Photic stimulation device, photic stimulation method, and program

• US 10,518,100 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2015
• Issued: 12/31/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nagasaki Method & Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nagasaki Method & Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Kamei, Tsutomu
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Eugene T
• Application Number:
  US15/577,053
• Publication Number:
  US 20180169430A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,678 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/316 Modalities, i.e. specific diagnostic methods
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/374 Detecting the frequency distribution of signals, e.g. detecting delta, theta, alpha, beta or gamma waves
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/375 using biofeedback
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 21/02 for inducing sleep or relaxation, e.g. by direct nerve stimulation, hypnosis, analgesia for massage A61H; electrotherapy A61N, e.g. applying alternating or intermittent electric currents for producing anaesthesia A61N1/36021
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/0647 the applicator adapted to be worn on the head
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 2005/0651 Diodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/06 using light
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 5/0622 Optical stimulation for exciting neural tissue

Abstract

Provided are an photic stimulation device, method, and program, including a waveform generation unit configured to shape a waveform of a frequency band including a part of a band of θ waves and a part of a band of a waves; a pulse modulation unit configured to generate a pulse waveform with duty adjusted on the basis of an amplitude of the waveform generated by the waveform generation unit; and a light exposing unit configured to irradiate a head with a red pulsed beam on the basis of an output of the pulse modulation unit.

Claims

1. A photic stimulation device for a head comprising:

a brain wave amplifier configured to perform A/D conversion on brain waves of an individual acquired with a sensor and amplify the brain waves;

a control signal generation circuit configured to generate a control signal to control drive of LEDs on the basis of an output signal from the brain wave amplifier; and

a light exposing unit including the LEDs that are driven on the basis of an output signal from the control signal generation circuit and expose the head with a light beam,

wherein;

the control signal generation circuit includes

a first band-pass filter (BPF

     1) configured to pass a frequency band including a part of a band of θ

waves and a part of a band of α

waves,

an automatic gain control (AGC) limiter configured to suppress fluctuation in amplitude of the brain waves that depends on each individual,

a second band-pass filter (BPF

     2), and

a feedback function of feeding back an output of the second band-pass filter (BPF

     2) to the AGC limiter.

2. The photic stimulation device for the head according to claim 1, further comprising, as circuits that constitute the feedback function:

an absolute value circuit configured to output an absolute value of an input;

a BEF circuit (Band-Elimination Filter) configured to suppress an amplitude of an input; and

an low pass filter (LPF) circuit configured to filter an output of the BEF circuit.

3. The photic stimulation device for the head according to claim 2, wherein the frequency band is a continuous frequency band of 7 Hz to 13 Hz.

4. The photic stimulation device for the head according to claim 1, further comprising a pulse width modulation (PWM) unit configured to perform PWM modulation on an output of the control signal generation circuit, wherein the light exposing unit is driven on the basis of an output signal from the PWM modulation unit.

5. The photic stimulation device for the head according to claim 1, further comprising a memory adapted to have stored therein brain waves of an individual or a waveform that has been shaped from the brain waves of an individual, wherein waveform processing is performed on the basis of the waveform read from the memory.

6. The photic stimulation device for a head according to claim 1, wherein the photic stimulation device is configured to irradiate a head of a test subject with a red pulse beam, and

further wherein:

the light exposing unit includes

a cap-like member having a number of red LEDs arranged thereon, and

an eye protection plate slidably provided on the cap-like member,

the eye protection plate is adapted to be, when the head is exposed with a light beam, slid to a position to cover eyes so as to protect the eyes, and

the eye protection plate is adapted to be positioned between the light exposing unit and a to-be-exposed region when slid back from a direction of the eyes.

7. The photic stimulation device for a head according to claim 1, wherein the photic stimulation device is configured to expose a head of a test subject to a red pulsed beam, and

further wherein:

the photic stimulation device for the head is provided with a light guide path through which a part of a light beam in a housing of the device is guided to eyes of the test subject as an operation monitoring beam.

8. The photic stimulation device for the head according to claim 7, further comprising an adjustment switch configured to adjust or shield the operation monitoring beam.

9. A computer-implemented method for causing a computer to execute photic stimulation of a head of a test subject, the computer-implemented method comprising:

a control signal generation step of generating a control signal to control drive of LEDs on the basis of an output signal from a brain wave amplifier that performs A/D conversion on brain waves of an individual acquired with a sensor and amplifies the brain waves; and

a light irradiation step of irradiating the head with a light beam from the LEDs that are driven on the basis of an output in the control signal generation step,

wherein;

the control signal generation step includes

a process of a first band-pass filter (BPF

     1) configured to pass a frequency band including a part of a band of θ

waves and a part of a band of α

waves,

a process of an automatic gain control (AGC) limiter configured to suppress fluctuation in amplitude of the brain waves that depends on each individual,

a process of a second band-pass filter (BPF

     2), and

a step of feeding back an output of the process of the second band-pass filter (BPF

     2) to the AGC limiter.

10. The computer-implemented method according to claim 9, further comprising, as the feeding-back step:

an absolute value output step of outputting an absolute value of an input;

a BEF output step of suppressing an amplitude of an input (Band-Elimination Filter output step); and

an low pass filter (LPF) step of filtering an output of the BEF output step.

11. The computer-implemented method according to claim 9, further comprising a PWM modulation step of performing pulse width modulation (PWM) on an output of the control signal generation step, wherein the light irradiation step is driven on the basis of an output signal from the PWM modulation step.

12. The computer-implemented method according to claim 9, wherein the frequency band is a continuous frequency band of 7 Hz to 13 Hz.

13. The computer-implemented method according to claim 9, further comprising a step of performing waveform processing on the basis of a waveform read from a memory adapted to have stored therein brain waves of an individual or a waveform that has been shaped from the brain waves of an individual.

14. A non-transitory, computer-readable recording medium containing instructions to carry out the computer-implemented method according to claim 9.