Living-body information measuring device and light-emitting element

• US 10,492,695 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2016
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Kojima, Tomoaki, Sakai, Kazuhiro, Ozawa, Hideaki, Umekawa, Hideyuki, Akamatsu, Manabu
• Primary Examiner(s): Winakur, Eric F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mustansir, Abid A
• Application Number:
  US15/230,679
• Publication Number:
  US 20170273570A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,212 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0233 Special features of optical sensors or probes classified in A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02416 using photoplethysmograph signals, e.g. generated by infrared radiation A61B5/14552 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0261 using optical means, e.g. infrared light
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14552 Details of sensors specially adapted therefor
• 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 5/7257 using Fourier transforms

Abstract

A living-body information measuring device includes a first light-emitting unit that emits a single-mode laser beam, a second light-emitting unit that emits a multi-mode light beam or an LED light beam, a light-receiving element that receives reflected or transmitted light beams reflected or transmitted by a living body when the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit emit the beams toward the living body, a control unit that controls light-emission periods of the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit, and a measurement unit that measures plural types of living-body information about the living body by using each of the reflected or transmitted light beams that are successively received by the light-receiving element.

Claims

1. A living-body information measuring device comprising:

a first light-emitting unit configured to emit a single-mode laser beam;

a second light-emitting unit configured to emit multi-mode laser beams;

a light-receiving element configured to receive reflected or transmitted light beams reflected or transmitted by a living body when the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit emit the beams toward the living body;

a control unit configured to control light-emission periods of the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit; and

a measurement unit configured to measure a plurality of types of living-body information about the living body by using each of the reflected or transmitted light beams that are successively received by the light-receiving element,

wherein the second light-emitting unit includes two light-emitting elements configured to emit light beams having different wavelengths,

wherein the measurement unit is further configured to measure blood flow information by using the single-mode laser beam and oxygen saturation of the living body by using the multi-mode lasers,

wherein, in a case that the measurement unit measures the blood flow as a first one of the plurality of types of living body information, the control unit controls the first light-emitting unit to emit the single mode laser beam at a first frequency greater than or equal to twice of a frequency difference of a beat signal measured by the measurement unit,

wherein, in a case that the measurement unit measures the oxygen saturation as a second one of the plurality of types of living body information, the control unit controls the second light-emitting unit to emit the multi-mode light beam at a second frequency, and

wherein the second frequency is lower than the first frequency.

2. The living-body information measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the control unit is further configured to control the light-emission periods so that the first light-emission period of the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emission period of the second light-emitting unit do not overlap.

3. The living-body information measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the measurement unit is further configured to measure blood flow information and a plethysmogram of the living body as the living-body information.

4. The living-body information measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a gain-adjusting unit configured to perform gain adjustment so that a level of a light-receiving signal that corresponds to each of the light beams received by the light-receiving element falls within a specified range.

5. The living-body information measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit are formed on a same semiconductor substrate.

6. The living-body information measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the first light-emitting unit is a first surface-emitting laser, and

wherein the second light-emitting unit is further configured to emit the multi-mode light beam and is a second surface-emitting laser.

7. The living body information measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein the first frequency is greater than 20 kilohertz, and

wherein the second frequency is among a range of 30 to 1000 hertz.

8. The living body information measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising a third light-emitting unit configured to emit a light beam,

wherein the control unit is further configured to control a third light-emission period of the third light-emitting unit such that the third light-emission period begins as the second light-emission period ends and a fourth light emission period of the first light-emitting unit begins.

9. The living body information measuring device according to claim 1,

wherein, of the light-emission periods, a first light-emission period of the first light-emitting unit ends at a same time as a second light-emission period of the second light-emitting unit begins.

10. A light-emitting apparatus comprising:

a first light-emitting unit configured to emit a single-mode laser beam;

a second light-emitting unit configured to emit a multi-mode light beam or an LED light beam,

a control unit configured to control light emission periods of the first light-emitting unit and second light emitting unit,

wherein the first light-emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit are formed on a same semiconductor substrate, and

wherein, of the light-emission periods of the first light emitting unit and the second light-emitting unit, a first light-emission period of the first light-emitting unit ends at a same time as a second light-emission period of the second light-emitting unit begins.

11. The light-emitting apparatus according to claim 10,

wherein the first light-emitting unit is a first surface-emitting laser, and

wherein the second light-emitting unit is further configured to emit the multi-mode light beam and is a second surface-emitting laser.