A voice control system for an implant

• US 20170105655A1
• Filed: 12/27/2016
• Published: 04/20/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Peter Forsell
• Original Assignee: Peter Forsell
• Inventors: Forsell, Peter
• Granted Patent: US 10,736,540 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0028 Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0082 adapted for particular medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/076 Permanent implantations telemetry using implanted circuitry A61B5/0031; implanted stimulators for therapy A61N1/3605, A61N1/362, A61N1/372
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7239 using differentiation including higher order derivatives
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/749 Voice-controlled interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/37217 characterised by the communication link, e.g. acoustic or tactile
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3727 characterised by the modulation technique
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/3787 from an external energy source
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/00 Speech recognition G10L17/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/063 Training
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/26 Speech to text systems G10L15/08 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/005 Transmission systems in which the medium consists of the human body

Abstract

A system for the control of an implant (32) in a body (11), comprising first (10, 20) and second parts (12) which communicate with each other. The first part (10, 20) is adapted for implantation and for control of and communication with the medical implant (32), and the second part (12) is adapted to be worn on the outside of the body (11) in contact with the body and to receive control commands from a user and to transmit them to the first part (10, 20). The body (11) is used as a conductor for communication between the first (10, 20) and the second (12) parts. The second part (12) is adapted to receive and recognize voice control commands from a user and to transform them into signals which are transmitted to the first part (10, 20) via the body (11).

Claims

1. A system for the control of a medical implant (32) in a mammal body (11), said system comprising a first (10, 20) and a second part (12) being adapted for communication with each other, in which system the first part (10, 20) is adapted for implantation in the mammal body (11) for the control of and communication with the medical implant (32), the second part (12) is adapted to be worn on the outside of the mammal body (11) in physical contact with said body and adapted to receive control commands from a user and to transmit these commands to the first part (10, 20), characterized in that the system is adapted to use the mammal body (11) as a conductor for communication between the first (10, 20) and the second (12) parts and in that the second part (12) is adapted to receive and recognize the control commands from a user as voice commands and is adapted to transform recognized voice commands into signals which are transmitted to the first part (10, 20) via the mammal body (11) as a conductor for the control of said implant (32), the first part (10, 20) being adapted to convey such signals to the implant (32), wherein said voice commands comprise a complex of different frequencies translated into one fixed defined output command, wherein said system comprises a first conducting plate (29) in the first part (10, 20) of the system and a second conducting plate (27) in the second part (12) of the system, the system being adapted to create an electrical capacitive field with potential differences between said first (29) and second (27) conducting plates.

2. The system of claim 1, comprising a detector circuit (30) in the first part (10, 20) of the system for detecting the potential differences between the conducting plates (27, 29), the system being adapted to use the potential differences for said communication between the first (10, 20) and the second (12) parts of the system.

3. The system of claim 1 or 2, comprising a first (27, 29) and second (27′

, 29′

) conducting plate in each of the first (10, 20) and second (12) parts of the system, the system being adapted to create an electrical field with potential differences between the first (27) and second (27′

) conducting plates in the second part (12) of the system, the system further comprising a detector circuit in the first part (10, 20) of the system, adapted to detect variations in the potential difference in the first (29) and second (29′

) conducting plates in the first part (10, 20) of the system, wherein said communication system communicating between the first (10, 20) and the second (12) parts is adapted to use said potential differences for said communication, the system being adapted to use the potential differences for the communication between the first (10, 20) and the second (12) parts of the system.

4. The system of claim 3, in which one of the first (27, 29) and second (27′

, 29′

) transmitter plates in each of the first (10, 20) and second (12) parts of the system is covered by a dielectric material.

5. The system of any of claims 1-4, in which the second part (12) is arranged in a device adapted to be in contact with the skin of the mammal body (11), so that the electrical field will propagate between the first (10, 20) and second parts (12) by means of the mammal body, i.e. using the mammal body as a conductor.

6. The system of claim 5, in which said device is an ornament such as a necklace, a bracelet, a ring, an ear ring or a piercing ornament for the human body.

7. The system of claim 5, in which said device is a watch or a wrist watch.

8. The system of any of claims 2-7, the system being adapted to create a capacitive electrical field with potential differences between said plates, so that the communication between the first and second parts can be in either direction, so that both of the first (10, 20) and second (12) parts can be either a sending part or a receiving part, in which system the second part (12) comprises a detector circuit for detecting said potential difference and interpreting them as said communication, the second part (12) also being adapted to present received communications from the first part (10, 20) to a user.

9. The system of claim 8, in which a sending part is adapted to create at least two different signal frequencies in said electrical field, and in which system a receiving part comprises a circuit for detecting which frequency that is being received via said electrical field, and for interpreting these two frequencies as said communication between the two parts.

10. The system of claim 8, in which a sending part is adapted to create pulses with positive and negative amplitudes in said electrical field, and in which system a receiving part comprises a circuit for detecting said pulses with positive and negative amplitudes, and for interpreting these amplitudes as said communication between the two parts.

11. The system of any of the previous claims, which is adapted to have a relatively high electrical resistance between the first (10, 20) and second (12) parts of the system, in order to reduce the electrical current which flows in the mammal body.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the electrical resistance is at least 1 MΩ

.

13. The system of any of the previous claims, in which the first part (10, 20) comprises a communication transceiver comprising a part of a capacitive energy storage, and being adapted to include injecting an electrical current into or being drawn from the capacitive energy storage for the communication which uses the capacitive field.

14. The system of any of the previous claims, in which the second part (12) comprises a communication transceiver comprising a part of a capacitive energy storage, and being adapted to include injecting an electrical current into or being drawn from the capacitive energy storage for the communication which uses the capacitive field.

15. The system of any of claims 1-12, in which the second part (12) comprises a communication transceiver comprising a first part of a capacitive energy storage, the external communication unit comprises a communication transceiver comprising a second part (12) of the capacitive energy storage, and being adapted to include injecting an electrical current into or being drawn from the capacitive energy storage for the communication which uses the capacitive field.

16. The system of claim 15, in which each of the first and second parts of the capacitive energy storage is divided into two separate portions, arranged so that when an electrical current is injected into or is drawn from the one of the two separate portions, an electrical current is simultaneously drawn from or injected into, respectively, the other of the two separate portions.

17. The system of any of claims 1-16, in which the communication between the first and second parts is performed digitally, the information being represented by variations of the derivative of the voltage over the capacitive energy storage.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the first (10, 20) and second (12) parts comprises a comparator for comparing at least two different received frequencies,

19. A system comprising an apparatus according to any of claims 1-18.

20. The system according to claim 19, further comprising at least one switch implantable in the patient for manually and non-invasively controlling the apparatus.

21. The system according to claim 19, further comprising a wireless remote control for non-invasively controlling the apparatus.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein the wireless remote control comprises at least one external signal transmitter and/or receiver, further comprising an internal signal receiver and/or transmitter implantable in the patient for receiving signals transmitted by the external signal transmitter or transmitting signals to the external signal receiver.

23. The system according to claim 22, wherein the wireless remote control transmits at least one wireless control signal for controlling the apparatus.

24. The system according to claim 23, wherein the wireless control signal comprises a frequency, amplitude, or phase modulated signal or a combination thereof.

25. The system according to claim 23, wherein the wireless remote control transmits an electromagnetic carrier wave signal for carrying the control signal.

26. The system according to claim 19, further comprising a wireless energy-transmission device for non-invasively energizing implantable energy consuming components of the apparatus with wireless energy.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the wireless energy comprises a wave signal selected from the following:

a sound wave signal, an ultrasound wave signal, an electromagnetic wave signal, an infrared light signal, a visible light signal, an ultra violet light signal, a laser light signal, a micro wave signal, a radio wave signal, an x-ray radiation signal and a gamma radiation signal.

28. The system according to claim 26, wherein the wireless energy comprises one of the following:

an electric field, a magnetic field, a combined electric and magnetic field.

29. The system according to claim 22, wherein the control signal comprises one of the following:

an electric field, a magnetic field, a combined electric and magnetic field.

30. The system according to claim 22 or 27, wherein the signal comprises an analogue signal, a digital signal, or a combination of an analogue and digital signal.

31. The system according to claim 19, further comprising an implantable internal energy source for powering implantable energy consuming components of the apparatus.

32. The system according to claim 31, further comprising an external energy source for transferring energy in a wireless mode, wherein the internal energy source is chargeable by the energy transferred in the wireless mode.

33. The system according to claim 32, further comprising a sensor or measuring device sensing or measuring a functional parameter correlated to the transfer of energy for charging the internal energy source, and a feedback device for sending feedback information from inside the patient'"'"'s body to the outside thereof, the feedback information being related to the functional parameter sensed by the sensor or measured by the measuring device.

34. The system according to claim 19, further comprising a feedback device for sending feedback information from inside the patient'"'"'s body to the outside thereof, the feedback information being related to at least one of a physical parameter of the patient and/or a functional parameter related to the apparatus.

35. The system according to claim 19, further comprising a sensor and/or a measuring device and an implantable internal control unit for controlling the apparatus in response to information being related to at least one of a physical parameter of the patient sensed by the sensor or measured by the measuring device and a functional parameter related to the apparatus sensed by the sensor or measured by the measuring device.

36. The system according to claim 19, further comprising an external data communicator and an implantable internal data communicator communicating with the external data communicator, wherein the internal communicator feeds data related to the apparatus or the patient to the external data communicator and/or the external data communicator feeds data to the internal data communicator.

37. The system according to claim 26, further comprising an energy-transform ing device for transforming the wireless energy transmitted by the energy-transmission device from a first form into a second form energy.

38. The system according to claim 37, wherein the energy-transforming device directly powers implantable energy consuming components of the apparatus with the second form energy, as the energy-transforming device transforms the first form energy transmitted by the energy-transmission device into the second form energy.

39. The system according to claim 38, wherein the second form energy comprises at least one of a direct current, pulsating direct current and an alternating current.

40. The system according to claim 37, further comprising an implantable accumulator, wherein the second form energy is used at least partly to charge the accumulator.

41. The system according to claim 37, wherein the energy of the first or second form comprises at least one of magnetic energy, kinetic energy, sound energy, chemical energy, radiant energy, electromagnetic energy, photo energy, nuclear energy thermal energy, non-magnetic energy, non-kinetic energy, non-chemical energy, non-sonic energy, non-nuclear energy and non-thermal energy.

42. The system according to claim 19, further comprising implantable electrical components including at least one voltage level guard and/or at least one constant current guard.

43. The system according to claim 26, further comprising a control device for controlling the transmission of wireless energy from the energy-transmission device, and an implantable internal energy receiver for receiving the transmitted wireless energy, the internal energy receiver being connected to implantable energy consuming components of the apparatus for directly or indirectly supplying received energy thereto, the system further comprising a determination device adapted to determine an energy balance between the energy received by the internal energy receiver and the energy used for the implantable energy consuming components of the apparatus, wherein the control device controls the transmission of wireless energy from the external energy-transmission device, based on the energy balance determined by the determination device.

44. The system according to claim 43, wherein the determination device is adapted to detect a change in the energy balance, and the control device controls the transmission of wireless energy based on the detected energy balance change.

45. The system according to claim 44, wherein the determination device is adapted to detect a difference between energy received by the internal energy receiver and energy used for the implantable energy consuming components of the apparatus, and the control device controls the transmission of wireless energy based on the detected energy difference.

46. The system according to claim 26, wherein the energy-transmission device comprises a coil placed externally to the human body, further comprising an implantable energy receiver to be placed internally in the human body and an electric circuit connected to power the external coil with electrical pulses to transmit the wireless energy, the electrical pulses having leading and trailing edges, the electric circuit adapted to vary first time intervals between successive leading and trailing edges and/or second time intervals between successive trailing and leading edges of the electrical pulses to vary the power of the transmitted wireless energy, the energy receiver receiving the transmitted wireless energy having a varied power.

47. The system according to claim 46, wherein the electric circuit is adapted to deliver the electrical pulses to remain unchanged except varying the first and/or second time intervals.

48. The system according to claim 46, wherein the electric circuit has a time constant and is adapted to vary the first and second time intervals only in the range of the first time constant, so that when the lengths of the first and/or second time intervals are varied, the transmitted power over the coil is varied.

49. The system according to claim 34, further comprising an implantable internal energy receiver for receiving wireless energy, the energy receiver having an internal first coil and a first electronic circuit connected to the first coil, and an external energy transmitter for transmitting wireless energy, the energy transmitter having an external second coil and a second electronic circuit connected to the second coil, wherein the external second coil of the energy transmitter transmits wireless energy which is received by the first coil of the energy receiver, the system further comprising a power switch for switching the connection of the internal first coil to the first electronic circuit on and off, such that feedback information related to the charging of the first coil is received by the external energy transmitter in the form of an impedance variation in the load of the external second coil, when the power switch switches the connection of the internal first coil to the first electronic circuit on and off.

50. The system according to claim 34, further comprising an implantable internal energy receiver for receiving wireless energy, the energy receiver having an internal first coil and a first electronic circuit connected to the first coil, and an external energy transmitter for transmitting wireless energy, the energy transmitter having an external second coil and a second electronic circuit connected to the second coil, wherein the external second coil of the energy transmitter transmits wireless energy which is received by the first coil of the energy receiver, the system further comprising a feedback device for communicating out the amount of energy received in the first coil as a feedback information, and wherein the second electronic circuit includes a determination device for receiving the feedback information and for comparing the amount of transferred energy by the second coil with the feedback information related to the amount of energy received in the first coil to obtain the coupling factors between the first and second coils.

51. The system according to claim 50, wherein the energy transmitter regulates the transmitted energy in response to the obtained coupling factor.

52. The system according to claim 50, wherein the external second coil is adapted to be moved in relation to the internal first coil to establish the optimal placement of the second coil, in which the coupling factor is maximized.

53. The system according to claim 52, wherein the external second coil is adapted to calibrate the amount of transferred energy to achieve the feedback information in the determination device, before the coupling factor is maximized.

54. The system according to any of claims 1-53, wherein said second part (12) comprise a learning device adapted to successively learn the voice commands and learn to combine with the right output command.

55. The system according to claim 54, wherein said learning device of the second part (12) is adapted to recognise approximate voice commands into a fixed defined output command.

56. The system according to any of claims 1-55, wherein said voice commands comprise a complex of different frequencies translated into one fixed defined output command.

57. The system according to any of claims 1-56, wherein said output commands do not differentiate different frequencies, but instead summarise a defined input of different frequencies into one single action.