Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • G04G—ELECTRONIC TIME-PIECES
  • G04G21/00—Input or output devices integrated in time-pieces
  • G04G21/02—Detectors of external physical values, e.g. temperature
  • G04G21/025—Detectors of external physical values, e.g. temperature for measuring physiological data
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47C—CHAIRS; SOFAS; BEDS
  • A47C31/00—Details or accessories for chairs, beds, or the like, not provided for in other groups of this subclass, e.g. upholstery fasteners, mattress protectors, stretching devices for mattress nets
  • A47C31/12—Means, e.g. measuring means for adapting chairs, beds or mattresses to the shape or weight of persons
  • A47C31/123—Means, e.g. measuring means for adapting chairs, beds or mattresses to the shape or weight of persons for beds or mattresses
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/103—Detecting, measuring or recording devices for testing the shape, pattern, colour, size or movement of the body or parts thereof, for diagnostic purposes
  • A61B5/11—Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/48—Other medical applications
  • A61B5/4806—Sleep evaluation
  • A61B5/4809—Sleep detection, i.e. determining whether a subject is asleep or not
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/68—Arrangements of detecting, measuring or recording means, e.g. sensors, in relation to patient
  • A61B5/6801—Arrangements of detecting, measuring or recording means, e.g. sensors, in relation to patient specially adapted to be attached to or worn on the body surface
  • A61B5/6802—Sensor mounted on worn items
  • A61B5/681—Wristwatch-type devices
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M21/00—Other devices or methods to cause a change in the state of consciousness; Devices for producing or ending sleep by mechanical, optical, or acoustical means, e.g. for hypnosis
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
  • G04B19/00—Indicating the time by visual means
  • G04B19/26—Clocks or watches with indicators for tides, for the phases of the moon, or the like
  • G04B19/264—Clocks or watches with indicators for tides, for the phases of the moon, or the like with indicators for biological cycles
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G04—HOROLOGY
  • G04B—MECHANICALLY-DRIVEN CLOCKS OR WATCHES; MECHANICAL PARTS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES IN GENERAL; TIME PIECES USING THE POSITION OF THE SUN, MOON OR STARS
  • G04B25/00—Indicating the time by other means or by combined means
  • G04B25/02—Indicating the time by other means or by combined means by feeling; Clocks or watches for blind persons
  • G04B25/04—Alarm clocks or watches with devices stimulating the skin
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B2560/00—Constructional details of operational features of apparatus; Accessories for medical measuring apparatus
  • A61B2560/04—Constructional details of apparatus
  • A61B2560/0462—Apparatus with built-in sensors
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
  • A61B5/00—Measuring for diagnostic purposes; Identification of persons
  • A61B5/72—Signal processing specially adapted for physiological signals or for diagnostic purposes
  • A61B5/7203—Signal processing specially adapted for physiological signals or for diagnostic purposes for noise prevention, reduction or removal
  • A61B5/7207—Signal processing specially adapted for physiological signals or for diagnostic purposes for noise prevention, reduction or removal of noise induced by motion artifacts
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M21/00—Other devices or methods to cause a change in the state of consciousness; Devices for producing or ending sleep by mechanical, optical, or acoustical means, e.g. for hypnosis
  • A61M2021/0005—Other devices or methods to cause a change in the state of consciousness; Devices for producing or ending sleep by mechanical, optical, or acoustical means, e.g. for hypnosis by the use of a particular sense, or stimulus
  • A61M2021/0022—Other devices or methods to cause a change in the state of consciousness; Devices for producing or ending sleep by mechanical, optical, or acoustical means, e.g. for hypnosis by the use of a particular sense, or stimulus by the tactile sense, e.g. vibrations
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M21/00—Other devices or methods to cause a change in the state of consciousness; Devices for producing or ending sleep by mechanical, optical, or acoustical means, e.g. for hypnosis
  • A61M2021/0005—Other devices or methods to cause a change in the state of consciousness; Devices for producing or ending sleep by mechanical, optical, or acoustical means, e.g. for hypnosis by the use of a particular sense, or stimulus
  • A61M2021/0027—Other devices or methods to cause a change in the state of consciousness; Devices for producing or ending sleep by mechanical, optical, or acoustical means, e.g. for hypnosis by the use of a particular sense, or stimulus by the hearing sense
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M2230/00—Measuring parameters of the user
  • A61M2230/04—Heartbeat characteristics, e.g. ECG, blood pressure modulation
  • A61M2230/06—Heartbeat rate only
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
  • A61M—DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY; DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY; DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR
  • A61M2230/00—Measuring parameters of the user
  • A61M2230/30—Blood pressure

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device and a method for providing a user with information relating to at least one of his biological clocks.
• a biological clock is an almost periodic cycle of variation of a value representative of a physical quantity of the user's body.
• the technical problem underlying the present invention is new: for multiple reasons, each individual seeks to better understand his own resources and his own operations. The reduction in working time and the development of part-time work and leisure activities, encourages everyone to manage their activity according to their own rhythms.
• the technical problem underlying the present invention relates to determining the values of at least one biological clock and making it available to the user.
• the invention applies, in particular, to help a user to: - manage one or more periods of sleep and, even more particularly, to devices intended to cause the awakening of a sleeper, devices commonly called “alarm clocks” or “morning awakenings”;
• the inventor investigated about the possibility of making available, to each individual belonging to the general public, a device or method providing information representative of at least one biological clock.
• the term "general public” is not here to be considered as a simple commercial constraint with no technical consequence on the problem underlying the present invention: so that the device and method targeted by the present invention is "general public", their implementation must not require compliance with any medical protocol, or conditions imposed by individual insurance, or to seek help from another person, or more than a few tens of seconds for the device or the method is in continuous operating condition, nor to follow a learning of more than a few minutes, and that this implementation does not interfere with the activity, the attention or the rest of the user, does not does not handicap and give it an abnormal facial appearance.
• the implementation of the present invention should therefore be neither more dangerous nor less comfortable nor less discreet than that of usual objects in the environment of a user of the general public, such as a watch, a jewel, an alarm clock. in the morning, a pillow, a heating bed, a pocket electronic calculator or organizer, a pocket TV, a computer with a monitor, a portable music player, headphones, or glasses.
• the present invention also relates to a user-friendly device and a user-friendly method, that is to say the learning time, HERE of habituation, by the user, ie of the order of a few minutes, and, in all case, less than an hour before the user can have his attention for intellectual work
• friendly "human like” in English)
• the present invention also aims to prevent accidents caused by the drowsiness of night workers or night drivers by helping the user to know his state organic
• the variation of the received signal can thus, at the same time, be low compared to the absolute value of this signal and compared to the variations due to the environment and to the possible voluntary activity of the user
• This exp ⁇ me a common technical problem has several aspects of the present invention
• the inventor therefore departed from medical protocols related to the analysis of biological clocks, such as those deceptts in the book "biological docks” published in 1998, by Yvan Touitou Excerpta media, editions Elsevier, Amsterdam, Holland
• These protocols require the placement, by a doctor and in a laboratory of assured medical experimentation, of electrodes on the face or on the skull of the animal examines, the limitation of its movements, of its food, of its activity, its sleep of blood p ⁇ ses or even the installation of rectal temperature sensor The animal examines can therefore have neither activity nor attention, nor usual rest
• the watches, clocks and alarm clocks known to date only provide one universal time and not information concerning the user's ability to use the next instant for an activity or another.
• the alarm clocks known to date make it possible to choose an hour of awakening but operate independently of the biological functioning of the user from the time of falling asleep, of the duration of awakening preceding the falling asleep of the sleep cycles already passed , and the likely quality of arousal
• REM sleep is also known in the literature as "rapid eyes movements” or REM and in French “phase of eye movements” or PMO.
• the documents FR 2 597 995 and FR 2 634 913 present a wake-up device comprising electrodes implanted on the ocular region for detecting eye movements.
• This device is inapplicable because the risks of accident related to the electrodes are significant and because the user is embarrassed in his sleep.
• the use of conductive gel, necessary for the operation of the electrodes is both unpleasant, dangerous and annoying.
• this document does not indicate any embodiment of the electrodes which would make it possible to pick up the electrical signals of the ocular muscles, nor any processing of these signals or necessary information on the sleep of the user which would make it possible to detect the appearance of the REM sleep, or select a wake-up time corresponding to the start of a sleep cycle.
• the device exposed in this document cannot solve the problem it intends to solve, since the durations of REM sleep, during which the eye movements are important, are neither equal nor regular during the different sleep cycles. These REM sleep times range from one-tenth to one-third of the length of the full sleep cycle. The use of information on the appearance of REM sleep, a delay of a quarter to a fifth of a sleep cycle and a predetermined duration, therefore does not in any way make it possible to determine the beginning of the sleep cycle. .
• any sensor of sensory activity in particular on the eyes of the user, imposes discomfort which prohibits good activity or rest. Indeed, the user's senses serve to awaken his attention or to give information to the central nervous system which is processed by him.
• the sensory zones are concentrated on the face and are linked to a high density of tactile endings and to particularly sensitive protective reflexes. Any attempt to capture sensory activity, such as the activity of the eye muscles, causes a reduction in the user's attention span and / or resting capacity.
• the present invention intends to remedy various of these drawbacks.
• the present invention relates to a device for providing an information user, characterized in that it comprises: - a sensor of a value representative of a non-sensory biological activity of the body of the 'user,
• a means of filtering the value picked up by said sensor adapted to provide a relative position of said value in a cycle representative of a temporal variation of said non-sensory biological activity, said cycle having a duration greater than one minute, and
• a means of providing the user with information representative of said relative position Thanks to these provisions, the user's senses, with the possible exception of touch, are not disturbed by the sensor.
• the filtering means makes it possible to reduce the influence of noise on the determination of the relative position.
• the user has, at his disposal, information representative of said relative position.
• the senor can have a large multitude of different structures, in order to capture, for example, sound quantities (blood flow, respiration, friction on the fabric of a sheet or garment), thermal (temperature of the body, expired air), electrical (conductivity on the surface of the skin, cerebral, nervous or muscular activity), pressures (blood, speed of expired air, pressure of the body on a pillow or a bed), movements, friction, electromagnetic uncles, gas compositions, electrical conductivities, respiratory or heart rhythms.
• sound quantities blood flow, respiration, friction on the fabric of a sheet or garment
• thermal temperature of the body, expired air
• electrical conductivity on the surface of the skin, cerebral, nervous or muscular activity
• pressures blood, speed of expired air, pressure of the body on a pillow or a bed
• movements friction
• electromagnetic uncles gas compositions
• electrical conductivities respiratory or heart rhythms.
• the filtering means can take different structures, for example: 4
• - electronics for example by frequency filtering, by autocorrelation, by correlation with a predetermined function, for example a sinusoid, by Fourrier transformation.
• the means of provision can also take many structures, for example, that of a watch display permanently displaying the relative position and or a cycle start time and / or an end time. cycle, such as that of an audible, visual, vibratory alarm, triggered according to the occurrence of a predetermined relative position in a predetermined cycle, or by the triggering of a light source.
• the filtering means is adapted to integrate a difference of the value picked up with a predetermined value, such as, for example, the average of the value picked up during at least one cycle, and to provide the relative position in the form of a relative position of said integral in a range of values of said integral.
• the user can determine a biological resource still available or a potential consumed or remaining to be consumed in a cycle.
• the filtering means is adapted to integrate said difference by assigning to it a weighting function representative of an elapsed duration.
• the value of the integral is mainly representative of the last values captured.
• the sensor is adapted to capture a value representative of a non-sensory biological activity of the user's body, without bilateral contact with the human body.
• the senor is a remote sensor which determines a value sensed without contact with the human body (for example as a movement detector for monitoring premises) or is a sensor on which at least part of the body of the user, for example a pillow or a sheet, a chair, a computer keyboard.
• the senor is adapted to capture a quantity representative of the cardiovascular activity of the user.
• the senor is easy to produce and inexpensive, since its design and production can benefit from knowledge relating to blood pressure monitors and / or pulse sensors. According to other particular characteristics, said sensor is adapted to be used in permanent relation with the body of the user.
• the implementation of the present invention is discreet, non-disabling, and leaves the user with the usual freedom of movement while not modifying either his capacity for attention or rest, nor his activity.
• the sensor is adapted to supply a value when it is in a predetermined relationship with the body of the user
• the filtering means comprises:
• the means of provision is suitable for making said estimate available to the user.
• the information made available is representative either of a relative position determined as a function of the value captured, or as a function of an estimate, which can, advantageously, be based on the value previously captured, when the sensor was in the predetermined relationship with the user's body.
• the sensor may have at its disposal a relative position in a cycle, for example a sleep cycle, even without actually wearing said sensor on the wrist during sleep.
• the device as succinctly set out above comprises a memory of a predetermined position in said cycle and the means for providing said information representing relative position is adapted to supply a signal when said position relative is equal to said predetermined position.
• the means for providing said information representing relative position is adapted to permanently make said relative position available to said user.
• the filtering means is further adapted to determine the duration of the cycle. Thanks to these provisions, the duration of the user's cycle is taken into account for determining the position in the cycle, rather than a predetermined duration. Thus, if the user disrupts his cycle, for example following an airplane trip or a surgical operation, the duration of the cycle is adjusted by the filtering means to take account of this disturbance.
• the filtering means comprises a processing means adapted to carry out a frequency analysis of the sensed value.
• the noise which affects the value picked up by the sensor is eliminated when its frequency is sufficiently different from the cycle frequency.
• the reader will advantageously refer to the general knowledge of a person skilled in the art of signal processing in order to determine the meaning of the word "sufficiently" in the preceding sentence.
• the value sensor representative of a non-sensory biological activity of the body of the user is adapted to capture a number of biological events and in that the filtering means is adapted to determine a cycle time. at least ten times the average time between two events captured by the sensor.
• repetitive events such as the heartbeat, the breathing phases, movements of the limbs or of the head, can be taken into account for the provision of relative positions in cycles of duration greater than a few tens of seconds.
• the filtering means is adapted to perform recurrent processing over several periods to measure a drift in the duration of said cycle.
• the present invention can be easily implemented in relation to biological cycles whose duration is not constant but evolves gradually. 6
• the senor is adapted to provide a value representative of the muscular activity of at least one member of the user.
• the senor is easy to produce and inexpensive, since its design and production can benefit from knowledge relating to pedometers, actimeters, actigraphs and accelerometers. According to other particular characteristics, the sensor is adapted to provide a value representative of an electrical activity of the body of the user without bilateral contact with the head of the user.
• the senor is adapted to provide a duration separating two keystrokes on a computer keyboard.
• a typing speed can be taken into account by the filtering means and the implementation of the present invention can be carried out by the execution of a program by a microprocessor or a computer.
• the senor is adapted to be positioned at a distance from the body of the user and to provide information representative of movements of said body.
• the filtering means is adapted to perform a difference detection of the sensed value with an average value of sensed values corresponding to the same relative position in the cycle.
• the user has, at his disposal, information on a biological activity.
• the user can benefit from this information, for example in the context of training, for example typing on the keyboard, physical exercise, cardiac activity, control of emission of cerebral electric waves.
• the filtering means is suitable for integrating said difference and providing a value representative of the result of said integration.
• the user can, for example, have the integration of the value over an entire cycle, to eliminate the cyclical fluctuations of the value considered.
• the provisioning means comprises a memory of values corresponding, each to a relative position and is adapted to display, for each relative position, the value corresponding to the relative position provided by the filtering means.
• a privileged or weakened capacity for example, intellectual, emotional or physical, this advice, this feeling and / or this capacity is or are made available to the user.
• the device which is the subject of the present invention comprises a memory of a cycle duration and the filtering means is adapted to determine a cycle duration and to compare the determined cycle duration with the duration kept in memory and, when the duration is greater than this duration kept in memory, at 7 determine the relative position with respect to the duration stored in memory or to the last cycle duration determined by the filtering means.
• the means of provision comprises:
• a memory adapted to preserve on the one hand a number of sleep cycles and, on the other hand, a relative position in a cycle
• a means for controlling the generation of light rays facing the eyes of the user, and - is adapted to trigger the generation of light rays when on the one hand the number of sleep cycles stored in memory has been carried out and, d on the other hand, when the relative position provided by the filtering means is equal to the relative position kept in memory.
• the present invention applies to the alarm clock and allows the user to be awakened at a favorable time in the sleep cycle, without having to wear a sensor which disturbs his sleep.
• the means of provision comprises a memory adapted to keep a predetermined relative position and is adapted to display a time at which said relative position kept in memory will be reached.
• the filtering means is adapted to detect the occurrence of a relative position called “reference" in the cycle, and to identify the other relative positions relative to the last occurrence of the relative reference position .
• the filtering means is adapted to determine an end of the REM phase in a sleep cycle. Thanks to these provisions, a moment that is well suited to the awakening of the user is determined to follow the end of the REM phase.
• the filtering means is adapted
• a recurrence makes it possible to determine the average duration of the cycle in the given reference duration (for example an awakening duration).
• the senor is incorporated into an object ensuring another permanent function than that of capturing said value representative of a non-sensory biological activity of the body.
• the user such as a piece of jewelry, a watch, a pillow, a bed, a presence detector or a motion detector, a garment, glasses, a headset.
• the present invention relates to a method of providing an information user, characterized in that it comprises:
• a step of providing the user with information representative of said relative position Thanks to some of the provisions of the present invention, the user is informed of the preferred time to start or interrupt a sleep period. He can thus, according to particular embodiments of the present invention, choose the best time to go to bed or be awake at the best time to get up.
• At least one physiological sensor is adapted to detect an operating parameter of the cardiovascular system.
• At least one physiological sensor is adapted to detect a respiratory functioning parameter.
• rhythm of respiration the respiratory flow, the chemical composition of the exhaled gas, the regularity of respiration can be used to detect an end of the period of activity.
• At least one physiological sensor is adapted to detect a parameter of cerebral electrical functioning.
• the electric brain waves can be used to detect an end of the activity period, in particular during a sleep period.
• At least one physiological sensor is adapted to detect a parameter of muscular functioning.
• muscular electrical activity and body movements can be used to detect an end of the activity period, in particular during a sleep period.
• any sensor in contact with the body of the user is in dry contact with the body of the user.
• the user is not bothered by any liquid or any gel.
• the invention relates to a timepiece, such as a watch or alarm clock, characterized in that it incorporates at least part of a device as succinctly described above.
• the present invention relates to a pillow, characterized in that it incorporates at least part of a device as succinctly described above.
• the present invention relates to a memory, removable or not, capable of being read by a computer system or by a microprocessor and retaining information representative of instructions of a program of the information processing means, for implement the device or method described above
• users of watches and clocks may be interested in knowing instantaneous values of their different physical or psychological capacities (their speed of research, their speed of reasoning, their alertness, their dexterity, their overall vigor, their overall feeling (of well-being), their melatonin level (the feeling of having to sleep)) which correspond to a particular time of the day or of another biological cycle
• the present invention aims, according to another aspect, a device for displaying variable parameters on a regular cycle, characterized in that it comprises a memory of values of each of these parameters, a clock which provides an hour , a means of relating the time supplied by the clock to at least one parameter value and a means of displaying at least one value linked to the time supplied by the clock
• the present invention also relates to a combination of this latter aspect with each of the other aspects of the invention, as set out above, a combination in which the clock is replaced by the relative position in a cycle, this relative position being put in relation to at least one parameter value displayed by the display means
• FIGS 1A and 1B respectively represent views from above and from below, in perspective, of a first embodiment of the device of the present invention, incorporated in a watch
• FIG. 1B schematically represents an electronic circuit incorporated in the device illustrated in figure 1
• FIG. 3 represents an operating flow diagram of the electronic circuit illustrated in FIG. 2,
• FIG. 4 represents a second embodiment of the device according to the present invention, incorporated in a pillow and in an alarm clock,
• FIG. 5 represents a top view, in perspective, of a third embodiment of the device of the present invention, incorporated in a watch,
• FIG. 6 represents a top view, in perspective, of a fourth embodiment of the device of the present invention, incorporated in a watch,
• FIG. 7 represents an operating algorithm of the third and fourth embodiments of the present invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6
• FIG. 8 represents an operating algorithm of the four embodiments of the present invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6,
• FIG. 9 represents a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 10 shows an operating algorithm of the fifth embodiment of the present invention
• FIG. 11 B and 11 C represent heart rate curves during treatment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention
• the first embodiment dec ⁇ t and shown with reference to Figures 1 to 3, relates to a device incorporated in a watch intended to wake the user at the end of a sleep cycle 10
• FIG. 1A a watch case 101, of known type, connected, by strap clips 102, to an elastic strap (not shown)
• the strap clips 102 are adapted to hold the ends of the strap and the case 101 together
• the housing 101 comprises a mechanism which sets in motion, in a conventional manner, an hour hand 103 and a minute hand 104 so that these two hands jointly indicate the instantaneous time in a watch dial
• Two sound generators (or transducers 105) are adapted to emit audible sounds by the user, during his sleep
• a display 106 placed HERE on the watch face, is adapted to display alphanumeric symbols to represent an hour (hours and minutes) of maximum wake-up time or operating programming instructions
• the display 106 is well known in the field of watches with digital display, it is, for example, with liquid c ⁇ staux Four keys of a keyboard 107 are placed on the periphery of the housing 101, in a manner known in the field of electronic watches
• the housing 101 comprises an electronic filtering circuit illustrated in FIG. 2, which receives electrical signals from the sensors 108 and 109 and from the keypad 107 and transmits electrical signals to the display 106, electroacoustic transducers 105 and vibrator 110 (in order to provide the user with information representative of a relative position, or phase, in a biological cycle)
• This circuit is organized around a bus 209 and comprises, connected to this bus, the pilot (in English "d ⁇ ver") of the display 106, a central unit 206, a read only memory 205, a random access memory 204, the keyboard 107, the pulse sensor 109, the vibrator 110, the electroacoustic transducers 105, a motion sensor 201 and the piezoelectric currents 108
• the bus 209 is made up of electrical lines It carries signals from a clock (not shown) for synchronize the operation of all electronic components
• the central unit 206, the read-only memory 205 and the random access memory 204 are preferably incorporated in a single integrated circuit, called a microcontroller. For explanatory purposes, they are considered to be separate in the description of the figure. 2 Similarly, the means and functions enabling the display of the instantaneous time, via hands 103 and 104, are not shown HERE, because they are known to the person skilled in the art of the clock
• the keypad 107 allows the user to adjust his watch, set the time, choose an operating mode, choose a maximum wake-up time (see Figure 3) or a number of cycles, according to known techniques
• the pulse sensor 109 is suitable for detecting at least half of the heartbeat of the user.
• the pulse sensor 109 is a sensor of radial movements, relative to the axis of the arm which carries the watch. of the first embodiment of the invention (that is to say of vertical movements, in FIGS. 1 A and 1 B) It is then made up of a motion or acceleration sensor, for example a c ⁇ stal piezo -elect ⁇ que
• the pulse sensor 109 is a sound sensor which receives the sounds caused by the passage of blood through the blood vessels, near the watch. These sounds may as well be infrasonic 11 (of the order of 1 Hertz) since this frequency corresponds to the resting heart rate, sound, or ultrasound, since the movement of blood in the blood vessels causes sound waves of flow
• the pulse sensor 109 is an electrical sensor adapted to perceive the electrical signals emitted at each heartbeat, according to techniques known in electrocardiography or in cardiac monitoring systems during sports efforts (exercise bikes). interior, running,) In addition, this sensor is adapted to capture the electrical activity of the muscles or that of the brain, these three electrical activities (cardiac, muscular and cervical) having the same general variations during the sleep cycles
• the pulse sensor 109 receives the signals from the piezoelectric cords 108, which represent the tension of the elastic strap which encloses the wrist that wears the watch. According to this variant, when the watch is placed, the user ensures that the bracelet grips the wrist
• the pulse sensor 109 is a thermal sensor which captures the temperature of the blood in at least one blood vessel on the wrist.
• the person skilled in the art may refer to registered brand watches “ CASIO “bearing the words” exerciserige monitor “(for” display of pulse during exercises ”) and which carry a thermal sensor on the front and a liquid crystal display adapted to display the pulse
• the pulse sensor 109 is identical to that of wrist tensiometers of known type
• the pulse sensor extracts, from the signals it receives, the low frequency signals (of the order of hertz), which correspond to the heartbeat) and transmits a signal to the central unit 206 each time a cardiac pulse is detected
• the central unit analyzes the pulse signals received from the pulse sensor 109 and processes them to, on the one hand, eliminate parasitic signals (due, for example to the movements of the user), and, on the other hand, restore the missing signals (too weak to have been detected)
• These treatments are carried out taking into account the number of clock signals which have separated the heartbeat signals and the fact that the heartbeats are generally regular, that is to say that the successive durations which separate the successive cardiac pulsations do not range from more than fifty percent
• the movement sensor 201 is adapted to detect movements of the user's wrist. It can consist of the pulse sensor exposed above, the signals of which are representative of movements but must be processed taking into account the fact that the movements cause "parasitic" signals of high intensity and of weak regulation, compared to the signals.
• the motion sensor 201 can also consist of piezoelectric c ⁇ staux known in the field of accelerometers
• the motion sensor 201 is similar to the motion sensors for actimeters or acttographs
• the piezoelectric currents 108 make it possible to constitute a blood pressure sensor, since the voltage of the signal at the output of these cines is representative of the tension on the elastic strap of the watch
• the vibrator 110 is of a type known in the field of mobile telephones, and radio message receivers known under the name of "pagers". It is adapted to emit a vibration perceptible by the user, when the vibrator is in contact with the skin. of the user, in response to an alternative control signal 12
• the central unit 206 implements software, a simplified flow diagram of which is illustrated in FIG. 3
• the read only memory 204 stores the instructions of this program, in a "program" register and the constants implemented by this program
• the random access memory 205 stores, in registers which, for convenience, have the same names as the variables of which they keep the value
• the memory registers considered can have a capacity limited to binary information as well as a capacity sufficient to contain an array of several thousand values, for each physiological parameter
• FIG. 3 we first observe an operation 301 for initializing the device, and, in particular its classic watch functions (setting the year, month, day, hour, minute, of the instantaneous second), according to known techniques according to which the user implements the keyboard with keys 107, the display 106 and the hands 103 and 104 13
• Operation 301 actually follows the placing of batteries in the watch.
• the registers of the random access memory 204 are all initialized to the value zero, with the exception of the register "instjiour" which permanently contains the instantaneous time.
• the user is asked to provide the duration of his sleep cycles, if he knows it.
• the value of this duration is stored in the "cycljdur” register.
• the "cycl_dur” register operates on “first in, first out” and only keeps the last five values it receives. By default, the duration of the user's sleep cycle is considered to be 80 minutes.
• the user chooses a maximum alarm time, that is to say the time at which he wants to be sure of being awakened.
• a maximum alarm time that is to say the time at which he wants to be sure of being awakened.
• it uses the keypad 107 and the display 106, according to techniques known in the programming of watches having alarm functions.
• the alarm time does not allow the progress of a complete cycle, that is to say when the difference between the instantaneous time, kept in the register
• the user is informed that he will be awakened at the maximum wake-up time , via the vibrator 110 and the display 106. In this case, the operation is identical to that of a watch with alarm clock of known type. Otherwise, the user is warned that, for correct operation of the device, go to bed immediately, then, still during operation 302, the device analyzes each parameter to determine an instant of falling asleep.
• the pulse drops, on average, over sixty minutes in succession, by twelve percent, compared to the previous sixty minutes and / or when the average number of movements over a period of sixty minutes, drops at least ninety percent over the previous sixty minutes and / or, blood pressure drops, under the same conditions, by five percent.
• the analysis times and the variation rates used for each parameter can be adjusted to analyze the time functions of the parameter values.
• the start of a so-called reference duration consists of the start of the period of 60 minutes corresponding to the start of falling asleep, and, failing this, if no falling asleep is detected during the first two hours after the start of l operation 302, at the start of operation 302.
• the central unit 206 receives signals from the pulse sensor 109, the blood pressure sensor 108 and the motion sensor 201 and processes them to:
• the central unit 206 places, in the register "phys_param", the results of these treatments, at the end of each minute passed.
• the "phys_param” register functions, for this purpose, as a “first in, first out” memory and keeps only the values corresponding to the last ten hours.
• the central processing unit 206 determines the end of a cycle, that is to say the end of a waking period or a period of REM sleep, by determining the occurrence of '' a phase of reduction in the frequency of heartbeats, a phase of reduction in the value of blood pressure and a phase of reduction in the number of muscle movements. 14
• the central unit 206 performs a filtering and a search for cycle time as follows:
• the central unit 206 tests a first value of cycle duration, called period, equal to the cycle duration kept in the "cycle_dur" register, by performing the product of the time function of each parameter by a sinusoid of period equal to the duration of the cycle considered, by performing the product of the resulting function, for each parameter, by the same sinusoid, and by repeating the operation as many times as the duration considered is in the current reference duration since the start of this duration, defined during operation 302, and until the time at which operation 304 is carried out, and
• the central processing unit 206 searches for the cycle time by performing an autocorrelation on the time function representing each parameter analyzed, taking into account all the possible cycle times, minute by minute, between sixty and one hundred minutes, and by using this duration as an autocorrelation shift, possibly repeating this autocorrelation as many times as there is the cycle studied in the reference period, and by searching for the cycle duration with the greatest autocorrelation factor, according to techniques known in signal analysis.
• the beginning of the sleep cycle is considered to be one sixth of a cycle before the position, in a cycle, for which, after a maximum of its average over a duration equal to a third of the cycle, the autocorrelated function presents, for the first time, an average over a third of the cycle, equal to its average over the entire cycle.
• the start of the cycle is considered to be one sixth of a cycle before the position, in a cycle, for which, after a maximum of its average, over a period equal to one third of the cycle, the correlated function presents, for the first time, an average, over a third of the cycle, equal to its average over the entire cycle.
• the central processing unit 206 analyzes the values of the physiological parameters and determines that a REM phase is completed when, after at least two of the physiological parameters have exceeded the average value of these parameters, taken over the previous one hundred and ten minutes, and this for a duration D1 of at least ten minutes (REM sleep), at least two of the physiological parameters take a value lower than the average of the same parameters, taken over the last period of twice the duration D1, and this for a duration D2 greater than five minutes (light or deep sleep).
• the table below which successively presents the values of the physiological parameters averaged over the last 110 minutes and the values measured for one minute, 15 pulse blood pressure movements phase detected
• the "cycljour" register functions like a “first in, first out” register and therefore only keeps the last two hours of cycle start.
• the central unit 206 adds the value of the last cycle duration, in the register "cycljSur". During a test 305, the central unit determines whether the next cycle start is after the maximum wake-up time (kept in the "maxjour" register of the RAM 204), or not.
• the central unit 206 adds to the last cycle start time detected during the previous operation 304, the average value of the non-zero values of cycle times, kept in the "cycl_dur" register and determines whether the sum thus calculated may or may not be greater than the time kept in the "maxjour" register.
• the result of test 305 is negative, operations 303 and 304 are repeated.
• the central unit 206 controls the operation of the vibrator 110, then, when the user has not reacted at the end of a period of thirty seconds, the central unit 206 controls the operation of the sound generators 105, until the user actuates one of the keys 107.
• the filtering circuit therefore processes the value picked up by each sensor and provides a relative position of said value in a cycle representative of a temporal variation of a non-sensory biological activity, said cycle having a duration greater than one minute.
• the display 106 is controlled by the central unit 206 to display the next proposed wake-up time, that is to say the next scheduled end of cycle, if the user continues to sleep. If the user then continues to sleep, the central unit 206 again causes an awakening at the start of the next cycle.
• FIG. 4 In Figure 4 are shown a pillow 401, surrounded by a pillowcase 402, comprising a sensor 403 of the pressure in the pillow, an electronic circuit 409 comprising an acoustic transmitter 410 (for the provision of the user information representative of a relative position or phase in the sleep cycle) and a transmitter / receiver 404. Furthermore, an alarm clock 405 comprises a transmitter / receiver 406, a buzzer 407 and an electronic circuit 408 for filtering.
• the 401 pillow is a pneumatic pillow.
• the pressure sensor 403 is an acoustic microphone.
• the microphone membrane separates a closed chamber and the rest of the pillow.
• the transmitter / receiver 404 is adapted to transmit at a short distance a signal perceptible by the transmitter / receiver 406, adapted for this purpose, and vice versa.
• the transmitter is a radio or ultrasonic transmitter.
• the alarm clock 405 comprises a keyboard 411, a display 412 and at least one electroacoustic transducer 407 intended to emit an alarm bell.
• the acoustic sensor makes it possible to capture the cardiac sound frequencies, the movements of the head and the respiratory movements. 17
• the pillow is not pneumatic but the sensor 403 picks up the sound caused by the friction of the head and the arms on the pillowcase 402.
• an electric field sensor is added to the acoustic sensor 403, in order to pick up the electric waves emitted by the brain, during sleep, according to known techniques for implementing electroencephalograms but with increased sensitivity and a pillowcase. pillow conductive of electrical signals and connected to the electric field sensor.
• These well-known electric waves are filtered, discriminated and analyzed according to well-known signal processing techniques which are not detailed here (we can refer to the book by Pierre Magnin mentioned above for details of these different waves and their correspondences with the different sleep phases).
• the sensor is thus adapted to provide a value representative of an electrical activity of the body of the user without bilateral contact with the head of the user.
• At least one of the sensors mentioned with reference to FIG. 4 is inserted into the mattress of the user's bed, in a place occupied by the latter.
• an electric wave sensor is inserted in the alarm clock and collects the brain waves mentioned above, from a distance, without it being necessary for a sensor to be in contact with the user.
• At least one sensor measures the tension on the bed sheet or on the pillowcase.
• the device of the invention applies to the management of bedtime or falling asleep, the daytime cycles being detected in the same way as the sleep cycles.
• the position in the cycle, the preferred end of activity period information are displayed on the display, in the form of a percentage of the cycle already elapsed and a relative position in the cycle, like the passage at the beginning and in the middle of each cycle, gives rise to the emission of an audible signal and / or a vibration.
• FIG. 5 represents a top view, in perspective, of a third embodiment of the device of the present invention, incorporated in a watch.
• This embodiment of the present invention comprises all the elements of a sphygmomanometer 500 adapted to be worn on the wrist at all times, to which are added a memory 501 retaining an operating program and a means of displaying relative position in a biological cycle. 502 consisting here, on the one hand, of an alphanumeric display with four characters (or "digits") and, on the other hand, of an additional partially transparent needle.
• the first program controls the measurement of the pulse and / or the blood pressure, at regular time intervals, for example four times per minute. This program writes the results of these measurements in RAM.
• the second program is a frequency analysis program for variations in pulse and / or blood pressure (high, medium or low) adapted to detect periods of variation in pulse and / or blood pressure greater than one minute and less at twelve o'clock.
• this program detects periods between 10 and 200 minutes, on the one hand, and the phase, or relative position, in these periods, in which the measurement (s) is instantaneously found.
• the implementation of this program performs a filtering of the value sensed by each sensor and provides a relative position of said value in a cycle representative of a temporal variation of a non-sensory biological activity, said cycle having a duration greater than one minute.
• the display means comprises at least one display area of the immediate relative position in a cycle detected by the frequency analysis means.
• the immediate relative position is represented, on the one hand, by a percentage in the current cycle, on the four characters of the display means 502 and, on the other hand , by the position of the hand of the display means 502, this percentage and this position being for example at the lowest (0% and position of the hand at six o'clock) when the phase corresponds to an angle of minus 90 degrees (the bottom of the curves illustrated in figure 11C).
• FIG. 6 represents a top view, in perspective, of a fourth embodiment of the device of the present invention, incorporated in a watch.
• This embodiment of the present invention comprises all the elements of an actimeter 600 adapted to be worn on the wrist at all times, to which are added a program memory 601 for operation and a means for displaying relative position in a biological cycle 602 , of the same type as the display means 502.
• the first program controls the measurement of the motor activity (represented by a number of movements of the wrists), at regular time intervals, for example four times per minute, each value captured being a total number of movements carried out during this time interval .
• This program writes the results of these measurements to memory.
• the second program is a frequency analysis program for variations in pulse and / or blood pressure (in particular systolic pressure) adapted to detect periods of variation in motor activity greater than one minute and less than twelve hours.
• this program detects periods between 10 and 200 minutes, on the one hand, and the phase, in these periods, in which the measurement carried out is instantaneously.
• the implementation of this program performs a filtering of the value sensed by each sensor and provides a relative position of said value in a cycle representative of a temporal variation of a non-sensory biological activity, said cycle having a duration greater than one minute.
• the display means comprises at least one display area of the relative position, or phase, immediate in a cycle detected by the frequency analysis means.
• a means of producing an actimeter is given by modifying a so-called "automatic" watch, that is to say a spring which is wound by the movement of the wrist, said spring being mounted on a shaft connected to a piezoelectric crystal in such a way that the tension of the spring is represented by the tension (the voltage) across the terminals of the piezoelectric crystal and driving the watch hands so that the spring relaxes in a shorter duration than that of the considered cycle.
• the signal at the output of the piezoelectric crystal is then that which is used for the measurement of the average of the activity over the relaxation period of the spring.
• the needle of the display means 602 is connected to the outlet of the spring and the position of the needle rotates counterclockwise with each movement of sufficient intensity to wind the spring and in the direction of the hands d 'a watch, between two movements.
• the angles of rotation in each direction are provided so that in a given cycle, for example one day, starting from the four o'clock position, on awakening, the needle moves during the day to the eight o'clock position, going through the midday position and only returning to the four o'clock position the following night.
• the position of the needle represents the potential for normal activity remaining available to the user. This potential goes up (clockwise), each time the user rests. 19
• a means for adjusting the angle of rotation of the needle corresponding to each movement is provided to adapt to the activity of the user.
• this angle varies and becomes more and more small as the hand approaches the position at eight o'clock which corresponds to the minimum potential.
• This last characteristic can be obtained by using a return spring which pulls the needle of the display means 602 towards the four o'clock position, while the spring which is raised by the movements of the arm pulls this same needle towards the position at eight hours and gradually relaxes as time passes, being linked at its other end, for example, to one of the hands that indicate the time. It is observed here that the spring in question does not necessarily cause the clock movement which indicates the time.
• a sensor of a value representative of a non-sensory biological activity of the body of the user is constituted by the spring-up mechanism similar to that of a so-called "automatic" watch,
• a means of filtering the value picked up by said sensor consists of the return spring and the spontaneous relaxation of the automatic watch spring; this filtering means provides a relative position of said value in a cycle representative of a temporal variation of said non-sensory biological activity, said cycle having a duration of one day, and
• three weights are positioned, each at the end of a piezoelectric bimetallic strip, the three bimetallic strips being oriented along three perpendicular axes.
• the electrical voltages at the output of these bimetallic strips are supplied to an analog-digital converter or to the input of a binary signal, so that a movement of the wrist corresponding, for example, to the typing of a computer key , or detected as a non-zero voltage.
• the user implements the keyboard keys 107 and follows instructions on the display (for example 106, 502 or 602).
• FIG. 7 is shown an operating algorithm of the third and fourth embodiment.
• the central processing unit takes a measurement 701 of the physical quantity.
• the central unit performs a reading in memory:. the average value of the physical quantity during the same hour of the previous day,
• the central unit performs a frequency analysis of the results of the measurements already carried out during operations 701 taking into account the average value, on the one hand and the period read, on the other go
• This frequency analysis provides three data a rate of reliability of the other results of the analysis (rate which depends on the number of measurements already carried out since initialization 700, and on the mean peak value already observed since initialization 700) a period ( cycle duration) p ⁇ ncipale measured since initialization, and the instantaneous phase in the cycle of variation of the physical quantity considered which has said period
• the central unit controls the display means so that it displays information representative of the instantaneous phase, for example by positioning a needle (502 or 602 in the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6) dedicated for this purpose, in a watch dial
• the central unit determines whether the device is worn by the user or not, by determining whether measurements of the physical quantity are possible, or no (null values of pulse or blood pressure or null value of activity for a period of more than 30 minutes indicating, for example, that the user has stopped wearing the device)
• the central unit determines what time, on average, the user has fallen asleep during the last week and the display of the phase is continued during an operation 710 For this display, the central unit takes into account the instantaneous time compared to the average sleep time, the last value of the cycle period considered, before the time d sleep, and after the average hour of falling asleep, of the average value of the duration of the sleep cycle kept in memory, considering that the phase evolves regularly in the day and night cycles
• the phase displayed is the continuation of the regular evolution of the diurnal phase whereas after this average hour, the phase starts again at its maximum value then evolves regularly with a cyclic period equal to the nocturnal evolution period e kept in memory
• the operation 705 is repeated
• the central unit determines whether the user sleeps, or not, according to the last values of the physical quantity considered When the result of test 706 is negative, the operation 701 is repeated
• the central unit determines whether or not a programmed wake-up time has been set, said scheduled wake-up time being a time chosen by the user among different hours which correspond to sleep cycles and which are proposed by the device, comgee to correspond to the end of an effective sleep cycle
• test 706 is modified in such a way that the outputs of this test are inverted and
• test 706 is modified in such a way that the outputs of this test are inverted
• FIG. 8 represents an operating algorithm of the four embodiments of the present invention, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6.
• the central unit proceeds to the determination of falling asleep (see FIG. 11D), operation 803.
• the central unit proceeds, during an operation 804, in determining the alarm time and the number of sleep cycles to be observed:
• operation 804 is repeated to refine the estimation of the wake-up time.
• an audible indicator or a vibration alerts the user to wake him up, until the user actuates one of the keys of the keyboard 107, operation 806.
• the central unit determines whether the changes in the monitored physical quantity, for example the pulse or the muscular activity, corresponds to an awakening, or not (the pulse must, on average, increase by more than ten percent and the number of arm movements detected more than 100 percent).
• the central unit determines that the user has not woken up, operation 806 is repeated immediately without waiting for the end of a sleep cycle.
• operation 806 is repeated to wake the user at the end of the next sleep cycle.
• FIG. 9 represents a fifth embodiment of the present invention which is none other than a computer, the keyboard of which serves as a sensor of activity of the arms of the user, said computer keeping, in memory, a specific program of frequency analysis of the user's typing speed and determination of typing cycles on the keyboard.
• a central unit 906 manages a keyboard 907, a read-only memory 905, a random access memory 904, a display screen 903. 22
• the random access memory 904 stores a word processing software "traffickingxt" 901 and a software for managing periods of activity "gestact” 909, which operates in the background, compared to the word processing.
• the operation of the central unit 904 is of multitasking type.
• the word processor is of known type.
• the operation of the "gestact" 909 activity management software is based on the principle that, when typing on a keyboard, the average rate of typing (in terms of average duration between two successive keystrokes, excluding periods of reflection, or in terms of number of keystrokes per minute, including period of reflection) is representative of the phase of the biological cycle in which we are. Likewise, the number of corrected or backspace typing faults is representative of this phase, which is used in a variant implementation of the present invention.
• the functioning of the gestact activity management software is as follows ( Figure 10):
• the central unit 906 memorizes, on the one hand, the clock value, with each keystroke, and, on the other hand, the number of keystrokes intended for the correction of typing errors (taking into account only, only, the "backspace” and “delete” keys, the latter often being called “del”), operation 1002, - then, the stored data are analyzed, during an operation 1003, as follows :
• This provides a cycle related to the liveliness of the strike, knowing that the user is preliminary warned that he must try to optimize the speed of his strike.
• a second cycle is provided by analyzing the number of keystrokes made per minute, in the same manner as set out with reference to FIGS. 11A to 11 D, operation 1007.
• phase in the cycles are displayed in two circular dials, one linked to the number of strikes carried out, the so-called “intellectual” cycle, the other to the vivacity, the so-called “physical” cycle.
• FIGS 11A, 11B and 11C show heart rate curves during treatment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 11A we see a curve known to the cardiologist under the name of "Holter”, from the name of the inventor of the portable device making it possible to follow a cardiac activity, over a whole day.
• the abscissas show the hours (between twelve o'clock one day and twelve o'clock the next day) and the ordinates the heart rates.
• the user is here a subject of about thirty years.
• FIG. 11C the same filter has been passed four times, in a recurring manner, and provides the curve whose points are represented by inclined squares.
• a sinusoidal filter of frequency 70 minutes 14 samples for a sinusoid
• falling asleep corresponds to the passage above the highest value of the difference, observed during the day (around 200). It takes place on the sample referenced 97, approximately, knowing that approximately forty-eight samples were lost at each end of the series.
• the actimetry is the average intensities of the electric currents flowing through the arm which carries the device (when it has a shape of a watch) which provide the physical quantity analyzed.
• the senor is placed in a shirt pocket and detects cardiac pulses, in an audio or electrical manner, or even, as in sensors intended for runners, of the "POLAR” (registered trademark) or " CARDIOSPORT "(registered trademark generally associated with the registered trademark” CARE "which relates to home gym equipment).
• the processor determines an integral of the difference between the value captured by the sensor, for example the number of movements captured by an actimeter, and the average value for the same phase of a previous cycle, by example, the corresponding cycle, the previous day.
• the display means displays the value of this integral, for comparison.
• the value of this integral is representative of the relative position in the cycle of variation of the captured value since in the absence of activity, this integral varies according to the position in the cycle.
• This embodiment which can be integrated into the fourth embodiment (FIG. 6), is particularly useful during training of the user in an activity represented by the value captured, for example when this training relates to typing. on an alphanumeric keyboard, physical exercise such as running, cardiac activity, or controlling the emission of electric brain waves.
• This embodiment also makes it possible to make available to the user an activity potential that remains available, in addition to or subtract from the average activity during a cycle.
• three frequency filterings are carried out by convolution (correlation) with three sinusoids of durations respectively equal to 60, 80 and 100 minutes then we add up the curves obtained.
• the end of a deep sleep cycle is detected, without determining the duration of the sleep cycle, the number of end of cycles already detected in the same night is counted and the user is woken up when this number reaches a value determined by him, or when the projection, by linear regression, of the next end of cycle is later than the wake-up time limit that the user has chosen.
• an embodiment takes the form of a ring incorporating a sensor for blood pressure, pulse, muscle activity, temperature, and displaying by a simple color, a relative position in a cycle of variation of the value captured.
• it is an earring, which senses, on the ear lobe, in known manner, the pulse and which puts an audible frequency vibration for certain relative positions in the pulse variation cycle, or to wake the user.
• glasses serve to capture the pulse, by means of the blood vessels on which the branches of the glasses rest, or electrical cerebral waves.
• headphones are used to capture the pulse, via the blood vessels of the ear, in which the blood flow causes, on the one hand, an audible sound and, on the other hand part, a warming, or to capture electrical brain waves.
• a movement sensor of the type known in the field of local surveillance alarms, detects the movements of the sleeper, or of the static worker, these movements being representative of at least one biological clock.
• the curves are readjusted slowly to the new time, by shifting them every day by one hour to take into account the progressive adaptation of the human body to jet lag.
• the device which is the subject of the present invention comprises an interface with a light generation system, such as a lamp or a window shutter and when the alarm time has arrived, the light incident on the eyes of the user is intensified, gradually, or abruptly.
• a light generation system such as a lamp or a window shutter
• glasses carry light-emitting diodes facing the eyes of the user and these same glasses capture, at a distance, the movements of the eyes of the user, for example by dispersion analysis of invisible light waves reflected on the eyelids.
• the sensor is adapted to capture the sound vibrations of the heartbeat, by being placed in a shirt pocket in front of the user's heart.
• the display means displays the next hour at which a sleep cycle can favorably start and the favorable waking hours resulting therefrom (for example the favorable waking hours after at least five sleep cycles).
• the senor is adapted to determine a conductivity value of the surface of the skin.
• the reader can refer to document WO 93 16636 which is incorporated here by reference.
• the senor is adapted to supply a value when it is in a predetermined relationship with the body of the user
• the filtering means include:
• this means is, for example, the pursuit of a regular cycle while retaining the last value of the determined cycle duration or a duration following a drift of durations observed over the durations previously determined, and
• the means of provision is suitable for making said estimate available to the user.
• the value sensor representative of a non-sensory biological activity of the user's body is adapted to capture a number of biological events (movements , heartbeat, respiratory movement, for example), and the filtering means is adapted to determine a cycle time at least ten times greater than the average time between two events captured by the sensor.
• the device includes a memory which retains a cycle time and the microprocessor is adapted to determine a cycle time by processing the sensed value, and to compare the cycle time determined at the cycle time kept in memory.
• the processor determines the relative position to be displayed relative to the last cycle time determined by the filtering means or, as a variant, to the stored cycle time in memory.
• a display dial similar to that of the first embodiment of the present invention is used, integrated into a watch.
• the biological clock used is circadian.
• the sensor of a value representative of a non-biological activity 26 sensory of the user's body is here a temperature sensor which is placed in contact with the skin of the user and which detects the rise in temperature of the surface of the watch in contact with the skin of the user, following the placing of the watch on the wrist, following several hours of sleep during which the watch was at room temperature.
• Biological activity here is physical activity following sunrise.
• the watch incorporating the device which is the subject of the present invention is suitable, when the user implements keys (see keys 107 of the first embodiment), to display successively:
• the melatonin level (the feeling of having to sleep); - the internal temperature.
• the instantaneous levels of each of these parameters are kept in the read-only memory and each position relating to the wake-up is related to the instantaneous value of each parameter with a view to displaying this instantaneous level.
• the display means simultaneously displays several values. For example, several needles, partially transparent, each represent an instantaneous level of the curve of one of the parameters considered.
• no sensor is implemented and the device implements the curves considered, in direct relation to the time, independently of the 'waking hour.
• the device therefore allows the display of variable parameters on a regular cycle, and includes:
• a means of displaying at least one value related to the time provided by the clock a means of displaying at least one value related to the time provided by the clock.
• the user can adjust his wake-up time to take account of his habits.
• the connection with the parameter curves mentioned above will then be offset by the offset of 27 usual waking time compared to the average. For example, a user who wakes up regularly at 9 a.m., will have his curves shifted by two hours, late, compared to a user accustomed to waking up at 7 a.m.

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• 1999
  • 1999-03-31 EP EP99910467A patent/EP1065974A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1999-03-31 WO PCT/FR1999/000747 patent/WO1999049784A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
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