JP2723080B2 - Electrical stimulator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric stimulator for reconstructing the function of a body paralyzed by central nervous system disorders such as stroke and spinal cord injury by electric stimulation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional electric stimulating apparatus, a mechanical volume is mounted on a patient's chest, and movement of a shoulder is detected in analog fashion (resistance change).

[0003]

In the above-described conventional electric stimulator, a mechanical volume is mounted on the chest, and the movement of the shoulder is detected in an analog manner. It has been difficult to stably control in an analog manner.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric stimulator having a good feeling of wearing and stable operation for a long period of time.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electrostimulation apparatus comprising: an elastic sensor for converting the movement of the shoulder of a human body into an electric signal; a differentiation circuit for differentiating an output of the sensor; and an output of the differentiation circuit. A comparator for comparing the pulse with a threshold level and outputting a pulse when the threshold level is exceeded;

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric stimulator having a differential constant setting device for setting a differential constant of a differentiating circuit and a threshold level setting device for setting a threshold level.

[0007]

[Function] Since an elastic sensor is used, it is flexible and can be worn along the body, and the feeling of wearing is good. In addition, since the change in expansion and contraction of the sensor is used on / off (detected by a pulse signal) by the differentiating circuit and the comparator, the operation is simple and stable operation can be performed for a long time.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the setting device for the differential constant and the threshold level is provided, it is possible to adjust the optimum conditions in accordance with the range of movement of the shoulder and the speed of the movement in accordance with the degree of obstacle of the patient. It is possible.

[0009]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which a sensor 1 of an electrostimulator according to one embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a patient. For example, when both shoulders are moved once in the direction of the arrow in the figure, stimulation is applied to the finger on the affected side. When grasped and moved once again, the stimulus stops and the grasped object can be released.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electrical stimulation device.

The sensor 1 is a rubber-like cylinder filled with carbon powder. When the rubber-like cylinder expands and contracts, its resistance value changes. The resistance change 2 is input to the differentiating circuit 3. Here, the displacement difference of the resistance value is detected. Therefore, if the speed of moving the shoulder is high, a large pulse voltage is output. In addition, since a slow change in the shoulder is removed here, the device can be used stably even for a long time. The pulse voltage is input to the next-stage variable threshold level comparator 5, and when the pulse voltage exceeds the threshold level, an output pulse 7 of the electrostimulator is output. Here, the sensitivity can be changed by adjusting the threshold level.

Since the differential constant of the differentiating circuit 3 and the threshold level of the comparator 5 can be set by the external potentiometers 4 and 6, any of them can be adjusted according to the degree of trouble of the patient or the usability.

[0014]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects. (1) The invention of claim 1 uses a stretchable sensor, so that it can be worn flexibly along the body, has a good feeling of wearing, and uses a differentiation circuit and a comparator to turn on the change of the stretch of the sensor. Because it is used off / off, operation is easy and stable operation is possible over a long period of time. (2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the setting device for the differential constant and the threshold level is provided, it is possible to adjust the optimal conditions in accordance with the range of movement of the shoulder and the speed of movement in accordance with the degree of the obstacle of the patient. It is possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which a sensor 1 of an electric stimulator according to one embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a human body.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the electrical stimulation device of the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sensor 2 Resistance change 3 Differentiator circuit 4 Differential constant setting volume 5 Comparator 6 Threshold setting volume

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electrical stimulation device for electrically stimulating a paralyzed part of a living body to reconstruct a biological function,
An elastic sensor that converts the movement of the shoulder of the human body into an electric signal, a differentiating circuit that differentiates the output of the sensor, and compares the output pulse of the differentiating circuit with a threshold level. An electrical stimulator having a comparator to output. 2. A differential constant setting device for setting a differential constant of the differentiating circuit and a threshold level setting device for setting the threshold level.
An electrical stimulator as described.