Headset for measuring physiological parameters

Abstract

Methods and systems for determining physiological parameters from body sounds obtained from a person's ear. In various exemplary embodiment, the system includes an earplug housing; a sensing element disposed within a portion of the earplug housing; an acoustic shield coupled to the earplug housing, the acoustic shield reducing or eliminating extracorporeal sounds; and a preamplification circuit electrically coupled to the sensing element. In various exemplary embodiments, the system is operable to determine motion and / or vibration of the external acoustic meatus or the tympanic membrane of the ear due to internally generated body sounds.

Description

[0001] 1. Field of Invention[0002] This invention relates to systems and methods for detecting and / or measuring a person's physiological parameters by detecting the person's internally generated body sounds, such as heart sounds, at a location within a person's ear, and processing the measured body sounds to obtain physiological parameters of interest.[0003] 2. Description of Related Art[0004] Sound signals recorded from the heart are called phonocardiogram (PCG) signals. A healthy heart generates two distinct sounds that are coincident with the closure of the heart valves. These two sounds are called the first heart sound (S1) and the second heart sound (S2). In particular, S2 is coincident with the closure of the aortic valve. The closure of the aortic valve also creates a distinct feature on the arterial blood pressure waveform called the dicrotic notch. The pulse transit time (PTT) is defined as the time required for an arterial blood pressure pulse to travel from the heart to a...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

It is well known that inspiration causes an increase in the time delay between the aortic and pulmonary valve closure events.

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