JPH0428599Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a stimulator for activating the paralyzed parts of motor paralyzed patients.

[Summary of the idea]

The present invention relates to a stimulator for activating the paralyzed parts of motor paralyzed patients, and includes multiple detection means for detecting the remaining functional movements of multiple motor paralyzed patients and functions remaining in a specific motor paralyzed patient. A modular amplifier circuit that amplifies only the detection signal detected by the detection means obtained by operation, and a functional electrical stimulation computer that is supplied with a control signal obtained by processing the amplifier circuit detection signal and digitizing it. and, based on the stimulation data stored in this functional electrical stimulation computer, output stimulation pulses corresponding to the control signal in relation to the nerves or muscle groups that control the functional movements of the specific motor paralyzed patient. Since the paralyzed portion supplied to the implanted electrode is activated, only the amplifier circuit suitable for a specific patient with motor paralysis can be selected, resulting in a compact and versatile stimulation device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, electromyography, electroencephalogram, jaw, shoulder,
Mechanical displacement of the neck and voluntary biological signals such as voice are used as movement command signal sources, and signals from detection means (sensors) attached to each of the above parts are used as functional electrical stimulation (FES).
electrical stimulation programmed by the above-mentioned FES computer is applied to the electrodes implanted near the nerves or muscles, and the resulting muscle contractions induce the patient's intended extremity. A stimulator designed to perform the following movements was published in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983.
-Disclosed in Publication No. 160455. FES like this
Computer-based stimulation devices can activate the motor functions of not only the limbs, but also respiratory muscles, trunk muscles, genitourinary organs, etc. In particular, muscle atrophy, muscle shortening, and muscle contraction caused by motor paralysis caused by stroke, spinal cord injury, etc. It has remarkable therapeutic effects on joint contractures, bone atrophy, muscle spasticity, and circulation disorders. Various configurations of such stimulation devices have been proposed, but for example, the
61-217174 discloses a stimulation device 10 as shown in FIG. In Fig. 4, 1a to 1n indicate the remaining voice, breathing, joints, muscle displacement, biological displacement (electroencephalogram, electromyogram, biological action potential), posture, and posture of a patient with motor paralysis.
It is a detection means for detecting various biological signals obtained from other living organisms, and the detection signals obtained by these detection means 1a to 1n are amplified by a plurality of amplification circuits 2a to 2n. Analog-to-digital conversion circuits (A/D) 3a to 3n digitize this detection signal as a control signal.
Supply to FES computer 4. The FES computer 4 stores stimulation data for each control signal in a storage means within the computer, and the signal processing device 3
recognizes various input control signals and selects stimulation data stored in the storage means. With such selection, stimulation pulse train data is supplied to a plurality of digital-to-analog converter circuits (D/A) 5a to 5m to form an analog stimulation pulse train, and this stimulation pulse is transmitted to the living body through a plurality of isolators 6a to 6m. It is supplied to a plurality of electrodes 8a to 8m embedded in 7. The isolators 6a to 6m are composed of capacitors, transformers, etc., and prevent leakage current from the power source from being supplied to the patient via the electrodes 8a to 8m, remove DC components from the stimulation current (voltage), and further This is to minimize electrochemical changes at the interface between the tissue of No. 7 and the electrodes 8a to 8m.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

The stimulation device with the conventional configuration described above supplies and detects changes from all remaining functions of a plurality of motor paralyzed patients to detection means 1a to 1n, and sends all these detection signals to a plurality of amplification circuits 2a to 2n. and A/D3
Even if you try to obtain a control signal using all of the detection signals that are supplied to the FES computer 4 via a to 3n, the circuit configuration of the amplifier circuits 2a to 2n will also be affected by the detection signals. Differently, it not only requires various amplification circuits, but also requires a large number of detection means (sensors), making control complicated. Further, there were problems in that the device was difficult to operate by the patient, the device was large, and it lacked versatility.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a stimulator that is smaller and more versatile by modularizing the amplifier circuit.

[Means for solving problems]

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the stimulation device of the present invention includes a plurality of detection means 1a to 1n for detecting the remaining functional movements of a plurality of motor paralyzed patients, and functional movements that are adapted to a specific motor paralyzed patient. Modular amplifier circuits 2a, 2c that amplify only the detection signals detected by the detection means 1a, 1c obtained by
and a functional electrical stimulation computer 4 to which control signals obtained by signal processing and digitizing the detection signals of the amplifier circuits 2a and 2c are supplied, and the stimulation data stored in the functional electrical stimulation computer 4 is Based on this, a stimulation pulse output corresponding to a control signal is supplied to electrodes 8a to 8m implanted in connection with nerves or muscle groups that control the functional movements of a specific patient with motor paralysis.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, among the plurality of detection means 1a to 1n, modular amplification circuits 2a and 2c that amplify only the detection means (for example, 1a and 1c) obtained by the functional operation most suitable for a specific patient are installed in the device. Since the stimulation pulse train is supplied to the electrodes 8a to 8m implanted in the living body using the FES computer 4, the stimulation device can be made smaller and more versatile.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the stimulation device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. This figure 1 to 3
In the figure, parts corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanation will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a stimulation device 10 of this example, which includes a voice detection means 1a and a breathing detection means 1.
b, joint and muscle displacement detection means 1c, bioelectrical potential detection means 1d, posture displacement detection means 1n, etc. are detection means capable of detecting the movements and functions of residual functions possessed by a plurality of patients with motor paralysis. Even patients with motor paralysis have different residual functions depending on whether they have had a stroke or spinal cord injury due to a traffic accident, so we select the best residual function for a specific patient according to patient and disease, and use this output. The detection means (for example, 1a, 1c) are supplied with the signal. usually,
The number of practical detection means by which the stimulator can be controlled by the patient's will is 2-3. Therefore, in this example, if the specific motor paralysis patient 7 is, for example, a severe quadriplegic patient as shown in Fig. 2, the movements of the neck and upper parts are completely normal, and the shoulders can only move backwards and upwards. Therefore, for example, a detection means 1c consisting of an elongated variable resistor that is filled with a conductor in a rubber tube and detects changes in electrical resistance is pasted on the shoulder of the patient 7.
Amplifier circuit 2 that modularizes the electrical resistance change
Supplied to input terminals T ₃ and T _3G of C. Amplifier circuit 2C
are detachably connected to the input/output terminals T ₃ and T ₃ ' of the device, and the amplifier circuit 2C includes a reference voltage generator 2C ₁ , a differential amplifier 2C ₂ , and a low-pass filter (LPF) 2.
The detection signal input to the input terminal T ₃ is amplified by the differential amplifier 2C ₂ which compares _it with the output of the reference voltage generator 2C ₁ , and the low frequency component is extracted by the LPF 2C ₃ and sent to the output terminal T ₃ . ′. In addition, _TV indicates a power supply terminal, and T _3G and _TG indicate a ground terminal.

Furthermore, patients with specific motor paralysis, that is, the majority of patients with severe quadriplegia mentioned above, often do not have any problems with speech production or hearing, and the voluntary biological signals obtained from movements of the neck, shoulders, etc. Sound can also be used as a detection signal. For example, when the patient 7 grasps the tip, the opening and closing of the hand is performed using a control signal detected by the detection means 1c from a voluntary biological signal obtained from the movement of the shoulder or the like. Of the hand grip movements, the key grip movement (pattern of grasping a key)
There is a Cylindeicul Grasp movement (pattern with a stick or stick), etc., but such a pattern is FES
It is stored in the computer 4 in advance. Furthermore, when the sound generated by the patient 7 is detected by the detection means 1a consisting of a microphone or the like and the Grasp operation is selected, the patient can grasp the tip without damaging it by moving according to this pattern. Become. The detection output of such detection means 1a is the third
The signal is supplied to input terminals T ₁ and T _1G of a modular amplifier circuit 2a as shown in the figure. The amplifier circuit 2a is detachably connected to the input/output terminals T ₁ and T ₁ ' of the device, and the detection signal supplied to the amplifier circuit 2a is amplified by the amplifier 2a ₁ and sent to the F/V converter 2 for frequency-voltage conversion.
After being converted into a voltage by _a2 , it is outputted to an output terminal _T1 ' via a comparator _2a3 where it is compared with a reference voltage or the like. Note that T _V , T _G , and T _1G (=T _3G ) are the same terminals as in FIG. 2.

In this way, out of the remaining functions of a specific patient 7, the optimal operation and function are supplied to the detection means 1a, 1c, and the output of this detection means is sent to the input/output terminals _T1 ,
T ₃ , T ₁ ', T ₃ '
A modular amplifier circuit is not connected to T ₂ , T ₂ ′・T ₄ , T ₄ ′...T _o , T _o ′. Therefore, the amplifier circuit 2
Only the detection signals outputted from the output terminals T ₁ ', T ₃ ' of A/Ds 3a, 2c are processed, and the digitized control signals are supplied to the FES computer 4. As mentioned above, the FES computer 4 outputs stimulation pulse data to the D/A 5a to 5m based on the pattern of the storage means and the voice recognition device based on the voluntary biological signals and audio signals, and the analog stimulation pulse train is sent to the isolator 6a. ~6m
It is supplied to electrodes 8a to 8m implanted in parts of the patient 7 related to nerves and muscles. In addition, electrode 8
For example, a to 8m is a wire made by twisting wires with a diameter of 50 μm coated with tetrafluoroethylene resin, and the total diameter is 0.2 mm.
A coiled wire is used.

In the above configuration, the voice detection means 1a and the joint/muscle change detection means 1c are selected, but two to three detection signals such as the respiration detection means 1b and the bioelectrical potential detection means 1d may be used depending on the optimal residual function of a particular patient. It is also possible to select the degree. In that case, a modular amplifier circuit suitable for these detection means may be incorporated into the stimulation device.

In this example, only the detection signal corresponding to the good residual function of a specific patient is extracted, and only the modular amplifier circuit corresponding to this detection signal is incorporated into the stimulator, so the stimulator can be unified and the device can be made smaller. , generalization becomes possible.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effect of idea]

According to the present invention, the stimulator can be made smaller and more versatile, and an inexpensive stimulator suitable for paralyzed patients can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of the stimulator of the present invention, Figs. 2 and 3 are circuit diagrams showing an embodiment of the amplifier circuit for the stimulator used in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a conventional circuit diagram. FIG. 2 is a system diagram of a stimulator. 1a is a voice detection means, 1c is a joint and muscle change detection means, 2a to 2n are amplifier circuits, 2a ₂ is an F/V converter, 2a ₃ is a comparator, 2c ₁ is a reference voltage generator, 2c ₂ is a differential amplifier , 2c ₃ is LPF, 3a~3n
is A/D, 4 is FES computer, 5a to 5m is D/A, 6a to 6m is isolator, 7 is patient,
8a to 8m are electrodes.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A plurality of detection means for detecting the remaining functional movements of a plurality of motor paralyzed patients, and a method for detecting residual functional movements of a specific motor paralyzed patient by the above detection means. a modular amplification circuit that amplifies only the detected signal, and a functional electrical stimulation computer to which a control signal obtained by signal processing and digitizing the amplified circuit detection signal is supplied; Based on the stimulation data stored in the computer, a stimulation pulse output corresponding to the control signal is supplied to the implanted electrode associated with the nerve or muscle group controlling the functional movement of the specific motor paralysis patient. A stimulator comprising: