A system and method is disclosed for measuring muscle reflexes (e.g., a bulbocavernosus reflex) as a tool for identifying/diagnosing dysfunctions (e.g., spinal cord abnormalities, bladder voiding dysfunction, and sexual organ dysfunction) non-invasively by using mechanical stimulation. The system and method includes a probe having a predetermined patient contacting portion, wherein when the contacting portion is moved into contact with a particular area of the patient (e.g., the patient's genitals), the contact induces a muscle reflex. The probe detects the pressure resulting from the contacting portion being abruptly and forcibly brought into contact with the particular area. Such detection is used to electronically initiate capture of electrical responses from a plurality of electrodes placed on the patient's skin in proximity to the particular area. Such electrical responses are processed to determine characteristics of the patient's reflexes of one or more muscles adjacent to the electrodes.

Systems and methods for monitoring the onset or occurrence of labor contractions and detecting or estimating labor in a pregnant female are provided.

An oral appliance is disclosed that provides electrical stimulation to a patient's tongue in a manner that prevents collapse of the tongue and/or soft palate during sleep. More specifically, the appliance may induce a reversible current or currents in a lateral direction across the tongue in a manner that shortens the patient's Palatoglossus muscle and/or Styloglossus muscle SGM, which in turn elevates the base of the tongue toward the roof of the oral cavity, changes the shape of the tongue, pulls the patient's soft palate downward towards a base of the tongue, and/or decreases a volume of the tongue.

According to an aspect, a system for stimulating muscle comprises a set of stimulators to stimulate a first muscles, a set of sensors providing first measurement comprising a set of electromyograms (EMG) from another set of muscles coupled to the body part, a set of sensors mounted in the vicinity of the set of stimulator and the set of sensors, providing a measurement representing a motion and orientation of the first body part, another set of sensors providing a measurement representing a condition external to the body part, a processor generating a first position of the body part at a first time instance from the measurements and a processor adjusting at least one of a time duration, trigger instance, and trigger strength of the set of stimulator. In that, the comparator generates a position error as difference between the first position and a reference.

For measuring functionality of an orifice (16, 20) in the human pelvic region an elongated probe (4; 54) for insertion in the orifice (16, 20) is provided. The probe (4; 54) comprises one or more electrodes (5a-6a, 5b-6b, 6a-7a, 6b-7b; 55a-56a, 55b-56b, 56a-57a, 56b-57b, 57a-92a, 57b-92b) for stimulating receptors (23, 25) in tissue bounding the orifice (16, 20) and one or more muscle activity sensors (8a, 8b, 8c, 9a, 9b, 9c, 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 11a, 11b, 11e, 12a, 12b, 12c; 58a, 58b, 58c, 59a, 59b, 59c, 60a, 60b, 60c, 60d, 61a, 61b, 61c, 62) for sensing muscle activity causing pressure to be exerted by tissue bounding the orifice (16, 20). A control system (I) connected to the probe (4; 54) is arranged for outputting a neurostimulation signal (35) to the electrode or electrodes and for registering a pressure signal or signals from the pressure sensor or sensors during a time interval directly subsequent to the outputting of the neurostimulation signal.

In some examples, electrical stimulation is delivered to a patient such that selective termination of the stimulation causes a therapeutic effect in the patient after termination of the electrical stimulation to the patient. The electrical stimulation may be insufficient to produce a desired therapeutic effect in the patient during stimulation, but sufficient to induce a post-stimulation desired therapeutic effect following termination of the stimulation. In some examples, the electrical stimulation may be sub-threshold electrical stimulation. In some examples, the desired therapeutic effect may alleviate bladder dysfunction, bowel dysfunction, or other disorders. The stimulation may be selectively terminated in response to one or more therapy trigger events to induce the post-stimulation therapeutic effect.

In one aspect, a sensory, motor and/or cognitive analysis device includes a casing unit structured to include a contact side conformable to a forehead region of a user; a data acquisition unit structured to include one or more sensors to detect electrophysiological signals of the user when the user makes contact with the device; a data processing unit encased within the casing unit and in communication with the data acquisition unit to amplify and digitize the detected electrophysiological signals as data, to process the data, to store the data, and to transmit the data to a remote computer system; and a power supply unit encased within the casing unit to provide electrical power, in which the device is operable to acquire physiological and/or behavioral signal data from the user used to determine a quantitative and/or qualitative information set associated with a cognitive or sensory assessment.

A knee orthosis provides varying levels of support to a patient during a stance phase and a swing phase of a gait cycle. The orthosis comprises an upper auxiliary support, a lower auxiliary support, an actuator, a sensor configured to detect a plurality of leg movements during the gait cycle and to output a plurality of detection signals corresponding to the detected leg movements, and a processor configured to determine whether the knee is in the stance phase or the swing phase of the gait cycle, to control the actuator to apply pressure on the lower auxiliary support when the knee is in the stance phase, and to release pressure when the knee is in the swing phase.

Systems and methods for decoding neural and/or electromyographic signals are provided. A system can include at least one single channel decoder. Optionally, the system can include a demixer in operable communication with the single channel decoders. Each single channel decoder can include a filter to attenuate noise and sharpen spikes in the neural and/or electromyographic signals, a detection function to identify spikes, and a demodulator to get a real-time estimate of motor intent.

An arrangement may include a first system provided by a mobile device for processing physiological data representative of a beating heart. The mobile device may be adapted to execute a process for using at least one pattern to detect a notable finding in the physiological data and for sending the notable finding to a second system. The second system may be adapted to execute a process for analyzing the notable finding, for determining at least one new pattern to send to the mobile device, and for sending the at least one new pattern to the mobile device. The at least one new pattern may also include a rule that includes a set of conditions and an action to perform if the set of conditions is met.