APPARATUS, METHOD AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR MEASURING PROPERTIES OF AN OBJECT

• US 20100305460A1
• Filed: 12/16/2008
• Published: 12/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Pinter, Robert, Thijs, Jeroen Adrianus Johannes, Muehlsteff, Jens
• Granted Patent: US 8,428,699 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/509
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02007 Evaluating blood vessel condition, e.g. elasticity, compliance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02125 of pulse wave propagation time
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0507 using microwaves or terahertz waves
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0535 Impedance plethysmography for measuring blood flow A61B5/0295
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/318 Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG]

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for measuring properties of an object (2). The invention relates further to a corresponding method and a corresponding computer program. The apparatus comprises an antenna (3, 4) for sending and/or receiving electromagnetic waves to and/or from the object (2) for measuring a property of the object, wherein the antenna (3, 4) comprises an electrically conductive element for functioning as an electrode for measuring a further property of the object.

Claims

1. An apparatus for measuring properties of an object (2), wherein the apparatus comprises an antenna (3, 4) for sending and/or receiving electromagnetic waves to and/or from the object (2) for measuring a property of the object, wherein the antenna (3, 4) comprises an electrically conductive element (21) for functioning as an electrode for measuring a further property of the object.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive element (21) is a metal plate.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the object (2) is a moving object, wherein the antenna (3, 4) is adapted for emitting electromagnetic waves, which are reflect able by the moving object, and wherein the antenna (3, 4) is adapted for emitting electromagnetic waves reflected from the moving object.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a plurality of the antennas, wherein at least one of the plurality of the antennas is adapted for sending and/or receiving electromagnetic waves at a frequency, which differs from a frequency of electromagnetic waves of another of the plurality of antennas.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises several of the antennas which are adapted for forming a beam of the electromagnetic waves, in particular by using a phased array of the antennas.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the object (2) is an inner object located within an outer object (8), wherein the antenna is attachable to a surface of the outer bject (8) for preventing a relative movement between the surface and the antenna.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive element and/or the antenna are adapted such that the further property of the object is measurable by detecting an electrical signal by the electrically conductive element having a frequency, which differs from the frequency of the electron agnetic waves sent and/or received by the antenna.

10. The apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein the object (2) is a heart of a patient (8), wherein the apparatus comprises a property determination unit (36) for determining the blood pressure and/or the arterial stiffness based on an electrocardiac signal measured by the electrically conductive element (21) functioning as an electrode of at least two of the antennas (3, 4) and based on a mechanical activity of the heart determined from the electromagnetic waves sent to and received from the object by the at least two of the antennas.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim, wherein the electrically conductive element (21) is adapted for an electrocardiogram measurement.

6. The apparatus as defined in 4, wherein the apparatus comprises a movement determination unit (7) for determining movement information indicative of a movement of the object (2) in dependence on received electromagnetic waves reflected from the moving object using the Doppler effect.

11. A method for measuring properties of an object (2), wherein an apparatus for measuring properties of an object is used, the apparatus comprising an antenna (3, 4) comprising an electrically conductive element (21), wherein electromagnetic waves are sent and/or received to and/or from the object (2) by the antenna (3, 4) for measuring a property of the object (2) and wherein a further property of the object is measured by using the electrically conductive element (3, 4) as an electrode.

12. A computer program for measuring properties of an object (2), wherein the computer program comprises program code means for causing a computer to carry out the steps of the method as defined in claim 11, when the computer program is run on a computer controlling an apparatus for measuring properties of an object (2), wherein the apparatus comprises an antenna (3, 4) for sending and/or receiving electromagnetic waves to and/or from the object (2) for measuring a property of the object, wherein the antenna (3, 4) comprises an electrically conductive element (21) for functioning as an electrode for measuring a further property of the object.