Method and apparatus for assessing neural function by sparse stimuli
US7006863B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 27, 2001 |
| Grant date | Feb 28, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 27, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B5/4064
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for simultaneously assessing the functional status of component parts of the nervous system by presenting sparse stimuli to one or more parts of the sensory nervous system. Sparse stimuli consist of temporal sequences of stimulus conditions presented against a baseline null stimulus condition, where the non-null stimulus condition, or conditions, are presented relatively infrequently. The low probability of encountering a stimulus differing from a baseline or null stimulus condition in sparse stimulus sequences insures that gain control mechanisms within the nervous system will increase the neural response magnitude and also bias the measured responses to those neurone populations having such gain controls. The consequently increased response amplitudes ensure more reliably recorded responses than are obtained with non-sparse stimuli.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.