A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of nerve stimulation technology, specifically a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery, including a cervical spinal cord pulse control unit, an electrode connection unit, a motion monitoring unit, a wireless communication unit, a speech unit, a paradigm decision unit, an electrode array unit, and an artificial intelligence unit. The present invention acts on a specific cervical spinal cord segment through non-invasive nerve electrical stimulation technology of the cervical spinal cord segment, induces the reconstruction of the spinal cord neural network, strengthens synaptic connections, solves the upper limb motor dysfunction of paralyzed people, and achieves the recovery of upper limb motor function.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of nerve stimulation, and in particular to a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for recovery of upper limb motor function. Background Art

[0002] Spinal cord injury (SCI) refers to damage to the neural structures within the spinal canal (including the spinal cord, nerve roots, and cauda equina) due to various reasons, with resulting dysfunctions in sensation, movement, reflexes, urination, and defecation at or below the level of injury.

[0003] Spinal cord injury is extremely harmful. If the recovery of limb function cannot be effectively promoted, it will lead to complications such as respiratory problems, pressure sores, urinary tract infections, and renal failure, which are life-threatening. The primary caregivers of patients with spinal cord injury often bear heavy physical, psychological, and financial burdens, which affect the health of the caregivers and reduce their quality of life accordingly.

[0004] Conventional treatment options for spinal cord injury neural repair mainly include surgical decompression of the injured area, neural bridging, neural regulation and cell therapy. In the specific application of neural regulation, epidural stimulation training can activate neural circuits, promote neural remodeling and functional recovery in patients with complete spinal cord injury, and improve trunk stability.

[0005] In summary, in order to further enable more patients with spinal cord injury to recover corresponding motor functions, improve their quality of life, and alleviate the physical, psychological and economic burdens on spinal cord injury caregivers, the present invention designs a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery. Summary of the invention

[0006] The object of the present invention is to provide a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery to solve the problems raised in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0007] To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions: a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery, comprising a cervical spinal cord pulse control unit, an electrode connection unit, a motion monitoring unit, a wireless communication unit, a speech unit, a paradigm decision unit, an electrode array unit, and an artificial intelligence unit;

[0008] A cervical spinal cord pulse control unit is used to generate carrier modulated stimulation electrical pulses in the cervical spinal cord C2-T1 segment, and the pulses contact the body surface to produce stimulation effects;

[0009] The electrode connection unit connects the pathway electrodes distributed in the cervical spinal cord segments to the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit;

[0010] The motion monitoring unit is attached to the corresponding moving part of the limb, and provides real-time feedback on the movement of the wearing part through surface electromyography and inertial conduction;

[0011] The wireless communication unit is configured as a master radio frequency transceiver distributed in the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit and a slave radio frequency transceiver distributed in the motion monitoring unit. The master radio frequency transceiver supports information transmission and reception with external intelligent devices, and the slave radio frequency transceiver can be used for self-organizing network applications, using the human body surface and trunk as the signal transmission medium path to form a body area network, and automatically selecting the unit with the best signal transmission and reception strength for signal merging and uploading and distributed information distribution;

[0012] A voice unit is used to realize voice control of the parameter instructions of the non-invasive spinal cord neurostimulator, so as to facilitate the self-control of the spinal cord neurostimulator device by people with limited limb motor function;

[0013] Paradigm decision-making unit, a treatment prescription deployed in the non-invasive spinal cord neurostimulator and artificial intelligence unit, is used to achieve the selection of adaptive optimal stimulation parameters in the cervical spinal cord C2-T1 segment;

[0014] Electrode array unit, multi-channel electrodes distributed in the C2-T1 segment of the cervical spinal cord, with developing marks on the electrodes to effectively mark the damaged cervical spinal cord area when wearing the electrodes for the first time and adjusting the stimulation paradigm;

[0015] The artificial intelligence unit is configured as an artificial intelligence application software program distributed on a smart phone, which is used to display the medical imaging data of the cervical spinal cord segments of people with cervical spinal cord injury and fuse them with the X-ray or fluorescent development marks in the above-mentioned electrode array unit, automatically depict the mapping relationship between the electrode channels worn by the human body and the cervical spinal cord segments, recommend optimal stimulation parameters, and infer and predict the optimal treatment paradigm adapted to the patient's disease outcome.

[0016] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: by wearing a non-invasive stimulator on the surface of the cervical spinal cord segment, through a non-invasive, wearable application solution, pulse stimulation with specific parameters can be performed on the specific injured segment between C2-T1 of the cervical spinal cord to induce the reconstruction of the spinal cord network, strengthen synaptic connections, and guide the long-term recovery of limb motor function through neural plasticity. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 A block diagram of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator system for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2-1 The non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention is shown in front view and back view;

[0019] Figure 2-2This is a rear view of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2-3 This is a left side view of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 A stimulation combination matrix diagram of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of dynamic stimulation dosage of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 5-1 It is a diagram showing the stimulation effect 1 of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 5-2 It is a diagram showing the stimulation effect 2 of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 5-3 It is a diagram showing the stimulation effect 3 of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 5-4 It is a diagram showing the stimulation effect of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 5-5 5 is a diagram illustrating the stimulation effect of a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Among them: a cervical spinal cord pulse control unit 10, an electrode connection unit 20, a motion monitoring unit 30, a wireless communication unit 40, a speech unit 50, a paradigm decision unit 60, an electrode array unit 70, and an artificial intelligence unit 80. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present invention and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

[0030] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "center", "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like indicate positions or positional relationships based on the positions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present invention. In addition, the terms "first", "second", and the like are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, features defined as "first", "second", and the like may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features. In the description of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, "multiple" means two or more.

[0031] In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be indirectly connected through an intermediate medium, or it can be the internal communication of two components. For ordinary technicians in this field, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood by specific circumstances.

[0032] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in conjunction with embodiments.

[0033] See also Figure 1 - Figure 2, a non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery, including a cervical spinal cord pulse control unit 10, an electrode connection unit 20, a motion monitoring unit 30, a wireless communication unit 40, a speech unit 50, a paradigm decision unit 60, an electrode array unit 70, and an artificial intelligence unit 80;

[0034] A cervical spinal cord pulse control unit 10 is used to generate carrier modulated stimulation electrical pulses in the cervical spinal cord C2-T1 segment, and the pulses contact the body surface to produce a stimulation effect;

[0035] The electrode connection unit 20 connects a plurality of access electrodes distributed in the cervical spinal cord segments to the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit 10;

[0036] The motion monitoring unit 30 is attached to the corresponding motion part of the limb, and provides real-time feedback on the motion of the wearing part through surface electromyography and inertial conduction;

[0037] The wireless communication unit 40 is configured as a master radio frequency transceiver distributed in the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit 10 and a slave radio frequency transceiver distributed in the motion monitoring unit 30. The master radio frequency transceiver supports information transmission and reception with an external intelligent device, and the slave radio frequency transceiver can perform self-organizing network applications, using the human body surface and trunk as a signal transmission medium path to form a body area network, and automatically selects a unit with the best signal transmission and reception strength to perform signal merging and uploading and distributed information distribution;

[0038] The voice unit 50 is used to realize voice control of the parameter instructions of the non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator, so as to facilitate the self-control of the spinal cord nerve stimulator device by the person with limited limb motor function;

[0039] A paradigm decision unit 60, a treatment prescription deployed in a non-invasive spinal cord neurostimulator and an artificial intelligence unit 80, for realizing the selection of adaptive optimal stimulation parameters in the cervical spinal cord C2-T1 segment;

[0040] Electrode array unit 70, multi-channel electrodes distributed in the C2-T1 segment of the cervical spinal cord, with developing marks provided on the electrodes for effectively marking the damaged cervical spinal cord area when the electrodes are first worn and the stimulation paradigm is adjusted;

[0041] The artificial intelligence unit 80 is configured as an artificial intelligence application software program distributed on a smart phone, which is used to display the medical imaging data of the cervical spinal cord segments of people with cervical spinal cord injury and fuse them with the X-ray or fluorescent development marks in the above-mentioned electrode array unit 70, and automatically depict the mapping relationship between the electrode channels worn by the human body and the cervical spinal cord segments.

[0042] In the embodiment of the present invention, the stimulation electric pulses can be output synchronously or asynchronously through multiple channels, and the asynchronous output time interval is controllable, so as to produce stimulation effects of different stimulation depths, different stimulation intensities, and different stimulation activation volumes at the contact part of the body surface, as follows: Figures 5-1 to 5-5 The stimulation effect diagram shown;

[0043] The electrode docking unit 20 is configured as a flexible micromechanical snap-on connection, which is stable and reliable without the risk of detachment due to shaking.

[0044] The docking port supports the selection of 2-9 stimulation output channels, and has both bedridden use and daily ambulatory mode. In the bedridden mode, the flexible electrode docking unit can connect the spinal cord stimulator to the C2-T1 segment electrode through a physical lead; the daily ambulatory mode emphasizes simplicity of use, with the spinal cord stimulator and the stimulation electrode integrated into one through the electrode docking unit 20, and fixed to the C2-T1 segment in a non-invasive manner on the surface of the body.

[0045] In one embodiment of the present invention, the motion monitoring unit 30 is configured as a flexible patch sensing device;

[0046] Among them, surface electromyography is used to capture the potential peak value, potential group delay, and effective width value of electromyographic signal of motor muscle groups;

[0047] Inertial conduction is used to capture the instantaneous burst acceleration of muscles and the acceleration of muscle relaxation, as well as the speed, acceleration, and limb angle of change from a static state to a moving state, and the speed, acceleration, and limb angle of change from a moving state to a static state.

[0048] By capturing the instantaneous burst acceleration of muscles through inertial conduction and fusion of the potential peak and potential group delay of muscle groups captured by surface electromyography, the micro-movement characteristics of human limbs can be accurately and reliably characterized.

[0049] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the speech unit 50 supports both specific speaker speech recognition and non-specific speaker speech recognition applications.

[0050] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3-Figure 4 As shown, the paradigm decision unit 60 combines the signal characteristics collected by the motion monitoring unit 30 and the interpretation and analysis of the cervical spinal cord injury site by the artificial intelligence unit 80 to select the optimal paradigm for stimulation parameter output, and has stimulation safety limit management, wherein the stimulation strategy is a stimulation function:

[0051] F(nme,act,level,mul_nme)=S nme *V act *D nme *Stim level *ε mul_nme *μ0*K

[0052] Among them, S nme is the effective area, V act is the activation area (activation volume), D nme Stim is the distance between the stimulating electrodes. level is the stimulus level function, ε mul_nme is the multi-electrode output function, μ0 is the stimulation adjustment factor, and K is the normalized compensation coefficient;

[0053] Stimulus level function ;

[0054] Among them, HV is the high voltage coefficient, F is the stimulation frequency, PW is the pulse width, I is the current intensity, T is the pulse period, and POL is the waveform coefficient.

[0055] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the imaging marker is set in the form of X-ray or fluorescence, and when running, combined with the high specificity of the human cervical spinal cord segment, the optimal limb movement recovery effect is obtained with the minimum stimulation dose;

[0056] Among them, each electrode can be used as a positive electrode, a negative electrode or an open circuit state, avoiding repeated adjustment of the electrode position after being worn on the human body.

[0057] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the artificial intelligence unit 80 application will recommend preferred stimulation parameters and preferred paradigms based on the above-mentioned mapping relationship and in combination with the initial intelligent model.

[0058] Artificial intelligence unit 80 is a high-computing artificial intelligence based on network service applications and an intelligent edge artificial intelligence with medium computing power. It works in the intelligent edge artificial intelligence mode first, saving system power consumption while obtaining higher-quality reasoning operations. It can choose to work in the high-computing artificial intelligence mode under high-performance applications. In the intelligent edge artificial intelligence mode, image interpretation and decision analysis are performed locally without the need for a network. Based on the accumulation of image samples and historical data such as the treatment parameters and paradigm selection set by the patient, the artificial intelligence unit infers and predicts the optimal treatment paradigm that is suitable for the patient's disease outcome, and synchronously updates the treatment paradigm to the non-invasive spinal cord neurostimulator, so that the non-invasive spinal cord neurostimulator can be separated from the artificial intelligence unit for offline application.

[0059] Referring to Fig. 2-Fig. 5, the operation flow of the whole system is as follows: the electrode array unit 70 is attached to the patient's cervical spinal cord segment, and the X-ray or fluorescent marker image data is transmitted to the artificial intelligence unit 80. The artificial intelligence unit 80 will display the medical image data of the cervical spinal cord segment of the cervical spinal cord injured population and fuse it with the development mark of the electrode array unit 70, automatically depict the mapping relationship between the electrode channel worn by the human body and the cervical spinal cord segment, recommend the preferred stimulation parameters, and then transmit the stimulation parameters to the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit 10, generate carrier modulated stimulation electric pulses in the cervical spinal cord C2-T1 segment, and the pulse current produces a stimulation effect at the contact part of the body surface, and the electrode array unit 70 is attached to the patient's cervical spinal cord segment. The motion monitoring unit 30 attached to the corresponding movement part of the limb provides real-time feedback on the movement of the wearing part through surface electromyography and inertial conduction, captures accurate and reliable characteristics of micro-movement of human limbs, and then collects relevant data of the motion monitoring unit 30 through the wireless communication unit 40 and transmits the control information of the artificial intelligence unit 80 to the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit 10 through the wireless communication unit 40. Then, during use, the 9 pathway electrodes distributed in the cervical spinal cord segment are connected to the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit 10 through the electrode docking unit 20, and the user can realize voice control of the parameter instructions of the non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator through the voice unit 50.

[0060] The above describes in detail the preferred implementation of this patent, but this patent is not limited to the above implementation. Various changes can be made within the knowledge scope of ordinary technicians in this field without departing from the purpose of this patent.

Claims

1. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery, characterized in that: It comprises a cervical spinal cord pulse control unit (10), an electrode connection unit (20), a motion monitoring unit (30), a wireless communication unit (40), a speech unit (50), a paradigm decision unit (60), an electrode array unit (70), and an artificial intelligence unit (80); The cervical spinal cord pulse control unit (10) is used to generate carrier modulated stimulation electrical pulses in the cervical spinal cord C2-T1 segment, and the pulses contact the body surface to produce a stimulation effect; the electrode connection unit (20) connects a plurality of pathway electrodes distributed in the cervical spinal cord segment to the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit (10); the movement monitoring unit (30) is attached to the corresponding movement part of the limb, and provides real-time feedback on the movement of the wearing part through surface electromyography and inertial conduction; The wireless communication unit (40) is configured as a master radio frequency transceiver distributed in the cervical spinal cord pulse control unit (10) and a slave radio frequency transceiver distributed in the motion monitoring unit (30), the master radio frequency transceiver supports information transmission and reception with an external intelligent device, and the slave radio frequency transceiver can perform self-organizing network applications; The speech unit (50) is used to implement speech control of parameter instructions of the non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator; the paradigm decision unit (60) is deployed in the non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator and the treatment prescription in the artificial intelligence unit (80); The electrode array unit (70) comprises multi-channel electrodes distributed in the C2-T1 segment of the cervical spinal cord, and the electrodes are provided with developing marks for effectively marking the damaged cervical spinal cord area when the electrodes are first worn and the stimulation paradigm is adjusted; The artificial intelligence unit (80) is configured as an artificial intelligence application software program distributed on a smart phone, and is used to display medical imaging data of the cervical spinal cord segments of people with cervical spinal cord injury and fuse them with the X-ray or fluorescent imaging markers in the electrode array unit (70), automatically depict the mapping relationship between the electrode channels worn by the human body and the cervical spinal cord segments, recommend optimal stimulation parameters, and infer and predict the optimal treatment paradigm suitable for the patient's disease outcome.

2. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 1, characterized in that: The stimulation electric pulses are configured to be multi-channel synchronous output or multi-channel asynchronous output, the asynchronous output time interval is controllable, and produce stimulation effects of different stimulation depths, different stimulation intensities, and different stimulation activation volumes at the contacting parts of the body surface.

3. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 2, characterized in that: The electrode docking unit (20) is configured as a flexible micromechanical snap-on connection, supports the selection of 2-9 stimulation output pathways, and has a bedridden use mode and a daily ambulatory mode.

4. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 3, characterized in that: The motion monitoring unit (30) is configured as a flexible patch sensing device.

5. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 4, characterized in that: The surface electromyography is used to capture the potential peak value, potential group delay, and effective width value of the electromyography signal of the motor muscle group.

6. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 5, characterized in that: The inertial conduction is used to capture the instantaneous burst acceleration of muscles and the slow release acceleration of muscles, as well as the speed, acceleration, and limb angle of the limbs changing from a static state to a moving state, and the speed, acceleration, and limb angle data of the limbs changing from a moving state to a static state.

7. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 6, characterized in that: The speech unit (50) supports specific person speech recognition and non-specific person speech recognition applications.

8. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 7, characterized in that: The paradigm decision unit (60) combines the signal characteristics collected by the motion monitoring unit (30) and the interpretation and analysis of the cervical spinal cord injury site by the artificial intelligence unit (80) to select the optimal paradigm for stimulation parameter output and has stimulation safety limit management, wherein the stimulation strategy is a stimulation function: F(nme,act,level,mul_nme)=S nme *V act *D nme *Stim level *e mul_nme *μ0*K Among them, S nme is the effective area, V act is the activation area (activation volume), D nme Stim is the distance between the stimulating electrodes. level is the stimulus level function, ε mul_nme is the multi-electrode output function, μ0 is the stimulation adjustment factor, and K is the normalized compensation coefficient; Stimulus level function ; Among them, HV is the high voltage coefficient, F is the stimulation frequency, PW is the pulse width, I is the current intensity, T is the pulse period, and POL is the waveform coefficient.

9. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 8, characterized in that: The development mark is set in the form of X-ray or fluorescence, combined with the high specificity of the human cervical spinal cord segment, to obtain the optimal limb movement recovery effect with the minimum stimulation dose, and each electrode can be used as a positive electrode, a negative electrode or an open circuit state.

10. A non-invasive spinal cord nerve stimulator for upper limb motor function recovery according to claim 9, characterized in that: The artificial intelligence unit (80) is a high-computing artificial intelligence based on network service applications and an intelligent edge artificial intelligence with medium computing power, which is used to display the medical imaging data of the cervical spinal cord segments of people with cervical spinal cord damage and fuse them with the development marks of the electrode array unit (70), and automatically depict the mapping relationship between the electrode channels worn by the human body and the cervical spinal cord segments.

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