PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNAL CORRECTION DEVICE, CORRECTION METHOD, AND WEARABLE DEVICE WITH CORRECTION FUNCTION
20190246988 ยท 2019-08-15
Assignee
Inventors
- Ming-Huan Yang (Hsinchu City, TW)
- Cheng-Chung Lee (Hsinchu City, TW)
- Shih-Kuang Chiu (Taichung City, TW)
- Kuang-Ching Fan (Hsinchu County, TW)
Cpc classification
A61B5/08
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/02055
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/0002
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/02438
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/721
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/24
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/743
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/0205
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/6843
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
A61B5/00
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A61B5/0205
HUMAN NECESSITIES
Abstract
A physiological signal correction device, a correction method, and a wearable device with a correction function are provided. The physiological signal correction device includes a physiological signal sensor, a warping sensor, and a signal processing device. The physiological signal sensor is attached to an object to be detected to obtain a physiological signal value from at least one sensing electrode. The warping sensor is disposed on the physiological signal sensor and detects whether a warping condition of the physiological signal sensor with respect to the object to be detected occurs. The signal processing device corrects the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor according to the warping condition. The warping condition is caused by a distance between a part of the sensing electrode and the object to be detected or a change in a contact area between a part of the sensing electrode and the object to be detected.
Claims
1. A physiological signal correction device comprising: a physiological signal sensor comprising at least one sensing electrode, the physiological signal sensor being attached to an object to be detected to obtain a physiological signal value from the sensing electrode; a warping sensor disposed on the physiological signal sensor, the warping sensor detecting whether a warping condition of the physiological signal sensor with respect to the object to be detected occurs; and a signal processing device coupled to the physiological signal sensor and the warping sensor, wherein the signal processing device corrects the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor according to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor, wherein the warping condition is caused by a distance between a part of the sensing electrode and the object to be detected or a change in a contact area between a part of the sensing electrode and the object to be detected.
2. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 1, wherein a warping value of the warping condition is expressed in an area percentage of mutual attachment and detachment between the physiological signal sensor and the object to be detected, or the warping value of the warping condition is expressed in an area percentage of an area where the physiological signal sensor is attached to the object to be detected and is deformed.
3. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 1, wherein the signal processing device comprises: a processor; a compensation circuit coupled to the processor; and a memory comprising a correction database, wherein the compensation circuit queries the correction database according to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor to obtain a correction signal value and provides the correction signal value to the processor, and the processor adds the correction signal value to the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor to obtain a corrected physiological signal value.
4. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 3, further comprising: a transmission module coupled to the signal processing device, wherein a transceiver of the transmission module communicates with an information displaying device, wherein the signal processing device integrates the corrected physiological signal value and transmits the corrected physiological signal value to the information displaying device, and the information displaying device displays physiological information corresponding to the object to be detected according to the corrected physiological signal value.
5. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 4, wherein the signal processing device obtains an initial signal value from the correction database or a cloud server when the physiological signal sensor and the warping sensor are fully attached to the object to be detected, and after obtaining the initial signal value, the signal processing device obtains the physiological signal value from the sensing electrode of the physiological signal sensor and obtains a warping value corresponding to the warping condition from the warping sensor, and when the warping value is obtained, the signal processing device queries the correction database according to the warping value to obtain the correction signal value and adds the initial signal value and the correction signal value to the physiological signal value as the corrected physiological signal value.
6. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 5, wherein the signal processing device obtains the corrected physiological signal value corresponding to each time point according to a plurality of time points, performs data calculation on the corrected physiological signal value corresponding to each time point to obtain a plurality of analysis data, and integrates the analysis data and transmits the analysis data to the information displaying device through the transceiver.
7. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 1, wherein the physiological signal sensor comprises at least one through-hole, and the warping sensor is disposed to correspond to the through-hole.
8. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 1, wherein types of the warping sensor comprise a photosensitive-type sensor, a vibration-type sensor, a resistance-type sensor, a capacitance-type sensor, a microwave-type sensor, or a combination thereof.
9. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 8, wherein when the warping sensor is the photosensitive-type sensor, the warping sensor comprises a plurality of photosensitive elements, wherein detection of whether the warping condition occurs is determined by whether a part of the photosensitive elements sense light.
10. The physiological signal correction device according to claim 9, wherein the warping sensor further comprises a light emitting element corresponding to each of the photosensitive elements, wherein each of the photosensitive elements and the corresponding light emitting element are disposed in at least one of a plurality of regions of the warping sensor.
11. A correction method for a physiological signal adapted for a physiological signal correction device comprising a physiological signal sensor and a warping sensor, wherein the warping sensor is disposed on the physiological signal sensor, the correction method comprising: obtaining a physiological signal value from the physiological signal sensor when the physiological signal sensor is attached to an object to be detected; detecting, by the warping sensor, whether a warping condition of the physiological signal sensor with respect to the object to be detected occurs, wherein the warping condition is caused by a distance between a part of the physiological signal sensor and the object to be detected or a change in a contact area between a part of at least one sensing electrode and the object to be detected; and correcting the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor according to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor.
12. The correction method according to claim 11, wherein a warping value of the warping condition is expressed in an area percentage of mutual attachment and detachment between the physiological signal sensor and the object to be detected, or the warping value of the warping condition is expressed in an area percentage of an area where the physiological signal sensor is attached to the object to be detected and is deformed.
13. The correction method according to claim 11, wherein the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor according to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor comprises the following step: adding a correction signal value to the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor to obtain a corrected physiological signal value.
14. The correction method according to claim 13, further comprising a step below: obtaining an initial signal value from a correction database or a cloud server when the physiological signal sensor and the warping sensor are fully attached to the object to be detected, wherein the step of correcting the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor according to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor comprises steps below: after the initial signal value is obtained, obtaining the physiological signal value from the physiological signal sensor and obtaining a warping value corresponding to the warping condition from the warping sensor; and when the warping value is obtained, querying the correction database according to the warping value to obtain the correction signal value, and adding the initial signal value and the correction signal value to the physiological signal value as the corrected physiological signal value.
15. The correction method according to claim 11, further comprising steps below: obtaining the corrected physiological signal value corresponding to each time point according to a plurality of time points; performing data calculation on the corrected physiological signal value corresponding to each time point to obtain a plurality of analysis data; and integrating the analysis data and transmitting the analysis data to an information displaying device.
16. A wearable device with a correction function, comprising: a physiological signal sensor comprising at least one sensing electrode, the physiological signal sensor being attached to an object to be detected to obtain a physiological signal value from the sensing electrode; a warping sensor disposed on the physiological signal sensor, the warping sensor detecting whether a warping condition of the physiological signal sensor with respect to the object to be detected occurs; and a signal processing device coupled to the physiological signal sensor and the warping sensor, wherein the signal processing device corrects the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor according to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor, wherein the warping condition is caused by a distance between a part of the sensing electrode and the object to be detected or a change in a contact area between a part of the sensing electrode and the object to be detected.
17. The wearable device according to claim 16, wherein a warping value of the warping condition is expressed in an area percentage of mutual attachment and detachment between the physiological signal sensor and the object to be detected, or the warping value of the warping condition is expressed in an area percentage of an area where the physiological signal sensor is attached to the object to be detected and is deformed.
18. The wearable device according to claim 16, wherein the signal processing device comprises: a processor; a compensation circuit coupled to the processor; and a memory comprising a correction database, wherein the compensation circuit queries the correction database according to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor to obtain a correction signal value and provides the correction signal value to the processor, and the processor adds the correction signal value to the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor to obtain a corrected physiological signal value.
19. The wearable device according to claim 18, further comprising: a transmission module coupled to the signal processing device, wherein a transceiver of the transmission module communicates with an information displaying device, wherein the signal processing device integrates the corrected physiological signal value and transmits the corrected physiological signal value to the information displaying device, and the information displaying device displays physiological information corresponding to the object to be detected according to the corrected physiological signal value.
20. The wearable device according to claim 19, wherein the signal processing device obtains an initial signal value from the correction database or a cloud server when the physiological signal sensor is fully attached to the object to be detected, and after obtaining the initial signal value, the signal processing device obtains the physiological signal value from the sensing electrode and obtains a warping value corresponding to the warping condition from the warping sensor, and when the warping value is obtained, the signal processing device queries the correction database according to the warping value to obtain the correction signal value and adds the initial signal value and the correction signal value to the physiological signal value as the corrected physiological signal value.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
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DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0020] In order to make the disclosure more comprehensible, embodiments are described below as the examples to prove that the disclosure can actually be realized. In addition, wherever possible, elements/components/steps denoted by the same reference numerals in drawings and embodiments represent the same or similar parts.
[0021] Embodiments of the disclosure provide a physiological signal correction device, a correction method for a physiological signal, and a wearable device with a physiological signal correction function that can detect and feedback a warping condition of mutual detachment between at least one sensing electrode and an object to be detected (e.g., a user's skin) and compensate and correct the physiological signal according to the warping condition. Thereby, the physiological signal detected in the embodiments of the disclosure can exhibit high accuracy.
[0022]
[0023] The physiological signal sensor 110 includes one or more sensing electrodes. The physiological signal sensor 110 is attached to an object to be detected to obtain a physiological signal value from the sensing electrode(s). In the embodiment, the physiological signal may be a body temperature, a pulse, a heart rate, a respiratory rate, an electroencephalography (EEG), an electromyography (EMG), an electroneurogram (ENG), an electroretinogram (ERG), an electrogastrogram (EGG), an electroneuromyography (ENMG), an electrocorticography (ECoG), an electrooculogram (EOG), an electronystagmography (ENG), a nystagmus electrical signal (ENG), etc., and the detection type of the physiological signal sensor 110 for the physiological signal is determined by the use and requirements of the physiological signal correction device 100. In the embodiment, the physiological signal value is the value of the physiological signal of the types above. In the embodiment, the object to be detected is mainly the skin of a user (or referred to as a wearer, e.g., a person or an animal), and a person implementing the embodiment may also regard another object as the object to be detected as long as the physiological signal value can be sensed from the object to be detected. The warping sensor 120 is disposed on the physiological signal sensor 110. The physiological signal sensor 110 and the warping sensor 120 may be made of a conformal or flexible material.
[0024] The warping sensor 120 is mainly used to detect whether a warping condition of the physiological signal sensor 110 with respect to the object to be detected occurs. The signal processing device 130 is coupled to the physiological signal sensor 110 and the warping sensor 120. The signal processing device 130 corrects the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor 110 according to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor 120. The physiological signal correction device 100 further includes a transmission module 140. The transmission module 140 is coupled to the signal processing device 130. The physiological signal correction device 100 may utilize the transmission module 140 to transmit the detected and corrected physiological signal value to an external information displaying device. Accordingly, in the embodiment, the physiological signal correction device 100 can detect and correct the physiological signal value in real time and transmit the physiological signal value to the external information displaying device.
[0025] The warping condition described in the embodiment is caused by the distance between a part of the sensing electrode(s) on the physiological signal sensor 110 and the object to be detected or a change in the contact area between a part of the sensing electrode(s) and the object to be detected. For example, the warping condition may include two conditions. The first condition occurs when the distance between the sensing electrode(s) on a part of the physiological signal sensor 110 or the partial physiological signal sensor 110 and the object to be detected is too far, such that the physiological signal sensor 110 cannot detect the physiological signal. In this warping condition, a warping value may be expressed in an area percentage of mutual attachment and detachment between the physiological signal sensor 110 and the object to be detected. The other condition occurs when the physiological signal sensor 110 and the object to be detected are indeed closely attached to each other, but, due to deformation and/or creases of the physiological signal sensor 110, a part of the sensing electrode(s) cannot function normally as a result of a change in the contact area with the object to be detected. In this warping condition, the warping value may be expressed in an area percentage of the area where the physiological signal sensor 110 is attached to the object to be detected and is deformed. For example, the physiological signal sensor 110 is originally closely attached to the object to be detected, but a part of the physiological signal sensor 110 falls off the wearer's skin due to sweat or the movement of the wearer, such that the detected physiological signal is distorted. Alternatively, the physiological signal sensor 110 is significantly deformed or creased along with the wearer's skin, such that the detected physiological signal is distorted. The physiological signal sensor 110 may include one or multiple types of warping sensors 120 to more accurately detect the warping condition above.
[0026] In the related art, the distorted physiological signal detected in the condition above cannot correctly reflect the real physiological state of the wearer, which thus causes the wearable device to be unable to function normally. Only after the physiological signal sensor 110 is reattached closely to the skin can the wearable device exert its proper function again. In comparison, in the embodiment of the disclosure, the warping sensor 120 is used to obtain the warping value associated with the warping condition, and the warping value is used to query the correction database located in the physiological signal correction device 100 to generate the corrected physiological signal value, which thereby compensates or corrects the value generated from the physiological signal sensor 110 and prolongs the time during which the wearable device can function normally in the case of a slight warping condition.
[0027] In the embodiment, the area percentage of mutual attachment between the physiological signal sensor 110 and the object to be detected (the wearer's skin) may be used as the warping value of the warping condition. In other words, the higher the area percentage of mutual attachment between the physiological signal sensor 110 and the object to be detected, the lower the degree to which the physiological signal sensor 110 is detached from the skin and thus the less the physiological signal value that needs to be compensated or corrected. The lower the area percentage of mutual attachment between the physiological signal sensor 110 and the object to be detected, the higher the degree to which the physiological signal sensor 110 is detached from the skin and thus the more the physiological signal value that needs to be compensated or corrected.
[0028] It is noted that, when the physiological signal sensor 110 is unable to obtain the physiological signal value or the physiological signal value has fallen below a predetermined value, the physiological signal correction device 100 does not compensate or correct the physiological signal value by using the warping value corresponding to the warping condition. Instead, the physiological signal correction device 100 notifies the wearer or the person maintaining the physiological signal correction device 100 by other means to alert that the physiological signal correction device 100 at this time cannot exert its proper function.
[0029] A person implementing the embodiment may adjust the correspondence relationship between the physiological signal sensor 110 and the warping sensor 120 according to the requirements, which is described in the following examples and drawings. If the detection method of the warping sensor 120 is distinguished, the types of the warping sensor 120 may include a photosensitive-type sensor (change in a photocurrent), a vibration-type sensor (sensing a change in the vibration frequency on the skin), a resistance-type sensor (change in the resistance value on the skin surface), a capacitance-type sensor (change in the capacitance value on the skin surface), a microwave-type sensor (detecting a change in the distance between the sensor and the skin by using microwave techniques), or a combination of the various sensors above. If the warping sensor 120 is placed at a position of the physiological signal sensor 110 is distinguished, the warping sensor 120 may be an entire surface-type, regional-type, or array-type sensor.
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[0039] The transmission module 140 includes a transceiver 740. After obtaining the corrected physiological signal values, the signal processing device 730 of the physiological signal correction device 700 may integrate the corrected physiological signal values on its own and transmit the physiological signal values to the information displaying device 710 through the transceiver 740 via a network 750 or a relevant transmission protocol (e.g., Bluetooth, WIFI, etc.). Alternatively, the physiological signal correction device 700 may directly transmit the corrected physiological signal values to the information displaying device 710 through the transceiver 740 to have the information displaying device 710 integrate the physiological signal values on its own. The information displaying device 710 may be a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal computer or server with a screen, etc. and is mainly used to display the wearer's physiological signal values (e.g., the body temperature, the pulse, the heart rate, the respiratory rate, and the dynamic myoelectric current values). The integrated or corrected physiological condition or physiological information (e.g., the wearer's muscular endurance, muscle strength, muscle fatigue, physical condition, exercise cycle, health status, and abnormality alert) may also be displayed by using the information displaying device 710.
[0040] The signal processing device 730 and its internal components in the physiological signal correction device 700 in
[0041] The correction database 738 at least includes correction signal values corresponding to the warping data generated by the physiological signal sensor 110 and the warping sensor 120. The processor 732 of the embodiment can communicate with the cloud server 720 through the transceiver 740 and can update the contents of the correction database 738 through the cloud server 720 to make the correction of the physiological signal values more accurate.
[0042] According to the warping condition provided by the warping sensor 120 (e.g., the area percentage of mutual attachment between the physiological signal sensor 110 and the object to be detected), the compensation circuit 734 queries the correction database 738 to obtain a corresponding correction signal value and provides the correction signal value to the processor 732. The processor 732 adds the correction signal value to the physiological signal value provided by the physiological signal sensor 110 to obtain a corrected physiological signal value. Moreover, the processor 732 in the signal processing device 730 can obtain the corrected physiological signal value corresponding to each time point according to a plurality of time points, perform data calculation on the corrected physiological signal values corresponding to the time points to obtain a plurality of analysis data, and integrate the analysis data and transmit the analysis data to the information displaying device 710 through the transceiver. The information displaying device 710 displays the analysis data on its display screen for viewing by the user. The analysis data above may be presented by using a data link diagram or other graphical data. In some embodiments, the analysis data above may also be uploaded to the cloud server 720 for use in big data analysis and correction of relevant data.
[0043] Herein, the contents in the correction database 738 are schematically presented in tables (Table 1: contact area between the sensing electrode(s) and the human body; Table 2: deformation area of the sensing electrode(s)) for reference. A person implementing the embodiment may present the relationship between the warping value and the correction signal value corresponding to the warping condition by using more complicated database information.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Human body contact area Compensation/correction Correction signal (area percentage) level value 100% 1 0000 90% 2 0001 80% 3 0010 70% 4 0011 60% 5 0100 50% 6 0110 40% 7 0111 30% 8 1000 20% 9 1001
[0044] The warping value transmitted by the warping sensor 120 to the compensation circuit 734 is generally analog information, e.g., a change in the capacitance value (capacitance-type sensor), a change in the photocurrent (photosensitive-type sensor), a change in the resistance value (resistance-type sensor), etc. The compensation/correction levels may be set as different values according to the change values of the analog information above in the actual design. The correction signal values are encoded values of optimal digital resolution set according to the compensation/correction levels. The compensation circuit 734 calculates the area percentage according to the warping value and looks up Table 1 by using the calculated area percentage to thereby obtain the corresponding correction signal value.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Deformation area Compensation/correction Correction signal (area percentage) level value 0% 1 0000 10% 2 0001 20% 3 0010 30% 4 0011 40% 5 0100 50% 6 0110 60% 7 0111 70% 8 1000 80% 9 1001 90% 10 1010 100% 11 1011
[0045] According to Table 2, the higher the percentage of the deformation area of the physiological signal sensor/sensing electrode(s), the higher the compensation/correction level as well as the correction signal value.
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[0047] The compensation circuit 734 of
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[0049] In summary of the above, the physiological signal correction device and the wearable device described in the embodiments of the disclosure utilize the warping sensor disposed on the physiological signal sensor to detect the warping condition between the sensing electrode(s) in the physiological signal sensor and the object to be detected (e.g., the user's skin) and correct the physiological signal according to the warping condition. In other words, in the embodiments of the disclosure, one or multiple types of warping sensors are disposed on the physiological signal sensor (e.g., a sensing electrode patch) to detect and feed back the area percentage value of mutual detachment between the sensing electrode(s) and the object to be detected, and the correction database is queried by using the area percentage value to compensate or correct the missing part of the physiological signal. Thereby, the physiological signal detected in the embodiments of the disclosure can exhibit high accuracy through correction.
[0050] Although the embodiments are already disclosed as above, these embodiments should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure covers modifications and variations provided that they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.