Therapeutic electrical stimulation therapy for patient gait freeze

An implantable medical device (IMD) is described capable of determining whether a patient is susceptible to freezing of gait events during ambulatory movement without the patient demonstrating an episode of freezing of gait. In one example, the IMD senses, via one or more electrodes, a bioelectrical signal of a brain of the patient while the patient performs movement associated with freezing of gait. The IMD determines, based on the bioelectrical signal, whether the patient is susceptible to freezing of gait while the patient is not experiencing an episode of freezing of gait. Further, upon detecting the movement associated with freezing of gait, the IMD delivers electrical stimulation therapy to the patient configured to suppress freezing of gait.

The abstract as published by the patent office, from US2019030338A1. It describes the invention; it is not a statement of what is protected.

• Interface and electrodes

  Electrodes and arrays

• Telemetry

  Wireless telemetry

• Stimulation

  Stimulation · Closed loop

What the filing appears to be about, read by published rules from its title, abstract and classification codes (A61N1/025, A61N1/0531, A61N1/0534, A61N1/36067, A61N1/36135). The claims define what a patent protects, and they are not read here.

Interface and electrodes

Everything downstream works with what the contacts pick up. Their number, size and distance from the neurons set the ceiling on the signal. The problem behind it: more contacts, closer to neurons, that still record after years in tissue that reacts to them.

Telemetry

Thousands of channels produce more data than a low-power radio can carry raw, so what is sent, and how, decides what the system can use. The problem behind it: high data rates at low power through tissue, reliably and securely.

Stimulation

Restoring sensation, sight or movement needs information going in, and a therapy that adapts needs to sense and stimulate at once. The problem behind it: evoking a precise, stable effect without damaging tissue or electrodes, and without blinding the recording.

Why the layer matters to the field, not a judgement of this filing. A patent family shows that protection was sought. It does not show that the technology was built, is used in a product, or works in people. The whole stack

One invention, published 9 times in 5 offices. Each publication opens in Espacenet.

• United StatesUS2019030338A131 Jan 2019US11596795B27 Mar 2023 · grant
• International (PCT)a route to several countries, not a countryWO2019027512A17 Feb 2019
• ChinaCN110944711A31 Mar 2020CN110944711B28 Nov 2023 · grant
• European Patent Officea route to several countries, not a countryEP3661591A110 Jun 2020EP3661591B129 May 2024 · grant
• JapanJP2020529877A15 Oct 2020JP7065942B212 May 2022 · grant

1. 31 Jul 2017First filingEarliest priority, at United States. The family is counted in this year.
2. 14 Sep 2017Owner recordedUnited States, on US2019030338A1: assignment; owner named: MEDTRONIC, INC., MINNESOTA.
3. 11 Apr 2018ApplicationsFiled at International (PCT), China, European Patent Office, Japan.
4. 31 Jan 2019First publicationUS2019030338A1, United States.
5. 12 May 2022Grant publishedJP7065942B2, Japan.
6. 7 Mar 2023Grant publishedUS11596795B2, United States.
7. 28 Nov 2023Grant publishedCN110944711B, China.
8. 29 May 2024Grant publishedEP3661591B1, European Patent Office.
9. 28 Apr 2025Office recordJapan, on JP2020529877A: cancellation because of no payment of annual fees.
10. 9 Sep 2026Office recordEuropean Patent Office, on EP3661591A1: lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] (AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LT, LU, LV, MC, NL, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, SK, SM, TR).

Dates as the offices published them. Office records are in the offices' own words and are a selection: refusals, lapses and withdrawals, and records that name an owner. Each concerns one member of the family, not the family as a whole, and another member in the same office may stand. Whether a patent is in force today is not assessed.

Organisation

Medtronic · 40 families identified

Use case

Motor control

• Bibliographic data, family members and office records: European Patent Office, Open Patent Services (the DOCDB and INPADOC databases), read 7 Oct 2026.
• The record itself, with its claims and description: US2019030338A1 in Espacenet
• Counted as a BCI patent family: classified A61N1/0531 (brain cortex electrodes); filed by Medtronic, Inc., an organisation already in the graph; describes neural hardware or methods without naming the field. How families are found and judged