Patent ID: 8019435

Claim:
An apparatus for locally controlling smooth muscle tone for a plurality of arterioles within an arterial bed, the apparatus comprising: a first electrode for insertion into an artery; a barrier for preventing the first electrode from contacting an arterial wall; a second electrode configured to be positioned to use blood vessels as communication channels to cause current flowing through conductive blood between the first and second electrodes to traverse the plurality of arterioles in the arterial bed and control smooth muscle tone for the plurality of arterioles; a power supply; an electronic controller for coupling the power supply to the electrodes, the controller being configured to use the electrodes to maintain a waveform for controlling polarization of smooth muscle tone for the plurality of arterioles in the arterial bed; and a sensor coupled to the controller, wherein the sensor is configured to provide data indicative of the cardiac cycle to the controller; wherein the controller is configured to generate the waveform and to synchronize the waveform with the cardiac cycle in response to the data such that a positive voltage is applied during ventricular diastole.