Vibrating pillow strip and operating methods

• US 9,586,021 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2015
• Issued: 03/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eight Sleep, Inc
• Original Assignee: Eight Sleep, Inc
• Inventors: Franceschetti, Matteo, Bassi, Massimo Andreasi
• Primary Examiner(s): Santos, Robert G
• Assistant Examiner(s): THROOP, MYLES A
• Application Number:
  US14/969,932
• Publication Number:
  US 20160136383A1
• Time in Patent Office: 448 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 21/00 Attachments for beds, e.g. sheet holders, bed-cover holders bed tables supported on the bedstead A47B23/02; for children's beds A47D7/00, A47D15/00; Ventilating, cooling or heating means in connection with bedsteads or mattresses
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 21/044 with active means, e.g. by using air blowers or liquid pumps
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 21/048 for heating
• CPC Class Codes: A47C 31/123 for beds or mattresses
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 9/0238 Bed linen
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2505/07 Home care
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0242 adapted to measure environmental factors, e.g. temperature, pollution
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0475 Special features of memory means, e.g. removable memory cards
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0271 Thermal or temperature sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/063 in a linear array
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0022 Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet
• 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 5/02055 Simultaneously evaluating both cardiovascular condition and temperature
• 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 5/0816 Measuring devices for examining respiratory frequency measuring frequency of electric signals G01R23/00
• 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 5/117 Identification of persons methods or arrangements for recognising patterns, e.g. fingerprints, G06F18/00, G06V40/00; identification of persons by analysing their voice or speech G10L17/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4266 sweat secretion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4812 Detecting sleep stages or cycles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6892 Mats
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7455 : characterised by tactile indication, e.g. vibration or electrical stimulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 16/161 : with means for measuring the humidity
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2021/0022 : by the tactile sense, e.g. vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2021/0066 : with heating or cooling
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2021/0083 : especially for waking up
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 21/00 : Other devices or methods to cause a change in the state of consciousness; Devices for producing or ending sleep by mechanical, optical, or acoustical means, e.g. for hypnosis
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 21/02 : for inducing sleep or relaxation, e.g. by direct nerve stimulation, hypnosis, analgesia for massage A61H; electrotherapy A61N, e.g. applying alternating or intermittent electric currents for producing anaesthesia A61N1/36021
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/0294 : Piezoelectric materials
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/18 : with alarm
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3303 : Using a biosensor
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3306 : Optical measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3368 : Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3375 : Acoustical, e.g. ultrasonic, measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3584 : using modem, internet or bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3592 : using telemetric means, e.g. radio or optical transmission
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/3673 : thermo-electric, e.g. Peltier effect, thermocouples, semi-conductors
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/50 : with microprocessors or computers
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2205/505 : Touch-screens; Virtual keyboard or keypads; Virtual buttons; Soft keys; Mouse touches
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2230/005 : Parameter used as control input for the apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2230/06 : Heartbeat rate only
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2230/42 : Rate
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2230/50 : Temperature
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 2230/63 : Motion, e.g. physical activity
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0428 : Safety, monitoring G05B19/0423 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/2614 : HVAC, heating, ventillation, climate control
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 23/1393 : characterised by the use of electric means
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 6/00 : Tactile signalling systems, e.g. personal calling systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 : for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 1/0272 : For heating of fabrics

Abstract

Introduced are methods and systems for: gathering human biological signals, such as heart rate, respiration rate, or temperature; analyzing the gathered human biological signals; and controlling a vibrating pillow strip based on the analysis.

Claims

1. A system for automatically activating a vibrating pillow strip in response to an alarm setting, said system comprising:

a database configured to store a history of biological signals associated with a user;

said vibrating pillow strip coupled to a pillow associated with said user, said vibrating pillow strip comprising at least one of said vibrating pillow strip attached to a surface of the pillow or said vibrating pillow strip disposed inside of the pillow, said vibrating pillow strip configured to receive a control signal and to vibrate based on said control signal;

a computer processor communicatively coupled to said vibrating pillow strip, and said database, said computer processor configured to;

receive a biological signal associated with said user, said biological signal comprising a heart rate associated with said user, a respiration rate associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, or a temperature associated with said user;

identify said user based on at least one of;

said heart rate associated with said user, said respiration rate associated with said user, said motion associated with said user, or said temperature associated with said user;

based on said user identification, obtain a wake-up time associated with said user;

based on said history of biological signals and said biological signal, identify a sleep phase associated with said user, said sleep phase comprising a wakefulness phase, a light sleep phase, a deep sleep phase, or a rapid eye movement sleep phase; and

when said sleep phase comprises said light sleep phase and a current time is at most one hour before said wake-up time, send said control signal to said vibrating pillow strip, said control signal comprising an instruction to vibrate.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said history of biological signals comprises a normal heart rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal respiration rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal motion range associated with each sleep phase, and a normal temperature range associated with each sleep phase.

3. A vibrating alarm system comprising:

a vibrating pillow strip coupled to a pillow associated with a user, said vibrating pillow strip comprising at least one of said vibrating pillow strip attached to a surface of the pillow or said vibrating pillow strip disposed inside of the pillow, said vibrating pillow strip configured to receive a control signal and to vibrate based on said control signal, said vibrating pillow strip comprising;

a plurality of vibrating mini motors, wherein each vibrating mini motor is configured to tend to be unnoticeable when said user rests user'"'"'s head on said vibrating pillow strip, and further wherein said plurality of vibrating mini motors is configured to tend to wake up the user;

a computer processor communicatively coupled to said vibrating pillow strip, said computer processor configured to;

obtain a wake-up time associated with said user; and

at said wake-up time associated with said user, send said control signal to said vibrating pillow strip.

4. The vibrating alarm system of claim 3, wherein said vibrating mini motor in said plurality of vibrating mini motors is configured to be at most 100 millimeters² in area, and at most 3 mm in thickness.

5. The vibrating alarm system of claim 3, wherein said vibrating mini motor in said plurality of vibrating mini motors configured to be at least 1 mm away from a neighboring vibrating mini motor.

6. The vibrating alarm system of claim 3, wherein said vibrating mini motor in said plurality of vibrating mini motors is configured to vibrate at least at 11,000 rotations per minute at 5 volts.

7. The vibrating alarm system of claim 3, wherein said vibrating pillow strip is coupled to said computer processor via a wireless communication channel.

8. The vibrating alarm system of claim 3, wherein each vibrating mini motor in said plurality of vibrating mini motors is configured to vibrate synchronously.

9. The vibrating alarm system of claim 3, said vibrating pillow strip comprising a plurality of zones corresponding to a plurality of users, wherein each zone in said plurality of zones is configured to vibrate independently.

10. The vibrating alarm system of claim 9, wherein said control signal comprises an identification associated with said zone in said plurality of zones.

11. The vibrating alarm system of claim 3, said computer processor configured to:

receive a biological signal associated with said user, said biological signal comprising a heart rate associated with said user, a respiration rate associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, or a temperature associated with said user;

identify said user based on at least one of;

said heart rate associated with said user, said respiration rate associated with said user, said motion associated with said user, or said temperature associated with said user;

based on said user identification, obtain said wake-up time associated with said user;

based on said biological signal, detect when said user is in a light sleep phase; and

when said user is in said light sleep phase and a current time is at most one hour before said wake-up time, send said control signal to said vibrating pillow strip, said control signal comprising an instruction to vibrate.

12. The vibrating alarm system of claim 11, wherein said computer processor is configured to detect when said user is in said light sleep phase by detecting:

a slowdown in said heart rate, a drop in said temperature, and a regular respiration rate.

13. The vibrating alarm system of claim 11, wherein said computer processor is configured to detect when said user is in said light sleep phase by detecting an end of a rapid eye movement sleep phase.

14. The vibrating alarm system of claim 11, further comprising a database configured to store a history of biological signals associated with said user, wherein said history of biological signals comprises a normal heart rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal respiration rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal motion range associated with each sleep phase, and a normal temperature range associated with each sleep phase.

15. The vibrating alarm system of claim 14, wherein said computer processor is further configured to:

based on said user identification, retrieve from said database, said history of biological signals associated with said user; and

based on said biological signal and said history of biological signals, determine said sleep phase associated with said user.

16. A method for automatically activating a vibrating pillow strip in response to a biological signal associated with a user, said method comprising:

receiving said biological signal associated with said user, said biological signal comprising a heart rate associated with said user, a respiration rate associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, or a temperature associated with said user;

retrieving a history of biological signals associated with said user from a database;

identifying said user based on at least one of;

said heart rate associated with said user, said respiration rate associated with said user, said motion associated with said user, or said temperature associated with said user;

based on said user identification, obtaining a wake-up time associated with said user;

based on said history of biological signals and said biological signal, identifying a sleep phase associated with said user, said sleep phase comprising a wakefulness phase, a light sleep phase, a deep sleep phase, or a rapid eye movement sleep phase; and

when said sleep phase comprises said light sleep phase and a current time is at most one hour before said wake-up time, sending a control signal to said vibrating pillow strip, said vibrating pillow strip coupled to a pillow associated with said user, said vibrating pillow strip comprising at least one of said vibrating pillow strip attached to a surface of the pillow or said vibrating pillow strip disposed inside of the pillow, said control signal comprising an instruction to vibrate.

17. The method of claim 16, comprising configuring said vibrating pillow strip to attach to the pillow, to receive said control signal and to vibrate based on said control signal, said vibrating pillow strip comprising a plurality of zones corresponding to a plurality of users, wherein each zone in said plurality of zones is configured to vibrate independently.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein said history of biological signals comprises a normal heart rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal respiration rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal motion range associated with each sleep phase, and a normal temperature range associated with each sleep phase.

19. A method for automatically activating a vibrating alarm system, said method comprising:

configuring a vibrating pillow strip to couple to a pillow associated with a user, said vibrating pillow strip comprising at least one of said vibrating pillow strip attached to a surface of the pillow or said vibrating pillow strip disposed inside of the pillow;

configuring said vibrating pillow strip to receive a control signal and to vibrate based on said control signal;

coupling a plurality of vibrating mini motors to said vibrating pillow strip, wherein each vibrating mini motor in said plurality of vibrating mini motors tends to be unnoticeable when said user rests user'"'"'s head on said vibrating pillow strip, and further wherein said plurality of vibrating mini motors tends to wake up said user;

communicatively coupling a computer processor to said vibrating pillow strip;

configuring said computer processor to;

obtain a wake-up time associated with said user; and

at said wake-up time associated with said user, send said control signal to said vibrating pillow strip.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said vibrating mini motor in said plurality of vibrating mini motors is configured to be at most 10 mm in diameter, and at most 2.7 mm in thickness.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein said vibrating mini motor in said plurality of vibrating mini motors is configured to vibrate at least at 11,000 rotations per minute at 5 volts.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein said vibrating mini motor in said plurality of vibrating mini motors is configured to vibrate synchronously.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein said vibrating pillow strip is coupled to said computer processor via a wireless personal area network.

24. The method of claim 19, said vibrating pillow strip comprising a plurality of zones corresponding to a plurality of users, wherein each zone in said plurality of zones is configured to vibrate independently.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said control signal comprises an identification associated with said zone in said plurality of zones.

26. The method of claim 19, said computer processor configured to:

receive a biological signal associated with said user, said biological signal comprising a heart rate associated with said user, a respiration rate associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, or a temperature associated with said user;

identify said user based on at least one of;

said heart rate associated with said user, said respiration rate associated with said user, said motion associated with said user, or said temperature associated with said user;

based on said user identification, obtain said wake-up time associated with said user;

based on said biological signal, detect when said user is in a light sleep phase; and

when said user is in said light sleep phase and a current time is at most one hour before said wake-up time, send said control signal to said vibrating pillow strip, said control signal comprising an instruction to vibrate.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said computer processor is configured to detect when said user is in said light sleep phase by detecting:

a slowdown in said heart rate, a drop in said temperature, and a regular respiration rate.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein said computer processor is configured to detect when said user is in said light sleep phase by detecting an end of a rapid eye movement sleep phase.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising a database configured to store a history of biological signals associated with said user, wherein said history of biological signals comprises a normal heart rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal respiration rate range associated with each sleep phase, a normal motion range associated with each sleep phase, and a normal temperature range associated with each sleep phase.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said computer processor is further configured to:

based on said user identification, retrieve from said database, said history of biological signals associated with said user; and

based on said biological signal and said history of biological signals, determine said sleep phase associated with said user.