Wearable audio devices

• US 10,842,389 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2018
• Issued: 11/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Valencell, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Valencell, Inc.
• Inventors: LeBoeuf, Steven Francis, Tucker, Jesse Berkley, Aumer, Michael Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Fuller, Rodney E
• Application Number:
  US16/191,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20190082974A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• Field of Search: 600301
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0425 Ergonomically shaped housings A61B2560/0418 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0443 Modular apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0233 Special features of optical sensors or probes classified in A61B5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/00 Measuring for diagnostic purposes radiation diagnosis A61B6/00; diagnosis by ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves A61B8/00; Identification of persons
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0013 Medical image data A61B1/00011, A61B6/56, A61B8/56 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/002 Monitoring the patient using a local or closed circuit, e.g. in a room or building A61B5/0017 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0024 for multiple sensor units attached to the patient, e.g. using a body or personal area network
• 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 5/0082 adapted for particular medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0084 for introduction into the body, e.g. by catheters A61B5/1459 takes 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 5/024 Detecting, measuring or recording pulse rate or heart rate A61B5/0205, A61B5/021 take 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 5/02427 : Details of sensor
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/02433 : for infrared radiation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/026 : Measuring blood flow A61B3/1233, A61B3/1241 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0261 : using optical means, e.g. infrared light
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0295 : using plethysmography, i.e. measuring the variations in the volume of a body part as modified by the circulation of blood therethrough, e.g. impedance plethysmography
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0816 : Measuring devices for examining respiratory frequency measuring frequency of electric signals G01R23/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/091 : Measuring volume of inspired or expired gases, e.g. to determine lung capacity
• 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 5/1107 : Measuring contraction of parts of the body, e.g. organ, muscle apparatus for measuring work or force in general G01L
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 : Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14532 : for measuring glucose, e.g. by tissue impedance measurement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1455 : using optical sensors, e.g. spectral photometrical oximeters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14551 : for measuring blood gases
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/165 : Evaluating the state of mind, e.g. depression, anxiety
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/369 : Electroencephalography [EEG] devices for psychotechnics A61B5/16
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/411 : Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/415 : the glands, e.g. tonsils, adenoids or thymus
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/418 : lymph vessels, ducts or nodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4812 : Detecting sleep stages or cycles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4845 : Toxicology, e.g. by detection of alcohol, drug or toxic products A61B5/4848 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4848 : Monitoring or testing the effects of treatment, e.g. of medication
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/486 : Bio-feedback A61B5/375 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4866 : Evaluating metabolism A61B5/083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4875 : Hydration status, fluid retention of the body
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4884 : inducing physiological or psychological stress, e.g. applications for stress testing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 : Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6815 : Ear
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6816 : Ear lobe
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6817 : Ear canal
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6819 : Nose
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6826 : Finger
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6838 : Clamps or clips
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7207 : of noise induced by motion artifacts
• 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 5/7214 : using signal cancellation, e.g. based on input of two identical physiological sensors spaced apart, or based on two signals derived from the same sensor, for different optical wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7221 : Determining signal validity, reliability or quality A61B5/7207 and A61B5/7217 take precedence
• 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 5/7282 : Event detection, e.g. detecting unique waveforms indicative of a medical condition A61B5/4094, A61B5/4818, A61B5/349, A61B5/0823 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/742 : using visual displays A61B5/339 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7475 : User input or interface means, e.g. keyboard, pointing device, joystick
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0001 : specially adapted for lighting devices or systems lighting or signalling on vehicles using light guides B60Q1/00; lighting devices for vehicle dashboards B60Q3/10; lighting devices for vehicle interior using light guides B60Q3/62; lighting devices mounted on the vehicle rear part using light guides F21S43/235; measuring arrangements having light conducting pointers G01D13/265; illumination of liquid crystal displays G02F1/1336; illuminated signs G09F13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 : relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/40 : for processing medical images, e.g. editing
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 : for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 : for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/028 : associated with devices performing functions other than acoustics, e.g. electric candles
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/105 : Earpiece supports, e.g. ear hooks for stereophonic headphones H04R5/0335
• CPC Class Codes: H04R 1/1091 : Details not provided for in groups H04R1/1008 - H04R1/1083
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 : Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A wearable audio device includes a housing configured to be positioned at an ear of a subject, a speaker and a chipset within the housing. The chipset includes a plurality of sensor elements, at least one signal processor, at least one digital bus, power regulating circuitry, and at least one wireless transmitter. The sensor elements include at least one optical emitter, at least one optical detector, and at least one noise source. The chipset is positioned within the housing such that the at least one optical emitter and at least one optical detector are in optical communication with the ear via a window in the housing. The at least one signal processor includes sensor signal conditioning algorithms configured to process signals from the sensor elements to generate physiological assessment information about the subject. The at least one wireless transmitter is configured to communicate the physiological assessment information to a remote device.

Claims

1. A wearable audio device, comprising:

a housing configured to be positioned at an ear of a subject, the housing comprising a window; and

a chipset within the housing, the chipset comprising;

a plurality of sensor elements comprising at least one optical emitter, at least one optical detector, and at least one noise source;

at least one signal processor comprising sensor signal conditioning algorithms, wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to process signals from the at least one optical detector and the at least one noise source to generate physiological assessment information about the subject;

at least one digital bus configured to enable digital communication between the plurality of sensor elements and the at least one signal processor;

power regulating circuitry; and

at least one wireless transmitter configured to communicate the physiological assessment information to a remote device,

wherein the chipset is positioned within the housing such that the at least one optical emitter or the at least one optical detector is in optical communication with the ear of the subject via the window,

wherein a portion of the housing comprises a light-guiding region such that light emitted from the optical emitter or light detected by the optical detector is transmitted through the portion of the housing, and

wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to apply an adaptive filter to signals from the at least one optical detector and the at least one noise source to determine a heart rate of the subject, and wherein the at least one wireless transmitter is configured to transmit the heart rate of the subject to the remote device.

2. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the window comprises an acoustic orifice in the housing.

3. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the window comprises a transparent region in the housing.

4. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the chipset is positioned within the housing such that at least one of the at least one optical emitter and the at least one optical detector are aligned line-of-sight through the window.

5. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the wearable audio device is an earbud, a headset, and/or a hearing aid.

6. The wearable audio device of claim 1, further comprising non-air light transmissive material in optical communication with the at least one optical emitter and the window and/or the non-air light transmissive material in optical communication with the at least one optical detector and the window.

7. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to reduce subject motion artifacts by removing frequency bands from signals from the at least one optical detector that are outside of a range of interest using at least one band-pass filter to produce pre-conditioned signals, wherein the subject motion artifacts comprise subject footstep-related motion artifacts.

8. The wearable audio device of claim 7, wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to filter the pre-conditioned signals via FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filtering, IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) filtering, adaptive filtering, phase filtering, and/or frequency filtering.

9. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the at least one noise source comprises an optical sensor, an inertial sensor, an electrically conductive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an inductive sensor, an accelerometer, and/or a blocked channel sensor.

10. The wearable audio device of claim 1, further comprising light blocking material positioned between the at least one optical emitter and the at least one optical detector such that the at least one optical emitter and the at least one optical detector are not in direct optical communication with each other.

11. The wearable audio device of claim 1, further comprising a speaker within the housing, and wherein the housing comprises at least one aperture through which sound from the speaker can pass.

12. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the portion of the housing is a first portion, and

wherein at least a second portion of the housing is configured to be positioned within the ear.

13. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the at least one signal processor is further configured to provide updates to properties of the adaptive filter that reduce a difference between the signal from the at least one optical detector and the signal from the at least one noise source.

14. The wearable audio device of claim 1, wherein the at least one optical emitter is a first optical emitter, and

wherein the at least one noise source comprises a second optical emitter.

15. A wearable audio device, comprising:

a housing configured to be positioned at an ear of a subject, the housing comprising a window;

a speaker within the housing, and wherein the housing comprises at least one aperture through which sound from the speaker can pass; and

a chipset within the housing, the chipset comprising;

a plurality of sensor elements comprising at least one optical emitter, at least one optical detector, and at least one noise source;

at least one signal processor comprising sensor signal conditioning algorithms, wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to process signals from the at least one optical detector and the at least one noise source to generate physiological assessment information about the subject;

at least one digital bus configured to enable digital communication between the plurality of sensor elements and the at least one signal processor;

power regulating circuitry; and

at least one wireless transmitter configured to communicate the physiological assessment information to a remote device,

wherein the chipset is positioned within the housing such that the at least one optical emitter and/or the at least one optical detector are aligned line-of-sight through the window toward the ear of the subject, and

wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to apply an adaptive filter to signals from the at least one optical detector and the at least one noise source to determine a heart rate of the subject, and wherein the at least one wireless transmitter is configured to transmit the heart rate of the subject to the remote device.

16. The wearable audio device of claim 15, wherein the wearable audio device is an earbud, headset, and/or hearing aid.

17. The wearable audio device of claim 15, wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to reduce subject motion artifacts by removing frequency bands from the signals from the at least one optical detector that are outside of a range of interest using at least one band-pass filter to produce pre-conditioned signals, wherein the subject motion artifacts comprise subject footstep-related motion artifacts.

18. The wearable audio device of claim 17, wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to filter the pre-conditioned signals via FIR (Finite Impulse Response) filtering, IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) filtering, adaptive filtering, phase filtering, and/or frequency filtering.

19. The wearable audio device of claim 15, wherein the at least one noise source comprises an optical sensor, an inertial sensor, an electrically conductive sensor, a capacitive sensor, an inductive sensor, an accelerometer, and/or a blocked channel sensor.

20. The wearable audio device of claim 15, further comprising light blocking material positioned between the at least one optical emitter and the at least one optical detector such that the at least one optical emitter and the at least one optical detector are not in direct optical communication with each other.

21. The wearable audio device of claim 15, wherein at least a portion of the housing is configured to be positioned within the ear.

22. The wearable audio device of claim 15, wherein the at least one signal processor is further configured to provide updates to properties of the adaptive filter that reduce a difference between the signal from the at least one optical detector and the signal from the at least one noise source.

23. The wearable audio device of claim 15, wherein the at least one optical emitter is a first optical emitter, and

wherein the at least one noise source comprises a second optical emitter.

24. A wearable audio device, comprising:

a housing configured to be positioned at an ear of a subject, the housing comprising a window; and

a chipset within the housing, the chipset comprising;

a plurality of sensor elements comprising at least one optical emitter, at least one optical detector, and at least one noise source;

at least one signal processor comprising sensor signal conditioning algorithms, wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to process signals from the at least one optical detector and the at least one noise source to generate physiological assessment information about the subject;

at least one digital bus configured to enable digital communication between the plurality of sensor elements and the at least one signal processor; and

power regulating circuitry;

wherein the chipset is positioned within the housing such that the at least one optical emitter or the at least one optical detector is in optical communication with the ear of the subject via the window;

wherein a portion of the housing comprises a light-guiding region such that light emitted from the at least one optical emitter or light detected by the at least one optical detector is transmitted through the portion of the housing;

wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to process the signals from the at least one noise sensor to measure footstep information from a limb of the subject; and

wherein the at least one signal processor is configured to remove frequency bands from the signals from the at least one optical detector that are outside of a range of interest to produce pre-conditioned signals, and to further process the pre-conditioned signals using the signals from the at least one noise sensor to reduce motion artifacts from footsteps during subject running.