APPROVAL PER USE IMPLANTED NEUROSTIMULATOR
Methods and apparatus for delivering therapy from an implanted neurostimulator to a patient are provided. One feature is an external controller that acts as a gateway for therapy. The external controller can be a handheld controller that communicates wirelessly with the implanted neurostimulator. In some embodiments, the controller communicates with a database to determine a therapy approval status of the neurostimulator. Therapy can be approved by a physician prescription, or by prepayment, for example. In some embodiments, the neurostimulator is deactivated when no approved therapies remain.
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/688,524, filed Jan. 15, 2010, which application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119 of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/145,003, filed Jan. 15, 2009, titled “PAY PER DOSE IMPLANTED NEUROSTIMULATOR.” These applications are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
INCORPORATION BY REFERENCEAll publications, including patents and patent applications, mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety to the same extent as if each individual publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention is directed to an active implantable device that has features that facilitate the metered prescription of use over time, which is particularly relevant for devices that can dispense a large amount or otherwise unlimited amount of therapy without external intervention. The invention may be applied to a range of implantable medical devices including without limitation implantable drug pumps, functional electrical neurostimulators, such as spinal cord stimulators, stimulators for incontinence and deep brain stimulators. This disclosure will focus on an implantable neurostimulator used to treat headache.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThere are implantable medical devices that are loaded with or are otherwise able to administer or deliver a large or unlimited amount of therapy. For example, an implanted drug pump could contain many years worth of drug, or an inductively powered, rechargeable, or primary cell implantable stimulator could deliver therapy in perpetuity as governed by the external controller, charger or battery life. These types of implanted devices present benefits to the patient and the healthcare system in that the often invasive implantation procedures are limited. However, they pose some unique clinical risks in that the patient carries with them, either within the implant or by virtue of the implant, a much larger quantity or amount of therapy than would otherwise be prescribed by a physician, an insurer or a manufacturer.
An implantable neurostimulator used to treat headaches can be used very frequently for the rest of the patient's lifetime. Given the unlimited nature of therapy delivered in this manner, the patient could choose to activate the neurostimulator when it is not needed. Without some limitation mechanism, the medical device may become much like an over-the-counter pharmaceutical where usage is entirely up to the user.
The inability to limit use of such medical devices poses potential clinical risks to the patient, such as over-use (if over use is a clinical problem) that leads to ineffective therapy over time at therapy levels that were once effective. The absence of usage limits may also fatigue the internal components of the device, resulting in a shorter therapeutic lifetime. Further, it can pose increased financial burden to the healthcare system due to poorer clinical outcomes or more frequent device failures. Finally, it can also present financial constraints on patients, for example if the device is priced based on all potential uses of the device, or constraints on an insurer or the manufacturer if patients use the device much more than intended.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA method of delivering therapy to a patient comprises checking a therapy approval status of an implanted neurostimulator on a database through an external controller, and delivering therapy from the implanted neurostimulator to the patient if the therapy approval status of the implanted neurostimulator is approved.
In some embodiments, therapy is not delivered from the implanted neurostimulator to the patient if the therapy approval status of the implanted neurostimulator is not approved. In one embodiment, the therapy approval status of the implanted neurostimulator may not be approved if the database indicates that the implanted neurostimulator is deactivated. In other embodiments, the status of the implanted neurostimulator may not be approved if the database indicates payment is past due.
In some embodiments, the database is stored at a location separate from the external controller.
In one embodiment, the implanted neurostimulator is implanted on or near a sphenopalatine ganglion of the patient.
In some embodiments, the external controller is an external handheld controller.
In one embodiment, a list of deactivated and not approved neurostimulators on the external controller after the checking step.
A method of approving therapy in a patient is provided, comprising implanting a medical device in the patient, approving a set number of therapies to be delivered from the medical device to the patient, and deactivating the medical device when no approved therapies remain.
In some embodiments, the approving step further comprises approving a set number of therapies to be delivered from the medical device to the patient with a physician prescription. In other embodiments, the approving step further comprises approving a set number of therapies to be delivered from the medical device to the patient with payment by the patient.
The method can further comprise checking a therapy approval status of the medical device with a handheld controller. In some embodiments, the method further comprises directing the medical device to deliver therapy to the patient with the handheld controller.
In one embodiment, the method can further comprise re-activating the medical device by approving an additional number of therapies to be delivered from the medical device to the patient.
In another embodiment, the method can further comprise storing a therapy approval status of the medical device on a database. In one embodiment, the method can further comprise accessing the database with a handheld controller to determine the therapy approval status of the medical device.
In some embodiments, the medical device is a neurostimulator.
A system for delivering therapy to a patient is also provided, comprising an implantable neurostimulator configured to deliver therapy to the patient, a database containing a therapy approval status of the implantable neurostimulator, and an external controller in communication with the database and the implantable neurostimulator, the external controller configured to direct the implantable neurostimulator to deliver therapy to the patient if the therapy approval status of the implantable neurostimulator is approved.
In some embodiments, the implantable neurostimulator is sized and configured to be implanted on or near a sphenopalatine ganglion.
In one embodiment, the external controller is a handheld controller.
In some embodiments, the external controller is configured to update and store a list of the therapy approval status of the implantable neurostimulator. In other embodiments, the external controller is in wireless communication with the implantable neurostimulator and the database.
In some embodiments, the therapy is electrical stimulation.
In other embodiments, the external controller is configured to deactivate the implantable stimulator if the therapy approval status of the implantable neurostimulator is not approved.
In some embodiments, the database is stored remotely from the implantable neurostimulator and the external controller.
Referring to
The controller 1b can be a handheld external, rechargeable, ergonomic, energy delivery device that transfers energy to the implanted stimulator with near field electromagnetic induction. The controller can also be a communication system transferring information such as stimulation parameters to the implanted stimulator with bi-directional telemetry. The controller can receive commands from an external programmer 1d, such as though a USB connection, for example. The controller can communicate with the implanted stimulator once it is within close proximity to the stimulator. In one embodiment the controller has features that allow it to deliver power along with sending commands to and receiving data from the neurostimulator.
In one embodiment, the controller 1b communicates with the programmer 1d through a USB cable connected between the controller and the programmer. When connected to the programmer, the controller goes into a “pass through” mode in which all or some of its controls are disabled and it simply serves as a communication bridge between the PC and the stimulator.
In an alternate embodiment, the controller communicates with the programmer wirelessly using WiFi, Blue Tooth, infrared or similar technology.
The controller can include a power source such as batteries, a coil to inductively power the implant and send/receive data, a microcontroller, firmware, wireless broadband card, supporting circuitry, an ergonomically shaped housing and various manual control features such as a therapy level adjustment knob or buttons, an off/on switch, and a display.
In one embodiment, a proprietary handshaking protocol occurs between the stimulator and the controller to ensure that only authorized devices can power up and communicate with the stimulator. The handshaking communication protocol ensures that only authorized devices can cause the stimulator to deliver therapy. This protects the system from situations where a user is attempting to bypass the approval system with a controller manufactured by a third party.
The protocol could be implemented in a number of different ways including a system where the stimulator contains a coded key that is sent to the controller on power up. The key is then encrypted by the controller and sent back to the stimulator. The stimulator decrypts the key and verifies that it matches the value originally sent. If the values do not match the stimulator would deny therapy. To make breaking into the system more difficult, the stimulator could require that a certain amount of time expire before it would resend and decrypt the key again. This would help defend against “brute force” attacks where a device pretending to be a controller could send repeated versions of the key at a very rapid rate until by chance the proper value unlocks the stimulator. Any number of other handshaking security protocols could be used with the goal being that unauthorized 3rd party controllers are denied access to the stimulator.
The Programmer 1d can be a PC based system used by physicians to configure stimulators that have been previously implanted in patients. It can interface with the controller 1b wirelessly or through a USB connection to the controller. The Programmer can then instruct the controller to communicate with and receive data from the implant. The programmer can be used to associate patient and physician information with the serial number of the stimulator. In addition, it can also be used to program therapy settings into the stimulator. These therapy parameters include, but are not limited to, electrode configuration, stimulation amplitude, duration, and frequency. All information entered by the physician including stimulation parameters and stimulator serial number can be transferred to a central database 1c via a wireless Internet connection on completion of the stimulator programming session. Transmission of session data can be done either via the controller or the programmer wirelessly.
In the flowchart diagram shown in
For the system to work, information from the database is used to allow activation of the patient's neurostimulator, via the controller, if approved uses are available. If no more approvals are available, messages can be posted to the display of the controller. The neurostimulator can be “turned off” or deactivated if no more approvals are intended for that patient. This can be done by wirelessly communicating with all controllers the serial numbers of implanted neurostimulators that are “OFF” or are “NOT APPROVED”.
In
Middleware software, shown in steps 2b through 2g, is the software that may run between the database and external applications such as the controller software or payment processing service, and would provide a process to read data from and write data to the database, along with logic to analyze the database and update its information accordingly.
For example, referring to steps 2b through 2g, at step 2b the database or middleware can examine the payment status of all patients. This can be done by request, by schedule, or done in real-time, for example. At step 2c, the database or middleware examines if the patients account is paid in full. If the account is paid up, then the stimulator status can be set to ON at step 2e. If the account is not paid in full, then the database or middleware can examine if the patient's account is PAST DUE at step 2d. If the patient's account is PAST DUE, then at step 2f the stimulator status of PAST DUE accounts convert to OFF after a specified amount of time, delivery of therapy from the stimulator is canceled, and the patients are notified of their account status.
In an alternate embodiment, the database is configured such that connections could be made directly to it and it would have the capability of updating itself when new information is available. For example, if the database lists a certain stimulator as being OFF and an approval is received, for example due to a physician's prescription or a patient payment, the database or the middleware can update the field in the database to indicate that the stimulator is now ON.
The middleware can be either a web based or a client based application, where the client based application can be software that runs on the controller or applications associated with payment or prescription processing. Middleware may also be used to generate reports used to monitor patient trends or to improve the overall system.
Upon being powered up, the stimulator's ability to deliver treatment is determined by the controller which checks the stimulator's serial number against its list of OFF and NOT APPROVED stimulators. The stimulator, as described above, is “unaware” of its own of approval status and whether it should be enabled or disabled. This means that each time the stimulator is powered up by any controller it can deliver therapy if allowed by the controller regardless of approval status.
A method of approving the use of an implanted neurostimulator, and hence therapy, will now be described. Referring to steps 2h through 2l and 2o through 2q, at step 2h the patient can initiate therapy by using the handheld controller to attempt to activate the neurostimulator. At step 2i, the controller can read the serial number from the stimulator. At step 2j, the serial number is checked against the database or middleware to determine if the stimulator status is OFF. If the status is OFF, then a warning message can be displayed to the patient at step 2o and the stimulator does not deliver therapy at step 2p. The message can inform the patient that approval is needed, such as by physician prescription or patient payment. Alternatively, if the stimulator status is not OFF, then the database or middleware is checked to see if the stimulator status is PAST DUE. If the status is PAST DUE, then a warning message can be displayed to the patient at step 2q and the stimulator is allowed to deliver therapy at step 2l. If the status is not PAST DUE, then the stimulator is also allowed to deliver therapy at step 2l.
The controller, as described above, is the gateway for stimulation. The controller maintains a list of OFF/deactivated and NOT APPROVED stimulators and uses this list to determine if the stimulators it communicates with should be allowed to deliver therapy (see steps 2h through 2l and 2o through 2q, as described above).
The controller's list is updated from the database via a wireless broadband transceiver built into the controller. Referring to step 2r, the controller connects to the database (e.g., connects multiple times per day) and downloads a list of stimulators that are turned OFF or are PAST DUE. If the controller successfully connects to the database at step 2m, then the list is updated on the controller at step 2n.
If the controller is unable to update its list of stimulators from the database for an extended period of time, a warning message is displayed to the patient indicating that they must synchronize with the database or their stimulator will be disabled (see steps 2m, 2x, 2aa). After this period of time expires, subsequent attempts by the patient to initiate therapy will be denied and a warning message will be displayed on the controller indicating that the stimulator is disabled (see steps 2m, 2x, 2aa, 2bb, 2dd, 2cc, 2z). Therapy will not be delivered to this stimulator until approval is granted and an updated list indicating that the stimulator can be enabled is downloaded from the database to the controller. This function guards against situations where the patient either intentionally or inadvertently is outside of broadband range and the controller cannot verify approval. If a certain amount of time has not expired since the last database connection, the stimulator will attempt to reconnect to the database after a predetermined time in step 2y.
If the patient does not live in an area that supports broadband access that would allow them to receive approvals the patient may be granted approvals using a special numeric access key that the physician or provider enters into the controller to provide a limited number of immediate therapies. This number could also be provided to the patient via email, conventional mail, text message, website, phone, in person, or other means of communication. Another way of granting approval that would provide instantaneous therapy is a hardware dongle that plugs into the controller and unlocks it while the dongle is plugged in. In an alternate implementation plugging in the dongle could load a predetermined number of approvals into the controller. The dongle could then be removed and the patient could receive therapy.
Alternate embodiments of this design include but are not limited to: Instead of downloading a list of OFF stimulators the controller might submit a direct query for information relating to the Stimulators that it specifically works with. For example if the controller works with Stimulators with serial number 11111 and 22222 it would only query the database for the status of these devices rather than the status of all stimulators that are OFF. If therapy is initiated with a stimulator the controller has not interfaced with, the controller would first attempt to look up the status of this stimulator in the database and if the database connection was successful the controller would treat the stimulator accordingly. If the connection was not successful a warning message would be displayed and treatment would be delivered but subsequent treatments would be disabled until the stimulator status can be successfully downloaded from the database.
In another embodiment, instead of using a list of OFF stimulators to determine which stimulators can deliver therapy the patient could receive a set number of approvals for a fee. In this method the controller would query the number of treatments remaining for a particular stimulator from the database and would deduct from this number each time treatment is delivered. This would require that the controller not only download the number of available treatments from the database but that it also have the ability to upload the number of treatments used to ensure proper tracking of the number of approvals remaining. This would also facilitate a system where the number of therapies available to the patient is shown as a number on the display of their controller.
Yet another embodiment could be a system where controllers would come preset with a certain number of treatments at a set fee and when those treatments have been used up the patient would return the controller and either have it “refilled” or instead they might exchange their controller for another that is loaded with the number of treatments that are approved by the physician. Reimbursement for this could come through an insurance company, directly from the patient, or through another reimbursement source such as Medicare/Medicaid.
Approvals for use can be generated from physician's prescriptions, analogous to being prescribed a pharmaceutical, or from patient payment analogous to a cellular phone pay-per-use billing system, or a combination thereof. Patient approvals may also be generated instantaneously in acute or emergency situations by approved providers, such as physicians or other medical personal.
Approvals generated by physician prescription can be communicated to the Database in a number of different ways including but not limited to web-based direct programming either by existing electronic prescription systems or by a custom website or program associated with the Database, by phone using an automated system or by manual input of the approval, or automatically recurring approvals at certain time intervals analogous to refills on prescription pharmaceuticals.
Approvals granted acutely in an emergency situation can be made as described above for physician prescriptions. Approvals may also be granted by a special numeric access key that the physician or provider enters into the controller to provide a limited number of immediate therapies. Another means of granting approval that would provide instantaneous therapy is a hardware dongle that plugs into the controller and unlocks it while the dongle is plugged in. In an alternate implementation plugging in the dongle could load a predetermined number of approvals into the controller. The dongle could then be removed and the patient could receive therapy.
Approvals generated by payment can be made in a number of different ways including but not limited to credit card payments made over the web (see step 2s), credit card payments made over the phone (see step 2t), automated credit card payments (see step 2u), payments made from a payment vendor such as Paypal (see step 2v), and payments made directly from a bank account either automatically or manually. The system is configured to accept any form of electronic payment.
Once approval is granted, the information for that patient is updated in the database and if the account is made current the database is updated to indicate that the patient's neurostimulator can be turned ON (see steps 2w, 2e, & 2a through 2c) and is removed from the controller list of OFF or NOT APPROVED neurostimulators. If the prescription or the amount of payment is insufficient to bring the account current, then the database is updated to indicate that the neurostimulator should be turned OFF (see steps 2d, 2f, 2g).
Prescription based approvals can take any number of forms, for example but without limitation, total number of uses, or time-dependent rate of uses like number of uses per day, per month or per year, or uses that expire in a defined amount of time. Total number of uses would be analogous to getting a prescription for one container of drugs, and would require further physician interaction to get more drugs prescribed. Time-dependent rate of use approval would be analogous to being prescribed a certain number of pills to be used over a certain amount of time, and after said time had elapsed the pills could be refilled.
There are types of physician prescription approval schemes for which no pharmaceutical analogy exists too. For example, in the case of a neurostimulator to treat headache, it may be undesirable to activate the device too frequently as described previously.
Other approval options may include but are not limited to pharmacist approval for a limited number of doses and immediate physician approval in an office, emergency room, or patient room setting.
In the case of pharmacist approval a patient may have forgotten to contact their physician or other provider to renew their prescription or perhaps their physician is out of town. As with prescription medications a pharmacist may at their discretion provide a limited number of doses to the patient.
In the hospital setting a physician may want to intervene immediately and provide approval to address an acute episode or to provide prophylactic therapy prior to a procedure.
For payment based approvals, a number of different billing strategies can be utilized. A prepaid treatment based strategy where the patient would pay in advance for a certain number of treatments and this number would be decremented each time the patient used the system to deliver therapy.
A second plan is similar to the billing system used for a cellular phone service. This plan would charge each patient a monthly fee whether they use the system for treatment or not. If the number of treatments included in the monthly fee is exceeded, then an additional fee is charged. This situation is similar to when a cellular customer exceeds the number of minutes in their monthly plan.
A third option would be if the patient pays a large one time fee for “Product Lifetime Service.” This would allow their stimulator to be used for the lifetime of the product without further billing. A fourth option would be a variable plan where the patient can choose to pay by the day, the month, the year, or multiple years. Any number of other plans would work as well with the primary goal being that payment is made either on the basis of the number of times therapy is delivered or by a recurring fee that is charged regardless of whether therapies are delivered.
It is also possible that the entity being billed for services is an institution rather than the individual patient. In this scenario the patient could be removed from the billing loop and their insurance carrier, government health care provider, or other health care provider could be billed directly. Examples of government health care providers include but are not limited to federal organizations such as Medicare, Veterans Administration, state-sponsored programs such as Medi-Cal, and programs sponsored by counties, local governments or federal governments.
If the patient is being billed directly and it is determined that their account is past due, a number of actions can be taken to notify the patient that their stimulator is about to be turned OFF. These actions might include, but are not limited to, sending emails, contact via phone, instant messages, physical letters sent via US mail, and notices sent to their controller (see step 2g). If a certain amount of time has expired and the patient has not made the necessary payment, the database is updated to reflect that their stimulator should be turned OFF (see step 2f) and their serial number will be added to the list of disabled serial numbers downloaded by each controller from the database.
If an entity, like and insurance carrier, is being billed there could be two tiers of notification: The first being that the provider is notified by the means described in the prior paragraph or by representatives from the device manufacturer; and the second being that if the entity has failed to provide payment the patient is notified that they need to take action to keep their account current.
As for additional details pertinent to the present invention, materials and manufacturing techniques may be employed as within the level of those with skill in the relevant art. The same may hold true with respect to method-based aspects of the invention in terms of additional acts commonly or logically employed. Also, it is contemplated that any optional feature of the inventive variations described may be set forth and claimed independently, or in combination with any one or more of the features described herein. Likewise, reference to a singular item, includes the possibility that there are plural of the same items present. More specifically, as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “and,” “said,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It is further noted that the claims may be drafted to exclude any optional element. As such, this statement is intended to serve as antecedent basis for use of such exclusive terminology as “solely,” “only” and the like in connection with the recitation of claim elements, or use of a “negative” limitation. Unless defined otherwise herein, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The breadth of the present invention is not to be limited by the subject specification, but rather only by the plain meaning of the claim terms employed.
Claims
1. A method of delivering therapy to a patient, comprising:
- implanting a neurostimulator on a sphenopalatine ganglion of the patient, wherein the neurostimulator is configured to:
- check with an external controller a therapy approval status of the implanted neurostimulator on a database; and
- deliver therapy to the patient if the therapy approval status of the implanted neurostimulator is approved.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein therapy is not delivered to the patient if the therapy approval status of the implanted neurostimulator is not approved.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the therapy approval status is not approved if the database indicates that the implanted neurostimulator is deactivated.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the therapy approval status is not approved if the database indicates payment is past due.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the database is stored at a location separate from the external controller.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the external controller is an external handheld controller.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the external controller contains a list of deactivated and not approved neurostimulators, the method further comprising updating the list of deactivated and not approved neurostimulators.
8. A method of approving therapy in a patient, comprising:
- implanting a medical device in the patient; approving a set number of approved therapies to be delivered from the medical device to the patient; and deactivating the medical device when no approved therapies remain.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the approving step further comprises approving a set number of therapies to be delivered from the medical device to the patient with a physician prescription.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein the approving step further comprises approving a set number of therapies to be delivered from the medical device to the patient with payment by the patient.
11. The method of claim 8 further comprising providing the patient with a handheld controller that is configured to check a therapy approval status of the medical device.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the handheld controller is configured to direct the medical device to deliver therapy to the patient.
13. The method of claim 8 further comprising re-activating the medical device by approving an additional number of therapies to be delivered from the medical device to the patient.
14. The method of claim 8 further comprising storing a therapy approval status of the medical device on a database.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the controller is configured to access the database to determine the therapy approval status of the medical device.
16. The method of claim 8 wherein the medical device is a neurostimulator.
17. A system for delivering therapy to a patient, comprising:
- an implantable neurostimulator configured to deliver therapy to the patient;
- a database containing a count of approval therapies of the implantable neurostimulator; and
- an external controller in communication with the database and the implantable neurostimulator, the external controller configured to direct the implantable neurostimulator to deliver therapy to the patient if the therapy approval status of the implantable neurostimulator is approved.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein the implantable neurostimulator is sized and configured to be implanted on or near a sphenopalatine ganglion.
19. The system of claim 17 wherein the external controller is a handheld controller.
20. The system of claim 17 wherein the external controller is configured to update and store a list of the count of remaining approval therapies of the implantable neurostimulator.
21. The system of claim 17 wherein the external controller is in wireless communication with the implantable neurostimulator and the database.
22. The system of claim 17 wherein the therapy is electrical stimulation.
23. The system of claim 17 wherein the external controller is configured to deactivate the implantable stimulator if no approved therapies remain.
24. The system of claim 17 wherein the database is stored remotely from the implantable neurostimulator and the external controller.
25. The system of claim 8 wherein the set number of approved therapies comprises a pre-determined number of approved therapies.
26. The system of claim 17, wherein the controller is configured to direct the database to deduct an approved therapy from the count of approved therapies when therapy is delivered to the patient.
27. A method of delivering therapy to a patient, comprising: if the count of approved therapies is greater than zero, deliver therapy from the implanted neurostimulator to the patient; and
- implanting a neurostimulator in the patient; and
- providing the patient with a controller, wherein the controller is configured to:
- check on a database a count of approved therapies of the neurostimulator;
- deduct an approved therapy from the count of approved therapies on the database.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 9, 2015
Publication Date: Dec 31, 2015
Inventors: Kellie S. FLETCHER (San Francisco, CA), Benjamin David PLESS (Atherton, CA), Anthony V. CAPARSO (San Jose, CA), Kenneth N. HORNE (San Francisco, CA)
Application Number: 14/849,351
