Apparatus and method for monitoring brain activity

A method and apparatus for monitoring brain activity of a user is disclosed. The apparatus includes a plurality of spatially separated emitters operable to generate infrared radiation. The apparatus also includes a plurality of spatially separated infrared radiation detectors, and a plurality of light pipes urged into contact with the user's scalp, each one of the plurality of emitters and detectors having an associated light pipe operable to couple infrared radiation from the emitter into the scalp or to couple infrared radiation from the scalp to the detector. Each detector is operable to produce a signal representing an intensity of infrared radiation generated by a selectively actuated one of the plurality of emitters and received at the detector after traveling on a path through underlying brain tissue, the signals being received by a controller operably configured to process the signals from each detector to determine changes in blood oxygenation within the brain tissue along the path between the respective emitter and detector, and generate a spatial representation of brain activity within in the user's brain based on the processed signals.

The abstract as published by the patent office, from US2021228118A1. It describes the invention; it is not a statement of what is protected.

• Interface and electrodes

  Optical interfaces

• Signal processing

  Signal processing

What the filing appears to be about, read by published rules from its title, abstract and classification codes (A61B2562/0238, A61B2562/0242, A61B2562/043, A61B2562/223, A61B2562/228). 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.

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 8 times in 5 offices. Each publication opens in Espacenet.

• CanadaCA3106229A19 Jan 2020
• International (PCT)a route to several countries, not a countryWO2020006647A19 Jan 2020
• AustraliaAU2019297809A128 Jan 2021
• European Patent Officea route to several countries, not a countryEP3817651A112 May 2021EP3817651A425 Aug 2021EP3817651B118 Sep 2024 · grantEP3817651C018 Sep 2024
• United StatesUS2021228118A129 Jul 2021

1. 6 Jul 2018First filingEarliest priority, at United States. The family is counted in this year.
2. 5 Jul 2019ApplicationsFiled at Canada, International (PCT), Australia, European Patent Office, United States.
3. 9 Jan 2020First publicationCA3106229A1, Canada.
4. 5 Feb 2021Owner recordedUnited States, on US2021228118A1: assignment; owner named: AXEM NEUROTECHNOLOGY INC., CANADA.
5. 12 Oct 2022Owner recordedEuropean Patent Office, on EP3817651A1: party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred); owner named: AXEM NEUROTECHNOLOGY INC..
6. 18 Sep 2024Grant publishedEP3817651B1, European Patent Office.
7. 25 Oct 2024Office recordCanada, on CA3106229A1: application deemed to be withdrawn, abandoned or lapsed.
8. 27 Jan 2025Office recordUnited States, on US2021228118A1: information on status: application discontinuation.
9. 30 Jan 2025Office recordAustralia, on AU2019297809A1: application lapsed section 142(2)(d) - no continuation fee paid for the application.
10. 26 Aug 2026Office recordEuropean Patent Office, on EP3817651A1: lapsed in a contracting state [announced via postgrant information from national office to epo] (CH, CY, CZ, ES, GB, GR, HR, IE, IS, MC, NO, PL, RS, 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

Axem Neurotechnology · 3 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: US2021228118A1 in Espacenet
• Counted as a BCI patent family: filed by AXEM NEUROTECHNOLOGY INC., an organisation already in the graph; describes neural hardware or methods without naming the field; cites a family already accepted. How families are found and judged