Detecting and treating nervous system disorders

Abstract

Some embodiments of a mapping device may be capable of passing through cerebral veins and other cerebrovascular spaces to provide electrophysiological mapping of the brain. These embodiments of the device may also be capable of providing, simultaneously or separately, ablation energy or other treatments to targeted brain tissue. In such circumstances, a user may be enabled to analyze an electrophysiological map of a patient's brain and, at the same time or within a short time period before or after the mapping process, may be enabled to apply ablation energy for treatment of a central nervous system disorder. Such treatment may be accomplished without the use of invasive surgery in which the brain is accessed through an opening in the patient's cranium.

1 . An implantable control device for predicting an imminent event in a brain, comprising:
 a housing implantable in a body of a patient;   a controller circuit at least partially disposed in the housing, the controller circuit comprising at least one filter to receive electrophysiological signals detected by one or more electrodes disposed in a portion of a brain; and   a wireless transmitter to transmit a signal to a device outside the body of the patient in response to abnormal brain activity detected by the electrodes, the wireless transmitter being electrically coupled to the controller circuit.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising computer memory to store data signals indicating normal brain activity. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the controller circuit compares data from electrophysiological signals received by the filter from the one or more electrodes disposed in the brain with the data signals indicating normal brain activity. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless transmitter sends a signal indicative of an alert to the patient in response to abnormal brain activity detected by the electrodes. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless transmitter sends a signal indicative of a location of the patient in response to abnormal brain activity detected by the electrodes. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuit causes a stimulation pacing signal to be delivered to the brain from the electrodes in response to abnormal brain activity detected by the electrodes. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuit causes a medicament to be delivered to the brain in response to abnormal brain activity detected by the electrodes. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein said one or more electrodes are positioned along a distal end portion of an elongate body, a proximal portion of the elongate body being connected to the implantable housing so as to provide electrical communication between said one or more electrodes and said controller circuit. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein said one or more electrodes are configured to provide the electrophysiological signals to the control circuitry for generating a high resolution map of the electrophysiological signals of at least a portion of the brain. 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein the elongate body has an outer diameter that is sized to advance through one or more cerebral veins to said portion of the brain. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 9 , wherein the implantable housing is configured to be implanted proximate to a clavicle bone while the elongate body extends through said one or more cerebral veins. 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the implantable housing include a mounting plate that is configured to receive bone screws for mounting to the clavicle bone. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a recharargeable power source positioned in the implantable housing, the recharageable power source being configured to provide electrical energy to the controller circuit. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 13 , wherein the recharargeable power source positioned in the implantable housing is configured to provide electrical energy to the one or more electrodes so that the one or more electrodes emit tissue stimulation energy or ablation energy. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 13 , further comprising an inductive coil at least partially arranged in the implantable housing, the recharargeable power source being configured to be periodically recharged via the inductive coil. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one filter of the controller circuit comprises an open filter having a high pass of about 20 MHz and a low pass of about 500 MHz. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one filter of the controller circuit has the filter amplitude of about 0.05 mvolts to about 4 mvolts and has a filter slew of about 0.3 mvolts/msec to about 3 mvolts/msec. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuit s configured to predict a brain vascular event or brain electrical event in response to receiving the electrophysiological signals detected by the one or more electrodes disposed in the portion of a brain.