Mental balance or imbalance estimation system and method

• US 10,085,695 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2012
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Ouwerkerk, Martin, Westerink, Joanne Henriette Desiree Monique, Lashina, Tatiana Aleksandrovna, Holenderski, Leszek
• Primary Examiner(s): Kremer, Matthew
• Application Number:
  US14/356,691
• Publication Number:
  US 20140288401A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,150 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0531 Measuring skin impedance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0533 Measuring galvanic skin response
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14546 for measuring analytes not otherwise provided for, e.g. ions, cytochromes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1477 non-invasive
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/165 Evaluating the state of mind, e.g. depression, anxiety
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7225 Details of analog processing, e.g. isolation amplifier, gain or sensitivity adjustment, filtering, baseline or drift compensation A61B5/30, A61B5/316 take precedence; transformers for specific applications H01F38/00; amplifiers H03F
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7278 Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesising signals from measured signals A61B5/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 2270/0421 Controlled or regulated
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment

Abstract

The present invention relates to a mental balance or imbalance estimation system (100) and method for estimating a level of mental balance or imbalance of a user (1). The system comprises a skin conductance sensor (20) for sensing the skin conductance of the user (1), the skin conductance over time forming a skin conductance trace (22). The system further comprises a processing unit (10) for receiving and processing the skin conductance trace (22), the processing unit configured to determine at least one stimulus response (24) in the skin conductance trace (22), to determine an estimated cortisol level trace (28) of the user (1) based on the determined at least one stimulus response (24), and to determine the estimated level of mental balance or imbalance of the user (1) based on the estimated cortisol level trace (28).

Claims

1. A device wearable by a user, the device comprising:

a band to be wrapped around an appendage of a user;

a casing coupled to the band, wherein the casing includes a display on a first side and a skin conductance sensor on a second, opposite side;

a sensor system comprising;

the skin conductance sensor positioned on the casing configured for sensing a skin conductance of the user; and

an estimation system comprising;

a processing unit operatively coupled to the display and configured to;

receive from the skin conductance sensor information regarding the skin conductance of the user;

determine one or more skin conductance traces based on the information regarding skin conductance of the user received over a known period of time;

determine a plurality of stimulated responses in the one or more skin conductance traces;

determine a plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces of the user based on the plurality of stimulated responses, wherein each respective estimated cortisol-level trace of the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces extends an amount of time after a respective stimulated response of the plurality of stimulated responses;

determine a quantification of a cumulative stress load of the user based on the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces, wherein the quantification of the cumulative stress load is determined based on the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces with respect to at least one threshold value; and

output to the display information indicative of the quantification of the cumulative stress load in a form of a presentable level selected from a plurality of presentable mental imbalance levels.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of stimulated responses is determined as a first order derivate of a corresponding skin conductance trace.

3. The device of claim 1, comprising:

a transmitter transmitting the quantification of the cumulative stress load to a remote terminal.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the quantification of the cumulative stress load is determined based on the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces exceeding the at least one threshold level among a plurality of threshold levels.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the estimation unit receives secondary sensor information from at least one remote secondary sensor.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the information indicative of the quantification of the cumulative stress load includes at least three different states, wherein each of the at least three different states is a level of the quantified cumulative stress load.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the at least three different states includes a colored speedometer with a first section in a first color that represents the first state, a second section in a second color that represents the second state, and a third section in a third color that represents the third state, wherein the first, second, and third colors are visually distinct from each other.

8. A system for quantifying a cumulative stress load, the system comprising:

a wearable device comprising;

a band to be wrapped around an appendage of a user, wherein a skin conductance sensor is integrated into the band;

a sensor system comprising;

the skin conductance sensor positioned on the band configured for sensing a skin conductance of the user; and

a wireless transmitter configured to provide information regarding the skin conductance of the user; and

an external device comprising;

a display; and

a processing unit configured to;

wirelessly receive from the wireless transmitter the information regarding the skin conductance of the user;

determine one or more skin conductance traces based on the information regarding the skin conductance of the user received over a known period of time;

determine a plurality of stimulated responses in the one or more skin conductance traces;

determine a plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces of the user based on the plurality of stimulated responses, wherein each respective estimated cortisol-level trace of the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces extends an amount of time after a respective stimulated response of the plurality of stimulated responses;

cumulate a plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces; and

determine a quantification of the cumulative stress load of the user based on the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces, wherein the quantification of the cumulative stress load is determined based on the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces with respect to at least one threshold value; and

output to the display information indicative of the quantification of the cumulative stress load in a form of a presentable level selected from a plurality of presentable mental imbalance levels.

9. A device wearable by a user, the device comprising:

a band to be wrapped around an appendage of a user;

a casing coupled to the band, wherein the casing includes a display;

a skin conductance sensor positioned on an interior surface of the band separate from the casing, wherein the skin conductance sensor is configured for sensing a skin conductance of the user; and

an estimation system comprising;

a processing unit operatively coupled to the display and configured to;

receive from the skin conductance sensor information regarding the skin conductance of the user;

determine one or more skin conductance traces based on the information regarding the skin conductance of the user received over a known period of time;

determine a plurality of stimulated responses in the one or more skin conductance traces;

determine a plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces of the user based on the plurality of stimulated responses, wherein each respective estimated cortisol-level trace of the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces extends an amount of time after a respective stimulated response of the plurality of stimulated responses;

determine a quantification of a cumulative stress load of the user based on the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces, wherein the quantification of the cumulative stress load is determined based on the plurality of estimated cortisol-level traces with respect to at least one threshold value; and

output to the display information indicative of the quantification of the cumulative stress load in a form of a presentable level selected from a plurality of presentable mental imbalance levels.