JPH08257143A - Electrical stimulator system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] In an electric stimulator system having a plurality of stimulators, the operability is facilitated to reduce the burden on the patient. [Structure] A plurality of stimulators 22 and 23 are embedded in the body at different sites. And these stimulators 2
2 and 23 are controlled by a controller 21 arranged outside the body. That is, the controller is the transmitter coil 21.
Control signals are sent to the stimulators 22 and 23 by a and 21b. The stimulators 22 and 23 receive control signals by the receiving coils 22a and 23a.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric stimulator, and more particularly, to an electric stimulator used when electric functions are used to reconstruct the function of a body paralyzed by a central nervous system disorder such as stroke or spinal cord injury.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in this type of electric stimulator, a stimulator is embedded in a living body and electric power is sent to the stimulator from outside the living body by a controller so that the stimulator can electrically stimulate the living body. There is. When applying electrical stimulation to a plurality of sites using such an electrical stimulator, a plurality of electrical stimulators are required. That is,
Multiple controllers and corresponding stimulators for each controller are required.

Now, referring to FIG. 3, a conventional electric stimulator system will be outlined.

The illustrated electrostimulator system comprises a plurality of electrostimulators. In the illustrated example, the first and second electrostimulators are provided, and the first and second electrostimulators have the same components. That is, the first and second electrical stimulators are control sensors (control input devices) 11a and 11b, and controllers 12a and 12 respectively.
b, and stimulators 13a and 13b. Then, the control sensors 11a and 11b and the controller 12a
And 12b are located outside the body, and stimulators 13a and 13b
b is embedded in the body. In the illustrated example, the stimulator 13a is controlled by the controller 12a to control the site I.
(For example, the right lower limb) is stimulated, and the stimulator 13b is controlled by the controller 12b to stimulate the site II (for example, the left lower limb).

When the control sensor 11a is operated, various commands are given to the controller 12a according to the operation state. That is, the control sensor 11a turns on the power and starts the stimulation. Controller 12
The a supplies electric power to the stimulator 13a in response to an input command from the control sensor 11a and also provides stimulus data (stimulation pulse) (this stimulus data is also called a control signal). Specifically, a modulation signal obtained by modulating a power signal (power carrier) with a stimulation pulse is applied to the stimulation device 13a via the transmission coil 121. The stimulator 13a receives the modulation signal via the receiving coil 131, rectifies the modulation signal, and then converts it into a constant voltage to be used as a power supply. On the other hand, the modulated signal is filtered by a bandpass filter (not shown) to extract the stimulation pulse. Then, the stimulation device 13a drives the stimulation electrode in response to the stimulation pulse.

Similarly, the controller 12b responds to an input command from the control sensor 11b in response to the stimulator 13b.
Power and stimulation pulses as modulation signals.
Then, this modulated signal is given to the stimulator 13b via the transmission coil 122. The stimulator 13b receives the modulation signal via the receiving coil 132, rectifies the modulation signal, and then converts it into a constant voltage to be used as a power supply. On the other hand, the modulated signal is filtered by a low pass filter (not shown) to extract the stimulation pulse. And the stimulator 13
b drives the stimulation electrode in response to this stimulation pulse.

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional electric stimulator system, it is necessary to provide the electric stimulator having the controller and the stimulator corresponding to the number of sites to which the electric stimulus is given. As the number of parts to be stimulated increases, the number of electric stimulators also increases.
In addition, as is clear from the above description, in the conventional electric stimulator system, the control sensor is provided corresponding to each controller. Therefore, if the number of parts to which the electric stimulus is given increases, The number will increase, and the operation will be extremely troublesome.

For example, when the lower limbs are incapacitated due to a spinal cord injury or the like, in order to reconstruct both lower limbs, an electric stimulator system having two electric stimulators is required. As a result, the user (patient) has to wear two controllers, which increases the burden on the patient. Moreover, since two control sensors are required as described above, the operability becomes extremely troublesome.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric stimulation system which has a low burden on a patient and is easy to operate.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided an electric stimulator system for treating or reconstructing a function by electric stimulation, wherein a plurality of stimulators to be implanted in the body at different places and arranged outside the body. A controller for generating a control signal for controlling each of the plurality of stimulators, and a transmission element provided corresponding to the plurality of stimulators for transmitting the control signal to the plurality of stimulators. An electrical stimulator system is provided. For example, when there are N (N is an integer of 2 or more) stimulators, the controller generates first to Nth control signals having different frequencies as the control signals, and the first to Nth control signals are generated.
Control signals are transmitted to the first to N-th stimulators, and the first to N-th stimulators are respectively connected to the first stimulators.
Receiving means for receiving the Nth control signal are provided. Further, the controller may transmit the control signals to the plurality of stimulators by shifting transmission timings from each other.

[0011]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below with reference to examples.

Referring to FIG. 1, the illustrated electrical stimulation system includes a controller 21 and a plurality of stimulators 22 and 23.
The controller 21 is connected to the control sensor 24. The stimulators 22 and 23 are embedded in the body corresponding to the parts I and II, respectively. On the other hand, the controller 21 and the control sensor 24 are mounted outside the body. The controller 21 uses the electromagnetic waves or the like in accordance with the command given from the control sensor 24 to stimulate the stimulators 22 and 2
Power and stimulus data are given to 3.

In response to an input command from the control sensor 24, the controller 21 modulates a power signal (power carrier) with a stimulating pulse to generate a modulation signal and transmit coils 21a and 21b.
Sent from. The stimulators 22 and 23 are provided with receiving coils 22a and 23a, respectively.
In 2, the modulation signal is received via the receiving coil 22a, the modulation signal is rectified, and then the voltage is converted to a constant voltage to be used as a power supply. On the other hand, the modulated signal is filtered by the bandpass filter 22b to extract the stimulation pulse. And
The stimulator 22 drives the stimulation electrode in response to the stimulation pulse.

Similarly, the stimulator 23 receives the modulation signal via the receiving coil 23a, rectifies the modulation signal, and then converts it into a constant voltage for use as a power source. On the other hand, the modulated signal is filtered by the bandpass filter 23b,
The stimulation pulse is extracted. Then, the stimulation device 23 drives the stimulation electrode in response to the stimulation pulse.

Thus, one controller, that is,
A single control sensor can perform treatment or functional reconstruction of a plurality of sites, resulting in less burden on the patient and easier operability.

By the way, when the stimulation sites are close to each other, the transmitting coil and the receiving coil are arranged close to each other. As a result, mutual interference may occur electromagnetically and adversely affect each other. In order to prevent such a problem, the controller 21 is configured as follows.

The controller 21 transmits a modulation signal (first modulation signal) obtained by modulating a power carrier of frequency f1 with a stimulation pulse (for example, a stimulation pulse of 1 MHz) in accordance with an input command from the control sensor 24, to the transmission coil 21a. Sent from. Further, the controller 21 sends out a modulation signal (second modulation signal) obtained by modulating a power carrier of frequency f2 with a stimulation pulse (for example, a stimulation pulse of 2 MHz) from the transmission coil 21b.

The stimulator 22 receives the first modulation signal via the receiving coil 22a, rectifies the first modulation signal, and then converts it into a constant voltage for use as a power supply. On the other hand, the first modulated signal is filtered by the bandpass filter 22b (this bandpass filter 22b is, for example, a 1 MHz bandpass filter), and the stimulation pulse is extracted. Then, the stimulation device 22 drives the stimulation electrode in response to the stimulation pulse.

Similarly, the stimulator 23 receives the second modulated signal via the receiving coil 23a, rectifies the second modulated signal, and then converts it into a constant voltage to serve as a power source. On the other hand, the second modulated signal is filtered by the bandpass filter 23b (this bandpass filter 23b is, for example, a 2 MHz bandpass filter), and the stimulation pulse is extracted. Then, the stimulation device 22 drives the stimulation electrode in response to the stimulation pulse.

As described above, by using the power carriers of different frequencies and the stimulation pulses of different frequencies, mutual electromagnetic interference can be prevented.

Next, another embodiment of the electrical stimulation system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In this embodiment, if there is an input command (control input) from the control sensor 24 at a predetermined interval (see FIG. 2).
In (a), this control input is represented by a low level, and the controller 21 executes a process according to this control input (FIG. 2 (b)) to obtain a control command. Then, according to this control command, the controller 21 first controls the stimulator 22 and then controls the stimulator 23. That is, the controller 21 shifts the timing to control the stimulators 22 and 23.

In the "transmission" shown in FIG. 2 (c), the controller 21 sends the stimulation pulse (control signal) to the stimulation device 22 via the transmission coil 22a as described above.
Then, the stimulation device 22 drives the stimulation electrode in response to the stimulation pulse. When the transmission to the stimulator 22 is completed,
In the “transmission” shown in FIG. 2D, the controller 21
Sends the stimulation pulse (control signal) to the stimulation device 23 via the transmission coil 23a as described above. Then, the stimulation device 23 drives the stimulation electrode according to the stimulation pulse.

In this way, each time there is a control input, the controller 21 shifts the timing and the stimulators 22 and 2 are operated.
3, the stimulation pulse is transmitted to the controller 3, and the transmission interval from the controller 21 becomes the stimulation cycle. This stimulation cycle can be changed by changing the transmission interval in the controller 21.

As described above, when a plurality of stimulators are used, the stimulating pulse may be sent from the controller to the stimulator by shifting the timing with respect to the plurality of stimulators.

Information regarding which stimulator is to be used is provided from the control sensor to the controller. For example, when only one stimulator is used, that effect is given to the controller from the control sensor. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the electric stimulator system having two stimulators has been described, but the same can be applied to the electric stimulator system having three or more stimulators.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A single controller can control a plurality of stimulators, and as a result, there is an effect that the burden on the patient is small and the operability is easy. Further, by controlling a plurality of stimuli with one controller in this way, the number of output channels in one stimulator can be reduced, and the stimulator can be miniaturized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an electric stimulator system according to the present invention.

2A and 2B are timing diagrams for explaining another embodiment of the electrical stimulation apparatus system according to the present invention, where FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a control input from a control sensor, and FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a process in the controller. , (C) and (d) are diagrams showing the transmission timing to the stimulator.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a conventional electric stimulation device system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 controller 22,23 stimulator 24 control sensor

Front page continuation (71) Applicant 392013648 Hidetoshi Matsuki 2-36-4 Yagiyamahonmachi, Taihaku-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi (72) Inventor Seiichi Ishikawa 5-7-1 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo NEC Corporation (72) Inventor Tatsumi Shinohara 5-7-1, Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo NEC Corporation (72) Inventor Nozomi Hoshimiya 2-2-15 Minamikoizumi, Wakabayashi-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture (72) Invention Person Yasunobe Handa 6-37 Takamori, Izumi-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi 8-7 (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Matsuki 1-9-29 Minami Yagiyama, Taihaku-ku, Sendai-shi, Miyagi

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An electric stimulator system for performing treatment or functional reconstruction by electric stimulation, comprising a plurality of stimulators to be implanted in the body at different locations, and a plurality of stimulators arranged outside the body to control each of the plurality of stimulators. An electric stimulator system comprising: a controller that generates a control signal for controlling the stimulator; and a transmission element that is provided corresponding to the plurality of stimulators and that transmits the control signal to the plurality of stimulators. 2. The electrical stimulator system according to claim 1, wherein the stimulator is N (N is an integer of 2 or more).
When there is a table, the controller generates first to Nth control signals having different frequencies as the control signal,
Receiving means for transmitting the first to Nth control signals to the first to Nth stimulators, and the first to Nth stimulators receiving the first to Nth control signals, respectively. An electric stimulator system comprising: 3. The electrical stimulator system according to claim 1, wherein the controller sends the control signal to the plurality of stimulators by shifting transmission timings from each other. system.