Technique for diagnosing attention deficit disorder

• US 6,394,963 B1
• Filed: 06/20/2000
• Issued: 05/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mclean Hospital (Mass General Brigham, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Patton, David L., Parks, Peter A., Blazey, Richard N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shaver, Kevin
• Assistant Examiner(s): MARMOR II, CHARLES ALAN
• Application Number:
  US09/597,610
• Time in Patent Office: 707 Days
• Field of Search: 600/27,549,300,301 128/898
• US Class Current: 600/549
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/168 Evaluating attention deficit, hyperactivity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7257 using Fourier transforms
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/726 using Wavelet transforms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 15/00 ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof

Abstract

A method of determining whether an individual has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) comprising:

sampling the peripheral skin temperature of a human subject during a predetermined time interval when the subject is in an inactive state to provide sampled peripheral skin temperature data; and

analyzing the sampled peripheral skin temperature data for a pre-selected parameter, to determine whether said pre-selected parameter has a value indicative of ADD.

Claims

1. A method of determining whether an individual has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) comprising:

sampling the peripheral skin temperature of a human subject during a predetermined time interval when the subject is in an inactive state to provide sampled peripheral skin temperature data; and

analyzing the sampled peripheral skin temperature data for a pre-selected parameter, to determine whether said pre-selected parameter has a value indicative of ADD.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the skin temperature of at least one extremity of a human subject is sampled.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the skin temperature of at least one finger of a human subject is sampled.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein during said predetermined time interval when said subject is in an inactive state, the subject wears an earphone to block out ambient noise or to receive white noise to reduce or eliminate audio stimulus from the ambient environment during said time interval.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said data is processed with a fast fourier transform algorithm to produce frequency and phase data and said phase data is used to determine whether the subject has ADD.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said frequency and phase data is further processed to produce magnitude range data which is used to determine whether the subject has ADD.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein in said sampling the peripheral skin temperature of a human subject, N temperature samples are taken during a time interval Δ

t and the N samples are divided into groups of m samples corresponding to a window of widths Sigmast equally spaced in time across Δ

t, and wherein in said analyzing the sampled peripheral skin temperature data, the m data from each window is processed with a fast fourier transform (FFT) producing 2<sup>m−

1</sup> data points spaced equally in frequency space.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein in said analyzing the sampled peripheral skin temperature data the following parameters are found, the phase and magnitude are found for each window, the range of magnitude variation is found for each window, and the mean magnitude range and standard deviation for all of the windows in a session and from one or more of said parameters, a pre-selected parameter indicative of ADD is determined.

9. A system for determining whether an individual has ADD comprising:

a device for sampling the peripheral skin temperature of a human subject during a predetermined time interval when the subject is in an inactive state to provide sampled peripheral skin temperature data; and

an analyzer for analyzing the sampled peripheral skin temperature data for a pre-selected parameter to determine whether said pre-selected parameter has a value indicative of ADD.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said device includes a sensor for sensing the skin temperature of at least one extremity of a human subject.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein said device includes a sensor for sensing the skin temperature of at least one finger of a human subject.

12. The system of claim 9 including an earphone adapted to be worn by the subject during said predetermined time interval to block out ambient noise or to receive white noise to reduce or eliminate audio stimulus from the ambient environment during said time interval.

13. The system of claim 12 including a source of white noise coupled to said earphone to provide white noise during said predetermined time interval.

14. A method of determining whether an individual has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) comprising:

sampling a physiological parameter of a human subject during a predetermined time interval when the subject is in an inactive state to provide sampled physiological parameter data; and

analyzing the sampled physiological parameter data for a pre-selected parameter, to determine whether said pre-selected parameter has a value indicative of ADD.