ITUB20155983A1 - A device for capturing, blocking, monitoring and treating dental functions - Google Patents

Description

A DEVICE TO CAPTURE, LOCK, MONITOR AND CURE

PARAFUNCTIONS IN THE DENTAL FIELD

Scope of the invention

The present invention relates to the technical sector relating to medical instruments.

In particular, the invention relates to a device which allows the parafunctions to be picked up, blocked, monitored and treated over time, in particular those of dental interest.

Brief notes on the known art

Parafunction is defined as an abnormal muscle activity, not physiological, devoid of functional significance, which occurs between one function and another, when instead the musculature itself should be at rest. Almost all parafunctional patients do not realize that they are parafunctional but accuse only the symptoms of the damage that this pathology causes. Among the many parafunctions of dental interest, the most important (because they produce greater damage) are bruxism, grinding and window frames. Under normal conditions, when the mouth does not perform functions and is therefore at rest, the mandibular posture is determined by the balance of muscle tones and in this phase the teeth are never in contact with each other. Physiologically, the teeth of the opposing arches come into contact with each other only, and not always, during swallowing; this means that if the antagonist teeth contact each other outside of swallowing, then it is parafunctioning. These parafunctions therefore have the common denominator of dental contact outside of swallowing. Depending on the type of contact and the mandibular movement exercised, bruxism is distinguished from clenching and grinding. The parafunctions intervene both during sleep and during wakefulness and the damage caused by this pathology is directly proportional to their intensity (power) and frequency. The most frequent damages caused by the parafunction are borne by:

- Teeth (wear, thermal sensitivity, fractures, mobility);

- Gums (retractions, inflammations, gum pockets);

- Bone (rarefaction, bone pockets);

- Muscles (pain near the ear, temple, below the cheekbone, jaw, neck, back, chewing, tension headache, limitation to open and move the mouth);

- Joints (joint noises near the ear, joint snapping when opening and closing the mouth, mandibular arthritis and osteoarthritis);

- Vertigo;

- Tinnitus;

Sleep disorders.

There are, at present, various remedies that attempt to correct the parafunction.

Some of these include proper nutrition in order to avoid foods that contain substances that stimulate the central nervous system, for example avoiding coffee. It is obvious that this solution, while useful in helping to reduce the problematic effects, is nevertheless not a definitive solution.

In other cases we proceed with real medical therapies through drugs with anxiolytic action, muscle relaxants and antidepressants. Also in this case there is at least the drawback due to the fact that the intake of drugs always implies further contraindications for the patient and, moreover, depending on the general clinical picture of the patient it is not always said that the patient can freely take such drugs.

A further solution provides for the use of special devices called "bite" and which actually consist of a real mouthguard. In this way, protection is created for the teeth against wear as a direct contact between tooth and tooth is avoided during rubbing.

However, this solution is not fully functional for the following reasons.

First of all, this solution does not help to eliminate the pathological problem but simply tries to buffer a negative effect, namely damage to the teeth.

This means that, although somehow the integrity of the teeth can be partially preserved, other phenomena such as jaw pain are not resolved.

Furthermore, even the wear effect of the teeth, although reduced and slowed down, is not completely eliminated, as in any case there continues to be a continuous rubbing between one tooth and the other, although a bite is now interposed which creates made a physical protection.

Furthermore, the use of these bites, although ergonomic, always implies a nuisance and annoyance for the subject who has to wear them. Precisely for this reason, this is obviously worn only during sleep, making it impractical or inconvenient for daily use while awake. In fact, however, it often parafunctions even during the day and therefore, in this case, the user is deprived of any protection.

In the known art there are also more complex devices capable of detecting a parafunction and attempting a corrective effect thereof.

These devices which intercept the parafunction provide a sensor capable of detecting the muscular activity indicative of parafunction by measuring the muscular power exerted.

Such devices, precisely due to the fact that they base their operation on the detection of muscle power, are not effective.

In fact, basing an operation on a concept of muscular power used during the motor activity of the muscle, implies the basic idea that when it is parafunctioned, it is always done with a muscle power greater than that exercised physiologically. This is not true or it is true only in a small number of cases. Most of the parafunctions is in fact exercised with a muscle power lower than the physiological one and what produces damage is simply the fact that it manifests itself. The extent of the damage caused is directly proportional to its frequency. In this sense, the sensors that detect muscle power detect, for the reasons stated, only a minimal part of the parafunctions. Another problem related to these types of devices is their invasiveness, as they are devices to be inserted in the mouth and which, for example, require a connection with a computer and this limits the normal life of the relationship; for this reason they are mostly worn during sleep without consequently having the possibility of detecting the parafunctions that occur during wakefulness.

Summary of the invention

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an innovative device which allows to solve the aforesaid technical drawbacks.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that allows to monitor, block and correct a parafunction, in particular that linked to the part of a user's mouth (therefore of a dental nature), effectively and without creating discomfort, both during phases of sleep and wakefulness.

These and other objects are therefore achieved with the present device (1) for detecting a parafunction, according to claim 1.

This device (1) comprises a sensor (S), configured to detect muscle activity over time (T), and a processor (P).

According to the invention, this device is in the form of a support (2) applicable to the skin of the subject.

In this way it can easily be applied locally on the skin in the desired area.

Furthermore, the sensor (S) and the processor (P) are integrated on said support.

In this way, this solution is compact and does not require wiring with external devices, such as PCs. It is therefore usable without nuisance and clutter both during the night and during normal daily life during the day.

Finally, the processor (P) is programmed to recognize a parafunction on the basis at least of the time (T) of duration of said muscle activity detected by the sensor (S) and / or the frequency, i.e. the time interval between one event and the next. .

In this way the parafuction is recognized in a correct and effective way with respect to the devices of the known art. In particular, muscle power is no longer considered but a duration of muscle activity and / or a frequency. In this way it is possible to correctly identify all those parafunctions which are characterized by low intensity of muscular power but by a high frequency (i.e. recurrence of the event) and / or a long duration.

This device, configured in this way, can easily integrate a useful function to interrupt this action, for example through a vibration.

The data, through a special memory always integrated in the support, can now be stored; therefore data relating to the intensity and frequency with which this parafunction occurs.

These data can easily be transmitted to an android application so that the patients themselves can personally verify the course of the disease over time and, at the same time, transmit the same data to a "doc station" which can thus carry out statistical studies and possibly suggest to individuals patient measures useful to optimize the use of the same device.

Further advantages can be deduced from the other remaining dependent claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the present device 1, according to the invention, will become clearer with the following description of some embodiments, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, in which: - Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the sensor which can for example be applied behind the ear lobe, in such a way as to perceive the muscular activity of the masseter muscle, - Figure 2 shows an example temporal trend of muscle activity;

Figure 3 shows a block diagram of the present invention;

- Figure 4 finally shows a communication of the Wireless type between this device, object of the invention, and a mobile telephone device.

Description of some preferred embodiments With reference to Figure 1, a sensor device 1 is described which can be applied to the skin through an adhesive surface or support.

The adhesive support 2 is in the form of a sheet on which the components described below are arranged. It is therefore similar to a normal plaster.

The adhesive part can preferably be of the interchangeable type, for example by providing a further double-sided sheet which connects to the sheet which forms the support for the components described below.

The dimensions of the adhesive support as a whole can be variable according to requirements but, thanks to the technologies currently available, it is possible to provide extremely small dimensions, for example well below half a centimeter per side. This therefore allows a cutaneous application in suitable positions without the overall device causing disturbances or discomfort, thus resulting not very invasive and therefore functional.

Furthermore, as will be clarified immediately below, the entire components are integrated in this adhesive support such that no physical connections with external PCs are required through cables or wiring in general, making this device very convenient in use both during the rest than wakefulness.

This sensor device, therefore thanks to the adhesive support, can be positioned by the patient on the skin behind or in front of or just below the earlobe at the angle of the mandible and near the skin projection of the mandibular insertion of the masseter muscle or, alternatively, always on the skin in front of and just above the ear near the skin projection of the mandibular insertion of the temporal muscle. These positions are advantageous in that they allow the sensor to work by detecting the activity of the two aforesaid muscles which are those most used during the parafunction linked to the mouth.

Figure 1 therefore schematises the adhesive support 2 and highlights a further component 3.

This component 3 is a sensor capable of detecting muscle activity.

The sensor can, for example, be of the electrode or electrode matrix type capable of intercepting the electrical signals (electromyographic) produced by the contraction of the local muscles affected by the parafunction. In general, therefore, the device 1 is applied to a point on the skin and the sensor is able to read corresponding muscle activity in the application area.

In themselves such sensors are already known and used in other fields and therefore are not structurally further detailed here.

Alternatively, sensors could be used consisting of a deformable electrical element which modifies its resistance to the passage of current according to its shape. Its deformation is indicative of muscle activity and this can be measured by verifying its resistance variation with respect to a standard value determined by its resting condition.

An ADC conversion system is also integrated into the adhesive support. In fact, the sensor provides analog data which must be converted into digital for their subsequent storage, transmission and processing.

A buffer / processor memory is also provided. This processor analyzes the data provided by the sensor and has the task of distinguishing the function (swallowing) from the parafunction, as detailed below.

An actuating device which is responsible for correcting the parafunction is then always integrated in said adhesive support. In this sense, this device implements a response signal in the case of parafunction which in this case can be for example a short vibration (eg produced by a piezoelectric actuator or similar as happens for the '' vibration "functions of a common mobile phone) In another solution, this actuator device can inject a short current at a frequency such as not to cause discomfort or pain to the patient.

A memory card is then provided which stores the data related to the parafunction.

A wireless antenna allows to transmit the stored data to an external device, in particular to an application (for example, residing on the patient's personal mobile phone) which in turn transmits them to a survey station.

Finally, a battery is provided which supplies energy to the system contained in the device itself for the execution of the various sensing functions, activation of the vibration, storage and transmission of wireless data.

A diagram that actually reproduces these components arranged on the adhesive support is shown in figure 3.

As shown in figure 2, the principle for determining a dental parafunction is based, through the sensor, on the determination of the time (T) of duration of muscular activity and its frequency, meaning precisely by frequency the time interval between an event and a subsequent event.

In fact, swallowing takes place by activating the muscles for a duration of about one second and with a cadence not exceeding once a minute while in the case of parafunction the muscles are activated for a time greater than one second (therefore duration in time of muscular activity greater than second) and with a cadence of less than one minute (i.e. the rest interval between one event and the next is less than one minute).

In this way the processor that receives the signals of muscular activity can be easily programmed on these bases in such a way as to be able to recognize a parafunction from a normal function which is thus thrown away and not registered. The variables to be monitored are therefore the duration of muscle activity (T) and the time interval (ΔΤ) in which there is a break in muscle activity (therefore the frequency). What is considered a function is therefore thrown away while the parafunction is on the one hand recorded on a memory, as shown in the diagram of Figure 3 and allows the activation of the response actuator (for example of vibration).

A further memory is used to send data via antenna to an external device, as mentioned above.

By way of example, therefore, Figure 2 shows a first event detected by the sensor which measures, for example, a series of electrical pulses in the time Ti. This is indicative of the fact that muscular activity is recorded, independently of the muscular power applied, for a certain period of time Ti. Subsequently, the sensor records a pause interval T2 and then starts again to record a new phenomenon of duration T3.

In principle, the indicative intervals of a parafunction are those for which each event has a duration greater than one second: Ti> 1 sec; and the interval between one event and the next less than one minute: ΔΤ <1 min.

The processor is therefore programmed to evaluate these duration times of muscular activity and subsequent pauses between one activity and the next. If in a certain overall time interval activity TI and T3 higher than a predetermined threshold is recorded with a T2 pause lower than a predetermined threshold, then as mentioned above this is recognized as a parafunctional phenomenon which is stored and, at the same time, is activated The actuator.

The vibration is preferably at 120Hz since this frequency is known to be used to decontract the muscles and therefore suitable and suitable for these purposes.

Although the preferred configuration of the invention provides for an analysis of both the duration and the frequency, some parafunctions can also be determined only by analyzing their duration or even just the frequency of the event.

In this sense, an analysis of the duration time and / or the frequency are sufficient to determine all the parafunctions.

As mentioned, the system can then easily provide, as schematized in figure 4, a wireless communication that allows to transfer the data (ie the recurrences of bruxism) on a Wireless application downloadable on a normal mobile telephone device.

In this way, the user logs into the application normally and the system uploads this data to the application.

A medical center can then have access to this data to monitor patients.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS 1. A device (1) for detecting a parafunction and comprising a sensor (S) configured to detect muscle activity and a processor (P), characterized in that it is in the form of a support (2) applicable to the skin of the subject and to comprise on said support the sensor (S) and the processor (P), the processor (P) being programmed to recognize a parafunction on the basis of the time (T) of duration of said muscular activity detected by the sensor (S) and / or the time interval (ΔΤ) between one event and the next. A device (1), according to claim 1, wherein said support is adhesive. A device (1), according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said support is in the form of a sheet. A device (1), according to one or more claims 1 to 3, in which an antenna is provided for transmitting the detected parafunction data to an external device, preferably a mobile telephone device. A device (1), according to claim 4, in which a software application on which said data is sent is provided. A device (1), according to claim 4 or 5, in which a centralized database is provided on which said data can be monitored. 7. A device (1), according to one or more preceding claims, in which an actuator is provided configured to interact with the application area of the device in correspondence with the reception of a signal by the processor (P) in the case of recognition of a parafunction, in such a way as to interrupt said parafunction. A device (1), according to claim 7, wherein said actuator is configured to generate a vibration. 9, A device (1), according to claim 8, wherein said vibration is at 120Hz. A device (1), according to claim 7, wherein said actuator is configured to inject a current.