Surgery – Sleep or relaxation inducing therapy – Sensory
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-31
2003-11-04
Gilbert, Samuel G. (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Sleep or relaxation inducing therapy
Sensory
Reexamination Certificate
active
06641523
ABSTRACT:
This invention concerns a method of relaxing and reducing stress in a patient and a device suitable for use therewith. More particularly, this invention concerns a method of relaxing and reducing stress in a patient through the use of music and voiceover.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,263 discloses a method of reducing anxiety and the recovery time of a patient during for the preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative phases of surgery. The method includes the steps of providing music in each phase of the surgery in combination with voiceover information relating to each phase of the surgery that the patient experiences at the time, with information, reassurance and suggestions to help the patient relax and feel comfortable during the three phases of surgery. The method relies upon utilization of an audio cassette tape player to play the music and voiceover to the patient. The recorder has a mechanical device that enables the tape player to reverse the tape automatically and play the other side in order to give the patient continuous music and voiceover instructions and suggestions for the length of each perioperative period. The voiceover information is particularly directed to the period of surgery which the patient is experiencing at the time. In addition to this information, repetitious voice suggestions are made to the patient to relax. The suggestions provide reassurance in order to reduce the tension, anxiety, stress and discomfort but most patients usually experience with surgery. The music of the system is anxiolytic, in that it is composed, without recognizable melody, familiar rhythm or harmony that can be anticipated, to reduce anxiety and to facilitate relaxation, and includes an opening theme, a middle section and closing theme, with the opening and closing themes being the same for each period the surgery.
The combination of anxiolytic music and voiceover has also been used successfully by individuals wishing to reduce anxiety and stress in their everyday lives. Typically, an individual will set aside a short period of time during their working day, for example 30 minutes during their lunch break, to listen to an audio cassette tape player playing a combination of anxiolytic music and voiceover. The music and voiceover are directed such that, as the individual listens to the tape, the individual may be caused to drift into a form of shallow sleep and then, as time progresses, the individual is slowly aroused, to awaken feeling relaxed and less stressed.
As an alternative to using an audio cassette tape player to listen to a pre-recorded cassette tape, the listener can use a CD or minidisk player to listen to an appropriately pre-recorded CD or minidisk.
Users, however, have noted that the relaxing and stress reducing effect they believe they derive from practicing this method tends to reduce as they expose themselves to repeated performances of the audiocassette tape. Further, they feel they do not receive the full benefit of a performance when, knowing that they do not have time to receive a full performance, they have to interrupt the performance and wake themselves up to go back to work rather than being woken up slowly by the tape. Various solutions which address these problems individually have been employed, such as using different tapes with different music and voiceover content and tapes with different performance lengths, but none of the prior art appears to address these problems together.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved method of relaxing and for reducing stress in an individual. In another aspect, it is the object of the present invention to provide a method of relaxing and for reducing stress in an individual which does not suffer the problems of the prior art method, which employs pre-recorded cassette tapes, CDs or minidisks.
It should be understood that an inherently deterministic machine, such as a computer, cannot of itself, produce an output that is truly random. In the context of this specification, “random” and related phrases such as “randomly selected” should be understood as including (but is not limited to) “pseudo-random”. The concept of functions that provide a pseudo-random output is well known to those knowledgeable in the field of computer programming, and are discussed in detail in Knuth, D. E.: The Art of Computer Programming, volume 2: Seminumerical Algorithms. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass., 3rd edition, 1997.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of relaxing and for reducing stress in an individual, which method comprises exposing said individual to a performance of music, preferably anxiolytic music, and randomly selected voiceover, and wherein the length of the overall performance is pre-determined by the individual. Preferably, the performance of music and randomly selected voiceover comprises at least the following sequential phases:
a) a first phase of combined music, preferably anxiolytic music, and voiceover, preferably randomly selected voiceover comprising instructions to lower said individual from a conscious state into a subconscious state;
b) a second phase of combined music, preferably anxiolytic music, and randomly selected voiceover comprising suggestions to maintain the individual in said subconscious state; and
c) a third phase of combined music, preferably anxiolytic music, and voiceover, preferably randomly selected voiceover, comprising instructions to lift the individual from said subconscious state to a conscious state;
and wherein the length of the overall performance is predetermined by the individual. Preferably, the music is randomly selected music, more preferably randomly selected anxioltic music.
Individuals using the method of the present invention on several occasions over a period of time may experience a feeling of improved relaxation and reduced stress, in comparison to the prior art method. Whilst it is not the intention of the inventors to be restricted by this theory, the inventors believe that the advantages of the present invention are achieved by:
a) the apparent randomness of the combined music and voiceover in each phase providing the individual with an unique performance on each exposure so that, in effect, the individual never becomes familiar with or is unable to predict at least a substantial part of the music and voiceover; and
b) the ability of the individual to pre-select the length of time of the performance to fit in with the length of time the individual can actually spend on a performance between then normal activities (thereby eliminating the stress which the individual may otherwise experience if they know they have to interrupt the performance to resume normal activities).
Preferably, prior to the first phase a), the individual is exposed to an introduction phase of combined music, preferably anxiolytic music, and voiceover, preferably randomly selected voiceover, including a description of the nature of the method to follow.
The overall performance time is preferably from 10 to 60 minutes. Performance times longer than 60 minutes may be selected, but it is not recommended to select a performance time longer than 90 minutes.
The first phase a) and the third phase c) are preferably of the same or similar length in time, for example from 3 to 10 minutes each, whereas the second phase b) is preferably from 4 to 50 minutes.
As well as the voiceover being randomly selected, it is preferred that the anxiolytic music comprises randomly selected pieces of anxiolytic music.
In order to implement the first aspect of the invention, a system must be provided that is capable of reproducing a wide variety of different audio programmes that comprises several phases, the content of each phase not being predictable in advance. In practice, such a system will most typically include hardware that can execute a suitable software program. In principle it would be possible to make a large number of recordings for each of the phases, store them, and for the system select one of them at random for reproduction
Brainwave Limited
Fulbright & Jaworski LLP
Gilbert Samuel G.
LandOfFree
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