• 专利附录
  • 专利说明
  • 权利要求
  • 类似技术
  • 同族专利
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  • 优先权
    • 专利摘要:
    A method for quantifying the perceptibility of a person (1), wherein two possible stimuli (S) are given, and the subject (1) mental activities are applied, which should be performed in the presence of a stimulus (S) 5, wherein each - a stimulus (S) is selected and applied to the person (1), - the person's EEG data are determined and recorded, and - the respectively determined EEG data are assigned to the stimulus (S), 10 a measure (M) being determined for this whether the EEG data are distinguishable from those of a stimulus (S) of different types, and wherein the measure (M) is used as a measure of the perception ability, wherein in the case of determining a value exceeding a threshold within predetermined time ranges EEG data be determined and classified, 15 and an activation stimulus (A) on the subject (1) is applied.
    公开号:AT516020A4
    申请号:T50893/2014
    申请日:2014-12-09
    公开日:2016-02-15
    发明作者:
    申请人:Guger Christoph Dipl Ing Dr Techn；Edlinger Günter Dipl Ing Dr Techn；
    IPC主号:
    专利说明:

    Method for quantifying the perceptibility of a person
    The invention relates to a method according to the preamble of patent claim 1.
    Different measurement methods are known from the prior art, which can be used to detect different mental activities of a person and, based on this, trigger actions. Also known from the prior art are individual so-called brain computer interfaces, with which the processes occurring inside the brain of a person can be determined, further processed and also visualized in different ways.
    Such interfaces are of considerable importance if the person concerned is not provided with any other means of communication such as speech, gestures, etc. The essential background of the invention is to examine patients in the late stage of neurological diseases, for example in the late stage of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or also patients with disturbances of consciousness or cognitive impairments, to what extent their individual subjective perception ability at a particular time is. The determination of these capabilities is of greatest relevance to the patient in question, since communication capabilities or control capabilities adapted to personal perceptiveness can be used.
    By quantifying the ability to perceive, it can be determined to what extent this person, referred to below as a subject, is still capable of communicating with their environment or controlling their environment. In addition, it is advantageous if the subjects' learning successes that have necessarily been acquired in the quantification of the perception ability can also be used by the subject for subsequent computer-assisted communication.
    Methods are known from the prior art which can exclusively determine classifications of EEG data on the basis of already existing measured values. However, such methods are sometimes of very limited value, since there are definitely individual differences between individual subjects in the case of EEG data.
    It is an object of the present invention to provide a rapid and simple method for quantifying cognitive ability that enables effective cognitive detection and is largely independent of individual differences among individual subjects. It is a further object of the invention to enable the person to use the acquired capabilities to answer questions about the driving of certain bodily functions.
    The invention achieves the object with the features of patent claim 1.
    According to the invention, a method is provided for quantifying a person's ability to perceive a) wherein a set of at least two possible differently perceivable types of stimuli that can be administered to the subjects is specified, and b) the subject is given mental activities that are dependent on the species in the presence of a stimulus c) carrying out a plurality of test steps, wherein for each of the test steps a respective type of stimulus is selected from the set of possible types of stimuli, in particular according to random criteria, a stimulus of the respectively selected type of stimulus Stimuli of the person is applied, - within a time range before, during or after the application of each stimulus EEG data of the person are determined and recorded, the time range preferably has a duration of 1 to 10 seconds, and - the respectively determined EEG data O the data derived therefrom being associated with the particular type of stimulus; d) wherein a measure of whether or not the EEG data associated with a particular stimulus is distinguishable from the EEG data associated with a stimulus of a different kind is provided by means of classification analysis, and e) the measure of the Distinctness of the EEG data of different stimuli is used as a measure of perceptual capacity.
    Furthermore, it is envisaged that after the measure for the ability to perceive and determine a value exceeding a threshold value has been determined by the specific measure, the following steps are taken: that EEG data of the person are determined and recorded continuously or within predetermined time ranges, that the EEG data recorded in each case are classified by means of the previously performed classification analysis, and that, if a determined result from the classification is present, an activation stimulus assigned to this result is applied to the subject.
    The invention has the significant advantage that a person's ability to perceive is quantifiable regardless of whether it is capable of actually carrying out specific motor actions. Moreover, it is advantageous that the present test can be easily adapted to different test conditions by applying to the person different mental activities, each leading to different results in the EEG data. Depending on the person individually different mental activities can be used for the quantification in order to obtain as meaningful value as possible. Also, the test can be adapted to different additional sensory disorders of the subject.
    In addition, there is the advantage that, once the person's ability to perceive positively has been ascertained, an easy way is provided to help him to move, for which it is already clear that the person can activate it.
    It is particularly advantageous for the learning behavior of the person when the activation stimulus applied to the person in an application of functional electrostimulation exists on an area of the body of the person with which the body of the person is caused to have a body movement corresponding to the stimulus.Monitoring schemes already learned, With which individual body parts are addressed, can be used in a simple way to move body parts, the stimulus is assigned to the determined by the classification result.
    Furthermore, it is of particular advantage for the learning behavior of the person when the activation stimulus applied to the person in an application of functional electrostimulation or with an orthosis, a prosthesis or a robot on a region of the body of the person with whom the body of the person in a position Body is irritated or with which a part of the body of the person is manipulated, this body of the body is determined by the result determined by classification.
    For the use of processes already known to the person, it may be provided that stimuli and / or results, which are prompted for a movement of a certain body part or for thinking about a specific body part, each have an activation stimulus in the form of a stimulus at a position of the relevant body part or in the form associated with a manipulation of the body part in question.
    A simple method of determining the measure is to determine the measure by examining the likelihood that the application of the classification analysis to the individual EEG data associated with the types of stimuli will each indicate the correct stimulus.
    A particularly simple embodiment of the invention, which only presupposes the functionality of the ear, provides that the set of types of stimuli is given by different tones, in particular of different duration, frequency and volume, in frequencies audible to a human and the person's respective tone is played ,
    A further embodiment of the invention, which requires a slight tactile sensation, provides that the set of the types of stimuli comprises vibratory exposures to different body parts and / or with different intensity and / or duration applied to the person by means of vibration units.
    Another embodiment of the invention, which presupposes a visual sensation, provides that the set of the types of stimuli comprises visual stimuli for an eye or both eyes and / or with different intensity and / or duration, which the person applies by means of a screen or by means of lighting means become.
    Another embodiment of the invention, which requires an electrical stimulus sensation, provides that the set of types of stimuli include electrical stimuli at different body parts and / or with different intensity and / or duration applied to the person by means of electrical stimulators.
    Particularly distinctive and easily performed by subjects mental activities that achieve particularly meaningful results in connection with the present invention, for example: - Counting or arithmetic, - thinking of movements of body parts, especially extremities of the right or left half of the body, preferably the arms or hands.
    A particularly advantageous preprocessing of the EEG data comprising a multiplicity of EEG signals and EEG channels provides that an evaluation of the recorded EEG data is undertaken by combining the individual EEG data of the individual EEG channels recorded at the same time into a signal vector in each case in that - a number of, in particular four, weight vectors are predefined, which have the same number of elements as the signal vectors, that the scalar product of the ascertained signal vector is created with each of the weight vectors for each time, and the respectively generated scalar products are assigned to the respective weight vector, that the variance is determined over a given time range and assigned to the weight vector among the scalar products respectively assigned to the same weight vector, that the individual variances and, if appropriate, a further, predetermined sum with weight values of a we weighting and summing the weight vector; and that the sum thus obtained, or a sequence of sums taken in direct succession, is taken as the basis of the classification analysis as a test value.
    A particularly advantageous, individual adaptation to the respective person provides that the weight vectors and the weight values and, if appropriate, the further sum are adapted to the respective person, so that the measure determined in the classification analysis is maximized, in particular by starting from the weighted starting vectors the weight values and optionally the further summand are iteratively adapted until the classification analysis provides a maximum degree of distinctness based on the already determined test data.
    In order to avoid disturbances of the detected EEG signals and to achieve a particularly high degree of differentiation between the individual EEG signals, it can be provided that the EEG data are subjected to bandpass filtering before the assessment by means of classification analysis channel, the filtered signal, in particular exclusively, frequencies between 8 Hz and 30 Hz.
    In order to achieve an advantageous interaction with the subject to be examined, as well as to give immediate feedback to the subject to be examined, it may be provided that the EEG data or the data underlying the classification analysis, in particular the results of an averaging derived from the EEG data evoked potentials or the EEG data after performing an event-related desynchronization or the EEG data, preferably the person and / or an operator conducting the procedure.
    A particularly rapid, simple and efficient implementation can be made if the measure of whether the EEG data associated with a particular stimulus are distinguishable from the EEG data associated with a stimulus of different types is made using one of the following types of classification analysis: Discriminant analysis , in particular linear discriminant analysis, - support vector machines, - neural networks.
    In order to be able to eliminate daily and weekly fluctuations of individual subjects, it can be provided that the method is carried out on several, especially consecutive, days, if necessary several times, in particular with the same stimuli, whereby the measure of the perceptibility of the person for each day is determined separately and the measure that indicates the greatest ability to perceive is used as a measure of the perceptual capacity of the person.
    In order to be able to communicate after performing the quantification of the perception ability with simple means and to be able to make further use of the data obtained during the quantification, provision can be made for - the communication, in particular, after the determination of the measure for the perception ability of the person to affirm and deny the prior use of mental activities, - to perform mental activities in response to the question asked, - to identify and record EEG data of the individual within specified time periods during or after the question, respectively recorded EEG data are classified by means of the previously performed classification analysis; and that the respective determined results of the classification are used as communication contents and if necessary kept available.
    Methods for carrying out the invention can be advantageously carried out by means of computers. The invention also relates to a data carrier on which a method for carrying out a method according to the invention according to one of the preceding claims is stored.
    An exemplary embodiment of the invention and some advantageous further developments thereof are described in more detail below.
    Fig. 1 shows schematically an example of an arrangement for carrying out a method according to the invention. Fig. 2 shows the procedure in the
    Further processing of EEG data up to the determination of test values. Fig. 3 shows the inFig. 1 shown in detail.
    Fig. 1 shows a person, hereinafter referred to as subject 1, whose perception ability is to be quantified. For this purpose, an EEG hood 21 was attached to it, which are connected to a test unit 20 by means of in each case one EEG cable connections 22a,..., 22zz. Furthermore, the subject 1 headphones were 11, by means of which acoustic stimuli S, for example in the form of tones or sound sequences, on the subjects 1 are administered. The headphones 11 and the test unit 20 are connected to a control unit 10, which controls the delivery of the stimuli S and receives the test values transmitted to the test unit 20. With the control unit 10, the test unit 20 can be configured and adapted to the respective subject 1.
    At the beginning of the procedure, a set of different stimuli S is set. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the stimuli S are defined as tones with different pitch, which can be played back to the subject 1 by means of a loudspeaker 11 or a headphone 11. In order to make the quantification as easy as possible for the subject, are exemplified
    Embodiment only two different pitches as possible stimuli Svorgegeben.
    Of course, however, other amounts of stimuli S may be used in the invention.
    On the one hand, it is possible that the subject 1 can perceive certain features of sounds such as duration, frequency and volume only limited. The set of types of stimuli S can thus also be determined by setting different tones, in particular with different durations, frequency and loudness, in frequencies audible to a human and auditioning the respective tone to the subject.
    On the other hand, for more accurate quantification it may be advantageous to use more than two different stimuli S. Also, in the case of a known corresponding injury of the subject 1, it may also be the case that he can not perceive the stimulus S for other reasons, for example, the possibility exists that the subject 1 is fully conscious, but has and disrupts the ear canals or the auditory nerve For this reason, it is unable to adequately interpret a stimulus as stimulus S.
    It is therefore also possible to use other visual, electrical and tactile or otherwise perceptible stimuli as stimuli S. The amount of the types of stimuli S can be applied to the subject by means of vibration units, for example in the form of vibration exposures to different body parts and / or with different intensity and / or duration.
    In a further step to be taken at the beginning of the procedure, the subject 1 is informed of which reactions he has to make in response to the respective stimuli S. This message can be done in different ways, for example by explanation in the form of a voice message or by displaying the desired procedure on a screen 12.
    For example, one possible task to the subject 1 is to instruct the right hand with a high tone and the left hand with a low tone. Alternatively, a possible application may be to have a tactile stimulus by a vibration unit in a given body area mentally counted. Adapted to different abilities of the subject 1 as well as the knowledge of sensory impairments, an order adapted to the subject 1 can be established.
    Depending on the progress of the quantification process, more sophisticated mental activities may be required, such as thinking of one of several pre-determined body areas in response to one stimulus from a given set of stimuli.
    Before carrying out individual test steps of the method, a number of EEG electrodes are placed on the head of the subject 1. On the head of a subject 1, a sample arrangement with electrodes, in the present example with 27 electrodes applied. The individual leads detected by the electrodes are fed to a amplifier unit 201, amplified and digitized.
    Before carrying out the test, the individual stimuli S are applied to the subject in order to familiarize them with all the stimuli S. In the present example, the subject 1 is played both the high and the low tone, and then told what reaction is expected of him, namely that he is recognizing a high note to the extremities of his right hand or a movement of the right hand extremities should think and - that when recognizing a deep tone he should think of the extremities of his left hand or a movement of the left hand's extremities.
    In the presently described method, 50 consecutive test steps are performed on three consecutive days. Here, in each individual test step, one type of stimulus S from the set of stimuli S is selected at random according to random criteria. A random unit 101 (Figure 3) selects one type of stimulus S and transmits a respective selection signal to a stimulus unit 102, which transmits the stimulus S to the headphones 11 in the form of an analog electrical signal.
    It is possible here to determine the measure of the perception ability of the subject 1 on several days separately for the respective day and to use the measure which indicates the greatest perceptual ability as a measure of the perception ability of the subject as a whole.
    In the present exemplary embodiment, in the first test step the subject 1 was auditioned for a second for a second. Subject 1 recognizes the high pitch as such and thinks of his right hand while playing the high note or thereafter. Within a 10 second time window, all of the EEG channels are used for further investigation. The beginning of this time window may be before, during or after the stimulus. In the present example, the time window begins 100 ms before the start of the stimulus.
    The individual EEG signals are sampled at a sampling rate of 256 samples per second with an analog-to-digital converter 201 (Fig. 2) and converted to digital signals, resulting in a total of 256x10x27 = 69.120 individual samples for characterizing the subject's thoughts.
    The samples obtained from the EEG measurement are channel-filtered on a band pass filter 202. A filtering is carried out before or after the sampling so that frequency components of the signal which are smaller than 8 Hz and larger than 30 Hz are strongly attenuated.
    In principle, individual values derived from the totality of the signals, for example a signal vector s comprising all individual channel-specific signal values of the EEG signal, can be used for a discriminant analysis. Such discriminant analysis can, in principle, be used to quantify the ability to perceive.
    However, the present preferred embodiment of the invention provides a simplification that allows for implementation of the method with significantly less resource consumption. For this purpose, all signal values of the individual EEG channels recorded at the same time are combined to form a common signal vector s. In the present example, the signal vectors each comprise 27 individual signal values, namely one per EEG channel.
    Furthermore, four individual weight vectors ga, gdermittelt, which have the same size as the signal vectors s for each person. In the present example, the weight vectors each have 27 elements or entries. For each individual recording or sampling time point during the time window, in each case one weighting unit 203a, 203b, 203c, 203d generates a scale product pa, Pb, pc, Pd of the averaged signal vector s with each of the weight vectors ga,..., Gd. In this advantageous embodiment of the invention, the last created, for example 5 to 100, scaled products pa, pb, pc, Pd are stored separately in downstream buffer memories 204a, 204b, 204c, 204d for the respective weight vector ga,..., Gd. Subsequently, the variance va, vb, vc, vd is determined in each case for these scale products pa, pb, pc, Pd lying in the buffer memories 204a, 204b, 204c, 204d. These variances va, vb, vc, vd, which are all determined at one time, are each transmitted to an adjunct weighting unit 206. This weighting unit 206 forms a weighted sum of the individual variances va, vb, vc, vd where each of the variances are each taken with a weight value wa, wb, wc, wd from another weight vector. If appropriate, the weighting unit 206 adds another addend s, so that a scalar value T is present at the output of the weighting unit 206.
    The sequence of values determined within the time window is referred to as a test value and transmitted from the test unit 20 to the control unit 10 and assigned by this to the respective type of stimulus S. The weight vectors ga, gd, the further weight vector W and the further summand S are referred to below as individual data and determined separately for each subject 1.
    The concrete determination of the individual data ga, gd, w, s is carried out in an optimization method in the present embodiment and will be described in more detail below and is advantageously carried out after carrying out fewer test steps and, if necessary, can be repeated to adapt to the training successes of the subject 1.
    With this advantageous procedure, it can be ensured that the discriminant analysis can be performed with numerically little effort. In particular, 20250 scalar values need only be evaluated, and only a test value T with a small number of scalar values, whereby a drastically simplified discriminant analysis can be performed. In particular, in the case of subsequent re-use of the invention for the communication after completion of the quantification of the perception capability, a considerable saving of resources can be achieved in this way.
    The test values T obtained in the respective test step are assigned to the respective type of stimulus S. In the present example, headphones 11 played a high pitch as stimulus S. The type of stimulus is transmitted to a memory control unit 104, which forwards the test value T to a first memory 103a for storage. If a low tone is specified as the stimulus S in a second or further test step, the memory control unit 104 forwards the test value T to a second memory 103b. At the end of the individual test steps, a multiplicity of different test values T are present in each of the two memories 103a, 103b.
    By discriminant analysis 105 to which the individual test values T stored in the memories 103a, 103b are fed, a discriminating criterion G can be obtained, which discriminates between the test values T obtained from the individual types of stimuli S, for example, a high tone and test values from a low tone, allows. In addition, the discriminant analysis 105 also provides a measure M of the distinctness of the test values T to be separated, which for the following reasons is considered to be measure M for the perceptual ability of the subject 1. For example, if an EEG signal generated after a high tone from the subject 1 by thinking of a right hand always results in a test value T corresponding to the discrimination criterion G and a signal generated by a subject 1 by a left hand thinking after a low tone always becomes a test value T which does not satisfy the differentiation criterion, the discriminant analysis 105 provides a maximum measure M for distinctness. In this case, it can be assumed that the relevant subject 1 understood the task and was able to perceive the individual applied stimuli S and reacted to them in a targeted manner.
    However, if the respective subject 1 has no ability to perceive at all, no different mental activities can be ascertained. Even if the discriminant analysis 105 provides a discriminating criterion G, it can not be deduced that the respective stimulus S is satisfied by the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of the discriminating criterion G by the respective test value T. The measure M for the distinctness of the individual test values is consequently small.
    To determine the individual values ga,..., Gd, w, s, which are used to determine the test values T, the following procedure can be adopted: starting from randomly predetermined starting values for the individual values ga,..., Gd, w, s or starting from the starting values of already tested subjects 1 with high perception capability, the individual data, namely the weight vectors ga, ..., gd, the further weight vectors w and the further summands s, can be adapted until the discriminant analysis 105 based on a first set of EEG Data provides a maximum measure of distinctness. The first set of EEG data need not necessarily contain all of the EEG data collected by subject 1. It is quite possible that only a part of the EEG data is used to determine the individual data signal,..., Gd, w, s. In order to be able to better take into account adaptation effects of the subjects 1 to the respective task, the individual data ga,..., Gd, w, s can also be redetermined after certain time intervals. This is particularly advantageous when the presented method is used after the quantification of the perception ability for further communication.
    This process of adaptation of the individual data ga, gd, w, s can be iteratively repeated until there is an optimum distinguishability of the test values.
    To optimize the individual values ga, gd, w, s, in principle any optimization method can be used. Good results have been achieved by the invention with a method known from the literature and whose contents are incorporated in this application:
    Guger, C .; Ramoser, H .; Pfurtscheller, G., "Real-time EEG analysis with subject-specific spatial patterns for a brain-computer interface (BCI), " Rehabilitation Engineering, IEEE Transactions on, vol.8, no.4, pp.447,456, Dec2000 doi: 10.1109 / 86.895947
    The optimization method can be controlled by an unillustrated optimization unit of the control unit 10, which modifies the individual values ga, gd, w, s, and iteratively, each time a new generation of the test data T by the test unit 20 starts.
    Different numerical methods can also be used for the discriminant analysis 105, in which case the " C. M. Bishop, Neural Networks for Pattern Recognition, 1995: Ciarendon " described method for linear discriminant analysis is particularly suitable.
    In order to enable a visual check by the subject 1 or by a third party during the quantification procedure, after the respective test step the test value T determined in the test step may be subjected by a comparison unit 106 to the distinguishing criterion G determined from the discriminant analysis 105. The result E of the application of the criterion G to the test value T may then be displayed or otherwise brought to the attention of the subject 1 or a third party. The result can be graphically displayed on screens 12, 13, for example. After a number of test steps, the discriminant analysis can also be performed again and the discrimination criterion G can be reset.
    The determination of the discriminating criterion G is basically not necessary for the quantification of the perception ability, but can be used to determine the response of the subject 1 in a particular case.
    This circumstance makes use of a special development of the invention, according to which the quantification of the perception ability of the subject 1 additionally strives for permanent communication with the subject 1.
    After the quantification of the perceptual ability of the subject 1 further questions can be asked for the purpose of the communication and the subject can be given 1 thoughts which are to be carried out in the affirmative or negation of this question. For example, these questions may be presented to subject 1 on her screen 12 or transmitted via headphones 11.
    Here, the subject 1 uses in answer the same mental activities previously used in the quantification of the perceptual ability, inasmuch as these mental activities have already been found to have sufficient distinctness and a distinguishing criterion G for distinguishing the answers and the test values T, respectively. The questions addressed to subjects 1 are typically questions that are provided with given answers, for example the answers "YES". and " NO ". It is also possible to agree with subject 1 a more complex response scheme with a greater number of discernible mental activities than responses, if they can be determined to be reliable and distinguishable.
    Subject 1, following individual questions, carries out mental activities which are detected by the EEG and classified by means of the previously determined discriminant analysis 105, i. the discrimination criterion G originating from the discriminant analysis 105 is applied to the test value and the result E is determined. Depending on the result E, a different answer of the subject 1 to the question asked is assumed. The answers or the determined results E of the classification are kept available to the questioner and displayed to the questioner and, if appropriate, also to the test person on the screens 12, 13.
    In the foregoing embodiment of the invention, a linear discriminant analysis has been used by way of example to determine the degree M of distinctness. However, this is not mandatory. Rather, different types of classification analysis that allow for separation of different test values can be used. For example, support vector machines Hidden Markov model and support vector machine based decoding of finger movements using electrocorticography; Wissel T, Pfeiffer T, Frysch R, Knight RT, Chang EF, Hinrichs H, Rieger JW, Rose G. J Neural Eng.2013 Oct; 10 (5): 056020. doi: 10.1088 / 1741-2560 / 10/5/056020. Epub 2013 Sep 18. PMID: 24045504 [PubMed - in process] " or neural networks " C. M. Bishop, Neural Networks for Pattern Recognition, 1995: Clarendon " for classification analysis to determine a measure M for distinctness.
    The measure M can also be determined by examining with which probability the application of the classification analysis 105 to the individual EEG data associated with the types of stimuli indicates the correct stimulus. For this purpose, the classification analysis 105 is applied individually to all the determined EEG data It then examines whether the respective classification result corresponds to the stimulus that was applied to the patient when determining the EEG data. The ratio of the correct assessments to the total number of individual EEG data or data Number of applied stimuli can be used as a measure.
    Evoked potentials are calculated by averaging the EEG data of a specific stimulus and presented as an EP curve. The software overlays the evoked potentials of two classes and therefore differences can be easily recognized. This in turn allowed to see if the expected physiological response had occurred and to further determine if there were differences. Furthermore, a statistical test is performed indicating whether the data is distinguishable. Statistically significant differences are marked in the graph.
    Event-related desynchronization is calculated for each class by filtering the data in a typical frequency range (e.g., alpha range 8-12 Hz, betabereich 16-24 Hz, ...). Then the power is calculated and this data is averaged over all repetitions. Thereafter, averaging in the time domain is performed to smooth the curves. This change in power is related to a reference interval before the mental activity and therefore indicates the change in the band performance due to the activity being performed. This result is still evaluated with a statistical test, so that only significant changes are shown.
    Both event-related desynchronization and evoked potentials can be visualized and can serve as feedback to the patient to better perform activities. For the operator, it is important information as to whether the patient is doing the task properly and he can take corrective action. Furthermore, the operator can judge physiological effects based on his experience.
    The invention also provides that, after the determination of the measure M for the ability to perceive, the results of the previously performed measured values can be further used. Of course, such a procedure is meaningful only if it has been established for the person concerned that the measure obtained exceeds a predetermined threshold, since otherwise it can not be ruled out that the brain waves measured by the individual were measured purely by chance and without deliberate control due to the stimuli. However, if it can be determined that the person reacts specifically to the stimuli, the classification of measured value results individually determined for the person can be meaningfully continued to be used.
    For this purpose, EEG data of the person concerned are continuously determined. The period of detection may also be limited to individual time ranges, for example to avoid movements during sleep. The EEG data are classified according to the already performed classification analysis 105, whereby different classification results can be determined.
    Particularly preferred are those classification results that were elicited during the classification analysis due to stimuli that correspond to body movements or that prompt for body movements. Due to these stimuli, an activation stimulus is created which causes the relevant body movement. In the present embodiment, functional electrostimulation, orthoses, prostheses or robots are used to apply activation stimuli A. By means of these activation stimuli A, the body of the person is induced to move the body. Alternatively, the activation stimulus may also stimulate the subject to stimulate a body site corresponding to the stimulus to provide feedback to the subject.
    In the presence of a determined result E, an activation stimulus A assigned to this result E is applied to the subject 1 from the classification.
    Thus, for example, it is possible for a stimulus S, with which the person 1 is requested to perform a movement of the forearm, to be assigned an activation stimulus A, which triggers a stimulus on the forearm or a stimulation of the forearm by means of functional electrostimulation, orthosis, prosthesis, robot Provides a corresponding movement of the forearm.
    Furthermore, it is also possible to repeat the classification to allow the person to learn further stimuli S. In this case, a determination of the measure of perceptiveness need not be repeated. Rather, it suffices to perform the classification to distinguish the response of person 1 to their already known stimuli S from the person's response to new stimuli S being added.
    权利要求:
    Claims (14)
    [1]
    Claims: 1. A method for quantifying the perceptual ability of a person (1), a) wherein a set of at least two possible differently perceivable types of stimuli (S) that can be administered to the subject (1) is given, and b) the subject (1) mental Activities are performed, which are to be carried out in the presence of a stimulus (S) depending on the nature of this stimulus (S), c) wherein a plurality of test steps is performed, for each of the test steps each - a kind of stimulus (S) from the set the stimuli (S) of the respectively selected type of stimuli of the person (1) are applied, - within a time range before, during or after the application of the respective stimulus ( S) EEG data of the person is detected and recorded, the time range preferably having a duration of 1 to 10 seconds, and - the j in each case, EEG data or data derived therefrom are assigned to the respective type of stimulus (S); d) a measure (M) is determined by means of classification analysis (105) as to whether the EEG data associated with a particular stimulus (S) is from the one E) wherein the measure (M) for the distinctness of the EEG data of different stimuli (S) is used as a measure of the perception ability, characterized in that - after the determination the measure (M) of the ability to perceive and, in the case of the determination of a value exceeding a threshold, the following steps are carried out, namely that within specified time ranges during or after the question EEG data of the person (1) are detected and recorded in that the EEG data recorded in each case are recorded by means of the previously performed classification analysis (105), and - that in the presence of a determined result (E) from the classification, an activation stimulus (A) associated with this result (E) is applied to the subject (1).
    [2]
    Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the activating stimulus (A) applied to the person in an application of functional electrostimulation or with an orthosis, a prosthesis or a robot is made on a part of the body of the person with whom the person's body is attached The body is stimulated or manipulated with a part of the body of the person, said body location being determined by the result (E) determined by classification, in particular that stimuli (S) and / or results (E) with which is prompted to move a particular body part or to think of a particular body part, each associated with an activation stimulus (A) in the form of a stimulus at a location of the body part concerned or in the form of a manipulation of the body part concerned.
    [3]
    Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the measure (M) is determined by examining with what probability the application of the classification analysis (105) to the individual EEG data associated with the types of stimuli, respectively, to the correct stimulus suggesting.
    [4]
    Method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that - the set of the types of stimuli (S) is given by different tones, in particular of different duration, frequency and loudness, in frequencies audible to a human being and the sound of the person (1) is played, or - that the set of types of stimuli (S) includes vibration exposures to different body parts and / or with different intensity and / or duration applied to the person (1) by means of vibration units.
    [5]
    A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the set of types of stimuli (S) comprises visual stimuli to an eye or both eyes and / or with different intensity and / or duration, to the person (1) by means of a screen or by means of bulbs, or that the set of types of stimuli (S) comprises electrical stimuli to different body parts and / or with different intensity and / or duration, which are applied to the person (1) by means of electrical stimulators.
    [6]
    6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the person (1) is assigned one of the following mental activities, depending on the type of stimulus (S): - counting or arithmetic, - thinking about movements of body parts, in particular extremities of the right or left Body half, preferably the arms or hands.
    [7]
    7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an evaluation of the recorded EEG data is carried out by combining the individual EEG data of the individual EEG channels recorded at the same time, each time into a signal vector (s), that a number of , in particular four, weight vectors (ga, gb, gc, gd) are given, which have the same number of elements as the signal vectors (s), - that for each time in each case the scalar product (pa, pb, Pc, Pd) of the detected signal vector (s ) is generated with each of the weight vectors (ga, gb, gc, gd) and the respective scalar products (pa, pb, pc, pd) are assigned to the respective weight vector (ga, gb, gc, gd), that among each of them The variance (va, vb, vc, vd) over a given time period is determined and assigned to the weight vector, that the individual variances (va, vb, vc, vd) and, if appropriate, another predetermined summand with weight values (wa, wb, wc, wd) of a further weight vector (w) are weighted and summed, and that the sum thus obtained or a sequence of such is taken as the test value (T) in succession of the sums of the classification analysis (105).
    [8]
    8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the weight vectors (ga, gb, gc, gd) and the weight values (wa, wb, wc, wd), and optionally the further sum (s), to the respective person (1) so that the measure (M) determined in the classification analysis (105) is maximized, in particular by starting from predetermined starting values the weight vectors (ga, gb, gc, gd), the weight values (wa, wb, wc, wd) and optionally the additional sum (s) are iteratively adapted until the classification analysis (105) provides a maximum measure (M) for the undecidability based on the already determined test data.
    [9]
    9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the EEG data before evaluation by means of classification analysis channel by channel bandpass filtering (201) are subjected, the filtered signal (s), in particular exclusively, contains frequencies between 8 Hz and 30 Hz.
    [10]
    10. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the EEG data or the data underlying the classification analysis (105), in particular the results of an averaging, the evoked potentials derived from the EEG data or the EEG data after performing an event-related Desynchronization or the EEG data, preferably the person (1) and / or a process-leading operator, are displayed.
    [11]
    A method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the measure (M) of whether the EEG data associated with a particular stimulus (S) is distinguishable from the EEG data associated with a stimulus (S) of different types is one of the following of classification analysis: - Discriminant analysis, in particular linear discriminant analysis, - Support vector machines, - Neural networks.
    [12]
    12. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the method is carried out on several, in particular consecutive, days, if necessary several times, in particular with the same stimuli (S), wherein the measure (M) for the perception ability of the person (1) for is determined separately each day, and the measure (M) indicative of the greatest perceptual ability is used as the measure (M) of the perceptibility of the person (1).
    [13]
    13. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that after the determination of the measure (M) for the perception ability of the person (1) is plotted to communicate, in particular to affirm and answer questions, the previously used mental activities, that the person (1) performs mental activities in response to the question asked, - that EEG data of the person (1) are determined and recorded within predetermined time ranges during or after the question, - that the respectively recorded EEG data are analyzed by means of the previously performed classification analysis (105) and - that the respective results (E) of the classification are used as communication contents and, if necessary, made available.
    [14]
    14. A data carrier, characterized in that a computer program for carrying out a method according to one of the preceding claims is stored thereon.
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    同族专利:
    公开号 | 公开日
    WO2016090396A1|2016-06-16|
    AT516020B1|2016-02-15|
    引用文献:
    公开号 | 申请日 | 公开日 | 申请人 | 专利标题
    US20090062679A1|2007-08-27|2009-03-05|Microsoft Corporation|Categorizing perceptual stimuli by detecting subconcious responses|
    WO2012102675A1|2011-01-28|2012-08-02|Agency For Science, Technology And Research|A method and system for detecting attention|
    US20130184603A1|2012-01-18|2013-07-18|Neil S. Rothman|Method and device for multimodal neurological evaluation|
    WO2006073915A2|2005-01-06|2006-07-13|Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems, Inc.|Patient training routine for biological interface system|
    US9211078B2|2010-09-03|2015-12-15|Faculdades Católicas, a nonprofit association, maintainer of the Pontificia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro|Process and device for brain computer interface|
    AT515038B1|2013-10-21|2015-12-15|Guger Christoph Dipl Ing Dr Techn|Method for quantifying the perceptibility of a person|AT520374B1|2017-09-06|2020-01-15|Dipl Ing Dr Techn Christoph Guger|Determination of the ranking of the perception intensity of stimuli from a test set of stimuli in a test subject|
    法律状态:
    优先权:
    申请号 | 申请日 | 专利标题
    ATA50893/2014A|AT516020B1|2014-12-09|2014-12-09|Method for quantifying the perceptibility of a person|ATA50893/2014A| AT516020B1|2014-12-09|2014-12-09|Method for quantifying the perceptibility of a person|
    PCT/AT2015/050290| WO2016090396A1|2014-12-09|2015-11-12|Method for quantifying the perceptive faculty of a person|
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