Wearable device and charger, and method for estimating absorbance of wearable device

• US 10,241,042 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2016
• Issued: 03/26/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Sang Kyu
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Hoa Q
• Application Number:
  US15/390,003
• Publication Number:
  US 20180024056A1
• Time in Patent Office: 823 Days
• Field of Search: 356432-440, 356 39- 42, 356300, 356326, 356319, 600310, 600322-325, 600339, 600340, 320162
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0075 by spectroscopy, i.e. measuring spectra, e.g. Raman spectroscopy, infrared absorption spectroscopy A61B5/0071 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1495 Calibrating or testing of in-vivo probes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/4785 Standardising light scatter apparatus; Standards therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/49 within a body or fluid
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/02 Detectors of external physical values, e.g. temperature

Abstract

A wearable device, a charger, and a method for estimating absorbance of the wearable device are provided. The wearable device includes a spectroscope configured to emit a first light to a reference material of a charger, measure an intensity of the first light reflected from the reference material, emit a second light to a skin of a user, and measure an intensity of the second light reflected from the skin of the user; and a processor configured to determine absorbance of the skin of the user based on the intensity of the first light and the intensity of the second light.

Claims

1. A wearable device comprising:

a spectroscope configured to emit a first light to a reference material of a charger in response to the wearable device being placed on the charger, measure an intensity of the first light reflected from the reference material, emit a second light to a skin of a user while the wearable device is worn by the user, and measure an intensity of the second light reflected from the skin of the user; and

a processor configured to determine absorbance of the skin of the user based on the intensity of the first light that is measured while the wearable device is placed on the charger and the intensity of the second light that is measured while the wearable device is worn by the user.

2. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein, when the wearable device is worn by the user, the spectroscope is configured to emit the second light to the skin of the user and measure the intensity of the second light according to an input of the user.

3. The wearable device of claim 1, the reference material comprises at least one of barium sulfate (BaSO4) and polytetrafluoroethylene.

4. The wearable device of claim 1, further comprising a sensor configured to sense whether the wearable device is placed on the charger.

5. The wearable device of claim 1, wherein the wearable device is a wristwatch type or wristband type wearable device.

6. A wearable device comprising:

a spectroscope configured to emit first light to a reference material of a charger at predetermined time intervals, repeatedly measure an intensity of the first light reflected from the reference material, emit second light to a skin of a user, and measure an intensity of the second light reflected from the skin of the user; and

a processor configured to determine absorbance of the skin of the user based on the intensity of the first light and the intensity of the second light,

wherein the processor is further configured to determine a representative intensity representing the intensity of the first light which is repeatedly measured in response to the wearable device being removed from the charger.

7. The wearable device of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to determine at least one of an arithmetic mean value, a weighted mean value, a median value, a mode value, a minimum value, and a maximum value of the intensity of the first light which is repeatedly measured, as the representative intensity.

8. The wearable device of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to determine an intensity of emitting light of the spectroscope by correcting the representative intensity according to a reflectivity of the reference material, and determine the absorbance of the skin of the user using the determined intensity of the emitting light and the intensity of the second light.

9. A method for operating a wearable device, the method comprising:

emitting a first light to a reference material of a charger in response to the wearable device is placed on the charger;

measuring an intensity of the first light reflected from the reference material;

emitting a second light to a skin of a user while the wearable device is worn by the user;

measuring an intensity of the second reflected from the skin of the user; and

determining absorbance of the skin of the user based on the intensity of the first light that is measured while the wearable device is placed on the charger and the intensity of the second light that is measured while the wearable device is worn by the user.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the reference material comprises at least one of barium sulfate (BaSO4) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTEF).

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the wearable device is a wristwatch type or wristband type wearable device.

12. A method for operating a wearable device, the method comprising:

emitting first light to a reference material of a charger at predetermined time intervals;

repeatedly measuring an intensity of the first light reflected from the reference material;

emitting second light to a skin of a user;

measuring an intensity of the second light reflected from the skin of the user;

determining absorbance of the skin of the user based on the intensity of the first light and the intensity of the second light;

determining a representative intensity representing the intensity of the first light which is repeatedly measured in response to the wearable device being removed from the charger; and

correcting the representative intensity based on a reflectivity of the reference material,

wherein the determining the absorbance of the skin of the user comprises determining the absorbance based on the corrected representative intensity and the intensity of the second light.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the determining the representative intensity comprises determining at least one of an arithmetic mean value, a weighted mean value, a median value, a mode value, a minimum value, and a maximum value of the intensity of the first light which is repeatedly measured, as the representative intensity.

14. A wearable device comprising:

a light emitter configured to emit a first light to a charger in response to the wearable device being placed on the charger, and emit a second light to a user of the wearable device while the wearable device is detached from the charger and worn by the user;

a spectroscope configured to receive the first light reflected from the charger and measure a reference reflective intensity of the first light, and receive the second light reflected from the user and measure an intensity of the second light;

a storage configured to store the reference intensity of the first light; and

a processor configured to determine absorbance of the user based on a comparison between the reference reflective intensity of the first light stored in the storage and the intensity of the second light measured by the spectroscope.