Obtaining measurements of muscle reflexes for diagnosis of patient symptoms
First Claim
1. A non-surgically implantable method for measuring a bulbocavernosus reflex, comprising:
- a probe a patient contacting portion configured for being brought into contact with a predetermined body area of a patient with sufficient force for inducing, via a mechanical stimulation of the predetermined body area from the force, a reflex of bulbocavernosus muscle, said probe comprising;
(i) a housing with a bore there through, said housing containing a piezoelectric disk, said disk electrically connected to an amplifier and activated by a power source;
(iii) a patient contacting portion comprises stimulus plunger having first and second ends and having a shaft that extends through the bore, said shaft being movable along a longitudinal axis and having an expanded portion that prevents the stimulus plunger from sliding our of an opening in the housing; and
(iii) a compression spring that biases said second end of the stimulus plunger away from contact with the piezoelectric disk;
wherein the patient contacting portion is configured to activate, during the contact, the piezoelectric disk in the probe resulting in a signal response that identifies when an onset of the contact of the predetermined body area occurs;
wherein the signal response is used in identifying a subsequent collection of electrical responses from a plurality of electrodes placed on the patient'"'"'s skin, wherein the collection is indicative of the bulbocavernosus muscle reflex or an absence thereof;
wherein the placed plurality of electrodes are spaced apart from each of;
(i) an additional electrode for supplying a voltage to the patient'"'"'s skin, and (ii) the predetermined body area contacted by the patient contacting portion for inducing the bulbocavernosus muscle reflex;
wherein one or more characteristics of the electrical responses in the collection provide information about the bulbocavernosus muscle reflex;
wherein the characteristics are determined using at least one of (a) through (d) following;
(a) a time delay between the response and the collection are output with information, (b) a time duration for the collection, (c) a value indicative of a magnitude of at least one electrical response of the collection, and (d) a voltage differential between the electrical responses of the collection and a voltage indicative of the bulbocavernosus muscle substantially at rest.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is disclosed for measuring muscle reflexes (e.g., a bulbocavernosus reflex) as a tool for identifying/diagnosing dysfunctions (e.g., spinal cord abnormalities, bladder voiding dysfunction, and sexual organ dysfunction) non-invasively by using mechanical stimulation. The system and method includes a probe having a predetermined patient contacting portion, wherein when the contacting portion is moved into contact with a particular area of the patient (e.g., the patient'"'"'s genitals), the contact induces a muscle reflex. The probe detects the pressure resulting from the contacting portion being abruptly and forcibly brought into contact with the particular area. Such detection is used to electronically initiate capture of electrical responses from a plurality of electrodes placed on the patient'"'"'s skin in proximity to the particular area. Such electrical responses are processed to determine characteristics of the patient'"'"'s reflexes of one or more muscles adjacent to the electrodes.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A non-surgically implantable method for measuring a bulbocavernosus reflex, comprising:
-
a probe a patient contacting portion configured for being brought into contact with a predetermined body area of a patient with sufficient force for inducing, via a mechanical stimulation of the predetermined body area from the force, a reflex of bulbocavernosus muscle, said probe comprising; (i) a housing with a bore there through, said housing containing a piezoelectric disk, said disk electrically connected to an amplifier and activated by a power source; (iii) a patient contacting portion comprises stimulus plunger having first and second ends and having a shaft that extends through the bore, said shaft being movable along a longitudinal axis and having an expanded portion that prevents the stimulus plunger from sliding our of an opening in the housing; and (iii) a compression spring that biases said second end of the stimulus plunger away from contact with the piezoelectric disk; wherein the patient contacting portion is configured to activate, during the contact, the piezoelectric disk in the probe resulting in a signal response that identifies when an onset of the contact of the predetermined body area occurs; wherein the signal response is used in identifying a subsequent collection of electrical responses from a plurality of electrodes placed on the patient'"'"'s skin, wherein the collection is indicative of the bulbocavernosus muscle reflex or an absence thereof; wherein the placed plurality of electrodes are spaced apart from each of;
(i) an additional electrode for supplying a voltage to the patient'"'"'s skin, and (ii) the predetermined body area contacted by the patient contacting portion for inducing the bulbocavernosus muscle reflex;wherein one or more characteristics of the electrical responses in the collection provide information about the bulbocavernosus muscle reflex; wherein the characteristics are determined using at least one of (a) through (d) following;
(a) a time delay between the response and the collection are output with information, (b) a time duration for the collection, (c) a value indicative of a magnitude of at least one electrical response of the collection, and (d) a voltage differential between the electrical responses of the collection and a voltage indicative of the bulbocavernosus muscle substantially at rest. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification