ES2253077B1 - METHOD AND ELECTRONIC AND INFORMATIC DEVICE OF SUPPRESSION AND VALUATION OF TEMPORARY AND SPASTIC MOVEMENT IN ENTRY AND CONTROL PERIPHERALS. - Google Patents

Abstract

Method and electronic and computer device for suppression and evaluation of tremor and spastic movement in input and control peripherals. It is an electronic-computer device that applied to the digital or analog electrical signal of an input peripheral (computer mouse, wheelchair command system ...) allows to discern the voluntary movement of the tremor produced by neurological disorders of the Username. The device automatically adapts to the specific characteristics of the user's tremor, be it a resting tremor (characteristic of Parkinson's disease), postural (characteristic of essential tremor) or kinetic / intentional. As described, the device does not require particular adaptation to the characteristics of the user. The output signal of the device object of the present invention corresponds to a pathological tremor-free command action.

Description

Electronic and computer method and device of suppression and evaluation of tremor and spastic movement in input and control peripherals.

Technical sector

The present invention relates to devices applicable electronic as technical aids to disability and assessment and diagnosis of neurological disorders. As such, They apply mainly in the electronics industry and rehabilitation and biomedical informatics.

State of the art

Movement disorders are common in diseases with neurological origin. Among the most disabling disorders can be mentioned tremor and spastic movements. Both movement disorders may have different characteristics depending on the origin of the movement or the patient's condition. Among the types of tremor commonly related to the upper limbs are quiescent tremor (typical of Parkinson's disease), postural tremor (characteristic of essential tremor) and kinetic tremor or
intentional.

The tremor of neurological origin is a rhythmic movement characterized mainly by a component fundamental harmonica, although in some cases (physiological tremor) Two main components are described. The frequency of rhythmic oscillations vary depending on the type of tremor and they are generally considered bounded in the range that reaches from 2 Hz to 12 Hz.

Spastic movements are characterized by sudden movements as spasms of variable amplitude and It can affect various parts of the body. Both disorders of movement have an undesirable effect on the command function that people affected by these diseases perform with Input peripherals: computer mice, chair controls wheels, etc. Or other command and control devices (push buttons, joysticks ...).

The effect of tremor or spastic movement attempts have been made to mitigate using specific devices to specific functions It is the case of the known commercial device as "Neater Eater", which by applying loads of Heatsink damping allows to perform the function of Feeding acceptable.

US patent US6561993 describes a system and method for canceling the tremor effect Essential in computer peripherals. The system comprises a computer program that allows to characterize the tremor of Username. With the characterization a user profile is created that It can be used on the computer itself or exported to another computer. With this profile a filtering of the tremor of the user focused on its fundamental frequency according to the characterization.

The system thus described is specific to a type of tremor (essential), does not allow to contemplate the possible fluctuations in user tremor characteristics in function of your condition (medication, muscle fatigue), is confined its use to computer peripherals and requires calibration and export of profiles on the computer so Another user must repeat the process.

The invention patent application 200301767 proposes a method of biomechanical cancellation of tremor. The invention contemplates an orthotic device that incorporates a variety of measuring elements for the determination of patient movement, a series of identification algorithms of the pathological tremor component and active elements that allow the application of cancellation actions through ties of repetitive control

Other patents, such as US5293879 or US 5964720, focus on procedures for the detection of tremor as a consequence of neurological diseases and procedures for generic physiological monitoring and in particular for tremor monitoring, including devices biomechanical, cardiac or respiratory monitoring and procedures for the differentiation of body movement.

Description of the invention - Brief description of the invention

Neurological diseases give rise to commonly to movement disorders. Among the most common are Find the tremor and the spastic movement. Yes well the tremor obeys a rhythmic and harmonic oscillatory pattern, the characteristics of this movement (amplitude and frequency) are variables according to the etiology and condition of the patient.

Depending on the neurological origin the tremor is resting affecting the upper limbs when the system muscle is at rest, postural in case the system muscle is maintaining a certain or intentional posture or Kinetic in the case of performing voluntary movement. These different types of tremor have oscillation frequencies. rhythm of the upper limb in the range between 2 Hz and 12 Hz. In some specific types of tremor (physiological) observe the presence of a second fundamental component, possibly more frequently.

When the patient's condition varies by effect of medication, muscle fatigue, fatigue or any other reason, both the frequency of oscillation and the Amplitude of it can be affected.

This proposal presents a device electronic or computer that applied to the electrical signal generated by those of input and / or command peripherals, be this digital or analog (computer mice, chair controls wheels or any other utensil that requires it), allows discern the part of the command action that corresponds to the voluntary movement and as a consequence eliminate the movement involuntary origin in neurological disorders be this tremor or spastic movement.

In the movement separation process voluntary and involuntary you get an estimate of the disorder of the movement (tremor, spastic movement ...) so the This proposal allows the functional assessment of severity of movement disorder and its evolution.

The present invention comprises the following component elements or stages:

one.

A electronic device that allows the acquisition of the signal of command, whether analog or digital, from a peripheral both computer-specific input (computer mouse, digitizing table) as a generic character for the command any device (push buttons, levers, wheelchair controls or other devices). The electronic device is useful only in the solution and electronic method described in the present memory and integrate programmable elements (controllers, processors ...) on which it is possible to program the loops of identification, monitoring and evaluation of the next point. Additionally the electronic device incorporates the elements necessary for the reproduction of the command signal, this time already removed the involuntary component of the movement, and for the wired or wireless storage and transmission of results of the assessment of the severity of the disorder.

2.

The second stage comprises an identification and tracking loop (tracking) of the voluntary movement that may or may not use models of movement disorder. Also, this stage includes the implementation of functions to assess the severity of movement disorder based on tremor estimation or spastic movement offered by the identification loop and tracing.

to.

He Adaptive loop identification, tracking and valuation can be implement on the controller described in the previous point, in in which case the device takes the form of an electronic adapter whose effect is to select the voluntary component of the signal command that arrives from the input peripheral and offer a command signal free of involuntary movement, and therefore Applies to any command device incorporating the Severity assessment function.

b.

He Adaptive loop identification, tracking and valuation can be implement as a computer program of the device to be commanded (a computer), in which case it can act directly over the input peripheral signal without the need for stages prior to signal conditioning. The result is equivalent, resulting in a command (movement of the computer mouse) free of involuntary movements and incorporating the severity assessment function of the tremor.

In the state of the art there is the description of a similar device (US6561993) in regard to to the involuntary movement elimination function, which differs from the present proposal on which it focuses only in the computer solution, in which it only contemplates tremor-like movement disorders and among them only the essential postural tremor, in which the removal procedure of the tremor is not adaptable and therefore requires a process of pre calibration and archiving of a user profile and how consequence does not contemplate the variations during the operation of this type of involuntary movements depending on the condition of the user and in that it does not incorporate valuation functions and evolution of the severity of movement disorder.

This proposal is of a general nature. Given the adaptability of the tracking loop it is useful for the different kinds of tremor and spastic movements. It is also adaptable to the user's condition and does not require a process of pre-calibration, user profile generation or therefore export of them. It is also used in the command of other devices that due to its characteristics intrinsic do not incorporate a processor on which to implement the follow-up ties thanks to the use of the solution Proposed electronics Additionally, it provides a method and procedure for the functional assessment of the severity of movement disorder and its evolution.

- Detailed description of the invention

The pathological tremor of neurological origin presents a rhythmic and harmonic oscillation of the different upper limb segments of patients affected by these diseases. This oscillation is characterized by frequencies in the range of 2 to 4 Hz in the case of tremor of characteristic rest of Parkinson's disease. The earthquake postural is however characterized by a frequency range between 5 and 8 Hz and is characteristic of the disease of essential tremor. On the other hand, the kinetic tremor can occur at frequencies between 4 and 12 Hz and is characteristic of patients with brain damage of origin traumatic.

Some other specific types of tremor such as increased physiological tremor may present oscillations in Two frequency bands. The fundamental component of low frequency is located in the range between 2 at 5 Hz and the higher frequency component is specific to each upper limb segment. In all cases, the tremor characteristics (amplitude and frequency) can be seen altered depending on the patient's condition (medication, fatigue or muscle tiredness, alcohol intake ...).

Neurological disorders can also be accompanied by spastic movement disorders. These disorders are involuntary sudden movements of amplitude and variable intensity and as in the case of tremor are in great disabling measure.

Usually the voluntary movement is characterized by frequencies significantly lower than of the tremor In addition, the latter is a movement essentially harmonic (rhythmic). Taking advantage of these two features is possible to determine strategies that allow to differentiate both types of movement. Specifically, a possible strategy is filtering of the motion signal with low or high pass filters designed with cutoff frequencies in the frequency range between the voluntary movement and the trembling. The filters so designed they can be implemented both digitally and analogically as of mixed mode and can be of any order, that is, with slopes of rejection at the higher or lower prohibited frequencies.

Taking advantage of the feature essentially harmonic tremor, another procedure for identification and monitoring of the voluntary and involuntary component (tremor or spasm) can be based on (although it should not be restricted al) the modeling of the latter through a serial development of a set n of main harmonics of frequency f_ {i} and the corresponding set of secondary M, as reflected by the equation (1).

(1) \ sum \ limits ^ {n} _ {i = 1} \ sum \ limits ^ {M} _ {r = 1} [w_ {rk} \ cdot sin \ rf_ {i} k + w_ {r} + M_ {ki} \ cdot cos \ rf_ {i} k]

You can set the error, e_ {k}, between the model of equation (1) and the signal actually obtained at through a variety of sensors or any device that pick up the movement of the upper limb as is the case with the command peripherals at instant k, s_ {k}, according to the equation (2).

(2) e_ {k} = S_ {k} - \ sum \ limits ^ {n} _ {i = 1} \ sum \ limits ^ {M} _ {r = 1} [w_ {rk} \ cdot sin \ rf_ {i} k + w_ {r} + M_ {ki} \ cdot cos \ rf_ {i} k]

You can use this error to raise a tracking process by least squares optimization or any other procedure of the model parameters of the equation (1).

As a result of this type of algorithm, it gets:

to)

The Real-time estimation of the voluntary component (ie exempt  of tremor or spastic movement) of the movement,

b)

The real-time estimation of movement disorder (i.e. tremor or spastic movement),

C)

A estimation of the measure of the severity of the disorder of the movement based on the estimation of the previous point b).

Computer command peripherals or any other device, device or mechanism (chairs of wheels ...) collect the user's movement (be it from the member upper, lower or any other part of the body) and what convert into electrical, analog or digital command signals (for cursor positioning on computers or for operation in general of the device to be commanded). Command signal digital or analog may also be modulated according to a multiplicity of procedures.

The electrical command signal generated by these devices is affected by involuntary movements (spastic or tremor) can lead to a practice inability to handle them.

The proposed invention aims to solve the problem of the unwanted effect of movement disorders on the command of any device in general. Simultaneously a method of functional assessment of the severity of movement disorder and its evolution. For this purpose a two-stage solution is proposed. The first stage is only necessary in the case where the commanded device does not have processors on which to implement the loop of identification and monitoring of the voluntary command movement and assessment of the severity of the neurological disorder.

one.

The First stage aims to enable the application of ties voluntary movement tracking on any device command electronic as well as the assessment of the severity of the movement disorder and its evolution. In anticipation that the commanded artifact do not include some kind of processor on the to implement the tracking loop, this first stage will be fundamentally electronic and will include:

to.

Electronic components for acquisition of command signals affected by disorders of the movement, whether analog or digital. These signals are will receive in general from any peripheral device specific or general purpose for command artifacts

b.

Electronic components for pre-processing, de-modulation if there would be place and adaptation of the signal for the later stage of implementation of the monitoring loop.

C.

Programmable electronic components on which the implementation of the bonds of identification and monitoring of the voluntary movement and assessment of the severity of the neurological disorder.

d.

Electronic components for wired or wireless storage and transmission of assessment results based on the algorithms of tracking and assessment identification.

and.

Electronic components for post-processing and modulation or coding formatted if any, for the restoration of the signal of already clean command of movement disorder effects of according to the specific characteristics of the artifact to be commanded

2.

This second stage constitutes the implementation of a loop of identification and monitoring of the voluntary command movement of the user (example of which is the tracking algorithm e  identification described above) and therefore the effective elimination of tremor or spastic movement. It includes this stage the implementation of the functional assessment function of the severity of movement disorder. Depending on the characteristics of the commanded artifact, this stage is will develop:

to.

When the commanded artifact does not count with programmable elements on which to implement a loop of follow-up as presented above as an example, the implementation of it is developed on the element electronic described in point 1.

b.

When the commanded artifact counts with programmable elements on which to implement ties of follow-up (for example, computers, assistants personal ...), alternatively and without prejudice to solution 2a, the implementation of the monitoring ties can be performed about said programmable elements.

Example of embodiment of the invention

Without loss of generality, it is presented in this apart from the case of carrying out the invention in obtaining of a signal free of tremor effects or spastic movements in a driving command of an electric chair.

Since the electric chair will not count, in general, with programmable devices shipped for control of this, the suppression device is applicable to this case of tremor and spastic movement and functional assessment of severity of the disorder constituted by stages 1 and 2a.

It is also assumed without loss of generality that the chair command device generates analog signals for the government of it. Component 1 will be constituted by:

to.

A microcontroller or processor with at least two channels of analog acquisition (or more if necessary) corresponding to the command of the two main addresses of chair driving, that is, advance and turn. The conversion of the analog to digital signal on these channels will be made with the adequate resolution to obtain a faithful digital representation of the analog source signal, typically the resolution may be greater than 8 bits At a stage prior to the acquisition of the signal of command may be implemented elements of pre-processing and signal adaptation, typically filters to limit the band of the command signal (In general filters pass low cutoff frequency in the environment 20-30 Hz will be sufficient to conserve entirely the information of the voluntary and trembling movement) and amplifiers for adjusting the signal range to that of the acquisition channels

b.

He microcontroller or processor will have the features suitable for the implementation of some tracking algorithm and  identification of the voluntary component of the command signals acquired. Specifically, it will have an adequate cycle time, typically a few hundred Hz will be sufficient given the range of frequency of the signals involved. For this purpose the crystal is will select compatible with the microcontroller and this frequency range Additionally, the microcontroller will count with enough program and data memory for the program storage describe an implementation in the time domain of the tracking and identification algorithm of the voluntary movement. As an example of tracking algorithm the one described above can be used. To do this, with foundation in the error of following the equation (2) it can be developed an iterative method of convergence of the model described by the equation (1) by least squares optimization. Such process results in computationally inexpensive algorithms and accurate.

C.

He microcontroller will have analog and / or digital channels of output on which the movement estimate will be written volunteer offered by the identification and monitoring loop of the previous point These output channels, prior adaptation of the corresponding electrical levels will be electrically connected to the points where the device originally peripheral input would be, without further modification of the system.

Detailed explanation of the drawings

Figure one

The figure shows the functional diagram of the electronic device and schematizes the method of suppressing tremor and spastic movements in input peripherals to govern artifacts that do not have processors on which implement the command identification and tracking loop voluntary. Block 1 represents a set of components electronics whose function is to capture the generated command signal by a specific or general purpose input peripheral. He block 2 represents the set of electronic components that allow to adapt the captured signal for the later stage of implementation of the identification loop. Block 3 represents the programmable electronic element on which it has been implemented The function of the identification loop and command tracking voluntary and therefore effectively eliminates tremor or spasm, as well as the function of assessing the intensity of the movement disorder Block 4 represents the set of electronic elements or components that allow restoring the command signal, once the involuntary movement has been eliminated, of according to the requirements of the device to be commanded.

Figure 2

The figure schematically represents the development alternative using the computer method of suppression of tremor and / or spastic movement in the event that the commanded device have programmable components on those who implement the identification and monitoring loop of the voluntary movement of command. In this case a single block represents the implementation of the tracking algorithm on the programmable element of the commanded device and is equivalent to the block 3 of the previous figure. This block implements an algorithm. generic identification and monitoring of the voluntary movement. Specifically and by way of example, the algorithm can be implemented described above that is based on the sinusoidal model multi-frequency, the adjustment of this model by least squares or any other procedure and estimate as a result of the voluntary command movement, which results in a smooth movement of the cursor, without the effect of trembling or spastic movement This algorithm also generates a assessment of the severity of the tremor based on the estimate of the involuntary movement component.

Figure 3

The figure shows the identification process and monitoring of the voluntary movement of command, from any peripheral input, and in order to command any artifact, as well as the process of generating the assessment of the severity of movement disorder from the estimation of the involuntary component thereof.

In block 1 a model of the spastic movement and / or tremor, which following the example of Algorithm described in this proposal can be sinusoidal. At block 2 said model is recursively recreated so that its implementation from the peripheral command signal of input can be easily implemented in real time.

Block 4 represents the acquisition of the command signal (including involuntary movements) from a peripheral input. With the signal provided by block 4 and the recursive approximation of block 2, some measure of error between the real signal and the model.

Block 5 implements an optimization of Model parameters based on measurement minimization of the error in block 4. Finally, the estimate obtained for the voluntary movement, block 6, (therefore free from the effects of movement disorders), is used for command of all kinds of artifacts.

Additionally, block 7 can implement the 1d strategy and get an estimate of the disorder of movement, from which an assessment of the same.

Claims (8)

1. Method of reduction, cancellation or elimination of the unwanted effect of movement disorders of neurological origin, that is, pathological resting tremor, postural, kinetic, intentional, physiological, physiological increased or any other type, and / or spastic movements, on the action of any specific input peripheral (mice of computers, digitizing tables ...) or of command of character general (wheelchair controls, joysticks, levers, keyboards, push buttons, pointers ...) for the command of all types of artifacts or data entry, comprising:

to.

Identification Strategy and voluntary movement tracking (exempt from component involuntary due to movement disorder), adaptable so continuous and automatic to possible alterations thereof, effect of changes of any kind in the user's condition (fatigue, muscle tiredness, alcohol intake ...) or user change of the device, in real time from the electrical signal of input of controls or peripherals of a general nature or specific,

b.

Identification strategy follow-up and characterization of pathological tremor if present in the electrical input signal of controls or peripherals of a general or specific nature, continuously adaptable and automatic to possible alterations thereof, effect of changes of any type in the user's condition (fatigue, fatigue muscle, alcohol intake ...) or the user change device,

C.

Identification strategy tracking and characterization of spastic movement if it were present in the electrical input signal of controls or peripherals of a general or specific nature, continuously adaptable and automatic to possible alterations thereof, effect of changes of any type in the user's condition (fatigue, fatigue muscle, alcohol intake ...) or the user change device,

d.

Strategies for functional assessment of the severity of the movement disorder and its evolution, based on the strategies of points 1b and 1c.

2. Electronic device consisting of:

to.

Stage electronics for the acquisition of command signals, analog or digital of any kind, received generally from any control or input device,

b.

Stage preprocessing electronics, de-modulation and adaptation of the signal acquired in 2a, for its treatment in 2c,

C.

Stage electronics with programmable components (processors, controllers ...) on which the method can be implemented described in 1,

d.

Stage electronics for storage and transmission where it comes from the results of the 1d strategy,

and.

Stage electronics for post-processing, modulation, encoding and / or formatting for the restoration of the signal of command free of unwanted effects after method implementation one.

3. Strategy to eliminate movement disorders based on the method described in claim 1, specifically in strategies 1a, 1b and 1c, which is carried out by means of an algorithm in the time or frequency domain and which is implemented in real time in the electronic device of the claim
2. 4. Disorder elimination strategy movement based on the method described in the claim 1, specifically in strategies 1a, 1b and 1c, which leads to carried out by means of an algorithm in the time or frequency domain and that is implemented in a computer program of the device to be commanded, in which case you can act directly on the peripheral signal or input command without previous stages of signal conditioning. 5. Strategy for assessing the severity of movement disorders and their evolution based on method described in claim 1d, which is carried out using an algorithm in the domain of time or frequency and which is implemented in real time on the electronic device of claim 2 6. Strategy for assessing the severity of movement disorders and their evolution based on method described in claim 1d, which is carried out using an algorithm in the domain of time or frequency and which is implemented in a computer program of the device to be commanded, in which case you can act directly on the peripheral signal or input command without previous stages of signal conditioning. 7. Disorder elimination process movement based on the method described in the claim 1, specifically in strategies 1a, 1b and 1c, which is carried out in real time, generating a command free from the effect of trembling or the spastic movement instantaneously or with a delay that does not affect the response speed of the remote control or peripheral of input used by the user and that allows its application to all variety of pathological tremor or spastic movement, adaptable from continuous and automatic mode to any user condition or to different users 8. Process for assessing the severity of movement disorders and their evolution based on the method described in claim 1d, which is performed in real time, generating an assessment of the effect of tremor or movement spastic instantly or with a delay that does not affect the response speed of the control or peripheral input used by the user and that allows its application to all variety of pathological tremor or spastic movement, adaptable so continuous and automatic to any user condition or at different users and that can be stored or transmitted for your analysis.