Neuromodulation System Using Sensor Feedback for Energy-Efficient Therapy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing health and wellness systems lack the ability to dynamically adjust environmental conditions or device operations based on real-time physical, physiologic, and biologic data from individuals, limiting their effectiveness in providing personalized and responsive therapy or control.
Innovation Solution
A system that utilizes sensors to monitor physical, physiologic, and biologic conditions of individuals, processing this data to adjust environmental factors such as heating, cooling, humidity, light, or the operation of therapeutic devices like pacemakers and thermostats, using algorithms to determine optimal changes and interactions with control systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensors continuously monitor physical, physiologic, and biologic conditions in real-time, then personalized and responsive therapy effectiveness is improved, but energy consumption and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic monitoring and adjustment cycles rather than continuous operation. Sensors collect data at intervals, and the control system processes information and adjusts environmental factors or device operations in periodic cycles, reducing energy consumption while maintaining therapy effectiveness through regular updates.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback loops where sensor data about physical, physiologic, and biologic conditions is continuously processed and used to automatically adjust therapeutic parameters. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures therapy remains effective and personalized without requiring constant manual intervention or maximum energy expenditure.
2Reliability
If sensors continuously monitor physical, physiologic, and biologic conditions in real-time, then personalized and responsive therapy effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs multi-functional sensors and control components that can detect multiple types of conditions (physical, physiologic, biologic) and control various environmental factors and device operations through a single integrated platform. This universal approach reduces the number of separate components needed, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining comprehensive monitoring capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary control system that acts as a mediator between raw sensor data and the various therapeutic devices or environmental controls. This intermediary layer processes and translates complex sensor inputs into standardized control signals, simplifying the architecture by centralizing the complexity in a dedicated interface rather than distributing it across multiple direct connections.
3Ease of operation
If algorithms process sensor data to determine optimal changes in environmental factors, then comfort and health outcomes are improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-processes sensor data and establishes baseline profiles of optimal environmental conditions for different physiologic states. By preparing reference data and decision algorithms in advance, the system can quickly match current sensor readings against pre-established patterns and make rapid adjustments without requiring complex real-time computation for every decision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system focuses on adjusting a limited set of critical environmental parameters (such as temperature, humidity, lighting) based on sensor data, rather than optimizing all possible variables simultaneously. By concentrating computational efforts on the most impactful parameters, the system achieves meaningful comfort improvements with reduced processing requirements and faster response times.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for controlling a therapeutic device and/or environmental parameters can include one or more body worn sensor devices that detect and report one or more physical, physiological, or biological parameters of a person in an environment. The sensor devices can communicate sensor data indicative of the one or more physical, physiological, or biological parameters of a person to an external hub that processes the data and communicates with the therapeutic device to provide a therapy (e.g., neuromodulation, neurostimulation, or drug delivery) as a function of the sensor data. In some embodiments, the therapeutic device can be implanted in the person. In some embodiments, the therapeutic device can be in contact with the skin of the person. The sensor devices can also communicate to the hub that communicates with one or more devices to change the environment as a function of the sensor data.