Transcranial neurostimulation system for a vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10143841-B2
Application number	US-201715454111-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2017
Priority date	Mar 10, 2016
Publication date	Dec 4, 2018
Grant date	Dec 4, 2018

Abstract

A transcranial neurostimulation system for a vehicle, the transcranial neurostimulation system comprising at least one electrode formed into an article of vehicle furniture such as a headrest of a seat.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle seat comprising:
a headrest comprising a material forming a covering; and
at least two electrodes formed into the headrest and electrically coupled to an electricity supply, wherein the at least two electrodes are configured to apply transcranial neurostimulation to a head of an occupant of the vehicle seat in response to the head contacting the headrest and completing an electric circuit between the at least two electrodes, and wherein the at least two electrodes comprise a conductive thread stitched and/or woven in the material.

2. A system, comprising:
a vehicle;
a vehicle seat coupled to the vehicle;
a headrest coupled to the vehicle seat and having a covering; and
a transcranial neurostimulation system coupled to the vehicle, comprising at least two electrodes formed into the headrest, wherein one of the at least two electrodes is coupled to an electricity supply and configured to apply an electric current from the electricity supply to a head of an occupant of the vehicle seat in response to the head contacting the headrest and completing an electrical circuit between the at least two electrodes, and wherein the at least two electrodes comprise conductive thread stitched and/or woven into a material of the covering of the headrest.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the transcranial neurostimulation system further comprises:
at least one first sensor coupled to the vehicle and configured to determine a condition of the occupant of the vehicle seat.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one first sensor is configured to determine a direction the occupant of the vehicle seat is looking.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one first sensor is configured to determine at least one of a heart rate of the occupant of the vehicle seat and a blood pressure of the occupant.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one first sensor is configured to determine a temperature of the occupant of the vehicle seat.

7. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one first sensor is configured to determine brain activity of the occupant of the vehicle seat.

8. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one first sensor is configured to determine a respiration rate of the occupant of the vehicle seat.

9. The system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one first sensor is configured to determine vocal activity of the occupant of the vehicle seat.

10. The system of claim 3 , wherein the transcranial neurostimulation system further comprises:
at least one second sensor coupled to the vehicle and configured to determine an operational state of the vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the at least one second sensor is configured to determine an acceleration of the vehicle.

12. The system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a controller coupled to the vehicle and configured to adjust operation of the transcranial neurostimulation system depending on a condition of the occupant of the vehicle seat and/or an operational state of the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 2 , wherein the transcranial neurostimulation system further comprises:
one or more actuators coupled to at least one of the vehicle seat, the headrest, and the covering and configured to position the at least two electrodes relative to the occupant of the vehicle seat.

14. The system of claim 2 , wherein the covering of the headrest comprises a headrest cover configured to be removably attached to the headrest of the vehicle.

15. The system of claim 2 , wherein the at least two electrodes comprise a plurality of rows of electrodes, and wherein the plurality of rows of electrodes comprises a plurality of rows of anodes and a plurality of rows of cathodes.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the rows of anodes overlaps with at least one of the rows of cathodes.

17. The system of claim 2 , wherein the at least two electrodes are arranged such that contact of the occupant's head against the headrest completes an electric circuit between at least one anode and at least one cathode.

18. A transcranial neurostimulation system for a vehicle, comprising:
an electricity supply;
at least two electrodes formed into a headrest of vehicle furniture, wherein one of the at least two electrodes is electrically coupled to the electricity supply and configured to apply an electric current from the electricity supply to a vehicle occupant's head in response to the head contacting the headrest and completing an electrical circuit between the at least two electrodes; and
a controller configured to control the application of electric current based on at least one of a vehicle occupant condition sensed by a first sensor and a vehicle operational state sensed by a second sensor, wherein the sensors and one of the at least two electrodes are electrically coupled to the controller.

19. The transcranial neurostimulation system for a vehicle of claim 18 , wherein the vehicle furniture comprises a vehicle seat.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Medford Nathan
• Jo Eunhee
• Fearns Liberty
• Carroll Ben
• Hoggarth Marcus

Classifications

• A61N1/36025 Primary

  for treating a mental or cerebral condition · CPC title

• A61N1/0456

  Specially adapted for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation [TENS] · CPC title

• A61B5/6893

  Cars · CPC title

• B60N2/80

  Head-rests · CPC title

• A61N1/36031

  using physiological parameters for adjustment · CPC title