US3160159A

US3160159A - Device for inducing sleep

Info

Publication number: US3160159A
Application number: US7965A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hoody Jusha Borisovich; Kootinov Viachesl Porfirievich; Bulba-Popkov Vasily Sergeevich
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-01-04
Filing date: 1960-01-04
Publication date: 1964-12-08
Anticipated expiration: 1981-12-08

Description

Dec. 8, 1964 J. B. HOODY ETAL 3,160,159

DEVICE FOR mnucmc; SLEEP Filed Jan. 4. 1960 MULTIVIBRATOR CLIPPER AMP-y-4- CATHODE FOLLOWERS PATIENT ELECTRODES b 23 .QJJ

I c 25 PATI ENT ELECTRODES FIG. 3

t INVENTORS 1"" JUSHA BORISOVICH HOODY F162 VIACHESLAV PORFIRIEVICH KOOTINOV VASI LY SERG EEVICH BU LBA- POPKOV BY J2me; s jiiM ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,160,159 DEVICE FOR INDUQZING SLEEP .lusha Borisovich Handy, U1. Kalinina 5, Apt. 18; Viacheslav Porfirieviclr Kootinov, Lookov per. 10, Apt. 22;

and Vasily Sergeevich Eulba-Popkov, Potapovsiiy per. 5,

Apt. 14, all of Moscow, USSR.

Filed Jan. 4, 1969, Ser. No. 7,965 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-429) This invention relates to a method of treating various diseases by sleep and a device for the realization of the method.

The invention provides a device for treating various diseases by sleep induced by electric current pulses acting in the patients brain and supplied to the patient through electrodes adapted to be secured on the patients head, and has as an object the provision of a device for the realization of the method.

The described method is characterized in that in order to produce deeper sleep in the patient, a combined form of electric current is applied, consisting of square pulses in combination with a galvanic, i.e. direct-current, component in the 25 to 130 cycle per second and higher frequency range.

Electric devices of the stationary type intended for treating various diseases by artificially induced sleep are known. They include a pulse generator in the form of a self-excited multivibrator supplying the generated current pulses to a clipper for cutting the pulse peaks. The pulses are thereafter applied onto the grids of parallel connected tubes operating as cathode-follower stages. Output terminals are provided across the cathode resistors Whereat the output volt-age is available for application through electrodes to the patient.

One disadvantage of these stationary devices is the impossibility of using them in field conditions, for sleep therapy in the home, as well as during transportation of sleeping patients.

In the present device, this disadvantage is eliminated while reducing the overall dimensions of the device and enabling it to be fed either from A.C. mains or from a dry element battery. The unheated tube filament circuits for the electronic tubes are so designed that they can be fed from separate windings of a transformer, with a parallel connected resistance across each winding. Each resistance has a midtap which may be connected to the cathodes of the multivibrator, clipper and final amplifier.

The drawing shows, in FIG. 1, the circuit diagram of a portable electronic device for treating, by artificially induced sleep, two patients simultaneously. FIG. 2 depicts a composite waveform diagram, and FIG. 3 is a detail of the circuit of FIG. 1 to better explain the switching of the pulse generator.

The device is mounted in a portable case separately from the supply source (mains or battery) and consists of multivibrator tubes 1 and 2, clipping amplifier with grounded grid consisting of tube 3, and of two output stages 4 and 5, connected according to the conventional circuit diagram for cathode-follower stages.

The number of sleep channels may be increased by means of connecting parallel operating cathode-follower stages according to the required number of channels determined by the number of patients to be simultaneously treated.

Smooth alternation of the multivibrator frequency is etfected through a potentiometer R coarse alteration ice depending on necessity of controlling either channel, with-' out interrupting the patients circuit. Resistances R and R serve as shunts.

Output potentiometers R and R provide for smooth alteration of power. The output channels are indicated at 12 and 13.

The operation of the device may be better appreciated from a consideration of FIGS. 2 and 3, wherein a typical superimposed wave is illustrated in FIG. 2, and the switching circuitry of the electronic pulse generator is depicted in FIG. 3. It is important to note the absence of any coupling capacitors between the pulse generator, comprising tubes 1 and 2 and the remainder of the circuitry, including the output terminals 21-23 and 25-27, respectively provided for the patient electrodes a. and b for the first patient and the patient electrodes 0 and d for a further patient. The absence of such coupling capacitors enables a galvanic or direct-current component to manifest itself at the output terminals for application to the patient via the patient electrodes. Such a direct-current component is illustrated by the ever present region, identified as the DC. region in FIG. 2, wherein a train of repetitive square pulses is made up of the individual pulses 31, and the average value is depicted by the dotted line '33. Thus, FIG. 2 illustrates a composite pulse train superimposed upon a DC. or galvanic component. The graph shows current along the ordinate, and time along the abscissa, each extending from a common zero or origin.

The switching ofthe multivibrator comprising tubes 1 and 2 will next be described, reference being bad to FIGS. 1 and 3. The function of the multivibrator is to transfer current alternately from tube 1 to tube-2 to produce an output pulse across R whenever tube 2 conducts, establishing a potential drop across this resistor. The cessation of current in tube 1 causes its plate voltage at point 35 to rise toward the B+ potential. Be-.

cause of the flow of condenser current of C through resistor R the plate voltage of tube 1 does'not immediately rise to the B+ value. The start of current in tube 2 naturally causes the plate voltage at point 37 to fall, because of the drop across resistor R Since the plate voltage of tube 1 is impressed across the seriescombination of condenser C and resistor R and the plate voltage of tube 2 is impressed across the series combination of resistor R and condenser C the sudden change in plate voltages causes a condenser discharging current to flow out of condenser C and a charging current to flow into condenser C The flow of discharging current through resistor R biases the grid of tube 1 negatively and prevents it from conducting; whereas, the flow of the charging current through resistor R and the control grid 40 of tube 2 biases it positively and thus keeps it conducting. As condenser C discharges and condenser C charges, however, the condenser currents decreaseexponentially and so the biasing voltages become smaller. The negative bias of tube 1 becomes so small that plate current starts flowing in tube 1 and the circuit triggers. The transfer of current from tube 2 to tube 1 is followed by a similar series of events, such that the control grid 41 of tube 1 is maintained positive and the grid 4i) of tube 2, negative. Thus, as condenser C charges and condenser C3 discharges, the condenser currents and the biasing voltages gradually become smaller until the circuit again triggers. The cycle is automatically repeated, and its duration is under control of the selection of the condenser or capacitor switch 38 (PKG. 1), which may select any of capacitors C through C to serve as capacitor C in FIG. 3. Also, the relative value of the resistors R and K, may be selectedby an adjustment of potentiometer R to change the biasing applied to' tubes 1 and 2, respectively, thereby altering the pulse duration or duty-ratio for the generator.

In the foregoing analysis, it may be noted that the screen grid 51 and the suppressor grid 53 of tube 1 (FIG. 1) are not necessary, and they are accordingly tied together and to the anode of tube 1 at point 35. The screen and suppressor grids of the other tubes are similarly, respectively connected.

Thus, it may be appreciated that the output from the generator comprising tubes 1 and 2 appears across resistor R and is applied directly to the cathode 55 of tube 3. The output of the clipper amplifier tube 3 determines the grid potential applied to the commonly-connected

control grids

60 and 61 of tubes 4 and 5 at point 63 between resistors R and R Again, it should be noted that a direct path is provided Without resort to coupling capacitors. It should also be noted that the efiect of the clipper tube 3 is to eliminate any peaks or rounded regions from the tops of the pulses 31 of FIG. 2, so that the Output pulses from clipper tube 3 are square, regardless of whether they were peaked or rounded when applied from the generator tube 2 to the clipper tube 3.

The superimposed square pulses on the DC. level of FIG. 2 appear at potentiometers R and R connected as the cathode-follower resistors for tubes 4 and 5. The output power is, of course, adjustable at the potentiometers R and R to control the energy applied respectively to the patients over patient electrodes a-b and patient electrodes c-d, but in any event, it is apparent that energy is available at all times, because of the steady state D.C. component manifesting itself beneath and between the square pulses 31, as clearly seen in FIG. 2.

What is claimed is:

1. A portable apparatus for artificially inducing sleep by the action on the brain of electric current pulses, comprising electrodes adapted to be secured on the patients head; an electronic pulse generator for producing square pulses; and means connected to receive the output of the generator for developing a direct-current component and superimposing said square pulses onto said direct-current component for application to said electrodes, said last-mentioned means including a cathodefollower connected electron tube having a cathode resistor across which the electrodes are connected for trans mitting the pulses to the patients head.

2. A portable apparatus for the treatment of various diseases by artificially inducing sleep through the action of electric current pulses applied to the brain, comprispulses; means for deriving a direct-current component; and means for superimposing the pulses on the directcurrent component, said last-claimed means comprising a cathode-follower connected electron tube with a cathode resistor, said cathode follower tube being connected to the clipper means for energization by the pulses from the clipper means, and output terminals connected to the cathode resistor whereat said electrodes are connected for transmitting the pulses to the patients head.

3. A portable apparatus for artificially inducing sleep in one or more patients by the action of electric current pulses on the brain, comprising electrodes adapted to be secured on each patients head; an electronic pulse generator of square pulses; means for developing a directcurrent component; means for superimposing the square pulses on the direct-current component, comprising a plurality of cathode-follower connected electron tubes, the output of each such electron tube including a cathode resistor comprising output channels therefor, said means for superimposing further com rising output terminals across each cathode resistor whereat a pair of said electrodes is connected to the cathode resistor of each electron tube, each said pair of electrodes adapted to serve one patient; and means for independently controlling the output current from each of the electron tubes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,304,095 Hull Dec. 8, 1942 2,321,659 Connerty June 15, 1943 2,492,617 Boland Dec. 27, 1949 2,498,882 Fizzell Feb. 28, 1950 2,532,788 Sarnofi Dec. 5, 1950 2,590,216 Schuhfried Mar. 25, 1952 2,641,259 Batrow June 9, 1953 2,662,975 Schwarz Dec. 15, 1953 2,713,120 Mostofsky July 12, 1955 2,756,741 Campanella July 31, 1956 2,801,629 Edmark Aug. 6, 1957 2,827,040 Gilford Mar. 18, 1958 2,865,365 Newland Dec. 23, 1958 3,002,185 Bases Sept. 26, 1961 I FOREIGN PATENTS 1,177,325 France Dec. 1, 1958 1,237,006 France June 3, 1959 OTHER REFERENCES Sarbacher: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Electronics, published 1959, by Prentice-Hall.

Erickson & Bryant: ElectricalEngineering, published 1958, by John Wiley &' Sons.

Claims

1. A PORTABLE APPARATUS FOR ARTIFICIALLY INDUCING SLEEP BY THE ACTION ON THE BRAIN OF ELECTRIC CURRENT PULSES, COMPRISING ELECTRODES ADAPTED TO BE SECURED ON THE PATIENT''S HEAD; AN ELECTRONIC PULSE GENERATOR FOR PRODUCING SQUARE PULSES; AND MEANS CONNECTED TO RECEIVE THE OUTPUT OF THE GENERATOR FOR DEVELOPING A DIRECT-CURRENT COMPONENT AND SUPERIMPOSING SAID SQUARE PULSES ONTO SAID DIRECT-CURRENT COMPONENT FOR APPLICATION TO SAID ELECTRODES, SAID LAST-MENTIONED MEANS INCLUDING A CATHODEFOLLOWER CONNECTED ELECTRON TUBE HAVING A CATHODE RESISTOR ACROSS WHICH THE ELECTRODES ARE CONNECTED FOR TRANSMITTING THE PULSES TO THE PATIENT''S HEAD.