Surgery – Diagnostic testing
Utility Patent
1998-06-18
2001-01-02
Hindenburg, Max (Department: 3736)
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Utility Patent
active
06168562
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to techniques for improving biochemical-based therapy in a human. More particularly, the present invention relates to computer-implemented techniques for employing task-controlled behavioral assessment and behavioral training, such as stimulus/response exercises or games, to improve the efficacy of the biochemical-based therapy to reduce or eliminate the need thereof, or to reduce the undesirable side effects of the biochemical-based therapy in a human.
The use of biochemical-based therapy involving various biological and/or chemical compounds to address a physiological and/or mental condition in humans is known. Generally speaking, biochemical-based therapy involves repeatedly administering a preset dosage of a biological/chemical compound to a human (by injection, ingestion, transdermal techniques, and/or the like) over a period of time to improve the aforementioned physiological and/or mental condition. By stimulating the human in a pharmacological manner, it is often hoped that over time the physiological and/or mental condition to be addressed would improve to the point where the biochemical-based therapy is no longer needed.
To facilitate discussion, scale
100
of
FIG. 1
represents a scale of performance level relating to a particular physiological and/or mental condition (such as, for example, attention span) on which a desired condition
102
represents the level of performance acceptable and/or desirable in a human. On scale
100
, the levels of performance by a human A and a human B are shown. As depicted, the levels of performance of humans A and B fall short of desired condition
102
. To bring the levels of performance of humans A and B closer to desired condition
102
, the prior art biochemical-based therapy may involve administering preset dosages of a biological and/or chemical compound over a predefined period of time to human A and human B. By driving the improvement in a pharmacological manner, it is commonly hoped that over time the level of performance of humans A and B in this particular condition (e.g., attention span) may improve to the point where the dosages of biological and/or chemical compound may be reduced or terminated altogether.
It has been found, however, that when the improvement in human is driven solely by pharmacological effects of the administered biological/chemical compounds, humans tend to develop a tolerance condition, which over time may actually require an increase in the required dosage of the biological/chemical compounds administered.
Furthermore, for many administered biological/chemical compounds, there are side effects which must be tolerated and/or addressed with even more biochemical-based therapy (e.g., by administering yet other biological/chemical compounds to address the side effects). With reference to
FIG. 2A
, scale
200
represents the scale of performance pertaining to a particular condition of the human, which condition may be impacted as an undesirable side effect of the biochemical-based therapy administered to address the first ailment or deficit (e.g., such as the attention deficit condition of the example of FIG.
1
). Scale
200
may represent, for example, the level of sleepiness or hand shaking in the human subject.
In
FIG. 2A
, the intrinsic levels of sleepiness, i.e., the levels of sleepiness in the absence of the biochemical-based therapy, of humans A and B are shown. In
FIG. 2B
, the administration of the biochemical-based therapy to address the unrelated attention deficit condition has undesirably increased the levels of sleepiness in humans A and B. As mentioned earlier this undesirable side effect must, in the prior art, either be tolerated (such as avoiding driving) or addressed with yet more biochemical-based therapy (such as ingesting caffeine).
Furthermore, it is recognized that even if immediate side effects are not observed in connection with a given biochemical-based therapy regime, there are lingering concerns regarding the long term effects associated with the administration of biological/chemical compounds which may not be naturally produced by human. Accordingly, recent trends have shown an increased reluctance on the part of people to continue a biochemical-based therapy program for an extended period of time and/or to take increasing dosages of biological/chemical compounds (due to, e.g., the aforementioned tolerance problem) to address a particular physiological and/or mental condition.
In view of the foregoing, there are desired improved techniques for improving the efficacy of the biological/chemical compounds employed in biochemical-based therapy and/or for reducing the undesirable side effects thereof without employing additional biochemical-based therapy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates, in one embodiment to a computer-implemented method for dynamically tailoring dosages of a biochemical compound administered to a human under a biochemical-based therapy program. The method includes administering a first plurality of stimulus exercises to the human over a period of time. The first plurality of stimulus exercises are administered to the human after at least one administration of the biochemical compound. The method also includes measuring responses from the first plurality of stimulus exercises to assess efficacy levels of the biochemical portion on the human as a function of time over the period of time. The method further includes dynamically modulating the dosages of the biochemical compound responsive to the efficacy levels measured from the first plurality of stimulus exercises. The modulating results in a first dosage configured to be administered to the human at a first administration time and a second dosage different from the first dosage configured to be administered to the human at a second administration time different from the first administration time.
In another embodiment, the invention relates to a computer-controlled apparatus for dynamically tailoring dosages of a biochemical compound administered to a human under a biochemical-based therapy program. The computer-controlled apparatus includes means for administering a first plurality of stimulus exercises to the human over a period of time. The first plurality of stimulus exercises are administered to the human after at least one administration of the biochemical compound. The computer-controlled apparatus also includes means for measuring responses from the first plurality of stimulus exercises to assess efficacy levels of the biochemical portion on the human as a function of time over the period of time. The computer-controlled apparatus further includes means for dynamically determining the dosages of the biochemical compound responsive to the efficacy levels measured from the first plurality of stimulus exercises. The dynamically determining results in tailored dosages responsive to the efficacy levels, including a first dosage configured to be administered to the human at a first administration time and a second dosage different from the first dosage configured to be administered to the human at a second administration time different from the first administration time.
In yet another embodiment, the invention relates to a computer-controlled apparatus for tailoring dosages of a biochemical compound administered to a human under a biochemical-based therapy program. The computer-controlled apparatus includes a first transducer and a computer configured to furnish first signals representative of a first plurality of stimulus exercises to the first transducer, thereby causing the transducer to deliver first stimuli representative of the first signals to the human over a period of time. The first stimuli are delivered after at least one administration of the biochemical compound to the human.
The computer-controlled apparatus also includes a second transducer coupled to the computer, the second transducer being configured to measure responses from the human and to furnish data representative of the responses as second signals to the c
Merzenich Michael M.
Miller Steven L.
Peterson Bret E.
Beyer Weaver & Thomas LLP
Hindenburg Max
Scientific Learning Corporation
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