NOVEL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR THE REAL-TIME, NONINVASIVE AND CONTINUOUS IN VIVO SENSING OF STRESS

Abstract

The present disclosure pertains to a wearable electronic device for the novel sensing of physiologically presented symptoms of stress corresponding to changes in a finger skin temperature biomarker.

Claims

1. An electronic system for sensing and displaying stress levels, comprising: a smart ring, the smart ring configured to sense stress levels, and a paired mobile communications apparatus, the paired mobile communications apparatus configured to display stress levels; the smart ring configured to be worn on a finger for real-time, in vivo, non-invasive sensing of levels; the smart ring comprising an electronics subsystem, said electronics subsystem having a sensor service routine, said sensor service routine configured to continuously sense in real-time a finger skin temperature biomarker presented at a finger whereon the smart ring is worn, said sensor service routine configured to map in real-time a current finger skin temperature biomarker reading to a stress level, and said sensor service routine configured to send stress level data to the paired mobile communications apparatus; the paired mobile communications apparatus comprising a stress monitor app, said stress monitor app configured to receive stress level data from the smart ring and said stress monitor app configured to display stress level data received from the smart ring.

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

5. The electronic system for sensing and displaying stress levels in claim 1, wherein the sensor service routine is configured to send a current stress level to the paired mobile communications apparatus every thirty seconds.

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

8. The electronic system in claim 1, wherein the stress monitor app is configured to store stress level data, received from the smart ring, in an electronic memory for a subsequent display of the stored stress level by the stress monitor app.

9. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

11. (canceled)

12. (canceled)

13. (canceled)

14. A standalone electronic system for sensing and indicating stress state (hereinafter, SESSISS), comprising: a smart ring, the smart ring of the SESSIS configured to be worn on a finger, the smart ring of the SESSISS comprising a mood stone, and the smart ring of the SESSISS comprising an electronic subsystem, the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS comprising a sensor, a sensor service routine and a stress monitor app; said sensor, of the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS, configured for the in dependent, non-invasive and real-time sensing of a finger skin temperature biomarker; said sensor service routine, of the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS, configured to receive finger skin temperature biomarker readings from said sensor, of the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS, and said sensor service routine, of the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS, configured to send finger skin temperature biomarker readings to said stress monitor app, of the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS; said stress monitor app, of the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS, configured to receive finger skin temperature biomarker readings, from said sensor service routine, of the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS, and said stress monitor app, of the electronics subsystem of the smart ring of the SESSISS, configured to map the currently received finger skin temperature biomarker information into a stress state; and said mood stone, of the smart ring of the SESSISS, configured to independently provide a continuous indication of the stress state being sensed by the smart ring of the SESSISS.

15. (canceled)

16. An electronic system for measuring and displaying stress levels, comprising: a smart ring for measuring stress levels, wherein the smart ring is configured to be worn on a finger, wherein the smart ring has an electronics subsystem, said electronics subsystem configured to non-invasively and continuously in vivo sense a finger skin temperature biomarker presented at the finger whereon the smart ring is worn, wherein the smart ring has a sensor service routine, said sensor service routine configured to map in real-time a current finger skin temperature biomarker reading to a stress level and said sensor service routine configured to send stress levels to a paired mobile communications apparatus (MCA); and an MCA for displaying stress levels, wherein the MC comprises a stress monitor app, said stress monitor app configured to pair to a smart ring and said stress monitor app configured to display stress levels received from the paired smart ring.

17. The electronic system for measuring and displaying stress levels in claim 16, wherein the smart ring is a mood sensing sharing device, in the setting of a ring, comprising a thermochromic liquid crystal decorative ring stone, said thermochromic liquid crystal decorative ring stone configured to continuously sense the finger skin temperature biomarker and said thermochromic liquid crystal decorative ring stone configured to display the stress level being experienced by a wearer of the smart ring.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] FIG. 1 is FIG. 1 of the '390 Patent and is a block level diagram of a mood sensing sharing system.

[0044] FIG. 2 is FIG. 2 of the '390 Patent and is a diagram of one implementation of a partially exploded mood sensing sharing device.

[0045] FIG. 3 is FIG. 3 of the '390 Patent and is a vertical cross section view of a mood sensing sharing device in the setting of a ring.

[0046] FIG. 4 is FIG. 4 of the '390 Patent and is a block diagram of an embodiment of the electronics subsystem of a mood sensing sharing device.

[0047] FIG. 5 is FIG. 5 of the '390 Patent and illustrates the operating environment and major data structures for a mood sensing sharing application of a mobile communications apparatus in a mood sensing sharing system.

[0048] FIG. 6 illustrates a hand with the index finger extended to highlight a position to assess a finger skin temperature biomarker.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0049] This invention relates to a novel system and method for the real-time, noninvasive and continuous in vivo sensing of stress utilizing finger skin temperature as a physiological biomarker. Stress triggers the fight or flight response, which among a cascade of activities causes blood vessels in the skin of each finger 61 (FIG. 6) to constrict, resulting in reduced blood flow to the skin of the fingers (adrenergic signaling). Concurrently, stress causes increased sweat production in the fingers, to contribute to evaporative cooling for thermal regulation purposes (muscarinic signaling). As stress increases, the combination of reduced blood flow in the fingers and increased sweating in the fingers causes a discernible drop in the finger skin temperature of each finger 61. Thus, changes in the expression of the finger skin temperature biomarker can be algorithmically correlated with changes in stress levels. In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, finger skin temperature is used as a biomarker for stress.

[0050] A preferred embodiment of the current invention comprises an MSSD Smart Ring 30 as defined in the '390 Patent FIG. 3. Per the current invention, two relevant components of MSSD technology are the following: (1) an MSSD Smart Ring 30 (FIG. 3), comprising a Mood Sensing Sharing Device (MSSD) 11 (FIG. 1); and (2) a Stress Monitor App, which is a type of Mood Sensing Sharing App (MSSA) 52 (FIG. 5). An MSSD Smart Ring 30 in a preferred embodiment of the current invention continuously senses a finger skin temperature biomarker of a finger 61. It should be understood that the current invention is not limited to this embodiment, nor is the current invention limited to other illustrative embodiments described herein.

[0051] With respect to FIG. 3, an MSSD Smart Ring 30, which is worn on a finger 61 of a hand 60, comprises a mood stone 20, an insulator 25, and an electronics subsystem (ES) 26—within a ring setting 32 of a chassis 34. In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, the insulator 25 of an MSSD Smart Ring 30 is omitted such that the MSSD Smart Ring 30 comprises a mood stone 20 and an ES 26. In another exemplary embodiment of the current invention, both the insulator 25 and the mood stone 20 of an MSSD Smart Ring 30 are omitted such that the MSSD Smart Ring 30 comprises an ES 26.

[0052] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, an MSSD Smart Ring's chassis 34 per FIG. 3 is comprised of a 3D printed carbon fiber material, which is black in color.

[0053] As taught in the '390 Patent, a mood stone 20 of an MSSD Smart Ring 30 is a Thermochromic Liquid Crystal decorative ring stone. In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, the mood stone 20 is per the TABLE 1 specification.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Mood Stone 20 of a MSSD Smart Ring 30 The gemstone shaped dome 21 comprises a clear, non-faceted glass, which is square in shape −20.0 millimeters (mm) in width, 20.0 mm in length and 5.8 mm in height at its apex. The clear substrate 22 is a clear polyester plastic sheet with an adhesive layer, having a combined thickness of 180.0 microns. The liquid crystal layer 23 is a microencapsulated Thermochromic Liquid Crystal ink deposited to a thickness of 50.0 microns on top of a black plastic backing 24. The start temperatures for the color range of the liquid crystal layer 23 are as follows: Red Start (25.0° C.); Green Start (26.0° C.); and Blue Start (30.0° C.). A Black color is displayed below 25.0° C. The black backing 24 is a black colored polyester plastic sheet and adhesive layer, which are a combined 180.0 microns in thickness.

[0054] The mood stone 20, which exhibits factory tunable temperature dependent iridescence per its Thermochromic Liquid Crystal composition, can be used to continuously sense a finger skin temperature biomarker of a finger 61. In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, each of the mood stone 20 color states (“Blue,” “Green,” “Red” and “Black”) is inferred to a stress level; respectively “Blue,” “Green,” “Red” and “Black” correspond to stress levels “None,” “Low,” “Medium” and “High.” Thus, per the specification in TABLE 1, a mood stone 20 of an MSSD Smart Ring 30 provides a continuous indication of the stress being experienced by a wearer of an MSSD Smart Ring 30.

[0055] Small physical size, low power consumption, and low cost are desirable characteristics for any implementation of an electronics subsystem 26. Referring to FIG. 4, in a preferred embodiment of an ES 26 per the current invention, components therein the ES 21 are implemented as a mixed signal system-on-a-chip (SoC), comprising a single chip substrate, as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), using a 65 nm technology process. In other embodiments of an ES 21, components therein are implemented in a system-in-a-package (SiP), comprising multiple chips in a chip carrier, as an ASIC or field programmable gate array (FPGA), using a 65 nm or other size technology process.

[0056] Again referring to FIG. 4, an ES 26 consists of one or more sensors 45, a microprocessor 41, memory 42, wireless connectivity via a communications module 44 and a powering-charging element comprising a battery 47 and recharge circuitry 48. The ES 26 is housed within an MSSD Smart Ring chassis 30 per FIG. 3.

[0057] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, an MSSD Smart Ring's microprocessor 41 is a low power, mixed signal 16-bit ARM® based micro-controller, having both integrated digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital converters.

[0058] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, an MSSD Smart Ring's memory 42 is an NAND flash memory module having a density of 256 Megabytes and a having a bus width of 16-bits. Again referring to FIG. 4, (within an MSSD Smart Ring 30) a memory 42 contains a sensor service routine 43. The sensor service routine 43 is software, executing within a Linux based embedded operating system, for example, which enables the current state of a finger skin temperature biomarker, per the current invention, to be sensed and shared with at least one MCA 12. Referring to FIG. 4, in a preferred embodiment of the current invention, the sensor service routine 43, of the electronics subsystem 26, comprises the following functions: the establishment of a communications connection 13, through a communications module 44, using existing connection setup protocols; the interpretation of raw data from a sensor 45 to determine the color of a mood stone 20; the characterization of information from a sensor 45 to determine the current state of a finger skin temperature biomarker per the current invention; the sending of an indication of the color of a mood stone 20 over a communications connection 13; and the sending of a temperature reading of a finger skin temperature biomarker over a communications connection 13.

[0059] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, a sensor 45 is a programmable, low operating current, digital temperature thermometer having the following characteristics: a minimum range of 20 degrees C. to 40 degrees C.; a minimum resolution of 0.5 degrees C.; a minimum accuracy of 0.5 degrees C.; and a response time of less than 1 second.

[0060] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, temperature readings per a sensor 45 corresponding to a finger skin temperature biomarker of a finger 61 are communicated to a Stress Monitoring App 52 operating in an MCA 12 via a communications module 44 over a communications connection 13 at a rate of one temperature reading every thirty seconds.

[0061] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, a sensor 45, in an MSSD Smart Ring 30, independently senses a finger skin temperature biomarker of a finger 61.

[0062] Referring to FIG. 4, wireless connectivity is provided via Communications Module 44 within an MSSD Smart Ring 30 (FIG. 3). A communications module 44 provides Bluetooth® communication, over a communications connection 13, to a paired MCA 12 (FIG. 1). In a preferred embodiment of the current invention the Bluetooth Low Energy v4.0 standard protocol is implemented over a communications connection 13.

[0063] As illustrated in the block diagram of FIG. 4, an MSSD Smart Ring's 30 powering-charging element comprises a battery 47 and recharge circuitry 48. In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, the battery 47 is a 3.7V LIPO battery, having built-in overcharge protection circuitry, and the recharge circuitry 48 comprises a USB wall charging adaptor with analog circuitry to adapt a wall outlet's AC current into a 4V DC charging current.

[0064] FIG. 5 illustrates the operating environment and major data structures for an MSSA 52 of a MCA 12 paired to an MSSD Smart Ring 30. Generally, an MCA 12 is a computing platform in the form of a smart phone, tablet computer, personal computer, or other similar device. Regarding the current invention, relevant aspects of an MCA 12 include a central processing core, memory modules, input-output modules, and a mobile operating system 51, such as Google Android or Apple iOS. An MSSA 52 is custom software, operating in an MCA 12, which enables an MCA 12 to pair with an MSSD Smart Ring 30, by means of a communications connection 13, in order to receive characterized data from a sensor 45 or a mood stone 20. Generally, an MSSA 52 of the current invention comprises the following functions: the establishment of communications connections 13 with an MSSD Smart Ring 30, the use of one or more existing connection setup protocols; the identification of an MSSD Smart Ring 30 by means of a unique identifier; and the receiving of characterized sensor 45 data or mood stone 20 data from an MSSD Smart Ring 30 over said communications connection 13.

[0065] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, an MSSA 52 of an MCA 12, that is paired to an MSSD Smart Ring 30, is a Stress Monitor App 52, which receives and processes sensor 45 data pertaining to a finger skin temperature biomarker for a finger 61 upon which the MSSD Smart Ring 30 is worn.

[0066] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, a Stress Monitor App 52 of an MCA 12 maps received sensor 45 data, from a paired MSSD Smart Ring 30, pertaining to a finger skin temperature biomarker for a finger 61 of a hand 60 into one of four stress states: “None” (temperature greater than or equal to 30° C.), “Low”(temperature greater than or equal to 26° C. and less than 30° C.), “Medium” (temperature greater than or equal to 25° C. and less than 26° C.) and “High” (temperature less than 25° C.).

[0067] In an exemplary embodiment of the current invention, a Stress Monitor App 52 of an MCA 12 maps received mood stone 20 color data, from a paired MSSD Smart Ring 30, pertaining to a finger skin temperature biomarker for a finger 61 of a hand 60 into one of four stress states: “None” (mood stone color blue), “Low” (mood stone color green), “Medium” (mood stone color red) and “High” (mood stone color black).

[0068] In an exemplary embodiment of the current invention, a Stress Monitor App 52 of an MCA 12 receives stress level data, from a paired MSSD Smart Ring 30 pertaining to a finger skin temperature biomarker for a finger 61 of a hand 60, that is labeled as one of the following states: “None,” “Low,” “Medium,” and “High.”

[0069] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, when in the foreground of an operating system's 51 User Interface, a Stress Monitor App 52 of an MCA 12 echoes a paired MSSD Smart Ring's 30 mood stone's 20 color by displaying an illustrative image, which matches the received color of the mood stone 20, and which is accompanied by a message that is indicative of the wearer's current stress level: “None,” “Low,” “Medium,” or “High” in an app view.

[0070] In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, when a Stress Monitor App 52 of an MCA 12 is in the background of the operating system's 51 User Interface and a “High” level of stress is sensed by a paired MSSD Smart Ring 30, then the Stress Monitor App 52 of the MCA 12 generates a system notification to alert a user of the occurrence of a “High” (or other) level of stress.

[0071] The Stress Monitor App of the current invention keeps longer term statistics regarding stress. Among other provided insights, the stress statistics summarize how often a user has been in a particular stress state (e.g., Medium Stress) during a specified time frame (e.g., past 3 months); allowing, for example, chronic stress to be more easily monitored and visualized. In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, each received stress indication from a paired MSSD Smart Ring 30 is kept in data storage to allow statistical analysis by a Stress Monitor App 52 of an MCA 12. In a preferred embodiment of the current invention, the longer term stress statistics (e.g., average stress level during the past 3 months) per an MSSD Smart Ring 30 can be accessed by selecting a “History” button when it appears in a view or screen of the Stress Monitor App 52 of an MCA 12.

[0072] In an exemplary embodiment of the current invention, the functionality of a Stress Monitor App 52 is implemented in the operating system of an ES 26, to form a combined smart ring and stress monitor app. The combined smart ring and stress monitor app enables the standalone real-time, noninvasive and continuous in vivo sensing of stress, utilizing finger skin temperature as a physiological biomarker, and enables the independent display of detected stress levels on the combined smart ring.

[0073] While in the foregoing, there have been described specific apparatuses and methods for the present invention, it is to be clearly understood that the provided description is exemplary and is not to limit the scope of the invention.