Nerve stimulating apparatus, biometric information measuring system, and method of setting stimulus generating timings of biometric information measuring system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11666759-B2
Application number	US-202017069193-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 13, 2020
Priority date	Oct 16, 2019
Publication date	Jun 6, 2023
Grant date	Jun 6, 2023

Abstract

A nerve stimulating apparatus includes a plurality of stimulating units configured to respectively apply stimuli to a plurality of nerve regions branching from a particular nerve region of a living body, and a stimulation timing controller configured to set generating timings of respectively generating the stimuli at the plurality of stimulating units. The stimulation timing controller sets the generating timings of generating the stimuli at the plurality of stimulating units based on response results of the particular nerve region, the response results being obtained in response to the stimuli that are respectively generated at the plurality of stimulating units and that are respectively applied to the plurality of nerve regions, and the response results being measured by a biometric information measuring apparatus that measures biometric information.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A nerve stimulating apparatus comprising:
a plurality of stimulating units configured to respectively apply stimuli to a plurality of nerve regions branching from a particular nerve region of a living body, the stimuli being electrical stimuli, magnetic stimuli, acoustic stimuli, or mechanical stimuli; and
a stimulation timing controller configured to set generating timings of respectively generating the stimuli at the plurality of stimulating units,
wherein the stimulation timing controller sets the generating timings of generating the stimuli at the plurality of stimulating units based on response results of the particular nerve region, the response results being obtained in response to the stimuli that are respectively generated at the plurality of stimulating units and that are respectively applied to the plurality of nerve regions, and each of the response results being a magnetic field measured by a biomagnetic field measuring device,
wherein the stimulation timing controller respectively calculates a plurality of latencies each indicating a duration from when a respective one of the stimuli is applied to the living body to when a corresponding one of feature points appears in a response of the living body, for the plurality of stimulating units, based on current data estimated based on the measured magnetic field, and sets the generating timings based on the plurality of calculated latencies.

2. The nerve stimulating apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the stimulation timing controller sets the generating timings based on the plurality of calculated latencies so as to cause the feature points to appear at the same time.

3. The nerve stimulating apparatus as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the stimulation timing controller calculates a peak value of a waveform indicating temporal changes of a strength of the response measured by the biomagnetic field measuring device or a rise of the waveform, as each of the feature points.

4. The nerve stimulating apparatus as claimed in claim 2 ,
wherein the stimulation timing controller is further configured to calculate the generating timings to cause the feature points to appear at the same time based on the plurality of latencies respectively calculated for the plurality of stimulating units, and a trigger signal generator configured to generate a trigger signal based on the calculated generating timings, and
wherein the plurality of stimulating units generates the stimuli in response to the trigger signal.

5. The nerve stimulating apparatus as claimed in claim 4 ,
wherein the trigger signal generator generates a plurality of said trigger signals respectively output to the plurality of stimulating units, and
wherein the plurality of stimulating units respectively generates the stimuli in response to the plurality of trigger signals.

6. A biometric information measuring system comprising:
a nerve stimulating apparatus including a plurality of stimulating units configured to respectively apply stimuli to a plurality of nerve regions branching from a particular nerve region of a living body, the stimuli being electrical stimuli, magnetic stimuli, acoustic stimuli, or mechanical stimuli;
a biomagnetic field measuring device configured to measure response results of the particular nerve region as biometric information, the response results being generated in response to the stimuli respectively applied to the plurality of nerve regions; and
a stimulation timing control device configured to set generating timings of respectively generating the stimuli at the plurality of stimulating units,
wherein the stimulation timing control device sets the generating timings of generating the stimuli at the plurality of stimulating units based on the response results of the particular nerve region, the response results being obtained in response to the stimuli that are respectively generated at the plurality of stimulating units and that are respectively applied to the plurality of nerve regions, and each of the response results being a magnetic field measured by the biomagnetic field measuring device,
wherein the stimulation timing controller respectively calculates a plurality of latencies each indicating a duration from when a respective one of the stimuli is applied to the living body to when a corresponding one of feature points appears in a response of the living body, for the plurality of stimulating units, based on current data estimated based on the measured magnetic field, and sets the generating timings based on the plurality of calculated latencies.

7. The biometric information measuring system as claimed in claim 6 ,
wherein the stimulation timing control device respectively calculates a plurality of latencies each indicating a duration from when a respective one of the stimuli is applied to the living body to when a corresponding one of feature points appears in a response of the living body, for the plurality of stimulating units, based on the response results of the particular nerve region, and sets the generating timings based on the plurality of calculated latencies so as to cause the feature points to appear at the same time.

8. The biometric information measuring system as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the stimulation timing control device calculates a peak value of a waveform indicating temporal changes of a strength of the response measured by the biomagnetic field measuring device or a rise of the waveform, as each of the feature points.

9. The biometric information measuring system as claimed in claim 7 ,
wherein the stimulation timing control device is further configured to calculate the generating timings to cause the feature points appear at the same time based on the plurality of latencies respectively calculated for the plurality of stimulating units, and a trigger signal generator configured to generate a trigger signal based on the calculated generating timings calculated, and
wherein the plurality of stimulating units generates the stimuli in response to the trigger signal.

10. The biometric information measuring system as claimed in claim 9 ,
wherein the trigger signal generator generates a plurality of said trigger signals respectively output to the plurality of stimulating units, and
wherein the plurality of stimulating units respectively generates the stimulus in response to the plurality of trigger signals.

11. The biometric information measuring system as claimed in claim 10 ,
wherein the nerve stimulating apparatus includes a plurality of sub-stimulators respectively including the plurality of stimulating units, and
wherein the trigger signal generator generates the plurality of trigger signals respectively output to the plurality of stimulating units of the plurality of sub-stimulators.

12. The biometric information measuring system as claimed in claim 6 ,
wherein the magnetic field is generated by the living body, and
wherein the stimuli applied by the plurality of stimulating units to the living body are electrical stimuli.

13. The biometric information measuring system as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising an electric potential measuring device that is configured to measure an electric potential difference at the particular nerve region of the living body, in addition to the biomagnetic field measuring device.

14. A method of setting stimulus generating timings of a biometric information measuring system including a nerve stimulating apparatus including a plurality of stimulating units configured to respectively apply stimuli to a plurality of nerve regions branching from a particular nerve region of a living body, th

Assignees

• Sato Shinji
• Kim Sukchan
• Watanabe Taishi
• Mitani Yuki
• Miyano Yuki
• Kawabata Shigenori
• Sasaki Toru
• Ricoh Co Ltd
• Univ Nat Corp Tokyo Medical & Dental

Inventors

• Sato Shinji
• Kim Sukchan
• Watanabe Taishi
• Mitani Yuki
• Miyano Yuki
• Kawabata Shigenori
• Sasaki Toru

Classifications

• A61B5/248

  specially adapted for magnetoneurographic [MNG] signals, e.g. magnetospinographic [MSG] signals · CPC title

• A61N1/36031 Primary

  using physiological parameters for adjustment · CPC title

• A61B5/242

  Detecting biomagnetic fields, e.g. magnetic fields produced by bioelectric currents · CPC title

• A61N1/0456

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

• A61B5/05 Primary

  Detecting, measuring or recording for diagnosis by means of electric currents or magnetic fields; Measuring using microwaves or radio waves (measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof A61B5/11; detecting, measuring or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals of the body or parts thereof A61B5/24) · CPC title