Abstract:
Apparatus and method for biofeedback of human central nervous system activity using radiation detection. This invention uses radiation from the brain resulting either from an ingested or injected radioactive material or radio frequency excitation or light from an external source impinging on the brain. The radiation is measured by suitable means and is made available to the subject on which the measurement is being made for his voluntary control. The measurement may be metabolic products of brain activity or some quality of the blood, such as its oxygen content. One such system utilizes red and infrared light to illuminate the brain through the translucent skull and scalp. Absorption and scattering of incident radiation depends on the degree of oxygen saturation of the blood in the illuminated tissue. The relationship of the returned scattered and absorbed light intensities can be obtained and displayed via a suitable display of sound, graphics or both so that a human being included in the feedback system can attempt to vary the display and thereby control the actual brain blood oxygenation at will. Control of brain blood perfusion is so quickly mastered that most subjects require less than 5 minutes to gain control.
Abstract:
A method for collecting back muscle dysfunction which comprises collecting electrical muscle activity measurements by applying a plurality of electrodes in a pattern across a patient's back or test subject's back, and measuring the electrical activity at each of these electrodes and storing these measurements at the same time. The database of these sets of measurements from the number of individuals is generated so that a normative sample for comparison is formed. A patient's back muscle activity is quantified by collecting electrical muscle activity measurements for the patient and comparing the patient's electrical muscle activity measurements ratios to the sample average ratios of the normative group.