Portable monitoring devices for processing applications and processing analysis of physiological conditions of a user associated with the portable monitoring device

• US 9,801,547 B2
• Filed: 03/20/2014
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Yuen, Shelten Gee Jao, Park, James, Friedman, Eric Nathan, Martinez, Mark Manuel, Axely, Andrew Cole
• Primary Examiner(s): Jackson, Gary
• Assistant Examiner(s): LUAN, SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US14/221,234
• Publication Number:
  US 20140206954A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,321 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0059 using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence A61B5/0093, A61B5/1455, A61B5/02416 and A61B5/0261 take precedence
• 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 5/0205 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular conditions and different types of body conditions, e.g. heart and respiratory condition
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/021 Measuring pressure in heart or blood vessels A61B5/0205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02405 Determining heart rate variability
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02416 using photoplethysmograph signals, e.g. generated by infrared radiation A61B5/14552 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1112 Global tracking of patients, e.g. by using GPS
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/222 combined with detection or measurement of physiological parameters, e.g. heart rate
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/441 Skin evaluation, e.g. for skin disorder diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4809 Sleep detection, i.e. determining whether a subject is asleep or not
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4812 Detecting sleep stages or cycles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4815 Sleep quality
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6838 : Clamps or clips
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7264 : Classification of physiological signals or data, e.g. using neural networks, statistical classifiers, expert systems or fuzzy systems neural networks per se G06N3/00; expert systems per se G06N5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/743 : Displaying an image simultaneously with additional graphical information, e.g. symbols, charts, function plots
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 22/006 : Pedometers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 : relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 : for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation

Abstract

An activity monitoring device and associated methods for using and interfacing with the activity monitoring device are provided. In one example, the activity monitoring device includes a housing configured for attachment to a body part of a user. Also included ins a display screen attached to the housing and a sensor for capturing physiological conditions of the user. The sensor is disposed along a surface of the housing so that the sensor is proximate to the body part, the body part having at least some exposed skin. The activity monitoring device also includes memory for storing the captured physiological conditions, and a processor for examining the captured physiological conditions. At a particular time, the processor automatically selects an application to execute from a plurality of applications based on characteristics of the captured physiological conditions.

Claims

1. An activity monitoring device configured to be worn on a wrist of a user, comprising,

a housing configured for attachment to the wrist of the user, the housing having an upper surface and a generally planar lower surface, the lower surface configured to be closer to the skin of the user than the upper surface when the activity monitoring device is worn by the user, the housing further comprising:

a protrusion formed on the lower surface of the housing and extending away from the lower housing of the housing, the protrusion comprising an optically opaque material and covering only a portion of the lower surface of the housing, the protrusion having (i) a lower surface formed on the protrusion, and (ii) arcuate sides formed on the protrusion to provide contact between the lower surface of the protrusion and the skin of the user but not between the lower surface of the housing and the skin of the user; and

an optically transparent layer covering at least a portion of the lower surface of the housing;

a display screen attached to the housing;

a first sensor for capturing motion data of the user, the motion data being representative of one or more activities;

a second sensor for capturing physiological conditions of the user, the second sensor being directed toward a surface of the housing so that the second sensor is proximate to the wrist when the activity monitoring device is worn by the user, the wrist having at least some exposed skin, the second sensor including;

a pair of first light pipes formed in the protrusion and having a geometry defined by the optically opaque material of the protrusion, each one of the pair of first light pipes forming an elongate cylindrical structure having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end disposed adjacent the lower surface of the housing and the lower end disposed at the lower surface of the protrusion, each one of the pair of first light pipes having a light emitting device disposed at the lower surface of the housing and at the upper end of the first light pipe, wherein each of the pair of first light pipes is configured to transmit light generated by the light emitting device through the protrusion and along a direction of light travel defined by the geometry of the first light pipe; and

a second light pipe formed in the protrusion and disposed between the pair of first light pipes and having a geometry defined by the optically opaque material of the protrusion, the second light pipe having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end of the second light pipe disposed adjacent the lower surface of the housing and the lower end of the second light pipe disposed at the lower surface of the protrusion, the second light pipe having a detector disposed at the lower surface of the housing and at the upper end of the second light pipe, wherein the second light pipe is configured to transmit reflected light along a direction of light travel defined by the geometry of the second light pipe toward the detector, wherein the pair of first light pipes and the second light pipe are oriented adjacent one another and directed toward the exposed skin when the housing is attached to the wrist;

memory for storing the captured physiological conditions and the motion data; and

a processor for examining the captured physiological conditions and the motion data, and at a particular time based on the examining of the motion data, automatically executing an application of a plurality of applications.

2. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the captured physiological conditions include a heart rate of the user.

3. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein examining the motion data by the processor identifies a period of time of occurrence of one or more of the activities of the user, and the captured physiological conditions produce specific physiological conditions that are correlated to the period of time.

4. The activity monitoring device of claim 3, wherein the specific physiological conditions include one or more of heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration rate, galvanic skin response, motion, skin temperature, or body temperature, or combinations thereof, the processor using the specific physiological conditions to identify when the user is attempting to go to sleep, entering sleep, is asleep and/or is awoken from a period of sleep.

5. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the surface of the housing is configured to be proximate to the wrist and has a reflective coating so that more light scattered off the exposed skin is reflected back into the skin to improve a signal to noise ratio for detecting heart rate.

6. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a band for enabling the attachment to the wrist of the user.

7. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the housing includes a wrist band, and the surface of the housing is configured to be proximate to the skin of the user.

8. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, further comprising an environmental sensor for capturing environment data.

9. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein automatically executing the application includes launching or starting a specific functionality provided by the application.

10. The activity monitoring device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to automatically close or discontinue execution of the application in response to examining changes in the physiological conditions.

11. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to set one or more modes of one or more applications of the activity monitoring device based on examination of the physiological conditions and/or environmental conditions.

12. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein automatically executing the application causes data to be processed and displayed on the display screen, the data being related to one or both of the captured motion data and the captured physiological conditions.

13. The activity monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the first and second light pipes being directed toward the exposed skin ensures that at least some light directed onto the exposed skin by the light emitting device is reflected from the skin.

14. An activity monitoring device, comprising,

a wrist band;

a display screen disposed on a housing, the wrist band being coupled to the housing, the housing having an upper surface and a lower surface, the housing further comprising;

a protrusion formed on the lower surface of the housing and extending away from the lower housing of the housing, the protrusion comprising an optically opaque material and covering only a portion of the lower surface of the housing; and

an optically transparent layer covering at least a portion of the lower surface of the housing;

a first sensor disposed in the housing to capture data associated with a user;

a second sensor disposed in the housing to capture environmental conditions;

memory disposed in the housing for storing the captured data associated with the user, for storing the captured environmental conditions, and for storing one or more applications; and

a processor in communication with the first and second sensors, the memory and the display screen, the processor configured to execute from time to time the one or more applications to render content associated with the one or more applications on the display screen,

wherein at least one of the applications being configured to present metrics regarding the captured data of the user and the environmental conditions,

wherein the captured environmental conditions include motion data by the user, and the captured data of the user includes biometric data of the user, the processor selecting at particular times certain ones of the applications to execute based in part on analysis of the captured data associated with the user and the captured environmental conditions;

wherein the biometric data of the sensor quantifies at least one physiological condition of the user;

wherein the first sensor includes a pair of a light emitting devices (LEDs) and a photodetector, wherein the pair of LEDs and the photodetector are disposed at respective ends of a pair of first light pipes and a second light pipe each having a geometry defined by the optically opaque material of the protrusion, the pair of first light pipes and the second light pipe formed in the protrusion, the second light pipe disposed between the pair of first light pipes, wherein each one of the pair of first light pipes is configured to direct light emitted by a corresponding one of the pair of LEDs to exposed skin of the user along a direction of light travel defined by the geometry of the first light pipe and the second light pipe is configured to direct at least some of the light, reflected to the photodetector along a direction of light travel defined by the geometry of the second light pipe for analysis by the processor.

15. The activity monitoring device of claim 14, wherein select ones of the applications provide a watch function, a pedometer function, a communication function, a biometric analysis function, an environmental conditions analysis function, or a motion data analysis function, or a combination thereof.

16. The activity monitoring device of claim 14, wherein the environmental conditions further include one or more of a time of day, a pressure or motion characteristic, an inertial characteristic, an accelerometer characteristic, a temperature characteristic, a light characteristic, an audio characteristic, a compass characteristic, a location characteristic, or combination of two or more thereof.

17. The activity monitoring device of claim 14, wherein selecting at particular times certain ones of the applications to execute further includes detecting when multiple conditions occur simultaneously.

18. The activity monitoring device of claim 14, wherein the certain ones of the applications that are selected are contextually usable in relation to one or both of the captured data associated with the user and the captured environmental conditions.

19. The activity monitoring device of claim 14, wherein one of the certain ones of the applications is automatically started or closed automatically based on analysis of one or both of the captured data associated with the user and the captured environmental conditions.

20. The activity monitoring device of claim 14, wherein the LED is configured to switch between emitting green light and emitting infrared light.

21. The activity monitoring device of claim 14, wherein the physiological condition is heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration rate, galvanic skin response, skin temperature, body temperature, or galvanic skin condition, or combinations thereof.

22. A computer implemented method, comprising,

receiving motion data from an activity tracking device while the activity tracking device having a housing that is to be worn by a user, the housing having an upper surface and a lower surface, the lower surface configured to be closer to the skin of the user than the upper surface when the activity tracking device is worn by the user, the housing further comprising:

a protrusion formed on the lower surface of the housing and extending away from the lower housing of the housing, the protrusion comprising an optically opaque material and covering only a portion of the lower surface of the housing; and

an optically transparent layer covering at least a portion of the lower surface of the housing;

receiving physiological data of the user while the activity tracking device is worn by the user;

identifying a condition of the user based at least in part on the received motion data and the received physiological data, the condition of the user being one of sedentary or non-sedentary, wherein the physiological data is received in response to sampling by a sensor of the activity tracking device, the sensor being exposed to a surface of the housing, the surface of the housing configured to be disposed over skin of the user when the activity tracking device is worn, the sensor comprising (i) a plurality of light emitting devices (LEDs) configured to emit light toward exposed skin of the user via a corresponding plurality of first light pipes, each first light pipe formed in the protrusion and having a geometry defined by the optically opaque material of the protrusion and configured to direct the light along a direction of light travel defined by the geometry of the first light pipe, and (ii) at least one detector configured to receive reflected light via at least one second light pipe, each second light pipe formed in the protrusion and having a geometry defined by the optically opaque material of the protrusion and configured to direct the reflected light along a direction of light travel defined by the geometry of the second light pipe, wherein at least one of said at least one second light pipe is disposed between at least two of the plurality of first light pipes, wherein the sampling by the sensor is set at a first sampling rate when the user is determined to be sedentary and a second sampling rate when the user is determined to be non-sedentary, the second sampling rate being greater than the first sampling rate; and

launching an application of a plurality of applications stored in memory of the activity tracking device based on the identified condition of the user, the application providing metrics associated with the identified condition, wherein the method is executed by a processor.

23. The computer implemented method of claim 22, wherein the physiological data includes data regarding one or more of heart rate, heart rate variability, respiration rate, galvanic skin response, motion, skin temperature, or body temperature, or combinations thereof.

24. The computer implemented method of claim 22, wherein the identified condition of the user further signifies when the user is attempting to go to sleep, is entering sleep, is asleep and/or is awoken from a period of sleep.

25. The computer implemented method of claim 22, wherein the physiological data includes information from the plurality of LEDs and the at least one detector.

26. The computer implemented method of claim 22, further comprising,

receiving environmental data, the environmental data providing one or more additional indicia to identify the condition of the user, the environmental data includes one or more of a time of day, a pressure or motion characteristic, an inertial data characteristic, an accelerometer characteristic, a temperature characteristic, a light characteristic, an audio characteristic, a compass characteristic, a location characteristic, or combination of two or more thereof.

27. The computer implemented method of claim 22, wherein the applications provide a watch function, or a pedometer function, or a communication function, or a biometric analysis function, or an environmental conditions analysis function, or a motion data analysis function, or a combination thereof.

28. A computer readable media having program instructions for operating an activity tracking device having a housing, comprising,

program instructions for receiving motion data from an activity tracking device while the activity tracking device is worn by a user, the housing of the activity tracking device having an upper surface and a lower surface, the lower surface configured to be closer to the skin of the user than the upper surface when the activity tracking device is worn by the user, the housing further comprising:

a protrusion formed on the lower surface of the housing and extending away from the lower housing of the housing, the protrusion comprising an optically opaque material and covering only a portion of the lower surface of the housing; and

an optically transparent layer covering at least a portion of the lower surface of the housing;

program instructions for receiving physiological data of the user while the activity tracking device is worn by the user;

program instructions for identifying a condition of the user based at least in part on the received motion data and the received physiological data, the condition of the user being one of sedentary or non-sedentary, wherein the physiological data is received in response to sampling by a sensor of the activity tracking device, the sensor being exposed to a surface of the housing, the surface of the housing configured to be disposed over exposed skin of the user when the activity tracking device is worn, wherein the sampling by the sensor is set at a first sampling rate when the user is determined to be sedentary and a second sampling rate when the user is determined to be non-sedentary, the second sampling rate being greater than the first sampling rate; and

program instructions for launching an application of a plurality of applications stored in memory of the activity tracking device based on the identified condition of the user, wherein the physiological data is processed from information obtained based on (i) light emitted from a plurality of light emitting devices (LEDs) toward the exposed skin of the user via a corresponding plurality of first light pipes, each first light pipe formed in the protrusion and having a geometry defined by the optically opaque material of the protrusion and configured to direct the light along a direction of light travel defined by the geometry of the first light pipe, and (ii) reflected light received by at least one detector via at least one second light pipe, each second light pipe formed in the protrusion and having a geometry defined by the optically opaque material of the protrusion and configured to direct the reflected light along a direction of light travel defined by the geometry of the second light pipe, wherein at least one of said at least one second light pipe is disposed between at least two of the plurality of first light pipes.