Method for acoustic information exchange involving an ingestible low power capsule

• US 8,615,284 B2
• Filed: 09/06/2007
• Issued: 12/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innurvation Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Innurvation Incorporated
• Inventors: Arneson, Michael R., Bandy, William Robert, Davenport, Roger Allen, Powell, Kevin J., Ngo, Son, Okunev, Yuri, Schober, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): FORMAN, BETTY J
• Application Number:
  US11/851,214
• Publication Number:
  US 20080161660A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,301 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 600/407
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00016 using wireless means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/00036 Means for power saving, e.g. sleeping mode
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/041 Capsule endoscopes for imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0028 Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/073 Intestinal transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/411 Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/42 Detecting, measuring or recording for evaluating the gastrointestinal, the endocrine or the exocrine systems A61B1/00, A61B5/4857, A61B5/486, A61B5/4866, A61B5/4869 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6861 Capsules, e.g. for swallowing or implanting
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/0833 involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/4236 characterised by adhesive patches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/56 Details of data transmission or power supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 8/565 involving data transmission via a network
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 11/00 Transmission systems employing sonic, ultrasonic or infrasonic waves
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA

Abstract

A method of communicating with an ingestible capsule includes detecting the location of the ingestible capsule, focusing a multi-sensor acoustic array on the ingestible capsule, and communicating an acoustic information exchange with the ingestible capsule via the multi-sensor acoustic array. The ingestible capsule includes a sensor that receives a stimulus inside the gastrointestinal tract of an animal, a bidirectional acoustic information communications module that transmits an acoustic information signal containing information from the sensor, and an acoustically transmissive encapsulation that substantially encloses the sensor and communications module, wherein the acoustically transmissive encapsulation is of ingestible size. The multi-sensor array includes a plurality of acoustic transducers that receive an acoustic signal from a movable device, and a plurality of delays, wherein each delay is coupled to a corresponding acoustic transducer. Each delay may be adjusted according to a phase of a signal received by the corresponding acoustic transducer.

Claims

1. A method of communicating with an ingestible capsule, comprising:

detecting a location of the ingestible capsule;

focusing a multi-sensor acoustic array on the ingestible capsule; and

communicating an acoustic information exchange with the ingestible capsule via the multi-sensor acoustic array;

wherein detecting the location comprises;

receiving an acoustic signal from the ingestible capsule;

determining a respective phase delay for each sensor in the multi-sensor array that produces a maximum gain of the acoustic signal;

adjusting a phase for each sensor in the multi-sensor array using the determined respective phase delay of the sensor in the multi-sensor array; and

deriving the location of the ingestible capsule from the determined phase delays.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the communicating step comprises at least one of:

transmitting, via the multi-sensor acoustic array, the acoustic information exchange to the ingestible capsule; and

receiving, via the multi-sensor acoustic array, the acoustic information exchange from the ingestible capsule.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the phase delay comprises:

changing the phase delay by a given amount;

measuring an amplitude of the acoustic signal; and

repeating the changing and measuring steps until the amplitude of the acoustic signal is maximized.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the phase delay comprises:

detecting the phase of the acoustic signal; and

adjusting the phase delay of each sensor until the signals received by each sensor are coherent.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the location further comprises:

determining the location of the ingestible capsule through a successive approximation.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the location further comprises:

determining the location of the ingestible capsule using a previously known location as a starting point for the successive approximation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating occurs periodically, continuously, or based on a given event.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein deriving the location of the ingestible capsule further comprises:

identifying an angular direction of the ingestible capsule from the multi-sensor acoustic array based on phase separations of the acoustic signal between each sensor in the multi-sensor acoustic array; and

identifying a distance to the ingestible capsule from the multi-sensor acoustic array based on differences in time of arrival of the acoustic signal between each sensor in the multi-sensor acoustic array.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each sensor in the multi-sensor array is a transducer, and wherein communicating comprises:

implementing the phase delay for each sensor in the multi-sensor array into a transmission signal to produce a phase-delayed signal;

routing the phase-delayed signal to respective transducers in the multi-sensor array; and

transmitting the phase-delayed signal from each transducer in the multi-sensor array to the ingestible capsule.