Patent ID: 7979128

Claim:
A method of manipulating breathing comprising: providing a stimulator programmed with an electrical stimulation protocol directed to improving ventilatory stability of a patient; sensing respiration via a sensor and identifying one or more portions of one or more respiratory cycles including first, second and subsequent intrinsic respiratory cycles by the patient detected internally within the patient's body; determining via a processor in communication with the sensor when the sensed respiration is a disordered event; when the disordered event is detected, applying electrical stimulation during a first selected intrinsic inspiration cycle at a first delay from an onset of the first intrinsic inspiration cycle; further applying the electrical stimulation during a second intrinsic inspiration cycle at a second delay from an onset of the second intrinsic cycle; and, further applying the electrical stimulation during one or more subsequent intrinsic breaths such that each stimulation is applied with a delay from an onset of each subsequent intrinsic breath such that the delay in each subsequent breath reduces from a previous delay until the stimulation is synchronous with a start of each subsequent intrinsic inspiration wherein the electrical stimulation is provided to tissue associated with the diaphragm of the patient at least in part during the intrinsic inspiration cycle in accordance with the electrical stimulation protocol until the sensed respiration has reached a normalized respiration such that ventilatory stability is improved.