WO2019039894A1 - Brain stimulation device for insomnia and depression treatment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention comprises: two earphone units worn on both ears of a user, respectively; two light sensors installed in the two earphone units, respectively; a unit-wearing state determination unit provided in a body of a brain stimulation audio device connected to the earphone units by wires, so that the unit-wearing state determination unit receives signals from the two light sensors and compares the two signals so as to determine a wearing state of the earphone units; and a control unit for controlling operation of the body according to a result of the determination made by the unit-wearing state determination unit.

Description

Brain stimulation device for the treatment of insomnia and depression

The present invention relates to a brain stimulation apparatus, and more particularly, to a technique for ensuring correct usability of a brain stimulation apparatus for treating insomnia and depression.

Our bodies have five senses, and the brain that accepts various kinds of information and stimuli from the senses of these five senses performs various functions based on these stimuli and information.

In general, the human brain is affected by external stimuli such as visual, auditory, and tactile. The phenomenon of the brain that tries to match the frequency of external stimuli is called the frequency response (FFR: FREQUENCY FOLLOWING RESPONSE).

Electroencephalogram (EEG) is an electrical phenomenon in which neurons of the cerebral cortex are generated in response to certain inputs and is fundamentally caused by the mechanism of the sodium potassium pump.

When EEG is measured, a gamma wave of 30 Hz or more is observed in an extreme anxiety or an excited state according to a psychological state of a human being. In daily life, a beta wave of 15 to 30 Hz is observed, and meditation, relaxation, , 8- to 14-Hz alpha waves are observed, and in the super-learning state, slightly sleepy state, and high creativity, a 4- to 7-Hz cetaphase is observed and 0.5 to 3 Hz delta waves are mainly observed in the deep sleep state .

Based on the above measurement results, the EEG induction technique uses the frequency-following response phenomenon to synchronize a human brain wave to a desired frequency artificially, thereby calming a user in an excited state or appropriately awakening And to improve the learning ability of the user. At this time, a signal inducing an EEG is called an EEG signal.

Among the features according to the classification of frequency of EEG, in a more detailed manner, it is known that ALPHA (8-14 Hz) appears in relaxed state like meditation, and helps to relieve stress and improve concentration.

For example, if you close your eyes and relax your body, the activities of EEG will slow down your speed. At this time, the brain explosively produces alpha waves between 14 Hz and 8 Hz, and the brain becomes alpha state.

That is, the brain waves that occur when the body and the mind are in harmony in a state of high consciousness are alpha-waves.

As the muscles are relaxed and the mind is relaxed and the consciousness is concentrated, the expression of ALPAPA means that the body and mind are in a very stable state.

Therefore, as a proper control of human brain waves, it is possible to maximize the learning efficiency by strengthening the concentration, and the therapeutic effect that can alleviate diseases or stress such as insomnia can be expected.

The brain wave induction device is a device developed for the purpose of controlling the above-mentioned EEG, and electronically generates a signal similar to the frequency of an EEG such as an alpha wave or a seta wave or a delta wave, . ≪ / RTI >

The signal frequency signal useful for inducing EEG is mainly less than 20 Hz. However, most humans can not hear the induction frequency because the human audible tone is usually in the range of 20Hz to 20000Hz. Thus, in order to generate an electroencephalogram inducing signal for inducing an EEG, a binaural beat method using the difference between the two signals is used.

The binaural beat principle is that if a signal with a slight difference in frequency is heard at the same time in both ears of a human, the EEG with the frequency corresponding to the difference is induced. For example, if a signal of 400 Hz is transmitted to the left ear and a signal of 410 Hz is transmitted to the right ear simultaneously, a 10 Hz alfa wave corresponding to the difference is induced in the user's brain.

The brain stimulating apparatus performs the function of stimulating the auditory sense of the user with the sound of the binaural beat as described above to improve or regenerate the weakened or degenerated brain function. The brain stimulating audio apparatus has a simple auditory stimulus As a result, many problems associated with human life can be solved. In addition to relieving stress, it also exerts an excellent effect in improving memory, improving concentration, treating insomnia, treating depression, treating dementia and treating ADHD.

Therefore, the user is required to wear the earphone unit in both ears in the correct state and use the above-mentioned brain stimulation device to appropriately provide the sound according to the original design intention to both ears, so that the desired effect can be obtained and the effect can be maximized .

However, since users of various conditions, such as patients suffering mild dementia, mental and physical impairments, or lack of attention, may use these brain stimulating audio devices, such users should always wear earphone units in the correct state and use brain stimulating audio devices It is difficult to expect to use, which can affect the reputation and sales of the product ultimately as a result of the reduced effectiveness of the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the conventional art, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent various side effects caused by wear of a defective earphone unit when a brain stimulation audio apparatus is used, The present invention provides a brain stimulation apparatus for treating insomnia and depression, which enables an appropriate effect according to the design intention of a brain stimulation audio apparatus to be made possible by making the apparatus usable.

In order to achieve the above object, the brain stimulation apparatus for treating insomnia and depression according to the present invention provides a binaural beat sound signal which is different in frequency of an alpha wave to both ears of a user, 1. A brain stimulation apparatus for treating insomnia and depression,

A body having a sound generating module for generating a binaural beat sound signal; Two earphone units respectively worn on both ears of the user; An optical sensor provided in each of the earphone units; A unit wearing state determining unit in the body that receives the signal from the optical sensor and is connected to the earphone unit by wire so as to determine whether the earphone unit is normally worn; And a controller for controlling the operation of the body according to a result of the determination by the unit wearing state determination unit,

The optical sensor is installed in a hole opened from the earphone unit toward the user's ear so that all light transmitted from the outside to the optical sensor is blocked when the user wears the earphone unit in the ear.

The unit wear state judging unit judges that the user normally wears the earphone unit when signals from both optical sensors indicate a state in which all light is blocked and in other cases the earphone unit is worn abnormally ;

The controller may transmit a notification sound to the earphone unit and blink a wearable warning light provided on the body when the controller determines that the earphone unit is abnormally worn.

A light reflecting material is applied to a diaphragm provided in the earphone unit;

The optical sensor may be installed to sense light reflected from the light reflecting material of the diaphragm.

The unit wearing state determining unit stores the intensity of light incident on the optical sensor over time and compares the signals of the two optical sensors of the earphone units with the intensity of light stored at a previous time, State or a dark environment.

The present invention prevents various side effects due to improper use of the earphone unit and allows the user to use the brain stimulation audio apparatus in a state where the earphone is always in use so that an appropriate effect according to the design intention of the brain stimulation apparatus .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an entire configuration of a brain stimulation apparatus according to the present invention;

2 is a view showing an embodiment of a body contour of a brain stimulation apparatus according to the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the brain stimulation apparatus for treating insomnia and depression according to the present invention includes a body 5 provided with a sound generation module 13 for generating a binaural beat sound signal; Two earphone units 1 each worn on both ears of the user; An optical sensor 3 provided in each of the earphone units 1; A unit worn state determining unit 7 provided in the body 5 connected to the earphone unit 1 by wire to receive a signal from the optical sensor 3 and determine whether the earphone unit 1 is normally worn )Wow; A control unit (9) for controlling the operation of the body (5) according to a result of the determination by the unit wearing state determination unit (7); And a sound generating module 13 for generating a binaural acoustic signal to be generated by the earphone unit 1 under the control of the controller 9 and providing the binaural acoustic signal to the earphone unit 1.

For reference, the earphone is used to mean two earphone units 1 to be inserted into an ear of a wearer and an earphone line 11 to connect the two earphone units 1 to the body 5, The earphone line 11 transmits a signal to the earphone unit 1 and a signal sensed by the optical sensor 3 to the unit wear state determiner 7 , And the body (5) means a body of the brain stimulation apparatus except for the earphone. The sound generating module 13 is configured to generate a binaural beat sound signal having a frequency difference of 8 to 14 Hz in both ears.

When the user wears the earphone unit 1 in the ear, the light sensor 3 detects the light emitted from the earphone unit 1 through the hole (not shown) 15).

That is, by installing the optical sensor 3 inside the hole 15 which is opened to transmit the sound generated from the earphone unit 1 to the user's ear, the user inserts the earphone unit 1 into the ear and wears it properly When the earphone unit 1 is not correctly inserted into the ear, the light is incident on the optical sensor 3 through the hole 15 and the earphone unit 1 ) Is worn incorrectly.

Particularly, when the signal from both optical sensors 3 indicates that the light is blocked, the unit wear state judging section 7 judges that the user normally wears the earphone unit 1, It is determined that the earphone unit 1 is worn abnormally.

That is, when it is determined that both of the light sensors 3 installed in the two earphone units 1 are completely blocked, it is judged that the user wears the two earphone units 1 in their right and left ears , And in the other cases, it is determined that at least one of the earphone units 1 is erroneously worn.

The control unit 9 sends a warning sound to the earphone unit 1 when the earphone unit 1 is determined to be abnormally worn and a wear state warning lamp 17 provided in the body 5 So that the user can check the wearing state of the earphone unit 1 to inform and guide the user to wear it correctly.

For reference, the wearing state warning lamp 17 shown in Fig. 2 is an example in which the indication itself indicating that one of the earphone units 1 is poor is lighted.

1, a light reflecting material 21 is applied to a diaphragm 19 provided in the earphone unit 1 and the optical sensor 3 is mounted on a diaphragm 19 of the diaphragm 19 21 toward the diaphragm 19 so as to sense the reflected light.

That is, in consideration of the installation position of the optical sensor 3 in the hole 15 of the earphone unit 1, the center portion provided with the diaphragm 19 of FIG. 1 best detects the light incident through the hole 15 It is very advantageous that the diaphragm 19 is provided at this position and serves to generate sound which is the most important function of the earphone unit 1. Therefore, It is difficult to provide the diaphragm 3. When the optical sensor 3 is installed in a corner other than the center of the diaphragm 19, It is difficult to consistently detect the light incident through the hole 15, so that the light reflecting material 21 is applied to the surface of the diaphragm 19 that can best receive the light incident through the hole 15 And is reflected from the light reflecting material 21 The light sensor 3 is provided so as to face the diaphragm 19 at a position as shown in Fig. 1 for sensing the light, so that the basic function of the earphone unit 1 can be faithfully realized, So that the light incident thereon can be stably and accurately detected.

The unit wearing state determination unit 7 stores the intensity of light incident on the optical sensor 3 over time and transmits signals of the two optical sensors 3 of the earphone units 1 It is possible to judge whether the earphone unit 1 is worn or dark by comparing the intensity of the light stored at the time point.

That is, the dark environment refers to an environment in which light is hardly incident on the optical sensor 3 inside the earphone unit 1 even when the user does not wear the earphone unit 1 like a dark room. There is almost no difference in the light incident on the optical sensor 3 before and after the user inserts the earphone unit 1 into the ear. Therefore, when the user wears the earphone unit 1 in the ear, Can not determine whether or not the user has correctly worn the earphone unit 1, so that it is not possible to determine whether the earphone unit 1 is worn as described above, thereby preventing unnecessary malfunctions.

For example, in a dark room, when a user wears the earphone unit 1 in the ear, a light emitting diode for displaying the power of the body 5 through the hole 15 of an earphone unit 1, Even when the earphone unit 1 is correctly worn on the wearer's ear, the unit wearing state determining unit 7 determines that the earphone unit 1 is in the wrong state by the light incident through one earphone unit 1, The warning sound may be emitted and the wearing state warning lamp 17 may be lit. As described above, the intensity of the light incident on the photosensor 3 is stored for a predetermined time (for example, every 5 seconds) If the light sensor 3 of the two earphone units 1 does not detect light and the light is still the same at present even if the intensity of light incident through the two light sensors 3 is the same, Worn state judgment section ( 7 by using the earphone unit 1 as a normal wearing state without using the earphone unit 1 wearing state judging function, so that the body 5 can be operated.

To this end, the unit wear state determiner 7 may be equipped with a storage device or may be connected to a storage device separately.

Claims (4)

CLAIMS 1. A brain stimulation apparatus for treating insomnia and depression which provides a binaural beat sound signal which is different in frequency of an alpha wave to both ears of a user so that an alpha wave is generated in a user's brain, A body 5 provided with a sound generating module 13 for generating a binaural beat sound signal; Two earphone units 1 each worn on both ears of the user; An optical sensor 3 provided in each of the earphone units 1; A unit worn state determining unit 7 provided in the body 5 connected to the earphone unit 1 by wire to receive a signal from the optical sensor 3 and determine whether the earphone unit 1 is normally worn )Wow; And a control unit (9) for controlling the operation of the body (5) according to a result of the determination by the unit wearing state determination unit (7) When the user wears the earphone unit 1 in the ear, the light sensor 3 detects the light emitted from the earphone unit 1 through the hole (not shown) 15 so as to be able to sense the light reflected by the light reflecting material 21 applied to the diaphragm 19 provided in the earphone unit 1 through the hole 15, Being installed toward Characterized by a brain stimulation device for the treatment of insomnia and depression. The method according to claim 1, The unit wear state judging section 7 judges that the user normally wears the earphone unit 1 when signals from both optical sensors 3 indicate that all the lights are blocked, The earphone unit 1 is judged to be abnormally worn; The control unit 9 sends a warning sound to the earphone unit 1 when the earphone unit 1 is determined to be abnormally worn and a wear state warning lamp 17 provided in the body 5 Configured to flash Characterized by a brain stimulation device for the treatment of insomnia and depression. The method of claim 2, The sound generating module 13 of the body 5 is configured to generate a binaural beat sound signal having a frequency difference of 8 to 14 Hz in both ears Characterized by a brain stimulation device for the treatment of insomnia and depression. The method of claim 2, The unit wearing state determination unit 7 stores intensity of light incident on the optical sensor 3 over time and outputs signals of the two optical sensors 3 of the earphone units 1 at a previous time point Wherein the earphone unit (1) is configured to determine whether the earphone unit (1) is worn or in a dark environment by comparing the stored intensity of light with the intensity of the stored light.

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