Multimodal Bias Modification for Attentional Bias Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for treating attentional biases in patients with chronic conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and cancer, are challenging due to reduced cognitive function and limited access to behavioral therapies. Additionally, digital therapeutic treatments face difficulties in engaging users effectively, especially when they are experiencing pain or fear.
Innovation Solution
A digital therapeutic approach using multimodal, multistable bias modification (MMBM) is employed, which combines visual and auditory stimuli to reorient attention away from negative stimuli. This includes the use of binaural beats and binocular rivalry to synergistically increase the user's ability to resist biases towards negative stimuli.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If behavioral therapies are provided to treat attentional biases, then symptom severity is reduced, but access to therapy becomes difficult and adherence is inconsistent
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional in-person behavioral therapies with a digital therapeutic system that delivers therapeutic exercises through a user-friendly interface. The system automatically adapts to user responses and provides personalized feedback, eliminating the need for manual clinician intervention while maintaining therapeutic effectiveness. This substitution of mechanical delivery methods enables consistent access and adherence.
Solution Approach 2:
The digital therapeutic system is designed to be autonomously delivered and adapted. The system automatically adjusts exercise difficulty based on user performance, provides real-time feedback without clinician intervention, and allows users to complete therapeutic exercises at their own pace. This self-service capability significantly improves accessibility and consistency of adherence for patients with chronic conditions.
2Ease of operation
If digital therapeutic treatments are provided, then accessibility is improved, but user engagement is reduced when experiencing pain or fear
Solution Approach 1:
The therapeutic exercises are dynamically adjusted based on real-time user responses and physiological feedback. The system detects when a user is experiencing pain or fear through their interaction patterns and automatically modifies the exercise intensity, duration, or type to maintain engagement. This dynamic adaptation ensures the treatment remains effective and engaging even when users are experiencing difficult symptoms.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates periodic breaks and varied exercise rhythms to maintain user engagement. When detecting signs of discomfort or disengagement, the system introduces periodic variations in exercise intensity or incorporates rest periods, preventing user fatigue and maintaining consistent participation even during periods of pain or fear.
3Device complexity
If single-mode stimuli are used for therapeutic exercises, then device complexity is reduced, but training efficacy is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sensory modalities (visual, auditory, and haptic feedback) within the therapeutic exercises to enhance training efficacy. The system integrates these modalities in a coordinated manner, where each sense reinforces the others, creating a synergistic effect that improves attentional bias modification without requiring separate devices. This merging approach maintains manageable system complexity while significantly enhancing therapeutic effectiveness.
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 MMBM approach enhances the user's ability to redirect attention from negative stimuli, thereby mitigating symptoms associated with attentional biases. It provides real-time support and can be easily accessed by users, improving adherence to treatment and reducing symptom severity.
Implementation Method 1
visual multistable perception using a set of visual stimuli together with auditory multistable perception using auditory stimuli
Implementation Method 2
the digital therapeutic treatment presented herein may provide an auditory stimulus (e.g., binaural beats) to address auxiliary symptoms (e.g., fatigue) related to the user's condition
Data Source
AI summary
Provided herein are systems and methods for presenting multimodal stimulus to address symptoms associated with conditions. A server may identify a first visual stimulus associated with a condition and a second visual stimulus. The server may present the first visual stimulus at least partially overlapped with the second visual stimulus, to direct the user to interact with the display. The service may detect a response identifying an interaction associated with one of the first or second visual stimulus. The server may generate an auditory stimulus to include one or more portions indicating feedback based on the response.