Patent ID: 7509171

Claim:
A method of treating a stroke patient having an infarcted region located in an occipital lobe and a skull having a back, comprising the steps of: a) placing a cathode on a first portion of the back of the skull, b) placing an anode on a second portion of the back of the skull located adjacent an arachnoid granulation, and c) applying a voltage between the anode and cathode to pass an electric field through the infarcted region located in the occipital lobe in an amount effective remove glutamate from the region, and d) drawing glutamate out of the infarcted region due to the application of the voltage, wherein the infarcted region contains an excessive level of glutamate in an extracellular fluid that is effective to overwhelm glutamate transporter processes, thereby causing glutamate to persist too long in the extracellular fluid and force ion gates and channels to remain open, thereby providing an excessive in rush of calcium ions which cause overproduction of neuron degrading enzymes, leading to the infarction.