Wearable electronic device and method of operating the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023185335-A1
Application number	US-202318168778-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 14, 2023
Priority date	Oct 27, 2021
Publication date	Jun 15, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A wearable electronic device is provided. The wearable electronic device includes at least one first thermistor arranged in different heat generation positions in the wearable electronic device and configured to detect a temperature change of internal elements of the wearable electronic device, a temperature sensor configured to calculate a body temperature of a user based on the temperature change of the internal elements and a skin temperature trend of the user, and at least one processor configured to determine whether an internal temperature by the internal elements in the wearable electronic device is within a reference temperature range that does not have an influence on a calculation of the body temperature, based on a measured value of the at least one first thermistor, determine a user state index (UI) indicating whether the user is in a state in which the body temperature is measurable, when the internal temperature is determined to be within the reference temperature range, and measure the body temperature by adjusting a body temperature measurement period based on the UI.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A wearable electronic device comprising:
at least one first thermistor arranged in different heat generation positions in the wearable electronic device and configured to detect a temperature change of internal elements of the wearable electronic device; a temperature sensor configured to calculate a body temperature of a user based on the temperature change of the internal elements and a skin temperature trend of the user; and at least one processor configured to:
determine whether an internal temperature by the internal elements in the wearable electronic device is within a reference temperature range that does not have an influence on a calculation of the body temperature, based on a measured value of the at least one first thermistor,
determine a user state index (UI) indicating whether the user is in a state in which the body temperature is measurable, when the internal temperature is determined to be within the reference temperature range, and
measure the body temperature by adjusting a body temperature measurement period based on the UI.

2 . The wearable electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising a contact sensor configured to detect whether the user is in contact with the wearable electronic device,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine whether the internal temperature is within the reference temperature range based on the measured value of the at least one first thermistor, when it is determined by the contact sensor that the user wears the wearable electronic device.

3 . The wearable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the internal elements comprise at least one of an application processor (AP), a battery, or a communication processor (CP).

4 . The wearable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
calculate a representative value of temperatures of the internal elements based on the measured value of the at least one first thermistor, and determine whether the representative value is within the reference temperature range.

5 . The wearable electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to assign different weights for each measured value of the at least one first thermistor and calculate the representative value.

6 . The wearable electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
remeasure a value of the at least one first thermistor after a reconfirmation time used for a temperature decrease for each of the temperatures of the internal elements elapses, when the representative value is determined to be out of the reference temperature range, and determine whether the remeasured value of the first thermistor is within the reference temperature range.

7 . The wearable electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of a motion sensor configured to detect a motion of the user, a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor configured to detect a heart rate of the user, or a second thermistor configured to estimate the skin temperature trend of the user outside the wearable electronic device,
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
estimate the skin temperature trend of the user wearing the wearable electronic device using a measured value of the second thermistor, when the internal temperature is determined to be within the reference temperature range, and
determine the UI based on at least one of the motions of the user, a variation in the heart rate of the user, or the skin temperature trend of the user.

8 . The wearable electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
determine whether the user performs a first exercise, based on a degree of motion of the user quantified based on a value of a magnitude of the motion sensor, determine a stable state of the user based on the variation in the heart rate of the user, the variation corresponding to a difference between the heart rate of the user and a resting heart rate of the user, determine whether the user performs a second exercise, based on the skin temperature trend, and determine the UI based on whether the user performs the first exercise, whether the user performs the second exercise, and the stable state of the user.

9 . The wearable electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
reduce the body temperature measurement period when the UI is similar to an index indicating an unstable state, and increase the body temperature measurement period when the UI is similar to an index indicating a stable state.

10 . The wearable electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising a second thermistor configured to estimate the skin temperature trend of the user outside the wearable electronic device,
wherein the at least one processor is configured to correct a body temperature of the user acquired based on the body temperature measurement period using the temperature sensor, based on a measured value of the second thermistor.

11 . A method of operating a wearable electronic device, the method comprising:
determining whether the wearable electronic device is worn; determining whether an internal temperature by internal elements of the wearable electronic device is within a reference temperature range that does not have an influence on a measurement of a body temperature of a user, based on whether the wearable electronic device is worn; determining a user state index (UI) indicating whether the user is in a state in which the body temperature is measurable, when the internal temperature is determined to be within the reference temperature range; and measuring the body temperature by adjusting a body temperature measurement period based on the UI.

12 . The method of claim 11 ,
wherein the wearable electronic device comprises at least one first thermistor arranged in different heat generation positions in the wearable electronic device and configured to detect a temperature change of the internal elements, and wherein the determining of whether the internal temperature is within the reference temperature range comprises determining whether the internal temperature by the internal elements is within the reference temperature range, by a measured value of the at least one first thermistor, based on whether the wearable electronic device is worn.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the internal elements comprise at least one of an application processor (AP), a battery, or a communication processor (CP).

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the determining of whether the internal temperature is within the reference temperature range comprises:
calculating a representative value of temperatures of the internal elements based on the measured value of the at least one first thermistor; and determining whether the representative value is within the reference temperature range.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the determining of whether the representative value is within the reference temperature range comprises:
remeasuring a value of the at least one first thermistor after a reconfirmation time used for a temperature decrease for each of the temperatures of the internal elements elapses, when the representative value is determined to be out of the reference temperature range; and determining whether the remeasured value of the first thermistor is within the reference temperature range.

16 . The method of claim 11 ,
wherein the wearable electronic device further co

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Park Hyuncheol
• Kwon Hyoujoo
• Park Jeongmin
• Lee Hongji
• Jung Sunok

Classifications

• A61B5/681

  Wristwatch-type devices · CPC title

• G06F1/163 Primary

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · CPC title

• G06F3/011 Primary

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title

• A61B2562/0271

  Thermal or temperature sensors · CPC title

• A61B5/02055

  Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature · CPC title