Self-Addressing Electrode Circuits for Fast Channel Assignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Manual addressing of electrical elements, such as electrodes, is cumbersome and time-consuming, prone to errors, and not feasible for large-scale applications like EMG or EEG, where hundreds of electrodes need to be simultaneously recorded.
Innovation Solution
Automated electrical element addressing systems that utilize self-addressable electrical elements with integrated microelectronic circuits and adaptors, which encode and transmit addressing signals, allowing electrodes to assign labels automatically without requiring power, reducing human intervention and systemic errors.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual addressing of electrical elements is used, then each electrode can be assigned to a recording channel location, but the process becomes cumbersome and time-consuming
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical elements are equipped with self-addressing capabilities through integrated microelectronic circuits or passive addressing circuits that automatically generate and transmit addressing signals. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for manual addressing, thereby reducing addressing time while maintaining accuracy through automated signal transmission and decoding processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical manual addressing process with an automated electrical system. Microelectronic circuits generate addressing signals that are transmitted through the electrical elements themselves, substituting the manual mechanical assignment process with an automated electrical signaling and decoding system, thus dramatically reducing addressing time.
2Reliability
If manual addressing of electrical elements is used, then addressing can be performed, but the process is prone to errors
Solution Approach 1:
The self-addressing mechanism uses automated microelectronic circuits to generate and transmit addressing signals without human intervention. This eliminates manual errors while maintaining reliability through consistent automated signal generation and decoding, reducing both time and error rates simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where the acquisition system transmits addressing signals to the electrical elements and receives confirming responses. This closed-loop feedback ensures accurate pairing between electrical elements and recording channel locations, enhancing reliability while the automated process reduces time consumption.
3Quantity of substance
If manual addressing of electrical elements is used, then each electrode can be assigned, but the process is not feasible for large-scale applications
Solution Approach 1:
Each electrical element performs self-addressing through integrated microelectronic circuits that automatically generate addressing signals. This self-service capability enables the system to handle large numbers of electrodes simultaneously without requiring proportional increases in manual labor, thus maintaining high productivity as the quantity of electrodes increases.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrical elements are pre-configured with addressing circuits and identification signals during manufacturing. This preliminary action ensures that when deployed in large-scale applications, the elements can be quickly identified and assigned to recording channels without time-consuming manual processes, thereby maintaining high productivity regardless of the number of electrodes.
4Productivity
If self-addressable electrical elements with microelectronic circuits are used, then addressing time is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The microelectronic circuits integrated into the electrical elements serve multiple functions: they amplify recording signals, generate addressing signals, and transmit identification information. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate dedicated addressing hardware, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity while maintaining high addressing speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The addressing circuitry is nested within the electrical element structure itself, with microelectronic circuits integrated directly into the electrode assembly. This nesting approach consolidates multiple functions into a single integrated unit, minimizing the increase in external system complexity while enabling rapid self-addressing capabilities.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~6
AI summary
The present disclosure relates generally to automating the task of assignment of labels to identify electrical elements (e.g., electrode contacts, electrodes including a plurality of electrode contacts, and/or non-addressable electrical elements, like wires). A system that can automate the task of assignment of labels can include an electrical element, a microelectronic circuit associated with the electrical element, and an acquisition system. The microelectronic circuit can transmit a sequence comprising a label corresponding to the electrical element. The acquisition system can assign the label corresponding to the electrical element to a recording channel after decoding the sequence.