US 4,974,602 AGranted

Arrangement for analyzing local bioelectric currents in biological tissue complexes

AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft

InventorsKlaus Abraham-Fuchs, Gerhard Roehrlein, Siegfried Schneider

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Abstract

In an arrangement for analyzing local bioelectric currents in biological tissue complexes, electrical signals measured by EEG and/or MEG sensors are supplied to a pattern recognition unit in which defined signal patterns are acquired and are provided with time markings to produce "templates." The templates are forwarded to a correlation unit which compares the continuous measured values to the templates, and calculates a correlation coefficient based on the comparison. A threshold definition unit identifies signal patterns from the continuously measured signal which transgress the threshold, and supplies the threshold-transgressing signal patterns to a comparison unit which compares the correlated signal to the threshold-transgressing signal. Signal patterns are selected based on this comparison which are temporally and spatially identical, and are supplied to an averaging unit, which forms temporal averages of the selected signal patterns. A localization unit identifies the geometrical location of any source in the pattern which is pathologically electrically active. These geometrical locations are supplied to a monitor together with a tomographic portrayal of the same region of the subject, and are superimposed on the tomograph display.

Claims14

Dependent claims

An arrangement for analyzing local bioelectric currents in biological tissue complexes in a patient comprising:

a plurality of sensors adapted to be spatially distributed over a region of a patient in which a biological tissue complex to be analyzed is disposed, said sensors generating electrical signals based on measured filed quantities generated by local bioelectrical currents;
means for recognizing individual signal patterns within said electrical signals and for temporally limiting said signal patterns to form a template for each signal pattern;
means for storing said templates;
means for spatially and chronologically correlating said electrical signals, after formation of said templates, with said stored templates to form a space-time function and a correlation signal derived from said space-time function;
means for deriving a significant threshold for said correlation signal from said electrical signals;
means for comparing said correlation signal to said threshold and for enabling entry, on the basis of the comparison, of selected ones of the identified signal patterns into a means for chronologically averaging said identified signal patterns;
means for identifying a localized spatial source within said biological tissue complex from the averaged identified signal patterns;
and
means for superimposing an image identifying the location of said source on a separately generated tomogram of said biological tissue complex.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.