Multi-sensor device and method of using multi-sensor device for determining biometric properties of a subject

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10182728-B2
Application number	US-201615189089-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 22, 2016
Priority date	Jun 22, 2016
Publication date	Jan 22, 2019
Grant date	Jan 22, 2019

Abstract

Methods, devices, systems, and non-transitory processor-readable storage media are disclosed for determining one or more biometric properties of a subject using multiple sensors positioned along a flexible backing. At least one processor of the multi-sensor device may be configured to receive output signals from the multiple sensors, identify at least one output signal from the received output signals that exhibit measurements of a targeted biological structure, determine the one or more biometric properties of the subject based on the identified at least one output signal received from at least one of the multiple sensors, and provide the determined one or more biometric properties.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device for determining one or more biometric properties of a subject, comprising;
a flexible backing;
a plurality of sensors positioned along the flexible backing; and
at least one processor coupled to the plurality of sensors, the at least one processor configured to:
receive output signals from the plurality of sensors;
identify at least one output signal from the received output signals that exhibits measurements of a targeted biological structure;
select, from the plurality of sensors, a sensor to deactivate or transition to a low power mode based on identifying the at least one output signal;
determine the one or more biometric properties of the subject based on the identified at least one output signal;
deactivate or transition the selected sensor to the low power mode; and
provide the determined one or more biometric properties.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein to identify the at least one output signal from the received output signals that exhibits measurements of the targeted biological structure, the at least one processor is further configured to:
compare the received output signals from the plurality of sensors to a reference signal that models the targeted biological structure; and
identify the at least one output signal based on the comparison.

3. The device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise one or more types of sensors and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to activate the one or more types of sensors to obtain different measurements of the targeted biological structure.

4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the one or more types of sensors include optical sensors, bio-impedance sensors, ultrasound imagers, ultrasound sensors, pressure sensors, Peltier sensors, electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, electromyography (EMG) sensors, electroencephalography (EEG) sensors, ultraviolet (UV) sensors, accelerometers, inertia sensors, or any combination thereof.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to change an activation state of one or more of the plurality of sensors that are not associated with the identified at least one output signal to a reduced activation state.

6. The device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to activate all of the plurality of sensors simultaneously.

7. The device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to activate at least one subset of the plurality of sensors at a similar time.

8. The device of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to activate the plurality of sensors periodically or quasi-periodically to generate the output signals.

9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
detect a change in the at least one output signal received from at least one sensor of the plurality of sensors;
identify at least one other output signal that exhibit measurements of the targeted biological structure received from at least one different sensor of the plurality of sensors in response to detecting the change in the at least one output signal; and
determine the one or more biometric properties of the subject based on the identified at least one output signal received from at least one different sensor.

10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the flexible backing is a flexible strip configured to wrap around a subject or a portion of the subject in a helical manner.

11. The device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of sensors are covered with a material to protect the skin.

12. A method for determining one or more biometric properties of a subject using a device, the method comprising:
receiving, from a plurality of sensors positioned along a flexible backing of the device, output signals;
identifying, by at least one processor coupled to the plurality of sensors, at least one output signal from the received output signals that exhibits measurements of a targeted biological structure;
selecting, by the at least one processor, and from the plurality of sensors, a sensor to deactivate or transition to a low power mode based on identifying the at least one output signal;
determining, by the at least one processor, the one or more biometric properties of the subject based on the identified at least one output signal;
deactivating or transitioning, by the at least one processor, the selected sensor to the low power mode; and
providing, by the at least one processor, the determined one or more biometric properties.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein identifying the at least one output signal from the received output signals that exhibits measurements of the targeted biological structure comprises:
comparing the received output signals from the plurality of sensors to a reference signal that models the targeted biological structure; and
identifying the at least one output signal based on the comparison.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of sensors comprise one or more types of sensors, the method further comprising:
activating the one or more types of sensors to obtain different measurements of the targeted biological structure.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein receiving the output signals from the plurality of sensors comprises receiving the output signals from optical sensors, bio-impedance sensors, ultrasound imagers, ultrasound sensors, pressure sensors, Peltier sensors, electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, electromyography (EMG) sensors, electroencephalography (EEG) sensors, ultraviolet (UV) sensors, accelerometers, inertia sensors, or any combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
changing an activation state of one or more of the plurality of sensors that are not associated with the identified at least one output signal to a reduced activation state.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising activating all of the plurality of sensors simultaneously.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising activating subsets of the plurality of sensors at a similar time.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising activating periodically or quasi-periodically the plurality of sensors to generate the output signals.

20. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
detecting a change in the at least one output signal received from at least one sensor of the plurality of sensors;
identifying at least one other output signal that exhibits measurements of the targeted biological structure received from at least one different sensor of the plurality of sensors in response to detecting the change in the at least one output signal; and
determining the one or more biometric properties of the subject based on the identified at least one output signal received from at least one different sensor.

21. The method of claim 12 , wherein the flexible backing is a flexible strip configured to wrap around the subject or a portion of the subject in a helical manner.

22. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor executable instructions configured to cause a processor of a multi-sensor device to perform operations comprising:
receiving, from a plurality of sensors positioned along a flexible backing of the multi-sensor device, output signals;
identifying at least one output signal from the received output signals that exhibits measurements of a targeted biological structure;
selecting, from the plurality of sensors, a sensor to deactivate o

Assignees

• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Gu Shiqun
• Baek David Boettcher
• Dantsker Eugene

Classifications

• A61B5/384

  Recording apparatus or displays specially adapted therefor · CPC title

• A61B5/389

  Electromyography [EMG] · CPC title

• A61B5/318

  Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG] · CPC title

• A61B5/11

  Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor or mobility of a limb {(A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721)} · CPC title

• A61B5/024

  Measuring pulse rate or heart rate · CPC title