Patent ID: 8428719

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: a first electrode adapted to be electrically coupled to at least a first afferent nerve fiber in a first auricular branch of a vagus nerve of a patient; a second electrode adapted to be electrically coupled to at least a second afferent nerve fiber in a second auricular branch of the vagus nerve; a stimulation circuit connected to each of the first electrode and the second electrode to deliver a first signal to the first electrode and a second signal to the second electrode, thereby respectively stimulating each of the at least first and second corresponding nerve fibers; a detection device adapted to detect pulmonary activity of the patient and convert the detected pulmonary activity into a corresponding detection signal for delivery to a controller that is connected to the stimulation circuit; and the controller connected to each of the stimulation circuit and the detection device and adapted to adjust each of the first signal and the second signal based on the received detection signal.