System and method for suppressing vestibular activity of a human subject
AssigneesVivonics, Inc., Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
InventorsAnna M Galea, Michael J. Cevette, Gaurav N. Pradhan, Jan Stepanek, Daniela Cocco, Sarah Oakley Holbert, Linsey S. Scheibler, Jamie M. Bogle
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Abstract
A system for suppressing vestibular activity of a human subject includes an electronics module configured to generate one or more electrical stimulation signals. A plurality of electrodes each placed proximate a predetermined location on a head of a human subject is configured to deliver the one or more electrical stimulation signals to the predetermined location to suppress vestibular activity of the human subject.
Claims30
A system for suppressing vestibular activity of a human subject, the system comprising:
- an electronics module configured to generate at least first and second electrical stimulation signals, the fist electrical stimulation signal including a first carrier signal having a frequency in the range of about 300 Hz to about 12 kHz, and the second electrical stimulation signal including a second carrier signal with a frequency in the range of about 300 Hz to about 12 kHz, said first electrical stimulation signal being the first carrier signal imposed on a positive biased dc signal and said second electrical stimulation signal being the second carrier signal imposed on a negative biased dc signal;
- a plurality of electrodes each adapted to be placed proximate a predetermined location on a head of a human subject including a first electrode and a second electrode;
- and
- wherein the electronics module is configured to apply the first electrical stimulation signal to the first electrode while concurrently applying the second electrical stimulation signal to the second electrode to suppress vestibular activity of the human subject by hyperpolarizing and/or depolarizing cells located between said first electrode and said second electrode such that perception of motion of the human subject is reduced.
The system of 1 in which the at least first and second electrical stimulation signals include one or more direct current (DC) signals.
A method for suppressing vestibular activity of a human subject, the method comprising:
- placing at least a first and a second electrode on opposing sides of a predetermined location on a head of the human subject;
- generating at least first and second electrical stimulation signals, the first electrical stimulation signal including a first carrier signal with a frequency in the range of about 300 Hz to about 12 kHz and the second electrical stimulation signal including a second carrier signal with a frequency of about 300 Hz to about 12 kHz, said at least first electrical stimulation signal being the first carrier signal imposed on a positive biased dc signal and said at least second electrical stimulation signal being the second carrier signal imposed on a negative biased dc signal;
- and
- delivering the at least first electrical stimulation signal to at least said first electrode and the at least second electrical stimulation signal to the at least said second electrode such that the at least first and second electrical stimulation signals suppress vestibular activity of the human subject.
The method of 21 in which the at least first and second electrical stimulation signals include one or more of:
- one or more direct current (DC) signals, one or more DC signals each with an imposed carrier wave, and one or more alternating current (AC) signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.