KR20180074624A - Method and apparatus for measuring bio-signal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for more precisely measuring a bio-signal and an apparatus thereof. The method includes the following steps of: generating a bio-signal based on a bio-signal measuring sensor by the apparatus for measuring a bio-signal; converting the bio-signal into a pulse-signal by signal-processing the bio-signal based on a first voltage distribution time constant circuit and a wave change portion by the apparatus for measuring a bio-signal; and generating first bio-information by counting the pulse-signal based on a counter by the apparatus for measuring a bio-signal. The first voltage distribution time constant circuit may filter a signal in a specific frequency band from the bio-signal based on voltage distribution using serial resistance included in the first voltage distribution time constant circuit.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring bio-

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a signal measurement method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for measuring a biological signal.

Individuals' interest in health is heightened by the improvement of economic and medical skills. In addition, the proportion of the elderly population in Korea exceeds 7% in 2001, and now the elderly population to be burdened by the society is increasing rapidly. In order to meet the interest of health and reduce the burden of medical expenses, the u-health care system that introduces the ubiquitous concept to the individual's health care is emerging as a solution.

u-Healthcare refers to a system that provides medical services without constraining time and space by expanding information and wireless communication technologies and network infrastructures in the healthcare system. In order to construct a u-healthcare system free from time and space constraints, it is necessary to develop a portable device capable of continuously measuring bio-signals.

Existing ECG (electrocardiography) sensors have difficulty measuring heart rate in clothes. For example, when a person moves largely, the noise of the input bio-signal becomes worse, so that it is difficult to trust the bio-signal. In other words, the skin surface and the contact point of the body are unstable (not closely contacted), and noise increases in the input biological signal when the human motion is increased, and it is difficult to accurately sense the ECG sensor due to such noise.

One aspect of the present invention provides a method for more accurately measuring a living body signal.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an apparatus for performing a method for measuring a living body signal more accurately.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for measuring a bio-signal, comprising the steps of: generating a bio-signal based on a bio-signal measurement sensor; Converting the bio-electrical signal into a pulse signal, and generating the first bio-information by counting the pulse signal based on the counter, wherein the bio-signal measuring device generates the first bio- Number circuit may filter a signal of a specific frequency band in the bio-signal based on a voltage distribution using a series resistor included in the first voltage distribution time constant circuit.

The step of converting the pulse signal into the pulse signal may include generating the first waveform signal based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit, Wherein the first voltage divider circuit includes a first series resistor and a second series resistor that are positioned between a power supply voltage and ground to distribute the power supply voltage, 2 series resistor and a first capacitor coupled between the first series resistor and the second series resistor, the first voltage distribution time constant circuit comprising: a first series resistor and a second series resistor, May have a voltage distribution time constant of less than or equal to a first threshold value.

The step of converting the pulse signal into the pulse signal may include the steps of the bio-signal measurement device generating the bio-signal as a first waveform signal based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit, and the bio- Filtering and / or amplifying the first waveform signal to generate a filtered first waveform signal based on the waveform change unit, converting the filtered first waveform signal into the pulse signal based on the waveform change unit, Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit comprises a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the supply voltage and ground to distribute the supply voltage and a second series resistor and a second series resistor, And a first capacitor connected between the series resistors, the first voltage distribution time constant circuit comprising: a first series resistor and a second series resistor, The first capacitor is determined based on one can have a number of voltage distribution constant of less than or equal to the threshold value.

The bio-signal measurement method may further include the steps of the bio-signal measurement device generating the bio-signal as a second waveform signal based on a second voltage distribution time constant circuit, wherein the bio-signal measurement device includes an analog-to-digital converter Converting the second waveform signal into a digital signal based on the digital signal and generating the second biometric information based on the digital signal.

The first voltage divider circuit may further include a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the first supply voltage and the ground to distribute the first supply voltage and a second series resistor and a second series resistor, Wherein the first voltage divider time constant circuit comprises a first voltage divider circuit having a voltage distribution time constant equal to or less than a first threshold value determined based on the first series resistor and the second series resistor and the first capacitor, Wherein the second voltage divider time constant circuit comprises a third series resistor and a fourth series resistor located between the second supply voltage and ground to distribute the second supply voltage and a third series resistor and a fourth series resistor, Wherein the second voltage distribution time constant circuit comprises a second capacitor connected between the third series resistor and the fourth series resistor and a second capacitor connected between the second series resistor and the second capacitor, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > voltage / time < / RTI >

The bio-signal measurement method may further include the steps of: removing the noise on the pulse signal based on the characteristics of the pulse signal; measuring a predicted measurement based on previous bio-information generated by the bio- Determining the reliability of the biometric information based on the comparison between the predicted value and the biometric information; and determining the reliability of the biometric information based on the comparison between the predicted value and the biometric information, and using the measured predictive value or the biometric information, .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for measuring a bio-signal, the apparatus comprising: a processor for generating a bio-signal based on a bio-signal measurement sensor; To generate a first biometric information by counting the pulse signal based on a counter, and the first voltage distribution time constant circuit may be configured to generate a first biometric information signal A signal of a specific frequency band in the bio-signal can be filtered based on the voltage distribution using the included series resistance.

The processor may be configured to generate the first waveform signal based on the first voltage division time constant circuit and to convert the first waveform signal into the pulse signal based on the waveform change unit , The first voltage distribution time constant circuitry includes a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the supply voltage and ground to distribute the supply voltage and a second series resistor and a second series resistor between the first series resistor and the second series resistor, And the first voltage divider time constant circuit may have a voltage distribution time constant of less than a first threshold based on the first series resistance and the second series resistance and the first capacitor.

The processor may generate the first waveform signal based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit, filter and / or amplify the first waveform signal based on the filter and the amplification unit, And converting the filtered first waveform signal into the pulse signal based on the waveform change unit, wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit is disposed between the power source voltage and the ground, A first series resistor and a second series resistor for distributing a voltage and a first capacitor coupled between the first series resistor and the second series resistor, wherein the first voltage divider circuit comprises a first series resistor and a second series resistor, And may have a voltage distribution time constant of less than or equal to a first threshold determined based on the second series resistance and the first capacitor.

The processor generates the second waveform signal based on the second voltage distribution time constant circuit, converts the second waveform signal into a digital signal based on an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) , And generate the second biometric information based on the digital signal.

The first voltage divider circuit may further include a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the first supply voltage and the ground to distribute the first supply voltage and a second series resistor and a second series resistor, Wherein the first voltage divider time constant circuit comprises a first voltage divider circuit having a voltage distribution time constant equal to or less than a first threshold value determined based on the first series resistor and the second series resistor and the first capacitor, Wherein the second voltage divider time constant circuit comprises a third series resistor and a fourth series resistor located between the second supply voltage and ground to distribute the second supply voltage and a third series resistor and a fourth series resistor, Wherein the second voltage distribution time constant circuit comprises a second capacitor connected between the third series resistor and the fourth series resistor and a second capacitor connected between the second series resistor and the second capacitor, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > voltage / time < / RTI >

In addition, the processor removes noise on the pulse signal based on the characteristics of the pulse signal, and based on the comparison between the predicted measurement based on the previously generated previous biometric information and the biometric information, And to use the measurement estimate or the biometric information according to the reliability to generate the physical condition information of the measurement object.

According to the method and apparatus for measuring a bio-signal according to the embodiment of the present invention, the noise of a bio-signal inputted based on the voltage distribution time constant circuit is processed and the bio-signal is converted into a pulse signal through the waveform conversion circuit, The biometric information of the object can be obtained.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a heart rate measurement method and an ECG waveform detection method based on an existing ECG (electrocardiography) sensor.
2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a bio-signal measurement apparatus for measuring a bio-signal of a measurement object according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a bio-signal measurement apparatus for measuring a bio-signal of a measurement object according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 to 6 are conceptual diagrams showing a specific circuit configuration of the bio-signal measuring apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a circuit diagram showing a Schmitt trigger according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an apparatus for measuring a living body signal for measuring a living body signal of a measurement subject according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method of analyzing a bio-signal according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method of generating pulse signal time information according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an apparatus for measuring a living body signal for measuring a living body signal of a measurement subject according to an embodiment of the present invention.
12 and 13 are conceptual diagrams showing a bio-signal measurement apparatus for measuring a bio-signal of a measurement object according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a bio-signal measurement method in a bio-signal measurement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different, but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, certain features, structures, and characteristics described herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in connection with an embodiment. It is also to be understood that the position or arrangement of the individual components within each disclosed embodiment may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled, if properly explained. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to the same or similar functions throughout the several views.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a heart rate measurement method and an ECG waveform detection method based on an existing ECG (electrocardiography) sensor.

Referring to FIG. 1, measurement of a living body signal based on an existing ECG sensor is difficult to have high accuracy.

The conventional bio-signal measurement apparatus performs signal processing based on an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 110, digital data processing and storage 120 for a biological signal sensed by the ECG sensor 100 Biometric information of the subject was obtained.

In a conventional bio-signal measuring device, when a measurement object (for example, a person) moves largely when measuring a bio-signal, the input bio-signal may have a large amount of noise. Therefore, accurate measurement of heart rate data was difficult.

Or when the contact point between the skin surface of the object to be measured and the contact point between the ECG sensor does not closely contact and the motion of the object to be measured increases to increase the noise due to other biological signals, It made it difficult. In addition, since noises due to clothes or other elements (such as static electricity) are sensed by the ECG sensor as biological signals, it is difficult to accurately measure the biological signals.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for accurately measuring a living body signal of a measurement object based on a sensor accurately.

In the present invention, a method of generating biometric information (for example, heart rate information and electrocardiographic information) based on a bio-signal of a bio-signal measuring device (or a bio-signal measuring part) based on an ECG sensor and a method of generating a photo- (E.g., pulse rate information and pulse waveform information) based on a bio-signal of a bio-signal measurement device (or a bio-signal measurement part) based on the bio-signal. The body condition information (stress index, blood pressure, etc.) of the measurement subject can be generated based on the generated biometric information. The physical condition information is used as information for monitoring the condition of the measurement subject, and when the manager of the measurement subject exists, the physical condition information of the measurement subject can be transmitted to the manager.

As described above, the sensing result of the bio-signal measuring device based on a conventional bio-signal sensor (for example, an ECG sensor, a PPG sensor, or the like) for sensing the bio-signal in the related art, Only reliable. On the other hand, when the measurement object is in a dynamic state, a conventional bio-signal measurement device may have a sensing value that is difficult to be relied upon.

A method and apparatus for measuring a bio-signal according to an embodiment of the present invention discloses a method for processing a bio-signal to generate reliable biometric information.

The bio-signal measuring apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention generates bio-information such as a heart rate and a pulse with higher reliability even when the measurement object is in a dynamic state based on the circuit configuration of the new sensor signal processing apparatus and the bio- can do. The primary biological signal is stabilized by the signal processing device and the biometric signal analysis algorithm for the biological signal received from the signal processing device is used to obtain a more accurate and reliable biological signal (heart rate, pulse) than the secondary biological signal .

Hereinafter, a method and an apparatus for measuring a living body signal of a measurement object more accurately based on a sensor are described in detail in the embodiments of the present invention. The bio-signal measuring apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention may be implemented on the basis of a plurality of discrete elements (chips) or a single chip.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a bio-signal measurement apparatus for measuring a bio-signal of a measurement object according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a biomedical signal measuring apparatus for generating biometrics information (for example, heart rate information and electrocardiogram information) based on an ECG sensor is disclosed.

The bio-signal measuring apparatus may include a heart rate measuring unit for measuring the heart rate of the measurement subject, and an electrocardiogram measuring unit for measuring the electrocardiogram of the measurement subject.

2 (a), the electrocardiogram signal, which is a biological signal sensed by the ECG sensor 200, can be input to the heart rate measuring unit and the electrocardiogram measuring unit.

The heart rate measuring unit may include a first voltage distribution time constant circuit 210, a filter and amplifying unit 220, a Schmitt trigger 230, and a counter 240.

The first voltage distribution time constant circuit 210 may be used to detect an R wave signal having a peak value in the electrocardiogram full periodic waveform included in the electrocardiogram signal based on the first voltage distribution time constant. The R waveform signal detected based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit 210 may be utilized to obtain heart rate information of a measurement object.

The filter and amplifying unit 220 further filters the waveform signal in the different frequency range from the R waveform signal received through the first voltage divider 208, and when the size of the R waveform signal is small, Can be implemented for amplification. The R-wave signal filtered and / or amplified by the filter and amplifying unit 220 may be expressed by the term filtered R-wave signal.

The filter and amplification unit 220 may be implemented as separate components (for example, a filter unit and an amplification unit).

In FIG. 2 (b), the heart rate measuring unit for measuring the heart rate without the filter and the amplifying unit 220 is disclosed. The filter and amplification unit 220 may be coupled to the Schmitt trigger 230 as an optional component if filter and / or amplification for the R waveform detected via the first voltage distribution time constant circuit 210 is not required, And the R wave signal not having passed through the amplification unit 220 may be input.

The Schmitt trigger 230 may be implemented to receive and convert an R waveform signal or a filtered R waveform signal into a pulse signal. The Schmitt trigger 230 may be any of a variety of different pulse wave conversion circuits as an example circuit for conversion of the signal waveform into a pulse signal.

The counter 240 may count pulse signals generated based on the Schmitt trigger 230 to obtain heart rate information. The heart rate measuring unit can easily measure the heart rate of the measurement subject for a predetermined period based on the counting result by the counter 240. [

The electrocardiogram measuring unit may include a second voltage distribution time constant circuit 250, an analog to digital converter (ADC) 260, and a digital signal processing and storage unit 270.

The second voltage divider time constant circuit 250 is enabled by the ECG sensor 200 based on a second voltage distribution time constant that is greater than the first voltage distribution time constant used in the first voltage distribution time constant circuit 210 And to generate ECG information based on the sensed ECG signal. The signal output through the second voltage divider time constant circuit 250 may be the same as the electrocardiogram signal sensed by the ECG sensor 200. The buffer may be located before the second voltage distribution time constant circuit 250 for signal processing in the second voltage distribution time constant circuit 250. [

The waveform output through the second voltage divider time constant circuit 250 is converted into digital data through the ADC 260 and the electrocardiogram information of the measurement object can be obtained through processing on the digitized electrocardiogram data. The electrocardiogram information generated by the electrocardiogram measuring unit can be used for acquiring more detailed physical condition information (for example, a biological index, a psychological index) of the measurement subject.

An ADC for converting analog electrocardiogram signals to digital electrocardiogram data in the electrocardiogram measuring unit can be implemented in various ways. For example, the ADC can be a successive approximation register (SAR) ADC, a delta-sigma ADC, a sensor-to-time ADC, and the like. The output of the Sensor-to-Time ADC can be a value related to the variation width of the pulse. When the output of the Sensor-to-Time ADC is input to the N-bit counter, the ADC output of Nbit is obtained and the ADC output of Nbit is used to obtain more detailed physical status information of the measured object as digital electrocardiogram data. Lt; / RTI >

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bio-signal measuring apparatus may further include an automatic gain control (AGC) unit. The AGC unit can be implemented to adjust the output size of a bio-signal (for example, electrocardiogram signal) generated by a measurement object included in the bio-signal measurement apparatus. For example, in FIG. 2 (a), the AGC section may be connected to the amplification section. In FIG. 2 (b), the AGC section may be connected to the ECG sensor to adjust the output size of the biomedical signal.

Since the biometric signals outputted for each measurement object are different, the AGC unit can be implemented to generate the biometric signal with a biometric signal of a predetermined critical size or more. The AGC unit can be implemented to generate a biomedical signal with a critical size when the waveform is too large or too small to be measured based on the threshold size.

Each component of the heart rate measuring unit and the electrocardiograph measuring unit can be controlled based on a processor (for example, micro controller unit (MCU)) of the bio-signal measuring apparatus.

3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a bio-signal measurement apparatus for measuring a bio-signal of a measurement object according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 shows a bio-signal measuring apparatus based on an ECG sensor for measuring heart rate.

Referring to FIG. 3, when only a heart rate is measured in a bio-signal measuring device based on an ECG sensor, only a heart rate measuring part can be included in a bio-signal measuring device.

The bio-signal measuring device may include an ECG sensor, a Schmitt trigger 330 and a counter 340. The ECG sensor may include a differential amplifier 300 for amplifying signals of two electrodes, a high pass filter (HPF) A first voltage distribution time constant circuit 210, and a low pass filter (LPF) 320.

That is, the bio-signal obtained from the measurement object is amplified, the R waveform signal is filtered through the HPF 310, and the signal of the frequency band other than the R waveform signal can be filtered through the LPF 320. The subsequent filtered R waveform signal is converted to a pulse signal through the Schmitt trigger 330 and the counter 340 may count the pulse signal based on the counter 340 to obtain heart rate information. When measuring only the heart rate based on the bio-signal measurement device, there is no need for a separate ADC and a complicated algorithm for heart rate measurement. As a result, in the bio-signal measuring apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, heart rate information can be easily obtained in a counter manner with a simple circuit configuration.

4 to 6 are conceptual diagrams showing a specific circuit configuration of the bio-signal measuring apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

4 shows a specific circuit diagram of the first voltage division time constant circuit, the second voltage division time constant circuit, the filter and the amplification section. For convenience of explanation, a circuit diagram except for the ADC and the signal processing section in the electrocardiogram measuring section is shown in FIG. 4 except for the counter in the heart rate measuring section.

Referring to FIG. 4, the first voltage distribution time constant circuit, the second voltage distribution time constant circuit includes two series resistors (first series resistor 410, second series resistor 410, and second series resistor) 410 connected in series between the power supply voltage VDD and ground (420) and a capacitor (430) connected between the first series resistor (410) and the second series resistor (420).

The first series resistor 410 and the second series resistor 420 may distribute the power supply voltage and the capacitor 430 may serve to remove the DC component from the ECG output waveform. For example, the two series resistors (first series resistor 410, second series resistor 420) may be a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) resistor.

The voltage distribution time constant can be adjusted based on the values of the resistors 410 and 420 and the capacitor 430.

When the voltage distribution time constant is relatively small, the high frequency characteristics of the signal output through the voltage division time constant circuit can be relatively strong. Therefore, the first voltage distribution time constant of the first voltage distribution time constant circuit can be set to have a relatively low value (or a value lower than the first threshold value), and the electrocardiogram signal An intermediate R waveform signal can be output. The remaining waveform included in the electrocardiogram signal sensed by the ECG sensor is low frequency and can be removed.

On the contrary, when the voltage distribution time constant is relatively large, the high frequency characteristics of the signal output through the voltage distribution time constant circuit relatively weakens and the entire waveform of the electrocardiogram signal can be outputted. Therefore, the second voltage distribution time constant of the second voltage distribution time constant circuit can be set to have a relatively high value (or a value higher than the second threshold value), and the electrocardiogram signal Can be output.

That is, the first voltage distribution time constant circuit may pass the R waveform signal in the electrocardiogram signal based on the resistance and the value of the capacitor, and may not pass the remaining signal except the R waveform signal. However, since the first low-pressure distribution time constant circuit has a characteristic of passing a high-frequency signal, it can pass not only an R-shaped waveform signal but also other high-frequency noise. The high-frequency signal (or high-frequency noise) can be filtered by the filter and amplification unit 450 described above. The filter and amplifying unit 450 includes a low pass filter 470 for passing only a signal of a predetermined frequency or lower to remove a high frequency signal or a signal having a low frequency below the first threshold frequency, And a band-pass filter 460 configured to pass only signals except for signals having the same frequency band.

Or the filter and amplification unit 450 may be realized by only a resistor and a capacitor located at a buffer and an output terminal located at an input terminal or by a capacitor alone.

The filtered R-wave signal having passed through the filter and amplifying unit 450 can be input to the Schmitt trigger and converted into a pulse signal. The counter can acquire heart rate information by counting pulse signals generated based on the Schmitt trigger.

FIG. 5 shows a bio-signal measurement apparatus including only an amplification unit without a filter unit, and FIG. 6 shows a bio-signal measurement apparatus that does not include a filter unit and an amplification unit.

7 is a circuit diagram showing a Schmitt trigger according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In Fig. 7, a Schmitt trigger for converting an amplified R waveform signal (or R waveform signal) into a pulse signal is disclosed. Hereinafter, for the sake of convenience, it is assumed that the input signal is a filtered R-shaped signal, but the inputted signal may be an R-shaped signal that is not passed through the filter and the amplifying unit.

7 (a) discloses a schmitt trigger circuit implemented based on an OP-amp, and FIG. 7 (b) illustrates a digital schmitt trigger circuit implemented based on a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a Schmitt trigger implemented on the basis of an OP-amp, among schmitt trigger circuits for converting an amplified R waveform signal into a pulse signal, determines a level of a threshold voltage according to a resistance value, When the waveform signal reaches the high threshold voltage VTH, it outputs 1 and outputs 0 when the amplified R waveform signal reaches the low threshold voltage VTL.

The CMOS-based Schmitt trigger can determine the level of the threshold voltage based on the width / length ratio (W / L) of CMOS. Similarly, the Schmitt Trigger implemented based on CMOS outputs 1 when the amplified R waveform signal reaches the high threshold voltage (VTH), and outputs 0 when the amplified R waveform signal reaches the low threshold voltage (VTL) Can be output.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an apparatus for measuring a living body signal for measuring a living body signal of a measurement subject according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a bio-signal measurement apparatus for generating pulse rate information and pulse waveform information based on a PPG (photo-plethysmography) sensor.

8 (a) and 8 (b), the bio-signal measuring device implemented on the basis of the PPG sensor 800 is similar to the bio-signal measuring device implemented on the basis of the ECG sensor, To obtain pulse rate information, and to obtain pulse wave information. A pulse wave signal as an analog signal can be input to the first voltage distribution time constant circuit 810 and the pulse wave signal having passed through the first voltage distribution time constant circuit 810 is input to the first voltage distribution time constant circuit 810, The DC level can be stabilized based on the capacitors included in the capacitor. Only a frequency waveform of some frequency bands of the pulse waveform signal can be output based on the voltage distribution time constant of the first voltage distribution time constant circuit 810. [

Referring to FIG. 8A, the first-order filtered filtered waveform signal, which is primarily filtered based on the first voltage divider time constant circuit 810, is input to an additional filtering and amplifying unit 820 for removing noise, Can be input to the Schmitt trigger 830. [ The primary filtered pulsed waveform signal that has been further filtered and amplified and input to the Schmitt trigger 830 may be represented by the term secondary filtered pulsed waveform signal. 8B, the primary filtered pulsed waveform signal may be directly input to the Schmitt trigger 830. [

The Schmitt trigger 830 can output the primary filtered pulsed waveform signal (or the secondary filtered pulsed waveform signal) as a pulse signal. The pulse signal may act like a clock of counter 840 to determine pulse rate information.

Further, a pulse waveform signal, which is an analog signal, can be input to the second voltage distribution time constant circuit 850. [ The second voltage divider time constant circuit 850 receives the output signal (s) output via the PPG sensor 800 based on a second voltage distribution time constant that is greater than the first voltage distribution time constant of the first voltage distribution time constant circuit 810, To obtain a signal similar to a pulse wave signal. The pulse waveform signal outputted through the second voltage divider time constant circuit 850 can be converted into a digital signal via the ADC. The digitized pulse wave signal can be digitally processed and stored. The pulse waveform information can be generated based on the signal-processed pulse waveform signal.

Referring to FIG. 8 (c), a configuration of a living body signal measuring apparatus for measuring only a pulse rate is disclosed.

Similarly, a PPG sensor-based bio-signal measurement device may include a PPG sensor, an LPF, a Schmitt trigger, and a counter, and the PPG sensor may include an amplifier, a voltage distribution time constant circuit.

That is, the pulse waveform signal obtained from the measurement object is amplified, the signal is primarily filtered based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit performing the HPF function, and the first-order filtered pulse waveform signal is filtered by the LPF Lt; / RTI > The LPF may perform a secondary filtering on a secondary received signal to generate a secondary filtered pulse waveform signal. The second filtered filtered pulse wave signal based on the following HPF and LPF is converted into a pulse signal through the Schmitt trigger, and the counter can acquire pulse rate information by counting the pulse signal.

The bio-signal measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of generating a bio-signal (electrocardiogram signal, pulse wave signal) based on a bio-signal measurement sensor, measuring a bio- And converting the bio-signal to a pulse signal based on the waveform change unit, and generating the first bio-information (heart rate information, pulse rate information) by counting the pulse signal based on the counter, .

The first voltage distribution time constant circuit may filter the signal of a specific frequency band in the bio-signal based on the voltage distribution using the series resistance included in the first voltage distribution time constant circuit. In particular, the first voltage divider circuit includes a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the power supply voltage and ground to distribute the power supply voltage, and a first series resistor and a second series resistor connected between the first series resistor and the second series resistor, Capacitors. The first voltage distribution time constant circuit may have a voltage distribution time constant of less than or equal to a first threshold based on the first series resistance and the second series resistance and the first capacitor.

The bio-signal measurement apparatus for generating a pulse signal includes generating a first waveform signal (e.g., an R-wave signal and a first-order filtering pulse waveform signal) based on a first voltage distribution time constant circuit, And converting the first waveform signal into the pulse signal based on the change portion (e.g., Schmitt trigger).

Or for generating a pulse signal, the bio-signal measuring device may include generating a bio-signal as a first waveform signal based on a first voltage distribution time constant circuit, filtering the first waveform signal based on the filter and the amplification unit, and / Generating a filtered first waveform signal (for example, a filtered R waveform signal and a second-order filtered pulsewave signal) by amplifying and filtering the first waveform signal; and converting the filtered first waveform signal into a pulse signal based on the waveform- Can be performed.

The bio-signal measuring apparatus may further include a step of generating the biomedical signal as a second waveform signal (a similar electrocardiogram signal, a similar-pulse waveform signal) based on a second voltage distribution time constant circuit, an analog-to-digital converter Converting the second waveform signal into a digital signal based on the digital signal, and generating the second biometric information based on the digital signal.

The second voltage distribution time constant circuit includes a third series resistor and a fourth series resistor located between the second supply voltage and ground to distribute the second supply voltage and a second capacitor connected between the third series resistor and the fourth series resistor, And the second voltage distribution time constant circuit may have a voltage distribution time constant equal to or greater than a second threshold value determined based on the third series resistance and the fourth series resistance and the second capacitor.

In addition, the bio-signal measuring device eliminates noise on the pulse signal based on the characteristics of the pulse signal, and estimates the reliability of the bio-information based on the comparison between the predicted measurement based on the previous bio- And to use the measurement estimate or biometric information according to the reliability to generate the physical condition information of the measurement subject.

9 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method of analyzing a bio-signal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9 (a) discloses a bio-signal output based on a conventional ECG sensor and a PPG sensor.

FIG. 9B is a waveform diagram of an output signal of the bio-signal analyzing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The bio-signal output based on the ECG sensor and the PPG sensor is divided into a voltage dividing time constant circuit, And the like.

When a biological signal (heart rate signal, pulse signal) output based on an ECG sensor or a PPG sensor is converted into a pulse signal, a more reliable analysis result can be obtained based on the body signal.

When a biological signal is converted into a pulse signal, a separate ADC is not required, so that the circuit configuration is simplified. Therefore, the bio-signal analyzing apparatus can be realized with low power and low area.

When conversion to a pulse signal is performed as shown in Fig. 9 (b), unexpected noise may occur. According to the embodiment of the present invention, noise is removed from the pulse signal in consideration of the characteristic information of the expected pulse signal (for example, the magnitude of the repetitive occurrence time (or occurrence period) of the pulse signal and the width of the pulse signal) . For example, signals generated within a critical time after the generation of a pulse signal can all be ignored by being treated as a noise signal. Also, the pulse signal generated after the threshold time after the generation of the pulse signal can be counted as the heart rate.

The algorithm for determining the effective pulse signal can determine the effective heart rate / effective pulse rate of the measurement object in consideration of the feature information of the pulse signal of the measurement object such as the number of times of generation of the pulse signal and the width of the pulse signal in a certain period .

In addition, an algorithm for determining a valid pulse signal predicts a time between a pulse signal and a pulse signal based on the determined effective heart rate / effective pulse rate of the measurement object, and outputs a signal generated within the time between the pulse signal and the pulse signal as a noise signal And can be ignored.

In addition, the method of analyzing a bio-signal according to an embodiment of the present invention can determine whether or not an abnormality occurs in the body of a measurement subject in consideration of a change in the biometric information. For example, it is possible to determine whether the heart of the measurement subject is abnormal by calculating the heart rate change rate of the measurement subject. When the rate of change of heart rate is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, heart rate information of the measurement subject (for example, heart rate value, heart rate change magnitude, etc.) can be stored and electrocardiographic information can be stored / managed.

That is, according to the embodiment of the present invention, a more detailed determination can be performed on the symptom of the measurement object through the comprehensive analysis algorithm for the biometric information of the measurement object. For example, the physical condition information of the measurement object can be generated through the heart rate information and / or the electrocardiographic information, which are output values of the bio-signal analyzing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. For example, based on the heart rate information and / or the electrocardiographic information, the physical condition information such as the stress index, the biological index, the psychological index, and the momentum index of the subject can be determined.

Referring to FIG. 9B, time information (hereinafter referred to as pulse signal time information) extracted based on pulse signals such as T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and the like includes body condition information (stress, blood pressure, Body fat, skin temperature, etc.).

For example, the determination of the constitution of the measurement object can be performed based on the pulse signal time information T4 and the pulse signal time information T5. Based on the pulse time information such as T1 to T5, determination of the sasang constitution of the measurement object such as taeein, sun person, and the like can be performed. Further, prediction of the disease of the measurement target such as cancer, stroke, .

Pulse information measured in Oriental medicine may be related to the magnitude of the width of the pulse signal corresponding to the pulse signal. It is possible to determine whether the width of the pulse signal corresponding to the pulse signal is larger than the threshold value and to count the pulse signal that is larger than the threshold value to enable diagnosis based on the pulse information used in oriental medicine. In the body information measuring apparatus, the body condition information of the measurement subject can be obtained according to the variation of the pulse signal width such as T4, T5, and the like.

10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a method of generating pulse signal time information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In Fig. 10, a method of generating pulse signal time information T3 through measurement of T3 among pulse signal time information is disclosed. The pulse signal time information T3 may include information on a pulse transit time (PTT).

Referring to FIG. 10, the PTT 1000 may have a correlation with systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure of a subject to be measured. The pulse signal time information T3 may be a difference value between the time of occurrence of the first peak value measured by the ECG sensor-based bio-signal measuring device and the time of occurrence of the second peak value measured by the PGG sensor- have.

PTT 1000 may be inversely proportional to the size of systolic or diastolic blood pressure. Therefore, the PTT 1000 can be used to predict the blood pressure of the measurement subject. It is possible to predict the blood pressure of the measurement subject based on only the PTT 1000. However, it is possible to accurately estimate the blood pressure of the measurement subject based on the additional physical information of the measurement subject (for example, the body weight, arm length, Can be calculated.

11 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an apparatus for measuring a living body signal for measuring a living body signal of a measurement subject according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In Fig. 11, a biomedical signal measuring device for measuring PTT, which is pulse signal time information T3, is disclosed. For convenience of explanation, the bio-signal measurement apparatus disclosed in FIG. 9 is assumed to not include a filter and an amplification unit, but may be implemented in a form including a filter and an amplification unit.

Referring to FIG. 11, the bio-signal measuring apparatus includes a first signal output through a voltage divider circuit and a Schmitt trigger for an electrocardiogram signal measured based on an ECG sensor, a first signal output through a Schmitt trigger, The PPT 1150 can be measured based on the second signal output via the distribution time constant circuit and Schmitt trigger. The time when the Q value is 1 based on the S-R latch circuit 1100 may be the PPT 1150.

The apparatus for measuring a bio-signal according to an embodiment of the present invention simultaneously acquires a first pulse signal for an electrocardiogram signal and a second pulse signal for a pulse signal, and based on the first pulse signal and the second pulse signal, State information can be generated. When there is a separate manager for the measurement object, the physical condition information of the measurement object can be transmitted to the manager via the wireless / wired system. The manager can manage the measurement object based on the physical condition information of the measurement subject.

12 and 13 are conceptual diagrams showing a bio-signal measurement apparatus for measuring a bio-signal of a measurement object according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In Fig. 12, the bio-signal measuring apparatus can be implemented on the basis of a plurality of discrete elements (chips) or one chip.

Referring to FIG. 12, the bio-signal measuring device may generate heart rate information, electrocardiogram information, pulse rate information, pulse waveform information, and temperature information.

As described above, stable heart rate information and pulse rate information can be measured even when the measurement object is dynamic based on the voltage distribution time constant circuit that performs the function of the high-pass filter.

The living body signal measuring apparatus may include a first living body signal measuring unit 1200, a second living body signal measuring unit 1220, and a temperature measuring unit 1240.

The first bio-signal measuring unit 1200 may generate pulse rate information and pulse waveform information based on the PPG-based bio-signal measurement method disclosed in FIG.

The second biomedical signal measuring unit 1220 can generate heart rate information and electrocardiogram information based on the ECG-based bio-signal measurement method disclosed in FIG.

The temperature measuring unit 1240 can generate temperature information by measuring the temperature of the measurement object.

The pulse rate information, the pulse wave information, the heart rate information, the electrocardiogram information, and the temperature information measured by the bio-signal measuring device may be stored in a memory and may be stored in the memory and may include at least one of pulse rate information, pulse waveform information, heart rate information, If the information has a value deviating from the normal range, information on the abnormality of the measurement object can be transmitted to the manager.

13, electrocardiogram information, pulse waveform information, and temperature information are converted into digital information based on the ADC 1300, and electrocardiogram information, pulse waveform information, (pulse width modulation, PWM).

According to an embodiment of the present invention, reliable biometric information can be acquired based on a complex sensor (PPG, ECG, etc.). That is, when a measurement sensor is used as a multi-sensor, if another sensor is in trouble when there is a problem in measurement of biometric information, a stable sensing value can be obtained by supplementing the measurement of biometric information. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the bio-signal processing device such as ECG, PPG, temperature, etc. can generate biometric information on the basis of a certain period or a specific time interval. To save energy, the ECG sensor and the PPG sensor can be measured for a certain period of time rather than expressed in minutes, and the result can be calculated as one minute of biometric information.

(A current measurement signal) and a previously measured signal (a previous measurement signal) in order to acquire reliable biometric information when the state of the measurement object is recognized as a dynamic state by an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, The reliability of the current measurement signal can be determined.

If the current measurement signal is within the measurement expected range based on the previous measurement signal, the reliability of the current measurement signal may be determined to be relatively high. Biometric information (e.g., heart rate information, electrocardiographic information, pulse rate information, and pulse waveform information) based on the current measurement signal can be generated.

Conversely, if the current measured signal is outside of the expected range based on the previous measured signal, the reliability of the current measured signal may be determined to be relatively low. When the reliability of the current measurement signal is low, the generation of the biometric information based on the current measurement signal is not performed, and the measurement prediction information generated based on the previous measurement result can be utilized as the biometric information of the measurement target. The measurement prediction information generated based on the previous measurement result can be determined based on the degree of change of the existing biometric information. For example, if the heart rate tends to increase only in the heart rate information, the measurement prediction information can be generated based on the previous measurement results in consideration of the increase in the heart rate.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a bio-signal measurement method in a bio-signal measurement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 14 discloses a method for performing a reliable bio-signal measurement based on a comparison of a current measurement signal with a measurement estimate.

Referring to FIG. 14, it can be determined whether the motion of the measurement object exceeds the threshold range (step S1400).

If the motion of the measurement object does not exceed the critical range, the reliability of the current measurement signal can be determined to be relatively high. Accordingly, when the motion of the measurement object does not exceed the critical range, the biometric information (heart rate information, electrocardiographic information, pulse rate information, pulse waveform information, etc.) can be generated based on the current measurement signal (step S1410 ).

 Conversely, when the movement of the measurement object exceeds the critical range, it can be judged that the reliability of the current measurement signal is relatively low. Accordingly, when the motion of the measurement object exceeds the threshold range, the measurement prediction information generated based on the previous measurement result can be utilized as the biometric information of the measurement object (step S1420).

Such a bio-signal measurement method may be implemented in an application or may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer components and recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium may include program commands, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination.

The program instructions recorded on the computer-readable recording medium may be those specially designed and configured for the present invention and may be those known and used by those skilled in the computer software arts.

Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like.

Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those generated by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules for performing the processing according to the present invention, and vice versa.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be possible.

Claims (12)

A method of measuring a living body signal,
Generating a bio-signal based on the bio-signal measurement sensor;
Converting the bio-electrical signal into a pulse signal by signal processing the bio-electrical signal based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit and the waveform change unit; And
Wherein the bio-signal measuring device counts the pulse signal based on a counter to generate first bio-information,
Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit filters a signal of a specific frequency band in the bio-signal based on a voltage distribution using a series resistor included in the first voltage distribution time constant circuit. 2. The method of claim 1,
Generating a first waveform signal by the bio-signal measurement device based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit; And
Wherein the bio-signal measuring device converts the first waveform signal into the pulse signal based on the waveform change part,
Wherein the first voltage divider circuit comprises a first series resistor and a second series resistor positioned between the supply voltage and ground to distribute the supply voltage and a second capacitor coupled between the first capacitor and the second capacitor, Lt; / RTI >
Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit has a voltage distribution time constant less than a first threshold based on the first series resistance and the second series resistance and the first capacitor. 2. The method of claim 1,
Generating a first waveform signal by the bio-signal measurement device based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit; And
Filtering the first waveform signal and generating a filtered first waveform signal based on the filter and the amplification unit;
And converting the filtered first waveform signal into the pulse signal based on the waveform change unit,
Wherein the first voltage divider circuit comprises a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the supply voltage and ground to distribute the supply voltage and a first capacitor connected between the first series resistor and the second series resistor, Lt; / RTI >
Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit has a voltage distribution time constant that is less than or equal to a first threshold determined based on the first series resistance and the second series resistance and the first capacitor. The method according to claim 1,
Generating a biomedical signal as a second waveform signal based on a second voltage distribution time constant circuit;
Converting the second waveform signal into a digital signal based on an analog-to-digital converter (ADC); And
Further comprising the step of the biometric signal measuring device generating second biometric information based on the digital signal. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the first voltage divider circuit comprises a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the first supply voltage and ground to distribute the first supply voltage and a second series resistor and second series resistor between the first series resistor and the second series resistor, And a first capacitor connected thereto,
Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit has a voltage distribution time constant equal to or less than a first threshold value determined based on the first series resistor and the second series resistor and the first capacitor,
Wherein the second voltage divider circuit comprises a third series resistor and a fourth series resistor located between the second supply voltage and ground to distribute the second supply voltage and a fourth series resistor between the third series resistor and the fourth series resistor, And a second capacitor connected thereto,
Wherein the second voltage distribution time constant circuit has a voltage distribution time constant equal to or greater than a second threshold value determined based on the third series resistance and the fourth series resistance and the second capacitor. 6. The method of claim 5,
Removing the noise on the pulse signal based on the characteristic of the pulse signal;
Determining reliability of the biometric information on the basis of the comparison between the biometric information and the measurement prediction predicted based on the previous biometric information generated by the biometric signal measuring device; And
Wherein the bio-signal measuring device uses the measurement estimate or the bio-information according to the reliability to generate the physical condition information of the measurement object. A bio-signal measuring apparatus comprising:
The bio-signal measuring apparatus includes a processor,
The processor generates a bio-signal based on the bio-signal measurement sensor,
Signal processing of the bio-signal based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit and the waveform change unit, converts the signal into a pulse signal,
Counting the pulse signal based on a counter to generate first biometric information,
Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit filters a signal of a specific frequency band from the bio-signal based on a voltage distribution using a series resistor included in the first voltage distribution time constant circuit. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the processor generates the first waveform signal based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit,
And converting the first waveform signal into the pulse signal based on the waveform change unit,
Wherein the first voltage divider circuit comprises a first series resistor and a second series resistor positioned between the supply voltage and ground to distribute the supply voltage and a second capacitor coupled between the first capacitor and the second capacitor, Lt; / RTI >
Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit has a voltage distribution time constant less than or equal to a first threshold value based on the first series resistor, the second series resistor, and the first capacitor. 9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the processor generates the first waveform signal based on the first voltage distribution time constant circuit,
A filter and an amplifier for filtering and / or amplifying the first waveform signal to generate a filtered first waveform signal,
And converting the filtered first waveform signal into the pulse signal based on the waveform change unit,
Wherein the first voltage divider circuit comprises a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the supply voltage and ground to distribute the supply voltage and a first capacitor connected between the first series resistor and the second series resistor, Lt; / RTI >
Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit has a voltage distribution time constant equal to or less than a first threshold value determined based on the first series resistor and the second series resistor and the first capacitor. 8. The method of claim 7,
The processor generates the biosignal as a second waveform signal based on a second voltage distribution time constant circuit,
Converting the second waveform signal into a digital signal based on an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)
And the second bio-information is generated based on the digital signal. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the first voltage divider circuit comprises a first series resistor and a second series resistor located between the first supply voltage and ground to distribute the first supply voltage and a second series resistor and second series resistor between the first series resistor and the second series resistor, And a first capacitor connected thereto,
Wherein the first voltage distribution time constant circuit has a voltage distribution time constant equal to or less than a first threshold value determined based on the first series resistor and the second series resistor and the first capacitor,
Wherein the second voltage divider circuit comprises a third series resistor and a fourth series resistor located between the second supply voltage and ground to distribute the second supply voltage and a fourth series resistor between the third series resistor and the fourth series resistor, And a second capacitor connected thereto,
Wherein the second voltage distribution time constant circuit has a voltage distribution time constant equal to or greater than a second threshold value determined based on the third series resistance and the fourth series resistance and the second capacitor. 12. The method of claim 11,
Wherein the processor removes noise on the pulse signal based on the characteristics of the pulse signal,
Determining reliability of the biometric information on the basis of the predicted measurement based on the previously generated biometric information and comparing the biometric information with the biometric information,
And to use the measurement estimate or the biometric information for the generation of the physical condition information of the measurement object according to the reliability.

Images