Summary:
Slovenian researchers developed and patented an invention for achieving higher resolution while decoding brain-to-muscle signals. The invention performs the decomposition of compound muscle potentials into the contributions of individual motor units or their respective combinations. The advantage of the invention is that it noninvasive and improves understanding of motor system responses. Researchers are looking companies to sign license and/or research cooperation agreement in EU and beyond.
Description:
Researchers from Slovenian research institution founded in 1975 develop a noninvasive technology of achieving higher resolution in brain-to-muscle signals decoding. Their field of activity include digital signal processing, with current activities focused on blind source separation, human-machine interfaces, biomedical signal processing and rehabilitation engineering.
The invention relates to a method and a device for decomposing compound muscle potentials (CMAPs) in electrically or mechanically elicited muscle contractions. The technical problem that the invention solves is how to estimate the firing patterns of individual motor units out of noninvasively recorded electrical responses of a skeletal muscle to external stimulation and, thus, quantify the motor system responses on the level of neural codes. CMAP analysis is routinely applied in clinical and neurophysiologic studies to noninvasively assess the functional status of a human motor system in vivo, to evaluate motor tract integrity and quantify responses of neuromuscular circuits to training, rehabilitation and degeneration due to various neuromuscular disorders, to study corticospinal excitability, to assess motor nerve conduction properties, fatigue and biomechanical responses in skeletal muscles.
Researchers are interested for international partners - Physical rehabilitation companies, preventive diagnostics companies working in the fields of neurodegenerative diseases or muscular disorders and companies evaluating performance of professional athletes to sign research cooperation agreements for further development of the technology. Researchers are also interested in offering the technology under licencing agreement in EU and beyond.
Type (e.g. company, R&D institution…), field of industry and Role of Partner Sought:
The research institution is looking for a partner active in the fields
physical rehabilitation, preventive diagnostics working in the fields of neurodegenerative diseases or muscular disorders and evaluating performance of professional athletes to sign research cooperation agreements for further development of the technology and/or licencing agreement in EU and beyond.
Stage of Development:
Available for demonstration
IPR Status:
Patent(s) applied for but not yet granted
External code:
TOSI20210407001
