Apparatus and method for treatment of pain with body impedance analyzer

Inventors

Crosson, John • Weinkle, David

Assignees

Truerelief LLC

Abstract

A patient treatment unit and method analyzes and treats pain in tissues by applying an electrical pulse train to the affected tissue. The impedance of the affected tissue is measured, and the measured impedance is correlated to a level of pain in the patient. The pulse train is further applied in response to the measured impedance to reduce the patient's pain. The patient treatment unit includes a probe stimulus generator that outputs the pulse train. The treatment unit also includes a pair of probes for contacting the patient's body and receiving the pulse train. The pulse has improved shaping based on isolation of high voltage from a low voltage control. The unit further includes a body impedance analysis circuit that senses voltage and current via the probes when the probes are contacting the patient and observe the impedance. A monitor is electrically coupled to the body impedance analysis circuit and provides an indication of the measured impedance indicative of the patient's level of pain in real-time.

Core Innovation

A patient treatment unit analyzes and treats pain in human or animal tissues by applying a sequence of electrical pulses to tissues through a primary vibrating spherical probe and a secondary spherical probe that contact a body of a patient. The probe stimulus generator circuit outputs the electrical pulses and controls the pulse width and the pulse frequency of the electrical pulses. The pulse sequence is applied to the tissues as the probes are contacting the body of the patient.

Real-time body impedance analysis is performed by sensing voltage or current via the primary vibrating spherical probe and the secondary spherical probe as the electrical pulses are applied to the tissues. A monitor device provides an indication of the sensed voltage or current as an impedance measurement in real-time, and a display device plots the impedance measurement graphically in real-time. Impedance data is logged for clinician feedback and compliance tracking.

Pulse shaping and isolation are improved by separating high-voltage stimulation from a low-voltage control circuit, including the use of opto-isolators and isolated sensing via a transformer-based isolation/data logger concept. The system evaluates impedance changes to correlate with pain level and can display placement guidance and treatment information via a touchscreen graphical user interface and placement history graphs. Optional depth/penetration estimation and stored patient data access are also described, including a security module and a datakey for activation.

Claims Coverage

The partial content provides two independent claims. Across these independent claims, the inventive features center on a pain-treatment patient unit that applies a controlled electrical pulse sequence via primary and secondary vibrating spherical probes while sensing body impedance in real-time and graphically displaying impedance, with additional architecture for high-voltage generation/low-voltage control and patient-record-based probe placement display.

Overall, the independent claim coverage is directed to applying a controlled electrical pulse sequence for pain treatment using a primary and secondary vibrating spherical probe contacting the patient body, sensing voltage or current to perform real-time body impedance analysis during pulse application, and providing a monitor indication and graphical real-time impedance plot. One independent claim further requires high-voltage generation with low-voltage control of pulse polarity, width, and frequency, and a display that shows probe-placement positions based on a patient treatment record.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications