Part 2 of 6 in the MaxisRichards.com Patent Research Series.
This entry separates genuinely contactless claims from patents that require electrodes, body-worn sensors, or trained user-specific signal mapping. That distinction is essential to accurate RNM research.
What a patent establishes: A patent records what an inventor claimed and disclosed. It does not, by itself, prove that every embodiment works as described, that a system was deployed operationally, or that it was used against any specific person. This series separates the patent record from interpretation.
Patent Records
The ability to read brain activity without contact—or to establish a two‑way communication link with the brain—has been pursued for decades. These patents disclose methods for sensing EEG‑like signals, interpreting mental states, and translating brain activity into commands or messages.
US3951134A – “Apparatus and method for remotely monitoring and altering brain waves” (Malech)
- Inventor: Robert G. Malech | Assignee: Dorne & Margolin Inc.
- Filed: August 5, 1974 | Granted: April 20, 1976
- Summary: Two electromagnetic signals are transmitted into the brain where they interfere; the retransmitted interference waveform is demodulated and used to monitor brain‑wave activity. The patent further describes transmitting a compensating signal back to the brain to alter that activity—a closed‑loop read/write system.
- TI community relevance: Often cited as the foundational remote neural monitoring (RNM) patent. It explicitly claims the ability to read brain states and write back an influencing signal.
- View patent
US6011991A – “Communication system and method including brain wave analysis and/or use of brain activity” (Mardirossian)
- Inventor: Aris Mardirossian | Assignee: Technology Patents LLC
- Filed: December 7, 1998 | Granted: January 4, 2000
- Summary: Brain activity is monitored and transmitted to a remote station; stored patterns are compared to infer attempted communication, and in some embodiments electrodes are energized to fire specific brain nodes.
- TI community relevance: Describes brain-activity monitoring, pattern comparison, and—in some embodiments—stimulation through electrodes. The disclosed hardware requirements matter when comparing the patent with claims of contactless operation.
- View patent
US6529773B1 – “Communication and control by means of brainwave and other processes causing voltage changes that can be measured from the body” (Dewan)
- Inventor: Edmond M. Dewan | Assignee: United States Department of the Air Force
- Filed: August 1, 2001 | Granted: March 4, 2003
- Summary: Alpha rhythms and other body‑surface voltage changes are used to operate binary communication systems and servo‑mechanisms.
- TI community relevance: Documents Air Force-assigned work using measurable body-surface voltage changes for communication and control.
- View patent
US5638826A – “Communication method and system using brain waves for multidimensional control” (Wolpaw/McFarland)
- Inventors: Jonathan R. Wolpaw, Dennis J. McFarland | Assignee: Health Research Inc.
- Filed: June 1, 1995 | Granted: June 17, 1997
- Summary: A scalp‑electrode EEG system that extracts mu‑rhythms to control a cursor in two dimensions, enabling communication and control of external devices.
- TI community relevance: Documents an early EEG-based brain-computer interface using scalp electrodes to control an external system.
- View patent
US9819782B1 – “Neurological communication device” (Daniels)
- Inventor: Shavar Daniels | Assignee: David Lempert
- Filed: February 7, 2017 | Granted: November 14, 2017
- Summary: An ear‑worn device detects brainwave activity and converts it to radio‑wave command signals; claims transmission through antennas and satellites to a second ear‑worn device.
- TI community relevance: This is a wearable-device architecture. It should not be represented as evidence of contactless brain reading.
- View patent
US5507291A – “Method and apparatus for remotely determining information as to person’s emotional state” (Stirbl/Wilk)
- Inventors: Robert C. Stirbl, Peter J. Wilk
- Filed: April 5, 1994 | Granted: April 16, 1996
- Summary: Waveform energy is transmitted toward a remote subject; responsive energy is detected and analyzed against stored physiological‑parameter references (pulse, respiration, pupil size, perspiration) to infer emotional state.
- TI community relevance: Documents remote physiological sensing used to infer emotional state; it does not claim direct decoding of thoughts.
- View patent
US10159435B1 – “Emotion sensor system” (Brankovic)
- Inventor: Veselin Brankovic | Assignee: Novelic doo
- Filed: September 29, 2017 | Granted: December 25, 2018
- Summary: A contactless 60 GHz millimeter‑wave radar sensor infers emotional state from heartbeat, respiration, and movement patterns.
- TI community relevance: Documents contactless radar-based inference from heartbeat, respiration, and movement patterns.
- View patent
US10573335B2 – “Methods, systems and apparatuses for inner voice recovery from neural activation relating to sub‑vocalization” (Moghadamfalahi et al.)
- Inventors: Mohammad Moghadamfalahi, Umut Orhan, Michael Dillard
- Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
- Filed: March 20, 2018 | Granted: February 25, 2020
- Summary: Uses body‑connected sensors to detect neural correlates of sub‑vocalized speech and recover the intended words. The patent explicitly calls this “synthetic telepathy.”
- TI community relevance: The patent uses “synthetic telepathy” in its background discussion, while the claimed system relies on body-connected sensors and trained signal mapping.
- View patent
Continue the Patent Research Series
← Previous: Voice-to-Skull Patents · Series Index · Next: Electromagnetic Patents →
- Voice-to-Skull Patents: Microwave Hearing and Radio-Frequency Auditory Effects
- Remote Neural Monitoring Patents: Brainwave Sensing, Communication, and Inner-Voice Research
- Electromagnetic Neuromodulation Patents: Nervous-System Effects, Sensory Resonance, and RF Systems
- Synthetic Telepathy and Ultrasound Patents: Direct Communication and Noninvasive Neuromodulation
- Subliminal Influence Patents: Silent Messaging and Behavior-Modification Systems
- Dream and Sleep Manipulation Patents: REM Detection, Sensory Input, and Sleep-State Technology
Author’s note: This content presents research, analysis, and opinion about public patent records. It is published for documentation, education, advocacy, and public discussion.