Functional Skin Patch

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016135684-A1
Application number	US-201514938416-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 11, 2015
Priority date	Nov 12, 2014
Publication date	May 19, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A functional skin patch having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface is provided. The functional skin patch includes a functional unit having a thermo harvester and an antenna unit. The thermo harvester has a first terminal thermally connected to the first surface and a second terminal. The antenna unit has a first terminal thermally connected to the second terminal of the thermo harvester and a second terminal thermally connected to the second surface. The antenna unit has a stacked layer structure including, in this sequence, a metal layer thermally connected to the second terminal of the thermo harvester, a ferrite layer thermally connected to the metal layer, and an antenna layer thermally connected to the ferrite layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A functional skin patch, comprising:
a first surface; a second surface opposite the first surface; a functional unit comprising a thermo harvester, the thermo harvester having a first terminal thermally connected to the first surface and a second terminal; and an antenna unit having a first terminal thermally connected to the second terminal of the thermo harvester and a second terminal thermally connected to the second surface, wherein the antenna unit has a stacked layer structure comprising, in this sequence, a metal layer thermally connected to the second terminal of the thermo harvester, a ferrite layer thermally connected to the metal layer, and an antenna layer thermally connected to the ferrite layer.

2 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the metal layer is a flexible metal foil having a thickness in a range between 5 μm and 1000 μm.

3 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the ferrite layer is a flexible ferrite foil having a thickness in a range between 5 μm and 1000 μm.

4 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the antenna layer includes an antenna pattern printed on the ferrite layer.

5 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the metal layer, the ferrite layer, and the antenna layer are in direct contact with each other.

6 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the antenna layer further comprises a metal dot layer printed on the ferrite layer for enhancing the surface area of the antenna layer.

7 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the area of the first and the second surfaces of the functional skin patch are in a range of 20 cm 2 to 500 cm 2 .

8 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , further comprising:
a heat collector unit having a first terminal thermally connected to the first surface and a second terminal thermally connected to the first terminal of the thermo harvester; and a thermally isolating layer, wherein the thermo harvester is embedded in the thermally isolating layer.

9 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the functional unit comprises an RF-circuit connected to the antenna layer via a connection plug extended through the metal layer and the ferrite layer.

10 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the functional unit comprises a sensor unit configured to sense a body health parameter including at least one of a body temperature, a body pulse frequency, an electrocardiogram recording, an electro encephalogram recording, a body function, a blood sugar value, a blood pressure, and a blood heparin value.

11 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the thermo harvester comprises an energy storage unit configured to store harvested body energy.

12 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the functional unit comprises a processing unit configured to process measurement data of the sensor unit and transmit the measurement data to the RF-circuit.

13 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , further comprising a coupling antenna configured to communicate with or energize an implantable device.

14 . The functional skin patch of claim 13 , wherein the antenna layer is connected to the coupling antenna so as to boost transmission from an external transceiver to the implantable device.

15 . The functional skin patch of claim 13 , wherein the functional unit comprises an energizing unit configured to energize the implantable device via the coupling antenna.

16 . The functional skin patch of claim 15 , wherein the energizing unit comprises a DC/AC-transformer having a DC-terminal connected to the thermo harvester and an AC-terminal connected to the coupling antenna.

17 . The functional skin patch of claim 15 , wherein the energizing unit comprises a switch configured to selectively connect the energizing unit with the thermo harvester.

18 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , further comprising a data storage unit, wherein the functional unit is configured to temporarily energize the implantable device, to receive measurement data transmitted from the implantable device, and to store the transmitted measurement data from the implantable device in the data storage unit.

19 . The functional skin patch of claim 1 , wherein the thermo harvester comprises a Peltier element including Bi 2 Te 3 .

20 . A system for monitoring a body health parameter, comprising:
an implantable device; and a functional skin patch, wherein the functional skin patch comprises a first surface, a second surface opposite the first surface, a functional unit comprising a thermo harvester having a first terminal thermally connected to the first surface and a second terminal, an antenna unit having a first terminal thermally connected to the second terminal of the thermo harvester and a second terminal thermally connected to the second surface, and a coupling antenna configured to communicate with or energize the implantable device, wherein the antenna unit has a stacked layer structure comprising, in this sequence, a metal layer thermally connected to the second terminal of the thermo harvester, a ferrite layer thermally connected to the metal layer, and an antenna layer thermally connected to the ferrite layer, wherein the implantable device comprises a sensor unit configured to measure at least one body health parameter, a data transceiver unit configured to transmit measurement data containing the at least one body health parameter to the functional skin patch, and an energy receiving unit configured to receive electromagnetic energy from the coupling antenna of the functional skin patch.

Assignees

• Infineon Technologies Ag

Inventors

• Kappel Robert
• Herndl Thomas
• Holweg Gerald
• Pachler Walther

Classifications

• A61B5/14532

  for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement · CPC title

• A61B5/0402

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A61B2560/0214

  of power generation or supply · CPC title

• A61B5/0015 Primary

  characterised by features of the telemetry system · CPC title

• A61B5/02055

  Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature · CPC title