Today we discuss a key Brain stimulation patent by Brainlab AG.

U.S. Patent No. 7,711,431: Method and device for stimulating the brain

• Assignee(s): Brainlab AG
• Inventor(s): Philip Tanner, Thomas Bauch
• Technology Category: Transcranial Stimulation
• Issue Date: May 4, 2010

SharpBrains’ Take:

One of the fundamental parameters that must be determined during brain stimulation treatment is the quantity or amount of energy to be applied to the patient, and how the magnitude of that energy can vary as a function of spatial orientation to the subject and time over which treatment is applied. The ‘431 patent broadly covers a method relating to calculating the amount of energy to be provided based on head spatial structures and eletrical/magnetic properties of anatomical characteristics. The 22 claims cover various embodiments including anatomical modeling structure techniques (with 3-D shell models), types of stimulation device, and applications of stimulation depending on relative positioning and the specific area being stimulated. Despite a potential design- around with a targeted stimulation system that may not consider electrical/magnetic properties of the targeted anatomical structure but may simply consider mechanical or fluid properties such as the amount of blood flow to a brain region, the generally broad claim coverage in the important field relating to location-dependent treatment parameters contribute to making the ‘431 patent a key non-invasive neurotechnology patent.

Abstract:

A method for stimulating a particular area of a brain using a stimulation device includes detecting a spatial structure of a head and determining electrical and/or magnetic properties of at least one part of anatomical structures of the head. An energy amount to be provided by the stimulation device for stimulating the particular area of the brain is calculated automatically based on the spatial structure of the head and the determined electrical and/or magnetic properties of at least one part of the anatomical structures of the head.

Illustrative Claim 1. A method for stimulating a particular area of a brain using a stimulation device, said method comprising:

• detecting a spatial structure of a head;
• determining electrical and/or magnetic properties of at least one part of anatomical structures of the head;
• using a computational unit to calculate an energy amount to be provided by the stimulation device for stimulating the particular area of the brain, said calculation being based on the spatial structure of the head and the determined electrical and/or magnetic properties of at least one part of the anatomical structures of the head.

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