FR2775588A1 - Control device for use by handicapped person to operate equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

The system uses the limited eye movement available to handicapped person, such as eye closed, eye open or eye to the left, to convey commands.- DETAILED DESCRIPTION - The aid for a handicapped person includes a pair of spectacles within which the nose bridge, or another section, is equipped with a photoelectric cell or a micro-camera (A,B). The purpose of this is to follow and transmit the movements of the eye.The device is associated with an electronic control box which provides power to the sensors and interprets the images obtained according to a simple language. This includes information such as eye open, eye closed, eye to the left etc. Within the control box this information is converted into a control language in order to control an electrical, mechanical or hydraulic device

Description

The present invention consists in giving a certain autonomy to severely disabled people following a traffic accident, cardiovascular or neurological accident, by allowing them
- to communicate with those around them,
- remotely, from their bed or their wheelchair, switching on or switching off everyday devices (television, blackout blinds, etc.).

The state of the art shows that all of the assistance devices for very dependent people existing to date are unfortunately based on the ultimate mechanical possibilities available to the patient. In the least serious cases, if this hierarchy can be used, the command:
- manual for people severely affected in the lower limbs and / or the spine,
- by mouth for quadriplegics or bedridden elderly people,
- using devices that detect the movement of the eyelid in extreme cases (blocked in syndrom).

 The present invention consists in using, among the last existing functions of the patient's organism, in addition to the movement of the eyelids, the movement of the eyes. It is then possible to create a real language of communication: "the language of the eyes".

 It therefore relates to a system intended to allow people to communicate with their entourage and their environment, characterized in that it comprises a device intended to capture the movement of the eyes and the eyelids, based on one (or several) photoelectric or microcamera cell, this device being supported on the person by a support, each position of the eye and / or of the eyelids being integrated as an element considered as a constituent of a pseudo-language, used by the person to communicate with those around him and his environment.

 The invention consists in using a pair of glasses, whether or not fitted with corrective lenses, the nose pads of which, or part of the left and right lens holders, are fitted with optical fibers (FIG. 1). The optical fibers, one per eye, are connected to an electronic unit placed near the patient on the bedside table or on the patient himself (belt, ...).

These optical fibers can be of the so-called "light conductor" or "image conductor" type. They are equipped at their end with a photoelectric cell or an electronic micro-camera whose role is to follow the movements The photocell, or the camera is content to operate, ambient lighting or additional lighting carried by the fiber and not detrimental to the eye, his health and the comfort of the patient, that is to say with very weak lighting or with lighting not directly perceived by the patient, in the infrared spectrum for example; in this case the optical fiber is double, a first part of the fiber is intended to light the eye and the second is used depending on the size of the cameras or photocells, these are either on the glasses (Figure 1, position A and
B); in this case, there is no longer any optical fiber, the transmission of the positions of the eye is done by electric wire, either in the electronic unit (FIG. 1, position C), at the end of the optical fibers.

The electronic unit associated with the optical system:
- provides power to the sensors (cell or camera),
- interpret the different positions of the eyes which are fourteen in number (see detail in Figure 2),
- open eye,
- closed eye,
- eye in left position1
- eye in right position,
- eye in position at the top,
- eye in position at the bottom,
- eyelid closed for less than x seconds (flapping),
- eyelid closed for more than x seconds (rest), with the possibility of combination between the two eyes, for example: left eye open, right eye closed.

 All these combinations constitute the "language of the eyes".

 In the electronic unit, a classical logic associates with each word of this pseudo language, a command. It is the simplest device which allows the patient to give about ten orders.

 But it is also possible in a more advanced model to associate the movement of the eyes with the control of the mouse of a personal computer. The blinking or a predetermined movement of an eyelid having the value of the "click" of the mouse. The computer, which uses a common word processor such as "Word" from "Microsoft", registered trademarks, displays on the screen a menu bar with ergonomic and intuitive icons. (example of screen in figure 3). The patient can give orders of switching on or off to devices.

 He can control on a television, the change of channel or the sound level, request the descent of an electric blind, call a nurse, and even write a text, even participate in an electronic video game.

Icon details
Figure 4:
k - the patient calls the nurse and can indicate her desire: a = sick, d = I am hungry, g = I am thirsty, j = sanitary, m = bath or shower;
b, c - request to be able to telephone or switch on the television, f = dialing the number or choosing the TV channel;
o = switching on the radio, i = adjusting the volume (is common to TV and radio);
e - lighting adjustment (analog or all or nothing);
h - ventilation control (analog or all or nothing);
I = height of the blinds;
n = room temperature setting.

 All these command requests are transmitted by the electronic unit to the PC which, via an all-or-nothing analog input-output card, controls the various terminal devices. The connection between box and PC can be done by any means such as: infrared, radio, serial or parallel link using one of the PC communication ports.

The system according to the invention comprises
- a device intended to capture the movement of the eyes and the eyelids based on one or more photoelectric cells or micro-cameras, or any other optical or optoelectronic system;
- The support of said device consists of glasses or any system fulfilling the same function by allowing the monitoring of the look and movement of the eyelids;
- the additional lighting means consist of an optical fiber or an additional lighting source whatever the emission wavelength;
means for processing the image of the movement of the eyes and of the eyelids which are either (FIG. 1) at the level close (A, B) to the eye and transmit the information at the level of the operating electronics by an electrical or optical signal, either are offset (C) by means of an optical fiber (1,2) conducting light or image towards the processing electronics;
- means for transforming the movements of the eyes and eyelids into analog or binary information;
- means allowing to assign to each of this information the equivalent of an electrical, mechanical, hydraulic command, ..., whether these commands are used for the patient's needs or can be taken over by a member of his family, staff care or management;
- means of connection by serial, parallel, radio, optical or any other technical link, to a personal computer, or by a computer network, to the monitoring or management system of a hospital or clinic;
- means by which binary or analog information transmitted to the computer or to any other means of translation and / or action, are correlated with precise control or communication functions.

Claims (10)

 1. System intended to allow people to communicate with their entourage and their environment, characterized in that it comprises a device intended to capture the movement of the eyes and the eyelids, based on one (or more) photoelectric cell or micro-camera, this device being supported on the person by a support, each position of the eye and / or the eyelids being integrated as an element considered as a constituent of a pseudo-language, used by the person to communicate with his entourage and his environment.  2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the support for the device intended to capture the movement of the eyes and the eyelids comprises glasses.  3. System according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that it comprises additional lighting means by means of an optical fiber (1,2), the latter, in this case, comprising two channels, one for lighting the eye, the other for feedback of position information.  4. System according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises lighting means consisting of an annex source of lighting.  5. System according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the means for capturing the image of the movement of the eyes and of the eyelids are situated at a level close (A, B) to the eye and this image is transmitted at the level of operating electronics by an electrical or optical signal.  6. System according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the means for capturing the image of the movement of the eyes and the eyelids are offset (C) by means of a conductive optical fiber (1,2) of light or image to processing electronics.  7. System according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it comprises means making it possible to transform the movements of the eyes and the eyelids into analog or binary information.  8. System according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it comprises means making it possible to assign to each of this information the equivalent of an electrical, mechanical or hydraulic command.  9. System according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that it comprises means of connection by serial link, parallel, radio, optical, to a computer of the personal type, or by a computer network, to the system of monitoring or management.  10. System according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that it comprises means by which the binary or analog information transmitted to the computer, or other means of translation and / or action, are put in correlation with specific control or communication functions.