An internal device of brain-machine interface system including noise reduction technique, and method of controlling the internal device

An internal device of a brain-machine interface system includes: an electrode group including N electrodes, N being 2 or more; an amplification element group including N amplification elements; a communicator communicating with an external device; and a controller selectively executing one of: a normal operation mode in which electroencephalogram signals acquired through the N electrodes are supplied to the amplification element group in a manner that each of the N electrodes corresponds to a respective one of the N amplification elements, and N amplified electroencephalogram signals are transmitted; and a noise-reduction operation mode in which an electroencephalogram signal acquired through an M electrode of the electrode group is supplied to the amplification element group in a manner that each M electrode corresponds to respective plural ones of the amplification elements, and an M amplified electroencephalogram signal is transmitted, M being smaller than N.

The abstract as published by the patent office, from US2018120937A1. It describes the invention; it is not a statement of what is protected.

• Interface and electrodes

  Electrodes and arrays

• Signal processing

  Signal processing

• Decoding

  Neural decoding

What the filing appears to be about, read by published rules from its title, abstract and classification codes (A61B2562/0209, A61B5/0006, A61B5/31, A61B5/37, A61B5/6868). 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.

Signal processing

A decoder is only as good as the features it is given, and recordings drift and pick up noise from movement, muscle and stimulation. The problem behind it: stable features from signals that change from day to day, computed fast enough to act on.

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.

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 6 times in 3 offices. Each publication opens in Espacenet.

• United StatesUS2018120937A13 May 2018US10620702B214 Apr 2020 · grant
• European Patent Officea route to several countries, not a countryEP3318186A19 May 2018EP3318186B112 May 2021 · grant
• JapanJP2018068886A10 May 2018JP6867565B228 Apr 2021 · grant

1. 2 Nov 2016First filingEarliest priority, at Japan. The family is counted in this year.
2. 1 Nov 2017ApplicationFiled at United States.
3. 2 Nov 2017ApplicationFiled at European Patent Office.
4. 17 Jan 2018Owner recordedUnited States, on US2018120937A1: assignment; owner named: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIO.
5. 17 Jan 2018Owner recordedUnited States, on US2018120937A1: assignment; owner named: OSAKA UNIVERSITY, JAPAN.
6. 17 Jan 2018Owner recordedUnited States, on US2018120937A1: assignment; owner named: NIHON KOHDEN CORPORATION, JAPAN.
7. 17 Jan 2018Owner recordedUnited States, on US2018120937A1: assignment; owner named: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY, JAPAN.
8. 3 May 2018First publicationUS2018120937A1, United States.
9. 14 Apr 2020Grant publishedUS10620702B2, United States.
10. 18 Aug 2020Office recordJapan, on JP2018068886A: notification of reasons for refusal.
11. 28 Apr 2021Grant publishedJP6867565B2, Japan.
12. 12 May 2021Grant publishedEP3318186B1, European Patent Office.
13. 12 May 2021Owner recordedEuropean Patent Office, on EP3318186A1: party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred); owner named: JIMED INC..
14. 12 May 2021Owner recordedEuropean Patent Office, on EP3318186A1: party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred); owner named: OSAKA UNIVERSITY.
15. 12 May 2021Owner recordedEuropean Patent Office, on EP3318186A1: party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred); owner named: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY.
16. 1 Oct 2021Owner recordedUnited States, on US2018120937A1: assignment; owner named: JIMED INC., JAPAN.
17. 30 Sep 2024Office recordEuropean Patent Office, on EP3318186A1: lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] (AL, AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DK, EE, ES, FI, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LI, LT, LU, LV, MC, MK, MT, NO, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SK, SM, TR).

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

JiMED · 3 families identified

Technology

EEG

• 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: US2018120937A1 in Espacenet
• Counted as a BCI patent family: title or abstract names the field; classified G06F3/015 (input arrangements based on nervous-system activity); filed by JiMED Inc., an organisation already in the graph. How families are found and judged