KR101453644B1 - Peak detection method, peak detection apparatus and fetal heart beat detection apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A peak detecting method, a peak detecting device and a fetal heartbeat detecting device are disclosed.
A method for detecting a peak includes the steps of obtaining a function value to which an average magnitude difference function (AMDF) is applied to an audio signal, obtaining a weight by taking a complement of 1 to the function value, And detecting a peak from the autocorrelation function to which the weight is applied.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a peak detection method, a peak detection method, and a fetal heartbeat detection apparatus,

The present invention relates to a peak detecting method, a peak detecting apparatus and a fetal heartbeat detecting apparatus.

Fetal diagnosis is performed to identify immediate treatment or fetal distress during pregnancy or delivery. In particular, the fetal monitor (Fetal Monitor) is a device that evaluates the fetal well-being by measuring maternal contraction and fetal heart rate non-invasively during pregnancy.

Methods for measuring fetal heart rate include using ultrasound Doppler and fetal electrocardiogram.

The method using ultrasonic Doppler is a method of detecting the fetal heart rate by using the Doppler effect in which the ultrasound irradiated to the abdomen of the mother is reflected from the heart of the fetus. The fetal heartbeat detection method using ultrasonic Doppler is easy to detect fetal heartbeat in early pregnancy but it is not sensitive enough to show heart rate variability. In addition, fetal heart rate is detected half or double, or the mother's heart rate is measured by crossing, heart rate and calculated heart rate may occur between the error.

One of the causes of fetal heart rate measurement error is the error in fetal heart rate detection from ultrasonic Doppler signal. For example, in the process of performing peak detection in order to detect a fetal heartbeat period from an ultrasonic Doppler signal, the peak detection accuracy may fall and an error may occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a peak detection method, a peak detection apparatus, and a fetal heartbeat detection apparatus for improving a peak detection accuracy and lowering a fetal heartbeat detection error.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of detecting a peak, comprising: obtaining a function value to which an average magnitude difference function (AMDF) is applied to an audio signal; obtaining a weight by taking 1's complement of the function value; Applying the weight to an autocorrelation function of the signal, and detecting a peak from the weighted autocorrelation function.

Also, the peak detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a weight calculation unit for obtaining a weight by taking a complement of 1 to a function value to which an AMDF is applied to an audio signal, a weight calculation unit for applying the weight to the autocorrelation function of the audio signal And a peak detecting unit for detecting a peak from an autocorrelation function output from the autocorrelation unit.

The fetal heartbeat detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a receiver for receiving a Doppler ultrasonic signal using an ultrasonic transducer, a function for applying the AMDF to the Doppler ultrasonic signal, An autocorrelation unit for applying the weight to an autocorrelation function of the Doppler ultrasonic signal and outputting the weight to the autocorrelation function of the Doppler ultrasonic signal, a peak detecting unit for detecting a peak from the autocorrelation function output from the autocorrelation unit, And a heart rate calculator for calculating the heart rate of the fetus based on the signal period.

The peak detection method, peak detection device and fetal heartbeat detection device disclosed in this document have the effect of further emphasizing the peak corresponding to the basic signal period by applying the function obtained by normalizing the AMDF and taking 1's complement as a weight value. Accordingly, there is an effect of reducing the peak detection error, thereby improving the accuracy of the fetal heartbeat detection using the improved signal cycle detection accuracy.

1 is a view for explaining an analysis interval setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a view for explaining an autocorrelation function to which a weight is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a structural view illustrating a fetal heartbeat detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a fetal heartbeat detection method of a fetal heartbeat detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the peak detection method of step S102 of FIG. 4 in more detail.

The present invention is capable of various modifications and various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated and described in the drawings. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

The terms including ordinal, such as second, first, etc., may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited to these terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the second component may be referred to as a first component, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as a second component. And / or < / RTI > includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

In addition, the suffix "module" and " part "for constituent elements used in the following description are given or mixed in consideration of ease of specification, and do not have their own meaning or role.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like are used to specify that there is a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component or a combination thereof described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a view for explaining an analysis interval setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a fetal heartbeat detection apparatus performs peak detection using an autocorrelation function. In order to detect a peak from a continuous audio signal by applying an autocorrelation function, a data analysis period is set as shown in FIG. 1, and a peak is detected through autocorrelation of a signal corresponding to a data analysis period. Also, a peak is continuously detected while moving the data analysis section at a predetermined interval, and the signal period is detected using the detected peak-to-peak interval.

In general, the size of the data analysis period is set to at least twice the signal period to be searched. On the other hand, when the size of the analysis region is set to be large enough to include a plurality of signal periods, a plurality of peaks existing within the analysis region can not be detected, and if the size of the analysis region is set small enough not to include one signal period The peak detection fails.

Accordingly, in order to increase the accuracy of peak detection, it is necessary to set the window size by appropriately setting the minimum period and the maximum period.

On the other hand, the size and the movement interval of the analysis section have a great influence on the calculation accuracy as well as the detection accuracy. For example, as the size of the analysis section increases, the influence of the noise signal decreases, but the calculation amount increases. Also, for example, if the interval of movement of the analysis section is reduced, the resolution of the detection result increases while the amount of calculation increases.

Therefore, the size and the movement interval of the analysis section need to be varied in consideration of the calculation amount and the sensitivity of the heart rate variability.

Accordingly, the fetal heartbeat detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention can dynamically change the size and the movement interval of the current analysis period based on the signal period of the previous signal, thereby enabling continuous beat-to-beat detection.

2 is a view for explaining an autocorrelation function to which a weight is applied according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 (a) shows a general autocorrelation function, (b) shows a general AMDF (Average Magnitude Difference Function), and (c) shows an autocorrelation function applying a reciprocal of AMDF as a weight.

Referring to FIG. 2 (a), when only the autocorrelation function is applied, a peak appearing before the fundamental period or a peak appearing after the fundamental period is detected and an erroneous period in which the repetition period is decreased or increased sometimes occurs.

Referring to FIG. 2 (b), when AMDF is applied, the waveform of the AMDF appears opposite to the waveform of the autocorrelation function, thereby detecting a notch (not a peak) and detecting a signal period.

Referring to FIG. 2 (c), there is an effect that the peak is more emphasized in the autocorrelation function by taking the reciprocal of AMDF and giving a weight to the autocorrelation function. However, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), when the function value of the AMDF decreases to a small value, the weight increases and the peak of the next signal period is emphasized rather than the basic signal period.

FIGS. 2 (d) and 2 (e) show autocorrelation functions to which weights according to an embodiment of the present invention are applied.

Referring to (d) of FIG. 2, a weight is applied to the autocorrelation function as a function obtained by normalizing the AMDF and taking 1's complement. Thereby, the peak corresponding to the basic signal period is emphasized.

Referring to FIG. 2 (e), a function obtained by normalizing the AMDF and taking 1's complement is applied as a weight, and a weight is applied after a square of the autocorrelation function. Thereby, there is an effect that the peak is emphasized as compared with the weight applying method shown in (d) of FIG.

3 is a structural view illustrating a fetal heartbeat detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The components described with reference to FIG. 3 are not essential, so that the fetal heartbeat detection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can be implemented with more or fewer components.

Referring to FIG. 3, the fetal heartbeat detecting apparatus includes a receiving unit 11, a signal period detecting unit 12, a heart rate calculating unit 13, and the like.

The receiving unit 11 receives a Doppler ultrasound signal reflected from the heart of the fetus using an ultrasonic transducer.

The signal period detector 12 detects the peak of the Doppler ultrasound signal received through the receiver 11 by applying a weighted autocorrelation function, and detects a signal period based on the peak detection period.

The signal period detection unit 12 includes a preprocessing unit 121, a window setting unit 122, a weight calculation unit 123, an autocorrelation unit 124, a peak detection unit 125, and the like.

The preprocessing unit 121 preprocesses the input Doppler ultrasound signals. The preprocessing unit 121 filters the Doppler ultrasound signals using a band pass filter or performs a Hilbert transform on the filtered signals using a band pass filter to perform envelope detection . Further, it outputs an envelope detection signal accordingly.

The window setting unit 122 outputs at least a part of the envelope detection signal selected by the window among the envelope detection signals output from the preprocessing unit 121. [

The window indicates the data analysis period to be the peak detection target among the envelope detection signals, and the window setting unit 122 can set the window size and the movement interval. The window setting unit 122 dynamically controls the window size and the movement interval based on the previously detected signal period, that is, the peak detection period. For example, a period corresponding to twice the previously detected signal period can be set as the peak detection window, and the previously detected signal period can be set as the window movement interval. Here, the signal period is a value calculated on the basis of the peak interval detected by the peak detecting unit 12, which will be described later, and corresponds to the heartbeat period of the fetus.

On the other hand, the window setting unit 122 initializes the window size and the movement interval to the initial values in the state before the heartbeat detection or the state where the fetal heartbeat is not detected, that is, when there is no detected peak. The initial value is set in consideration of the maximum range of the signal period. For example, a window size of 2.0 sec and a movement interval of 0.5 sec can be set as an initial value.

The weight calculation unit 123 obtains the AMDF function value by applying AMDF to the analysis interval signal output from the window setting unit 122. [ Also, the obtained AMDF function value is normalized, and the weight is obtained by taking one's complement.

The autocorrelation unit 124 acquires an autocorrelation function by taking an autocorrelation function of the analysis interval signal output from the window setting unit 122. Thereafter, the autocorrelation unit 124 applies a weight calculated by the weight calculation unit 123 to the autocorrelation function so as to further clarify the peak of the signal. Also, the autocorrelation unit 124 may apply a weight calculated by the weight calculation unit 123 after performing a multiplication of the autocorrelation function to make the peak of the signal more clear.

The peak detecting unit 125 analyzes the autocorrelation function output from the autocorrelation unit 124 to detect a peak. Further, the signal period is obtained based on the peak detection interval. The peak detected by the peak detector 125 represents the peak of the Doppler ultrasound signal, and the peak interval corresponds to the signal period of the Doppler ultrasound signal, that is, the heartbeat period.

The heart rate calculating unit 13 calculates the heart rate of the fetus based on the signal period acquired by the signal period detecting unit 12. [

4 is a flowchart illustrating a fetal heartbeat detection method of a fetal heartbeat detection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the receiving unit 11 receives a Doppler ultrasound signal reflected from the heart of a fetus using an ultrasonic transducer (S101).

Thereafter, the signal period detector 12 detects the peak of the Doppler ultrasound signal received through the receiver 11 by applying a weighted autocorrelation function. Further, the signal period is detected based on the detected peak interval (S102). Here, the peak detection method will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5 to be described later.

The heart rate calculation unit 13 finally calculates the heart rate of the fetus based on the signal period detected by the signal period detection unit 12 (S103).

5 is a flowchart illustrating the peak detection method of step S102 in more detail.

Referring to FIG. 5, the preprocessing unit 121 preprocesses the input Doppler ultrasound signal (S201). The preprocessing unit 121 filters the Doppler ultrasound signal using a bandpass filter or outputs a envelope detection signal through a preprocessing process of Hilbert transforming the filtered signal using a bandpass filter.

The window setting unit 122 sets an initial value of a window for selecting a data analysis period of the envelope detection signals output from the preprocessing unit 121. [ That is, the size and the moving interval of the window are set as initial values (S202). Also, the data analysis section of the envelope detection signal is selected using the set window.

The weight calculation unit 123 obtains an AMDF function value by applying AMDF (Average Magnitude Difference Function) to an analysis interval selected by the window among the entire sections of the signal output from the preprocessing unit 121. [ In addition, the obtained AMDF function value is normalized, and a weight is obtained by taking 1's complement (S203).

The autocorrelation unit 124 acquires an autocorrelation function in an analysis interval selected by the window and acquires an autocorrelation function. Further, the weighting unit 123 applies a weight calculated by the weighting calculation unit 123 to the obtained autocorrelation function, and outputs it (S204).

In step S204, the autocorrelation unit 124 may apply a weight calculated by the weight calculation unit 123 after performing a square operation on the autocorrelation function, thereby making the peak of the signal more apparent.

Equation (2) below represents the weighting calculation method of step S204.

The peak detector 125 detects the peak by analyzing the autocorrelation function output in step S204 (S205).

When a peak is detected within the analysis interval, the peak detector 125 acquires the signal period based on the detected interval between peaks. In addition, the window setting unit 122 dynamically updates the window size and the movement interval based on the detected signal period (S206). The size and movement interval of the updated window are then used to determine the next analysis interval.

On the other hand, if no peak is detected in the analysis interval, the peak detector 125 returns to step S202 to initialize the window size and the motion interval as initial values. The size and movement interval of the window thus initialized are then used to select the next analysis interval.

Meanwhile, the peak detection is repeatedly performed while moving the window until the peak detection is completed with respect to the entire section of the Doppler ultrasound signal received through the receiver 11 (S207).

When the peak detection is completed for all the Doppler ultrasound signals, the signal period detector 12 acquires the signal period based on the finally detected peak interval (S208).

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the peak corresponding to the basic signal cycle is further emphasized by applying the function obtained by normalizing the AMDF and taking 1's complement as a weight value. Accordingly, there is an effect of reducing the peak detection error, thereby improving the accuracy of the fetal heartbeat detection using the improved signal cycle detection accuracy.

Meanwhile, in one embodiment of the present invention, a peak of a Doppler ultrasound signal is detected using an autocorrelation function to which a weight is applied. However, it is clear that the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. The weighted autocorrelation functions disclosed in this document may be applied to detect peaks in various audio signals, such as speech signals.

As used in this embodiment, the term " portion " refers to a hardware component such as software or an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) or ASIC, and 'part' performs certain roles. However, 'part' is not meant to be limited to software or hardware. &Quot; to " may be configured to reside on an addressable storage medium and may be configured to play one or more processors. Thus, by way of example, 'parts' may refer to components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, and processes, functions, , Subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided in the components and components may be further combined with a smaller number of components and components or further components and components. In addition, the components and components may be implemented to play back one or more CPUs in a device or a secure multimedia card.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims It can be understood that

Claims (17)

Obtaining a function value to which an AMDF (Average Magnitude Difference Function) is applied to an audio signal,
Obtaining a weight by taking 1's complement to the function value,
Applying the weight to an autocorrelation function of the audio signal, and
Detecting a peak from the autocorrelation function to which the weight is applied
≪ / RTI > The method according to claim 1,
Wherein applying the weights comprises:
And applying the weight to a square of an autocorrelation function of the audio signal. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising calculating a signal period of the audio signal using the peak,
Wherein the window size and the movement interval for peak detection are updated dynamically based on the previous signal period. The method of claim 3,
And when the peak is not detected or before peak detection, initializing the size and the movement interval of the window. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising acquiring an envelope signal from the audio signal,
Wherein the AMDF and autocorrelation for the audio signal is performed using the envelope signal. A weight calculation unit for taking a 1's complement to a function value to which AMDF is applied to an audio signal and obtaining a weight value,
An autocorrelation unit for applying the weight to an autocorrelation function of the audio signal and outputting the weighted value;
A peak detector for detecting a peak from the autocorrelation function output from the autocorrelation unit;
And a peak detector. The method according to claim 6,
And the autocorrelator applies the weight to a square of an autocorrelation function of the audio signal. The method according to claim 6,
And a window setting unit for setting a window size and a movement interval for peak detection. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the peak detecting unit calculates a signal period of the audio signal using the peak,
Wherein the window setting unit dynamically updates the size and the movement interval of the window based on a previous signal period calculated by the peak detection unit. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the window setting unit initializes the size and the movement interval of the window when the peak is not detected or before the peak is detected. The method according to claim 6,
And a preprocessor for detecting an envelope signal from the audio signal and outputting the envelope signal to the weight calculation unit and the autocorrelated unit. A receiver for receiving a Doppler ultrasound signal using an ultrasonic transducer,
A weight calculator for obtaining a weight by taking one's complement of a function value to which AMDF is applied to the Doppler ultrasonic signal,
An autocorrelation unit for applying the weight to the autocorrelation function of the Doppler ultrasonic signal and outputting the weighted value,
A peak detector for detecting a peak from the autocorrelation function output from the autocorrelation unit and obtaining a signal period from the peak, and
A heart rate calculator for calculating a heart rate of a fetus based on the signal period;
And a fetal heartbeat detecting device. 13. The method of claim 12,
Wherein the autocorrelator applies the weight to a square of an autocorrelation function of the Doppler ultrasonic signal. 13. The method of claim 12,
And a window setting unit for setting the size and the movement interval of the window for peak detection. 15. The method of claim 14,
Wherein the window setting unit dynamically updates the size and the movement interval of the window based on a previous signal period calculated by the peak detection unit. 16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the window setting unit initializes a size and a moving interval of the window when the peak is not detected or before the peak is detected. 13. The method of claim 12,
And a preprocessor for detecting an envelope signal from the Doppler ultrasound signal and outputting the envelope signal to the weight calculator and the autocorrelator.

Images