Patent ID: 7346398

Claim:
Apparatus for applying current to a nerve, comprising: a housing; a cathode, coupled to the housing such that the cathode is brought into a vicinity of a cathodic site of the nerve when the housing is applied to the nerve; and a plurality of anodes, coupled to the housing such that the anodes are brought into vicinities of respective anodal longitudinal sites of the nerve when the housing is applied to the nerve, and configured to apply respective anodal currents to the nerve, that define, in combination, an anodal activation function having: (a) a hyperpolarizing portion thereof having a maximum hyperpolarizing amplitude, and (b) a depolarizing portion thereof, having a maximum depolarizing amplitude corresponding to a depolarizing site on the nerve, wherein a site corresponding to the hyperpolarizing portion is between the depolarizing site and the cathodic site, and wherein the maximum hyperpolarizing amplitude is at least five times greater than the maximum depolarizing amplitude.