Radar-assisted sensing of the position and/or movement of the body or inside the body of living beings

• US 7,196,629 B2
• Filed: 10/23/2003
• Issued: 03/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Mahler, Michael, Seidel, Juergen, Ruoss, Hans-Oliver
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu; Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAM, LAM P
• Application Number:
  US10/497,870
• Publication Number:
  US 20050073424A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,251 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.1, 340/686.6, 340574-576, 340436-438, 342/61, 342/118, 342 70- 72, 128/653, 128/663, 128/687, 280734-735
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• 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 5/0507 using microwaves or terahertz waves
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/113 occurring during breathing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/18 for vehicle drivers or machine operators
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 83/26 Emergency opening means for persons trapped in the luggage compartment
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/56 for presence detection presence detection using near field arrangements G01V3/00, e.g. G01V3/08, G01V3/12; burglar, theft or intruder alarms with electrical actuation G08B13/22 - G08B13/26
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/2886 using I/Q processing
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/415 Identification of targets based on measurements of movement associated with the target

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for sensing information about the position and/or movements of the body of a living being or a part of the body inside the body, in particular for use in a motor vehicle. The method includes the steps:

• • Send (18) an electromagnetic signal (15) that includes, according to the invention, frequencies in the radar range, to a predetermined area of the body of a living being,
  • Receive (20) an electromagnetic signal (22) reflected from the area of the body,
  • Evaluate (30) the captured receive signal (22) with regard for the difference in delay time and/or frequency relative to the transmit signal (15) to determine the information.
    With the method according to the present invention, the breathing and heart rate and the position of the body of a driver of a motor vehicle can be monitored in contactless fashion during the drive.

Claims

1. A method for the sensing of information about the position and/or movements of the body of a living being or a part of the body inside the body, comprising the following steps:

a) sending an electromagnetic signal to a predetermined area of the body of the living being,

b) receiving an electromagnetic signal reflected from the area of the body,

c) evaluating the captured receive signal with regard for the difference in delay time and/or frequency relative to the transmit signal to determine the information,

d) monitoring a range of a heart beat and breathing motion,

e) generating a signal serving as an alarm or forwarding information to a higher-order system when evaluated information about heart and/or chest movement indicates a life-threatening, extraordinary situation, if the evaluated information falls below a selected frequency, or if the evaluated information about the heart exhibits an unusual change,

wherein frequencies in the high-frequency range are used, wherein information obtained in evaluating of delay time differences between transmit signal and receive signal contains the distance between body or part of the body and transmit/receive antenna elements, and wherein devices for sending and receiving the signals are mounted on a steering wheel of a motor vehicle or in an immediate vicinity of the steering wheel for sensing of information about the position and/or movements of the body disposed in a motor vehicle, and emission characteristics of transmit antenna elements have an angle of aperture of less than 40 degrees.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein, to sense the information about movements of the body of a living being or a part of the body inside the body, the step of evaluating the receive signal takes place by determining the Doppler frequency shift relative to the transmit signal.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, whereby, to sense the heart beat and/or breathing of the living being, a radar frequency in the range between 800 MHz and 6 GHz, and a frequency band from 100 MHz around 2.45 GHz are used, and the frequency shift is depicted in the form of information that characterizes the heart movement and/or chest movement.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, whereby the signal evaluation functions according to the mixing principle.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, whereby a further mixer is used in the signal evaluation.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, containing the step of generating a pulsed transmission signal.

7. The method as recited in claim 6, whereby the pulses are generated by switching on and off using a clock-pulse generation circuit that triggers a signal switch.

8. The method as recited in claim 6, whereby the pulses are generated by signal-filtering semiconductor elements.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, whereby, to sense the position of the body of the living being, a radar frequency in the range between 20 and 120 GHz, and a frequency band of 250 MHz around 24.5 GHz are used.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, whereby the signal evaluation of the pulsed electromagnetic receive signal functions according to the sampling principle.

11. A system for sensing information about the position and/or movements of the body of a living being or a part of the body inside the body, containing devices for carrying out the steps of the method according to claim 1.

12. The use of the method as recited in claim 1, or the system as recited in claim 11, for determining the presence and/or for monitoring a living being in a trunk of a motor vehicle, with which the devices of the system for sensing are mounted in the motor vehicle.

13. The use of the method as recited in claim 1, or the system as recited in claim 11, for one of the following purposes:

a) detecting the presence of a person,

b) classifying the person,

c) monitoring the driver, or

d) long-term monitoring,

whereby the evaluated information about the position and/or movements of the body of a living being or a part of the body inside the body are forwarded to a higher-order system for further processing therein.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein frequencies in the radar range are used.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the angle of aperture is between 20 and 30 degrees.