The invention relates to a stimulation system, such as a spinal cord stimulation (SCS) system, having a tool for programming an electrical stimulation generator, such as an implantable pulse generator (IPG), of the system. The invention also relates to a method for developing a protocol for the stimulation system.
A spinal cord stimulator is a device used to provide electrical stimulation to the spinal cord or spinal nerve neurons for managing pain. The stimulator includes an implanted or external pulse generator and an implanted medical electrical lead having one or more electrodes at a distal location thereof. The pulse generator provides the stimulation through the electrodes via a body portion and connector of the lead. Spinal cord stimulation programming is defined as the discovery of the stimulation electrodes and parameters that provide the best possible pain relief (or paresthesia) for the patient using one or more implanted leads and its attached IPG. The programming is typically achieved by selecting individual electrodes and adjusting the stimulation parameters, such as the shape of the stimulation waveform, amplitude of current in mA (or amplitude of voltage in V), pulse width in microseconds, frequency in Hz, and anodic or cathodic stimulation.
With newer medical electrical leads having an increased number of electrodes, the electrode and parameter combination increases exponentially. This results in a healthcare professional, such as a clinician, requiring a substantial amount of time for establishing a manually created protocol for providing therapeutic spinal cord stimulation. Therefore, a manual approach for creating a protocol is not an optimal solution for the SCS system.