Patent ID: 8494639
Filing Date: 2013-07-23
Classification: A61N

Abstract:
1. A method for stimulating brain tissue comprising: implanting in a body of a patient a controller-transmitter at an implantation site to transmit acoustic energy, wherein the controller-transmitter comprises acoustic transducers disposed in a housing and one or more sensors disposed on an external surface of the housing; implanting a receiver-stimulator remotely from the controller-transmitter in brain tissue of the patient at a brain tissue stimulation site, wherein the receiver-stimulator comprises one or more stimulation electrodes such that the stimulation electrodes lie in electrical communication with the brain tissue stimulation site; generating acoustic energy at the controller-transmitter implantation site using the transducers in the controller-transmitter; transmitting the acoustic energy to the brain tissue stimulation site using the controller-transmitter, wherein the acoustic energy is received by the receiver-stimulator; converting the received acoustic energy into an electrical brain tissue stimulation energy output using the receiver-stimulator, wherein the electrical brain tissue stimulation energy output has at least one of pulse amplitude, pulse duration, duty cycle, and timing based on energy and signal information included in the generated acoustic energy; delivering the electrical brain tissue stimulation energy output to the brain tissue stimulation site using the one or more stimulation electrodes; sensing the electrical brain tissue stimulation energy output, wherein the sensors are adapted to sense the electrical brain tissue stimulation energy output; adjusting the acoustic energy transmission from the controller-transmitter to compensate for changes in the electrical brain tissue stimulation energy output of the receiver-stimulator; and using an external programmer to program one or more settings of the controller-transmitter.