WO2022131506A1

WO2022131506A1 - Brain impedance measurement device and method for operating same

Info

Publication number: WO2022131506A1
Application number: PCT/KR2021/014208
Authority: WO
Inventors: 이순혁
Original assignee: (주)메그노시스
Priority date: 2020-12-18
Filing date: 2021-10-14
Publication date: 2022-06-23
Also published as: KR20220088298A; KR102651172B1

Abstract

Disclosed are a brain impedance measurement device and a method for operating the same. According to one embodiment, the brain impedance measurement device may be characterized by calculating the brain impedance of a subject according to current signals, provided through a plurality of electrodes, in order to use the brain impedance of the subject as a dementia severity parameter.

Description

Brain impedance measuring device and its operation method

The following embodiments describe a measurement device for measuring brain impedance and a technique for an operating method thereof.

Conventional dementia diagnosis technology detects the scalp potential through a plurality of electrodes according to the electrode arrangement method of the international 10-20 standard, and is based on the time change of the average dipole degree obtained based on the detected potential. Dementia onset is being diagnosed by using statistics on the subject. As described above, a conventional dementia diagnosis technique using statistics on time change of average dipole degree as a dementia degree parameter is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-0048857.

However, the conventional dementia diagnosis technique has a disadvantage in that the complexity of calculating statistics on the time change of the average dipole degree used as a dementia degree parameter is very large.

Accordingly, there is a need to propose a dementia diagnosis technique using a dementia degree parameter that can be simply calculated.

One embodiment proposes a dementia diagnosis technique using a dementia degree parameter that can be simply calculated.

In more detail, the embodiments propose a brain impedance measuring device for calculating brain impedance according to a current signal provided through a plurality of electrodes in order to use the subject's brain impedance as a dementia degree parameter, and an operating method thereof.

In particular, one embodiment proposes a method of operating a brain impedance measuring device for simultaneously providing a current signal and measuring a voltage using the same electrode set in order to calculate the brain impedance proportional to the voltage.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, in order to simultaneously perform providing a current signal and measuring a voltage using the same electrode set, a current providing unit providing a current signal and a signal processing unit measuring a voltage are simultaneously connected to at least one electrode set We propose a brain impedance measuring device with a structured structure.

In addition, one embodiment proposes a method of operating a brain impedance measuring device for simultaneously providing a current signal and measuring a voltage using a separate electrode set in order to calculate the brain impedance proportional to the voltage.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, in order to simultaneously perform providing a current signal and measuring a voltage using a separate electrode set, a current providing unit providing a current signal and a signal processing unit measuring a voltage include at least one electrode set and at least one electrode set We propose a brain impedance measuring device having a structure in which each of the at least one electrode set and the at least one remaining electrode set is maintained at the same time while being separately connected to the one remaining electrode set.

In addition, embodiments propose a brain impedance measuring device using a plurality of electrode sets to measure brain impedance in order to improve diagnosis accuracy, and an operating method thereof.

In addition, in addition to providing a current signal to calculate the brain impedance, one embodiment proposes a brain impedance measuring device and an operating method for providing a current signal for the purpose of transcranial electrical stimulation of a subject.

According to one embodiment, the brain impedance measuring device, a plurality of electrodes attached to the subject's scalp; a current providing unit for providing a current signal to the scalp through at least one electrode set formed by at least two or more of the plurality of electrodes; and a signal processing unit for calculating the brain impedance of the subject based on a voltage measured through the at least one electrode set as a result of providing the current signal to the scalp, wherein the at least one electrode set includes the current providing unit and simultaneously connected to the signal processing unit.

According to one side, the signal processing unit may be characterized in that the current providing unit measures the voltage through the at least one electrode set at the same time as the current providing unit provides a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set .

According to another side, the brain impedance measuring device further comprises at least one switch forming the at least one electrode set through a switching operation of selecting the at least two or more electrodes among the plurality of electrodes can be done with

According to another aspect, the current providing unit may be characterized in that it provides the current signal to the scalp for the purpose of measuring the voltage in the signal processing unit and for transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject.

According to another aspect, the signal processing unit, based on the calculated brain impedance, may be characterized in that it determines whether the subject has dementia.

According to another aspect, the signal processing unit, when one or more electrode sets for which a brain impedance value equal to or greater than a preset value is calculated among the at least one electrode set is detected, diagnoses that the subject has dementia can do.

According to another aspect, the current providing unit may further provide a current signal for transcranial electrical stimulation through an electrode set from which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to the preset value is calculated for dementia delay treatment. .

According to another aspect, the plurality of electrodes, according to the electrode arrangement method of the international 10-20 standard (International 10-20 standard) may be characterized in that it is attached to the scalp of the subject.

According to another side, the brain impedance measuring device, in order to check whether the plurality of electrodes are attached to the scalp, the at least one electrode formed by the at least two or more of the plurality of electrodes It may be characterized by calculating the impedance between the at least one electrode set and the scalp by measuring the voltage through the set.

According to one embodiment, the brain impedance measuring device, a plurality of electrodes attached to the subject's scalp; a current providing unit for providing a current signal to the scalp through at least one electrode set of the plurality of electrodes; And as a result of the current signal being provided to the scalp through the at least one electrode set, the subject's and a signal processing unit for calculating brain impedance, wherein the at least one electrode set and the at least one remaining electrode set are separately connected to the current providing unit and the signal processing unit, respectively, the current providing unit and the signal processing unit It is characterized in that each connection state is maintained at the same time.

According to one side, the signal processing unit, at the same time that the current providing unit provides a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set, it is characterized in that the voltage is separately measured through the at least one remaining electrode set can

According to another side, the brain impedance measuring device forms the at least one electrode set through a switching operation of selecting at least two or more electrodes from among the plurality of electrodes, or at least two of the plurality of electrodes The method may further include at least one switch forming the at least one remaining electrode set through a switching operation of selecting other electrodes as described above.

According to another side, any one of the at least two or more electrodes forming the at least one electrode set and any one of the at least two or more other electrodes forming the at least one remaining electrode set The electrodes may be shared with each other.

One embodiment may propose a dementia diagnosis technique using a dementia degree parameter that can be simply calculated.

More specifically, the embodiments may propose a brain impedance measuring device for calculating brain impedance according to a current signal provided through a plurality of electrodes and an operating method thereof in order to use the subject's brain impedance as a dementia degree parameter. .

Accordingly, the effect of minimizing the calculation time and complexity of the dementia degree parameter can be expected.

In particular, embodiments may propose a method of operating a brain impedance measuring device for simultaneously providing a current signal and measuring a voltage using the same electrode set in order to calculate the brain impedance proportional to the voltage.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, in order to simultaneously perform providing a current signal and measuring a voltage using the same electrode set, a current providing unit providing a current signal and a signal processing unit measuring a voltage are simultaneously connected to at least one electrode set A brain impedance measuring device with a structured structure can be proposed.

In addition, embodiments may propose a method of operating a brain impedance measuring device that simultaneously provides a current signal and performs voltage measurement using a separate electrode set in order to calculate brain impedance proportional to voltage.

Accordingly, in one embodiment, in order to simultaneously perform providing a current signal and measuring a voltage using a separate electrode set, a current providing unit providing a current signal and a signal processing unit measuring a voltage include at least one electrode set and at least one electrode set It is possible to propose a brain impedance measuring device having a structure in which each of the at least one electrode set and the at least one remaining electrode set is simultaneously maintained while being separately connected to the one remaining electrode set.

In addition, exemplary embodiments provide an apparatus for measuring brain impedance using a plurality of electrode sets for measuring brain impedance and a method of operating the same, thereby improving diagnosis accuracy.

In addition, in addition to providing a current signal to calculate brain impedance, embodiments may propose a brain impedance measuring device and an operating method thereof that provide a current signal for transcranial electrical stimulation of a subject.

Accordingly, the embodiments may achieve the effect of simultaneously performing dementia diagnosis and transcranial electrical stimulation treatment.

1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a brain impedance measuring device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining at least one switch included in the brain impedance measuring device shown in FIG. 1 .

3 is a view for explaining a plurality of electrodes included in the brain impedance measuring device according to an embodiment.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a brain impedance measuring device according to an embodiment.

5A to 5B are diagrams illustrating impedance patterns for explaining that dementia diagnosis is performed by the brain impedance measuring device according to an exemplary embodiment.

6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a brain impedance measuring device according to another embodiment.

7 is a view for explaining at least one switch included in the brain impedance measuring device shown in FIG.

8 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a brain impedance measuring device according to another embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited or limited by the examples. Also, like reference numerals in each figure denote like members.

In addition, the terms used in this specification are terms used to properly express the preferred embodiment of the present invention, which may vary depending on the intention of a user or operator or customs in the field to which the present invention belongs. Accordingly, definitions of these terms should be made based on the content throughout this specification.

Figure 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a brain impedance measuring device according to an embodiment, Figure 2 is a diagram for explaining at least one switch in the brain impedance measuring device shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is an embodiment It is a diagram for explaining a plurality of electrodes included in the brain impedance measuring device. The brain impedance measuring device 100 of FIG. 1 shows an example including a plurality of electrodes 110 , a current providing unit 120 , and a signal processing unit 130 . The invention of FIG. 1 is an example for explanation, so that the components of the brain impedance measuring device 100 further include a filter and an amplifier (not shown) in some cases, as in FIG. 1 , the brain impedance measuring device 100 can be configured.

The current providing unit 120 is configured to provide a current signal to the scalp of the subject through at least one electrode set 210 formed by at least two or more electrodes 211 and 212 among the plurality of electrodes 110 . can

In this case, the current providing unit 120 may be configured to provide a current signal having a frequency band between 0 and 100 kHz for the purpose of measuring a voltage in the signal processing unit 130 .

In addition, the current providing unit 120 may be configured to provide a current signal having a value of 2mA or less for the purpose of transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject.

For example, the current providing unit 120 is a waveform generator (not shown) that generates a signal having one of a trigonometric function (sine, cosine), a biphasic wave square wave, a wave in which DC and AC are mixed, and pink noise. , a frequency converter (not shown) for varying the frequency of the signal output from the waveform generator within the range of 0 to 100 kHz, and a constant current having a value of 2 mA or less based on the frequency-converted signal from the frequency converter It can be configured to include a constant current generator for generating.

As such, by providing a current signal to the scalp so that the current providing unit 120 satisfies both the purpose for measuring the voltage in the signal processing unit 130 and the purpose for transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject, the brain impedance measuring device 100 is It is possible to achieve the effect of simultaneously performing dementia diagnosis and electrical stimulation treatment.

The signal processing unit 130 may be configured to calculate the brain impedance of the subject based on the voltage measured through the at least one electrode set 210 as a result of providing the current signal to the scalp.

For example, the signal processing unit 130 calculates the brain impedance of the subject using a voltage detector (not shown) that measures a voltage through at least one electrode set 210 as a result of providing a current signal to the scalp and the measured voltage And it may be configured to include a dementia diagnosis unit (not shown) that determines whether or not the subject has dementia based on the calculated brain impedance.

In more detail, the dementia diagnosis unit may diagnose that the subject has dementia when one or more electrode sets for which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a preset value is calculated among the at least one electrode set 210 is detected. As such, since the signal processing unit 130 uses only the brain impedance of the subject as the dementia degree parameter, the effect of minimizing the calculation time and complexity of the dementia degree parameter can be expected. A detailed description thereof will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A to 5B.

As described above, the signal processing unit 130 is not limited to or limited to including a voltage detector and a dementia diagnosis unit, and a filter and an amplifier that filters the noise of the signal for the voltage measured by the voltage detector and amplifies the voltage signal, It may further include an AD converter that converts the voltage signal into a digital signal and transmits it to the dementia diagnosis unit.

In addition, some of the components of the signal processing unit 130 may be implemented to be included in an external terminal (not shown) that generates a dementia diagnosis request. As an example, on the premise that a communication module (not shown) is included in the signal processing unit 130 , the dementia diagnosis unit is configured to be included in an external terminal and operates by receiving a voltage value measured from the communication module of the signal processing unit 130 . can

The plurality of electrodes 110 are connected to the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 by a switching operation of at least one switch 200 to be described later, and the current provided by the current providing unit 120 is controlled. It may be attached to the subject's scalp to serve as a path through which a signal is injected into the subject's scalp and a path through which a voltage for calculating the subject's brain impedance is measured.

That is, at least two or more electrodes 211 and 212 of the plurality of electrodes 110 are selected by a switching operation of at least one switch 200 and are connected to the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 . At least one electrode set 210 may be formed. Accordingly, at least one electrode set 210 may be simultaneously connected to the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 .

Here, the plurality of electrodes 110 may be attached to the subject's scalp according to the electrode arrangement method of the international 10-20 standard as shown in FIG. 3 .

In particular, for the diagnosis of dementia, at least one electrode set 210 connected to the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 among the plurality of electrodes 110 is FP1-F3, FP2-F4, F3- It has been described as being formed of two electrodes 211 and 212 such as C3, F4-C4, F3-F7, F4-F8, T3-C3, T4-C4, but is not limited thereto, and three or more electrodes may be formed as In this case, at least one or more of the three or more electrodes included in each electrode set may be used as the measuring electrode.

In addition, although it has been described that only one electrode set is used for providing a current signal and measuring a voltage, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a plurality of electrode sets may be used. In this case, the plurality of electrode sets may be sequentially used in the current signal providing operation of the current providing unit 120 and the voltage measuring operation of the signal processing unit 130 . For example, if two electrode sets are used in the dementia diagnosis process, the first electrode set is activated by at least one switch 200 (the first electrode set is the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 ) ), the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 provide a current signal through the first electrode set and measure the voltage, and then the second electrode set by at least one switch 200 Upon activation (the second electrode set is simultaneously connected to the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130), the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 provide a current signal through the second electrode set and voltage can be measured. Accordingly, an effect of improving diagnostic accuracy can be expected.

Through such a structure, the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 provide at least one electrode set 210 formed by at least two or more electrodes 211 and 212 among the plurality of electrodes 110 . It can provide current signal and measure voltage.

In particular, as the at least one electrode set 210 is simultaneously connected to the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 , the current signal providing operation of the current providing unit 120 and the voltage measuring operation of the signal processing unit 1300 are For example, the signal processing unit 130 provides at least one electrode set 210 at the same time as the current providing unit 120 provides a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set 210 . ) to measure the voltage.

At least one switch 200 as shown in the figure to perform a switching operation of selecting at least two or more electrodes 211 and 212 for forming at least one electrode set 210 among the plurality of electrodes 110 . can be configured.

Also, when a plurality of electrode sets are used to provide a current signal and measure a voltage, the at least one switch 200 may perform a switching operation of sequentially selecting the plurality of electrode sets.

The brain impedance measuring device 100 having the above-described structure may provide dementia-delayed treatment for a subject according to whether or not the subject has dementia. In more detail, the current providing unit 120 further generates a current signal for transcranial electrical stimulation through an electrode set from which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a preset value among at least one electrode set 210 is calculated for dementia delay treatment. can provide

For example, as described above in the signal processing unit 130 , if one or more electrode sets for which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a preset value is calculated among at least one electrode set 210 is detected, the current providing unit 120 is configured to A current signal for transcranial electrical stimulation may be further provided through the electrode set in which the brain impedance value greater than or equal to the value is calculated.

Here, the current signal provided for dementia delay treatment may have a frequency band between 0 and 10 kHz and a value of 2 mA or less, and a trigonometric function (sine, cosine), a biphasic wave square wave, or a wave mixed with direct current and alternating current, pink It can have one waveform among noise.

The structure of the brain impedance measuring device 100 is not limited or limited to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , and may be modified to be suitable for actual implementation on the premise that the above-described core functions are implemented.

Also, the brain impedance measuring device 100 may check whether the plurality of electrodes 110 are well attached to the scalp. Hereinafter, the fact that the plurality of electrodes 110 are well attached to the scalp means that the plurality of electrodes 110 are attached to the scalp at a level at which brain impedance and EEG are measured through the plurality of electrodes 110 . it means.

For example, the brain impedance measuring device 100 measures a voltage through at least one electrode set 220 formed by at least two or more electrodes 221 and 222 among the plurality of electrodes 110 to measure at least one It is possible to calculate the impedance between the electrode set 220 and the scalp.

In this way, the calculation of the impedance between the at least one electrode set 220 and the scalp is performed before calculating the brain impedance, so that the brain impedance calculation accuracy may be improved.

In this case, the frequency band of the current signal provided to the scalp by the brain impedance measuring device 100 to calculate the impedance between the at least one electrode set 220 and the scalp may be in the range of 0 to several hundreds of KHz, and the magnitude may have a value of 2 mA or less.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the operation method of the brain impedance measuring device having the above-described structure will be described.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a brain impedance measuring device according to an embodiment, and FIGS. 5A to 5B are diagrams showing impedance patterns for explaining that dementia diagnosis is performed by the brain impedance measuring device according to an embodiment to be.

Hereinafter, the operation method to be described assumes that the brain impedance measuring device 100 described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 is performed as a subject, and the operation method is an instruction for performing steps S410 to S440 may be in the form of at least one program code recorded and stored in a recording medium and a storage medium to provide Accordingly, the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 may be expressions of different functions that perform steps S410 to S440 according to a command provided by at least one program code. .

At least one switch 200 in step S410, at least two or more electrodes among the plurality of electrodes 110 to form at least one electrode set 210 used in steps S420 to S430. A switching operation of selecting (211, 212) may be performed.

Here, the plurality of electrodes 210 may be attached to the subject's scalp according to the electrode arrangement method of the international 10-20 standard.

At least one electrode set 210 formed by selecting at least two or more electrodes 211 and 212 may be simultaneously connected to the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 through step S410 .

At this time, the at least one electrode set 210 formed through the switching operation may include at least one electrode 211 attached to a position related to the frontal lobe on the subject's scalp.

As at least one electrode set 210 is formed, in step S420 , the current providing unit 120 may provide a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set 210 .

At this time, step (S420) may have a use for transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject in addition to the use for measuring the voltage in step (S430) to be described later.

For example, in step S420, the current providing unit 120 has a frequency band between 0 and 100 kHz for the purpose of measuring the voltage, and at the same time has a value of 2 mA or less for the purpose of transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject. A current signal may be provided.

Accordingly, in step S430 , the signal processing unit 130 may calculate the brain impedance of the subject based on the voltage measured through the at least one electrode set 210 as a result of providing the current signal to the scalp.

In particular, the providing ( S420 ) and the calculating ( S430 ) are performed simultaneously based on the fact that at least one electrode set 210 is simultaneously connected to the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 . can be characterized as

For example, the signal processing unit 130 measures a voltage through the at least one electrode set 210 while the current providing unit 120 provides a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set 210 . can do.

As such, in response to the brain impedance being calculated through step S430 , the signal processing unit 130 selects one or more electrode sets for which brain impedance values greater than or equal to a preset value are calculated among at least one electrode set 210 in step S440 . If detected, it can be diagnosed that the subject has dementia.

For example, since the impedance is proportional to the voltage value, the maximum impedance is 4095 when converted to a digital signal with a 12-bit AD converter. As shown in FIG. 5A , in the case of subject 1, it can be seen that the impedance magnitude in the frequency band of each of the plurality of electrode pairs has a value of less than 2000, which is less than 50% of the maximum impedance value of 4095. In this case, the signal processing unit 130 may diagnose that the diagnosis subject 1 does not have dementia. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B , in the case of subject 2, it can be seen that the impedance magnitude in the frequency band of each of the plurality of electrode pairs has a value of 2500 or more, which is 50% or more of the maximum impedance value of 4095. In this case, the signal processing unit 130 may diagnose that the diagnosis subject 2 has dementia. However, the signal processing unit 130 is not limited or limited to using the method described in the example as the dementia diagnosis method, and various methods based on the brain impedance of the at least one electrode set 210 may be used.

In addition, although not shown as a separate step, the current providing unit 120 may further provide a current signal for electrical stimulation for the delayed treatment of dementia in order to delay the dementia diagnosed by the signal processing unit 130 . A detailed description thereof will be omitted since it has been described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 .

As described above, the brain impedance measuring device 100 has been described as having a structure in which the current providing unit 120 and the signal processing unit 130 are simultaneously connected to at least one electrode set, but it is not limited thereto and the current providing unit ( 120) and the signal processing unit 130 may have a structure in which different electrode sets are connected. A detailed description of this is provided below.

6 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a brain impedance measuring device according to another embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining at least one switch included in the brain impedance measuring device shown in FIG. 6 .

The brain impedance measuring device 600 to be described below includes a plurality of electrodes 610 , a current providing unit 620 and a signal processing unit 630 in the same manner as the brain impedance measuring device 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 . However, it is differentiated in that the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 are connected to different electrode sets.

The current providing unit 620 is configured to provide a current signal to the scalp of the subject through at least one electrode set 710 formed by at least two or more electrodes 611 and 612 among the plurality of electrodes 610 . can

In this case, the current providing unit 620 may be configured to provide a current signal having a frequency band between 0 and 100 kHz for the purpose of measuring the voltage in the signal processing unit 630 .

In addition, the current providing unit 620 may be configured to provide a current signal having a value of 2mA or less for the purpose of transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject.

For example, the current providing unit 620 is a waveform generator (not shown) that generates a signal having one of a trigonometric function (sine, cosine), a biphasic wave square wave, a wave in which DC and AC are mixed, and pink noise. , a frequency converter (not shown) for varying the frequency of the signal output from the waveform generator within the range of 0 to 100 kHz, and a constant current having a value of 2 mA or less based on the frequency-converted signal from the frequency converter It can be configured to include a constant current generator for generating.

As such, by providing a current signal to the scalp so that the current providing unit 620 satisfies both the purpose for measuring the voltage in the signal processing unit 630 and the purpose for transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject, the brain impedance measuring device 600 is It is possible to achieve the effect of simultaneously performing dementia diagnosis and electrical stimulation treatment.

As a result of the current signal being provided to the scalp through the at least one electrode set 710 , the signal processing unit 630 excluding at least one electrode set 710 among the plurality of electrodes 610 and at least one remaining electrode set 720 . ) can be configured to calculate the brain impedance of the subject based on the voltage measured through.

For example, the signal processing unit 630 determines the brain impedance of the subject using a voltage detector (not shown) that measures a voltage through at least one remaining electrode set 720 as a result of providing a current signal to the scalp and the measured voltage. It may be configured to include a dementia diagnosis unit (not shown) that determines whether or not the subject has dementia based on the calculated and calculated brain impedance.

In more detail, the dementia diagnosis unit may diagnose that the subject has dementia when one or more electrode sets for which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a preset value is calculated among the at least one remaining electrode set 720 is detected. As such, since the signal processing unit 630 uses only the brain impedance of the subject as the dementia degree parameter, the effect of minimizing the calculation time and complexity of the dementia degree parameter can be expected.

Here, the at least one remaining electrode set 720 includes at least two or more other electrodes excluding at least two or

more electrodes

711 and 712 included in at least one electrode set 710 among the plurality of electrodes 610 . It is described as being formed of the

ones

721 and 722, but is not limited thereto. For example, the at least two or more

other electrodes

721 and 722 forming the at least one remaining electrode set 720 are at least two or

more electrodes

711 and 712 forming the at least one electrode set 710 . ) and can be shared with each other. As a more specific example, one electrode 721 forming the at least one remaining electrode set 720 may be the same electrode as the one electrode 711 forming the at least one electrode set 710 .

As described above, the signal processing unit 630 is not limited to, but is not limited to, including a voltage detector and a dementia diagnosis unit, and a filter and amplifier that filters noise of a signal for a voltage measured by the voltage detector and amplifies the voltage signal; It may further include an AD converter that converts the voltage signal into a digital signal and transmits it to the dementia diagnosis unit.

In addition, some of the components of the signal processing unit 630 may be implemented to be included in an external terminal (not shown) that generates a dementia diagnosis request. As an example, on the premise that a communication module (not shown) is included in the signal processing unit 630 , the dementia diagnosis unit is configured to be included in an external terminal and receives the voltage value measured from the communication module of the signal processing unit 630 to operate. can

The plurality of electrodes 610 are controlled in connection with each of the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 by a switching operation of at least one switch 700 to be described later, and provided by the current providing unit 620 . It may be attached to the subject's scalp so as to serve as a path through which a current signal is injected into the subject's scalp and a path through which a voltage for calculating the subject's brain impedance is measured.

That is, at least two or

more electrodes

711 and 712 of the plurality of electrodes 610 are selected by a switching operation of at least one switch 700 and at least one set of electrodes connected to the current providing unit 620 . A 710 may be formed, and at least two or more

other electrodes

721 and 722 of the plurality of electrodes 610 are selected by a switching operation of at least one switch 700 , and the signal processing unit 630 and At least one remaining electrode set 720 to be connected may be formed. Accordingly, the at least one electrode set 710 and the at least one remaining electrode set 720 are respectively separately connected to the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630, while the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit ( Each connection state may be maintained at the same time with the 630 , and the plurality of electrodes 610 may or may not be simultaneously connected to the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 .

Here, the plurality of electrodes 610 may be attached to the subject's scalp according to the electrode arrangement method of the international 10-20 standard as shown in FIG. 3 .

In particular, for dementia diagnosis, at least one electrode set 710 connected to the current providing unit 620 and at least one remaining electrode set 720 connected to the signal processing unit 630 among the plurality of electrodes 610 . Each with two

electrodes

711, 712, 721, 722, such as FP1-F3, FP2-F4, F3-C3, F4-C4, F3-F7, F4-F8, T3-C3, T4-C4, etc. Although described as being formed, it is not limited or limited thereto, and may be formed of three or more electrodes.

Such at least one remaining electrode set 720 is at least two or more other electrodes ( 721, 722) may be characterized as formed.

In addition, although it has been described that only one electrode set is used for providing a current signal and only a separate set of electrodes is used for voltage measurement, the present invention is not limited or limited thereto, and a plurality of electrode sets are used for each of the current signal provision and voltage measurement. can be used In this case, the plurality of electrode sets may be separately and sequentially used in the current signal providing operation of the current providing unit 620 and the voltage measuring operation of the signal processing unit 630 . For example, if two electrode sets are used for providing a current signal and two different electrode sets are used for voltage measurement during a dementia diagnosis process, the first electrode set and the second electrode set are switched on by the at least one switch 700 . Upon activation (the first electrode set is connected to the current providing unit 620 and the second electrode set is connected to the signal processing unit 630 ), the current providing unit 620 provides a current signal through the first electrode set and After the signal processing unit 630 measures the voltage through the second electrode set, the third electrode set and the fourth electrode set are activated by the at least one switch 700 (the third electrode set is the current providing unit 620 ) ) and the fourth electrode set is connected to the signal processing unit 630) according to the current providing unit 620 provides a current signal through the third electrode set, and the signal processing unit 630 is a voltage through the fourth electrode set can be measured. Accordingly, an effect of improving diagnostic accuracy can be expected.

Through this structure, the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 provide at least one electrode set 710 formed by at least two or

more electrodes

711 and 712 among the plurality of electrodes 610 . A current signal may be provided through the device, and voltage measurement may be separately and simultaneously performed through at least one remaining electrode set 720 formed by at least two or more

other electrodes

721 and 722 .

In particular, while the at least one electrode set 710 and the at least one remaining electrode set 720 are separately connected to the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 , at least one electrode set 710 is a current As the state connected to the providing unit 620 and the state in which at least one remaining electrode set 720 is connected to the signal processing unit 630 are maintained at the same time, the current signal providing operation of the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 . The voltage measurement operation may be performed separately and simultaneously. For example, the signal processing unit 630 provides a voltage through the at least one remaining electrode set 720 while the current providing unit 620 provides a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set 710 . can be measured

At least one switch 700 is a switching operation of selecting at least two or

more electrodes

711 and 712 for forming at least one electrode set 710 among the plurality of electrodes 610 or a plurality of electrodes ( It may be configured as shown in the drawing to perform a switching operation of selecting at least two or more

other electrodes

721 and 722 for forming at least one remaining electrode set 720 among the 610 .

In addition, when a plurality of electrode sets are used for each of the current signal provision and voltage measurement, the at least one switch 700 performs a switching operation of sequentially selecting the plurality of electrode sets in each of the current signal provision process and the voltage measurement process. You may.

The brain impedance measuring device 600 having the above-described structure may provide dementia-delayed treatment for the subject according to whether or not the subject has dementia. In more detail, the current providing unit 620 provides a current signal for transcranial electrical stimulation through an electrode set from which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a preset value among at least one remaining electrode set 720 is calculated for dementia delay treatment. can provide more.

For example, as described above in the signal processing unit 630, if one or more electrode sets for which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a preset value is calculated among the at least one remaining electrode set 720 is detected, the current providing unit 620 is A current signal for transcranial electrical stimulation may be further provided through an electrode set from which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a set value is calculated.

The structure of the brain impedance measuring device 600 is not limited or limited to that shown in FIGS. 6 to 7 , and may be modified to be suitable for actual implementation on the premise that the above-described core functions are implemented.

Also, the brain impedance measuring device 600 may check whether the plurality of electrodes 610 are well attached to the scalp. Hereinafter, the fact that the plurality of electrodes 610 are well attached to the scalp means that the plurality of electrodes 610 are attached to the scalp at a level at which brain impedance and EEG are measured through the plurality of electrodes 610 . it means.

For example, the brain impedance measuring device 600 measures the voltage through at least one remaining electrode set 720 formed by at least two or more

other electrodes

721 and 722 among the plurality of electrodes 610, The impedance between the at least one remaining electrode set 720 and the scalp may be calculated.

In this way, the calculation of the impedance between the at least one remaining electrode set 720 and the scalp is performed before calculating the brain impedance, so that the brain impedance calculation accuracy may be improved.

At this time, the frequency band of the current signal provided to the scalp by the brain impedance measuring device 600 to calculate the impedance between the at least one remaining electrode set 720 and the scalp may be in the range of 0 to several hundred KHz, The magnitude may have a value of 2mA or less.

Hereinafter, the operation method to be described assumes that the brain impedance measuring device 600 described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 7 is performed as a subject, and the operation method is an instruction for performing steps S810 to S840 may be in the form of at least one program code recorded and stored in a recording medium and a storage medium to provide Accordingly, the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 may be expressions of different functions that perform steps S810 to S840 according to a command provided by at least one program code.

At least one switch 700 in step S810, at least two or more electrodes 711 among the plurality of electrodes 610 to form at least one electrode set 710 used in step S820 712), and at least two or more

other electrodes

721 and 722 of the plurality of electrodes 610 to form at least one remaining electrode set 720 used in step S830. A selected switching operation may be performed.

Here, the plurality of electrodes 610 may be attached to the subject's scalp according to the electrode arrangement method of the international 10-20 standard.

The state in which at least one electrode set 710 formed by selecting at least two or

more electrodes

711 and 712 is connected to the current providing unit 620 through step S810 is, at least two or more other electrodes ( At least one remaining electrode set 720 formed by selecting 721 and 722 may be simultaneously maintained while being connected to the signal processing unit 630 through step S810 .

At this time, each of the at least one electrode set 710 and the at least one remaining electrode set 720 formed through the switching operation includes at least one

electrode

711 and 721 attached to a position related to the frontal lobe on the subject's scalp. may be included.

As the at least one electrode set 710 is formed, the current providing unit 620 may provide a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set 710 in step S820 .

At this time, step (S820) may have a use for transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject in addition to the use for measuring the voltage in step (S830) to be described later.

For example, in step (S820), the current providing unit 620 has a frequency band between 0 and 100 kHz for the purpose of measuring the voltage, and at the same time has a value of 2 mA or less for the purpose of transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject. A current signal may be provided.

Accordingly, in step (S830), the signal processing unit 630 provides a current signal to the scalp through at least one electrode set 710. As a result, based on the voltage measured through the at least one remaining electrode set 720, the subject's Brain impedance can be calculated.

In particular, in the step of providing ( S820 ) and calculating ( S830 ), at least one electrode set 710 and at least one remaining electrode set 720 are connected to the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 , respectively. Based on the fact that the current providing unit 620 and the signal processing unit 630 and each of the connection states are maintained at the same time while being separately connected, it may be characterized in that the operation is performed separately and at the same time.

For example, the signal processing unit 630 provides a voltage through the at least one remaining electrode set 720 while the current providing unit 620 provides a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set 710 . can be measured separately.

As such, in response to the brain impedance being calculated through step (S830), the signal processing unit 630 includes at least one electrode set from which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a preset value is calculated among at least one remaining electrode set (720) in step (S840). When an abnormality is detected, it can be diagnosed that the subject has dementia.

For example, since the impedance is proportional to the voltage value, the maximum impedance is 4095 when converted to a digital signal with a 12-bit AD converter. As shown in FIG. 5A , in the case of subject 1, it can be seen that the impedance magnitude in the frequency band of each of the plurality of electrode pairs has a value of less than 2000, which is less than 50% of the maximum impedance value of 4095. In this case, the signal processing unit 630 may diagnose that the diagnosis subject 1 does not have dementia. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5B , in the case of subject 2, it can be seen that the impedance magnitude in the frequency band of each of the plurality of electrode pairs has a value of 2500 or more, which is 50% or more of the maximum impedance value of 4095. In this case, the signal processing unit 630 may diagnose that the diagnosis subject 2 has dementia. However, the signal processing unit 630 is not limited or limited to using the method described in the example as a dementia diagnosis method, and various methods based on the brain impedance of at least one remaining electrode set 720 may be used.

In addition, although not shown as a separate step, the current providing unit 620 may further provide a current signal for electrical stimulation for the delayed treatment of dementia in order to delay the dementia diagnosed by the signal processing unit 630 . A detailed description thereof will be omitted since it has been described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 7 .

The device described above may be implemented as a hardware component, a software component, and/or a combination of the hardware component and the software component. For example, the apparatus and components described in the embodiments may include a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and a programmable logic unit (PLU). It may be implemented using one or more general purpose or special purpose computers, such as a logic unit, microprocessor, or any other device capable of executing and responding to instructions. The processing device may execute an operating system (OS) and one or more software applications running on the operating system. A processing device may also access, store, manipulate, process, and generate data in response to execution of the software. For convenience of understanding, although one processing device is sometimes described as being used, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the processing device includes a plurality of processing elements and/or a plurality of types of processing elements. It can be seen that can include For example, the processing device may include a plurality of processors or one processor and one controller. Other processing configurations are also possible, such as parallel processors.

Software may comprise a computer program, code, instructions, or a combination of one or more thereof, which configures a processing device to operate as desired or is independently or collectively processed You can command the device. The software and/or data may be embodied in any type of machine, component, physical device, computer storage medium or device to be interpreted by or provide instructions or data to the processing device. have. The software may be distributed over networked computer systems and stored or executed in a distributed manner. Software and data may be stored in one or more computer-readable recording media.

The method according to the embodiment may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. In this case, the medium may be to continuously store a program executable by a computer, or to temporarily store it for execution or download. In addition, the medium may be a variety of recording means or storage means in the form of a single or several hardware combined, it is not limited to a medium directly connected to any computer system, and may exist distributedly on a network. Examples of the medium include a hard disk, a magnetic medium such as a floppy disk and a magnetic tape, an optical recording medium such as CD-ROM and DVD, a magneto-optical medium such as a floppy disk, and those configured to store program instructions, including ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. In addition, examples of other media may include recording media or storage media managed by an app store that distributes applications, sites that supply or distribute various other software, and servers.

As described above, although the embodiments have been described with reference to the limited embodiments and drawings, various modifications and variations are possible from the above description by those skilled in the art. For example, the described techniques are performed in an order different from the described method, and/or the described components of the system, structure, apparatus, circuit, etc. are combined or combined in a different form than the described method, or other components Or substituted or substituted by equivalents may achieve an appropriate result.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

a plurality of electrodes attached to the subject's scalp;

a current providing unit for providing a current signal to the scalp through at least one electrode set formed by at least two or more of the plurality of electrodes; and

A signal processing unit for calculating the brain impedance of the subject based on the voltage measured through the at least one electrode set as a result of providing the current signal to the scalp

including,

The at least one electrode set,

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that connected to the current providing unit and the signal processing unit at the same time.
According to claim 1,

The signal processing unit,

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that the current providing unit provides a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set and simultaneously measures the voltage through the at least one electrode set.
According to claim 1,

The brain impedance measuring device,

at least one switch forming the at least one electrode set through a switching operation of selecting the at least two or more electrodes among the plurality of electrodes

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that it further comprises.
According to claim 1,

The current providing unit,

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that for providing the current signal to the scalp for use for measuring the voltage in the signal processing unit and for transcranial electrical stimulation of the subject.
According to claim 1,

The signal processing unit,

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that it is determined whether the subject has dementia on the basis of the calculated brain impedance.
6. The method of claim 5,

The signal processing unit,

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that the diagnosis that the subject has dementia when one or more electrode sets for which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to a preset value is calculated among the at least one electrode set is detected.
7. The method of claim 6,

The current providing unit,

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that for the delayed treatment of dementia, further providing a current signal for transcranial electrical stimulation through an electrode set from which a brain impedance value greater than or equal to the preset value is calculated.
The method of claim 1,

The plurality of electrodes are

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that it is attached to the subject's scalp according to the electrode arrangement method of the international 10-20 standard (International 10-20 standard).
According to claim 1,

The brain impedance measuring device,

In order to check whether the plurality of electrodes are attached to the scalp, voltage is measured through the at least one electrode set formed by the at least two or more electrodes among the plurality of electrodes, and the at least one electrode set And Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that for calculating the impedance between the scalp.
a plurality of electrodes attached to the subject's scalp;

a current providing unit for providing a current signal to the scalp through at least one electrode set among the plurality of electrodes; and

As a result of providing the current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set, based on a voltage measured through at least one remaining electrode set except for the at least one electrode set among the plurality of electrodes, the subject's brain Signal processing unit that calculates impedance

including,

the at least one electrode set and the at least one remaining electrode set,

While being separately connected to the current providing unit and the signal processing unit, the brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that the current providing unit and the signal processing unit and the respective connection states are maintained at the same time.
11. The method of claim 10,

The signal processing unit,

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that the current providing unit provides a current signal to the scalp through the at least one electrode set and separately measures the voltage through the at least one remaining electrode set.
11. The method of claim 10,

The brain impedance measuring device,

The at least one electrode set is formed through a switching operation of selecting at least two or more electrodes from among the plurality of electrodes, or the at least one electrode set is formed through a switching operation of selecting at least two or more other electrodes from among the plurality of electrodes at least one switch forming the remaining electrode set of

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that it further comprises.
13. The method of claim 12,

Any one of the at least two or more electrodes forming the at least one electrode set and any one of the at least two or more other electrodes forming the at least one remaining electrode set,

Brain impedance measuring device, characterized in that it is shared with each other.