Physiological State Maintenance System Using Adaptive Feedback Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems fail to maintain a subject's optimal state of alertness without causing either excessive relaxation or stress, which is crucial in situations like driving or operating machinery, as they lack the ability to monitor and respond to deviations from desired physiological parameters within defined thresholds.
Innovation Solution
A system that measures physiological parameters, calculates values against upper and lower thresholds, and generates outputs to maintain the subject within a desired affective state, using sensors, a processor, and output devices to provide feedback such as vibrations, audio, or breathing guidance to regulate heart rate and relaxation levels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a system continuously reduces stress levels (as in RESPeRATE® and StressEraser), then the user's relaxation level improves, but the user may become too relaxed and fall asleep
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors physiological parameters (heart rate, respiration rate, skin conductance) and provides real-time feedback to adjust the output signal, creating a closed-loop control system that maintains the subject within target thresholds without causing excessive relaxation or sleep
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the output signal characteristics (frequency, amplitude, duration) based on the subject's current physiological state and response, allowing the intervention to adapt in real-time rather than applying a fixed continuous stimulus
2Ease of operation
If a system provides continuous stimulation to maintain alertness, then the subject remains awake, but the subject may become too stressed or aroused
Solution Approach 1:
The system monitors stress indicators (heart rate variability, skin conductance level) and reduces or pauses output stimulation when the subject approaches upper thresholds, preventing excessive arousal while maintaining alertness through adaptive control
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies stimulation in periodic bursts rather than continuous exposure, with intervals between stimuli that allow the subject to remain alert without constant activation, reducing cumulative stress response
3Measurement precision
If a system uses multiple warning levels and acoustic/visual/haptic means (as in AWAKE and DWS), then the driver's alertness is effectively monitored, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the monitoring function into separate sensor modules (heart rate sensor, respiration sensor, skin conductance sensor) that independently measure different physiological parameters, allowing precise detection of hypo-vigilance through aggregation of multiple simple measurements rather than one complex system
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a single integrated processor that analyzes multiple physiological parameters simultaneously to detect various states (alertness, stress, relaxation, sleepiness), allowing one device to perform multiple monitoring functions rather than requiring separate specialized devices for each function
Data Source
AI summary
A method of maintaining a state in a subject includes measuring one or more physiological parameters of the subject, calculating, using the measured parameter(s), a value, determining if the calculated value is below a lower threshold or above an upper threshold, and generating an output to the subject if the calculated value is determined to be below the lower threshold or above the upper threshold. In one embodiment, the generating an output to the subject includes generating a first output if the calculated value is determined to be below the lower threshold and generating a second output if the calculated value is determined to be above the upper threshold, the second output being different from the first output.