ES2408480A2 - Electronic data transmission device for pressure splints in patients with bruxism - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention is intended to be implanted in patients with bruxism in order to produce a vibratory stimulus which makes it possible to alert the patients to the pathological habit thereof in order to correct this habit. For this purpose, the invention comprises a transmitter situated on the actual splint associated with the patient's teeth and a receiver, with the special feature that the transmitter is connected to sensors which detect the biting pressure between the upper and lower teeth of the actual patient. The transmitter is connected to an electrical power supply battery and to a vibrator or any other device for generating stimuli.

Description

Although there is currently a device that, in combination with pharmacological treatments, aims to provide solutions that address the problem of bruxism, however the results are not very effective.

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However, electronically operated devices are known that materialize a bio-feedback medium that acts when the phenomenon is detected, or a system in which electrodes are applied to the patient's mouth, which are electrically powered and cause electric shocks when certain sensors are clenched by the patient's teeth.

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In addition, intraoral devices are also known that generate a change in pressure in the cavities located between the upper and lower dental surfaces, when the tightening is detected by the patient, all accompanied by an audio signal that he perceives through a headset from an external signal generator / receiver device.

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In any of the cases, the previously mentioned device types do not solve the problem definitively, although it is clear to recognize that they help mitigate the problem to some extent.

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Well, in the Utility Model U 200501878, of the same applicant, an electronic splint is described for bruxist and / or squeeze patients that solve the problem described above, being the intraoral splint and without any cable or external connection.

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   Basically the splint object of that previous Utility Model is materialized in an electronic device mounted on an adapted base

to be placed in one of the patient's jaws, occupying a space

between them and existing sensors that are trained to capture the

pressure exerted by the patient's teeth, above a normal level,

with a view to generating a signal constituting a negative stimulus,

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both internal and external, which encourages the patient to stop bruxing or tightening

teeth. This negative stimulus, consisting of a vibration and / or

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buzzing, is an obvious nuisance to the patient and is associated by the

brain of this to the action of clenching teeth, so that with the step

of time and unconscious fonna the patient will stop doing it, having

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thus achieved the intended change of behavior and the elimination of this habit.

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though Y to to weigh from the good ones results

corresponding to the electronic splint described in that Utility Model

previous U 200501878, however there are gaps in regards to the

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multiple features that the device can offer, without more than varying

arrested aspects corresponding to it.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

20 The electronic device that is recommended, based on the electronic splint object of Utility Model U 200501878, referred to above, is based on providing a transmitter of the data provided by the sensors that are clenched by the teeth of both the

The upper jaw and the lower jaw of the patient, all located inside the mouth, and an externally located receiver, although it can be located internally, that receives the data provided by the transmitter and that in combination with a software program created To this end, it is possible to define a degree of force for transmission of the bite signal, as well as

30 representation of the events received, generation of events once

received the bite signal, vibration of the device itself, etc. Transmission to the receiver will be done only when a bite is detected.

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That is, by means of the device of the invention a communication system is established between a transmitter or transmitter connected to the pressure sensor and the corresponding receiver where the received data will be stored to act according to the units.

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The translnisor is sealed by two plastic sheets confronted by a vacuum system, so that in the space created between both the sensor is placed, all of which is perfectly isolated and without contact with the inside of the patient's mouth.

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For its part, the receiver can be installed both externally and internally to the mouth, and can materialize in a collar, a bracelet, or any other element intended to receive the processed signal from the translnisor and encode the data so that they can be visualized in a personal computer or other compatible device.

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Both systems, that is to say translnisor and receiver, are capable of acting in an inverse way, pennitising the configuration of the internal translnisor from the receiver, to define parameters specific to the measurement to be performed.

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   The translnisor is constituted by a 1-controller that will receive and process the signals coming from the sensors that are clenched between the patient's teeth, that tnicro-controller being associated with a radio circuitry capable of transtnitir in frequency bands released for data transmission, in function of the distance of transmission and attenuation of the signal, said signal being sent digitally to optimize the energy consumed by the device. The

On the other hand, it is worth noting the fact that interconnection

between the sensors and the transmitter will be performed on the flexible motherboard, it is

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say the one that the two plastic sheets of the transmitter form, so that

all the components are united in a solidary way in the same

piece or set

As for the receiver, it will also be materialized

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by a microcontroller with an integrated radio system that will receive the

data provided by the emitter transmitter located inside the

mouth, said receiver having the necessary electronics to convert

the coded radio signal received and presented on a computer or

device with USB port through an appropriate software program,

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with the program defining force thresholds for transmission of the

bite signal, as well as to carry out the representation of

received events, device release or event generation once

received the bite signal, for example run a motor

vibrator, make a phone call, turn on a led, emit a signal

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acoustics, etc.

The whole device will be complemented with a battery

which can be rechargeable or not, and where the vibrator that can incorporate

It may consist of an engine.

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As for the sensor or pressure sensors provided in the

inside, they can be gas, air and even liquids, and be operated

mechanical or electronic fonna, by cable or optical fiber, etc.

30 Finally say that the information provided by the

transmitter is received by the receiver, and may be the information of the

Following way:

Transmission time Power adapter, that is, charging system for the whole set. Pressure control, indicating the force that the patient transmits to the sensor. Circuit for voltage process. Internal processor for transmission and communication with computer program or application. Memory for storing and maintaining all information received from wireless sources, as well as the time for downloading data. Wireless charging circuit with wireless charging system components and coils, used to change the signal received from the adapter or aesthetic signal that can be emitted from a wireless source by the coil. Component of reception and wireless emission. Data transmission between sender and receiver by any communication system. Possibility of regulating the system by medical services, both in intensity and in time of vibration, and may even be canceled. Possibility of being able to assess by the medical services the use of other types of warnings, such as connecting the light of the room when making the pressure and with it an alanna or bell rings that may go in the receiver, or any other that complies the intended difficulty

Possibility of materializing the receiver in a box with all the necessary components for a good operation. Possibility that the receiver can be materialized in any object or element, and be fixed or attached to the body with the possibility of being separated from it at any time.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To complement the description that will then be made and in order to help a better understanding of the features of the invention, according to a preferred example of practical implementation thereof, a single drawing is attached as an integral part of said description. where for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, the following has been represented:

The unique figure shown on the sheet of planes corresponds to a perspective view of the practical application of the electronic device object of the invention, on the inside of the mouth of a patient, specifically associated with the denture of the upper jaw.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

As can be seen in the aforementioned figures, the electronic device for producing a vibratory stimulus in bruxist patients, is intended for application in the upper and lower dentures (1) of a patient, comprising sensors (2) that detect the level of pressure that is exerted from one denture on the other, so that it incorporates a

D

transmitter

(3) from data or signs provided by the sensors (2)

commented, all in a way that the transmitter itself is

you will find sealed by two plastic sheets (4) confonnadas by means of a

vacuum system, so that in the space created between both sheets

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Sealing plastics (4) precisely locates the corresponding sensor (2),

the transmitter (3) being connected, through the corresponding cables

(5), to the sensors themselves (2).

Based on said electronic device, a

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stimulus vibratory how reply to the tightening dental pathological

(bruxism), so that this stimulus can alert the donated patient or

awake and help you correct said harmful habit.

Further,

he device to the trusmo weather receives Y pick up

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memorizing, he number from tightening its intensity and time of

production, all mounted on an inner splint that sits on

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from the dentures from the mouth of the patient, While that he

corresponding receiver, not represented, is located outside or inside

from the mouth, to receive the data provided by the transmitter (3) and

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   Act accordingly.

Claims (4)

1.-Electronic data transmission device for splints

of pressure in bruxist patients, which being planned to produce

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preferably a vibratory stimulus in bruxist patients and alert

these of their pathological habit in order to correct it, is characterized

because it comprises a transmitter located on the splint itself associated with the

denture of the patient, and a receiver, which can be located both internally and

externally, with the particularity that the transmitter is associated with some

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sensors that detect the bite pressure between the upper dentures and

bottom of the patient himself, having anticipated that the transmitter is

associated with a power supply battery and a warning element, such

as a vibrator, an acoustic signal emitter, a signal emitter

bright or similar.

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2.-Electronic data transmission device for splints

pressure in bruxist patients according to claim 1, characterized

because the transmitter consists of an established microcontroller

for the communication of the data provided by the pressure sensor to

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receiver.

3.-Electronic data transmission device for splints

of pressure in bruxist patients, according to previous claims,

characterized in that the transmitter is sealed between two sheets

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plastic confonnadas by means of a system of emptiness, so that in the

The space created between the two places the corresponding sensor.

4.-Electronic data transmission device for splints

pressure in bruxist patients according to claim 1, characterized

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because the receiver is likely to materialize from a bracelet,

collar or similar element, mounted and held on the outside or inside of the mouth, said receiver being constituted by a microcontroller with integrated radio system.

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5.-Electronic data transmission device for pressure splints in bruxist patients, according to previous claims, characterized in that the receiver receives the signal from the transmitter, processing and encoding the data so that they can be displayed on a computer or other compatible device, through a computer program created for this purpose, allowing to define a degree of force for transmission of the bite signal, as well as representation of the events received, generation of events once the bite signal has been received, and even the inhibition of the device itself .