Device and method for controlling acquisition of a signal and a system for acquisition of a signal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10398333-B2
Application number	US-201715589496-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 8, 2017
Priority date	May 12, 2016
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods for controlling acquisition of a signal representing a physiological measurement are described herein. An example device comprises: an input for receiving the signal in digital form, wherein the signal has been acquired by means of at least one electrode without galvanic contact between the electrode and the living being and has been processed by circuitry for acquisition of the signal in analog domain to refine the signal before the signal is converted from analog to digital domain; an adaptation decision module, being configured to determine whether a measure of signal quality indicates that an adaptation of the circuitry for acquisition of the signal in analog domain is beneficial for the robustness of the system and/or the quality of the obtained signals; wherein the adaptation decision module, is arranged to output a control signal for controlling a parameter affecting amplifier saturation in processing of the signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device for controlling acquisition of a signal representing a physiological measurement on a living being, the device comprising:
an input for receiving the signal in digital form, wherein the signal (i) has been acquired by means of an electrode without galvanic contact between the electrode and the living being, and (ii) has been processed by circuitry for acquisition of the signal in analog domain, the processing of the signal by the circuitry occurring before the signal is converted from analog to digital domain;
a signal quality calculation module configured to determine a measure of signal quality based on the received signal; and
an adaptation decision module configured to:
based on the determined measure of signal quality, detect a trigger to affect amplifier saturation in the processing of the signal by the circuitry, and

in response to detecting the trigger, control a parameter of the circuitry that affects the amplifier saturation in the processing of the signal by the circuitry.

2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein controlling a parameter of the circuitry comprises outputting a control signal that controls a gain of an amplifier.

3. The device according to claim 1 , further comprising a feature extraction analysis module being configured to receive input from the adaptation decision module on the signal quality of the received signal and to determine features that are extractable from the received signal.

4. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the adaptation decision module is configured to receive input from auxiliary sensors and is further configured to consider the received input from auxiliary sensors in determining whether an adaptation of the circuitry for acquisition of the signal in analog domain is beneficial.

5. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the adaptation decision module is configured to compare the at least one measure of signal quality to a threshold value and determine whether the at least one measure of signal quality indicates that an adaptation of the circuitry for acquisition of the signal is beneficial based on a relation between the at least one measure and the threshold value.

6. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the acquired signal is a measurement of capacitively coupled electrocardiogram, ccECG.

7. A system for acquisition of a signal representing a physiological measurement on a living being, the system comprising:
a device according to claim 1 ;
a sensor for obtaining a physiological measurement on a living being, the sensor comprising at least one electrode arranged to acquire a signal representing physiological measurement without the at least one electrode being in galvanic contact between the electrode and the living being; and
processing circuitry for processing the signal representing the obtained physiological measurement.

8. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry comprises an amplifier for amplifying the signal.

9. The system according to claim 7 , wherein the processing circuitry comprises a filter for filtering out undesired frequencies of the signal.

10. The system according to claim 7 , further comprising a feature extraction module configured to receive the signal in digital form and receive input from an feature extraction analysis module regarding features that are extractable from the received signal, the feature extraction module being configured to process the received signal based on the input from the feature extraction analysis module.

11. A car-installed condition monitoring system for monitoring a person, the condition monitoring system comprising:
a device according to claim 1 ;
a sensor for obtaining a physiological measurement on the person, the sensor comprising at least one electrode arranged to acquire a signal representing physiological measurement without the at least one electrode being in galvanic contact between the electrode and the person, the sensor being mounted in a seating of the car for monitoring the person while seated in the seating; and
processing circuitry for processing the signal representing the obtained physiological measurement.

12. A sleep monitoring system, comprising:
a device according to claim 1 ;
a sensor for obtaining a physiological measurement on a person, the sensor comprising at least one electrode arranged to acquire a signal representing physiological measurement without the at least one electrode being in galvanic contact between the electrode and the person, the sensor being mounted in a mattress or bed linen for monitoring the person while lying on the mattress; and
processing circuitry for processing the signal representing the obtained physiological measurement.

13. The device according to claim 1 , wherein controlling a parameter of the circuitry comprises outputting a control signal that controls a cut-off frequency of a filter.

14. The device according to claim 1 , wherein controlling a parameter of the circuitry comprises outputting a control signal that controls a gain of an active feedback circuitry.

15. The device according to claim 1 , wherein the determined measure of signal quality is indicative of degradation of the signal during acquisition without galvanic contact or the existence of irrelevant noise, including motion artifacts.

16. A portable, clothing-oriented condition monitoring system for monitoring a person, the condition monitoring system comprising:
a device according to claim 1 ;
a sensor for obtaining a physiological measurement on the person, the sensor comprising at least one electrode arranged to acquire a signal representing physiological measurement without the at least one electrode being in galvanic contact between the electrode and the person, the sensor being mounted on one area of the body or clothes thereon, or distribute the analysis across smaller, less intrusive sensors; and
processing circuitry for processing the signal representing the obtained physiological measurement.

17. A method for acquisition of a signal representing a physiological measurement on a living being, the method comprising:
obtaining a physiological measurement on a living being using a sensor comprising at least one electrode arranged to acquire a signal representing physiological measurement without the at least one electrode being in galvanic contact between the electrode and the living being;
processing the signal to refine the signal in analog domain;
converting the refined signal to digital form;
calculating at least one measure of signal quality based on the signal in digital form;
determining whether the at least one measure of signal quality indicates that an adaptation of circuitry for acquisition of the signal in analog domain is beneficial; and
outputting a control signal for controlling a parameter for processing of the signal to refine the signal in analog domain.

18. The method according to claim 17 , wherein the controlled parameter is a parameter affecting amplifier saturation in processing of the signal.

19. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium with computer-readable instructions such that when executed on a processing unit the computer program product will cause the processing unit to perform a method for controlling acquisition of a signal representing a physiological measurement on a living being, the method comprising:
receiving the signal in digital form, wherein the signal has been acquired by means of at least one electrode without galvanic contact between the ele

Assignees

• Imec Vzw
• Univ Leuven Kath

Inventors

• Castro Miller Ivan Dario
• Torfs Tom

Classifications

• A61B2562/0214

  Capacitive electrodes · CPC title

• A61B5/7225 Primary

  Details of analogue processing, e.g. isolation amplifier, gain or sensitivity adjustment, filtering, baseline or drift compensation (input circuits for detecting, measuring, or recording bioelectric or biomagnetic signals A61B5/30; specific diagnostic methods using bioelectric or biomagnetic signals A61B5/316) · CPC title

• A61B5/6892

  Mats · CPC title

• A61B5/6893

  Cars · CPC title

• A61B5/18

  for vehicle drivers {or machine operators} · CPC title