Method and apparatus for myofunctional biofeedback
First Claim
Patent Images
1. Apparatus for monitoring physiological movements of a patient, comprising:
- a plurality of first electrodes adapted to be contacted by selected parts of the body of the patient during movement thereof;
means for providing an oscillatory source of electrical excitation externally applied to the body of the patient for conduction through said first electrodes when said first electrodes are contacted;
a plurality of detecting means, each respectively connected to corresponding ones of said first electrodes for producing first binary signals indicative of contacts made with said corresponding first electrodes in response to the conduction of said oscillatory signal thereacross;
signal discriminating means including a plurality of second electrode at the input thereof adapted to be connected to selected skin areas of said patient overlying selected muscles cooperating with said selected parts of the body, said discriminating means producing a second binary signal indicative of the subject physiological electrical levels thereat; and
display means for receiving said first and second binary signals for providing concurrent selected indications of the corresonding levels thereof.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for performing myofunctional therapy by way of biofeedback comprising a plurality of electrodes disposed along a patient'"'"'s upper jaw, each connected to a detector circuit. An externally applied low voltage signal is selectively passed to respective ones of the detector circuits when the corresponding electrode is contacted by the tongue, whereby the detector circuit illuminates an associated light-emitting diode indicating such contact. In addition, a differential mode discriminating circuit is connected to selected facial muscles to register the electrical activity therein, again providing illuminated display if the muscular electrical levels are above a selected threshold.
69 Citations
11 Claims
-
1. Apparatus for monitoring physiological movements of a patient, comprising:
-
a plurality of first electrodes adapted to be contacted by selected parts of the body of the patient during movement thereof; means for providing an oscillatory source of electrical excitation externally applied to the body of the patient for conduction through said first electrodes when said first electrodes are contacted; a plurality of detecting means, each respectively connected to corresponding ones of said first electrodes for producing first binary signals indicative of contacts made with said corresponding first electrodes in response to the conduction of said oscillatory signal thereacross; signal discriminating means including a plurality of second electrode at the input thereof adapted to be connected to selected skin areas of said patient overlying selected muscles cooperating with said selected parts of the body, said discriminating means producing a second binary signal indicative of the subject physiological electrical levels thereat; and display means for receiving said first and second binary signals for providing concurrent selected indications of the corresonding levels thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. Apparatus for monitoring selected movements of a patient, comprising:
-
a plurality of electrodes adapted to be contacted by selected parts of the body of the patient during movement thereof; means for providing an oscillatory electrical excitation externally applied to the body of the patient for conduction through said electrodes when said electrodes are contacted; a plurality of detecting means each respectively connected to corresponding ones of said electrodes for producing binary signals indicative of contacts made with said corresponding electrodes in response to the conduction of said oscillatory signal thereacross each of said detecting means including a high impedance input connection relative to the contact impedance variations of its corresponding electrode; and display means for receiving said binary signals for providing concurrent selected indications of the corresponding levels thereof. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method for monitoring and displaying the positions of a patient'"'"'s tongue in coordination with selected other facial muscles, comprising the steps of:
-
imposing an oscillatory electrical signal to the body of the patient; aligning selected electrodes within the mouth of the patient for selective contact by the patient'"'"'s tongue; illuminating selected first light fixtures on a display by said oscillatory signal in association with said selective contacts; measuring concurrently the physiological electrical signals in selected other facial muscles; and illuminating selected second light fixtures on a display in association with the magnitude of said physiological electrical signals. - View Dependent Claims (11)
-
Specification
-
- Resources
Litigation Campaign Assessment
Thank you for your request. You will receive a custom alert email when the Litigation Campaign Assessment is available.
×
-
Current AssigneeRichard S. Shepard
-
Original AssigneeRichard S. Shepard
-
InventorsShepard, Richard S.
-
Primary Examiner(s)Michell, Robert W.
-
Assistant Examiner(s)Cohen, Lee S.
-
Application NumberUS05/547,235Time in Patent Office608 DaysField of Search128/2.1 R, 128/2.1 M, 128/2.1 E, 128/2.1 B, 128/2.1 Z, 128/2 N, 128/2 SUS Class Current600/590CPC Class CodesA61B 5/0534 for testing vitality of teethA61B 5/486 Bio-feedback A61B5/375 take...Y10S 128/905 Feedback to patient of biol...
