Wearable devices for health monitoring using radio waves that include signal isolation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020187792-A1
Application number	US-201916682891-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 13, 2019
Priority date	Dec 18, 2018
Publication date	Jun 18, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A wearable device is disclosed. The wearable device includes a housing, an attachment device configured to attach the housing to a person, at least one transmit antenna configured to transmit millimeter range radio waves over a 3D space below the skin surface of the person, multiple receive antennas configured to receive radio waves, the received radio waves including a reflected portion of the transmitted radio waves, and a processor configured to isolate a signal from a particular location in the 3D space in response to receiving the radio waves on the multiple receive antennas and outputting a signal that corresponds to a health parameter of the person in response to the isolated signal.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A wearable device, the wearable device comprising:
a housing; an attachment device configured to attach the housing to a person; at least one transmit antenna configured to transmit millimeter range radio waves over a three-dimensional (3D) space below the skin surface of the person; multiple receive antennas configured to receive radio waves, the received radio waves including a reflected portion of the transmitted radio waves; and a processor configured to isolate a signal from a particular location in the 3D space in response to receiving the radio waves on the multiple receive antennas and outputting a signal that corresponds to a health parameter of the person in response to the isolated signal.

2 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmit antenna and the multiple receive antennas are located within the housing.

3 . The wearable device of claim 1 , further comprising a semiconductor substrate with at least one transmit component and multiple receive components, wherein the at least one transmit component is collocated with the at least one transmit antenna and the multiple receive components are collocated with respective ones of the multiple receive antennas.

4 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmit antenna and the multiple receive antennas are part of an integrated circuit (IC) device that is located within the housing of the wearable device, wherein the semiconductor substrate is rectangular in shape and has dimensions of no more than 7 mm by 7 mm.

5 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmit antenna and the multiple receive antennas are located within the attachment device.

6 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmit antenna and the multiple receive antennas are part of an integrated circuit (IC) device that is located within the attachment device of the wearable device, wherein the semiconductor substrate is rectangular in shape and has dimensions of no more than 7 mm by 7 mm.

7 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmit antenna and the multiple receive antennas are configured for radio waves in a frequency range of 122-126 GHz.

8 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one transmit antenna has footprint dimensions of no more than 1.3 mm×1.3 mm and the multiple receive antennas each have a footprint dimension of no more than 1.3 mm×1.3 mm.

9 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to implement beamforming signal processing to isolate a signal from a particular location in the 3D space in response to receiving the radio waves on the multiple receive antennas.

10 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to implement beamforming to focus a receive beam on a particular vessel of the person.

11 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to implement beamforming to focus a receive beam on the basilic vein of the person.

12 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to implement Doppler effect signal processing to isolate a signal that corresponds to relative movement.

13 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to implement Doppler effect signal processing, including fast Fourier transform (FFT) processing, to isolate a signal that corresponds to relative movement.

14 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to implement Kalman filters to smooth out noisy data.

15 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to digitally combine received signals from the multiple receive antennas.

16 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to discard signals generated directly from the transmitted millimeter range radio waves.

17 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the health parameter is a blood glucose level.

18 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the health parameter is a blood pressure.

19 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the health parameter is a heart rate.

20 . A wearable device, the wearable device comprising:
a housing; an attachment device configured to attach the housing to a person; at least two transmit antennas configured to transmit millimeter range radio waves over a three-dimensional (3D) space below the skin surface of the person; at least four receive antennas configured to receive radio waves, the received radio waves including a reflected portion of the transmitted radio waves; and a processor configured to isolate a signal from a particular location in the 3D space in response to receiving the radio waves on the at least four receive antennas and outputting a signal that corresponds to a health parameter of the person in response to the isolated signal.

21 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the at least two transmit antennas are configured such that the two transmit antennas are transverse to a limb on which the wearable device is worn.

22 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the at least two transmit antennas are configured such that the two transmit antennas have a transverse distribution relative to the expected location of a blood vessels that is to be monitored.

23 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the wearable device is a smartwatch configured to be worn on a wrist and wherein the at least two transmit antennas are configured such that the two transmit antennas have a transverse distribution relative to the basilic vein.

24 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the at least two transmit antennas and the at least four receive antennas are located within the housing.

25 . The wearable device of claim 20 , further comprising a semiconductor substrate with at least two transmit components and at least four receive components, wherein receive components and receive antennas are collocated at opposite corners of the semiconductor substrate.

26 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the transmit components and transmit antennas are collocated on opposite sides of the semiconductor substrate.

27 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the at least two transmit antennas and the at least four receive antennas are part of an integrated circuit (IC) device that is located within the housing of the wearable device, wherein the semiconductor substrate is rectangular in shape and has dimensions of no more than 7 mm by 7 mm.

28 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the at least two transmit antennas and the at least four receive antennas are located within the attachment device.

29 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the at least two transmit antennas and the at least four receive antennas are part of an integrated circuit (IC) device that is located within the attachment device of the wearable device, wherein the semiconductor substrate is rectangular in shape and has dimensions of no more than 7 mm by 7 mm.

30 . The wearable device of claim 20 , wherein the at least one transmit antenna and the multiple receive antennas are configured for radio waves in a frequency range of 122-126 GHz.

31 . Th

Assignees

• Movano Inc

Inventors

• Leabman Michael A

Classifications

• G01S7/028

  Miniaturisation, e.g. surface mounted device [SMD] packaging or housings · CPC title

• H04B2001/3855

  carried in a belt or harness · CPC title

• H04B1/385

  Transceivers carried on the body, e.g. in helmets · CPC title

• H04B2001/3861

  carried in a hand or on fingers · CPC title

• A61B5/021

  Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels · CPC title