Inventors:
Myron Weisfeldt - Baltimore MD, US
Soumyadipta Acharya - Baltimore MD, US
Courtney C. Haswell - Morrisville NC, US
Hargun S. Khanna - San Jose CA, US
Yun Long - Stanford CA, US
Vanessa C. Pau - Minneapolis MN, US
Girish K. Singhal - Baltimore MD, US
Nimra Taqi - Brookline MA, US
Lu Zhao - Hangzhou, CN
Assignee:
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY - Baltimore MD
International Classification:
A61N 1/36
Abstract:
Featured is an apparatus an apparatus including a monitoring and sensing means, an electrode patch and a control device operably coupled to each of the sensing means and the electrodes and outputs signals to the electrodes for purposes of stimulating the phrenic nerve to thereby cause breathing by natural contraction of the diaphragm. The control device is configured and arranged to initially localize the phrenic nerve with respect to a given set of electrodes that is effective, when appropriately energized, for stimulating the phrenic nerve to establish negative pressure induced respiration in the body, based on the output signal(s) from the monitoring and sensing means. After such initially localizing; the control device thereafter repetitively outputs stimulation signals via the given set of electrodes so as to thereby continuously stimulate negative pressure induced respiration. Also featured are methods related thereto.