Systems and Methods for the Identification of Medical Conditions, and Determination of Appropriate Therapies, by Passively Detecting Acoustic Signals from Cerebral Vasculature

Abstract

The present specification describes a system for diagnosing or screening one or more pathologies in a patient. The system includes a headset with at least one microphone or accelerometer to passively receive vibrations generated by the cerebral vasculature of the patient's brain, computing devices coupled with the headset for processing the received vibrations to obtain a unique signal, and a signal analyzer to analyze the signal in order to determine if the data includes patterns uniquely indicative of at least one of tension headaches, migraines, depression, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, autism, cerebral vasospasm and meningitis.

1 . A method of diagnosing a migraine in a patient using a device having at least one of an acoustic sensor, accelerometer or a microphone, comprising:
 positioning the acoustic sensor, microphone or the accelerometer within a first predefined distance of at least one of the patient's basilar artery, anterior inferior cerebellar artery, anterior vestibular artery, internal auditory artery, common cochlear artery, internal carotid artery, or ophthalmic artery and outside of a second predefined distance from at least one of the patient's zygoma, external carotid artery, internal maxillary artery, facial artery, or occipital artery, wherein the first predefined distance is less than the second predefined distance;   using the device, capturing an analog signal transmitted through a head of the patient, wherein the analog signal is generated by blood flow in the patient's brain and wherein the analog signal is not a function of a second signal originating external to the patient;   using a digitizer in data communication with at least one of the acoustic sensor, the accelerometer or the microphone, transforming the analog signal into a digital signal;   using a transmitter in data communication with the digitizer, transmitting the digital signal to a digital signal processing module;   using the digital signal processing module, acquiring the digital signal and processing the digital signal to identify a signature of the migraine:, determining if the patient has the migraine based on the processing of the digital signal; and   based on said processing of the digital signal, generating a visual or auditory output indicative of whether the patient has said migraine.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the frequency of the first signal peak is in a range of 20 Hz to 800 Hz. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the frequency of the second signal peak in a range of 20 Hz to 800 Hz. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first signal peak and second signal peak are separated by a time period ranging from 1.7 seconds to 5 seconds. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first signal peak and second signal peak are separated by a time period that is 30 seconds or less. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first predefined distance is less than 10 mm and wherein the second predefined distance is more than 5 mm. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the signature has a first signal peak having a non-zero amplitude and a frequency in a range of 20 Hz to 1000 Hz and a second signal peak having a non-zero amplitude and a frequency in a range of 20 Hz to 1000 Hz. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the first signal peak and second signal peak are separated by a time period of no more than 60 seconds. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, based on the processing of the digital signal, generating a visual or auditory output indicative of a type of the migraine. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the type of the migraine is at least one of an aura migraine, a migraine without an aura, a basilar migraine, a hemiplegic migraine, an ophthaloplegic migraine, a vestibular migraine or a chronic migraine. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising recommending a medication specific to one of the types of the migraines. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, if the patient is determined to have the migraine based on the processing of the digital signal, recommending at least one of an anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide medication or a human serotonin 1D receptor variant medication. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital signal processing module is configured to analyze the digital signal to identify a pattern indicative of one or more predefined pathologies, wherein the one or more predefined pathologies comprise at least one of tension headaches, migraines, depression, vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, vascular Parkinson's disease, autism, cerebral vasospasm, or meningitis. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the digital signal processing module is configured to differentiate between each of the one or more predefined pathologies and output an audio or visual indicator that specifically identifies one of the one or more predefined pathologies while concurrently excluding a remainder of the predefined pathologies. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the digital signal processing module comprises one or more algorithms configured to detect one or more of the predefined pathologies present in the digital signal by comparing the analyzed digital signal the pre-determined signal classifications comprising specific frequencies unique to each of the one or more predefined pathologies. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the digital signal processing module is configured to receive the digital signal, compare the digital signal to a plurality of predefined digital signals indicative of the one or more predefined pathologies, and categorize the digital signal as being representative of the one or more predefined pathologies, wherein the plurality of predefined digital signals comprises acoustic signal data indicative of a plurality of different migraine types. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of different migraine types include at least two of an aura migraine, a migraine without an aura, a basilar migraine, a hemiplegic migraine, an ophthaloplegic migraine, a vestibular migraine or a chronic migraine. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one of an acoustic sensor, accelerometer or a microphone is integrated into a headset. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the headset further comprises a pre-amplifier, a frequency equalizer and a noise cancellation module. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the headset further comprises a signal quality indicator configured to indicate a quality of the analog signal being received.