CN115251876A

CN115251876A - Physiological detection device

Info

Publication number: CN115251876A
Application number: CN202210836923.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 韩威如; 庄智元
Original assignee: Pixart Imaging Inc
Current assignee: Pixart Imaging Inc
Priority date: 2018-06-04
Filing date: 2019-06-03
Publication date: 2022-11-01
Also published as: CN110547785A; CN110547785B

Abstract

A microcirculation detection system comprises a heating device, an array type sensor and a processing unit. The heating device is used for heating the skin area. The array sensor is used for detecting emergent light of the skin area and respectively outputting a plurality of brightness change signals at different time points in a warming period. The processing unit is used for calculating the change of the array energy distribution in the warming period according to the brightness change signals and judging the microcirculation state according to the change.

Description

Physiological detection device

The application is a divisional application of Chinese patent application with the application number of 201910477770.8, the application date of 2019, 03 of 06 months, and the name of a microcirculation detection system and a detection method.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to microcirculation detection, and more particularly to a physiological detection device for detecting the change of microcirculation with the rise of skin surface temperature.

Background

At present, portable electronic devices (portable electronic devices) and wearable electronic devices (wearable electronic devices) have become indispensable electronic products in life, and their functions have been continuously evolving with the change of people's life style.

Meanwhile, health becomes a concern for people in modern busy life, so the physiological detection function is gradually applied to portable electronic devices and wearable electronic devices to meet the needs of users.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present invention provides an array type physiological detection system and an operating method thereof, which can detect and record at least three dimensions of physiological characteristics of a user.

The invention provides an array type physiological detection system and an operation method thereof, which respectively detect physiological characteristics of different detected tissue areas through a plurality of sensing pixels so as to generate three-dimensional physiological characteristic distribution.

The invention provides a physiological detection device comprising a light source, a photosensitive array and a processing unit. The light source is used for emitting light to illuminate the skin area. The sensitization array is used for detecting during the heating-up the emergent light in skin area and output a plurality of PPG signals, wherein the sensitization array contains a plurality of pixel areas that the array was arranged and is used for exporting luminance change signal respectively in order to regard as a plurality of PPG signals. The processing unit is for converting the plurality of PPG signals to an array energy distribution, identifying a ring-like pattern in the array energy distribution, and calculating a frequency change of oscillation of the ring-like pattern over the warming period.

The invention also provides a physiological detection device comprising a light source, a photosensitive array and a processing unit. The light source is used for emitting light to illuminate a skin area. The sensitization array is used for detecting during the heating-up the emergent light in skin area and output a plurality of PPG signals, wherein the sensitization array contains a plurality of pixel areas that the array was arranged and is used for exporting luminance change signal respectively in order to regard as a plurality of PPG signals. The processing unit is configured to convert the plurality of PPG signals into an array energy distribution, identify a first ring pattern in the array energy distribution at a first time point and a second ring pattern in the array energy distribution at a second time point, and determine whether frequency changes of reciprocating frequencies of the first ring pattern and the second ring pattern have peaks respectively in a first time interval and a second time interval of the warming period.

The invention also provides a detection method of the physiological detection device, and the physiological detection device comprises a light source, a photosensitive array with a plurality of pixel areas and a processing unit. The detection method comprises the following steps: illuminating a skin area with the light source; illuminating a skin area with the light source; detecting, with the photosensitive array, outgoing light of the skin area during warming and outputting a plurality of PPG signals; converting, with the processing unit, the plurality of PPG signals to an array energy distribution; and identifying, with the processing unit, two peaks of frequency variation of the energy oscillation at predetermined positions in the array energy distribution during the warming period in two predetermined time intervals during the warming period.

In the array type physiological detection system and the operation method thereof of the illustrative embodiment of the invention, three-dimensional energy change of three-dimensional energy distribution representing physiological characteristic distribution along with time can be established to form a four-dimensional physiological detection system.

In order that the manner in which the above recited and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention are obtained will become more apparent, a more particular description of the invention briefly described below will be rendered by reference to the appended drawings. In the description of the present invention, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and thus, the description thereof will be made.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a physiological detection system for obtaining the change of the superficial microcirculation vessel dilatation and contraction according to an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2A is a schematic diagram of an image frame and an observation window thereof acquired by the physiological detection system according to the embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2B is a diagram illustrating brightness variations of a plurality of image frames acquired by the physiological detection system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2C is a spectrum diagram of a variation signal of the microcirculation blood vessel expansion and contraction obtained by the physiological detection system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram of an energy distribution of a plurality of pixel regions at a current heart beat frequency obtained by the physiological detection system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating a variation detected by the physiological detection system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating the change in the mean value detected by the physiological detection system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a physiological detection system according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a physiological detection system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6A and 6B are schematic diagrams of three-dimensional energy distribution of 525 nm light detected by physiological detection according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams of three-dimensional energy distribution of 880 nm light detected by physiological detection according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a physiological detection device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a physiological detection system according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10A is a block diagram of a micro-loop detection system according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram of the operation of the micro-loop detection system according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic warming diagram of a micro-circulation detection system according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the frequency change detected by the micro-circulation detection system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating a detection method of the micro-circulation detection system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The following description contains illustrated embodiments of the invention in order to understand how the description applies to practice. It should be noted that in the following drawings, portions irrelevant to the explanation of the present invention are omitted, and the ratio between each component in the drawings is not necessarily the same as the ratio between actual components in order to show the relationship between the components.

Fig. 1 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of an array type physiological detection system for obtaining the variation of the superficial microcirculation blood vessel expansion and contraction according to the present invention. The array type physiological detection system is used for detecting the three-dimensional energy distribution of the expansion and contraction change of the superficial microcirculation blood vessels of body tissues through the surface of skin so as to help a user to monitor the self health. In addition, the array type physiological detection system of the embodiment of the invention can be applied to a portable electronic device or a wearable electronic device to realize a portable physiological monitoring device, and is suitable for self-monitoring for a long time. For example, the three-dimensional energy distribution may be monitored over time for changes in three-dimensional energy, i.e., changes in microcirculation information over time. Therefore, the obtained monitoring data can be matched with the detection result of the short-term health examination performed by the medical institution, so as to obtain the physiological state information with high reliability.

First, the array type physiological detection system reads a plurality of shallow microcirculation blood vessel fluctuation variation signals output by a plurality of pixel areas, as shown in step 101, for example, a light volume variation description waveform (PPG) signal. In order to obtain the superficial microcirculation blood vessel variation signals of a plurality of pixels, the physiological detection system needs to obtain the blood vessel variation signals of the dermis (dermis) to represent the microcirculation data. For example, optical detection can be used by using light with a specific wavelength such that the light can penetrate the epidermis layer (epidermis) but not the dermis layer, and then detecting the variation signal of the microcirculation blood vessel expansion and contraction in the skin region by using the photosensitive array; the photosensitive array comprises a plurality of photosensitive pixels, each photosensitive pixel can generate a microcirculation blood vessel expansion and contraction change signal, and various statistics of the microcirculation blood vessel expansion and contraction change signal can be provided for subsequent application.

For example, light having a wavelength of 525 nanometers (nm) may be used, with skin penetration depths below 1 millimeter (mm). Different wavelengths of light may be used at different body sites to ascertain the state of microcirculation vascular changes that are active in the dermis. Since the depth of the dermis is about 1-3 mm, the wavelength of light is preferably selected to be impenetrable by a depth of 3 mm, such as 300-940 nm.

Then, the physiological detection system establishes three-dimensional energy distribution according to the microcirculation blood vessel expansion and contraction change signal, as shown in step 102; wherein the three-dimensional energy distribution refers to a spectral energy distribution. In this step, since the energy of the detected signal of the variation in the harmomegathus of the microcirculation blood vessels in each pixel includes various frequencies, one of the frequencies can be selected for data analysis. In one embodiment, the micro-circulation blood vessel variation signals are used to estimate the current heart beat, and based on the estimated heart beat, the amplitude variation value of the amplitude signal of each pixel under the heart beat frequency is collected to represent the variation of the shallow micro-circulation blood vessel.

Since the fluctuation of the superficial microcirculation blood vessels is generated along with the heart beat, the amplitude change of the pixels is more obvious at the heart beat frequency or the frequency of the heart beat frequency than at other frequencies, so that the subsequent analysis is facilitated.

Next, the physiological state is determined according to the characteristic parameters of the energy distribution, as shown in step 103. In this step, the physiological state can be estimated based on various characteristics of the energy distribution, such as amplitude variation, mean value, heart rate, and the like. How the physiological characteristic is judged based on the characteristic parameter will be described in the following description.

The physiological status alert may then be provided to the user, as shown in step 104, so that the user can adjust the work and rest content accordingly.

FIGS. 2A-2D are schematic diagrams of the array type physiological detection system obtaining the variation of the superficial microcirculation blood vessel expansion and contraction according to the embodiment of the present invention. For example, in an optical physiological detection system, fig. 2A is a schematic diagram of an acquired image frame and a view Window (WOI) thereof; wherein the observation window WOI is adjustable in size and position. FIG. 2B is a graphical representation of a plurality of image frames (e.g., displayed within 6 seconds) or changes in brightness of an observation window of the plurality of image frames; wherein the brightness change reflects the change of the harmomegathus of the microcirculation blood vessel. FIG. 2C is a spectrum diagram of the shallow microcirculation blood vessel variation signal, which is obtained by converting the brightness variation (i.e. the shallow microcirculation blood vessel variation signal) of FIG. 2B into frequency, and shows the current heart rate. FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram of an array variation composed of energy values respectively obtained from a plurality of pixel regions under the current heartbeat frequency, i.e., an amplitude distribution; wherein the height of the bar represents the spectral energy relative to the current heart beat frequency. It can be understood from FIG. 2D that the detection result (i.e., the energy value) obtained for each pixel region changes, and the change state can represent the change of the physiological characteristic (e.g., the distribution and operation of the microvasculature in the dermal layer), as described in detail below. It must be noted that the amplitude of each pixel in fig. 2D is the energy value of one pixel or the average energy value of a plurality of pixels.

The present invention illustrates that different microcirculation states can be used to estimate the motion state. For example, different microcirculation states can be divided into four states, i.e., a pre-exercise state I, a warm-up state II, an in-exercise state III, and a cooling state IV after exercise, as follows:

referring to fig. 3A and 3B, fig. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating variation detected by the physiological detection system according to an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating the change in the mean value detected by the physiological detection system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the user is in the pre-exercise state I, the amplitude variation (a) of the amplitude signal is not high, but the average value (B) of the amplitude signal is high.

When the user is in the warm-up complete state II, the amplitude variation (a) of the amplitude signal gradually increases, but the average value (B) of the amplitude signal starts to decrease. When the average value (B) of the amplitude signals is lower than the average warming-up threshold (such as THa 1), the warming-up is finished; alternatively, when the average value (B) of the amplitude signal is lower than the warm-up threshold (e.g., THa 1) and the amplitude variation (a) of the amplitude signal is higher than the warm-up variation threshold (e.g., THv 1), it represents that the warm-up is completed.

When the user is in the in-motion state III, the amplitude variation (a) of the amplitude signal is maintained at a high value, but the average value (B) is reduced to a relatively low level. When the average value (B) of the amplitude signal is lower than a motion average threshold (e.g. THa 2), the amplitude signal is in a motion state; alternatively, when the average value (B) of the amplitude signal is below a motion threshold (e.g., THa 2) and the amplitude variation (a) of the amplitude signal is above a motion variation threshold (e.g., THv 2), it represents being in motion.

When the user is in the cooling state IV after exercise, the amplitude change (A) of the amplitude signal is gradually reduced, the average value (B) of the amplitude signal starts to increase, and when the average value (B) is restored to exceed the cooling average threshold value (for example THa 3), the cooling is finished; alternatively, cooling is complete when the average value (B) returns to exceeding the cooling average threshold (e.g., THa 3) and the change in amplitude (a) of the amplitude signal returns to below the cooling average threshold (e.g., THv 3).

It should be noted that although four micro-cycle states, three variation thresholds and three average thresholds are shown in fig. 3A-3B, they are only used for illustration and not for limiting the present invention, and the number and values of the micro-cycle states, the variation thresholds and the average thresholds are determined according to different applications.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an array type physiological detection system 400 according to an embodiment of the invention. The array type physiological detection system 400 is used for detecting the change of skin microcirculation, and comprises a light source 41, a photosensitive array 43 and a processing unit 45.

The light source 41 may be a coherent light source, a non-coherent light source, or a partially coherent light source, such as a light emitting diode, a laser diode, etc. The light source 41 is used for providing light L to illuminate a skin region, and the light L penetrates to a dermis layer of the skin region. It should be noted that the array type physiological detection system 400 of the present invention is only used for detecting the state of the microcirculation blood vessels in the dermis layer and not detecting other tissue states in the subcutaneous tissue under the dermis layer, so that the proper light wavelength can be selected to achieve the effect. Thus, the wavelength of the light source 41 is selected to not penetrate into the subcutaneous tissue of the dermis layer of the skin region, e.g., the light source wavelength is selected to be between 300-940 nanometers.

In other embodiments, the light source module may have a plurality of light sources, such as 525 nm, 880 nm and 606 nm light sources with different wavelengths, to obtain different results of the light reflected and scattered from the human body. For example, when a light source of a short wavelength of 525 nm is used, the result of the three-dimensional energy distribution may exhibit a ring-like pattern (arc-like pattern) corresponding to physical pressure applied to the human body. The ring-shaped pattern can be used to assess whether the system is properly worn by the user.

The use of short wavelength light sources in the range of 300 to 940 nm can cause more significant absorption changes in the human body, which is presumed to be one cause of the ring-like pattern as shown in fig. 6A-6B. The use of the long wavelength light source in 300-940 nm can show the detection result of three-dimensional energy distribution under high pressure, so the system can be switched to different light sources under different conditions (tightly worn or loosely worn) to obtain good three-dimensional energy distribution. For example, fig. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams of three-dimensional energy distributions when illuminated with long wavelength light, where no clear ring-like pattern is observed at the dimensions of the photosensitive array as used in fig. 6A and 6B.

The photosensitive array 43 is preferably an active image sensing array, such as a CMOS image sensor, so that the size and position of the observation window WOI (as shown in fig. 2A) can be selected in real time according to the sampling result, for example, the observation window WOI is determined according to the image quality or brightness distribution, and the pixel data outside the observation window WOI in the photosensitive array 43 can not be output by the photosensitive array 43. The photosensitive array 43 comprises a plurality of photosensitive pixels, each of which is configured to continuously detect the emergent light passing through the dermis layer of the skin region to output a plurality of luminance signals as PPG signals (i.e. the shallow microcirculation blood vessel variation signals), as shown in fig. 2B. In some embodiments, the plurality of luminance signals are digital signals, i.e. the photosensitive array 43 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for analog-to-digital conversion.

The processing unit 45 is configured to convert the luminance change signals (i.e. PPG signals) with respect to the photosensitive pixels into frequency domain data (as shown in fig. 2C), so as to form a three-dimensional energy distribution of the variation of the microcirculation blood vessel expansion and contraction (as shown in fig. 2D). The processing unit 45 also calculates variation and average of the plurality of frequency domain data to determine different microcirculation states according to variation of the variation (e.g., fig. 3A) and variation of the average (e.g., fig. 3B). The processing unit 45 can be, for example, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Microcontroller (MCU), etc., and can be used to calculate the data output by the sensing array, without any specific limitation.

The processing unit 45 may use software, hardware, firmware, or a combination thereof to perform the above operations. For example, the processing unit 45 may comprise a frequency domain conversion module 451, a heartbeat calculation module 452, a change calculation module 453, an average calculation module 454, a comparison unit 455, and a storage unit 456. It is understood that fig. 4 illustrates different computing functions by different components, however, since the components are located in the processing unit 45, the operations performed by the components are the operations performed by the processing unit 45. In addition, the processing unit 45 may further include other computing functions, such as filtering, amplifying, etc., and descriptions of other functions not directly related to the computing functions are omitted in the description of the present invention.

For example, each photosensitive pixel of the photosensitive array 43 outputs a time-varying luminance signal as a PPG signal (as shown in fig. 2B), and the processing unit 45 is configured to calculate a heartbeat frequency from a plurality of the PPG signals.

In one embodiment, the frequency domain conversion module 451 converts the PPG signal (shown in fig. 2B) of each photosensitive pixel into the frequency domain to generate frequency domain data (shown in fig. 2C), and the heartbeat calculation module 452 calculates an estimated heartbeat frequency according to the frequency domain data of each of the photosensitive pixels, and uses the estimated heartbeat frequency with the highest statistic among a plurality of estimated heartbeat frequencies of the photosensitive pixels as the heartbeat frequency. That is, an estimated heart rate can be calculated for each of the photosensitive pixels, and when the number of photosensitive pixels for which a certain estimated heart rate is calculated is the largest, the estimated heart rate is used as the heart rate. Therefore, errors caused by noise interference can be reduced, and the calculation accuracy is improved.

In another embodiment, the processing unit 45 calculates a sum of brightness signals of all or a portion of the plurality of photosensitive pixels in each image frame (or in the observation window) output by the photosensitive array 43, and calculates the heartbeat frequency according to the plurality of brightness sums corresponding to the plurality of image frames. That is, in this embodiment, the processing unit 45 obtains the luminance sum for each image frame, and the luminance sum changes for a plurality of image frames are obtained as the PPG signal, as shown in fig. 2B. In this embodiment, the heartbeat calculating module 452 may directly calculate the heartbeat frequency in the time domain (time domain), for example, calculate the reciprocal of the time interval THR in fig. 2B; alternatively, the frequency domain conversion module 451 converts the brightness and the variation into the frequency domain to generate the frequency domain data, as shown in fig. 2C, and then the heartbeat calculation module 452 calculates the heartbeat frequency according to the frequency domain data, as shown in fig. 2C, where the spectral energy value is the highest. In other words, fig. 2B may represent the brightness variation of a single photosensitive pixel output or the brightness and variation of a plurality of image frame outputs in the present description; fig. 2C may represent frequency domain data of luminance variations output by a single light-sensing pixel or luminance and varying frequency domain data output by multiple image frames, depending on the application. In the present description, the time-frequency conversion may be performed by a suitable frequency domain conversion algorithm, such as fast fourier transform, without any particular limitation.

After the heartbeat frequency is determined, the variance calculation module 453 can generate a spectral energy value at the heartbeat frequency for each of the plurality of photosensitive pixels to form a three-dimensional energy distribution or energy set, as shown in fig. 2D. The variation calculating module 453 calculates the energy variation of the three-dimensional energy distribution or energy set as an amplitude variation value, for example, a sum of differences between adjacent pixel energies, a sum of differences between each pixel energy and an average energy, a variation number (variance) of the energy set, etc., as long as it can calculate a variation between energy components (components) representing the three-dimensional energy distribution or energy set, and is not particularly limited. In this embodiment, the variation is a variation of a spectrum energy of the heartbeat frequency.

After the heartbeat frequency is determined, the average calculation module 454 may generate a spectral energy value at the heartbeat frequency for each of the plurality of photosensitive pixels to form a three-dimensional energy distribution or energy set, as shown in fig. 2D. The average calculation module 454 calculates an average of the three-dimensional energy distribution or energy set as an amplitude average. In this embodiment, the average value is a spectrum energy average value of the heartbeat frequency.

The three-dimensional energy distribution in FIG. 2D can be used to calculate and generate representative locations for subsequent evaluation. For example, distribution values that exceed a threshold may be used to calculate a centroid position, a center of gravity position, or a center position of the distribution values used. The representative position is changed according to a physiological state of the user, wherein the physiological state is related to limb movement or physical and mental changes of the user.

It should be noted that, although the variation calculating module 453 and the average calculating module 454 are used to generate the three-dimensional energy distribution or energy set in the above embodiments, the invention is not limited thereto, and the three-dimensional energy distribution or energy set can be calculated by other modules included in the processing unit 45, such as the frequency domain converting module 451, the heartbeat calculating module 452, and the like, without any particular limitation.

In some embodiments, in addition to the variation of the variation and the variation of the average value, the processing unit 45 can determine the different microcirculation states by matching the heartbeat frequency. That is, in the description of the present invention, the processing unit 45 may determine different microcirculation states (microcirculation states) according to different combinations of the variation, the average value and the variation of the heart rate, such as the before-exercise state, the warm-up state, the exercise state and the cooling state after exercise, but not limited thereto.

The comparing unit 455 may be configured to compare the variation with at least one variation threshold (e.g., THv1-THv3 of fig. 3A) to determine different microcirculation states. The comparison unit 455 may be configured to compare the average value with at least one average threshold (e.g., THa1-THa3 of fig. 3B) to determine different microcirculation states. The comparing unit 455 may be configured to compare the heartbeat frequency with at least one heartbeat threshold to determine different microcirculation states. The threshold value may be stored in the storage unit 456 in advance; the storage unit 456 may be, for example, a known memory, and is not limited in particular.

Referring to fig. 5, a method for operating an array type physiological detection system for detecting a change in skin microcirculation through a plurality of photosensitive pixels according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown. The operation method comprises the following steps: illuminating a skin area with light provided by a light source and penetrating to a dermis layer of the skin area (step S51); continuously detecting emergent light passing through the dermis layer of the skin region by using each photosensitive pixel to respectively output brightness change signals (step S52); converting the luminance change signal with respect to each photosensitive pixel into frequency domain data (step S53); calculating variation and/or average values of the plurality of frequency domain data with respect to the plurality of photosensitive pixels (step S54); and judging the microcirculation state according to the variation and/or the variation of the average value (step S55).

Referring to FIGS. 2A-2D, 3A-3B and 4-5, the operation of the present invention is described as follows.

Step S51: the light source 41 provides light L to illuminate an area of skin and to penetrate into the dermis layer of the area of skin. As described above, the wavelength of the light L is selected not to penetrate into the subcutaneous tissue, and thus the plurality of photosensitive pixels detect only data of the microcirculation blood vessel and not the subcutaneous tissue.

Step S52: each photosensitive pixel of the photosensitive array 43 continuously detects the emergent light passing through the dermis layer of the skin region to respectively output a brightness variation signal, such as the PPG signal of fig. 2B. Therefore, the number of PPG signals output by the photosensitive array 43 is the same as the number of effective pixels.

Step S53: the processing unit 45 converts the brightness variation signal corresponding to each photosensitive pixel into frequency domain data, as shown in fig. 2C. Therefore, the number of generated frequency domain data is also the same as the number of effective pixels.

Step S54: the processing unit 45 then calculates the variance and/or average of the plurality of frequency domain data with respect to the plurality of photosensitive pixels. As mentioned above, the characteristics of the frequency domain data at the heartbeat frequency or its frequency multiple are obvious. Therefore, before calculating the variation and/or the average, the processing unit 45 calculates the heartbeat frequency according to the plurality of brightness variation signals, which can be directly calculated in the time domain or calculated in different manners in the frequency domain as described above, and generates a three-dimensional energy distribution or energy set at the heartbeat frequency, as shown in fig. 2D. Then, the processing unit 45 may calculate a spectrum energy average value of the heartbeat frequency and/or a spectrum energy variation of the heartbeat frequency according to the three-dimensional energy distribution or the energy set; the calculation of the variation is described above, and therefore is not described herein again.

Step S55: the processing unit 45 may determine the micro-circulation state according to the variation and/or the variation of the average value with time; the determination method is, for example, comparing the variation with at least one variation threshold and/or comparing the average with at least one average threshold, such as those shown in fig. 3A-3B.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the processing unit 45 can also determine the microcirculation status by matching the variation of the heartbeat frequency with time.

Finally, the processing unit 45 may prompt the user of the determined micro-circulation status in different ways, such as by image, sound, etc., without any specific limitation.

In summary, the present invention is described not to determine the exercise status according to the percentage of the maximum heart rate and the subjective judgment of the user, but according to the variation of the skin superficial microcirculation blood vessels related to the blood flow distribution; the data of the blood vessel changes in the skin superficial microcirculation is presented by, for example, a plurality of luminance signals output by a plurality of photosensitive pixels of a photosensitive array to continuously detect emergent light passing through the dermis, and the changes of the luminance signals can be referred to as light volume change description waveform (PPG) signals.

As described in the foregoing example, when the average value decreases to be smaller than a warm-up average threshold (e.g., THa 1) and/or the variation increases to be larger than a warm-up variation threshold (e.g., THv 1), the processing unit 45 determines to enter the warm-up completed state. When the average value is then decreased to be less than a motion average threshold (e.g., THa 2) and/or the variation is then increased to be greater than a motion variation threshold (e.g., THv 2), the processing unit 45 determines to enter the motion state. The processing unit 45 determines to enter the post-exercise cooling state when the average value increases from below the exercise average threshold to greater than a cooling average threshold (e.g., THa 3) and/or decreases from above the exercise variation threshold to less than a cooling variation threshold (e.g., THv 3). Further, the comparison of different states to the threshold depends on different applications.

In another embodiment, the physiological monitor device described herein, such as 400 of FIG. 4, is further used to confirm whether the physiological monitor device has good contact with the skin surface, so that the physiological monitor device can operate normally. It is known that relative movement between the skin surface and the physiological detection device can degrade image quality. Therefore, it is important to confirm the contact state.

For example, referring to fig. 4, the physiological detection device 400 of the present embodiment includes a light source module 41, a photosensitive array 43 and a processing unit 45. In addition, the physiological detection device 400 of the present embodiment further includes a display 47 (as shown in fig. 8) for displaying the detection result of the physiological detection device, such as displaying warning information, indication information, and the like.

In this embodiment, the light source module 41 is used to emit light of different wavelengths to a tissue region under the skin to detect different depths of the tissue region. As previously described, short wavelengths may be used to confirm whether a good fit has been made. For example, the light source module 41 emits light with a first wavelength, for example, between 500 nm and 550 nm, to the tissue region to be measured.

The photosensitive array 43 is used to detect the outgoing light of the tissue region and output a plurality of PPG signals, each of which is shown in fig. 2B. As previously mentioned, the present invention is configured such that one pixel outputs a PPG signal (as shown in fig. 2B), or a plurality of pixels output an average PPG signal (as shown in fig. 2B), for example calculated in hardware circuitry.

The processing unit 45 is configured to convert the plurality of PPG signals into a three-dimensional energy distribution, for example, as shown in fig. 2D, identify a ring pattern in the three-dimensional energy distribution, and control the display 47 to display information that the physiological detector 400 is ready (i.e., worn well) when the ring pattern is confirmed, for example, as shown in fig. 6A and 6B. The manner of generating the three-dimensional energy distribution has been described previously.

In one non-limiting embodiment, the ring-like pattern comprises at least one ring formed by an energy value in the three-dimensional energy distribution that is greater than the energy threshold, such as the lighter colored peak in fig. 6A and 6B. More than one ring can be seen in fig. 6A and 6B. The processing unit 45 may also obtain the ring in other ways, such as calculating the difference of the energy values of the neighboring pixels and finding the local extremum in the three-dimensional energy distribution as the ring.

However, if the ring-like pattern is not present in the three-dimensional energy distribution, it indicates that the physiological monitor device 400 is not worn or is sufficiently close for physiological monitoring. Therefore, when the ring-shaped pattern cannot be recognized, the processing unit 45 is further configured to control the display 47 to display information for changing the wearing position or tightness of the physiological detection device 400. The physiological detection device 400 is configured to provide alert information to the user until the ring-shaped pattern is confirmed. After the ring pattern is confirmed, the three-dimensional energy distribution detected by the physiological detection device 400 is regarded as containing valid data.

As previously mentioned, the physiological detection device 400 of the present invention is capable of detecting superficial microcirculation at different tissue depths. For example, the processing unit 45 is further configured to control the light source module 41 to emit the emission light with the second wavelength longer than the first wavelength, so that the photosensitive array 43 detects the emission light from different tissue depths after the ring-shaped pattern is confirmed. In a non-limiting embodiment, the second wavelength is between 850 nm and 900 nm or between 590 nm and 620 nm, without limitation. By varying the wavelength of light and analyzing the three-dimensional energy distribution relative to different wavelengths of light, more detailed information of the examined tissue region can be obtained. In one non-limiting embodiment, the processing unit 45 is configured to control the display 47 to display information that changes the wavelength of light to achieve a suitable three-dimensional energy distribution.

For example, fig. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams of three-dimensional energy distribution of emitted light at 880 nm relative to the light source module 41, where a photosensitive array of 480 × 480 pixels is used, and each pixel has a size of 5 × 5 microns. It can be seen that fig. 7A and 7B do not have the ring pattern. This is because when longer wavelength light is used, the emitted light passes through more tissues (including shallow tissues and deeper tissues), so the three-dimensional energy distribution reflects more complex data. The detected three-dimensional energy distribution associated with longer wavelength light requires more complex processing. Thus, in one non-limiting embodiment, to simplify processing, processing unit 45 is not configured to identify a ring-like pattern in the three-dimensional energy distribution associated with the light of the second wavelength. That is, in the present description, the processing unit 45 is configured to confirm whether the physiological detection device 400 is worn properly according to the shorter wavelength light, such as the first wavelength, but not to use the longer wavelength light, such as the second wavelength, to determine the wearing condition.

In addition, the processing unit 45 is also used to control the display 47 to display information indicating the direction in which the physiological detection device 400 is moved to obtain meaningful data. Fig. 7A and 7B show three-dimensional energy distributions detected by the photosensitive array 43 using the same wavelength light at different time points. The three-dimensional energy distribution repeatedly changes between fig. 7A and 7B with time. It can be seen in the figure that there is always a higher energy value in the lower Y-axis part (approximately at Y =0 to 10) that does not change with time, which can be seen as the detection data exceeding the detectable range of the system. Thus, the processing unit 45 informs the user via the display 47 to move the physiological detection device 400 towards the positive Y-axis direction (e.g., Y = 40) to avoid detecting areas of consistently high energy values.

In other embodiments, the processing unit 45 calculates a centroid position, a center of gravity position, or a center point of the three-dimensional energy distribution. If the determined location is not located at the center of the three-dimensional energy distribution, the processing unit 45 controls the display 47 to direct the user to move the physiological detection device 400 such that the location is close to the center of the three-dimensional energy distribution. That is, the processing unit 45 is configured to control the display 47 to display directions to move the direction of the physiological detection device 400 to a predetermined area, such as an area with more blood vessels.

In the above-described embodiment, when the physiological monitor device 400 is not worn properly, the physiological monitor device 400 notifies the user to change the position or to wear with different tightness.

In other embodiments, the physiological monitor device 400 performs self-adjustment, and notifies the user to adjust the position or tightness if the self-adjustment fails to meet the requirement, such as detecting a ring pattern. Referring to fig. 8, a schematic diagram of a physiological detection device 400 according to another embodiment of the present invention also includes a light source module, a photosensitive array 43 and a processing unit 45. In this embodiment, the physiological monitor 400 also includes a display 47.

The light source module of the present embodiment includes a plurality of light emitting diodes, for example, fig. 8 shows light emitting diodes 411 to 416. The light source module emits emission light of a first wavelength toward the tissue region with different sets of light emitting diodes of the plurality of light emitting diodes, wherein the first wavelength is between 500 nanometers and 550 nanometers. For example, the first group of light emitting diodes includes light emitting diodes 411 to 413. It should be noted that the number of leds and the size of the photosensitive array are not limited to those shown in fig. 8.

The photosensitive array 43 is used to detect the emerging light from the tissue region and output a plurality of PPG signals, each of which is shown in fig. 2B, for example. It should be noted that the arrangement of the light sensing array 43 and the plurality of light emitting diodes 411 to 416 is not limited to that shown in fig. 8, as long as the light sensing array 43 can detect light emitted from different directions when the number of dots is different for the light emitting diodes of the groups.

The processing unit 45 is configured to convert the plurality of PPG signals into a three-dimensional energy distribution, recognize a ring-shaped pattern in the three-dimensional energy distribution obtained when illuminating the first group of light emitting diodes, and control a second group of light emitting diodes, e.g. light emitting diodes 414 to 416, to emit light when the ring-shaped pattern cannot be confirmed in the three-dimensional energy distribution. The ring pattern is described above, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

This embodiment differs from the previous embodiment in that when the ring-like pattern cannot be confirmed in the three-dimensional energy distribution associated with the first set of leds, the processing unit 45 changes the additional groups of leds to illuminate the tissue area, but again using the first wavelength. In addition to changing the led illumination at different locations, the processing unit 45 also has the option of changing the window of interest (e.g., WOI of fig. 2A) in the image frames acquired by the photosensitive array 43 to obtain the appropriate three-dimensional energy distribution. If the ring pattern can be detected by self-adjustment, such as by different amounts of light emitting diodes or by changing the WOI, the processor 45 does not control the display 47 to display information to make the manual adjustment.

As previously mentioned, if the rows are self-aligned, the physiological monitor device 400 can be used to monitor shallow microcirculation at different tissue depths. That is, when the presence of the ring-like pattern is confirmed in the three-dimensional energy distribution associated with the first set of light emitting diodes, the processor 45 is further configured to control the light source module to emit light at a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength. As mentioned above, the second wavelength is selected between 850 nm and 900 nm, or between 590 nm and 620 nm, but not limited thereto.

In another embodiment, the physiological detection system comprises two physiological detection devices, such as an array PPG detector, to monitor superficial microcirculation at different parts of the body. For example, referring to fig. 9, a block diagram of a physiological detection system 500 according to yet another embodiment of the present invention is shown.

The physiological detection system 500 comprises a first array of PPG detectors 501, a second array of PPG detectors 503, a processing unit 505, and a display 507. It should be noted that, although the processing unit 505 is shown to be disposed outside the first array type PPG detector 501 and the second array type PPG detector 503 in fig. 9, the invention is not limited thereto. In a non-limiting embodiment, the processing unit 505 is disposed inside the first array PPG detector 501 or the second array PPG detector 503.

The first array of PPG detectors 501 and the second array of PPG detectors 503 include a photosensitive array 43 similar to fig. 4. In this embodiment, the first array PPG detector 501 is used to generate a plurality of first PPG signals, and the second array PPG detector 503 is used to generate a plurality of second PPG signals. The manner in which the photosensitive array generates multiple PPG signals (as shown in fig. 2B) has been described above.

For example, the first array type PPG detector 501 includes a first light source module and a first photosensitive array. The first light source module is configured to emit light at a first wavelength to illuminate a first tissue region. The first photosensitive array is for detecting emerging light from the first tissue region and producing a plurality of first PPG signals. The second array PPG detector 503 includes a second light source module and a second photosensitive array. The second light source module is configured to emit light at a second wavelength to illuminate a second tissue region. The second photosensitive array is for detecting outgoing light from the second tissue region and generating a plurality of second PPG signals. For example, the first wavelength is between 500 nanometers and 550 nanometers.

The display 507 is used for displaying the detection result of the physiological detection system.

The processing unit 505 converts the first PPG signals and the second PPG signals into a first three-dimensional energy distribution and a second three-dimensional energy distribution, respectively, using methods similar to those described above. In this embodiment, the first tissue area is located on the hand of the user and the second tissue area is located on the foot of the user, for example, without any particular limitation, as long as the two array PPG detectors are located on different detected skin surfaces. For example, the processing unit 505 compares the first three-dimensional energy distribution with the second three-dimensional energy distribution to determine whether the microcirculation of the hands or feet is degraded, such as caused by being in the same sitting position for a long time. Similarly, before performing the comparison, the processing unit 505 determines whether the first array PPG detector 501 and the second array PPG detector 503 are worn well. That is, the processing unit 505 identifies a ring-shaped pattern in the first three-dimensional energy distribution and the second three-dimensional energy distribution. When the first three-dimensional energy distribution and the second three-dimensional energy distribution respectively include a ring pattern, it indicates that the physiological detection system 500 is operating normally.

After the circular patterns are identified in both the first three-dimensional energy distribution and the second three-dimensional energy distribution, the physiological detection system 500 can also continuously monitor the changes of the first three-dimensional energy distribution and the second three-dimensional energy distribution over time.

In one embodiment, the processing unit 505 calculates a first average of the first three-dimensional energy distribution and calculates a second average of the second three-dimensional energy distribution, respectively. The processing unit 505 also calculates a ratio or a difference of the first average value and the second average value and monitors a change of the ratio or the difference. When the ratio or difference changes to exceed a change threshold, indicating that the microcirculation status of the two body parts under monitoring is different, the processor 505 is configured to control the display 507 to display an alert signal to inform the user of the physical activity.

In another embodiment, the processing unit 505 compares the first three-dimensional energy distribution and the second three-dimensional energy distribution with an energy threshold and calculates a first region of the first three-dimensional energy distribution where the energy is greater than the energy threshold and a second region of the second three-dimensional energy distribution where the energy is greater than the energy threshold. The processing unit 505 monitors the change of the ratio or difference between the first area and the second area and controls the display 507 to display a warning signal when the ratio or difference changes and exceeds a change threshold.

It should be noted that the physiology inspection system of the present embodiment may include more than two physiology inspection devices to monitor different body parts, and when there is imbalance or significant difference between the obtained three-dimensional energy distributions, the processing unit 45 controls the display 47 to display.

In other embodiments, the data of the blood vessel changes in the microcirculation of the superficial layer of the skin can be detected by non-optical methods, such as Doppler (Doppler) detection, as long as the resolution requirement is met, for example, the sensing pixel size is preferably between 5 × 5 μm and 10 × 10 μm, the sensing array size is preferably between 240 × 240 and 480 × 480, and the method is not limited to optical detection. That is, whether the physiological detection system includes a light source or not, the physiological detection system includes a sensing array and a processing unit. The sensing array is used for detecting array type microcirculation data of the dermis layer of the skin so as to reflect the states of different skin areas at the same time; wherein the sensing array comprises a plurality of pixel regions. In the optical detection, the pixel areas are photosensitive pixels; in other detection modes, the pixel regions are corresponding sensing pixels. The processing unit is used for judging different microcirculation states according to the change of the array type microcirculation data along with time; the change includes, for example, a change in the amount of change in the microcirculation data and a change in the average value.

Monitoring other properties of the microcirculation also aids in the early detection of peripheral vascular disease. For example, the round-trip frequency of the ring-shaped patterns of FIGS. 6A and 6B may be responsive to the frequency of the anterior capillary sphincter (precapillary sphincter) opening and closing the anterior capillary per minute. The invention also provides a microcirculation detection system and a detection method for detecting biphasic blood flow response (biphasic blood flow response) without using a Doppler mode. The described microcirculation detection system detects a ring pattern with a different oscillation frequency over time from the heart rhythm, about 5-10 times/min.

Referring to FIG. 10A, a block diagram of a micro-loop detection system 1000 according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown. Similar to the array type physiological detection system 400 of fig. 4, the micro-circulation detection system 1000 of the present embodiment also includes a light source 1001, a photosensitive array 1003 and a processing unit 1005, wherein the types of the light source 1001, the photosensitive array 1003 and the processing unit 1005 are respectively the same as the light source 41, the photosensitive array 43 and the processing unit 45, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

For example, fig. 4 shows the arrangement of the light source 1001 and the photosensitive array 1003 relative to the skin surface. The light source 1001 is used to illuminate the skin area with light, preferably at a wavelength between 500 and 550 nanometers, to facilitate detection of tissue depth in the anterior capillaries. The photosensitive array 1003 is configured to detect the outgoing light of the skin area and output a plurality of PPG signals, where each PPG signal may be, for example, see fig. 2B. Photosensitive array 1003 includes a plurality of pixel regions arranged in an array (such as shown in fig. 2A) for respectively outputting a brightness variation signal as one of the plurality of PPG signals, wherein each of the plurality of pixel regions includes at least one photosensitive pixel. When a pixel region includes a plurality of photosensitive pixels, the photosensitive array 1003 has a circuit to add the detection signals of the plurality of photosensitive pixels of a pixel region and output a sum of luminance change signals as the PPG signal of the pixel region.

The processing unit 1005 also converts the plurality of PPG signals into an array energy distribution (e.g., the three-dimensional energy distribution shown in fig. 2D) and identifies a ring-like pattern in the array energy distribution, e.g., identifies a first ring-like pattern ED1 (or shown in fig. 6A) in the array energy distribution at a first point in time and a second ring-like pattern ED2 (or shown in fig. 6B) in the array energy distribution at a second point in time, wherein the first point in time is different from the second point in time. As previously mentioned, the array energy distribution is a distribution of spectral energies of the plurality of PPG signals at a predetermined frequency (e.g., heart rate or a multiple thereof) versus a two-dimensional spatial energy value of the plurality of pixel regions. The circular pattern in the array energy distribution oscillates over time, such as repeatedly between ED1 and ED 2. The oscillation frequency (sub/min) of the ring-like pattern remains substantially fixed when the skin surface temperature of the skin area under test remains substantially fixed.

In addition, the microcirculation detection system 1000 of this embodiment further includes a heating device 1002 for warming the skin area and a timer 1006 for counting the warming period of the heating device 1002. The timer 1006 may be selected from known devices without specific limitation, as long as it can be controlled by the processing unit 1005 to start timing when the heating device 1002 starts heating. The processing unit 1005 may also reset the timer 1006 before each start of the timing.

Fig. 10B is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the micro-circulation detection system 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention. In one non-limiting embodiment, the heating device 1002 includes a chamber 1021 and a heater 1022. The chamber 1021 is used to accommodate an area of skin to be detected. For example, when the skin area to be detected is located on the hand of the user, chamber 1021 has an opening 1023 for the hand of the user to extend into chamber 1021 through opening 1023. It will be appreciated that when the chamber 1021 is configured to receive other body parts (e.g., feet), the opening 1023 can be located on a different surface of the chamber 1021 to facilitate insertion of the user into the body part for inspection.

The heater 1022, such as an infrared lamp or an electrical heating tube, is disposed in the chamber 1021 and is used to warm the gas in the chamber 1021. The infrared lamp may also warm the area of skin to be detected by radiant heat. It can be appreciated that when the user's hand is placed in the chamber 1021, the skin area to be detected can be uniformly warmed by the gas in the warming chamber 1021. In other embodiments, contact heating may be used to directly warm the skin area to be detected. More specifically, the type of the heater 1022 is not particularly limited as long as it can heat the skin surface temperature.

Meanwhile, in order to record the skin surface temperature of the skin region to be detected, the microcirculation detection system 1000 of this embodiment further includes a temperature sensor 1043 for measuring the skin surface temperature. An advantage of uniformly heating the user's hand is that the temperature sensor 1043 measuring the skin surface temperature of different fingers (e.g., the fourth finger shown in fig. 10B) can be considered as the skin surface temperature of the skin area to be detected (e.g., the second finger shown in fig. 10B placed on the light source 1001 and the photosensitive array 1003). The measured temperature Ts of the temperature sensor 1043 is transmitted to a buffer memory 1051 (buffer memory) for being recorded and accessed by the processing unit 1005. In addition, the micro-circulation detection system 1000 may further comprise a temperature sensor 1041 for measuring the chamber temperature Tc inside the chamber 1021 and transmitting the measured temperature Tc to the buffer storage 1051 for recording by the processing unit 1005. The buffer storage 1051 may be volatile storage and contained inside or outside the processing unit 1005, and is not particularly limited.

Referring to fig. 11, a schematic diagram of the chamber temperature Tc and the warmed skin temperature (for example, fig. 10B shows a left hand) of the microcirculation detection system 1000 according to the embodiment during the warming period is shown. In some embodiments, another temperature sensor may optionally be used to record the skin temperature at the normal temperature (e.g., right hand) to confirm that the skin warming process is normal. Generally, the warming period can be set to 12 to 15 minutes according to different users. It can be seen from fig. 11 that as the chamber temperature Tc increases, the warming skin temperature is warmed to a higher skin surface temperature.

In the process of heating the skin area to be detected by using the heating device 1002, the light-sensing array 1003 is continuously used for detecting the emergent light of the skin area and outputting a plurality of PPG signals at different time points, and the plurality of PPG signals at each time point are used for forming an array energy distribution. The processing unit 1005 then identifies the ring pattern in each array energy distribution at a predetermined frequency (e.g., frame rate) and calculates the frequency change of the oscillation of the ring pattern during the warming period. In one non-limiting embodiment, the oscillation of the circular pattern is determined as an oscillation of an energy amplitude of a position corresponding to at least one of the plurality of pixel regions in the circular pattern of the array energy distribution.

In another non-limiting embodiment, the oscillation of the ring pattern is determined by the pattern oscillation of the first ring pattern ED1 and the second ring pattern ED 2. For example, the processing unit 1005 selects and stores a first ring pattern ED1 and a second ring pattern ED2 (e.g., stored in a frame buffer), wherein the first ring pattern ED1 and the second ring pattern ED2 are substantially opposite to each other. During the heating period, the processing unit 1005 compares the similarity or correlation between the recognized ring patterns and the stored first ring pattern ED1 and second ring pattern ED2 to confirm the reciprocating changes. When some of the ring patterns are identified during the heating period as belonging to the first ring pattern ED1 (e.g. the similarity or correlation is higher than a threshold) and the second ring pattern ED2 in sequence, the oscillation frequency can be calculated.

For example, refer to FIG. 12, which is a schematic diagram illustrating the frequency change detected by the micro-loop detection system 1000 according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention. FIG. 12 shows that the oscillation frequency of the ring-shaped pattern peaks (i.e., the highest oscillation frequency) at the 2 nd and 11 th minutes after the start of heating, respectively, which is known as the two-phase flow response. To detect the two phases (i.e., two peaks), the processing unit 1005 further determines whether a frequency change (e.g., a change in the number of times ED1 and ED2 are repeated per minute) has a peak in a first time interval and a second time interval of the warming period, wherein the first time interval is selected to be 2 to 5 minutes of the warming period; the second time interval is selected to be between 10 and 15 minutes of the warming period. The frequency change of the normothermic skin is also shown in fig. 12 as a control group. In actual operation, the microcirculation detection system 1000 can record only the frequency variation of the ring-shaped pattern of the warmed skin and not the frequency variation of the normal temperature skin (i.e. the un-warmed skin).

In addition, the microcirculation detection system 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention further includes a prompt device 1008 for prompting the detection result through image, sound, vibration, light signal, radio wave, etc. For example, when the prompting device 1008 is a display, the display can be used to display at least one of the ring patterns (e.g., the first ring pattern ED1 and the second ring pattern ED2 of fig. 10A), the frequency variation (e.g., shown as a bar graph or a line graph in fig. 12), the warming time (e.g., shown as a number or a line graph), the chamber temperature, and the skin surface temperature (e.g., shown as a number or a line graph) at different time points. When the processing unit 1005 determines that at least one of the first time interval and the second time interval has no peak, it indicates that the blood flow control of the microcirculation of the user may not be normal, and then the control and prompting device 1008 issues a prompt.

Fig. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a detection method of a micro-circulation detection system according to an embodiment of the invention, which is suitable for the micro-circulation detection system 1000 shown in fig. 10A and 10B. The detection method of the embodiment comprises the following steps: illuminating the skin area with a light source (step S131); warming the skin area with a heating device (step S132); detecting the emergent light of the skin area by a photosensitive array and outputting a plurality of PPG signals (step S133); converting the plurality of PPG signals into an array energy distribution with a processing unit (step S134); and identifying, with the processing unit, two peaks of frequency variation of the energy oscillation at predetermined positions in the array energy distribution during warming in two predetermined time intervals during the warming (step S135).

First, the light source 1001 is turned on to irradiate a skin area and the skin area is heated by the heating device 1002 (steps S131 to 132). In one non-limiting embodiment, the light source 1001 may be configured to begin emitting light when the heating device 1002 is turned on. The light source 1001, the temperature sensor 1043, and the photosensitive array 1003 may be directly disposed inside the chamber 1021, or disposed on a body part of a user and then placed in the chamber 1021.

In a non-limiting embodiment, the photosensitive array 1003 is configured to start outputting the plurality of PPG signals when the heating device 1002 starts warming the chamber 1021, wherein the number of PPG signals is determined according to the number of pixel areas (step S133).

The processing unit 1005 distributes the spectral energy of the PPG signals at predetermined frequencies in a two-dimensional space with respect to the pixel regions to form an array energy distribution, for example, the array energy distributions ED1 and ED2 in fig. 10A are at different time points (step S134).

The processing unit 1005 is configured to select a predetermined position in the array energy distribution, such as a position where the energy oscillation exceeds a threshold value with respect to at least one of the plurality of pixel regions, which may be a centroid position, or a center point of the circular pattern, etc. The processing unit 1005 calculates the frequency change of the oscillation frequency of the predetermined position during the warming period, as shown in fig. 12. As described above, the processing unit 1005 judges two peaks in two predetermined time intervals (2 nd to 5 th minutes and 10 th to 15 th minutes) during warming (step S135). When there is no peak value of the frequency variation in at least one predetermined time interval, the processing unit 1005 controls the prompting device 1008 to perform prompting. The display 1008 may also be used to display the calculation result of the processing unit 1005, including a ring pattern image, a frequency change figure or graph, a recording temperature, a heating time, and the like. The processing unit 1005 may also transmit the operation result to an external device through a communication interface or a network.

In the detection method described in the present invention, the processing unit 1005 may calculate the frequency change based on the oscillation between two selected circular patterns as described above.

In this embodiment, it is preferable that the recording of the frequency change is started after the ring pattern is recognized. If the processing unit 1005 cannot recognize the ring pattern, the heating and the detection of the skin region may be started after the array energy distribution including the ring pattern is obtained by changing the position of the lighting light source, adjusting the tightness of the wearing, and the like as described above. The ring-like pattern described in the present invention resembles a water wave formed when a stone falls into water.

The present description is applicable to transdermal drug delivery system monitoring. Transdermal drug delivery system (transdermal drug delivery system) refers to a mechanism of drug administration in which a drug is administered through the skin at a certain rate, absorbed through the blood vessels of the microcirculation, and then enters the circulation of the human body to produce a drug effect. The medicine has the advantages that the first-pass reaction of the liver and the damage of the gastrointestinal tract to the medicine can be avoided, and the effects of reducing the administration times, prolonging the time interval between administrations, maintaining the effective blood concentration in blood and the like can be achieved, so that the curative effect is improved.

The invention can be used for monitoring the absorption response of the microcirculation blood vessel to the medicine, and when the amplitude change of the microcirculation blood vessel is increased and the heartbeat frequency is increased, the microcirculation blood vessel can be judged to be continuously acting by the percutaneous medicine release system. When the amplitude variation, the heart rate and the average amplitude of the microcirculation blood vessel all return to the past normal range, it can be known that the transdermal drug delivery system is finished, and the subsequent treatment procedures, such as re-administration, can be performed. In other words, the array type physiological detection system can reflect the drug administration state of the microcirculation through the three-dimensional spectrum energy, and can display the drug administration effect.

Diseases such as atherosclerosis and peripheral neuropathy easily occur in the limbs of diabetic patients. Atherosclerosis can lead to tissue ischemia and necrosis, and peripheral neuropathy can lead to motor weakness and loss of sensation. Since the microcirculation blood vessels are innervated by sympathetic nerves, monitoring the change of the microcirculation blood vessels can warn the diabetic whether the disease occurs or not at an early stage.

The present invention is directed to monitoring the changes in the microcirculation blood vessels, and when the microcirculation blood vessels of a diabetic show a decrease in their amplitude change and average value of amplitude over time, it is known that the blood vessels are gradually becoming dysfunctional. In other words, the array type physiological detection system can reflect the degradation state of microcirculation through three-dimensional spectrum energy, and can display the lesion degree.

The present invention also teaches that the patient's microcirculation response can be observed when an external stimulus is applied to the patient, for example, when the patient is observed for peripheral neuropathy, an external cold or hot stimulus is applied, and when the microcirculation exhibits a reduced amplitude change and the heart rate does not increase, peripheral nerve inactivity is indicated and the disease may appear. In other words, the array type physiological detection system can reflect the reaction state of microcirculation through three-dimensional spectrum energy, and the nervous activity can be displayed.

The patients with burn and scald lose skin protection due to local area, and are easy to have hypovolemic shock, microcirculation blood vessel fragility and permeability increase and other conditions. Since such conditions develop rapidly, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome may occur if the rescue is not timely performed. The invention can be used for monitoring the peripheral tissue circulation of burn and scald patients, thereby monitoring the course change of the patients and avoiding more dangerous conditions. In other words, the array type physiological detection system can reflect the operating state of microcirculation through three-dimensional spectrum energy, and can display the course change.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been clinically proven to be effective in improving tissue microcirculation after radiation exposure, and has significant therapeutic effects on radioactive osteonecrosis or soft tissue necrosis. When a patient receives hyperbaric oxygen treatment, the change of the treatment effect can be monitored by the instructions of the invention, and when the amplitude change of the microcirculation blood vessels is increased and the heartbeat frequency is also increased, the microcirculation blood vessels gradually recover the activity, and the treatment effect is gradually generated. In other words, the array type physiological detection system can reflect the recovery state of microcirculation through three-dimensional spectrum energy, and can display the treatment effect.

Shock is a progressive process, when the circulatory system loses the ability to support the metabolism of the body, resulting in insufficient blood perfusion of body tissues or organs, the oxygen delivered to the body cannot be fully utilized by each part of tissue, so that the cell metabolism is abnormal, and cell damage or death is caused. When a patient starts to suffer from shock, the microcirculation vessel expands, and blood is accumulated in the microcirculation, so that severe shock can be caused if the blood cannot be effectively eliminated.

By applying the method, whether the effect occurs can be synchronously observed when the patient is subjected to shock relief treatment. If it is always shown that the average value of the amplitude signal of the microcirculation vessel is quite high, and the amplitude of the amplitude signal does not change so high, while the heart rate is continuously maintained at a higher frequency, it means that the relief treatment has not been effective, and vice versa. In other words, the array type physiological detection system described in the present invention can reflect the recovery state of microcirculation by three-dimensional spectrum energy, which can show a relief effect.

In the state of excessive exercise, there is typically heat exhaustion and a heatstroke response. When the body is in such a condition, the skin blood circulation increases and the blood delivered by the heart increases. When the blood is insufficient, the blood in the body can be redistributed, so that the blood circulation of internal organs is reduced, the blood circulation of the skin is increased to assist perspiration, and the heat in the body is dissipated. The invention is used in cooperation with the movement to show that when the average value of the amplitude signal of the microcirculation blood vessel is quite high, the amplitude change of the amplitude signal is not high, and the heartbeat frequency is continuously maintained at a higher frequency, the user is appropriately reminded that the user may be in a state of excessive movement and is not suitable for continuous movement. In other words, the array type physiological detection system can reflect the blood distribution state of microcirculation through three-dimensional spectrum energy, and can display the heat dissipation effect.

The microcirculation has the functions of regulating tissue blood flow, supplying cell nutrition, removing metabolites and the like, the local blood volume can represent relative temperature change, the invention shows that the relative change of the microcirculation temperature of peripheral tissues can be detected, and when the average value of the amplitude signals of the microcirculation blood vessels of the local tissues is high, the temperature is increased, and vice versa. In other words, the array type physiological detection system can reflect the temperature state of microcirculation through three-dimensional spectrum energy, and can display local blood volume.

To date, there is no effective portable end-to-end circulation vascular test product available for sympathetic nerve detection in the distal tissues of autistic patients/infants/pets. The walls of arteries and arterioles in the microcirculation vessels are composed of smooth muscles, which are innervated by sympathetic nerves, which control the opening and closing of the microcirculation vessels, thereby determining the blood supply to the tissues. The present invention shows that the activity state of sympathetic nerves can be indirectly estimated by observing the trend of the non-minor circulatory vessels. When the sympathetic nerves are active, the trend of the microcirculation blood vessels also tends to be active, and vice versa. In other words, the array type physiological detection system can reflect the blood supply state of microcirculation through three-dimensional spectrum energy, and can display the active state of sympathetic nerves.

The present teachings may also be applied to determining cardiac function or systemic vascular defects or sclerosis. After all the signals of the variation of the shallow microvascular expansion and contraction are integrated into a single result, they will have different energies at different frequencies. Generally, the signal representing the energy should appear at a multiple of the heart rate, while the signal energy remains in a normal interval, which varies from person to person, but for the same user, the variability over time should not be too great. Therefore, if the signal representing the energy appears in an interval other than the multiple frequency of the heart beat frequency, and for example, if the energy of the signal deviates from a normal interval as time passes, it represents that the heart or blood vessel of the user has an abnormality, and further examination is required.

For example, when the signal representing energy occurs in an interval outside the multiple of the heart beat frequency, it may represent a heart function defect, such as a valve defect, of the user. When the energy of the signal exceeds the normal interval a lot over time, which may represent vascular sclerosis of the user, the heart needs to increase its output power to transport blood to the whole body. In other words, the array type physiological detection system described in the present invention can reflect the abnormal state of microcirculation through three-dimensional spectrum energy, which can show the cardiac function.

In the above description, amplitude variation refers to variation in three-dimensional spectral energy, and amplitude average value refers to an average of three-dimensional spectral energy; where the distribution of the three-dimensional spectral energy is similar to that of figure 2D. In the above description, the number of valid pixels refers to the number of pixels within the WOI of the observation window. The numerical values given in the examples of the present invention are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the present invention.

Although the present invention has been disclosed by way of the foregoing examples, it is not intended to be limited thereto, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A physiological detection device, comprising:

a light source for emitting light to illuminate a skin area;

a photosensitive array for detecting emergent light of the skin area during warming and outputting a plurality of PPG signals, wherein the photosensitive array comprises a plurality of pixel areas arranged in an array for respectively outputting brightness change signals as the plurality of PPG signals; and

a processing unit for

Converting the plurality of PPG signals to an array energy distribution,

identifying a ring-shaped pattern in the array energy distribution, an

Calculating a frequency change of oscillation of the cyclic pattern during the warming period.

2. The physiological detection device of claim 1 wherein the wavelength of the light is between 300 nanometers and 940 nanometers.

3. The physiological detection device of claim 1 further comprising a display for displaying at least one of the ring pattern, the frequency change, warming temperature, and skin surface temperature at different points in time.

4. The physiological detection device of claim 1 wherein the warming period is 15 minutes.

5. A physiological detection device, comprising:

a light source for emitting light to illuminate a skin area;

a processing unit for

Converting the plurality of PPG signals to an array energy distribution,

identifying a first ring pattern in the array energy distribution at a first time point and a second ring pattern in the array energy distribution at a second time point, an

And judging whether the frequency change of the reciprocating frequency of the first annular pattern and the second annular pattern respectively has a peak value in a first time interval and a second time interval of the heating period.

6. The physiological detection device of claim 5 wherein

The first time interval is from 2 to 5 minutes of the warming period; and is

The second time interval is 10 to 15 minutes of the warming period.

7. The physiological detection device of claim 5 wherein the wavelength of the light is between 300 nanometers and 940 nanometers.

8. The physiological detection device of claim 5 further comprising a prompting device, the processing unit further operable to prompt the user for a prompt to prompt the user to activate the device

And controlling the prompting device to send a prompt when at least one of the first time interval and the second time interval is judged not to have the peak value.

9. A method of detecting a physiological detection device including a light source, a photosensitive array having a plurality of pixel regions, and a processing unit, the method comprising:

illuminating a skin area with the light source;

detecting, with the photosensitive array, outgoing light of the skin area during warming and outputting a plurality of PPG signals;

converting, with the processing unit, the plurality of PPG signals to an array energy distribution; and

identifying, with the processing unit, two peaks of frequency variation of the energy oscillation at predetermined positions in the array energy profile during the warming period in two predetermined time intervals during the warming period.

10. The detection method of claim 9, wherein the predetermined location is a location in the array energy distribution where energy oscillations exceed an energy threshold with respect to at least one of the plurality of pixel regions.