PORTABLE DEVICE FOR CALCULATING CONSUMED CALORIES

• US 20110152636A1
• Filed: 12/01/2010
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: JANG, Yong Won
• Granted Patent: US 8,790,271 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/301
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/10 Athletes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0456 Apparatus provided with a docking unit
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/08 Detecting, measuring or recording devices for evaluating the respiratory organs A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1114 Tracking parts of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1122 of movement trajectories
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4866 Evaluating metabolism A61B5/083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6819 Nose
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/682 Mouth, e.g., oral cavity; tongue; Lips; Teeth
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6823 Trunk, e.g., chest, back, abdomen, hip
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6824 Arm or wrist
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6829 Foot or ankle

Abstract

A portable device for measuring a consumed calories includes: a respiration measurement device measuring an amount of air inhaled into a user'"'"'s nose to acquire and output a respiration signal; a plurality of movement detection devices acquiring and outputting acceleration signals reflecting (or indicating) the magnitude and direction of a movement of each part of the user'"'"'s body; and a controller recognizing the amount of a user'"'"'s movements and movement patterns by analyzing the acceleration signal, recognizing an intensity of an exercise by analyzing the respiration signal, and calculating a consumed calories in consideration of the amount of the user'"'"'s movements, the movement patterns, and the intensity of exercise. A user'"'"'s consumed calories can be precisely calculated by recognizing the user'"'"'s movement and even the user'"'"'s respiration rate.

Claims

1. A portable device for measuring a consumed calorie, the device comprising:

a respiration measurement device measuring an amount of air inhaled into a user'"'"'s nose to acquire and output a respiration signal;

a plurality of movement detection devices acquiring and outputting acceleration signals reflecting (or indicating) the magnitude and direction of a movement of each part of the user'"'"'s body; and

a controller recognizing the amount of a user'"'"'s movements and movement patterns by analyzing the acceleration signal, recognizing an intensity of an exercise by analyzing the respiration signal, and calculating a consumed calories in consideration of the amount of a user'"'"'s movements, the movement patterns, and the intensity of exercise.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising one or more temperature sensors measuring one or more of a user'"'"'s mouth temperature, a user'"'"'s skin temperature, and an external body temperature.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the controller calculates the consumed calories further in consideration of one or more of the user'"'"'s mouth temperature, the user'"'"'s skin temperature, and the external body temperature, in addition to the amount of movements, the movement patterns, and the respiration rate.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the respiration measurement device comprises:

a respiration measurement sensor measuring the amount of air inhaled into the user'"'"'s nose; and

a signal processing unit calculating the respiration rate from the amount of air which has been measured by the respiration measurement sensor, converting the respiration amount into a signal recognizable to the controller, and outputting the converted signal.

5. The device of claim 3, wherein the respiration measurement sensor comprises:

a glass frame having a nose cover formed to cover the user'"'"'s nose; and

a signal generation unit placed on the nose cover and generating a signal corresponding to the amount of air inhaled into the user'"'"'s nose or exhaled from the user'"'"'s nose.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the signal generation unit comprises:

a body having an inhalation passage;

a turbine installed in the inhalation passage so as to rotate according to inhalation through the inhalation passage; and

a plurality of coils installed at an inner side of the inhalation passage in order to generate an AC signal according to alternate magnetic fields resulting from the rotation of the turbine.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the body comprises:

the inhalation passage;

an exhalation passage accommodating the inhalation passage therein;

a suction valve plate installed in the inhalation passage and opened only for inhalation;

a discharge valve plate installed in the exhalation passage and opened only for exhalation; and

a frame fixing the inhalation passage in the interior of the exhalation passage and supporting the position of the turbine.

8. The device of claim 5, wherein the respiration measurement sensor further comprises a mouth piece implemented to be separated from the glass frame or placed on the glass frame such that it is positioned at a lower side of the nose cover.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the mouth piece comprises a temperature sensor for measuring the user'"'"'s mouth temperature.

10. The device of claim 4, wherein the signal processing unit comprises:

a filter unit converting an input signal into a voltage signal, filtering the converted voltage signal, and amplifying the filtered voltage signal;

an analog-to-digital conversion unit converting an output from the filter unit into a digital signal;

a calculation unit analyzing a generation pattern of the digital signal to calculate the amount of breath; and

an external interface providing an interface with the controller.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the signal processing unit comprises:

a memory storing an output from the calculation unit; and

a power source unit providing a power source required for driving the signal processing unit and charging the power source by using an AC signal provided from the respiration measurement sensor.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of movement detection devices comprises:

a 3-axis acceleration sensor acquiring the magnitude and direction of a movement of each body part; and

a signal processing unit outputting the magnitude and direction of a movement acquired by the 3-axis acceleration sensor in the form of a signal recognizable to the controller.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the signal processing unit comprises:

a filter unit converting an input signal into a voltage signal, filtering the converted voltage signal, and amplifying the filtered voltage signal;

an analog-to-digital conversion unit converting an output from the filter unit into a digital signal;

a calculation unit analyzing a generation pattern of the digital signal to calculate the amount of breath; and

an external interface providing an interface with the controller.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the signal processing unit further comprises a memory storing an output from the calculation unit.

15. The device of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of movement detection devices comprises one or more of a temperature sensor for measuring a skin temperature and an external body temperature.

16. The device of claim 12, wherein when the controller calculates consumed calories, it calculates adjustable consumed calories in consideration of signals acquired by the respiration measurement device and the plurality of movement detection devices.

17. The device of claim 1, wherein the respiration measurement device and the plurality of movement detection devices are coupled to a docking station.