US 5,843,142 AGranted

Voice activated loco motor device and method of use for spinal cord injuries

OwnerHashem Sultaninventor

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Abstract

A method and device which will enable patients with spinal cord injury to perform a variety of complex motor functions independently ( walking, sitting up or down, standing up, climbing stairs, pedaling a tricycle, exercises, etc..) by an implantable programmable device 1 which provide a coordinated stimulation to the nerve roots of the cauda equina 44. The patient will be able to activate the required function by verbally commanding the device. The command is recognized by a pre tracheal sensor 4 which relays voice vibration to the main device either wirelessly 5 or via a wire connecting the sensor to the device under the skin 7. An external programmer 24 communicates with the main device by a transmit receive circuit 26 is also provided to change the parameters of already installed data, if needed.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A system for inducing complex motor functions in a person comprising:

a sensor operable for detecting a vocal command from a person and generating a command signal corresponding to said vocal command;
a controller operably coupled to said sensor, said controller operable for receiving the command signal and generating a control data sequence related to the command signal;
a plurality of transducers coupled to the controller for receiving and converting the control data sequence into a sequence of stimulation signals for stimulating nerve roots, the stimulation signals of the sequence including specific stimulation parameters;
a plurality of individual electrodes coupled to said transducers, each electrode configured for being implanted beneath the skin of the person and coupled to an individual nerve root in the spinal cord;
the transducers producing the sequence of stimulation signals for selectively exciting individual nerve roots in a sequence and according to specific stimulation parameters of the stimulation signals for producing a desired motor function.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.