1096 results about "Brain function" patented technology

Support structures for positioning sensors on a physiologic tunnel for measuring physical, chemical and biological parameters of the body and to produce an action according to the measured value of the parameters. The support structure includes a sensor fitted on the support structures using a special geometry for acquiring continuous and undisturbed data on the physiology of the body. Signals are transmitted to a remote station by wireless transmission such as by electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared, sound and the like or by being reported locally by audio or visual transmission. The physical and chemical parameters include brain function, metabolic function, hydrodynamic function, hydration status, levels of chemical compounds in the blood, and the like. The support structure includes patches, clips, eyeglasses, head mounted gear and the like, containing passive or active sensors positioned at the end of the tunnel with sensing systems positioned on and accessing a physiologic tunnel.

Support structures for positioning sensors on a physiologic tunnel for measuring physical, chemical and biological parameters of the body and to produce an action according to the measured value of the parameters. The support structure includes a sensor fitted on the support structures using a special geometry for acquiring continuous and undisturbed data on the physiology of the body. Signals are transmitted to a remote station by wireless transmission such as by electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared, sound and the like or by being reported locally by audio or visual transmission. The physical and chemical parameters include brain function, metabolic function, hydrodynamic function, hydration status, levels of chemical compounds in the blood, and the like. The support structure includes patches, clips, eyeglasses, head mounted gear and the like, containing passive or active sensors positioned at the end of the tunnel with sensing systems positioned on and accessing a physiologic tunnel.

Support structures for positioning sensors on a physiologic tunnel for measuring physical, chemical and biological parameters of the body and to produce an action according to the measured value of the parameters. The support structure includes a sensor fitted on the support structures using a special geometry for acquiring continuous and undisturbed data on the physiology of the body. Signals are transmitted to a remote station by wireless transmission such as by electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared, sound and the like or by being reported locally by audio or visual transmission. The physical and chemical parameters include brain function, metabolic function, hydrodynamic function, hydration status, levels of chemical compounds in the blood, and the like. The support structure includes patches, clips, eyeglasses, head mounted gear and the like, containing passive or active sensors positioned at the end of the tunnel with sensing systems positioned on and accessing a physiologic tunnel.

A virtual reality (VR)-based test battery wherein various neurobehavioral performance skills, including motor skills, sensory-perceptual skills, attention, and decision-making can be measured in human subjects. The invention can be used as a screening method within a virtual environment to provide an overall measure of general brain function relating to behavioral ability. In addition, the invention provides comprehensive VR-based neurobehavioral examinations tailored to individual subjects which can automatically self-adjust during operation in accordance with the specific purpose of the assessment, or for forms of cognitive or physical rehabilitation. According to the invention, patients with neurological and psychiatric dysfunctions can be assessed with physiologic monitoring as well as with anatomical and functional neuroimaging to non-invasively map the functional neuroanatomic correlates of VR-based test performance. In a preferred embodiment, the VR-based neurobehavioral testing system is portable allowing computerized tests to be administered in a desk-top or lap-top configuration, or via the Internet for tele-assessment of human subjects who are physically inaccessible to the test administrator. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the method of the invention is used for vocational assessment and training, wherein individual test scores are combined into a final metric useful for assessing a candidate's qualifications for employment, or certification in a particular skill.

A magnetic stimulation apparatus for central nervous system and circuit thereof and use of the apparatus and method of using the apparatus are shown. Controlling circuit design and outputting wave form signal to a drive power supply circuit enables the drive power supply circuit to output current of corresponding wave form to coils, and by means of the design of the shape, number of turns, size, interval of the coils, generates within a certain region inside the coils a desired time-variant magnetic field which is then applied to the brain of an animal or a human being so that the central nervous system can receive a wide area synergy magnetic stimulation with a precise wave form, high frequency or a combination of a plurality of frequency components, thus achieving the treatment of nervous and psychiatric diseases or brain function improvement in combination with behavior guidance, thought guidance, or psychological guidance.

Critical needs for MRI patient instruction, testing, comfort, motion control, and speech communication are provided for better imaging which leads to more effective medical care. An MRI Digital Video Projection System is disclosed which provides better quality display to the patient to better inform, instruct, test, and comfort the patient plus the potential to stimulate the brain with microsecond onset times to better diagnose brain function. An MRI Motion Tracker and Patient Augmented Visual Feedback System enables monitoring patient body part motion, providing real time feedback to the patient and / or technician to substantially improve diagnostic yield of scanning sessions, particularly for children and mentally challenged individuals. An MR Forward Predictive Noise Canceling Microphone System removes the intense MRI acoustic noise improving patient communication, patient safety and enabling coding of speech output. These systems can be used individually but maximum benefit is from providing all three.

A method and apparatus for performing rapid brain assessment may provide emergency triage to head trauma patients by analyzing a combination of spontaneous and evoked brain potentials. The spontaneous and evoked potentials are analyzed, and the results classified, to present a real-time assessment of a patient's brain, diagnosing any potential abnormalities therein.

A portable virtual reality device is disclosed that will facilitate the effective and efficient screening for TBI in military personnel in forward deployed military settings or remote locations using minimally trained staff. This includes the establishment of a protocol that will provide cost effective pre-screening of military personnel prior to deployment to establish a baseline of brain function prior to possible future injury. The efficiency of the device will promote subsequent follow-up screening to assess the effectiveness of prescribed TBI treatment. Further protocols for diagnosis and rehabilitation applications using the same virtual reality portable device will allow more advanced usage for clinicians providing ongoing evaluation and treatment.

Data collected by a transcranial brain function measuring / stimulating method is accurately projected and displayed onto a brain surface. If there is no three-dimensional head image, data is projected and displayed onto the brain surface of a standard brain. The head surface coordinates are transformed to the brain surface coordinates of the brain surface underlying the head surface by, e.g., a minimum distance search method. The coordinates of a projected point on the brain surface of the head surface and the probability distribution are determined for a standard brain normalized with data on subjects.

The present invention relates to diagnostic methods for assessing predisposition of a subject to a mental disorder phenotype having an association with an at-risk allele of a brain-functional gene having a plurality of alleles, the association being conditioned by a pathogenic environmental risk factor status condition. Additionally, the invention relates to methods for discovering a conditional association between a mental disorder phenotype and an at-risk allele of a brain-functional gene having a plurality of alleles, the association being conditioned by a pathogenic environmental risk factor status condition.

A method is disclosed for treating brain tissue with cryotreatment. A surgical tool, such as a catheter is disposed proximate to a target region of brain tissue. The tool or catheter provided includes a cryotreatment element. The cryotreatment element may be a cryochamber for enclosing the flow of a fluid refrigerant therein. The cryotreatment element is disposed at the situs of brain tissue to be treated, either through endovascular insertion, or via an opening in the cranium. A refrigerant flow within the cryochamber creates endothermic cooling with respect to the surrounding brain tissue, inducing hypothermia and forming iceballs proximate said tissue. The cooling may be reversible and non-permanent, or may be permanent leading to cell death, necrosis, apoptosis and / or surgical excision or ablation of tissue. Mapping using conventional techniques may be used to measure and assess brain function before and after cryotreatment, and cryotreatment itself may be integrally and progressively used to map brain function and treat tissue.

Disclosed are methods and data on determining response to a drug or other therapy prior to administration by obtaining a direct neurocognitive brain function measurement; obtaining an indirect neurocognitive brain function measurement; and, assessing the direct neurocognitive brain function measurement and the indirect neurocognitive brain function measurement collectively to obtain a response determination preferably the predictive value of the collective assessment is greater than a predictive value obtained from the separate predictive values for the direct and indirect measurements. Also disclosed are methods of determining dosage of a drug comprising administering a drug; comprising obtaining a direct neurocognitive brain function measurement; obtaining an indirect neurocognitive brain function measurement; and, assessing the direct neurocognitive brain function measurement and the indirect neurocognitive brain function measurement collectively to obtain a dosage, preferably the predictive value of the collective assessment is greater than a predictive value obtained from the separate predictive values for the direct and indirect measurements; optionally, additional cycles of obtaining and assessing indirect and direct measurements are performed.

An efficient, objective testing method and system for evaluating changes in mental function is described. The method and system are based on measuring an individual's behavioral responses and brain function during a brief cognitive test battery and passive control conditions. The method and system is designed to assess an individual's fundamental cognitive functions, and whether those functions have been significantly affected by a variety of factors such as progressive disease processes, medication, stress, fatigue, training, or the passage of time. The method and system can be used to determine whether drugs being evaluated to treat diseases or conditions affecting cognitive brain function have a significant positive effect on delaying or improving the symptoms of such a disease or condition, especially during clinical trials for drug approval and subsequent marketing. The method and system may also be employed as part of the successful diagnosis or ongoing treatment of neurological diseases or conditions that directly or indirectly affect human neurocognitive performance. The method and system may also be used to determine transitory changes in overall cognitive function due to emotional stress or fatigue, and more long lasting changes in overall cognitive function following training and educational programs.

The OculoKinetic Device is used to test an individual to evaluate brain functions and to identify the presence of a traumatic brain injury or disease which manifests itself through abnormal ocular responses to stimuli by using the high-speed tracking of an individual's eye movements, pupil size and reactivity, eye lid position and blink parameters and optionally along with other ocular elements, i.e., eyeball pressure, temperature, blood flow, etc. The eye movement stimulus protocol uses a target that moves in any direction of the two-dimensional plane and may use a color display or geometric shapes. In addition, the stimuli can be used in conjunction with cognitive testing, balance assessment, and other non-eye tests.

The present invention is related to mammalian nutrition and effects thereof in individuals with age associated cognitive decline such as Age Associated Memory Inpairment (AAMI) or a dementing illness such as Alzheimer's disease or related dementia, or Mild Cognitive Impairment, such as improving performance in, or reversal, prevention, reducing and delaying decline in, one or more of cognitive function, memory, behavior, cerebrovascular function, motor function, and / or brain physiology are seen. In particular, the present invention utilizes medium chain triglycerides, in one embodiment, administered as part of a long-term treatment regimen, to preserve or improve learning, attention, motor performance, cerebrovascular function, social behavior, and to increase activity levels, particularly in aging mammals.

In a patient suffering from neural impairment, stimulation is provided to sensory surfaces of the face and / or neck, or more generally to areas of the body that stimulate the trigeminal nerve, while performing an activity intended to stimulate a brain function to be rehabilitated. The simulation may then be continued after the performance of the activity has ceased. It has been found that the patient's performance of the activity is then improved after stimulation has ceased. Moreover, it tends to improve to a greater extent, and / or for a longer time, when the post-activity stimulation is applied, as compared to when post-activity stimulation is not applied.

The invention provides compositions comprising one or more long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, nitric oxide releasing compounds, and medium chain triglycerides and methods for using such compositions for enhancing cognitive function, reducing or preventing a decline of social interaction, reducing or preventing age-related behavioral changes, increasing trainability, maintaining optimal brain function, facilitating learning and memory, reducing memory loss, retarding brain aging, preventing or treating strokes, and preventing or treating dementia in an animal. Preferably, the compositions are food compositions useful for enhancing cognitive function in humans and companion animals.

The invention relates to an electroencephalogram feature extracting method based on brain function network adjacent matrix decomposition. The current motion image electroencephalogram signal feature extraction algorithm mostly focuses on partially activating the qualitative and quantitative analysis of brain areas, and ignores the interrelation of the bran areas and the overall coordination. In light of a brain function network, and on the basis of complex brain network theory based on atlas analysis, the method comprises the steps of: firstly, establishing the brain function network through a multi-channel motion image electroencephalogram signal, secondly, carrying out singular value decomposition on the network adjacent matrix, thirdly, identifying a group of feature parameters based on the singular value obtained by the decomposition for showing the feature vector of the electroencephalogram signal, and fourthly, inputting the feature vector into a classifier of a supporting vector machine to complete the classification and identification of various motion image tasks. The method has a wide application prospect in the identification of a motion image task in the field of brain-machine interfaces.

A method of measuring human brain activity includes the steps of simultaneously measuring pulses at two locations on a human subject that each receives blood from a different carotid artery that feeds a respective one of left and right hemispheres of the brain of the human subject, determining pulse characteristics from the measured pulses, and evaluating relative left and right hemisphere activity of the brain of the human subject based on the determined pulse characteristics. The method may use dual photoplethysmograhic blood pulse sensors that measure left and right hemisphere activity by determining pulse amplitude difference and time or phase differences between the earlobes while the subject carries out various mental functions. The data from the sensors are processed to provide a measure of brain function and the mental activity of the subject.

A compound of formula: where Ar1, Ar2, X, R3, and m are as disclosed herein or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof (a “Tetrahydropiperidyl Compound”); compositions comprising an effective amount of a Tetrahydropiperidyl Compound; and methods for treating or preventing pain, UI, an ulcer, IBD, IBS, an addictive disorder, Parkinson's disease, parkinsonism, anxiety, epilepsy, stroke, a seizure, a pruritic condition, psychosis, a cognitive disorder, a memory deficit, restricted brain function, Huntington's chorea, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, dementia, retinopathy, a muscle spasm, a migraine, vomiting, dyskinesia, or depression in an animal comprising administering to an animal in need thereof an effective amount of a Tetrahydropiperidyl Compound are disclosed herein.

A method for changing appearance of EEG or a relationship of brain wave patterns while achieving behavioral changes, the method including individualized assessing of dysregulated patterns of brain function using topographic quantitative electroencephalogram (LORETA [low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography] qEEG) or regular EEG recollection, modifying or priming neuroplasticity with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or with magnetic or electromagnetic fields to modify cortical excitability of neurons in dysregulated areas, and self-regulating LORETA patterns with neurofeedback to change an appearance of EEG or a relationship of brain wave patterns while achieving behavioral changes.

An exemplary method for monitoring neonate brain function includes processing electroencephalographic data of the neonate to calculate at least one measure, the at least one measure including a non-linear measure, comparing the calculated at least one measure against at least one baseline threshold, wherein the at least one baseline threshold corresponds to a neonate age range, and outputting a result of the comparison. An exemplary system for monitoring neonate brain function includes a computing device for processing electroencephalographic data of the neonate to calculate at least one measure, the at least one measure including a non-linear measure, and for comparing the calculated at least one measure against at least one baseline threshold, wherein the at least one baseline threshold corresponds to a neonate age range, and a display for displaying a result of the comparison.

A method and apparatus for performing rapid brain assessment may provide emergency triage to head trauma patients by analyzing a combination of spontaneous and evoked brain potentials. The spontaneous and evoked potentials are analyzed, and the results classified, to present a real-time assessment of a patient's brain, diagnosing any potential abnormalities therein.

The OculoKinetic Device is used to test an individual to evaluate brain function including, but not limited to, identifying the presence of a traumatic brain injury or central nervous system disease which manifests itself through abnormal ocular responses to stimuli by using the high-speed tracking of an individual's eye movements (monocular or binocular, and either conjugate or disconjugate in horizontal, vertical, or torsional directions or combinations thereof), pupil size and reactivity, eyelid position, and blink parameters, and optionally along with other ocular elements, i.e., eyeball pressure, temperature, blood flow, etc. The eye movement stimulus protocol uses a target that moves in any direction of a two- or three-dimensional plane and may use a color display or geometric shapes. In addition, the stimuli can be used in conjunction with cognitive testing, balance assessment, and other non-eye tests.