Method And Apparatus For Detecting Heartbeats

• US 20080234593A1
• Filed: 04/07/2008
• Published: 09/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Geovox Security, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Geovox Security, Inc.
• Inventors: Barone, Gerard A.
• Application Number:
  US12/098,792
• Publication Number:
  US 20080234593A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/509
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 3/00 Registering or indicating the condition or the working of machines or other apparatus, other than vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1654 using passive vibration detection systems

Abstract

A security system for detecting heartbeats. The system monitors vibrations and detects in these vibrations signals representative of a heartbeat based on a library of heartbeat signatures. The system library may have signatures representing multiple heartbeat patterns such that the system can detect the heartbeat of a human or other animal.

Claims

1. A method of detecting a heartbeat, comprising:

a) providing a plurality of signatures, each signature being a transformation of a representation of a heart beating;

b) receiving a vibration signal;

c) for each of a plurality of portions of the vibration signal transforming the portion to form a transformed portion; and

d) comparing each of the plurality of transformed portions to the plurality of signatures to detect whether the vibration signal contains one of the plurality of signatures.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act c) comprises performing a frequency domain transform on each of the plurality of portions.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the act c) comprises performing a Fourier transform on each of the plurality of portions.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the act c) comprises normalizing the transformed portion.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each signature and each transformed portion has a plurality of frequency components and the act d) comprises, for each pair of a transformed portion and a signature compared:

a) forming products of the frequency components of the signature and the frequency components of the transformed portion, and

b) computing statistical properties of the products.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein computing statistical properties comprises computing a mean and deviation.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the act d) additionally comprises comparing the statistical properties to predetermined values.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the act a) comprises providing a plurality of signatures, representing a heart beating with plurality of different beat patterns.

9. The method of claim 1, used in a method of detecting a person concealed in an enclosed space having a surrounding structure, wherein the act b) of receiving a vibration signal comprises receiving a vibration signal through the surrounding structure.