Optical tracking of heart rate using PLL optimization

• US 9,826,940 B1
• Filed: 05/26/2015
• Issued: 11/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verily Life Sciences LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verily Life Sciences LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Lengerich, Christopher Towles
• Primary Examiner(s): Holmes, Rex R
• Application Number:
  US14/721,069
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0475 Special features of memory means, e.g. removable memory cards
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2576/00 Medical imaging apparatus involving image processing or analysis A61B1/00009, A61B6/52 and A61B8/52 take precedence; image processing per se G06T; details of algorithms for analysing medical images G06T7/0012
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0015 characterised by features of the telemetry system
• 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 5/02416 using photoplethysmograph signals, e.g. generated by infrared radiation A61B5/14552 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02438 with portable devices, e.g. worn by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/721 using a separate sensor to detect motion or using motion information derived from signals other than the physiological signal to be measured
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7246 using correlation, e.g. template matching or determination of similarity
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/725 using specific filters therefor, e.g. Kalman or adaptive filters A61B5/316 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7278 Artificial waveform generation or derivation, e.g. synthesising signals from measured signals A61B5/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7475 User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 for processing medical images, e.g. editing

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for determining a pulse rate based on a photoplethysmographic measurement of blood in a portion of subsurface vasculature. A plurality of samples of the photoplethysmographic signal are obtained and a plurality of digital phase-locked loops are operated to generate respective oscillating signals based on the plurality of samples. Respective correlations between the plurality of samples and each of the generated oscillating signals are determined and used to select a subset of the plurality of phase-locked loops. The frequencies of the selected oscillating signals generated by the selected phase-locked loops are determined and used to determine a cardiovascular pulse rate. This method can be performed a plurality of times for a respective plurality of overlapping sets of the obtained plurality of samples to determine pulse rates over time.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a plurality of samples of a signal, wherein the signal is related to a cardiovascular pulse;

generating, based on the plurality of samples, a plurality of oscillating signals using a plurality of digital phase-locked loops, wherein each digital phase-locked loop has a different respective set of operational parameters;

comparing the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals;

selecting two or more of the generated oscillating signals based on the comparison;

determining a plurality of frequencies based on the selected oscillating signals, wherein each frequency corresponds to a respective one of the selected generated oscillating signals; and

determining a pulse rate based on the determined plurality of frequencies.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating, based on the plurality of samples, the plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops comprises:

receiving an artifact signal;

filtering the received plurality of samples of the signal based on the artifact signal to generate a plurality of filtered samples; and

generating, based on the plurality of filtered samples, the plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein filtering the received plurality of samples of the signal based on the artifact signal comprises applying a least mean squares filter to the received plurality of samples, wherein the artifact signal is an input to the least mean squares filter, and wherein the plurality of filtered samples comprise a difference between the received plurality of samples of the signal and an output of the least mean squares filter.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving a plurality of samples of a signal comprises:

illuminating a portion of subsurface vasculature; and

receiving light emitted from the portion of subsurface vasculature in response to illumination, wherein the plurality of samples of a signal comprise measurements of the received light at a plurality of respective points in time.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

partitioning the plurality of samples of the signal into a plurality of overlapping subsets of the plurality of samples, wherein the plurality of overlapping subsets of the plurality of samples comprises a first subset of the plurality of samples and a second subset of the plurality of samples, and wherein the first subset of the plurality of samples and the second subset of the plurality of samples overlap; and

wherein generating, based on the plurality of samples, a plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops comprises;

generating, based on the first subset of the plurality of samples, a first plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops; and

generating, based on the second subset of the plurality of samples, a second plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops;

wherein comparing the plurality of samples and each of the generated oscillating signals comprises;

comparing the first set of the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals in the first plurality of oscillating signals; and

comparing the second set of the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals in the second plurality of oscillating signals;

wherein selecting two or more of the generated oscillating signals based on the comparison comprises;

selecting two or more of the first plurality of oscillating signals based on the comparison of the first set of the plurality of samples to each of the selected oscillating signals in the first plurality of oscillating signals; and

selecting two or more of the second plurality of oscillating signals based on the comparison of the second set of the plurality of samples to each of the selected oscillating signals in the second plurality of oscillating signals;

wherein determining a plurality of frequencies based on the selected oscillating signals, wherein each frequency corresponds to a respective one of the selected generated oscillating signals comprises;

determining a first plurality of frequencies based on the selected first plurality of oscillating signals, wherein each frequency in the first plurality of frequencies corresponds to a respective one of the generated oscillating signals selected from the first plurality of oscillating signals; and

determining a second plurality of frequencies based on the selected second plurality of oscillating signals, wherein each frequency in the second plurality of frequencies corresponds to a respective one of the generated oscillating signals selected from the second plurality of oscillating signals; and

wherein determining a pulse rate based on the determined plurality of frequencies comprises;

determining a first pulse rate based on the first plurality of frequencies; and

determining a second pulse rate based on the second plurality of frequencies.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the overlapping subsets of the plurality of samples overlap by approximately 1 second.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

filtering the determined first and second pulse rates using a bidirectional statistical filter.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the operational parameters of each digital phase-locked loop comprise a free-running frequency parameter, wherein a set of one or more digital phase-locked loops operated to generate a respective set of oscillating signals based on a first subset of the plurality of samples have respective free-running frequency parameters selected based on a determined pulse rate corresponding to a second subset of the plurality of samples, and wherein the first subset of samples correspond to a time period that is later in time than a period of time corresponding to the second subset of samples.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an estimated frequency based on the determined plurality of frequencies;

determining a frequency spectrum of the plurality of samples, wherein the frequency spectrum comprises a plurality of frequency components, each having a respective magnitude; and

determining a frequency of a local maximum of the frequency spectrum, wherein the local maximum is within a specified range of frequencies of the estimated frequency, and wherein determining a pulse rate based on the determined plurality of frequencies comprises determining a pulse rate based on the determined frequency of the local maximum of the frequency spectrum.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops comprises operating at least 50 digital phase-locked loops.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals comprises determining a respective correlation between the plurality of samples and each of the generated oscillating signals.

12. A system comprising:

a sensor configured to detect a signal, wherein the signal is related to a cardiovascular pulse; and

a controller operably coupled to the sensor, wherein the controller comprises a computing device programmed to perform controller operations comprising;

operating the sensor to obtain a plurality of samples of the signal;

generating, based on the plurality of samples, a plurality of oscillating signals using a plurality of digital phase-locked loops, wherein each digital phase-locked loop has a different respective set of operational parameters;

comparing the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals;

selecting two or more of the generated oscillating signals based on the comparison;

determining a plurality of frequencies based on the selected oscillating signals, wherein each frequency corresponds to a respective one of the selected generated oscillating signals; and

determining a pulse rate based on the determined plurality of frequencies.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the sensor comprises:

a light emitter; and

a light detector, and wherein operating the sensor to obtain a plurality of samples of the signal comprises;

(a) operating the light emitter to illuminate a portion of subsurface vasculature and (b) operating the light detector to detect light emitted from the portion of subsurface vasculature in response to illumination at a plurality of points in time, wherein the plurality of samples of the signal comprise measurements of the detected light at respective points in time.

14. The system of claim 12, further comprising an accelerometer, wherein the controller operations further comprise operating the accelerometer to receive an artifact signal, and wherein generating, based on the plurality of samples, a plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops comprises:

filtering the received plurality of samples of the signal based on the artifact signal to generate a plurality of filtered samples; and

generating, based on the plurality of filtered samples, the plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the system includes a memory, and wherein the controller operations further comprise:

storing information indicative of the determined pulse rate in the memory.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the system includes a user interface, and wherein the controller operations further comprise:

operating the user interface to provide an indication of the determined pulse rate.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller operations further comprise partitioning the plurality of samples of the signal into a plurality of overlapping subsets of the plurality of samples, wherein the plurality of overlapping subsets of the plurality of samples comprises a first subset of the plurality of samples and a second subset of the plurality of samples, and wherein the first subset of the plurality of samples and the second subset of the plurality of samples overlap;

and

wherein generating, based on the plurality of samples, a plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops comprises;

generating, based on the first subset of the plurality of samples, a first plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops; and

generating, based on the second subset of the plurality of samples, a second plurality of oscillating signals using the plurality of digital phase-locked loops;

wherein comparing the plurality of samples and each of the generated oscillating signals comprises;

comparing the first set of the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals in the first plurality of oscillating signals; and

comparing the second set of the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals in the second plurality of oscillating signals;

wherein selecting two or more of the generated oscillating signals based on the comparison comprises;

selecting two or more of the first plurality of oscillating signals based on the comparison of the first set of the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals in the first plurality of oscillating signals; and

selecting two or more of the second plurality of oscillating signals based on the comparison of the second set of the plurality of samples to each of the generated oscillating signals in the second plurality of oscillating signals;

wherein determining a plurality of frequencies based on the selected oscillating signals, wherein each frequency corresponds to a respective one of the selected generated oscillating signals comprises;

determining a first plurality of frequencies based on the selected first plurality of oscillating signals, wherein each frequency in the first plurality of frequencies corresponds to a respective one of the generated oscillating signals selected from the first plurality of oscillating signals; and

determining a second plurality of frequencies based on the selected second plurality of oscillating signals, wherein each frequency in the second plurality of frequencies corresponds to a respective one of the generated oscillating signals selected from the second plurality of oscillating signals; and

wherein determining a pulse rate based on the determined plurality of frequencies comprises;

determining a first pulse rate based on the first plurality of frequencies; and

determining a second pulse rate based on the second plurality of frequencies.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the controller operations further comprise:

filtering the determined first and second pulse rates using a bidirectional statistical filter.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller operations further comprise:

determining an estimated frequency based on the determined plurality of frequencies;

determining a frequency spectrum of the plurality of samples, wherein the frequency spectrum comprises a plurality of determined values of the magnitude of the plurality of frequency components, each having a respective magnitude; and

determining a frequency of a local maximum of the frequency spectrum, wherein the local maximum is within a specified range of frequencies of the estimated frequency, and wherein determining a pulse rate based on the determined plurality of frequencies comprises determining a pulse rate based on the determined frequency of the local maximum of the frequency spectrum.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the system comprises a body-mountable device.