Electronic devices with 6 minute walk distance estimates

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11961332-B1
Application number	US-202117338499-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 3, 2021
Priority date	Jun 19, 2020
Publication date	Apr 16, 2024
Grant date	Apr 16, 2024

Abstract

One or more electronic device may use motion and/or activity sensors to estimate a user's 6 minute walking distance. In particular, because users typically walk at less than their maximum output and in imperfect conditions, control circuitry within the device(s) may rely on walks of shorter distances to estimate the 6 minute walking distance. For example, the control circuitry may gather activity information for the user, such as heart rate, calories burned, and step count, and analyze a distance component and a speed component for periods in which the user has walked. Individual 6 minute walk distance estimates may be generated based on each of the activity information, distance component, and speed component. The distance and speed estimates may be corrected for walking behaviors that deviate from an ideal testing environment, and may then be fused with the activity estimate to generate a final 6 minute walk distance estimate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device configured to be worn by a user, the electronic device comprising:
a housing;
a first sensor that measures a motion of the housing;
a second sensor that measures a heart rate of the user; and
control circuitry configured to:
determine walking periods based on the motion of the housing, wherein each of the walking periods has a distance component and a speed component;
determine activity information based on the heart rate of the user and the motion of the housing; and
calculate a 6 minute walk distance for the user as a function of the distance component, the speed component, and the activity information.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to produce a distance estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the distance component, to produce a speed estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the speed component, and to produce an activity estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the activity information.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine walking behaviors of the user during the walking periods using the first sensor and wherein the control circuitry is configured to correct the distance estimate and the speed estimate based on the walking behaviors.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the walking behaviors are selected from the group consisting of: a pause, a graded walking path, a non-linear walking path, a lack of 180° turns, a constrained arm pose, an assistive device usage, a workout, an atypical cadence, an atypical step length, and a speed change.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the 6 minute walk distance by statistically combining the corrected distance estimate, the corrected speed estimate, and the activity information.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the electronic device is a wristwatch device having a display and communications circuitry, and wherein the communications circuitry is configured to communicate with an external electronic device.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 6 wherein the control circuitry is configured to calibrate the first sensor based on information received from the external electronic device.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the first sensor is an accelerometer and wherein the electronic device further comprises:
a gyroscope and a global positioning system sensor that measure additional aspects of the motion of the housing, wherein the control circuitry is configured to analyze data from the accelerometer, the gyroscope, and the global positioning system sensor to determine the walking periods.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 8 wherein the second sensor is a heart rate sensor, wherein the electronic device further comprises:
a perspiration sensor, wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the activity information based on the heart rate of the user and data from the perspiration sensor.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 9 wherein the heart rate sensor is a photoplethysmography sensor, wherein the electronic device further comprises an electrocardiogram sensor, and wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the activity information based on data from the photoplethysmography sensor, the data from the perspiration sensor, and data from the electrocardiogram sensor.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the activity information includes calorie expenditure data of the user, standing time, and stair ascent and descent data.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to produce a distance estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the distance component by extrapolating the distance estimate from a selected percentile of all periods in which the user has walked.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to produce a speed estimate of the 6 minute walk distance by extrapolating a speed of the user within selected walking periods that are shorter than six minutes to estimate the distance that the user could have traveled in the six minutes.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to produce a distance estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the distance component, to produce a speed estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the speed component, and to produce an activity estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the activity information, to weight each of the distance estimate, the speed estimate, and the activity estimate, and to combine the distance estimate, the speed estimate, and the activity estimate to determine the 6 minute walk distance.

15. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to produce a distance estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the distance component, to produce a speed estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the speed component, and to produce an activity estimate of the 6 minute walk distance based on the activity information, and to use a decision tree to select a single one of the distance estimate, the speed estimate, or the activity estimate to determine the 6 minute walk distance.

16. A system configured to determine a 6 minute walking distance of a user, the system comprising:
a portable electronic device, comprising:
a first housing;
a set of first motion information sensors that generate first motion data in response to movement of the first housing; and
first communications circuitry; and

a wearable electronic device, comprising:
a second housing;
a second set of motion information sensors that generate second motion data in response to movement of the second housing;
a set of activity information sensors that generate heart rate data in response to a heart rate of the user;
second communications circuitry that is configured to receive the first motion data from the first communications circuitry; and
control circuitry, configured to:
calibrate the second set of motion information sensors based on the first motion data, and
estimate the 6 minute walking distance based on the first motion data, the second motion data, and the heart rate data.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the wearable electronic device is a device selected from the group consisting of: a wristwatch, a headphone, an ear bud, and a head-mounted device.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Powers Iii William R
• Etezadi-Amoli Maryam
• Crocker Britni A
• Gilmore Allison L
• Arnold Edith M
• Pham Hung A
• Mance Irida
• Rahman Sumayah F
• Niehaus Katherine
• Reed Kyle A
• Gibiansky Maxsim L
• Jayaraman Raghuram Karthik
• Ullal Adeeti V

Classifications

• G06V40/25 Primary

  Recognition of walking or running movements, e.g. gait recognition · CPC title

• A61B5/1118

  Determining activity level · CPC title

• A61B5/1123

  Discriminating type of movement, e.g. walking or running (A61B5/1116, A61B5/112 take precedence) · CPC title

• A61B5/6802

  Sensor mounted on worn items · CPC title

• A61B2562/0219

  Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches · CPC title