech-producing muscles.