Acoustic Stimulation Device for Tinnitus Frequency Determination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current non-invasive treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders, such as tinnitus, require significant effort to determine optimal stimulus frequencies for therapeutic effect, with existing methods being unreliable and time-consuming, especially for patients with atonal tinnitus.
Innovation Solution
A medical device with a stimulation unit generating acoustic stimuli and a control unit that determines a target frequency range based on the patient's auditory perception, selecting stimuli within this range to correspond to pitches or tone frequencies of a musical scale, allowing for efficient and effective treatment of pathologically synchronous neuronal activity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional methods are used to determine optimal stimulus frequencies, then therapeutic effect can be achieved, but the process is time-consuming and unreliable
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the patient's own auditory perception to determine the target frequency range. The control unit presents test tones and uses the patient's responses (which tone sounds most like their tinnitus) to automatically identify the dominant tinnitus frequency and set the therapeutic stimulus parameters, eliminating the need for external expert intervention and lengthy calibration procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback loop where the control unit presents test tones to the patient, records their responses regarding which tone matches their tinnitus perception, and uses this feedback to automatically determine the target frequency range and configure the stimulation unit's operating parameters for optimal therapeutic effect
2Reliability
If stimulus frequencies are precisely determined to activate affected neurons, then therapeutic effectiveness improves, but the complexity of the treatment process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patient themselves provides the critical information needed for treatment configuration by indicating which test tone matches their tinnitus perception. This self-service approach simplifies the overall system complexity while ensuring the stimulus frequencies are precisely tailored to the patient's specific condition
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically adjusts key parameters including the target frequency range, stimulus frequency, and intensity levels based on the patient's responses to test tones. This dynamic parameter adaptation ensures optimal therapeutic effectiveness while the control unit handles the computational complexity of translating patient responses into precise stimulation parameters
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device provides an efficient and effective treatment for neurological and psychiatric disorders by desynchronizing neuronal activity, improving therapeutic outcomes for conditions like tinnitus and other disorders by selecting appropriate stimulus frequencies tailored to individual auditory perceptions.
Implementation Method 1
a stimulation unit (14) configured for selectively generating acoustic stimuli to be administered to the patient (12)
Data Source
AI summary
A medical device (10) is provided for stimulating neurons of a patient (12) to suppress a pathologically synchronous activity of the neurons, comprising a stimulation unit (14) configured for selectively generating acoustic stimuli to be administered to the patient (12), and a control unit (20) for actuating the stimulation unit (14) to generate a plurality of stimuli of different frequencies, wherein the control unit (20) is configured to determine a target frequency range within a patient's hearing range in dependence on a patient's auditory perception; and to select the plurality of stimuli such that the frequencies of the different stimuli are within the determined frequency range and correspond to tone frequencies of a musical scale spanning at least one octave.