Patent ID: 7715920

Claim:
A method for providing electrical stimulation therapy, the method comprising: defining a tree structure having a plurality of levels and a plurality of nodes in each of the levels, wherein each of the nodes is interconnected with at least one node above and at least two nodes below in the tree, each node defines a set of electrical stimulation parameters, the nodes in each level specify an adjustment to at least one of the parameters, and the node in different levels specify the adjustment to different parameters; defining a program path through the tree along a series of the interconnected nodes, wherein defining the program path comprises: selecting one of the nodes in the program path, wherein the selected node is associated with a selected level; delivering stimulation therapy to a patient based on a first set of parameters defined by the selected node, the first set of parameters comprising a first stimulation parameter and a second stimulation parameter different than the first stimulation parameter; determining an efficacy of stimulation therapy based on the first set of parameters; modifying the first stimulation parameter of the first set if the efficacy of stimulation therapy based on the first set of parameters is less than or equal to a threshold level, wherein the first stimulation parameter is associated with the selected level or a higher level of the tree structure relative to the selected level; and modifying the second stimulation parameter of the first set if the efficacy of stimulation therapy based on the first set of parameters is greater than the threshold level, wherein the second stimulation parameter is associated with a lower level of the tree structure relative to the selected level.