Biological information detection device using second light from target onto which dots formed by first light are projected

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10653328-B2
Application number	US-201715628679-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 21, 2017
Priority date	Jun 30, 2016
Publication date	May 19, 2020
Grant date	May 19, 2020

Abstract

A biological information detection device includes a light source, an image capturing device, and one or more arithmetic circuits. The light source projects dots formed by light onto a target including a living body. The image capturing device includes photodetector cells and generates an image signal representing an image of the target onto which the dots are projected. The one or more arithmetic circuits detect a portion corresponding to at least a part of the living body in the image by using the image signal and calculate biological information of the living body by using image signal of the portion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A biological information detection device comprising:
a first light source that, in operation, projects first dots onto a target including a living body, and toward an area around the target, the first dots being formed by first light;
a second light source that, in operation, projects second dots onto the target, the second dots being formed by second light,
an image capturing device that, in operation, generates and outputs a first image signal representing a first image of the target onto which the first dots are projected and the area around the target, the image capturing device including first photodetector cells that, in operation, detect third light returning from the target onto which the first dots are projected; and
one or more arithmetic circuits, wherein:
the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation, extract a first portion corresponding to at least a part of the living body from the first image by using the first image signal, and calculate biological information of the living body by using image signal of the first portion,
the first light includes light having a waveform that is greater than or equal to 650 nm and less than 800 nm,
the second light includes light having a waveform that is greater than or equal to 800 nm and less than or equal to 950 nm,
the image capturing device further includes second photodetector cells that, in operation, detect fourth light from the target onto which the second dots are projected, and
the image capturing device, in operation, generates and outputs a second image signal representing a second image of the target onto which the second dots are projected.

2. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the third light includes fifth light from a first position on a surface of the target and sixth light from a second position on the surface of the target, the first position being a position onto which at least one first dot among the first dots is projected, and the second position being a position that is different from any of positions onto which the first dots are projected and that is located around the first position,
the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation, extract the first portion from the first image by using a first image signal component corresponding to the fifth light and a second image signal component corresponding to the sixth light, the first image signal component and the second image signal component being contained in the first image signal, and
the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation, calculate the biological information of the living body by using image signal of the second position in the first portion.

3. The biological information detection device according to claim 2 , wherein the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation, determine a ratio between intensity of the first image signal component and intensity of the second image signal component and extract the first portion of the first image by using the ratio.

4. The biological information detection device according to claim 2 , wherein the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation, extract the first portion of the first image by using ratios between a standard deviation and an average of intensity of the first image signal component and a standard deviation and an average of intensity of the second image signal component.

5. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the first light includes light having a wavelength that is greater than or equal to 650 nm and less than or equal to 950 nm.

6. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the biological information includes at least one piece of information selected from the group consisting of heart rate of the living body, blood pressure of the living body, blood flow of the living body, blood oxygen saturation of the living body, melanin concentration at skin of the living body, presence or absence of a spot at skin of the living body, and presence or absence of a bruise at skin of the living body.

7. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the image capturing device further includes:
a first bandpass filter that passes the third light; and
an image sensor having an imaging surface on which the first photodetector cells are disposed and on which light that has passed through the first bandpass filter is incident.

8. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation, calculate, as the biological information, at least one piece of information selected from the group consisting of heart rate of the living body, blood pressure of the living body, and blood flow of the living body by using a temporal change in a value obtained by performing lowpass filtering processing on at least part of the image signal of the first portion.

9. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the first light source is a laser light source.

10. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the image capturing device further includes
an image sensor having an imaging surface on which the first photodetector cells are disposed,
an optical system that, in operation, forms the first image on the imaging surface, and
an adjusting mechanism that, in operation, adjusts focus of the optical system to maximize contrast of the first image.

11. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation,
generate determination whether the first image includes at least one target portion selected from the group consisting of a forehead, a nose, a mouth, an eyebrow, and hair of the living body by using the first image signal, and
calculate the biological information of the living body in a case where the one or more arithmetic circuits decide, based on the determination, that the first image includes the at least one target portion.

12. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation, further calculate different biological information of the living body by using image signal of a second portion of the first image, the second portion being different from the first portion.

13. The biological information detection device according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more arithmetic circuits, in operation, further compare a position of the first portion in the first image at a first time point with a position of the first portion in the first image at a second time point and determine whether the living body has moved.

Assignees

• Panasonic Ip Man Co Ltd

Inventors

• Watanabe Hisashi

Classifications

• A61B2576/00

  Medical imaging apparatus involving image processing or analysis (A61B1/00009, A61B6/52 and A61B8/52 take precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/0261 Primary

  using optical means, e.g. infrared light · CPC title

• A61B2562/0233

  Special features of optical sensors or probes classified in A61B5/00 · CPC title

• A61B5/443

  Evaluating skin constituents, e.g. elastin, melanin, water · CPC title

• A61B5/165

  Evaluating the state of mind, e.g. depression, anxiety · CPC title