Patent ID: 8690934

Claim:
A method for modulating an activity of brown adipose tissue in a vertebrate subject comprising: inducing non-shivering thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue by applying cooling to a pulmonary vein and to one or more brown adipose tissues of the vertebrate subject with an implantable cooling system having at least a first portion including one or more cooling elements and a second portion including one or more cooling elements, the first portion at least partially implantable proximate a pulmonary vein and the second portion at least partially implantable proximate one or more brown adipose tissues; wherein inducing non-shivering thermogenesis in the brown adipose tissue includes activating at least the first portion implantable proximate the pulmonary vein so as to induce activation of thermoreceptors associated with the pulmonary vein, and activating the second portion implantable proximate the one or more brown adipose tissues so as to induce non-shivering thermogenesis of the brown adipose tissue.