Patent ID: 8483836

Claim:
An automated search method to identify a location for electrical stimulation to treat a patient with a stimulation system, the stimulation system comprising an electrical stimulation generator, a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact implanted in the patient and coupled to the electrical stimulation generator, a programmer with a display screen, and a patient feedback device configured to communicate with the programmer, the method comprising: displaying an image of a spinal column on the display screen of the programmer; determining, by the programmer, a position of the first and second electrical contacts with respect to the spinal column; displaying a set of regions on the image; providing electrical stimulation to each region of the set of regions using the first and second electrical contacts; receiving feedback from the patient indicating the effectiveness of the electrical stimulation to each region of the set of regions; displaying a set of subregions on the image within a subset of the set of regions, wherein the subset is chosen based on the feedback from the patient; providing electrical stimulation to each subregion of the set of subregions using the first and second electrical contacts; and receiving additional feedback from the patient indicating the effectiveness of the electrical stimulation to each subregion of the set of subregions.