Portable brain and vision diagnostic and therapeutic system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11701046-B2
Application number	US-201716347049-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2017
Priority date	Nov 2, 2016
Publication date	Jul 18, 2023
Grant date	Jul 18, 2023

Abstract

A portable wireless neuromonitoring device can be used to diagnose and/or treat conditions of the brain and vision system. The device includes a sensor unit mountable on the head of a human subject and capable of recording signals from the brain in EEG and/or EFEG (electric field encephalography) mode, and the device can be used for simultaneous stimulus display and recording with latency of less than 1 millisecond. The device also includes electrodes that allow rapid set-up and measurement with low impedance contact with the scalp. The device can also be used in conjunction with virtual reality or alternate reality environments.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A brain sensing theranostic headset device comprising:
a sensor unit comprising an array of electrodes configured for providing electrical contact between the electrodes and the scalp of a subject wearing the device, wherein the electrodes are configured for recording brain signals in an electric field encephalography (EFEG) mode;
a headband upon which the sensor unit is mounted, the headband wearable on the subject's head and adapted for positioning the sensor unit adjacent to a selected brain region;
a display unit comprising a display capable of displaying visual stimuli to one or both eyes of the subject; and
an event triggering system comprising:
a digital event trigger configured to generate an optical signal in a selected region of the display signaling a beginning and/or a type of a visual stimulus; and
an optical sensor covering said selected region of the display and configured to receive the optical signal generated by the digital event trigger;

wherein the device is capable of measuring signals from the brain of the subject in response to the visual stimuli, wherein the signals include transient and/or steady state visual evoked potentials and fields (VEPF).

2. The device of claim 1 , further comprising an amplifier module, signal processing module, and wireless transmitter, each located on a separate circuit board within the sensor unit.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the electrode array comprises a reference electrode and an array of sensing electrodes surrounding the reference electrode.

4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the selected brain region is the visual cortex, and the device is capable of recording the transient and/or steady state visual evoked potentials and fields from the visual cortex of the subject in response to the visual stimuli delivered through the display unit.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the display unit comprises a mobile device and a mounting structure for the mobile device, the mounting structure attached to the headband, and wherein the mobile device displays the visual stimuli.

6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the display unit comprises virtual reality goggles or an augmented reality system.

7. The device of claim 1 , wherein the display unit comprises a video screen of a device not attached to the headband.

8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the display unit is capable of monocular, dichoptic, stereoscopic, binocular, hemifield, multi-focal, static, dynamic, or chromatic image presentation to the subject.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is portable, self-contained, and capable of setup and obtaining data from a human subject in less than about one minute.

10. A method of evaluating brain function or vision of a subject, the method comprising:
(a) mounting the brain sensing theranostic headset device of claim 1 on the head of the subject, whereby the display unit is oriented to display the visual stimuli to the eyes of the subject and the electrodes of the sensor unit are in contact with the subject's scalp disposed over a selected brain region;
(b) displaying one or more said visual stimuli to one or both eyes of the subject using the headset device;
(c) measuring signals from the selected brain region of the subject in response to the one or more visual stimuli; and
(d) evaluating the subject's brain function or vision based on the measured signals.

11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the event triggering system comprises a plurality of optical sensors, each covering a different selected region of the display, the plurality of selected regions of the display configured to provide a combined digital optical signal that identifies one or more characteristics of the visual stimulus.

12. A brain sensing theranostic headset device comprising:
a sensor unit comprising an array of electrodes configured for providing electrical contact between the electrodes and the scalp of a subject wearing the device, wherein the sensor unit comprises a plurality of electrodes capable of forming a contact impedance of less than 200 kohms with the scalp of a subject wearing the device, and wherein the electrodes are configured for recording brain signals in an electric field encephalography (EFEG) mode;
a headband upon which the sensor unit is mounted, the headband wearable on the subject's head and adapted for positioning the sensor unit adjacent to a selected brain region;
a display unit comprising a display capable of displaying visual stimuli to one or both eyes of the subject; and
an event triggering system comprising:
a digital event trigger configured to generate an optical signal in a selected region of the display signaling a beginning and/or a type of a visual stimulus; and
an optical sensor covering said selected region of the display and configured to receive the optical signal generated by the digital event trigger;

wherein the device is capable of essentially simultaneous display of visual stimuli to the subject and acquisition of brain signals from the subject with a latency of about 1 millisecond or less.

13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the latency is about 1 microsecond or less.

14. The device of claim 12 , wherein the display unit comprises a phototransistor coupled to a high gain current-voltage amplifier that provides a digital signal used to trigger data acquisition after presentation of a visual stimulus.

15. The device of claim 12 further comprising a control unit, wherein acquired data are time stamped using only one clock or a set of clocks synchronized using Network Time Protocol and compensated to a relative drift of less than 1 millisecond per hour, and wherein the clocks are disposed either in the control unit or in the display unit.

16. The device of claim 12 , wherein a mobile device serves as both the display unit and a control unit.

17. The device of claim 12 , wherein the display unit comprises a mobile device and a mounting structure for the mobile device, the mounting structure attached to the headband, and wherein the mobile device displays the visual stimuli.

18. The device of claim 12 , wherein the display unit is capable of dichoptic, binocular, or monocular image presentation to the subject.

19. The device of claim 12 , wherein the device is portable, self-contained, and capable of setup and obtaining data from a human subject in less than one minute.

20. The device of claim 12 , wherein the event triggering system comprises a plurality of optical sensors, each covering a different selected region of the display, the plurality of selected regions of the display configured to provide a combined digital optical signal that identifies one or more characteristics of the visual stimulus.

21. A method of evaluating brain function or vision of a subject, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing the device of claim 12 ;
(b) displaying one or more visual stimuli to the subject using said device; and
(c) measuring from the subject's brain an EFEG signal in the form of a transient visual evoked potential or stimulus (tVEPF) or a steady state visual evoked potential or stimulus (ssVEPF) using said device.

Assignees

• Univ Northeastern

Inventors

• Sridhar Srinivas
• Versek Craig
• Bex Peter

Classifications

• A61B5/291 Primary

  for electroencephalography [EEG] · CPC title

• A61B5/378 Primary

  Visual stimuli · CPC title

• A61B5/4082

  Diagnosing or monitoring movement diseases, e.g. Parkinson, Huntington or Tourette · CPC title

• A61B5/4088

  Diagnosing of monitoring cognitive diseases, e.g. Alzheimer, prion diseases or dementia · CPC title

• A61B5/6803

  Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles · CPC title