Hydration measurement with a watch

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11089999-B1
Application number	US-201815940894-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 29, 2018
Priority date	Mar 29, 2018
Publication date	Aug 17, 2021
Grant date	Aug 17, 2021

Abstract

Hydration measurement capabilities can be provided by a wearable electronic device, such as a watch, to allow a user to easily track hydration. A watch can be positioned to receive and measure one or more electrical properties of perspiration produced by the user wearing the watch. The watch provides electrodes for measuring the electrical properties of the perspiration. The electrical properties, such as electrical conductance, can represent a concentration of electrolytes in the perspiration, which in turn represents a hydration level of the user. The hydration tracking can be performed non-invasively, repeatedly, accurately, automatically, and with minimal user intervention. The measurements can be used to provide useful feedback and health tracking information to a user, thereby allowing the user to better manage hydration and overall health.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A watch comprising:
a watch body;
a watch band comprising a support structure for contacting skin of a user;
electrodes positioned within the support structure of the watch band, such that the electrodes do not contact the skin of the user when the watch is worn by the user; and
a meter operatively coupled to the electrodes to measure electrical conductance of a fluid in contact with the watch band.

2. The watch of claim 1 , wherein:
the watch body comprises:
a channel; and
a body interface positioned in the channel and being operatively connected to the meter; and

the watch band comprises:
a lug configured to secure the watch band to the watch body while the lug is within the channel; and
a band interface configured to communicatively couple to the body interface when the lug is within the channel.

3. The watch of claim 1 , further comprising a processing unit operable to
produce a user hydration indicator based on the measured electrical conductance of the fluid, wherein the watch body comprises a user interface configured to output the user hydration indicator to the user wearing the watch.

4. The watch of claim 3 , wherein:
the electrodes comprise multiple electrode pairs; and
the processing unit is configured to produce the user hydration indicator by averaging electrical conductance measurements from different electrode pairs.

5. The watch of claim 1 , wherein the watch body further comprises a sensor configured to measure a health metric of the user wearing the watch.

6. A watch band comprising:
a support structure forming a surface and a cavity recessed from the surface;
electrodes positioned within the cavity and being recessed from the surface to be a distance away from skin of a user when the watch band is worn, the electrodes being responsive to perspiration from the skin of the user when the perspiration is within the cavity; and
a band interface for communicating with a watch body of a watch.

7. The watch band of claim 6 , further comprising a lug configured to attach to the watch body of the watch, wherein the band interface is configured to communicatively couple to a body interface of the watch body when the lug is attached to the watch body.

8. The watch band of claim 6 , wherein the electrodes extend in parallel along a longitudinal length of the support structure.

9. The watch band of claim 6 , wherein the watch band is configured to bend about an axis to conform to a wrist of the user, and a pair of the electrodes are separated by a gap that is oriented parallel to the axis.

10. The watch band of claim 6 , further comprising support members to maintain an adjacent pair of the electrodes a fixed distance away from each other.

11. The watch band of claim 6 , wherein the support structure comprises multiple threads that are electrically insulative and woven together around the electrodes.

12. The watch band of claim 6 , wherein the electrodes comprise at least four electrodes.

13. The watch of claim 6 , wherein the support structure forms a channel configured to direct the perspiration from the skin to the electrodes.

14. A method of tracking user hydration, the method comprising:
detecting, with electrodes of a watch, a presence of perspiration between the electrodes, the watch comprising:
a watch body;
a watch band comprising a support structure for contacting skin of a user;
electrodes positioned within the support structure of the watch band, such that the electrodes do not contact the skin of the user when the watch is worn by the user; and
a meter operatively coupled to the electrodes to measure electrical conductance of the perspiration in contact with the watch band;

measuring the electrical conductance of the perspiration between the electrodes; and
producing a user hydration indicator based on the electrical conductance of the perspiration.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the electrical conductance is a first electrical conductance;
the method further comprises, after measuring the first electrical conductance, measuring a second electrical conductance of the perspiration between the electrodes; and
producing the user hydration indicator is based on a comparison between the first electrical conductance and the second electrical conductance.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the method is performed upon detecting activity of the user with a sensor of the watch.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
initiating a calibration stage;
measuring an electrical conductance of a calibration fluid; and
producing a calibration indicator based on the electrical conductance of the calibration fluid.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein producing the user hydration indicator comprises comparing the electrical conductance of the perspiration to the electrical conductance of the calibration fluid.

19. The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the electrodes comprise multiple electrode pairs; and
producing the user hydration indicator is based on a combination of electrical conductance measurements from different electrode pairs.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Williams Alexander W

Classifications

• A61B5/681 Primary

  Wristwatch-type devices · CPC title

• A61B5/4875 Primary

  Hydration status, fluid retention of the body · CPC title

• A61B5/0537

  Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content · CPC title

• A61B5/0531

  Measuring skin impedance · CPC title

• A61B5/742

  using visual displays (displays for heart-related electrical signals, e.g. ECG, A61B5/339) · CPC title