System and Method for Measuring Bioelectrical Signals of a User

• US 20080208028A1
• Filed: 04/04/2006
• Published: 08/28/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Thijs, Jeroen Adrianus Johannes, Muehlsteff, Jens, Such, Olaf, Reiter, Harald
• Granted Patent: US 8,150,489 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/373
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/063 using impedance measurements
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/276 Protection against electrode failure
• 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

Abstract

The invention relates to a system and method for measuring bioelectrical signals of a user. Furthermore the invention relates to a computer program for measuring bioelectrical signals of a user. In order to provide a technique for measuring bioelectrical signals with reduced motion artefacts a new method is provided, comprising the steps of determining the displacement of an electrode, the electrode being adapted for measuring a bioelectrical signal, and adjusting the position of said electrode depending on the determined displacement. The present invention can be used in any system for measuring bioelectrical signals, which uses electrodes, e.g. in any ECG measurement system. With the reduction of artefacts according to the present invention the performance of all those systems can be substantially increased.

Claims

1. A method of measuring bioelectrical signals of a user, comprising the steps of:

determining the displacement of an electrode, the electrode being adapted for measuring a bioelectrical signal, and

adjusting the position of said electrode depending on the determined displacement.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises determining the motion of the user.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the determining step comprises determining the motion of the electrode relative to the user.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adjusting step comprises adjusting the real position of the electrode.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adjusting step comprises adjusting the virtual measuring position of the electrode.

6. A system for measuring bioelectrical signals of a user, comprising:

a determination unit adapted for determining the displacement of an electrode, the electrode being adapted for measuring a bioelectrical signal, and

an adjusting unit adapted for adjusting the position of said electrode depending on the determined displacement.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the determination unit comprises an accelerometer.

8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the accelerometer is arranged remotely from the electrode.

9. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the accelerometer and the electrode form a motional unity.

10. The system as claimed in claim 7, comprising a second accelerometer arranged remotely from the electrode.

11. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the adjusting unit comprises an actuating element for moving the electrode.

12. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the determination unit comprises the electrode, said electrode comprising a number of adjacent electrode areas, each area being adapted for measuring a bioelectrical signal.

13. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the adjusting unit comprises an analyzing unit adapted for analyzing a number of bioelectrical signals and further adapted for adjusting the virtual measuring position of the electrode.

14. A computer program, comprising:

computer program instructions to determine the displacement of an electrode depending on an input signal, the electrode being adapted for measuring a bioelectrical signal, and

computer program instructions to generate an output signal for adjusting the position of said electrode depending on the determined displacement, when the computer program is executed in a computer.