Wearable Vital Signs Monitor
First Claim
1. A vital signs monitor for wearing adjacent the ear, the monitor comprising:
- a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a wearer; and
an electronic module for measuring vital signs, the electronic module for measuring vital signs located within the housing and comprising;
a plurality of vital signs sensing modules, said plurality comprising at least two of the modules selected from the group comprising;
a ballistocardiographic (BCG) module, a photoplethysmographic (PPG) module, an accelerometer module, a temperature measurement module, and an electrocardiographic (ECG) module; and
a processor, in electrical communication with the plurality of vital signs sensing modules, the processor calculating additional vital signs in response to signals from the plurality of vital signs sensing modules
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and monitor for monitoring vital signs. In one embodiment, the vital signs monitor includes a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a wearer and an electronic module for measuring vital signs. The electronic module for measuring vital signs is located within the housing and includes a plurality of vital signs sensing modules in communication with a processor. The plurality of sensing modules includes at least two of the modules selected from the group of a ballistocardiographic (BCG) module, a photoplethysmographic (PPG) module, an accelerometer module, a temperature measurement module, and an electrocardiographic (ECG) module. In one embodiment, the processor calculates additional vital signs in response to signals from the plurality of vital signs sensing modules.
134 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A vital signs monitor for wearing adjacent the ear, the monitor comprising:
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a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a wearer; and an electronic module for measuring vital signs, the electronic module for measuring vital signs located within the housing and comprising; a plurality of vital signs sensing modules, said plurality comprising at least two of the modules selected from the group comprising;
a ballistocardiographic (BCG) module, a photoplethysmographic (PPG) module, an accelerometer module, a temperature measurement module, and an electrocardiographic (ECG) module; anda processor, in electrical communication with the plurality of vital signs sensing modules, the processor calculating additional vital signs in response to signals from the plurality of vital signs sensing modules - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A PPG monitoring device comprising:
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a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a wearer; and a PPG module located within the housing and comprising; two light sources of different wavelengths positioned to transmit light into the skin adjacent the ear of the wearer; a photodiode positioned to receive light reflected from the skin adjacent the ear of the wearer; and a first amplifier in communication with the photodiode and providing a first amplifier output signal. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A BCG monitoring device comprising:
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a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a wearer; two capacitive electrodes positioned adjacent to the ear of a wearer to transduce mechanical movements into electrical signals and a BCG module located within the housing and comprising a differential signal amplifier having an output terminal and two input terminals, each input terminal in communication with a respective one of the capacitive electrodes; and an analog-to-digital converter in communication with the output terminal of the differential signal amplifier. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. An ECG monitoring device comprising:
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a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a wearer; two dry or gel-based electrodes positioned adjacent the ear of a wearer to detect the wearer'"'"'s ECG; and an ECG module located within the housing and comprising; a differential signal amplifier having an output terminal and two input terminals, each input terminal in communication with a respective one of the dry or gel-based electrodes; and an analog-to-digital converter in communication with the output terminal of the differential signal amplifier. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44)
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45. A method for monitoring PPG of the user comprising:
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positioning a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a wearer;
the housing comprisingat least two light sources; at least one photodiode; a first amplifier in communication with the at least one photodiode and providing an amplified output signal; and an analog-to-digital converter in communication with the amplified output signal; transmitting light from each of the light sources in an alternating manner to the skin of the mastoid region of the wearer; receiving, by the photodiode, the light reflected from the skin, tissue and bone of the mastoid region of the head of a wearer; amplifying, by the first amplifier, a signal generated by the photodiode in response to the light reflected from the skin, tissue and bone to generate an amplified output signal; and filtering the amplified output signal to reduce interference. - View Dependent Claims (46)
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47. A method for monitoring BCG, the method comprising:
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positioning two capacitive electrodes in the mastoid region of the head of the wearer to sense head movements by transducing mechanical movements into electrical signals, positioning a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a user, the housing comprising a differential signal amplifier having an output terminal and two input terminals, each input terminal in electrical communication with a respective one of the two capacitive electrodes, and the output terminal in communication with an analog-to-digital converter. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49)
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50. A method for monitoring BCG, the method comprising:
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positioning a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a user, the housing containing an accelerometer that senses head movements; and sensing the movement of the head of the user. - View Dependent Claims (51)
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52. A method for monitoring an ECG, the method comprising:
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positioning two electrodes in the mastoid region of the head of a wearer positioning a housing sized and shaped for fitting adjacent the ear of a user, the housing containing; a signal amplifier having two input terminals each in communication with a respective one of the electrodes, the amplifier having an output terminal; and an analog-to-digital converters in communication with the output of the amplifier. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55)
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Specification