Patent US10130299

Neurofeedback eyeglasses
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US10130299

1. A system configured to provide a neurofeedback session, comprising: (8) (2)

an inward-facing head-mounted thermal camera (CAM) configured to take thermal measurements of a region on the forehead (TH_F) of a user; wherein CAM is located below the middle of the region; and

a user interface configured to provide, based on TH_F, a neurofeedback session for the user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein CAM comprises a multi-pixel sensor and a lens, and the sensor plane is tilted by more than 2° relative to the lens plane according to the Scheimpflug principle in order to capture sharper images when CAM is worn by the user. (0)

3. The system of claim 1, wherein TH_Fcomprises measurements of at least four non-collinear regions on the forehead, and further comprising a computer configured to control the neurofeedback session by providing the user a feedback via the user interface; wherein the computer is further configured to: calculate a value indicative of similarity between a current TH_Fpattern and a previous TH_Fpattern of the user taken while the user was in a target state, and generate the feedback based on the similarity. (1) (0)

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the system does not occlude the middle of the region on the user's forehead, CAM is located less than 15 cm from the user's face, and further comprising a wearable sensor and a computer; the wearable sensor is configured to take measurements (m_conf) indicative of at least one of the following confounding factors: touching the forehead, thermal radiation directed at the forehead, and direct airflow on the forehead; whereby a confounding factor causes a change in TH_Fthat is not due to brain activity; and the computer is configured to control the neurofeedback session based on T_Fand m_conf. (6) (0)

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the computer is further configured to generate feature values based on sets of TH_Fand m_conf, and to utilize a machine learning-based model to detect, based on the feature values, whether a change in TH_Foccurred responsive to brain activity or a confounding factor. (0)

7. The system of claim 5, wherein, on average, neurofeedback sessions controlled based on TH_Fand m_confprovide better results than neurofeedback sessions controlled based on TH_Fwithout m_conf; and wherein the computer is further configured to identify that at least one of the confounding factors reached a threshold, and to command the user interface to alert the user that the neurofeedback session is less accurate due to the at least one of the confounding factors reaching the threshold. (0)

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the computer is further configured to identify that at least one of the confounding factors reached a threshold, and refrain from updating a feedback provided to the user as part of the neurofeedback session for at least one of: 0.2 sec from the moment of reaching the threshold, and until the at least one of the confounding factors gets below the threshold. (0)

9. The system of claim 5, further comprising a frame configured to be worn on the user's head; wherein CAM is physically coupled to the frame; and further comprising an additional sensor configured to detect at least one of the following additional confounding factors: a movement of the frame relative to the head while the frame is still worn, a change in the user's position, a change in the user's body temperature, a change in environmental temperature, and a change in environmental humidity; wherein the computer is further configured to control the neurofeedback session also based on the at least one of the additional confounding factors. (0)

10. The system of claim 5, wherein TH_Fcomprises measurements of at least six areas on the user's forehead, and the computer is further configured to: utilize TH_Fto calculate a weighted temperature variability across the region on the forehead, and provide to the user a feedback indicative of increasing positive progress as the weighted temperature variability decreases. (2) (0)

13. The system of claim 5, wherein TH_Fcomprises measurements of at least six areas on the user's forehead, and the computer is further configured to: utilize previous TH_Fto learn a typical TH_Fpattern for the user, provide a feedback indicative of increasing positive progress when a TH_Fpattern measured during the session becomes similar to the typical TH_Fpattern, and provide a feedback indicative of decreasing positive progress when the TH_Fpattern measured during the session becomes less similar to the typical TH_Fpattern. (0)

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a second inward-facing head-mounted thermal camera configured to take thermal measurements of a region below the nostrils (TH_N), which is indicative of the user's breathing; and a computer configured to control the neurofeedback session based on TH_Fand TH_N. (0)

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a second inward-facing head-mounted thermal camera configured to take thermal measurements of a region below the nostrils (TH_N), which is indicative of the user's breathing; and a computer configured to calculate the user's breathing rate based on TH_N, and to guide the user to breathe at the user's resonant frequency, which maximizes the amplitude of respiratory sinus arrhythmia and is in the range of 4.5 to 7.0 breaths/min. (0)

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising: second and third inward-facing head-mounted thermal cameras, configured to take thermal measurements of regions on a periorbital area and the nose (TH_ROI2and TH_ROI3, respectively); and a computer configured to control the neurofeedback session based on TH_F, TH_ROI2, and TH_ROI3. (0)

17. The system of claim 1, wherein CAM is located to the right of the vertical symmetry axis that divides the user's face, and the region is on the right side of the forehead; and further comprising: a second inward-facing head-mounted thermal camera, located to the left of the vertical symmetry axis, and configured to take thermal measurements of a second region on the left side of the forehead (TH_F2); and a computer configured to provide to the user a feedback indicative of increasing positive progress as temperature asymmetry between TH_Fand TH_F2decreases. (1) (0)

19. The system of claim 1, wherein CAM is physically coupled to a frame configured to be worn on the user's head; and further comprising a clip-on configured to be attached and detached from the frame multiple times; wherein the clip-on comprises a cover configured to occlude the region on the user's forehead when the clip-on is attached to the frame. (1) (0)

21. A method for conducting a neurofeedback session, comprising: (1) (3)

taking thermal measurements of a region on the forehead (TH_F) of a user using an inward-facing head-mounted thermal camera that is located below the middle of the region and less than 10 cm from the user's head; and

taking measurements (m_conf) indicative of at least one of the following confounding factors: touching the forehead, thermal radiation directed at the forehead, and direct airflow on the forehead; whereby a confounding factor causes a change in TH_Fthat is not due to brain activity; and

conducting a neurofeedback session for the user based on TH_Fand m_conf.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising generating feature values based on TH_Fand m_conf, and utilizing a machine learning-based model to control the neurofeedback session based on the feature values; wherein the machine learning-based model was trained on samples generated based on (i) previous TH_Fand m_confof the user, and (ii) previous TH_Fand m_confof other users. (0)

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Patent US10130299

Neurofeedback eyeglasses

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