WEARABLE RESPIRATION MEASUREMENT APPARATUS

• US 20110152707A1
• Filed: 09/09/2010
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: JANG, Yong Won
• Granted Patent: US 8,636,671 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/539
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/09 using an element rotated by the flow toys actuated by air current A63H33/40
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles

Abstract

A wearable respiration measurement apparatus including: an eyeglass frame having a nose flap which is formed in such a manner as to cover a user'"'"'s nose; and an induced current generation device attached to the nose flap and generating an induced current corresponding to an amount of air inhaled or exhaled through the user'"'"'s nose.

Claims

1. A wearable respiration measurement apparatus comprising:

an eyeglass frame having a nose flap which is formed in such a manner as to cover a user'"'"'s nose; and

an induced current generation device attached to the nose flap and generating an induced current corresponding to an amount of air inhaled or exhaled through the user'"'"'s nose.

2. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the induced current generation device comprises:

a body having an inhalation path formed therein;

a propeller installed inside the inhalation path so as to be rotated by air inhaled through the inhalation path; and

a plurality of coils installed on the inner surface of the inhalation path and generating an induced current along alternate magnetic fields caused by the rotation of the propeller.

3. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 2, wherein the propeller comprises a plurality of blades having a magnetic property, among which odd-numbered blades have an opposite magnetic polarity to even-numbered blades.

4. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 2, wherein the odd-numbered coils among the plurality of coils have an opposite polarity to the even-numbered coils.

5. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 2, wherein the plurality of coils are connected in parallel to each other.

6. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 2, wherein the body comprises:

the inhalation path;

an exhalation path housed within the inhalation path;

an inhalation valve plate installed in the inhalation path and opened only during inhalation;

an exhalation valve plate installed in the exhalation path and opened only during exhalation; and

a frame fixing the inhalation path to the inside of the exhalation path and supporting the position of the propeller.

7. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 6, wherein the inhalation valve plate is installed at a lower position than the exhalation valve plate.

8. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 1, wherein the nose flap is implemented in such a manner as to cover only the nose or cover both the nose and the mouth.

9. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a mouthpiece for inducing respiration through the nose, when the nose flap is implemented in such a manner as to cover only the nose,

wherein the mouthpiece is implemented in such a manner as to be separated from the eyeglass frame.

10. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 9, wherein the mouthpiece comprises a temperature sensor mounted thereon.

11. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a mouthpiece for inducing respiration through the nose, when the nose flap is implemented in such a manner as to cover both the nose and the mouth,

wherein the mouthpiece is attached to the eyeglass frame so as to be positioned under the nose flap.

12. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 11, wherein the mouthpiece comprises a temperature sensor mounted thereon.

13. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a signal processing device attached to, or inserted into, the eyeglass frame and generating respiration-related information corresponding to the induced current.

14. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 13, wherein the signal processing device comprises:

a current-voltage converter converting the induced current into a voltage;

a filter removing noise contained in the voltage;

an amplifier amplifying the voltage from which the noise is removed;

an analog-digital converter generating a digital signal corresponding to the amplified voltage; and

a controller analyzing the generation pattern of the digital signal to calculate information on one or more of the respiration rate and the respiration amount.

15. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 14, wherein the signal processing device further comprises:

a memory storing an output of the controller; and

an external interface providing the output of the controller or the information stored in the memory to an external device through a wired or wireless communication scheme.

16. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 14, wherein the signal processing device further comprises a power supply unit providing power required for driving the signal processing device.

17. The wearable respiration measurement apparatus of claim 16, wherein the power supply unit has a function of charging the wearable respiration measurement apparatus with the induced current.