WO2016063190A1

WO2016063190A1 - Miniature wearable electronic device for continously monitoring health through ear

Info

Publication number: WO2016063190A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/058004
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ravinder Pal Singh SAINI
Original assignee: Saini Ravinder Pal Singh
Priority date: 2014-10-20
Filing date: 2015-10-18
Publication date: 2016-04-28

Abstract

A miniature wearable device, made in the form of an earring or an earring back, is a device which can acquire the physiological parameters like heart rate, blood oxygen level, body temperature, glucose level etc. of a user and, at the same time, it can acquire parameters like ambient temperature, humidity, pollution level etc. of the environment surrounding the user. The smart earring or the smart earring back then processes and transmits these data to a computing device like a smartphone wirelessly. An application provided by the present invention installed in the computing device further processes the acquired data and notifies the user or others as per setting if the parameters exceed recommended threshold values.

Description

MINIATURE WEARABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE FOR CONTINOUSLY MONITORING HEALTH THROUGH EAR

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Patent Application claims the benefit of the filing date of Indian Provisional Patent Application No. 1066/KOL/2014 filed October 20, 2014 titled ''SMART EARRING'', and US Provisional Patent Application No. 62210910 filed August 27, 2015 titled ''SMART EARRINGS AND BACKING'', the entire contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

The present invention relates to the field of wearable sensors. More particularly, the present invention relates to monitoring of physiological parameters of a user and surrounding environmental parameters through use of wearable sensors.

It is well known that active lifestyle reduces a lot of diseases and help us in living healthier. The way to objectively tell the amount of activity one is performing based on their calorie count can greatly improve one’s capability to take control of their health.

In recent time, there had been lot of health monitors to help user in monitoring the calories they burn. Most of these instruments are wrist based electronics which has a lot of disadvantages particularly when monitoring needs to be done by non-invasive technologies like photoplethysmogram (PPG). The accuracy of PPG technology greatly relies on the quality of contact between skin and sensor. Any relative motion between skin and sensor will induce the noise in the signal. When user has to wear wrist based health monitors, they are highly likely to induce the disturbance in the signal when the user would be running or performing any exercise which involves movement of arms. To have perfect contact, the wrist based monitor need to be very firmly wrapped around the wrist which will not be comfortable to the user.

Ear lobe is an ideal place to monitor the pulse and heart rate since it has the required flesh for blood flow and also it can provide very good quality contact between device and skin even when user is in motion. Prior art devices used very large earlobe clips to monitor blood oxygen or heart rate of users especially in clinical settings and these large monitors cannot be used during activities like running due to their large size.

Another problem in existing earlobe clips for pulse monitoring is that most of the devices would not have complete data processing unit and might need external wires to connect it to CPU to process the data from the ear clip. Even if the clips had complete fitness monitoring device, it would still be very odd for the user to wear that large device in any outdoor settings. As the existing ear lobe clips are obtrusive in design, these clips cannot be used for continuous monitoring during day to day activities especially when user need to monitor health in social settings like office or social gatherings.

Thus, there is a need in the art for a device which is small in size so that a user can wear comfortably throughout the day and which enables monitoring of various physiological parameters of a user as well as monitoring of environmental parameters surrounding a user.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a miniature wearable device for monitoring physiological parameters of a user as well as monitoring of environmental parameters surrounding the user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a miniature wearable device which can transmit the acquired data set related to physiological parameters and surrounding environmental parameters wirelessly to other computing devices for purposes like processing, monitoring, alerting, transmitting and recording etc.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a miniature wearable device that can be worn in the earlobes like an earring.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a miniature wearable device that can be worn in the back of the earlobes like a backing for post-styled earring.

A still another object of the present invention is to provide a miniature wearable device that can be worn like a pierce less clip on earring.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a wearable device that can be worn by a user during any activity.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a miniature wearable device that can measure the blood glucose of a user through earlobe using non-invasive techniques.

Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed invention. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a wearable device is disclosed which is small in size and can be worn on the earlobe by a user throughout the day. The miniature wearable device, made in the form of an earring or an earring back shaped device, hereinafter referred to as a smart earring or a smart backing respectively, is a device which can acquire the physiological parameters like heart rate, blood oxygen level, body temperature, glucose level etc. of the user and, at the same time, in some embodiments of the present invention, it can also acquire parameters like ambient temperature, humidity, pollution level etc. of the environment surrounding the user. The smart earring or the smart earring back then processes and transmits the data to a computing device like a smartphone wirelessly. In some preferred embodiments, an application provided by the present invention installed in the computing device further processes the acquired data and notifies the user or others as per setting if the monitored parameters exceed recommended threshold values.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the disclosed invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be employed and is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

In order to describe the manner in which features and other aspects of the present disclosure can be obtained, a more particular description of certain subject matter will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting in scope, nor drawn to scale for all embodiments, various embodiments will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG.1

FIG.1 shows an exemplary embodiment of a miniature wearable device in the form of an earring in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG.2

FIG.2 shows an exemplary embodiment of a miniature wearable device in the form of an earring back in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG.3

FIG.3 illustrates data acquisition and transmission by the miniature wearable device in use in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG.4

FIG.4 is a flow chart for implementing the process in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.5

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of a miniature wearable device in the form of an earring back with an offset hole to accommodate earring post in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention;

FIG.6

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary embodiment of a battery in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG.7

FIG. 7 shows another exemplary embodiment of a miniature wearable device in the form of an earring back with a plurality of batteries distributed around a hole in the earring back in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.

Embodiments of the present invention are described herein in the context of a miniature wearable device which can acquire the physiological parameters like heart rate, blood oxygen level, body temperature, blood glucose etc. of the user and, at the same time, in some embodiments of the present invention, it can acquire parameters like ambient temperature, humidity, pollution level etc. of the environment surrounding the user. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following detailed description of the present invention is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used throughout the drawings and the following detailed description to refer to the same or like parts.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application- and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

The miniature wearable device of the present invention can be made available in various forms. For example, reference to FIG.1, the miniature wearable device 100 of the present invention can be in form of an earring. Hereinafter, the earring type of miniature wearable device of the present invention is referred to as a smart earring 100. The smart earring 100 of the present invention can be both piercing type of earring or non-piercing type of earring. The smart earring 100 comprises a casing 105 (shown split into two parts in FIG.1) and a circuit 110. In a preferred embodiment, the circuit 110 comprises one or more printed circuit boards (PCB), each containing one or more layers to implement the circuit. The PCBs, individually or collectively, include one or more sensors, one or more appropriate filter circuits, wireless module, antenna, power source e.g. battery etc. In a preferred embodiment, the stacked circuit includes single PCB, containing multiple layers to implement the circuit that contains the sensors, appropriate noise filtering circuits,wireless module and antenna and the battery.

In some embodiments, the sensors placed in the PCBs include, but not limited to, photoplethysmograph (PPG) sensors, thermal sensors, humidity sensor, air pollution detecting sensors etc. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sensor layer contains one or more Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) for emitting visible and invisible range of light. In some embodiments a red LED and Infra-red LED are used which transmit the light. The smart earring 100 when worn by a user 305 as shown in FIG.3, the transmitted and/or reflected light emitted from the red LED and infra-red LED are detected by the one or more photodiodes installed in the smart earring 100 by means of which the pulse and blood oxygen level can be estimated. The other sensors included in the smart earring also acquire signals for body temperature of the user 305, surrounding environmental parameters such as ambient temperature, humidity, air pollution level etc. The data acquisition process is done as in step 302 of FIG.4.

The signals detected by the sensors may need further processing as in step 304 of FIG.4. Accordingly, processes like amplification, filtration of the acquired signals are carried out by an appropriate circuit inside the smart earring 100 by using various signal processing techniques. The processed signals are then sent to a micro-controller inside the smart earring 100 through a suitable protocol like Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) protocol etc. The communication of signal from sensor to micro-controller can also be possible through Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) and Universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) protocols. The micro-controller processes the signal and sends it to one or more computing device 315 via a wireless protocol such as Bluetooth as in step 306 of FIG.4. Examples of computing device 315 includes, but not limited to smartphone, computer, tablet etc. The computing device 315 receives the information and stores the data in an application installed in the device 315. The application or mobile application or "app" is a computer program that may be downloaded and installed in the computing device 315 using methods known in the art.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the application or mobile app, native and operably installed in the computing device, will contain historical data of heart rate and Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO2). The amount of calories burnt by a person has high co-relation with the heart rate so based on the historical data of heart rate, the application can estimate the calories burnt by the user 305. In some embodiments of the present invention, the application installed in computing device 315 calculates, as in step 308 of FIG.4, the humidex (humidity index) value based on the data of ambient temperature and humidity level acquired by the smart earring 100. The application can also calculate the time weighted average of calorie burnt based on the acquired values of heart rate. The values of humidex, calorie burnt, pollution level etc., thus calculated, are then compared with the recommended values and alerts are sent to the user 305 or to others as and when required as in step 310 of FIG.4. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention also enables transmission, sharing and storing of the acquired and processed data with other application 320 such as social media etc.

In another preferred embodiment, the miniature wearable device of the present invention is made as an earring back 200 as shown in FIG.2. Hereinafter, the earring back 200 of the present invention is referred to as smart backing 200. The smart backing 200 is designed for wearing with most of the existing post-styled earrings. As shown in FIG. 2, PCB 405, included in a casing 415, contains a hole 410 which allows the standard post of an earring to pass through it. To accommodate the hole in the smart backing 200, a custom battery 420 as shown in FIG.6 with a hole in the middle can be used in the smart backing. The custom battery 420 is stacked on the back of PCB 405. As most of the earrings have posts of standard diameter, the smart backing will be able to accommodate most of the post-styled earrings. The power may also be provided by smaller set of batteries 430 as shown in FIG. 7 which are stacked around the circular hole on the back of PCB 405.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG.5 the hole 510 of the smart backing 200 to allow earring post to enter is not be at the center. The offset of the hole 510 allows to accommodate standard batteries without any hole. Standard rectangular or square or custom shape li-ion batteries 520 or any other type of batteries may be used with the smart backing. In such a case, all the circuits as well as power source lie only in the smart backing 200 at the back of earlobe and no electronics are required on the front part of earring.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the smart earring 100 and smart backing 200 contain tiny Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) ultrasonic sensors, tiny thermistors and other sensors to monitor thermal as well as impedance effect in the earlobe due to change in blood glucose. The tiny MEMS ultrasonic sensors, tiny thermistors and other sensors are placed in the base of smart earring 100 as well as in the smart backing 200. The post (pierced metal connecting front and backing of earring) may also transfer power as well as signal (data) from front to back or vice versa. The new invention miniaturizes the existing technology to enable people to use it in everyday life for continuous non-invasive blood glucose monitoring in an unobtrusive way.

Flowchart is used to describe the steps of the present invention. While the various steps in this flowchart are presented and described sequentially, some or all of the steps may be executed in different orders, may be combined or omitted, and some or all of the steps may be executed in parallel. Further, in one or more of the embodiments of the invention, one or more of the steps described above may be omitted, repeated, and/or performed in a different order. In addition, additional steps, omitted in the flowchart may be included in performing this method. Accordingly, the specific arrangement of steps shown in FIG.4 should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

Additionally, other variations are within the spirit of the present invention. Thus, while the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, a certain illustrated embodiment thereof is shown in the drawings and has been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific form or forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

The use of the terms "a" and "an" and "the" and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms "comprising,""having,""including," and "containing" are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning "including, but not limited to,") unless otherwise noted. The terms "connected", ''fitted'' are to be construed as partly or wholly contained within, attached to, or joined together, even if there is something intervening. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., "such as") provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments of the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.

Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventor expects skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventor intends for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.

Claims

A miniature wearable device, comprising:
a casing; and
a circuit included in said casing, said circuit having one or more printed circuit boards, said one or more printed circuit boards comprising:
one or more sensors, one or more filter circuits, a wireless module, one or more antennas and one or more power sources;
wherein said miniature wearable device is configured to be worn on an earlobe of a user for acquisition and processing of a plurality of data related to one or more physiological parameters of said user on a continuous basis and for communication of said plurality of data with a computing device for health monitoring of said user.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said miniature wearable device is a smart earring.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 2, wherein said smart earring is a piercing type of earring or and non-piercing type of earring.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said miniature wearable device is a smart backing.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 4, wherein said smart backing has a hole to accommodate a standard post of an earring to pass through it.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 5, wherein said hole is located at the centre or at any other position of said smart backing.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said one or more printed circuit boards contain one or more layers to implement said circuit.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said one or more printed circuit boards are connected in parallel in said circuit.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said one or more sensors are a photoplethysmograph (PPG) sensor, a thermal sensor, a humidity sensor, an air pollution detecting sensor, a thermistor or a Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) ultrasonic sensor.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said one or more sensors include one or more Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs).
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said one or more physiological parameters include pulse count, blood oxygen level, body temperature, heart rate variability, amount of calories burnt and/or thermal and impedance effect in said earlobe due to change in blood glucose of said user.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 11, wherein said change in blood glucose of said user are monitored in a continuous non-invasive and unobtrusive way.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said one or more sensors acquire one or more data related to environmental parameters of surroundings of said user.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said one or more power sources is a battery.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said one or more power sources have a hole.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 6, wherein said one or more power sources are stacked around said hole on said smart backing.
The miniature wearable device as in claim 1, wherein said health monitoring is done by an application operatively installed in said computing device.
A method of health monitoring through a miniature wearable device wearable on an earlobe of a user, said miniature wearable device comprising a casing and a circuit included in said casing, said circuit having one or more printed circuit boards, said one or more printed circuit boards comprising one or more sensors, one or more filter circuits, a wireless module, one or more antennas and one or more power sources, said method comprising the steps of:
acquiring a plurality of physiological parameters of said user through said one or more sensors on continuous basis;
processing said acquired set of data by said miniature wearable device;
transmitting said processed set of data to one or more computing devices through a wireless module;
receiving said processed set of data by said one or more computing devices;
further processing said received set of data by said one or more computing devices as per setting/requirement via an installed application;
storing said received set of data in said installed application; and
providing notification/alert of various related information by said one or more computing devices to said user or any other person based on said processed set of data and said stored set of data.
.
The method as in claim 18, wherein said miniature wearable device is a smart earring.
The method as in claim 18, wherein said miniature wearable device is a smart backing.