Vorrichtung und Verfahren zur Echtzeit-Ansteuerung eines Effektors

Es wird eine Vorrichtung zur Echtzeit-Ansteuerung eines Effektors angegeben, die eine Ableitelektrode zur Bestimmung von Eingangssignalen aus neuronaler Aktivität des Gehirns eines Patienten und eine Datenverarbeitungsanlage mit einer Auswertungseinheit zur Berechnung von Ansteuerungssignalen für den Effektor aus den Eingangssignalen aufweist. Dabei ist die Auswertungseinheit für ein Training zur Bestimmung eines Vorhersagemodells und die Berechnung der Ansteuerungssignale aus den Eingangssignalen unter Einbeziehung des Vorhersagemodells ausgebildet, wobei die neuronale Aktivität von natürlichen neuronalen Informationsverarbeitungsprozessen des Gehirns erzeugt ist.

The abstract as published by the patent office, from EP1988965A1. It describes the invention; it is not a statement of what is protected.

• Interface and electrodes

  Peripheral interfaces

• Decoding

  Motor decoding

• Stimulation

  Stimulation

• Application

  Assistive and control applications

What the filing appears to be about, read by published rules from its title, abstract and classification codes (A61F2/72, A61N1/36003, A61N1/36025). The claims define what a patent protects, and they are not read here.

Interface and electrodes

Everything downstream works with what the contacts pick up. Their number, size and distance from the neurons set the ceiling on the signal. The problem behind it: more contacts, closer to neurons, that still record after years in tissue that reacts to them.

Decoding

This is the step that turns brain activity into a command or a word. Its accuracy and speed are what a user experiences. The problem behind it: accuracy that holds over months without frequent recalibration, for more than one user and one task.

Stimulation

Restoring sensation, sight or movement needs information going in, and a therapy that adapts needs to sense and stimulate at once. The problem behind it: evoking a precise, stable effect without damaging tissue or electrodes, and without blinding the recording.

Why the layer matters to the field, not a judgement of this filing. A patent family shows that protection was sought. It does not show that the technology was built, is used in a product, or works in people. The whole stack

One invention, published 5 times in 4 offices. Each publication opens in Espacenet.

• International (PCT)a route to several countries, not a countryWO2007096269A130 Aug 2007
• GermanyDE102006008495A16 Sep 2007DE102006008495B425 Jan 2018 · grant
• European Patent Officea route to several countries, not a countryEP1988965A112 Nov 2008
• JapanJP2009531077A3 Sep 2009

1. 23 Feb 2006First filingEarliest priority, at Germany. The family is counted in this year.
2. 12 Feb 2007ApplicationsFiled at International (PCT), European Patent Office, Japan.
3. 30 Aug 2007First publicationWO2007096269A1, International (PCT).
4. 3 Jul 2012Office recordJapan, on JP2009531077A: decision of refusal.
5. 27 Mar 2013Owner recordedEuropean Patent Office, on EP1988965A1: party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred); owner named: CORTEC GMBH.
6. 6 Jun 2013Owner recordedGermany, on DE102006008495A1: change of applicant/patentee; owner named: CORTEC GMBH, DE.
7. 19 Mar 2014Office recordEuropean Patent Office, on EP1988965A1: application deemed to be withdrawn.
8. 25 Jan 2018Grant publishedDE102006008495B4, Germany.
9. 23 Feb 2026Office recordGermany, on DE102006008495A1: expiry of right.

Dates as the offices published them. Office records are in the offices' own words and are a selection: refusals, lapses and withdrawals, and records that name an owner. Each concerns one member of the family, not the family as a whole, and another member in the same office may stand. Whether a patent is in force today is not assessed.

Organisation

CorTec · 27 families identified

• Bibliographic data, family members and office records: European Patent Office, Open Patent Services (the DOCDB and INPADOC databases), read 7 Oct 2026.
• The record itself, with its claims and description: EP1988965A1 in Espacenet
• Counted as a BCI patent family: classified A61F2/72 (bioelectric control of prostheses); filed by CorTec GmbH, an organisation already in the graph; describes neural hardware or methods without naming the field. How families are found and judged