KR101596347B1 - A mobile wireless communication device for measuring heart activity using an embedded coil and a method of measuring heart activity using the mobile wireless communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring heart activity using an embedded coil, and a method for measuring heart activity using the same. More specifically, the portable wireless communication terminal (100) for measuring heart activity comprises: a coil antenna (110) adjacent to a front side of a human body; a heart activity measuring unit (130) including an LC oscillator (131) wherein an oscillation frequency changes as eddy currents are induced to a biological tissue adjacent to the coil antenna (110); a wireless communication/charging unit (140) for carrying out short-range wireless communication or wireless charging via the coil antenna (110); and a conversion unit (120) for electrically connecting the coil antenna (110) with either the heart activity measuring unit (130) or the wireless communication/charging unit (140). According to the portable wireless communication terminal for measuring heart activity using an embedded coil and the method for measuring heart activity using the same, suggested in the present invention, by restoring a frequency of heartbeat (movement of the heart) from a changed frequency by using the fact that an oscillation frequency of the LC oscillator changes due to eddy currents generated inside of the human body when the coil of the portable wireless communication terminal approaches to the front side of the human body, heart beat of a user can be measured without the need to attach an extra electrode to the user. Additionally, since the device is easily carried and transferred, hear beat can be easily measured regardless of location.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring heart activity using an embedded coil, and a cardiac activity measuring method using the wireless communication terminal. [0002]

The present invention relates to a portable wireless communication terminal and a cardiac activity measuring method using the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil and a cardiac activity measuring method using the same.

As the population ages and the interest in health grows, technologies for measuring people's physical activity are also developing. Numerical values such as pulse and blood pressure can be measured to check the health of the body. For example, when a pulse is measured, electrocardiography (ECG) can be measured by displaying a heartbeat measured by attaching an electrode to a finger, wrist, or ankle on a display device in a graph. As a technique related to such a heart rate measuring apparatus, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2013-0104277 (Mar.

On the other hand, as another method of measuring heartbeat, a method of measuring photoplethysmography (PPG) is also known. The PPG measurement device is a non-invasive device for acquiring pulse contour of skin blood vessels and can measure changes in blood flow in microvessels of finger surface blood vessels using an infrared light emitting diode and a light receiving diode .

However, for electrocardiogram measurement, it is inconvenient to attach the electrode coated with gel directly to the body. In addition, in the case of an apparatus for measuring an optical pulse wave, there is a problem that a measured value may vary even with a fine movement of a finger. Furthermore, the electrocardiogram measuring device and the optical pulse measuring device are expensive and difficult to carry. In addition, a technique for measuring cardiac activity using widely spread portable wireless communication terminals such as smart phones, tablets and the like is not disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the previously proposed methods, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for controlling an LC oscillator By restoring the heartbeat (movement of the heart) from the changed frequency by using the characteristic of changing the oscillation frequency, it is possible to measure the heartbeat without the hassle of attaching the separate electrode to the user, And an object of the present invention is to provide a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil capable of easily measuring a heartbeat without arbitrariness and a method for measuring cardiac activity using the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil,

A coil antenna adjacent to a front surface of a body of a human body;

A cardiac activity measuring unit including an LC oscillator whose oscillation frequency is changed as a vortex current is induced in a living tissue close to the coil antenna;

A wireless communication / charging unit performing near field wireless communication or wireless charging through the coil antenna; And

And a switching unit for electrically connecting the coil antenna to any one of the heart activity measuring unit and the wireless communication / charging unit.

Preferably,

The heart activity measuring unit may further comprise a demodulating unit for recovering the changed oscillation frequency of the LC oscillator to a heartbeat frequency.

More preferably,

And a display unit for displaying the restored heart rate frequency in a graph of a similar electrocardiogram.

Preferably,

The wireless communication / charging unit may further comprise a control unit for RFID communication or NFC communication.

Advantageously,

And to disconnect the connection between the coil antenna and the cardiac activity measurement unit and to electrically connect the coil antenna to the wireless communication / charging unit when the current induced in the coil antenna exceeds a predetermined threshold value have.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for measuring cardiac activity using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil,

A cardiac activity measuring unit electrically connected to the coil antenna, a wireless communication / charging unit, and a switching unit controlling an electrical connection of the coil antenna, As an activity measurement method,

(1) electrically connecting the coil antenna and the cardiac activity measuring unit according to a switching signal provided to the switching unit;

(2) a current having a first frequency is provided to the coil antenna from an LC oscillator of the cardiac activity measurement unit;

(3) changing the first frequency to a second frequency by a vortex current induced from the living tissue of the human body; And

(4) restoring the second frequency to a heartbeat frequency by a demodulating unit of the cardiac activity measuring unit.

Preferably,

(0) electrically connecting the coil antenna and the wireless communication / charging unit.

Preferably,

The portable wireless communication terminal may further include a display unit,

The method for measuring cardiac activity comprises:

(5) displaying the restored heartbeat frequency on a graph of a similar electrocardiogram on the display unit.

Preferably,

The wireless communication / charging unit may further comprise a control unit for RFID communication or NFC communication.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for measuring cardiac activity using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil,

A cardiac activity measuring unit electrically connected to the coil antenna, a wireless communication / charging unit, and a switching unit controlling an electrical connection of the coil antenna, As an activity measurement method,

(1) electrically connecting the coil antenna to the cardiac activity measuring unit;

(2) a current having a first frequency is provided to the coil antenna from an LC oscillator of the cardiac activity measurement unit;

(3) changing the first frequency to a second frequency by a vortex current induced from the living tissue of the human body;

(4) restoring the second frequency to a heartbeat frequency by a demodulating unit of the cardiac activity measuring unit;

(5) determining whether a current induced in the coil antenna exceeds a preset threshold value; And

(6) when the coil antenna is provided with an induced current exceeding the threshold value, disconnection between the coil antenna and the cardiac activity measuring unit, and electrically connecting the coil antenna and the wireless communication / charging unit As a feature of the configuration.

Preferably,

The wireless communication / charging unit may further comprise a control unit for RFID communication or NFC communication.

According to the portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using the embedded coil proposed in the present invention and the cardiac activity measurement method using the same, the vortex current generated when the coil antenna of the portable wireless communication terminal approaches the front surface of the body of the human body It is possible to measure the heartbeat without the hassle of attaching a separate electrode to the user by restoring the heartbeat frequency from the changed frequency by utilizing the fact that the oscillation frequency of the LC oscillator is changed, You can easily measure your heart rate without being concerned.

FIG. 1 illustrates a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a view illustrating a process of performing heartbeat measurement using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating an example of cardiac activity measurement using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a graph showing a simulated electrocardiogram according to a result of measuring cardiac activity in FIG. 4; FIG.
6 is a graph of a reference electrocardiogram during measurement of cardiac activity of FIG. 4;
FIG. 7 illustrates another example of measuring cardiac activity using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 8 is a graph showing a similar electrocardiogram according to a result of measuring cardiac activity in FIG. 7; FIG.
9 is a graph of a reference electrocardiogram during measurement of cardiac activity of FIG. 7;
10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of measuring cardiac activity using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of measuring cardiac activity using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the present invention. In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. The same or similar reference numerals are used throughout the drawings for portions having similar functions and functions.

In addition, in the entire specification, when a part is referred to as being 'connected' to another part, it may be referred to as 'indirectly connected' not only with 'directly connected' . Also, to "include" an element means that it may include other elements, rather than excluding other elements, unless specifically stated otherwise.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the portable wireless communication terminal according to the present invention. 1 and 2, a portable wireless communication terminal 100 for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a coil antenna 110, a switching unit 120, An activity measurement unit 130, and a wireless communication / charging unit 140, and may further include a display unit 190. FIG. The cardiac activity measurement unit 130 may include an oscillation unit 131 and a demodulation unit 133. At this time, the oscillation unit 131 may include an LC oscillator including an inductor L and a capacitor C. The wireless communication / charging unit 140 may be configured to include a control unit 141 and a rectifier 143. Hereinafter, each configuration of the portable wireless communication terminal 100 for measuring cardiac activity using the embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with the cardiac activity measurement principle.

The permeability is a value indicating how a medium (object) is magnetized with respect to a given magnetic field. The permeability (μ) of a biological tissue (muscles, fat, etc.) can be approximated to 1, On the other hand, conductivity is a value indicating how much electricity the conductor will flow. Since the living tissue is not a complete insulator or a perfect conductor, the conductivity may be different depending on the living tissue.

In Faraday's Law of Electromagnetic Induction (Faraday's Law of Electromagnetic Induction), electromagnetic induction is a law in which the induced electromotive force is generated in a direction that reduces the change of magnetic flux. When a current flows in the coil, The generated magnetic field and Faraday's electromagnetic induction principle can be used to confirm the activity of living tissue. This principle will be described with reference to FIG.

3 is a view illustrating a process of performing heartbeat measurement using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3, when the coil antenna 110 of the portable radio communication terminal 100 is close to the front surface of the torso of the human body, according to Faraday's electromagnetic induction law, the body tissue (i.e., The magnetic flux in the volume of interest (VOI) induces a circular micro current, which is called an eddy current. The eddy current is generated by a VOI In this case, the eddy current density generated in the VOI of interest may be expressed by the following equation (2): < EMI ID = 1.0 > 1, the current density can be expressed as a diffusion equation for current density.

Here, σ denotes the conductivity of the living tissue, μ denotes the permeability of the living tissue, the vector J denotes the eddy current density, and t denotes the time.

The above principle is applied to the portable wireless communication terminal 100 as follows. 2 and 3, when the coil antenna 110 is electrically connected to the oscillating portion 131 of the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 by the switching unit 120, The primary coil (i.e., the coil antenna 110) connected to the oscillator 131 that oscillates at a predetermined frequency (for example, f0) The volume of interest (VOI)).

In this case, a vortex current is induced in the biological tissue (VOI) due to the time-varying magnetic field generated by the primary coil 110. A secondary magnetic flux generated by the vortex current is generated in the primary coil 110 By influencing the inductance, the oscillation frequency fo of the oscillation portion 131 can be changed. Particularly, in the case of a living tissue periodically changing like a heart, the influence of the movement can pseudo-periodically change the oscillation frequency f0 of the oscillation portion 131. [

The demodulating unit 133 is electrically connected to the oscillating unit 131 to recover the oscillating current of the oscillating unit 131. At this time, the demodulation unit 133 can restore the oscillation frequency changed due to the eddy current generated from the VOI of interest, including the heart, as the pseudo heartbeat frequency f_heart (t).

The similar electrocardiographic graph restored by the demodulator 133 may be displayed on the display unit 190 as shown in FIG. The display unit 190 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting display (LCD), or the like, as a part for outputting an image according to a control signal of a control unit (not shown) of the portable wireless communication terminal 100 an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a flexible display, a transparent display, and the like.

2, the coil antenna 110 may be electrically connected to the wireless communication / charging unit 140 by the switching unit 120. [ That is, the switching unit 120 may be an analog or digital switch, and may electrically connect the coil antenna 110 to any one of the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 and the wireless communication / charging unit 140. For example, the switch of the switching unit 120 disconnects the electrical connection between the coil antenna 110 and the cardiac activity measuring unit 130, and electrically connects the coil antenna 110 and the wireless communication / And may operate in the opposite direction.

The wireless communication / charging unit 140 may include a control unit 141 as a part that performs wireless data communication of the portable wireless communication terminal 100 or performs wireless power charging. For example, the control unit 141 of the wireless communication / charging unit 140 receives data received from the coil antenna 110 or provides data to the external wireless connection device through the coil antenna 110 . The control unit 141 may be configured to perform radio frequency identification (RFID) communication, near field communication (NFC) communication, and the like.

In addition, the rectifier 143 of the wireless communication / charging unit 140 may be configured to provide power to the control unit 141 using an electromotive force derived from a wireless charging device (not shown).

The switching operation of the switching unit 120 that switches the connection between the coil antenna 110 and the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 to the connection between the coil antenna 110 and the wireless communication / charging unit 140 is performed, for example, And may be performed according to a switching signal provided from a control unit (not shown).

Also, the switching operation of the switching unit 120 may be performed automatically according to a preset threshold signal. For example, when the current induced in the coil antenna 110 exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the switching unit 120 determines that wireless charging is proceeding, and the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 and the coil antenna The wireless communication / charging unit 140 and the coil antenna 110 may be electrically connected in place of the connection between the wireless communication unit 110 and the wireless communication /

4 is a diagram illustrating an example of cardiac activity measurement using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the coil antenna connected to the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 may include a flat coil antenna 111 for wireless charging, for example. In FIG. 4, for convenience of explanation, the configuration of the portable wireless communication terminal 100 is disassembled and only the coil antenna 111 and the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 are applied to the body.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a similar electrocardiogram according to a result of measuring cardiac activity in FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is a graph showing a reference electrocardiogram during measurement of cardiac activity in FIG. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, in the reference ECG graph, it is confirmed that the cardiac activity shrinks and expands at a constant period Pr1. In this case, when the cardiac activity is measured through the embedded coil antenna 110 of the portable wireless communication terminal as shown in FIG. 4 and restored to the similar electrocardiogram graph, the time at which the overall waveform or peak is peaked is somewhat different However, the pseudo heartbeat period Pcc, which is the interval between the peaks and the peaks, can be measured to approximate the heartbeat period Pr1 of the reference ECG graph of FIG. As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to easily measure the cardiac activity by simply bringing the coil antenna 110 of the portable radio communication terminal 100 close to the front surface of the body of the human body.

7 is a diagram illustrating another example of measuring cardiac activity using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the coil antenna connected to the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 may include a coil antenna 112 for NFC communication embedded in a back cover of a smart phone, for example. 7 shows a configuration in which only the coil antenna 112 and the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 are applied to the body by disassembling the configuration of the portable wireless communication terminal 100 for convenience of explanation.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing a similar electrocardiogram according to a result of measuring cardiac activity in FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a graph showing a reference electrocardiogram during measurement of cardiac activity in FIG. As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, in the reference ECG graph, it is confirmed that cardiac activity shrinks and expands at a constant period Pr2. In this case, when the cardiac activity is measured through the embedded coil antenna 110 of the portable wireless communication terminal as shown in FIG. 7 and restored to a similar electrocardiogram graph, the time at which the overall waveform or peak is peaked is somewhat different However, the pseudo heartbeat period Pnc, which is the interval between the peaks and the peaks, can be measured to approximate the heartbeat period Pr2 of the reference ECG graph of FIG.

10 is a flowchart illustrating a cardiac activity measurement method using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 and 10, a cardiac activity measurement method using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: (S110) of electrically connecting the cardiac activity measurement unit 130 to the cardiac activity measurement unit 130, a step S120 of supplying an electric current having a first frequency from the LC oscillator 131 of the cardiac activity measurement unit 130 to the coil antenna 110 A step S130 of changing a first frequency to a second frequency by a swirling current induced from a living body tissue of the human body and a step S230 of changing a second frequency to a heartbeat frequency by a demodulating unit 133 of the cardiac activity measuring unit 130. [ (S100) of electrically connecting the coil antenna 110 and the wireless communication / charging unit 140, and restoring the recovered heartbeat frequency to the display unit 190, A graphical representation of the (S150).

The step S100 of electrically connecting the coil antenna 110 and the wireless communication / charging unit 140 may be performed before the step S110 of electrically connecting the coil antenna 110 and the cardiac activity measurement unit 130 In step S110, the connection of the coil antenna 110 may be switched to the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 according to the switching signal provided to the switching unit 120. [

11 is a flowchart illustrating a cardiac activity measurement method using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to another embodiment of the present invention. 2, 10 and 11, a cardiac activity measurement method using a portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity using an embedded coil according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a coil antenna 110, A step S210 of electrically connecting the cardiac activity measurement unit 130 to the coil antenna 110, a step S210 of determining whether the current induced in the coil antenna 110 exceeds a preset threshold value, A step S220 of disconnecting the connection between the coil antenna 110 and the cardiac activity measurement unit 130 and electrically connecting the coil antenna 110 and the wireless communication / And may further include steps S120 to S140 of FIG. 10 between steps S200 and S210.

For example, in step S140 of the present embodiment, after the second frequency is restored to the heartbeat frequency by the demodulating unit 133 of the cardiac activity measuring unit 130, the portable wireless communication terminal is not in the heart rate measurement mode, Mode, the current induced in the coil antenna 110 may have a high value for wireless charging. In this case, the coil antenna 110 and the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 are automatically disconnected from each other. In this case, the coil antenna 110 and the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 are electrically connected to each other, The antenna 110 may be electrically connected to the wireless communication / charging unit 140.

The present invention may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics and scope of the invention.

100: portable wireless communication terminal 110: coil antenna
111: Wirelessly-charged flat plate coil antenna 112: Coil antenna for NFC communication
120: Switching unit 130: Cardiac activity measuring unit
131: oscillation part 133: demodulation part
140: wireless communication / charging unit 141: control unit
143: Rectifier
S100: Step of electrically connecting the coil antenna and the radio communication /
S110: electrically connecting the coil antenna to the cardiac activity measuring unit in accordance with the switching signal
S120: a current having a first frequency is supplied from the LC oscillator of the cardiac activity measurement section to the coil antenna
S130: the first frequency is changed to the second frequency by the eddy current induced from the living tissue of the human body
S140: restoring the second frequency to the heartbeat frequency by the demodulation unit of the cardiac activity measuring unit
S150: displaying the restored heart rate frequency on the display unit
S200: electrically connecting the coil antenna to the cardiac activity measuring unit
S210: judging whether the current induced in the coil antenna exceeds a predetermined threshold value
S220: when the coil antenna is provided with an induced current exceeding a threshold value, disconnecting the connection between the coil antenna and the cardiac activity measuring unit, and electrically connecting the coil antenna and the wireless communication /

Claims (5)

1. A portable wireless communication terminal for measuring cardiac activity,
A coil antenna 110;
A cardiac activity measuring unit 130 including an LC oscillator 131 whose oscillation frequency is changed as a vortex current of a living tissue is induced in the coil antenna 110;
A wireless communication / charging unit 140 for performing short-range wireless communication or wireless charging through the coil antenna 110; And
And a switching unit (120) for electrically connecting the coil antenna (110) to any one of the heart activity measuring unit (130) and the wireless communication / charging unit (140) A portable wireless communication terminal measuring activity.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the cardiac activity measuring unit (130) further comprises a demodulating unit (133) for recovering the changed oscillation frequency of the LC oscillator (131) to a heartbeat frequency. Wireless communication terminal.
3. The method of claim 2,
Further comprising a display unit (190) for displaying the restored heart rate frequency in a graph of a similar electrocardiogram, wherein the cardiac activity is measured using the embedded coil.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the wireless communication / charging unit (140) further comprises a control unit (141) for RFID communication or NFC communication.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the switching unit (120)
The connection between the coil antenna 110 and the cardiac activity measuring unit 130 is disconnected when the current induced in the coil antenna 110 exceeds a preset threshold value, (140). The portable wireless communication terminal according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cardiac activity is measured using an embedded coil.

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