Patents by Inventor Stefan M. Goetz

Stefan M. Goetz has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10471272
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device and a method for the stimulation of neurons and muscle cells according to the principle of magnetic stimulation, wherein the invention generates substantially less acoustic sound emission for the same activation strength compared to the state of the art. This invention reduces the acoustic sound emission, usually a clicking sound, which is a safety risk in magnetic stimulation and causes undesired uncontrollable sensory-auditory brain stimulation, by increasing the frequency of a substantial portion of the spectrum of the pulse, preferably to or above the human hearing range. Furthermore, the invention relates to a quiet coil technology that reduces the conversion of electrical energy into mechanic-acoustic oscillations, whereby the transmission of the mechanic-acoustic oscillations to the surface is suppressed by elastic decoupling and the mechanic-acoustic energy is converted into heat by viscoelastic material deformation instead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Inventor: Stefan M. Goetz
  • Publication number: 20180361168
    Abstract: One method employs an electronic circuit with at least two electrical switches and at least one electrical energy store, wherein at least one control unit transmits electrical signals for controlling the at least two electrical switches, directed as coded electrical signals to at least one decoder, and decoded by the at least one decoder into a respective switch state to be set of an individual one of the switch control signals describing at least two switches, wherein the respective switch control signals are directed to the respective at least two switches and there correspondingly converted, wherein at one output of the electrical switch for excitation of at least one stimulation coil current pulses with a total length of less than 5 ms are provided, so that the at least one stimulation coil generates magnetic field pulses with a magnetic flow density of 0.1 to 10 Tesla.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Inventor: Stefan M. Goetz
  • Patent number: 9999780
    Abstract: Device and method for generating brief strong current pulses in a coil for generating magnetic field pulses which according to the electromagnetic induction principle induce stimulation currents in the body tissue triggering an action potential of the nerve and/or muscle cells, where the coil is positionable close to the body tissue to be stimulated so that its magnetic field passes through the body tissue, and where the device comprises a power generating unit that can generate a freely selectable temporal course of the current through the coil during the current pulse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 19, 2018
    Assignee: Technische Universitat Munchen
    Inventors: Thomas Weyh, Stefan M. Götz
  • Publication number: 20170189710
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device and a method for the stimulation of nerve and muscle cells according to the principle of magnetic stimulation, wherein the invention has a significantly reduced sound emission for the same stimulus intensity when compared to the prior art. The sound emission in the form of a click noise, which, in the magnetic stimulation, determines on the one hand an important safety risk and on the other hand causes an undesired, uncontrollable sensory-auditory brain stimulation is reduced in the present invention by increasing the frequency of a substantial portion of the spectrum of the pulse, preferably up to or beyond the human hearing range. The invention further relates to a quieter coil technology which reduces the conversion of electrical energy into mechanical-acoustic oscillations, prevents the transfer of said oscillations to the surface by resilient decoupling and instead converts the mechanical-acoustic energy via viscoelastic deformation of the material into heat.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2015
    Publication date: July 6, 2017
    Inventors: Stefan M Goetz, David L.K. Murphy, Angel V. Peterchev
  • Patent number: 9496799
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an electrical converter for power supply, which is constructed from individual modules. Each of the identical modules includes a module capacitor and can be switched by switching elements such that the module capacitors of the modules may be connected in series or in parallel, or a current flow takes place through the modules without charging or discharging the module capacitor. In this manner, the voltage can be connected across the terminals of the converter by a corresponding control of the switching elements in stages with low loss levels. According to the invention, the voltages of these capacitors are adjusted with respect to each other by load balancing prior to parallel connection of the capacitor modules so that the corresponding losses are minimized.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: Technische Universitaet Muenchen
    Inventors: Stefan M. Goetz, Thomas Weyh
  • Publication number: 20150367141
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device and a method for the stimulation of neurons and muscle cells according to the principle of magnetic stimulation, wherein the invention generates substantially less acoustic sound emission for the same activation strength compared to the state of the art. This invention reduces the acoustic sound emission, usually a clicking sound, which is a safety risk in magnetic stimulation and causes undesired uncontrollable sensory-auditory brain stimulation, by increasing the frequency of a substantial portion of the spectrum of the pulse, preferably to or above the human hearing range. Furthermore, the invention relates to a quiet coil technology that reduces the conversion of electrical energy into mechanic-acoustic oscillations, whereby the transmission of the mechanic-acoustic oscillations to the surface is suppressed by elastic decoupling and the mechanic-acoustic energy is converted into heat by viscoelastic material deformation instead.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2015
    Publication date: December 24, 2015
    Inventor: Stefan M. Goetz
  • Publication number: 20140226377
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an electrical converter for power supply, which is constructed from individual modules. Each of the identical modules includes a module capacitor and can be switched by switching elements such that the module capacitors of the modules may be connected in series or in parallel, or a current flow takes place through the modules without charging or discharging the module capacitor. In this manner, the voltage can be connected across the terminals of the converter by a corresponding control of the switching elements in stages with low loss levels. According to the invention, the voltages of these capacitors are adjusted with respect to each other by load balancing prior to parallel connection of the capacitor modules so that the corresponding losses are minimized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2012
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Applicant: Technische Universitaet Muenchen
    Inventors: Stefan M. Goetz, Thomas Weyh
  • Publication number: 20130030239
    Abstract: Device and method for generating brief strong current pulses in a coil for generating magnetic field pulses which according to the electromagnetic induction principle induce stimulation currents in the body tissue triggering an action potential of the nerve and/or muscle cells, where the coil is positionable close to the body tissue to be stimulated so that its magnetic field passes through the body tissue, and where the device comprises a power generating unit that can generate a freely selectable temporal course of the current through the coil during the current pulse.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 11, 2011
    Publication date: January 31, 2013
    Inventors: Thomas Weyh, Stefan M. Götz