Sensing Health Parameters in Wearable Devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023064273-A1
Application number	US-202217899455-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 30, 2022
Priority date	Aug 31, 2021
Publication date	Mar 2, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments of this disclosure are directed to a wearable device having a housing, a display, and a sensor system. The display is at least partially surrounded by the housing. The sensor system is housed at least partially in the housing. The sensor system includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a controller. The first sensor is configured to contact a body part of a user and generate a first signal. The second sensor is configured to sense a mechanical wave in an ambient environment of the wearable device and generate a second signal. The controller is configured to generate a resultant signal by removing noise from the first signal using the second signal, and determine a health parameter of the user from the resultant signal.

First claim

1 . A wearable device, comprising:
a housing; a display at least partially surrounded by the housing; and a sensor system housed at least partially in the housing, the sensor system including,
a first sensor configured to contact a body part of a user and generate a first signal;
a second sensor configured to sense a mechanical wave in an ambient environment of the wearable device and generate a second signal; and
a controller configured to,
generate a resultant signal by removing noise from the first signal using the second signal; and
determine a health parameter of the user from the resultant signal.

2 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first sensor comprises a first polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensor; and the second sensor comprises a second PVDF sensor.

3 . The wearable device of claim 2 , wherein:
the housing includes a front cover and a back cover; the first PVDF sensor is attached to the back cover; and the second PVDF sensor is attached to the front cover.

4 . The wearable device of claim 2 , further comprising:
a band attached to the housing and configured to secure the wearable device to the body part of the user; wherein, the first PVDF sensor is disposed on an interior surface of the band; and the second PVDF sensor is disposed on an exterior surface of the band.

5 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the second sensor comprises a piezoelectric sensor.

6 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the second sensor comprises a capacitive gap sensor.

7 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the second sensor comprises an acoustic sensor.

8 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the second sensor comprises an accelophone.

9 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the housing defines a smartwatch.

10 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the housing defines a smartphone.

11 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the health parameter of the user includes at least one of: a heart rate; a respiration rate; a blood oxygenation level; a ballistocardiogram; a seismocardiogram; a blood pressure; a blood flow rate; a blood glucose level; or a partial thromboplastin time.

12 . The wearable device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor system includes a plurality of same types of sensors including the first sensor and the second sensor.

13 . A wearable device, comprising:
a housing, including,
a main body; and
at least one stem extending from the main body; and
a sensor system housed at least partially in the housing, the sensor system including,
a first sensor configured to sense an aspect of a body part of a user when the wearable device is worn, the first sensor generating a first signal;
a second sensor configured to sense a mechanical wave in an ambient environment of the wearable device and generate a second signal; and
a controller configured, to,
combine the first signal and the second signal; and
determine a health parameter of the user using the combined first and second signals.

14 . The wearable device of claim 13 , wherein:
the wearable device is an earbud; the at least one stem is one stem; the first sensor is disposed on the main body; and the second sensor is disposed on the one stem.

15 . The wearable device of claim 13 , wherein:
the main body includes a glasses frame; and the at least one stem includes a pair of stems extending from the glasses frame.

16 . The wearable device of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first sensor or the second sensor is disposed on the at least one stem.

17 . The wearable device of claim 13 , wherein the second sensor comprises a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensor.

18 . A method of determining a health parameter of a user, the method comprising:
receiving a first signal from a first sensor of an electronic device, the first sensor in contact with a body part of the user; receiving a second signal from a second sensor of the electronic device, the second sensor spaced apart from the body part, and the second sensor sensing a mechanical wave of an ambient environment of the electronic device; removing at least a portion of a noise signal from the first signal, using the second signal to form a resultant signal; and determining the health parameter of the user from the resultant signal.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:
the first sensor comprises a first polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensor; the second sensor comprises a second PVDF sensor; and the removing the at least the portion of the noise signal from the first signal comprises subtracting the second signal from the first signal.

20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising:
generating the second signal at the second sensor in response to receiving the mechanical wave through the ambient environment of the electronic device.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Tadele Wegene H
• Spencer Meagan K
• Brandt Riley E
• Nangia Siddharth

Classifications

• A61B2560/0247

  for compensation or correction of the measured physiological value · CPC title

• A61B5/721

  using a separate sensor to detect motion or using motion information derived from signals other than the physiological signal to be measured · CPC title

• A61B5/7203 Primary

  for noise prevention, reduction or removal · CPC title

• A61B5/6803

  Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles · CPC title

• A61B5/6898

  Portable consumer electronic devices, e.g. music players, telephones, tablet computers · CPC title