US4926969A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Sensory-driven controller
Assignee: Neurosonics Inc
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Filing: 1988-11-18
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Granted: 1990-05-22
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Expires: 2008-11-18
Abstract
Abstract A non-motive system for enabling a person to carry out a function includes circuitry designed to detect evoked-response potentials as a result of stimuli presented to the person. Each element of the stimulus corresponds to an external factor or function, so that the person attending to a particular element may communicate his desire that the external factor or function corresponding to that element be carried out merely through the detection of his brain wave response to the stimulus. The brain wave response is detected by electrodes, conditioned, and correlated with a precalibrated set of response template signals to derive the element attended by the subject, and thereby cause the indicated factor or function to be carried out.
Inventors
- 👤 Geoffrey D. Wright
- 👤 Edmund Pirali
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-23 12:18
CPC Classifications
A; A61; A61B; A61B5/00; A61B5/24; A61B5/316; A61B5/369; A61B5/377; A61B5/318; A61B5/346; A61B5/349; A61B5/35
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus, comprising the steps of: establishing a calibrated response template unique to the subject representing the correspondence between a stimulus and an evoked response; providing a stimulus for evoking an EEG response in a subject; detecting the EEG response evoked from the subject by the stimulus; mathematically corelating the EEG response with the template to derive the template response that corresponds to the EEG response; and determining the point of attention of said subject from said mathematical correlation.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus, comprising the steps of: establishing a calibrated response template unique to the subject representing the correspondence between a stimulus and an evoked response; providing a stimulus for evoking an EEG response in a subject; detecting the EEG response evoked from the subject by the stimulus; mathematically corelating the EEG response with the template to derive the template response that corresponds to the EEG response; and determining the point of attention of said subject from said mathematical correlation.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said stimulus is encoded to represent an external factor.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
30 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said calibrated response template is substantially time-invariant.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said EEG response is detected simultaneously from both hemispheres of the brain.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulus comprises a plurality of elements, and wherein the EEG response is a composite response comprising responses evoked individually from each element.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the EEG responses evoked from the stimulus elements have relative phase differences.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 5, wherein at least two individual responses from two elements have relative frequency differences.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the EEG response has a characteristic that varies depending upon the stimulus provided.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
50 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulus comprises at least one element having a sensible characteristic, and wherein the stimulus evokes the EEG response by altering the sensible characteristic of the element.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the characteristic is a visual characteristic.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the characteristic is color.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the characteristic is the external shape of the element.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
53 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulus comprises a plurality of elements each having a visible characteristic, said elements forming a visible pattern, and wherein the stimulus evokes the EEG response by altering the pattern.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject who is attending to a stimulus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the stimulus is a visual stimulus.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
155 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject responding to a stimulus, comprising the steps of: providing sensors for sensing the EEG response of a subject to a stimulus, said sensors providing a sensor response signal comprising at least two trial electrical signals representing said EEG response; conditioning the sensor response signal, including amplifying, filtering and digitizing to produce a conditioned output signal; processing the conditioned signal to reduce noise and suppress artifacts, thereby producing a processed evoked-response potential signal representing the EEG response; deriving a response template for comparison with the processed evoked-response potential; mathematically correlating the processed evoked-response potential signal with the response template to determine the similarity in at least one aspect between the processed evoked-response potential signal and the response template, and providing a correlated output signal representing the degree of similarity between the two signals; and deriving the point of attention indicated by the correlated output signal.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
155 words
A method for detecting the point of attention of a subject responding to a stimulus, comprising the steps of: providing sensors for sensing the EEG response of a subject to a stimulus, said sensors providing a sensor response signal comprising at least two trial electrical signals representing said EEG response; conditioning the sensor response signal, including amplifying, filtering and digitizing to produce a conditioned output signal; processing the conditioned signal to reduce noise and suppress artifacts, thereby producing a processed evoked-response potential signal representing the EEG response; deriving a response template for comparison with the processed evoked-response potential; mathematically correlating the processed evoked-response potential signal with the response template to determine the similarity in at least one aspect between the processed evoked-response potential signal and the response template, and providing a correlated output signal representing the degree of similarity between the two signals; and deriving the point of attention indicated by the correlated output signal.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
135 words
A system for determining the point of attention of a subject responding to a stimulus, comprising: sensor means for sensing an EEG response evoked by a stimulus and for producing an electrical signal unique to that stimulus; amplifier means for receiving and filtering the amplified sensor signals; filter means for receiving and filtering the amplified sensor signals; digitizing means for receiving and digitizing the filtered signal; means for reducing noise and suppressing artifacts in the digitized filtered signal and to output an evoked-response potential signal; template means for providing a response template for comparison with the evoked-response potential signal; correlator means for eliciting signal differences between the evoked-response potential signal and the response template and to output a correlator output signal; and means for deriving the point of attention indicated by the correlator output signal.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
135 words
A system for determining the point of attention of a subject responding to a stimulus, comprising: sensor means for sensing an EEG response evoked by a stimulus and for producing an electrical signal unique to that stimulus; amplifier means for receiving and filtering the amplified sensor signals; filter means for receiving and filtering the amplified sensor signals; digitizing means for receiving and digitizing the filtered signal; means for reducing noise and suppressing artifacts in the digitized filtered signal and to output an evoked-response potential signal; template means for providing a response template for comparison with the evoked-response potential signal; correlator means for eliciting signal differences between the evoked-response potential signal and the response template and to output a correlator output signal; and means for deriving the point of attention indicated by the correlator output signal.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1993-05-21 | 1993-11-20 | 1994-05-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1997-05-21 | 1997-11-20 | 1998-05-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2001-05-21 | 2001-11-20 | 2002-05-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |