Equipment to elicit frissons or aesthetic chills, through the multisensorial and multimodal stimulation; with the objective of relieving chronic pains and the method to use it

Abstract

Equipment for self-care of patients with chronic pain, through inducing, intensifying and maintaining their own frissons and where multisensory and multimodal stimuli are used to achieve it; musical, visual, aromatic and vibrotactile and cold are applied on the cutaneous surface of the spine. In addition, the method for using them through perceptual learning is presented. The equipment consists of a computer and a computer system with a music and video player, lighting, presentation of aromas and a closed hydraulic circuit with a hydraulic actuator.

1 . A method of self-care for the treatment of patients of chronic pains through the induction of their own frissons or aesthetic chills, with traditional sensory stimuli, comprising the following steps:
 Evaluate the patient, through psychometric, sensory and physiological tests, the psychological constructs, anxiety and fear, as well as the mood caused by the experience of pain,   Evaluate by means of a self-report the physical capabilities of the patient,   To show the patient with the instruments to measure blood pressure, heart rate and electrical conductance of the skin, informing them about the physiological parameters that should be achieved,   To show the patient the stimuli he will receive, according to their intensity, density, duration, volume and frequency according to his emotional state,   To show the patient a work station with a computer and its corresponding monitor, speakers and/or hearing aids and the way of reproducing multimedia files through which the audiovisual stimuli will be presented,   To exhibit to the patient the closed hydraulic circuit of the present invention, by means of which the tactile, vibrotactic and cold stimuli will be presented to him,   Have an operational computer program that provides services for the automatic execution of application programs, as well as to act as the environment of the application in which the program is executed,   Induce frissons in the patient their own frissons by means of the sensory traditional stimuli, in order to alter the behavior, the functionality of the senses, the reflexes and/or their physiological parameters,   To show the patient the stimuli in with multisensory way; where different techniques are used to provide a set of sensations and specific stimuli, to the patient,   To show the stimuli to the patient in a multimodal way, where sensations from different sensory sources are integrated,   Synchronize the presentation of the stimuli, in relation to time and movement, as a function of the rhythm of the music,   Obtain a self-evaluation of the patient's about his physiological parameters; blood pressure, heart rate and electrical conductance, in addition to a self-report on his physical abilities,   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the assessment of pain and physical capabilities of the patient, comprises the intensity, character, location, irradiation, time, associated factors, implications and meaning. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the sensory evaluation contemplates invoking, provoking, measuring, analyzing and interpreting the reactions to the characteristics possessed by the different types of stimuli, to which the patient is subjected. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the evaluation of the anxiety and/or fear construct is carried out through, although not in an excluding manner, the following cognitive skis: divided attention, selective attention, sustained attention, numerical reasoning, visual exploration, flexibility, inhibition, spatial memory, contextual memory, short-term memory, working memory, visuospatial memory, short-term visual memory, auditory perception, spatial perception, visual perception, planning, reasoning, problem solving, speed reaction time and processing speed. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the various stimuli are chemical, electrochemical, physical, biological, physiological, vibratory, pressure and tension, movement, temperature, liquid, gaseous, light, sound, structural, psychological, emotional, sensory, external, internal, conditioned, unconditioned, motivational or subliminal. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the musical stimuli comprise classical music, opera, film music, ballads and melancholic melodies, military marches, bossa-nova, sweeps of scale and appogments, and where the sound comes from the speakers that are in the work station ( FIG. 2 ) and ( 202 ). 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the visual stimuli comprise images patient's of relatives, of nature; landscapes, rivers, seas, waves, forests and gardens, and where the images come from the monitor that Is in the work station ( FIG. 2 ) ( 211 ). 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the closed hydraulic circuit ( FIG. 4 ) comprises 3 hydraulic pumps, a peristaltic one ( 401 ) and 2 diaphragm ( 403 ) and ( 404 ), hoses and connections, 1 hydraulic actuator ( 500 ), 1 cooler ( 406 ), 1 temperature sensor ( 408 ), 1 thermostat ( 407 ) and 3 solenoid valves normally closed; one of them of 3 ways ( 401 ) and 2 positions and 2 of 2 ways and 2 positions ( 413 ) and ( 414 ). 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the closed hydraulic circuit is deployed around the torso of the patient in bandolier, from shoulder to opposite hip ( FIG. 1A ) and ( FIG. 18 ) and where the 3 pumps, the cooler, the temperature sensor, the thermostat and the 3-way solenoid valve are in a container ( 102 ), while part of the tube ( 405 ), the actuator ( FIG. 5 ) and ( 600 ) and the 2-way solenoids valves are rubbing the area of the skin that covers the upper part of the spine and in which the flexible tube is supported to the skin by means of double suction cups ( 101 ), loose so as to maintain the vibration of the tube. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the Peltier plate moduler ( FIG. 4 ) and ( 406 ), with fans in each one of them and water blocks, has a temperature sensor at the inlet ( 408 ), whose readings can be seen on the screen of the PC and also has a digital thermostat STC-1000 ( 407 ), which is powered by the 220V home electrical power network and which is regulated in an independent way, and depending of that adjustment it will activate/deactivate the set of 3 Peltier cells and their respective fans and where the Peltier cells and fans are fed from a power source of 12V and 40 A. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the peristaltic pump ( 402 ) and the actuator of the hydraulic circuit ( FIG. 5 ) and ( 500 ), cause a turbulent flow and vibrations that are transmitted to the walls of the tubes and in that way they can present the vibrotactile stimuli to the area of the skin that covers the upper part of the spine. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the operation of the hydraulic circuit that allows the presentation of tactile, vibro-tactile and cold stimuli that are controlled through a computer system on the computer of the work station. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the hydraulic circuit that allows the application of tactile, vibrotactile and cold stimuli can be operated randomly from the PC in terms of time and velocity of the peristaltic pump. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the hydraulic circuit comprises 2 parallel half-circuits  FIG. 4 , ( 409 ) and ( 410 ), functionally separated by the closed 3-way solenoid valve and wherein the operation of the first half-circuit ( 410 ) is controlled by an Arduino Nano microcontroller (AD), loaded with a program and wherein said microcontroller simultaneously controls the opening of the three-way solenoid valve and the activation of the 2 microdiaphragm solenoid pumps, by means of a 5V relay module and three channels, through an Android USB cable from the PC. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the discharge of the two diaphragm pumps is done by two independent tubes ( FIG. 4 ) ( 417 ) and ( 418 ) which are then joined with a third ( 419 ). that connects to the discharge tube of the peristaltic pump and where the fluid that both microdiaphragm pumps drive through the tube ( 420 ), towards the cooler, is made to the rhythm of the music of the computer's multimedia player, just like the operation of the two LED lamps in the work station ( FIG. 2 ) and ( 210 ). 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the functionality of this semicircuit ( 410 ) is given by a sound sensor, capable of detecting audible signals and convert them into voltage signals, which are read by the analog input of the microcontroller and where the program code_musical_source or loaded in it, performs an analysis of these signals by separating the high and low frequencies to activate the microdiaphragm pumps (outputs D12 and D13) and wherein the microdiaphragm pumps are controlled through a cable USB Android and a relay module of 3 channels (one per valve) through the PC and where the diaphragm pumps of the hydraulic semicircuit ( 403 ) and ( 404 ) respectively, and the LED lamps work with at least 2 instruments that have different sound frequency. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the second semicircuit has two modes of operation, in the first ( 409 ) the flow has a unidirectional direction and in the second it works alternately in a bidirectional way ( 409 ) and ( 409 A), due to the forward and backward movement of the stepper motor of the peristaltic pump, within a limited range, given by the lengths of the cylinder and pistons of the actuator. 
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein in the first working mode the three-way micro mini-valve ( 401 ), shared by the half-circuits ( 409 ) and ( 410 ), opens to the second half-circuit ( 409 ).), while activating the peristaltic pump, which is fed through the tube ( 413 ) and discharges its flow into the tube ( 420 ) that connects to the tube ( 419 ) from the 2 diaphragm pumps, while the valve 3-way solenoid continues open and the peristaltic pump is working, the flow recirculates into the 2nd semi-circuit to the Peltier plate cooler and with the hydraulic actuator open in that direction ( FIG. 5 ) and ( 523 ). 
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the functionality of this first working mode of the 2nd hydraulic half-circuit ( 409 ), is given by the Wemos D1 mini card, above mentioned that is responsible for controlling both the activation/deactivation of the peristaltic pump, as well as its rotation speed, execution times, cycle restart times and the option to select movements, speeds and random times and where this is done through the PC through a USB Android connection to the Wemos D1 mini card and where by the pin D3 the card sends the necessary pulses directly to the DAT input of the driver and where the activation/deactivation is also carried out, by means of a relay of a channel, which controls the opening of the solenoid valve towards the peristaltic pump. 
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the 2nd mode of operation of the 2nd semicircuit ( 409 ) ( 409 A) is intended to make a slight caress on the skin covering the upper part of the spine and that is achieved through the work of an actuator ( FIG. 5 ) and ( 500 ), the 3-way solenoid valve and two positions and the 2-way and two positions solenoid valves, with the forward/reverse work of the stepper motor of the peristaltic pump. 
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the stepper motor functionality, which works bidirectionally at a predetermined distance, is given by the Wemos D1 mini card, above mentioned, that controls the peristaltic pump and simultaneously also the activation/deactivation of the mini micro solenoid valve of three ways and of the two solenoid valves of two ways, by means of a module of relays of 5V and 4 channels, through an USB cable Android from the PC. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the hydraulic actuator  FIG. 6 , ( 500 ) consists of a cylinder ( 501 ) partially lined in faux fur fabric ( 502 ) that touches the skin, and that starting from a central position ( 503 ) and with a ring internal to the center ( 606 ), moves longitudinally and alternately in both directions and in the same distance ( 504 ) or ( 505 ), on a pair of plungers that are fixed and are hollow, water circulates inside it ( 507 ) and ( 608 ), and ending in ringed nozzles pointing in opposite directions ( 609 ) and ( 510 ), towards both ends of the cylinder and discharging into the hydraulic circuit tubes ( 511 ) and ( 512 ) and wherein the actuator is alternately powered by water driven by the two solenoid valves, two-way and two positions ( 413 ) and ( 414 ), located on the sides of the cylinder and wherein on the outside of each of the plunger, at equal distance from their narrow ends, are located two rings ( 515 ) and ( 516 ) that act as stops and can brake the advance of the cylinder to both sides and where each of both plungers have two inner rings ( 517 ) and ( 518 ) threaded ends on the outside to screw two tube connectors ( 19 ) and ( 620 ) that trap a mesh ( 521 ) and ( 622 ). 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein by geometry the inner rings of the plungers ( 517 ) and ( 518 ), as well as the mesh ( 621 ) and ( 522 ), are intended to generate turbulent flows and wherein the distance traveled by the actuator in either direction must be equal to the angular distance traveled by the motor step by step in the corresponding displacements. 
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 1  wherein the odorants of this invention are presented through an essential oil diffuser ( FIG. 3 ) and ( 301 ) which is connected to a power source ( 302 ) and wherein the diffuser comprises a box with two orifices which comprises two containers ( 303 ) and ( 304 ), comprising 2 resistances, one in each, ( 305 ) and ( 306 ) and cotton soaked in oil ( 307 ) and ( 308 )) and where the oil is released, through the holes of the box, when the resistances heats up, a process that is controlled from the PC by the computational system and wherein a Wemos D1 mini card is used to control the diffusers which is responsible for activating/deactivating them, either individually, in one container, or in parallel with two containers, which is done from the PC through a two-channel relay module ( 309 ) to allow the passage of the 24 V of an electric strip that in turn comes from the source of power.