METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVING NEURAL PERFORMANCE IN HUMAN SUBJECTS BY ELECTROTHERAPY

• US 3,563,246 A
• Filed: 04/24/1967
• Issued: 02/16/1971
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/1967
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Biolectron Incorporated (Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Henry K. Puharich, Joseph L. Lawrence
• Inventors: Puharich, Henry K., Lawrence, Joseph L.
• Application Number:
  US04/633,035
• Time in Patent Office: 1,394 Days
• US Class Current: 607/55
• CPC Class Codes: A61N 1/32 alternating or intermittent currents applying electric fields by inductive or capacitive coupling A61N1/40; microwave apparatus A61N5/02

Abstract

A method of patient rehabilitation by electrotherapy including periodically electrically stimulating the patient in the region of his facial nerve system by a controlled alternating electrical treatment signal, which signal is an amplitude modulated, double sideband signal of less than 100 kHz. The treatment signal is applied to the patient'"'"''"'"'s head through a pair of electrodes comprised of two bare electrodes or two insulated electrodes, or one insulated electrode and one bare electrode. The patient'"'"''"'"'s head is an element in an LC series resonant circuit established with the treatment signal source.

Claims

1. Apparatus for treating human subjects for the purpose of effecting hearing ability rehabilitation, which comprises:

a. a plurality of electrodes including two insulated and two uninsulated electrodes, said electrodes being adapted to contact physically contralateral regions of the facial nerve region of a subject;

b. a plurality of open oscillator circuits, each of which is adapted to oscillate at a different frequency and to provide a carrier signal when completed;

c. selector switch means for connecting predetermined selected electrode pairs and predetermined open oscillator circuits, different pairs of said electrodes being adapted for use with different ones of said open oscillator circuits;

d. the oscillator circuits being adapted to be completed upon closure of said switch means and application of said electrodes to said subject and having circuit parameters so chosen as to provide predetermined LC series resonant frequency conditions in conjunction with the subject and with the selected electrodes applied to the subject; and

e. means for applying am an amplitude modulating signal with not more than 100 percent modulation to said oscillator circuits in a manner productive of a double side bank treatment signal of less than 100 kHz.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized by said open oscillator circuits including inductance coils of large enough reactance in relatIon to the capacitance of the coupling between said electrodes and a subject and to the carrier frequency to maintain said LC series resonant conditions while accommodating limited changes in said capacitance due to physiological variations in the subject.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further characterized by:

a. said means for applying a modulating signal comprising a pure tone generator for tones in the range of approximately 20-20, 000 Hz.; and

b. means being provided for varying the frequency of said tones from a minimum value of not less than approximately 20 Hz. to a maximum value of not more than approximately 20,000 Hz. and back to said minimum in a sweep cycle of not significantly less than about ten minutes duration.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, further characterized by said pure tone generator including means for varying the amplitude of the tone signal over a substantial modulation range in cycles significantly shorter than those of said sweep cycle.

5. A method of treating human subjects for the purpose of a effecting hearing ability rehabilitation which comprises the steps of:

a. developing an alternating carrier signal of approximately 2-60 kHz. with a circuit which includes the head of the subject;

b. controllably amplitude modulating said carrier signal with an audio frequency signal to provide a double side band treatment signal of less than 100 kHz., limiting said amplitude modulation of said carrier signal to not more than 100 percent;

d. applying said treatment signal to the head of the subject in the region of the facial nerve system under conditions of substantial LC series circuit resonance; and

e. continuing the application of said treatment signal for a predetermined period of stimulation of not less than several minutes.

6. The method of claim 5, further characterized by said double side band treatment signal being modulated with cyclically increasing and decreasing signals varying between an upper limit of approximately 20,000 Hz. and a lower limit of approximately 20 Hz.

7. The method of claim 6, further characterized in that said treatment signal is modulated within a cyclical period of about 10 minutes.

8. The method of claim 7, further characterized in that said treatment signal is modulated between 0 percent and not more than 100 percent on a cyclical basis of substantially greater frequency than said cyclical period.

9. The method of claim 5, further characterized in that said electrical treatment signal is applied to the head of the subject through the tragal areas of the ear and/or the stylomastoid areas by the application of a physically contacting electrodes thereto.

10. A method of treating human subjects for the purpose of effecting hearing ability rehabilitation, in which the subject is given one of or more treatments, comprising:

a. applying electrodes to the subject in the region of the facial nerve system to establish an LC series resonant coupling with an oscillator circuit, said circuit including the head of the subject and being capable of generating a carrier signal of approximately 2-60 kHz. b. amplitude modulating said carrier signal with an A-F signal to generate a treatment signal of less than 100 kHz., said treatment signal comprising said carrier signal not more than 100 percent modulated with said audio frequency signal; and

c. applying said treatment signal to the subject for discrete time intervals and varying the A-F component of said treatment signal within said intervals throughout predetermined and regularly controlled ranges.

11. A method of improving neural performance in human subjects, which comprises:

a. electrically stimulating the subject in the region of the facial nerve system by a controlled electrical treatment signal; and

b. said treatment signal including a carrier signal generated at a frequenCy substantially corresponding to the circuit resonance frequency of the circuit, including the subject, said carrier frequency being in the range of 2-60 kHz. and being amplitude modulated not more than 100 percent with an audio signal to provide a double sideband signal of not more than 100 kHz.

12. The method of claim 11, which is intended principally for the purpose of rehabilitating the hearing abilities, and which is further characterized by said audio frequency signal being controllably varied between upper and lower end regions of a spectrum of approximately 20-20,000 Hz.

13. The method of claim 12, further characterized by said electrical stimulation being applied in a series of discrete treatment periods of not less than several minutes each, each of said treatment periods being separated from the others by intervals greater in duration than the duration of said treatment periods.