EP-4736743-A1 - BIOFEEDBACK-BASED BRUXISM ALLEVIATION SYSTEM AND METHOD THEREFOR

EP4736743A1EP 4736743 A1EP4736743 A1EP 4736743A1EP-4736743-A1

Abstract

A biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system and a method thereof are disclosed. The biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a user recognition unit that receives a bruxism diagnosis request signal generated from at least one of a predetermined user terminal and a wearable device attached to skins of a user, that extracts a unique number assigned to the wearable device included in the bruxism diagnosis request signal, and that calls up user information corresponding to the unique number from a predetermined DB, a data collection unit that receives electromyography data collected from at least one sensor provided in the wearable device, a bruxism diagnosis unit that diagnoses occurrence of bruxism by determining whether the electromyography data collected from the data collection unit satisfies a preset condition, a biofeedback generation unit that applies a vibration stimulation to the skins of the user through a vibration motor provided in the wearable device, when the bruxism diagnosis unit determines the occurrence of the bruxism, and a user monitoring unit that monitors bruxism symptoms of the user, based on bruxism diagnosis data derived by the bruxism diagnosis unit and vibration stimulation data generated by the biofeedback generation unit.

Inventors

BYUN, JUNG HWAN
KIM, DEOK HYUN

Assignees

Miraclare Co., Ltd

Dates

Publication Date: 20260506
Application Date: 20240619

Claims (5)

A biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system comprising: a user recognition unit that receives a bruxism diagnosis request signal generated from at least one of a predetermined user terminal and a wearable device attached to skins of a user, that extracts a unique number assigned to the wearable device included in the bruxism diagnosis request signal, and that calls up user information corresponding to the unique number from a predetermined DB; a data collection unit that receives electromyography data collected from at least one sensor provided in the wearable device; a bruxism diagnosis unit that diagnoses occurrence of bruxism by determining whether the electromyography data collected from the data collection unit satisfies a preset condition; a biofeedback generation unit that applies a vibration stimulation to the skins of the user through a vibration motor provided in the wearable device, when the bruxism diagnosis unit determines the occurrence of the bruxism; and a user monitoring unit that monitors bruxism symptoms of the user, based on bruxism diagnosis data derived by the bruxism diagnosis unit and vibration stimulation data generated by the biofeedback generation unit.
The biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system of claim 1, wherein the data collection unit includes a first sensor that collects first electromyography data for a preset period of time, and a second sensor provided at a preset interval from the first sensor to collect second electromyography data, and the bruxism diagnosis unit includes a sleep state determination unit that determines a sleep state of the user by comparing the first electromyography data collected through the first sensor with a preset first reference voltage V_th1, and a bruxism occurrence detection unit that determines occurrence of bruxism events of the user by comparing the second electromyography data collected through the second sensor with a preset second reference voltage V_th2, when the sleep state determination unit determines that the user falls asleep.
The biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system of claim 2, wherein the bruxism occurrence detection unit generates a window mask in a preset time range, superimposes the window mask on the second electromyography data to determine the occurrence of the bruxism events, and determines the occurrence of the bruxism events, based on a time during which the second electromyography data exceeds the preset second reference voltage V_th2 within the window mask, and the biofeedback generation unit includes a user stimulation providing unit that generates vibration stimulation having a first pattern at T_winend which is an end time of the window mask, and that provides the vibration stimulation having the first pattern to the user through the wearable device, and a user stimulation correction unit that corrects the vibration stimulation having the first pattern, when the bruxism events are detected through the bruxism diagnosis unit within a preset time range after the vibration stimulation having the first pattern is completed, and in the first pattern, an initial value of the vibration stimulation is determined based on minimum stimulation intensity set from the user terminal, and intensity of the vibration stimulation is corrected by each one level through the user stimulation correction unit.
The biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system of claim 2, wherein the bruxism diagnosis unit determines whether to use the electromyography data collected from the first sensor and the second sensor, based on a bruxism diagnosis mode input from the user terminal, and the bruxism diagnosis mode includes a first diagnosis mode for determining a sleep state of the user through the sleep state determination unit, and for determining the occurrence of the bruxism events of the user through the bruxism occurrence detection unit, when it is determined that the user falls asleep, and a second diagnosis mode for counting a preset sleep waiting time, automatically determining that the user falls asleep, when the sleep waiting time is exceeded, and determining the occurrence of the bruxism events of the user through the bruxism occurrence detection unit.
The biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system of claim 1, wherein the user monitoring unit includes a user data generation unit that measures a daily sleep time of the user and generates daily user data including at least one of the number of bruxism events occurring during the daily sleep time, a duration of the bruxism, a degree of the bruxism, the number of vibration stimulation generation times, and maximum intensity of the vibration stimulation, a bruxism diagnosis learning unit that learns the number of the bruxism events occurring during the daily sleep time, the duration of the bruxism, and the maximum intensity of the vibration stimulation included in the daily user data through a preset artificial intelligence learning algorithm, and that optimizes a bruxism diagnosis reference of the bruxism diagnosis unit, based on result data derived through the artificial intelligence learning algorithm, and a user data transmission unit that transmits the daily user data generated by the user data generation unit to the user terminal, based on a request signal received from the user terminal.

Description

[TECHNICAL FIELD] The present disclosure relates to a bruxism diagnosis and alleviation system, and more specifically, relates to a biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system and a method thereof, which can alleviate bruxism symptoms by analyzing a temporal muscle signal of a user who falls asleep, diagnosing the bruxism symptoms, and providing a biofeedback signal including a vibration stimulation for the user. [BACKGROUND ART] Recently, various sleep diseases and sleep disorders have been found based on physiological and physical signals output from a body of a subject during sleep, and based on this result, diagnosis and treatment directions for sleep problems have been established, and have been proposed for specific treatment methods such as drug therapy, cognitive behavioral correction, and surgical procedures. For reference, brain waves are used as basic data to understand a progression and a structure of sleep, electrooculography (EOG) for measuring an eye movement is useful for determining sleep stages, and electromyography (EMG) has to be measured since muscle tension varies depending on the sleep stages. In particular, EMG for legs is measured to diagnose a sleep disorder called a periodic limb movement disorder, and EMG for a jaw is needed to identify bruxism. In particular, a case of the bruxism includes clenching or grinding teeth by strong jaw movements other than chewing or swallowing movements, and usually the teeth are ground with a stronger force 2 to 10 times a force when chewing foods. The teeth are mostly ground during sleep, but in some cases, the teeth may be ground during the day. It is known that approximately 10% of entire Korean population experiences the bruxism. The bruxism often occurs when a person is sensitive and in an unstable psychological, and stress is a cause of the bruxism. It is known that other causes not only include malocclusion in which the teeth do not fit well and drinking, but also include genetics, taking specific medications, and central nervous system disorders. The bruxism may damage periodontal tissues since a strong force is partially applied to the teeth, and surfaces of the teeth may be worn down. Tissues around the teeth may be damaged, and the teeth may feel sensitive when a person eats cold foods. In severe cases, the teeth may even become loose. The bruxism can be professionally treated at a hospital through psychological therapy, installing an occlusal stabilization device between upper and lower teeth, or medication. Recently, there has been a demand for a device that can easily diagnose and prevent the bruxism during sleep at home. As one of technologies for methods for diagnosing the bruxism, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-1621500 discloses a device and a method for bruxism and teeth clenching analysis as follows. The device is mounted on a head of a subject to detect and output a tilt signal according to a change in a sleeping posture and an electromyography signal generated by the bruxism and teeth clenching of the subject. When a treatment signal is received from an analysis terminal, the device outputs a preset sleeping posture correction signal. However, the device and the method have limitations in accurately diagnosing symptoms of the bruxism and the teeth clenching, and do not show a significant awakening effect during sleep. In this regard, there is a problem in that a treatment effect for the bruxism and the teeth clenching is minimal. Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problems, it is necessary to research a biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system and a method thereof. [DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION] [TECHNICAL PROBLEMS] The present disclosure aims to provide a biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system and a method thereof, which can more effectively detect occurrence of bruxism events of a user who falls asleep by collecting electromyography data on muscles around a face and a head of the user through a wearable device attached to skins of the user and determining whether the user falls asleep and whether the bruxism events occur based on the collected electromyography data. In addition, the present disclosure aims to provide a biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system and a method thereof, which can provide an optimized biofeedback stimulation signal for a user and can more effectively interfere with and alleviate bruxism symptoms by receiving an input of minimum intensity of a vibration stimulation to be provided through a wearable device from a user terminal and gradually increasing intensity of the stimulation from a minimum vibration stimulation input through the user terminal. In addition, the present disclosure aims to provide a biofeedback-based bruxism alleviating system and a method thereof, which can collect and store specific data of each user by collecting and storing information on a sleep state and bruxism events of the user and can quickly calculate user-customized biofeedback data by