RFID tec and satelite

An introduction to New

Technologies (Part I)

by Patrick Redmond

Patrick Redmond graduated with a Doctorate in History

from the University of London, England in 1972. He taught at

the University of the West Indies in Trinidad, then at Adhadu

Bello University in Kano, Nigeria before joining IBM. He

worked in IBM for 31 years before retiring. During his career

at IBM he held a variety of jobs. These included; from 1992

until 2007 working at the IBM Toronto lab in technical, then in

sales support. He has written two books and numerous

articles. Here is a presentation he gave in Toronto on April

13, 2008.

* * *

I want to thank Yvon for inviting me here to talk about

new technologies. What I’m going to do is give you an

introduction to three technologies that are becoming more and more important. The first

is RFID chips, the second genetic engineering, and the third synthetic biology. This will

give you an understanding of what is happening and where science is going.

We will start with RFID chips:

So what are they? They are Radio Frequency Identification Devices. An RFID is a

microchip with an attached antenna. The microchip contains stored information which

can be transmitted to a reader and then to a computer.

RFID’s can be passive, semi-passive or active. Active RFID’s have an internal

power source such as a battery. This allows the tag to send signals back to the reader,

so if I have a RFID on me and it has a battery, I can just send a signal to a reader

wherever it is. They can receive and store data, and be read at a further distance than

the passive RFID’s. The batteries can only last a short while. But the current batteries in

the RFID’s can last for over a hundred years, because of their self-generating power.

Ultrawideband (UWB) allows the small battery operated RFID tag to be sensed over

fairly wide areas. For instance, GE Aircraft Engines in Ohio has installed five readers in

the factory and it covers over 30,000 square feet so they can track everything within that

area with only the five readers. That gives you an idea of the distance that can be

covered by an RFID tag that might be on you or on equipment.

An RFID held by a pair of tweezers

The readers can transmit over telephone or by internet to computers and they use

satellites as well. For example, Digital Angel has signed contracts with satellite

providers to transmit their data for military personnel location beacons (PLBs). These

beacons use the COSPAS-SARSAT satellite system. This system has some 400,000

digital beacons around the world and it’s rising to some 900,000. By the year 2009 they

plan to have a GL stationary satellite system that will enable them to find the location

and details of any beacon. You may sometimes see these at night; the GO stationary

systemscan track any beacon. Skiers sometimes use them so that they can be

identified, and sailors as well, if they become lost at sea they will be able to be tracked.

Anything that has an RFID tag can be tracked by a reader or a computer.

An example of such transmission is a chip sold by Zarlink. This chip is implanted

in a person; it tracks problems and if one is detected, it alerts the doctor who uses a two

way RF link to interrogate and adjust the implanted device. Semi-passive RFIDs have

an internal power source that let them monitor environmental conditions, such as

temperature and shock, but they still require RF energy from the reader to respond.

Passive RFID’s do not have a power source but use a signal sent by the scanner

to power the microchip circuit to transmit back their stored information. Passive RFID’s

are getting very small. Hitachi a few years ago produced a chip (called the mu chip) that

was the size of a pencil point; if you take a pencil and put it on a piece of paper you get

a little dot. That’s how small they’re getting. In 2007 Hitachi came out with a chip that

was even smaller, they call it RFID powder. They are just like the talcum powder you

would put on a baby.

Somark Innovations in Jan 10, 2007 announced an invisible RFID ink. This can be

applied to cattle, prime cuts of meat, military personnel and it can be read through hair.

I brought along a couple of the larger size chips, and this particular chip I got from

Gillette fusion blades. I bought one of the blades and you can see that on one side what

looks like a bar code and if you open it up you can see parts of a RFID chip on the back.

This one here is from the Gap. One of my daughters went to the Gap; they put the tag

directly on the clothing and the instructions just say to remove before washing and

wearing. If you put it up to the light you will see the RFID chip inside it. These chips are

quite small and can be put on the back of labels. They would not be noticeable in

badges or ID cards; they could even be put in the eye of a person, they are that small.

In order for chips to be useful, they have to have a unique product number and

because of this, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) started developing some

standards. It’s called the AutoID Center. They then passed it on to the AutoID Group

within the Uniform Clothes Council. It will assign codes and publish specifications, so if

you have a company, government agency, or church you can contact these people and

they will give you a set of numbers.

So let’s say there are three or five people in this room wearing the same white hat

and each one of them has a chip on it with a different number. We could differentiate

everything even if you’re all wearing the same clothes, it doesn’t really matter because

everything has a unique number. MIT has the architecture of participation called EPC

Global so if you go on Google and type in EPC Global and you will come up with the

website they will give you instructions on how to apply and get chips. So if you want to

chip yourself, your family, relatives, company or anything like that; you can do it.

It works with people who want to use this technology. One of many companies

who sell the chip is called, Technic Imitations. If you have a company and you go to one

of their presentations, they will give you books like this that tell you what the chips look

like, how they work, the types that are sold, and what the readers look like. They will

help you install chips in your company. It’s a very big business and it’s spreading very

quickly.

When you use active or passive chips, active chips have advantages when you

want to track items or people over longer distances. Soldiers can have active chips so

they can be tracked via satellite wherever they might be in the battlefield. You can get

one for your car, so you can be tracked if you are on the 407 or something.

Passive ones suffice if you are only interested in tracking over shorter distances.

For example, in a sea container coming in from China, every box and every item within

the box can have a chip on it. A reader can track all the items as a box passes through

it. In a warehouse it is used to ensure the right shipments go to the right places. A man

carrying a skid on a forklift can have the goods inside the box verified without even

opening it.

They are using the chips to track inventory in order to be able to monitor what

items are going where, if the right items are in the truck, etc. The passive chips are

being put on devices to ensure they are valid.

There’s a lot of counterfeit drugs being produced and sold over the internet.

Viagra is one of the most commonly counterfeited ones although there are many others.

To ensure that people get the correct drugs they sometimes put chips on the containers

so when you’re buying them you know that you are buying the correct drug.

Chipping farm animals is now required by

the government

RFID’s are a great economic help to a company because they reduce theft and

loss. They also streamline inventory, reduce turnaround time and handling. They’ve

allowed companies to adjust production in response to inventory levels and to respond

on demand. That’s why companies are interested, because of these big economic

benefits and efficiency.

When you go to Wal-Mart, Best Buy, the U.S. Military and many other agencies

around the world, you will see that they are all implementing RFID chips on items and

increasingly on people.

The recent growth of the RFID industry has been staggering: From 1955 to 2005,

cumulative sales of radio tags totaled 2.4 billion; in 2007 alone, 2.24 billion tags were

sold worldwide and analysts project that by 2017 cumulative sales will top 1 trillion–

generating more than $25 billion in annual revenues for the industry.

We’re starting to see chips being implemented in credit cards, debit cards and

passports, driver’s licenses, health cards, and many other things. Increasingly they are

being used to monitor people as well as items. RFID tags embedded into clothes and

personal belongings allow people to be tracked and monitored in shopping malls,

libraries, museums, sports arenas, elevators, and restrooms. American Express has

them on their blue cards. They are announcing plans to place people-tracking readers in

stores to track customers movements and observe their behavior. If you bought

something with your credit or debit card, they will know what items you bought and if the

items were chipped, they will know what you were buying. In this way they will be able

to track you.

In 2006, IBM received a patent approval for an invention called, "Identification and

tracking of persons using RFID-tagged items." One stated purpose was to collect

information about people that could be "used to monitor the movement of the person

through the store or other areas."

When somebody enters a store a reader "scans all identifiable RFID tags carried

on the person," and correlates the tag information with sales records to determine the

individual’s "exact identity." A device known as a "person tracking unit" which then

assigns a tracking number to the shopper "to monitor the movement of the person

through the store."

If I had three readers in this room, I could scan everybody in one second and I

would know right away who’s here; so it would scan that quickly. The computers are

getting quite sophisticated and capable of doing large numbers of scans at any given

time. One company recently announced a computer that reads data transactions at 200

million/second, an incredible number.

Here’s an example of how they are being used in companies; a few oil companies

have given their employees smart cards so that they know where they are at any time of

the day. This ensures that people do not go where they are not authorized to go. They

will see how many times an individual might go to the washroom or outside to have a

cigarette; things like that. It allows continuous tracking of people, and so more and more

companies are thinking it’s a novel idea.

In early 2007, the American government complained to the Canadian government

that they were tracking American contractors who were visiting Canada by placing

loonies ($2.00 Canadian coins) with tiny RFID transmitters in their pockets. And a CIS

officer when confronted with this said: "Ah, give us a break! You might want to know

where the individual was going, what meetings he’s attending, who he’s talking with and

everything like that." So if they wanted they could track people with chipped loonies.

The University of Washington students, faculty and staff are being tracked as they

move around the site so the details of where they’ve been, what they’re doing and with

whom, will be stored in their database. One of the professors at the University was

asked, "Will you check on this student?" so he checked on him and said, "Oh, he’s on

the fourth floor just standing outside room 452 and now he’s moving into the

classroom."

In London you can buy a monthly pass to the transit cars that have an RFID on it

and if you link the bus pass to a person’s name you can track where this person is on

the bus and subway system throughout London, England. Last year the police were

getting four requests a month and now they are getting close to 100.

Just last week the London police announced that they were putting RFID chips on

all of the 31,000 police in London. Now this may be on their ID card, they did not say if

they were going to put them directly on their body, but they were getting chipped; it was

published in the Daily Mail. Some of the police were complaining that they "are going to

know where we are at any time, we won’t be able to go into a coffee shop and get a

donut." All 31,000 police in London now have RFID’s so if they ever need to stop or

control people they can direct 1,000 troops immediately to the scene.

In Southern China they’re implementing RFID readers in the city of Shenzhen to

track the movement of citizens; all citizens have an ID card with a chip so they can

identify who is in what part of the city at any point in time.

RFID readers in a library

The chips and National ID cards that they are trying to bring in now contain not

only a number, but also a person’s work history, education, religion, ethnicity, police

record and reproductive history. The United States has been trying to implement the

National ID card for a few years now and there are strikes going on in different states as

they try to resist this National ID that will identify everyone in the country.

Canada is adding a Real ID to the license plates and we don’t hear anything about

it, its being done a lot more secretly than it is in the States where there is a lot of public

debate. The increase of the use of RFID chips is going to require a increased rate of the

UBF spectrum, as a result in the United States they’re going to stop using the UBF

spectrum of the VHF frequency in 2009 and everything is going to go digital. You may

have seen that on television in the United States.

Canada is going to do the same thing, they’ll say it still works, and instead of the

antenna on your roof you’ll use a black box. The reason they’re doing this is that the

UBF and VHF analog frequency are being used for the chips, so they don’t want to

overload the chips with television signals, because the chips signals will now be

receiving those frequencies.

A friend of mine from Quebec says his cows have a chip embedded under the

skin. All farm animals have to be chipped and he says he’s no longer allowed to kill as

many cows as he wants. He was given a limit of two cows that he could kill and use only

for the farm. All the others had to be sold to particular companies who could control

those cows and get food from them. So he could only kill two and the others he had to

sell to a supermarket chain.

People are being chipped now. There’s a trend that they’re promoting in the media

in terms of chipping people; they’re saying why not chip children for safety, so we can

protect them, especially if they’re in the hospital then nobody could steal the newborn

babies. Why don’t we chip the sick, then if someone has a heart attack and falls on the

floor, we can read the signal in the chip and send someone to help them. We should

chip the military so we would be able to know where the soldiers are and if they’re alive.

After we could chip people on welfare so we could make sure they’re not cheating the

government. Then we can chip all the criminals so that we could control them, and we’ll

chip workers because a lot of them goof off at work. Then we’ll chip all the pensioners

because they’re just taking money from us; and after that we’ll chip everyone else.

Some 800 hospitals in the United States are now chipping their patients. You can

turn it down, but it’s available. Four hospitals in Puerto Rico have put them in the arms

of the Alzheimer’s patients, and it only costs about $200 per person.

The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona gets patrons chipped. A BBC reporter went the

club and got himself chipped. He said it was like getting a needle in your arm; they just

rubbed it with some antiseptic and put a chip in. Because it was fairly small, he said it

didn’t hurt too much and he had it inside him so whenever he ordered he would just

move his arm and pay for it. The reader on the bar would read the signal and since he

had his bank account information on the chip on his arm it would deduct the money from

his bank account.

Nigel Gilbert of the Royal Academy of Engineering said that by 2011 you should

be able to go on Google and find out where someone is at any time from chips on

clothing, in cars, cell phones, and inside many people themselves.

Chips are becoming more and more sophisticated. Nature Magazine reported

recently that a drug containing microchips has been developed that will release drugs at

the right time and amount. They can put a chip in you and release drugs so you don’t

have to take a pill every day. This particular one that they’re selling lasts for over 140

days, you just have to get chipped three times a year with this drug and it releases it

every day automatically. We will probably start hearing more about things like this in the

near future.

In 2006, LifeScience.com said that European researchers have developed neurochips,

they’ve coupled together living brain cells in silicone circuits and done a lot of

experimentation on rats and snails. An electrical signal from a neuron is recorded in the

chips transistors, while the chip’s capitulators stimulate the neurons. They can create

neuro-stimulators and use them to alleviate pain and lessen the debilitating effects of

Parkinson’s disease.

The mu chip is only .05 ml in length

There are gastric stimulators that can treat obesity, they would make you feel

hungry so you wouldn’t want to eat anymore, it would just be necessary to put a chip in

your brain that would connect and send signals. In another study, neuro-chip implants

were developed and are being used on violent prisoners. They were implanted with the

microchip (but they didn’t know they were implanted), and when the implant was set at

160 megahertz’s all the subjects became lethargic and slept about 22 hours a day. The

implants ended all aggression in violent prisoners. Another interesting application is a

silicone chip implant that mimics the hippocampus, the area of the brain known for

creating memories. If successful, the artificial brain prosthesis could replace its

biological counterpart, enabling people who suffer from memory disorders to regain the

ability to store new memories. It’s being developed by Professor Berger at the Center

for Neural Engineering at the University of Southern California.

They’re working on rats and monkeys, so if applied to humans what this could do

is restore your short-term memory which people lose as they get older, or it could

replace your existing short-term memory with artificial short-term memory.

Applied Digital Solutions has a Verichip that is compatible with human tissue and

can be used on implantable pacemakers or put defibrillators in artificial joints. It can be

injected using a syringe and used as a sort of bar code in security applications. That’s

seen as one of the easy ways to implement chips in people through injections. They

could very easily inject it via a flu shot or a vaccine.

Verichip is working on a glucose microchip that would determine glucose levels.

You wouldn’t have to draw blood to monitor glucose level. All you need is to have the

doctor read your chip and your information and tell what your blood levels have been for

the past month or two.

IBM has demonstrated a tiny device that measures heart rate and is able to sense

when a person wearing it is in distress, after which it will call a cell phone for immediate

help. The distress signal is sent wirelessly via Bluetooth.

Zarlink has developed the first swallowable camera capsule which uses Zarlink’s

RF transmitter to relay real-time images from the gastrointestinal tract. Our MICS

(Medical Implant Communication Services) platform is designed with in-body

communication systems that will improve patient care, lower healthcare costs, and

support new monitoring, diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Currently the chip uses 100 hair-thin electrodes that sense the electro-magnetic

signature of neurons firing in specific areas of the brain in, for example, the area that

controls arm movement. The activity is translated into electrically charged signals and

are then sent and decoded using a program, which can move either a robotic arm or a

computer cursor. According to the Cyberkinetics’ website, three patients have been

implanted with the BrainGate system. The company has confirmed that one patient

(Matt Nagle) has a spinal cord injury, while another has advanced ALS.

This shows that human thoughts can be converted into radio waves and used by

paralyzed people to create movement.

Matt Nagle sends the thoughts to a computer to decipher. He can turn his TV on

or off, change channels, and alter the volume. (BBC 2005) He can also move his arms

and pick up things.

In addition to real-time analysis of neuron patterns to relay movement, the

Braingate array is also capable of recording electrical data for later analysis. A potential

use of this feature would be for a neurologist to study seizure patterns in a patient with

epilepsy.

Braingate is currently recruiting patients with a range of neuromuscular and

neurodegenerative diseases, so if you want a computer chip in your brain you can just

go on the website and volunteer.

What are the problems about these new technologies? Let me just give you a brief

explanation. Chips are going to end privacy. There’s a website called Spychips.com

operated by Katherine Albrecht; they research the use of RFID’s by different

companies. They have been warning people about them because chips that have

economic or health data could get that data stolen.

The New York Times in October of 2006 said that any card that doesn’t require

swiping (in other words that doesn’t have a chip in it), is vulnerable to un-authorized

charges and put people at risk for identity theft. You can buy scanners in electronics

stores for $60 or more that can read the information on the chip.

They are finding that once implanted in people, chips can be damaging to our

health. For example, the body of a rodent who was tested started rejecting some chips

and started a development of cancer. Also there is a danger of viruses; you are all

familiar with software viruses on your computers, imagine if you got a virus in your chip

that deletes your information in your chip.

If chips can disseminate medicine then they can disseminate other things too;

anything put inside a microchip can be activated by a signal. And finally, with this

technology, subliminal mind control becomes possible. I went on to Google and did a

search on mind control; you might find it interesting to check that yourself. I read one on

patents; there are patents that exist for mind control. This is what one states: non-aural

carriers, in the very low or very high audio frequency range or in the adjacent ultrasonic

frequency spectrum, are amplitude or frequency modulated with the desired intelligence

and propagated acoustically or vibrationally, for inducement into the brain. This is patent

number 5,159,703 1992.

Another explains a device that can be placed in the auditory cortex of the brain.

This device allows the following process: someone speaks into a microphone, the

microphone then has the sounds coded into microwaves which are sent to the receiver

in the brain and the receiver device will transform the microwaves back so that the

person’s mind hears the original sounds. In other words, a person with this device in

their head will hear whatever the programmers send via microwave signals. (Phillip L.

Stoklin took out patent number 4,858,612 on this.)

US Patent 4858612 - Hearing device

US Patent Issued on August 22, 1989

Estimated Patent Expiration Date: August 22, 2006Estimated Expiration Date is calculated

based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term

adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a

patent.

Abstract Claims Description Full Text

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to devices for aiding of hearing in mammals. The invention is based upon

the perception of sounds which is experienced in the brain when the brain is subjected to certain

microwave radiation signals.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In prior art hearing devices for human beings, it is well known to amplify sounds to be heard and

to apply the amplified sound signal to the ear of the person wearing the hearing aid. Hearing

devices of this type are however limited to hearingdisfunctions where there is no damage to the

auditory nerve or to the auditory cortex. In the prior art, if there is damage to the auditory cortex

or the auditory nerve, it cannot be corrected by the use of a hearing aid.

During World War II, individuals in the radiation path of certain radar installations observed

clicks and buzzing sounds in response to the microwave radiation. It was through this early

observation that it became known to the art thatmicrowaves could cause a direct perception of

sound within a human brain. These buzzing or clicking sounds however were not meaningful,

and were not perception of sounds which could otherwise be heard by the receiver. This type of

microwave radiationwas not representative of any intelligible sound to be perceived. In such

radar installations, there was never a sound which was generated which resulted in subsequent

generation of microwave signals representative of that sound.

Since the early perception of buzzing and clicking, further research has been conducted into the

microwave reaction of the brain. In an article entitled "Possible Microwave Mechanisms of the

Mammalian Nervous System" by Philip L. Stocklin andBrain F. Stocklin, published in the TIT

Journal of Life Sciences, Tower International Technomedical Institute, Inc. P.O. Box 4594,

Philadelphia, Pa. (1979) there is disclosed a hypothesis that the mammalian brain generates and

uses electro magneticwaves in the lower microwave frequency region as an integral part of the

functioning of the central and peripheral nervous systems. This analysis is based primarily upon

the potential energy of a protein integral in the neural membrane.

In an article by W. Bise entitled "Low Power Radio-Frequency and Microwave Effects On

Human Electroencephalogram and Behavior", Physiol. Chemistry Phys. 10, 387 (1978), it is

reported that there are significant effects upon the alert human EEGduring radiation by low

intensity CW microwave electromagnetic energy. Bise observed significant repeatable EEG

effects for a subject during radiation at specific microwave frequencies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Results of theoretical analysis of the physics of brain tissue and the brain/skull cavity, combined

with experimentally-determined electromagnetic properties of mammalian brain tissue, indicate

the physical necessity for the existence ofelectromagnetic standing waves, called modes in the

living mammalian brain. The mode characteristics may be determined by two geometric

properties of the brain; these are the cephalic index of the brain (its shape in prolate spheroidal

coordinates) andthe semifocal distance of the brain (a measure of its size). It was concluded that

estimation of brain cephalic index and semifocal distance using external skull measurements on

subjects permits estimation of the subject's characteristic modefrequencies, which in turn will

permit a mode by mode treatment of the data to simulate hearing.

This invention provides for sound perception by individuals who have impaired hearing resulting

from ear damage, auditory nerve damage, and damage to the auditory cortex. This invention

provides for simulation of microwave radiation which isnormally produced by the auditory

cortex. The simulated brain waves are introduced into the region of the auditory cortex and

provide for perceived sounds on the part of the subject.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the acoustic filter bank and mode control matrix portions of the hearing device of

this invention.

FIG. 2 shows the microwave generation and antenna portion of the hearing device of this

invention.

FIG. 3 shows a typical voltage divider network which may be used to provide mode partition.

FIG. 4 shows another voltage divider device which may be used to provide mode partition.

FIG. 5 shows a voltage divider to be used as a mode partition wherein each of the resistors is

variable in order to provide adjustment of the voltage outputs.

FIG. 6 shows a modified hearing device which includes adjustable mode partitioning, and which

is used to provide initial calibration of the hearing device.

FIG. 7 shows a group of variable oscillators and variable gain controls which are used to

determine hearing characteristics of a particular subject.

FIG. 8 shows a top view of a human skull showing the lateral dimension.

FIG. 9 shows the relationship of the prolate spherical coordinate system to the cartesian system.

FIG. 10 shows a side view of a skull showing the medial plane of the head, section A--A.

FIG. 11 shows a plot of the transverse electric field amplitude versus primary mode number M.

FIG. 12 shows a left side view of the brain and auditory cortex.

FIG. 13 shows the total modal field versus angle for source location.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

This invention is based upon observations of the physical mechanism the mammalian brain uses

to perceive acoustic vibrations. This observation is based in part upon neuro anatomical and

other experimental evidence which relates to microwavebrain stimulation and the perception of

sounds.

It is has been observed that monochromatic acoustic stimuli (acoustic tones, or single tones) of

different frequencies uniquely stimulate different regions of the cochlea. It has also been

observed that there is a corresponding one to onerelationship between the frequency of a

monochromatic acoustic stimulus and the region of the auditory cortex neurally stimulated by the

cochlear nerve under the physiologically normal conditions (tonotopicity).

It is has been observed that for an acoustic tone of a frequency which is at the lower end of the

entire acoustical range perceivable by a person, that a thin lateral region ("Line") parallel to the

medial axis of the brain and toward theinferior portion of the primary auditory cortex is

stimulated. For an acoustic tone whose frequency is toward the high end of the entire perceivable

acoustic range, a thin lateral region parallel to the medial axis and toward the superior portion of

theprimary auditory cortex is stimulated.

Neural stimulation results in the generation of a broad band of microwave photons by the change

in rotational energy state of protons integral to the neuron membrane of the auditory cortex. The

physical size and shape of the brain/skull cavity,together with the (semi-conductor) properties

(conductivity and dielectric constant) of the brain tissue provide an electromagnetic resonant

cavity. Specific single frequencies are constructively reinforced so that a number of standing

electromagneticwaves, each at its own single electromagnetic frequency in the microwave

frequency region, are generated in the brain. Each such standing electromagnetic wave is called a

characteristic mode of the brain/skull cavity.

Analysis in terms of prolate spheroidal wave functions indicates that transverse electric field

components of these modes have maxima

in the region of the auditory cortex. This analysis further shows that transverse electric field

possess avariation of amplitude with angle in the angular plane (along the vertical dimension of

the auditory cortex) and that is dependent only upon the primary mode number.

The auditory cortex in the normally functioning mammalian brain is a source of microwave

modes. The auditory cortex generates these modes in accordance with the neural stimulation of

the auditory cortex by the cochlear nerve. Mode weighting forany one acoustic tone stimulus is

given by the amplitude of each mode along the line region of the auditory cortex which is

neurally stimulated by that acoustic tone stimulus. A listing of mode weighting versus frequency

of acoustic stimulus is calledthe mode matrix.

In this invention, the functions of the ear, the cochlear nerve, and the auditory cortex are

simulated. Microwaves simulating the mode matrix are inserted directly into the region of the

auditory cortex. By this insertion of simulated microwavemodes, the normal operation of the

entire natural hearing mechanism is simulated.

Referring now to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 there is shown an apparatus which provides for induced

perception of sound into a mammalian brain. This hearing device includes a microphone 10

which receives sounds, an acoustic filter bank 12 which separatesthe signals from the

microphone into component frequencies, and a mode control matrix 14 which generates the

mode signals which are used to control the intensity of microwave radiations which are injected

into the skull cavity in the region of theauditory. cortex.

The acoustic filter bank 12 consists of a bank of acoustic filters F1 through Fk which span the

audible acoustic spectrum. These filters may be built from standard resistance, inductance, and

capacitance components in accordance with wellestablished practice. In the preferred

embodiment there are 24 filters which correspond to the observed critical bandwidths of the

human ear. In this preferred embodiment a typical list of filter parameters is given by Table 1

below:

TABLE I ______________________________________ Filter No. Center Frequency (Hz)

Bandwidth (Hz) ______________________________________ 1 50 less than 100 2 150 100 3

250 100 4 350 100 5 450 110 6 570 120 7 700 140 8 840 150 9 1,000 160 10 1,170 190 11 1,370

210 12 1,600 240 13 1,850 280 14 2,150 320 15 2,500 380 16 2,900 450 17 3,400 550 18 4,000

700 19 4,800 900 20 5,800 1,100 21 7,000 1,300 22 8,500 1,800 23 10,500 2,500 24 13,500

3,500 ______________________________________

The rectifier outputs one through K are feed to K mode partition devices. The mode partitioning

devices each have N outputs wherein N is the number of microwave oscillators used to generate

the microwave radiation. The outputs 1 through N ofeach mode partition device is applied

respectively to the inputs of each gain controlled amplifier of the microwave radiation generator.

The function of the mode control matrix 14 is the control of the microwave amplifiers in the

microwave amplifierbank 18. In the preferred embodiment thus will be 24 outputs and 24

microwave frequency oscillators.

Connected to each microwave amplifier gain control line is a mode simulation device 16 which

receives weighted mode signals from the mode partition devices 14. Each mode simulation

device consists of one through k lines and diodes 17 which areeach connected to summing

junction 19. The diodes 17 provide for isolation from one mode partition device to the next. The

diodes 17 prevent signals from one mode partition device from returning to the other mode

partition devices which are alsoconnected to the same summing junction of the mode summation

device 16. The diodes also serve a second function which is the rectification of the signals

received from the acoustic filter bank by way of the mode partition devices. In this way each

modepartition device output is rectified to produce a varying DC voltage with major frequency

components of the order of 15 milliseconds or less. The voltage at the summation junction 19 is

thus a slowly varying DC voltage.

The example mode partition devices are shown in greater detail in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. The mode

partition devices are merely resistance networks which produce 1 through N output voltages

which are predetermined divisions of the input signal fromthe acoustic filter associated with the

mode partition device. FIG. 3 shows a mode partitioning device wherein several outputs are

associated with each series resistor 30. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 4 there is an output

associated with eachseries resistor only, and thus there are N series resistors, or the same number

of series resistors as there are outputs. The values of the resistors in the mode partition resistor

network are determined in accordance with the magnitudes of thefrequency component from the

acoustic filter bank 12 which is required at the summation point 19 or the gain control line for

amplifiers 20.

The microwave amplifier bank 18 consists of a plurality of microwave oscillators 1 through N

each of which is connected to an amplifier 20. Since the amplifiers 20 are gain controlled by the

signals at summation junction 19, the magnitude of themicrowave output is controlled by the

mode control matrix outputs F1 through Fn. In the preferred embodiment there are 24 amplifiers.

The leads from the microwave oscillators 1 through N to the amplifiers 20 are shielded to

prevent cross talk from one oscillator to the next, and to prevent stray signals from reaching the

user of the hearing device. The output impedance ofamplifiers 20 should be 1000 ohms and this

is indicated by resistor 21. The outputs of amplifiers 20 are all connected to a summing junction

22. The summing junction 22 is connected to a summing impedance 23 which is approximately

50 ohms. Therelatively high amplifier output impedance 21 as compared to the relatively low

summing impedance 23 provides minimization of cross talk between the amplifiers. Since the

amplitude of the microwave signal needed at the antenna 24 is relatively small,there is no need to

match the antenna and summing junction impedances to the amplifier 20 output impedances.

Efficiency of the amplifiers 20 is not critical.

Level control of the signal at antenna 24 is controlled by pick off 25 which is connected to the

summing impedance 23. In this manner, the signal at antenna 24 can be varied from 0 (ground)

to a value which is acceptable to the individual.

The antenna 24 is placed next to the subject's head and in the region of the subject's auditory

cortex 26. By placement of the antenna 24 in the region of the auditory cortex 26, the microwave

field which is generated simulates the microwavefield which would be generated if the acoustic

sounds were perceived with normal hearing and the auditory cortex was functioning normally.

In FIG. 2A there is shown a second embodiment of the microwave radiation and generator

portion of the hearing device. In this embodiment a broad band microwave source 50 generates

microwave signals which are feed to filters 52 through 58 whichselect from the broad band

radiation particular frequencies to be transmitted to the person. As in FIG. 2, the amplifiers 20

receive signals on lines 19 from the mode control matrix. The signals on lines 19 provide the

gain control for amplifiers 20.

In FIG. 6 there is shown a modified microwave hearing generator 60 which includes a mode

partition resistor divider network as depicted in FIG. 5. Each of the mode partition voltage

divider networks in this embodiment are individually adjustablefor all of the resistances in the

resistance network. FIG. 5 depicts a voltage division system wherein adjustment of the voltage

partition resistors is provided for.

In FIG. 6, the sound source 62 generates audible sounds which are received by the microphone

of the microwave hearing generator 60. In accordance with the operation described with respect

to FIGS. 1 and 2, microwave signals are generated at theantenna 10 in accordance with the

redistribution provided by the mode control matrix as set forth in FIG. 5.

The sound source 62 also produces a signal on line 64 which is received by a head phone 66. The

apparatus depicted in FIG. 6 is used to calibrate or fit a microwave hearing generator to a

particular individual. Once the hearing generator isadjusted to the particular individual by

adjustment of the variable resistors in the adjustable mode partition portion of the hearing

generator, a second generator may be built using fixed value resistors in accordance with the

adjusted values achievedin fitting the device to the particular subject. The sound produced by

headphone 66 should be the same as a sound from the sound source 62 which is received by the

microphone 10 in the microwave hearing generator 60. In this way, the subject can

makecomparisons between the perceived sound from the hearing generator 60, and the sound

which is heard from headphone 66. Sound source 62 also produces a signal on 68 which is feed

to cue light 69. Cue light 69 comes on whenever a sound is emitted fromsound source 62 to the

microwave generator 60. In this manner, if the subject hears nothing, he will still be informed

that a sound has been omitted and hence that he is indeed perceiving no sound from the

microwave hearing generator 60.

In FIG. 7 there is shown a modified microwave hearing generator which may be used to

determine a subject's microwave mode frequencies. In this device, the acoustic filter bank and

the mode control matrix have been removed and replaced by voltagelevel signal generated by

potentiometers 70. Also included are a plurality of variable frequency oscillators 72 which feed

microwave amplifiers 74 which are gain controlled from the signal generated by potentiometers

70 and pick off arm 76.

This modified microwave hearing generator is used to provide signals using one oscillator at a

time. When an oscillator is turned on, the frequency is varied about the estimated value until a

maximum acoustic perception by the subject isperceived. This perception however may consist

of a buzzing or hissing sound rather than a tone because only one microwave frequency is being

received. The first test of perception is to determine the subject's lowest modal frequency for

audition(M=1). Once this modal frequency is obtained, the process is repeated for several higher

modal frequencies and continued until no maximum acoustic perception occurs.

Another method of determination of a subject's modal frequencies is through anatomical

estimation. This procedure is by measurement of the subject's cephalic index and the lateral

dimensions of the skull. In this method, the shape is determinedin prolate spheroidal

coordinance.

Purely anatomical estimation of subject's modal frequencies is performed by first measuring the

maximum lateral dimension (breadth) L FIG. 8, of the subject's head together with the maximum

dimension D (anterior to posterior) in the medial planeof the subject's head. D is the distance

along Z axis as shown in FIG. 10. The ratio L/D, called in anthropology the cephalic index, is

monotonically related to the boundary value ξo defining the ellipsoidal surface approximating the

interfacebetween the brain and the skull in the prolate spheroidal coordinate system. ξo definesthe shape of this interface;

ξo and D together give an estimate of a, the semi-focal distance of thedefining ellipsoid. Using ξo and a,together with known values of the conductivity and dielectric

constants of brain tissue, those wavelengths are found for which the radial component of the

electric field satisfies the boundary condition that it is zero at ξo. These wavelengthsare the

wavelengths associated with the standing waves or modes; the corresponding frequencies are

found by dividing the phase velocity of microwaves in brain tissue by each of the wavelengths.

A subject's microwave modal frequencies may also be determined by observing the effect of

external microwave radiation upon the EEG. The frequency of the M equal 1 mode may then be

used as a base point to estimate all other modal frequencies.

A typical example of such an estimation is where the subject is laterally irradiated with a

monochromatic microwave field simultaneous with EEG measurement and the microwave

frequency altered until a significant change occurs in the EEG, thelowest such frequency causing

a significant EEG change is found. This is identified as the frequency of the M=1 mode, the

lowest mode of importance in auditory perception. The purely anatomical estimation procedure

(FIGS. 8, 9, 10) is then performedand the ratio of each modal frequency to the M=1 modal

frequency obtained. These ratios together with the experimentally-determined M=1 frequency

are then used to estimate the frequencies of the mode numbers higher than 1. The prolate

spheroidalcoordinate system is shown in FIG. 9. Along the lateral plane containing the x and y

coordinates of FIG. 9, the prolate spheroidal coordinate variable φ (angle) lies FIGS. 9 and 10.

Plots of the transverse electric field amplitude versus primarymode number m are shown in FIG.

11. The equation is

The "elevation view" FIG. 12, of the brain from the left side, shows the primary auditory cortex

10. The iso-tone lines and the high frequency region are toward the top of 100 and the low

frequency region toward the bottom of 100.

The formula I, set forth below is the formula for combining modes from an iso-tone line atφ=φjbeing excited to obtain the total modal field at some other angular location φ. For this formula, if

we let J=1 (just one iso-tone singlefrequency acoustic stimulus line), then it can be shown that

ALL modes (in general) must be used for any ONE tone. ##EQU1## φ=ANGLE (0°

LATERAL) φj

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2009-09-20 18:35