Patent ID: 7561922

Claim:
Apparatus for applying current to a nerve, the apparatus comprising: a housing, configured to be placed around the nerve; an electrode, fixed to the housing such that the electrode is configured to not come in direct physical contact with the nerve when the housing is placed around the nerve, the electrode having a non-insulated electrode nerve-facing surface having an axial length oriented along a longitudinal axis of the housing, wherein the entire nerve-facing surface of the electrode is non-insulated; and first and second insulating elements, fixed to the housing such that the electrode is longitudinally between the first and second insulating elements, wherein the first and second insulating elements are shaped so as to define therebetween an opening that faces the nerve upon placement of the housing around the nerve, which opening has an opening axial length oriented along the longitudinal axis of the housing, which length is less than the non-insulated electrode surface axial length.