KR20240050775A - Device and method for monitoring sleeping condition - Google Patents

Abstract

A sleep state monitoring device and method are disclosed. The sleep state monitoring device may include a communication unit that transmits and receives data, a sensor unit that measures the user's sleep state data, and a control unit that controls the communication unit to transmit the sleep state data to the user's smartphone.

Description

Sleep condition monitoring device and method {DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MONITORING SLEEPING CONDITION}

The present invention relates to technology for monitoring human sleep status, and more specifically, to technology for obtaining sleep status information using a wearable smart eye patch.

This can be used in home health care systems, medical record generation systems for hospital submission, and automatic alarm systems.

As interest in health management is increasing along with the development of medicine and the extension of life expectancy, various technologies are being developed to monitor sleep health while sleeping. For polysomnography, sleep status must be confirmed in a laboratory equipped with the necessary environment for analysis, so there are limitations to its application in real life. Accordingly, there has recently been a demand for technology to measure biosignals through small wearable devices that users can carry and wear in their daily lives.

The present invention seeks to provide a wearable device and method that can manage the user's health by measuring the user's sleep state using various biosensors.

As a technical means for achieving the above-described problem, one aspect of the present invention includes a communication unit for transmitting and receiving data, a sensor unit for measuring the user's sleep state data, and a control unit for controlling the communication unit to transmit the sleep state data to the user terminal. A sleep state monitoring device including:

In addition, in the sleep status monitoring device, the sensor unit includes a gyroscope sensor that measures the user's eye movements and posture changes during the user's sleep, a photoplethysmography sensor that measures oxygen saturation and heart rate, an audio sensor that measures breathing sounds, and body temperature. It may include a temperature sensor that measures.

Additionally, in the sleep state monitoring device, the sleep state monitoring device may be in the shape of an eye patch, the gyroscope sensor may be located on the user's eyes, and the photoplethysmography sensor may be located on the user's temple area.

Additionally, the sleep state monitoring device and the user terminal are located within a preset threshold distance, and sleep state data can be transmitted from the sleep state monitoring device to the user terminal through Bluetooth communication. Additionally, the preset threshold distance may be 3m.

Additionally, the sleep state data may include at least one of eye movement, posture change, oxygen saturation, heart rate, breathing sound, and body temperature.

In addition, another aspect of the present invention includes measuring the user's sleep state data using a plurality of sensors, transmitting the sleep state data to the user terminal, and displaying the sleep state data on the user terminal. A sleep state monitoring method may be provided.

Since the present invention collects biological signals with an eyepatch-type device, it has the technical effect of being able to more accurately determine the depth of sleep by measuring eye movement.

In addition, the present invention has the advantage that there is no need to use various equipment to measure biological signals, and that it can be worn in daily life and can be measured while sleeping. Furthermore, since sleep-related signals can be measured in daily life, signals can be collected every day, and based on this, it is easy to provide services that continuously manage sleep quality to individuals in daily life. For example, it is possible to obtain information about one's sleep state, which is difficult to obtain in normal times, and the information recorded about sleep state can also be processed and used as meaningful medical information.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a sleep state monitoring device provides sleep state data to a user terminal according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sleep state monitoring device according to an embodiment.
Figure 3 is a block diagram showing a sleep state monitoring device according to an embodiment.
Figure 4 is a flowchart showing a method by which a sleep state monitoring device transmits sleep state data to a user terminal according to an embodiment.
5 and 6 are diagrams showing examples of user terminal screens according to some embodiments.

Hereinafter, the invention will be described in detail by exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings. The following examples are only intended to embody the invention and do not limit or limit the scope of the invention. Anything that can be easily inferred by an expert in the technical field to which the invention belongs from the detailed description and examples will be interpreted as falling within the scope of the invention's rights.

Terms such as 'consists' or 'includes' used in this specification should not be construed as necessarily including all of several components or steps, and some of the components or steps may not be included. It may be possible, or it should be interpreted as being able to further include additional components or steps.

The terms used in this specification are described as general terms currently used in consideration of the functions mentioned in this specification, but they may mean various other terms depending on the intention or precedents of those skilled in the art, the emergence of new technologies, etc. You can. Therefore, the terms used in this specification should not be interpreted only by the name of the term, but should be interpreted based on the meaning of the term and the overall content of this specification. Additionally, singular expressions include plural meanings, unless the context clearly indicates singularity.

As used herein (particularly in the claims), “the” and similar referents may refer to both the singular and the plural. Additionally, in the absence of any description explicitly specifying the order of steps describing the method according to the present specification, the steps described may be performed in any suitable order. The present invention is not limited by the order of description of the steps described.

Phrases such as “in one embodiment” that appear in various places in this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

Some embodiments herein may be represented by functional block configurations and various processing steps. Some or all of these functional blocks may be implemented in various numbers of hardware and/or software configurations that perform specific functions.

Additionally, connection lines or connection members between components shown in the drawings merely exemplify functional connections and/or physical or circuit connections. In an actual device, connections between components may be represented by various replaceable or additional functional connections, physical connections, or circuit connections.

These embodiments relate to a sleep state monitoring device and method, and detailed descriptions of matters widely known to those skilled in the art to which the following embodiments belong will be omitted. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

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

1 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a sleep state monitoring device provides sleep state data to a user terminal according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a user who is sleeping while wearing the sleep status monitoring device 100 can continuously monitor the sleep status without being aware of it. Information such as the user's eye movements, sleeping posture, tossing and turning, body temperature, oxygen saturation, heart rate, snoring and apnea related to breathing is acquired through the sleep status monitoring device 100, and the information obtained in this way is stored in the user terminal 200. can be transmitted to At this time, the user terminal 200 may be the user's smartphone, tablet, or PC. Through this, the user terminal 200 can analyze the received information and determine the current user's sleep quality in real time. This allows users to respond quickly if they are currently in a dangerous state.

In addition, sleep state data can be presented in the form of smartphone application content to individual users who wish to check their sleep state through the user terminal 200. Additionally, sleep status data can be used as a reference by medical institutions in the future.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a sleep state monitoring device according to an embodiment.

In one embodiment, the battery and a plurality of sensors included in the sleep state monitoring device 100 in the form of an eye patch may be connected as shown in FIG. 2, and the connections must be made paying attention to polarity with reference to FIG. 2. In addition, in addition to the wiring, the sensor may not operate or the accuracy of the sensor may be significantly affected depending on the mounting direction and location of the board and whether it is mounted on the top or bottom, so it must be wired in the manner shown in Figure 2.

Additionally, the photoplethysmography sensor included in the eyepatch-type sleep status monitoring device 100 must be configured to be located on the temple area or the pulse area. Because there is sufficient blood flow in the temple area, using a photoplethysmography sensor is effective in measuring the user's blood oxygen saturation and heart rate more accurately. In general, although the photoplethysmography sensor is configured to be in contact with the temple area, the position is slightly different for each user, so care must be taken when wearing it. Moreover, in the case of a gyroscope sensor for measuring eye movement, it must be configured on the sleep state monitoring device 100 to be located above the user's eyes. In general, taking advantage of the characteristic that the deeper a human sleep is, the faster the eye movement becomes, according to the present invention, the depth of sleep due to the user's eye twitching is more difficult to judge due to the physical structure in which the user's eyeballs and the gyroscope sensor are in close contact. There are beneficial effects that can be achieved accurately.

Figure 3 is a block diagram showing a sleep state monitoring device 100 according to an embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sleep state monitoring device 100 according to an embodiment may include a communication unit 110, a sensor unit 120, and a control unit 130. However, not all of the components shown in FIG. 3 are essential components of the sleep state monitoring device 100. The device 100 may be implemented with more components than those shown in FIG. 3 , or the device 100 may be implemented with fewer components than the components shown in FIG. 4 .

For example, the device 100 may further include a user input unit (not shown), an output unit (not shown), and a memory (not shown) in addition to the communication unit 110, sensor unit 120, and control unit 130. there is.

The user input unit refers to a means through which a user inputs data to control the device 100. For example, the user input unit may include a dome switch, a touch pad, etc., but is not limited thereto.

The output unit may output an audio signal, a video signal, or a vibration signal, and the output unit may include a display unit, a sound output unit, and a vibration motor. The display unit may display and output information processed in the device 100. The sound output unit may output sound signals related to functions (eg, notification sounds) performed in the device 100.

The control unit 130 typically controls the overall operation of the device 100. For example, the control unit 130 can generally control the user input unit, output unit, sensor unit 120, communication unit 110, etc. by executing programs stored in the memory. Additionally, the control unit 130 may perform the functions of the device 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 by executing programs stored in the memory. The control unit 130 may include at least one processor. Depending on its function and role, the control unit 130 may include a plurality of processors or may include one processor in an integrated form.

In one embodiment, the communication unit 110 may be controlled to transmit sleep state data measured by the sensor unit 120 to the user terminal 200.

The sensor unit 120 may detect the state of the device 100, the user's state, or the state surrounding the device 100, and transmit the sensed information to the control unit 130. The sensor unit 120 may be used to generate some of the information representing the surrounding situation of the user or device 100.

The sensor unit 120 may include a gyroscope sensor, a photoplethysmography sensor, an audio sensor, and a temperature sensor.

The gyroscope sensor may measure the user's eye movements and/or changes in the user's posture while the user sleeps. The device 100 uses a gyroscope sensor to analyze 9-axis data in real time, distinguishing between small inertial changes corresponding to eye movement and large inertial changes resulting from posture changes such as turning the head or moving the body. By processing, sleep state data can be collected. In general, using the characteristic that the deeper the sleep, the faster the eye movement, the device 100 or the user terminal 200 determines the depth of the user's sleep over time through the number of eye movements measured by the gyroscope sensor. You can judge.

The photoplethysmography sensor can measure the user's blood oxygen saturation and/or heart rate while the user is sleeping.

The photoplethysmography sensor designed to measure the user's blood oxygen saturation and heart rate utilizes the characteristic of hemoglobin in the blood to absorb long-wavelength light well. In the case of blood vessels, light is absorbed and absorbed because their color is different from the surrounding skin tissue. The degree of reflection is different. By analyzing the light returning to the sensor using these properties, it is possible to measure the heart rate, which is when blood vessels swell and contract with the heartbeat. Additionally, since hemoglobin changes color depending on the amount of oxygen in the blood, oxygen saturation can be measured by emitting light of various wavelengths from a photoplethysmography sensor and analyzing the light that changes due to the difference in hemoglobin absorption rate. Through this, the device 100 or the user terminal 200 can determine whether oxygen supply was sufficient during the user's sleep and, for example, detect the user's sleep apnea.

The audio sensor can measure the user's breathing sounds while the user is sleeping. For example, the audio sensor can detect snoring, bruxism, apnea, etc. through audio signals related to the user's breathing while the user is sleeping. The audio sensor may be composed of a microphone, which receives external acoustic signals and processes them into electrical voice data. For example, a microphone can receive acoustic signals from a user. Microphones can use various noise removal algorithms to remove noise generated in the process of receiving external acoustic signals. Through this, the device 100 or the user terminal 200 can detect the user's sleep apnea or detect the user's snoring habit.

The temperature sensor can measure the user's body temperature while the user is sleeping. Through this, the device 100 or the user terminal 200 can detect changes in sleep quality according to temperature, such as a tropical night, through changes in the user's body temperature. Additionally, for example, the temperature sensor may be provided separately or may be included in the photoplethysmography sensor.

The sensor unit 120 according to another embodiment additionally includes at least one of a geomagnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, an infrared sensor, a position sensor (e.g., GPS), a barometric pressure sensor, a proximity sensor, and an RGB sensor. It may be included, but is not limited to this. Since the function of each sensor can be intuitively deduced by a person skilled in the art from its name, detailed description will be omitted.

The communication unit 110 may include one or more components that allow the device 100 to communicate with the user terminal 200 or a server (not shown). The user terminal 200 may be, but is not limited to, a computing device. For example, the communication unit 110 may include a short-range communication unit.

The short-range wireless communication unit includes a Bluetooth communication unit, BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) communication unit, Near Field Communication unit, WLAN (Wi-Fi) communication unit, Zigbee communication unit, and infrared (IrDA) communication unit. Data Association) communication department, WFD (Wi-Fi Direct) communication department, UWB (ultra wideband) communication department, Ant+ communication department, etc., but is not limited thereto.

In one embodiment, the communication unit 110 may be used to transmit and receive the user's sleep data with the user terminal 200 or a server. For example, the user terminal 200 may be another device of the user of the device 100, the device 100 is a wearable device for sensing the user's status, and the user terminal 200 receives the sensed information and It may be a computing device that processes.

For example, the sleep state monitoring device 100 may transmit sleep state data to the user terminal 200 through Bluetooth communication. At this time, for short-distance communication, the sleep state monitoring device 100 and the user terminal 200 must be located within a preset threshold distance. In other words, the distance between the sleep state monitoring device 100 and the user terminal 200 may be within 3 meters.

The memory may store programs for processing and control of the control unit 130, and may also store data input to or output from the device 100.

Memory includes flash memory type, hard disk type, multimedia card micro type, card type memory (e.g. SD or XD memory, etc.), RAM Random Access Memory) Among SRAM (Static Random Access Memory), ROM (Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), magnetic memory, magnetic disk, and optical disk. It may include at least one type of storage medium.

Programs stored in memory can be classified into a plurality of modules according to their functions, for example, UI modules, touch screen modules, notification modules, etc.

The notification module may generate a signal to notify the occurrence of an event in the device 100. An example of an event occurring in the device 100 may include an emergency notification according to monitoring of the user's sleep state. The notification module may output a notification signal in the form of a video signal through a display unit, may output a notification signal in the form of an audio signal through a sound output unit, or may output a notification signal in the form of a vibration signal through a vibration motor.

The power supply of the device 100 is supplied with the necessary voltage through a battery, and the power supply can be turned on/off through a switch. For example, a mechanical switch can be used to completely disconnect the voltage. The battery used in the device 100 is 3.7V and 900mAh, which can be used for 15 hours in numerical terms, and can be used for about 12 hours in reality. It may take about 1 hour and 50 minutes to be fully charged, but it is not limited to this and is not limited to this. It may vary depending on the type or usage environment. The remaining amount of battery may be displayed through the device 100 or the user terminal 200. In the device 100, a blue LED lights up when the remaining battery capacity is 90% or more, a green LED lights up when the remaining battery capacity is 20% to 90%, and a red LED lights up when the remaining battery capacity is 20% or less. Additionally, when communicating with the user terminal 200, the LED may blink with a color indicating the remaining battery capacity. The user terminal 200 can display the remaining battery capacity of the device 100 as a number through an application representing sleep state data.

This sleep status monitoring device 100 can be used in a home healthcare system, a medical record generation system for hospital submission, and an automatic alarm system, and can be applied to products such as smart glasses and smart eye patches.

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing a method by which a sleep state monitoring device transmits sleep state data to a user terminal according to an embodiment.

In step S410, the sleep state monitoring device 100 may measure the user's sleep state data using a plurality of sensors. As described above with reference to FIG. 3, a plurality of sensors of the device 100 can detect the state of the user or the surroundings of the device 100 and include a gyroscope sensor, a photoplethysmography sensor, an audio sensor, and a temperature sensor. can do.

Additionally, the sleep state data may include at least one of the user's eye movements, posture changes, oxygen saturation, heart rate, breathing sounds, and body temperature while the user is sleeping.

In step S420, the sleep state monitoring device 100 may transmit the measured sleep state data to the user terminal 200.

The user terminal 200 may communicate with the sleep state monitoring device 100 and a server (not shown) through a predetermined network in order to determine the user's sleep quality using various sleep state data. In this case, the networks include Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Value Added Network (VAN), mobile radio communication network, satellite communication network, and their names. It is a comprehensive data communication network that includes combinations and allows each network member to communicate smoothly with each other, and may include wired Internet, wireless Internet, and mobile wireless communication networks. Wireless communications include, for example, wireless LAN (Wi-Fi), Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, ZigBee, WFD (Wi-Fi Direct), UWB (ultra wideband), and infrared communication (IrDA, infrared Data Association). ), NFC (Near Field Communication), etc., but are not limited thereto.

For example, the sleep status monitoring device 100 and the user terminal 200 may be connected via a Bluetooth network, and in this case, the sleep status monitoring device 100 and the user terminal 200 may be connected to a preset threshold for smooth short-distance communication. It must be located within a distance. Additionally, the sleep state monitoring device 100 may transmit remaining battery information of the device 100 to the user terminal 200.

In step S430, the user terminal 200 may display the received sleep state data on the screen of the user terminal 200. Additionally, the user terminal 200 may receive sleep state data and store it in memory. An example of the user terminal 200 displaying sleep state data will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

5 and 6 are diagrams showing examples of user terminal screens according to some embodiments.

Figure 5 shows an example of displaying sleep state data on the screen of the smartphone when the user terminal 200 is a smartphone. As shown in FIG. 5, the user terminal 200 can display body temperature, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and audio signals received from the sleep state monitoring device 100 in a graph form within a smartphone application. In addition, the user's smartphone can display the remaining battery capacity of the sleep status monitoring device 100 within the smartphone application. Unlike the sleep status monitoring device 100 that displays the remaining battery capacity in different colors for each section, the user terminal 200 can display it more accurately as a number.

Figure 6 shows an example of displaying sleep state data on the PC screen when the user terminal 200 is a PC. As shown in FIG. 6, the user terminal 200 may display body temperature, heart rate, oxygen saturation, breathing sounds, eye movements, and posture change data received from the sleep state monitoring device 100 within a PC program. For example, received data may be displayed in graph form. In addition, the user's PC can set the data transmission speed within the PC program. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, sleep state data may be transmitted from the device 100 to the user terminal 200 at a period of 100 ms. Additionally, within the program of the user terminal 200, it is possible to determine whether to start or stop data transmission of the device 100, and the received data can be saved by selecting the SAVE button. Additionally, the remaining battery capacity of the sleep state monitoring device 100 may be displayed. Unlike the sleep status monitoring device 100 that displays the remaining battery capacity in different colors for each section, the user terminal 200 has the advantage of displaying it in more accurate numbers. In addition, for Bluetooth connection with the sleep status monitoring device 100, the user presses the RESCAN button to check nearby Bluetooth connectable devices, checks the COM PORT number of the device 100, and enters a user input to select the corresponding number. By receiving, the user terminal 200 is connected to the device 100 and can transmit and receive data.

Some embodiments may also be implemented in the form of a recording medium containing instructions executable by a computer, such as program modules executed by a computer. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. Additionally, computer-readable media may include computer storage media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data.

Additionally, in this specification, a “unit” may be a hardware component such as a processor or circuit, and/or a software component executed by the hardware component such as a processor.

The description of the present invention described above is for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical idea or essential features of the present invention. will be. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. For example, each component described as single may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims described below rather than the detailed description above, and all changes or modified forms derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

100: Sleep status monitoring device
110: Department of Communications
120: sensor unit
130: control unit
200: user terminal

Claims (7)

A communication unit that transmits and receives data;
A sensor unit that measures the user's sleep state data; and
A sleep state monitoring device comprising a control unit that controls the communication unit to transmit the sleep state data to a user terminal. According to paragraph 1,
The sensor unit, while the user is sleeping,
Gyroscope sensors that measure eye movements and posture changes;
Photoplethysmography sensor that measures oxygen saturation and heart rate;
Audio sensor that measures breathing sounds; and
A sleep status monitoring device comprising a temperature sensor that measures body temperature. According to paragraph 2,
The sleep status monitoring device has an eyepatch shape,
The gyroscope sensor is located above the user's eyes,
The photoplethysmography sensor is always located on the user's temple area,
Sleep status monitoring device. According to paragraph 1,
The sleep state monitoring device and the user terminal are located within a preset threshold distance,
A sleep state monitoring device in which the sleep state data is transmitted to the user terminal through Bluetooth communication. According to clause 4,
A sleep state monitoring device, wherein the preset threshold distance is 3m. According to paragraph 2,
The sleep state data includes at least one of the eye movement, the posture change, the oxygen saturation, the heart rate, the breathing sound, and the body temperature. Measuring sleep state data of the user using a plurality of sensors;
Transmitting the sleep state data to a user terminal; and
A sleep state monitoring method comprising displaying the sleep state data on the user terminal.