Heart rate monitor for aerosol delivery device

Abstract

An aerosol delivery device is provided that includes at least one housing enclosing a reservoir configured to hold an aerosol precursor composition. The apparatus includes a heating element and a microprocessor configured to operate in an active mode, wherein a control body is configured to control the heating element to activate and vaporize a component of an aerosol precursor composition. The apparatus includes a housing, and the apparatus includes a heart rate monitor including a plurality of biopotential electrodes secured to the housing and configured to obtain biopotential measurements from a user, and includes a signal conditioning circuit configured to generate an electrocardiogram signal as a function of the biopotential measurements. The microprocessor is coupled to the signal conditioning circuit and is further configured to control operation of at least one functional element of an aerosol delivery device based on the electrocardiogram signal or a heart rate of a user calculated therefrom.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional application of a patent application for invention, with the application date of May 22, 2018, the application number of "201880046965.0", and the invention title of "Heart rate monitor for an aerosol delivery device". Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to aerosol delivery devices such as smoking articles, and more particularly to aerosol delivery devices (e.g., smoking articles commonly referred to as electronic cigarettes) that can utilize electricity to generate an aerosol. The smoking article can be configured to heat an aerosol precursor to form an inhalable substance for human consumption, and the aerosol precursor can contain materials made from or derived from tobacco or otherwise contain tobacco. Technical Background

[0003] For many years, many smoking devices have been proposed as improvements or alternatives to smoking products that require the combustion of tobacco for use. Many of these devices are purported to be designed to provide the sensations associated with cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking, but without delivering the large amounts of incomplete combustion products and pyrolysis products that result from tobacco combustion. For this purpose, numerous smoking products, flavor generators, and medicinal inhalers have been proposed that utilize electrical energy to vaporize or heat volatile materials, or attempt to provide the sensations of cigarette, cigar, or pipe smoking without burning the tobacco to a great extent. See, for example, the various alternative smoking articles, aerosol delivery devices, and heat generating sources described in the background art set forth in U.S. Patent No. 8,881,737 to Collett et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0255702 to Griffith Jr. et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0000638 to Sebastian et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0096781 to Sears et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0096782 to Ampolini et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0059780 to Davis et al., and U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 15 / 222,615 to Watson et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference. See also, for example, the various embodiments of products and heating configurations described in the background sections of U.S. Patent No. 5,388,594 to Counts et al. and U.S. Patent No. 8,079,371 to Robinson et al., which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0004] However, there is a desire to provide an aerosol delivery device that improves electronic components (such as can extend the usability of the device). Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present disclosure relates to an aerosol delivery device, a method of forming such a device, and components of such a device. The present disclosure includes, but is not limited to, the following exemplary embodiments.

[0006] Exemplary Embodiment 1: An aerosol delivery device comprising: at least one housing that encloses a reservoir configured to hold an aerosol precursor composition; a heating element; a microprocessor configured to operate in an active mode in which a control body is configured to control the heating element to activate and vaporize components of the aerosol precursor composition; and a heart rate monitor including a plurality of biopotential electrodes fixed to the housing and configured to obtain biopotential measurements from a user, and including a signal conditioning circuit configured to generate an electrocardiogram signal based on the biopotential measurements, the microprocessor being coupled to the signal conditioning circuit and further configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the aerosol delivery device based on the electrocardiogram signal or the user's heart rate calculated therefrom.

[0007] Exemplary Embodiment 2: An aerosol delivery device of any of the preceding exemplary embodiments or any combination of any of the preceding exemplary embodiments, wherein the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element includes: being configured to calculate the user's heart rate based on the electrocardiogram signal; and being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element based on the heart rate so calculated.

[0008] Exemplary Embodiment 3: An aerosol delivery device of any of the preceding exemplary embodiments or any combination of any of the preceding exemplary embodiments, wherein the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element includes being configured to control an indicator to provide user-perceivable feedback.

[0009] Exemplary Embodiment 4: An aerosol delivery device of any of the preceding exemplary embodiments or any combination of any of the preceding exemplary embodiments, further comprising a communication interface configured to be capable of wireless communication, wherein the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element includes being configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate to a computing device, the computing device being configured to control at least one functional element of the computing device based on the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate.

[0010] Example Embodiment 5: An aerosol delivery device of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein causing the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate includes causing the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal, and wherein the computing device being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device includes: being configured to calculate the heart rate of the user based on the electrocardiogram signal; and being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device based on the heart rate so calculated.

[0011] Example Embodiment 6: An aerosol delivery device of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein the computing device being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device includes being configured to control an indicator of the computing device to provide user-perceivable feedback.

[0012] Example Embodiment 7: An aerosol delivery device of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, further including a communication interface configured to be able to wirelessly communicate with a service platform via at least one network including a wireless local area network (WLAN), wherein the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element includes being configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to the service platform for storage in a database.

[0013] Example Embodiment 8: An aerosol delivery device of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein the microprocessor is configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to the service platform to further enable a medical professional to monitor or track the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate.

[0014] Example Embodiment 9: An aerosol delivery device of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein the aerosol precursor composition includes glycerol and nicotine.

[0015] Example Embodiment 10: A control body, coupled to or capable of being coupled to a cartridge to form an aerosol delivery device, the cartridge being equipped with a heating element and containing an aerosol precursor composition, the control body comprising: a housing; a microprocessor configured to operate in an active mode in which the control body is coupled to the cartridge, the microprocessor in the active mode being configured to control the heating element to activate and vaporize components of the aerosol precursor composition; and a heart rate monitor including a plurality of biopotential electrodes fixed to the housing and configured to obtain biopotential measurements from a user, and including a signal conditioning circuit configured to generate an electrocardiogram signal based on the biopotential measurements, the microprocessor being coupled to the signal conditioning circuit and further configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the control body or the aerosol delivery device based on the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate of the user calculated therefrom.

[0016] Example Embodiment 11: A control body of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element includes: being configured to calculate the heart rate of the user based on the electrocardiogram signal; and being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element based on the heart rate so calculated.

[0017] Example Embodiment 12: A control body of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element includes being configured to control an indicator to provide user-perceivable feedback.

[0018] Example Embodiment 13: A control body of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, further including a communication interface configured to be capable of wireless communication, wherein the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element includes: being configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to a computing device, the computing device being configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the computing device based on the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate.

[0019] Example Embodiment 14: A control subject of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein causing the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate includes causing the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal, and wherein the computing device is configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device includes: being configured to calculate the heart rate of the user based on the electrocardiogram signal; and being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device based on the heart rate so calculated.

[0020] Example Embodiment 15: A control subject of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein the computing device is configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device includes: being configured to control an indicator of the computing device to provide user-perceivable feedback.

[0021] Example Embodiment 16: A control subject of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, further including a communication interface configured to be capable of wireless communication with a service platform via at least one network including a wireless local area network (WLAN), and wherein the microprocessor is further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element includes: being configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to the service platform for storage in a database.

[0022] Example Embodiment 17: A control subject of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein the microprocessor is configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to the service platform to further enable a medical professional to monitor or track the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate.

[0023] Example Embodiment 18: A control subject of any of the foregoing example embodiments or any combination of any of the foregoing example embodiments, wherein the aerosol precursor composition includes glycerol and nicotine.

[0024] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent from reading the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings briefly described below. The present disclosure encompasses any combination of two, three, four, or more features or elements set forth in the present disclosure, regardless of whether such features or elements are explicitly combined or otherwise referenced in the specific example embodiments described herein. The present disclosure is intended to be read as a whole such that any separable feature or element of the present disclosure in any of its aspects and example embodiments should be considered combinable unless the context of the present disclosure clearly dictates otherwise.

[0025] Accordingly, it will be understood that this Summary of the Invention is provided only for the purpose of outlining some example embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it will be understood that the example embodiments described above are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the scope or spirit of the present disclosure in any way. Other embodiments, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of some of the described embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Accordingly, the present disclosure has been described in the foregoing general terms, and reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and in which:

[0027] Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a side view of an aerosol delivery device including a cartridge coupled to a control body, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0028] Figure 2 FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of an aerosol delivery device according to various example implementations; and

[0029] Figure 3 FIG. 3 illustrates a system including an aerosol delivery device that wirelessly communicates with a computing device, according to various example implementations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to example embodiments of the present disclosure. The described embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Indeed, the present disclosure can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein; rather, these implementations are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. As used in the specification and the appended claims, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, the singular forms "a," "an," "the," and the like include plural referents.

[0031] As described herein, example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to aerosol delivery devices. The aerosol delivery devices according to the present disclosure use electrical energy to heat a material (preferably without burning the material to any significant extent) to form an inhalable substance, and the components of such systems are in the form of articles, most preferably in a sufficiently compact form to be considered a handheld device. That is, the use of the components of the preferred aerosol delivery devices does not result in the generation of smoke in the sense of the production of an aerosol from the by-products of tobacco combustion or pyrolysis. Instead, the use of those preferred systems causes certain components contained therein to volatilize or evaporate to produce a vapor. In some example embodiments, the components of the aerosol delivery device may be characterized as electronic cigarettes, and those electronic cigarettes most preferably contain tobacco and / or tobacco-derived components and thus deliver tobacco-derived components in aerosol form.

[0032] The aerosol generating member of certain preferred aerosol delivery systems can provide many of the sensations of smoking a cigarette, cigar, or pipe by lighting and burning tobacco (and thus inhaling tobacco smoke) (e.g., inhalation and exhalation gestures, types of taste or flavor, sensory effects, physical sensations, usage rituals, visual cues such as those provided by visible aerosol, etc.), without any substantial degree of combustion of any of its components. For example, a user of the aerosol generating member of the present disclosure can hold and use the member in a manner very similar to a smoker using a traditional type of smoking article, draw on one end of the member to inhale the aerosol generated by the member, take or draw puffs at selected time intervals, and so on.

[0033] Although these systems are generally described herein in embodiments associated with aerosol delivery devices such as so-called "electronic cigarettes", it should be understood that the mechanisms, components, features, and methods can be embodied in many different forms and associated with various articles. For example, in the description provided herein, they can be combined with traditional smoking articles (e.g., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.), heat-not-burn cigarettes, and the packaging of any article disclosed herein. Thus, it should be understood that the description of the mechanisms, components, features, and methods disclosed herein is discussed only by way of example in connection with embodiments related to aerosol delivery devices and can be embodied and used in a variety of other products and methods.

[0034] The aerosol delivery device of the present disclosure may also be characterized as a vapor generating article or a drug delivery article. Thus, such an article or device may be adapted to provide one or more substances in an inhalable form or state (e.g., flavorants and / or pharmaceutically active ingredients). For example, the inhalable substance may be substantially in the form of vapor (i.e., a substance in the gas phase at a temperature below its critical point). Alternatively, the inhalable substance may be in the form of an aerosol (i.e., a suspension of fine solid particles or droplets in a gas). For simplicity, the term "aerosol" as used herein, whether visible or not, and whether considered to be in a form similar to smoke, is intended to include vapor, gas, and forms or types of aerosol suitable for human inhalation.

[0035] In use, the aerosol delivery device of the present disclosure may be subject to many of the physical actions employed by an individual when using a traditional type of smoking article (e.g., a cigarette, cigar, or pipe that is smoked by lighting and inhaling tobacco). For example, a user of the aerosol delivery device of the present disclosure may hold the article much like a traditional type of smoking article, draw on one end of the article to inhale the aerosol generated by the article, take puffs at selected time intervals, and so on.

[0036] The aerosol delivery device of the present disclosure generally includes several components disposed within an outer body or housing (which may be referred to as a shell). The overall design of the outer body or housing may vary, and the type or configuration of the outer body that defines the overall size and shape of the aerosol delivery device may vary. Generally, an elongated body similar in shape to a cigarette or cigar may be formed from a single one-piece housing, or the elongated housing may be formed from two or more separable bodies. For example, the aerosol delivery device may include an elongated housing or body that may be substantially tubular in shape and thus similar in shape to a conventional cigarette or cigar. In one example, all of the components of the aerosol delivery device are contained within a single housing. Alternatively, the aerosol delivery device may include two or more joined and separable housings. For example, the aerosol delivery device may have a control body at one end that houses a housing containing one or more reusable components (e.g., a battery such as a rechargeable battery and / or a supercapacitor, and various electronics for controlling the operation of the article), and an outer body or housing at the other end that is removably couplable and contains a disposable portion (e.g., a disposable flavored cartridge). Given the further disclosure provided herein, the more specific types, configurations, and arrangements of the components within a single housing type unit or a multi-piece separable housing type unit will be apparent. Additionally, when considering commercially available electronic aerosol delivery devices, the designs and component arrangements of various aerosol delivery devices can be utilized.

[0037] The aerosol delivery device of the present disclosure most preferably includes a certain combination of the following components: a power source (i.e., an electrical power source); at least one control component (e.g., a microprocessor for actuating, controlling, regulating, and stopping the power for generating heat, such as by controlling the current flowing from the power source to other components of the article, either alone or as part of a microcontroller); a heater or heat generating member (e.g., a resistive heating element or other component) or a vibrating piezoelectric mesh, which alone or in combination with one or more other elements can generally be referred to as an "atomizer"; an aerosol precursor composition (e.g., a liquid that is generally capable of generating an aerosol when sufficient heat is applied, such as the ingredients commonly referred to as "smoke juice", "e - liquid", and "e - juice"); and a mouthpiece end region or a distal end that allows for inhalation of the aerosol by sucking on the aerosol delivery device (e.g., through a predetermined air flow path through the article so that the generated aerosol can be drawn therefrom during sucking).

[0038] The arrangement of the components within the aerosol delivery device of the present disclosure can vary. In a particular embodiment, the aerosol precursor composition can be located near one end of the aerosol delivery device, which can be configured to be positioned close to the user's mouth to maximize the delivery of the aerosol to the user. However, other configurations are not excluded. Generally, the heating element can be positioned sufficiently close to the aerosol precursor composition such that the heat from the heating element can cause the aerosol precursor (and also one or more flavorings, drugs, etc. that will also be delivered to the user) to volatilize to form an aerosol for delivery to the user. When the heating element heats the aerosol precursor composition, the aerosol is formed, released, or generated in a physical form suitable for inhalation by the consumer. It should be noted that the foregoing terms are meant to be interchangeable, such that a reference to release (release, releasing, releases, or released) includes form or generate (form or generate, forming or generating, forms or generates, and formed or generated). In particular, the inhalable substance is released in the form of vapor or aerosol or a mixture thereof, where these terms can also be used interchangeably herein unless otherwise specified.

[0039] As described above, the aerosol delivery device can include a battery or other power source to provide an electric current sufficient to provide various functions to the aerosol delivery device, such as powering a heater, powering a control system, powering an indicator, and the like. The power source can take various embodiments. Preferably, the power source is capable of delivering sufficient power to rapidly heat the heating element for aerosol formation and power the aerosol delivery device for a desired duration of use. Preferably, the power source is sized to be conveniently assembled within the aerosol delivery device such that the aerosol delivery device can be easily operated. Additionally, the preferred power source has a light enough weight so as not to detract from the desired smoking experience.

[0040] In view of the further disclosure provided hereinafter, more specific forms, configurations, and arrangements of the components within the aerosol delivery device of the present disclosure will be apparent. Additionally, when considering commercially available electronic aerosol delivery devices, the selection and arrangement of the various aerosol delivery device components can be understood. The present disclosure regarding the forms, configurations, and arrangements of the components within the aerosol delivery device, as well as commercially available electronic aerosol delivery devices, can be found in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 15 / 291771, filed on October 12, 2016 by Sur et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0041] Figure 1 FIG. shows a side view of an aerosol delivery device 100 implemented according to various examples of the present disclosure, the aerosol delivery device 100 including a control body 102 and a cartridge 104. Specifically, Figure 1 FIG. shows the control body and the cartridge coupled to each other. The control body and the cartridge are detachably configured in a functional relationship. Various mechanisms can be utilized to connect the cartridge to the control body, resulting in a threaded engagement, a press-fit engagement, an interference fit, a magnetic engagement, and the like. In some example implementations, when the cartridge and the control body are in an assembled configuration, the aerosol delivery device can be substantially rod-shaped, substantially tubular-shaped, or substantially cylindrical-shaped. The aerosol delivery device can have a substantially rectangular, rhomboid, triangular cross-section, can be polyhedral, and the like, where portions thereof can be made to better accommodate a substantially flat or thin-film power source (such as a power source including a flat battery).

[0042] The control body 102 and the cartridge 104 can include separate and distinct housings or outer bodies that can be formed of any of a variety of different materials. The housing can be formed of any suitable structurally sound material. In some examples, the housing can be formed of a metal or alloy such as stainless steel, aluminum. Other suitable materials include various plastics (e.g., polycarbonate), metal-plating over plastic, ceramics, and the like.

[0043] In some example embodiments, one or both of the control body 102 or the cartridge 104 of the aerosol delivery device 100 may be referred to as disposable or reusable. For example, the control body may have a replaceable battery or a rechargeable battery (e.g., a rechargeable thin-film solid-state battery), a rechargeable supercapacitor, etc., and may thus be combined with any type of recharge technology, including connecting to a wall charger via a cable or connector such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB), connecting to a car charger (i.e., a cigarette lighter socket), and connecting to a computer, or connecting to a photovoltaic cell (sometimes referred to as a solar cell) or a solar panel of a solar cell, wirelessly connecting to radio frequency (RF), wirelessly connecting to an inductive-based charging pad, or connecting to an RF-DC converter. Additionally, in some example embodiments, the cartridge may include a disposable cartridge as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 8,910,639 to Chang et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0044] Figure 2 More specifically illustrated is the aerosol delivery device 100 according to some example implementations. As seen in the cross-sectional view shown therein, again, the aerosol delivery device may include a control body 102 and a cartridge 104, each of which includes a plurality of respective components. Figure 2 The components illustrated therein are representative of the components that may be present in the control body and the cartridge and are not intended to limit the scope of the components covered by the present disclosure. As shown, for example, the control body may be formed by a control body housing 206, which may include: control components 208 (e.g., a microprocessor alone or as part of a microcontroller), a flow sensor 210, a power source 212, and one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs) 214, quantum dot-enabled LEDs, etc., and these components may be configured in a variable manner. The power source may include, for example, a battery (disposable or rechargeable), a rechargeable supercapacitor, a rechargeable solid-state battery (SSB), a rechargeable lithium-ion battery (LiB), etc., or some combination thereof. Some examples of suitable power sources are provided in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14 / 918,926, filed on October 21, 2015, by Sur et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Other examples of suitable power sources are provided in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0283855 to Hawes et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0014125 to Fernando et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0243410 to Nichols et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010 / 0313901 to Fernando et al., and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009 / 0230117 to Fernando et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0045] LED 214 can be an example of a suitable visual indicator that the aerosol delivery device 100 can be equipped with. In addition to or as an alternative to visual indicators such as LEDs, quantum dot-enabled LEDs, other indicators such as audio indicators (e.g., speakers), tactile indicators (e.g., vibration motors) may be included.

[0046] The cartridge 104 can be formed by a cartridge shell 216 that encloses a reservoir 218 configured to hold an aerosol precursor composition and includes a heater 222 (sometimes referred to as a heating element). In various configurations, this structure may be referred to as a tank, and accordingly, terms such as "cartridge," "tank," etc. may be used interchangeably to refer to an outer casing or other housing that encloses a reservoir of an aerosol gas composition and includes a heater.

[0047] As shown, in some examples, the reservoir 218 can be in fluid communication with a liquid delivery element 220 that is adapted to wick or otherwise deliver the aerosol precursor composition stored in the reservoir housing to the heater 222. In some examples, a valve can be positioned between the reservoir and the heater and configured to control the amount of aerosol precursor composition transferred or delivered from the reservoir to the heater.

[0048] Various examples of materials configured to generate heat when an electric current passes through them can be employed to form the heater 222. Heaters in these examples can be resistive heating elements such as coils, micro heaters, etc. Example materials from which the heating element can be formed include: Kanthal (FeCrAl), Nichrome, stainless steel, molybdenum disilicide (MoSi2), molybdenum silicide (MoSi), molybdenum (silicon, aluminum) disilicide (Mo(Si,Al)2), graphite and graphite-based materials (e.g., carbon-based foams and yarns), and ceramics (e.g., positive or negative temperature coefficient ceramics). Example embodiments of heaters or heating members useful in an aerosol delivery device according to the present disclosure are further described below and can be incorporated into devices such as those described herein.

[0049] An opening 224 (e.g., at the mouthpiece end) may be present in the cartridge shell 216 to allow for the discharge of the formed aerosol from the cartridge 104.

[0050] The cartridge 104 may also include one or more electronic components 226, which may include integrated circuits, memory components (e.g., EEPROM, flash storage devices), sensors, etc. The electronic components may be adapted to communicate with the control component 208 and / or with an external device via a wired or wireless means. The electronic components may be positioned anywhere within the cartridge or the base 228 of the cartridge.

[0051] Although the control component 208 and the flow sensor 210 are shown separately, it is understood that various electronic components including the control component and the flow sensor can also be combined on an electronic circuit board (PCB) that supports and electrically connects these electronic components. Figure 1 In the illustration of , the air flow sensor is horizontally arranged in a manner parallel to the central axis of the control body in length. In some examples, the air flow sensor may include its own electronic circuit board (PCB) or other base element to which it can be attached. In some examples, a flexible circuit board may be utilized. The flexible circuit board can be configured into a variety of shapes, including a substantially tubular shape. In some examples, the flexible circuit board can be combined with a heater substrate, laminated to a heater substrate, or form part or all of a heater substrate.

[0052] The control body 102 and the cartridge 104 may include components suitable for facilitating fluid engagement therebetween. Figure 2 , the control body may include a coupler 230 having a cavity 232 therein. The base 228 of the cartridge may be adapted to engage the coupler and may include a protrusion 234 adapted to fit within the cavity. Such engagement may facilitate a stable connection between the control body and the cartridge, as well as establishing an electrical connection between the power source 212 and the control component 208 in the control body and the heater 222 in the cartridge. Further, the control body housing 206 may include an air inlet 236, which may be a notch in the housing connected to the coupler that allows ambient air around the coupler to pass through and into the housing, then within the housing through the cavity 232 of the coupler and into the cartridge through the protrusion 234.

[0053] Couplers and mounts useful for the present disclosure are described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0261495 to Novak et al., which is cited in the present invention. For example, Figure 2 The coupler 230 shown in the figure can define an outer periphery 238 configured to match the inner periphery 240 of the base 228. In one example, the inner periphery of the base can define a radius that is substantially equal to or slightly greater than the radius of the outer periphery of the coupler. Further, the coupler can define one or more protrusions 242 at the outer periphery that are configured to engage one or more grooves 244 defined at the inner periphery of the base. However, various other examples of structures, shapes, and components can also be used to couple the base to the coupler. In some examples, the connection between the base of the cartridge 104 and the coupler of the control body 102 can be substantially permanent, while in other examples, the connection therebetween can be releasable, so that, for example, the control body can be reused with one or more additional cartridges that can be disposable and / or refillable.

[0054] Figure 2 The reservoir 218 illustrated in the figure can be a container or can be a fibrous reservoir, as currently described. For example, in this example, the reservoir can include one or more layers of non-woven fibers that are substantially formed in the shape of a tube surrounding the interior of the cartridge shell 216. The aerosol precursor composition can be held in the reservoir. For example, the liquid component can be held in the reservoir in an adsorbed manner. The reservoir can be in fluid connection with the liquid transfer element 220. In this example, the liquid delivery element can deliver the aerosol precursor composition stored in the reservoir to the heater 222 in the form of a metal coil via capillary action. Thus, the heater and the liquid delivery element employ a heating arrangement.

[0055] In some examples, the microfluidic chip can be embedded in the reservoir 218 and can be controlled by a micropump such as based on microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology to control the amount and / or quality of the aerosol precursor composition delivered from the reservoir. The heater 222 can be configured to effect heating of the aerosol precursor composition based on radio frequency induction without the need for wicking or physical contact with the aerosol precursor composition, such as in the manner described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 14 / 934,763, filed November 6, 2015 by Davis et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Example embodiments of the reservoir and delivery element used in the aerosol delivery device according to the present disclosure are further described below, and such reservoir and / or delivery element can be included in the devices described herein. Specifically, a particular combination of heating members and delivery elements, as further described below, can be incorporated into the devices described herein.

[0056] In use, when the user sucks on the aerosol delivery device 100, the flow sensor 210 detects an air flow and the heater 222 is activated to cause the components of the aerosol precursor composition to evaporate. Sucking on the mouth end of the aerosol delivery device causes ambient air to enter the intake port 236 and pass through the cavity 232 in the coupler 230 and the central opening in the protrusion 234 of the base 228. In the cartridge 104, the sucked air combines with the formed vapor to form an aerosol. The aerosol is agitated, sucked, or otherwise drawn away from the heater and is drawn out through the opening 224 in the mouth end of the aerosol delivery device.

[0057] In some examples, the aerosol delivery device 100 may include a variety of additional software-controlled functions. For example, the aerosol delivery device may include a power protection circuit configured to detect power input, the load on the power terminals, and charging input. The power protection circuit may include short-circuit protection, under-voltage lock out, and / or over-voltage charging protection, battery temperature compensation. The aerosol delivery device may also include components for ambient temperature measurement, and its control component 208 may be configured to control at least one functional element to inhibit charging of the power source - especially charging of any battery - if the ambient temperature is below a certain temperature (e.g., 0 °C) or above a certain temperature (e.g., 45 °C) before or during charging.

[0058] Additionally or alternatively, in some examples, the control component 208 may include a microprocessor with an embedded analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that can be used to measure the temperature of the heater 222. More particularly, for example, the microprocessor may be programmed to pass a fixed current through the heater and measure the voltage across the heater. The microprocessor may then be configured to calculate the temperature-dependent heater resistance (R = V / I) based on the current and voltage. The temperature of the heater can then be determined using the resistance based on a known relationship between the resistance and temperature of the heater material. This relationship can be expressed in a variety of different ways, such as through a look-up table.

[0059] Power delivery from the power source 212 may vary according to a power control mechanism during each puff of the device 100. The device may include a "long puff" safety timer such that in the event that the user or a component failure (e.g., the flow sensor 210) causes the device to attempt to puff continuously, the control component 208 may control at least one functional element to automatically terminate the puff after a period of time (e.g., four seconds). Further, the time interval between multiple puffs of the device may be limited to less than a period of time (e.g., 100 seconds). If the control component of the aerosol delivery device or the software running on the aerosol delivery device becomes unstable and fails to service a watchdog safety timer at an appropriate time interval (e.g., eight seconds), the timer may automatically reset the aerosol delivery device. In the event that the flow sensor 210 is defective or otherwise fails, further safety protection may be provided, such as by permanently disabling the aerosol delivery device to prevent unintentional heating. In the event that a pressure sensor failure causes the device to be continuously activated and not stop after the maximum puff time of 4 seconds, a puff limit switch may deactivate the device.

[0060] The aerosol delivery device 100 may include a puff tracking algorithm configured to: lock the heater once the attached cartridge has reached a defined number of puffs (based on the number of available puffs calculated from the e-liquid feed in the cartridge). The aerosol delivery device may include a sleep, standby, or low power mode function whereby power delivery may be automatically cut off after a defined period of non-use. Further safety protection may be provided in that all charge / discharge cycles of the power source 212 may be monitored by the control component 208 during its lifetime. After the power source has reached an equivalent of a predetermined number (e.g., 200) of full discharge and full recharge cycles, it may be declared depleted and the control component may control at least one functional element to prevent further charging of the power source.

[0061] The various components of the aerosol delivery device according to the present disclosure may be selected from components described in the art and commercially available. Examples of batteries that may be used according to the present disclosure are described in U.S. Patent No. 9,484,155 to Peckerar et al., which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0062] When aerosol generation is desired (e.g., during use when puffing), the aerosol delivery device 100 may include a sensor 210 or other sensor or detector for controlling the electrical power provided to the heater 222. Thus, for example, a way or method is provided to disconnect the power to the heater when the aerosol delivery device is not being puffed during use and to turn on the power during puffing to actuate or trigger heater heating. Other representative types of sensing or detecting mechanisms, their structures and configurations, their components, and the general methods of their operation are described in U.S. Patent No. 5,261,424 to Sprinkel, Jr., U.S. Patent No. 5,372,148 to McCafferty et al., and PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 2010 / 003480 to Flick, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0063] The aerosol delivery device 100 most preferably includes a control component 208 or another control mechanism for controlling the amount of electrical power to the heater 222 during a puff. Representative types of electronic components, their structure and configuration, their features, and general methods of operation thereof are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,217 to Gerth et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,874 to Brooks et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,148 to McCafferty et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,040,560 to Fleischhauer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,314 to Nguyen et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,205,622 to Pan, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 8,881,737 to Collet et al., U.S. Pat. No. 9,423,152 to Ampolini et al., U.S. Pat. No. 9,439,454 to Fernando et al., and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0257445 to Henry et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0064] Representative types of substrates, reservoirs, or other components for supporting aerosol precursors are described in U.S. Patent No. 8,528,569 to Newton, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0261487 to Chapman et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0059780 to Davis et al., and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2015 / 0216232 to Bless et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference. In addition, various wicking materials within certain types of electronic cigarettes and the configuration and operation of those wicking materials are described in U.S. Patent No. 8,910,640 to Sears et al., which is included in the present invention by reference.

[0065] An aerosol precursor composition, also known as a vapor precursor composition, can include a variety of components, such as polyols (e.g., glycerol, propylene glycol, or mixtures thereof), nicotine, tobacco, tobacco extracts, and / or flavorants. Representative types of aerosol precursor components and formulations are also described and characterized in U.S. Patent No. 7,217,320 to Robinson et al.; U.S. Patent No. 9,254,002 to Chong et al.; U.S. Patent No. 8,881,737 to Collett et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013 / 0008457 to Zheng et al.; U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015 / 0020823 to Lipowicz et al.; and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015 / 0020830 to Koller, and PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 2014 / 182736 to Bowen et al.; and in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 15 / 222,615 filed on July 28, 2016 by Watson et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0066] Examples of foaming materials can be used with aerosol precursors and are described by way of example in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012 / 0055494 to Hunt et al., which is incorporated herein by reference. Further, the use of foaming materials is described in, for example, U.S. Patent No. 4,639,368 to Niazi et al.; U.S. Patent No. 5,178,878 to Wehling et al.; U.S. Patent No. 5,223,264 to Wehling et al.; U.S. Patent No. 6,974,590 to Pather et al.; U.S. Patent No. 7,381,667 to Bergquist et al.; U.S. Patent No. 8,424,541 to Crawford et al.; and U.S. Patent No. 8,627,828 to Strickland et al.; U.S. Patent No. 9,307,787 to Sun et al.; and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010 / 0018539 to Brinkley et al.; and PCT Patent Application Publication No. WO 97 / 06786 to Johnson et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Additional descriptions of embodiments of aerosol precursor compositions, including descriptions of the tobacco or tobacco-derived components included therein, are provided in U.S. Patent Application Serial Nos. 15 / 216,582 and 15 / 216,590, each filed on July 21, 2016 and each assigned to Davis et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0067] Additional representative types of components that produce visual cues or indicators, such as visual indicators and associated components, audio indicators, tactile indicators, etc., can be employed in the aerosol delivery device 100. Examples of suitable LED components and their configurations and uses are described in U.S. Patent No. 5,154,192 to Sprinkel et al., U.S. Patent No. 8,499,766 to Newton, U.S. Patent No. 8,539,959 to Scatterday, and U.S. Patent No. 9,451,791 to Sears et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0068] Other features, controls, or components that can be incorporated into the aerosol delivery devices of the present disclosure are described in U.S. Patent No. 5,967,148 to Harris et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,934,289 to Watkins et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,954,979 to Counts et al., U.S. Patent No. 6,040,560 to Fleischhauer et al., U.S. Patent No. 8,365,742 to Hon, U.S. Patent No. 8,402,976 to Fernando et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005 / 0016550 to Katase, U.S. Patent No. 8,689,804 to Fernando et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0192623 to Tucker et al., U.S. Patent No. 9,427,022 to Leven et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0180553 to Kim et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0000638 to Sebastian et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2014 / 0261495 to Novak et al., and U.S. Patent No. 9,220,302 to DePiano et al., all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0069] As previously described, the control component 208 includes several electronic components and in some examples is formed as a printed circuit board (PCB). The electronic components can include a microprocessor or a processor core and a memory. In some examples, the control component can include a microcontroller having an integrated processor core and memory, and can further include one or more integrated input / output peripherals. In some examples, the control component can be coupled to a communication interface 246 to enable wireless communication with one or more networks, computing devices, or other suitably enabled devices. Examples of suitable communication interfaces are described in Marion et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016 / 0261020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Another example of a suitable communication interface is the CC3200 single-chip wireless microcontroller unit (MCU) from Texas Instruments. And examples of suitable ways in which the aerosol delivery device can be configured for wireless communication are disclosed in Ampolini et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016 / 0007651, and Henry, Jr. et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016 / 0219933, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0070] As Figure 1 and 2 Further shown, according to some example embodiments, the control body 102 includes a heart rate monitor 248, which includes a plurality of biopotential electrodes 250 that are fixed to the housing 206 (outer shell) and are configured to obtain biopotential measurements from a user. This can include, for example, two or three biopotential electrodes that obtain biopotential measurements from a user who touches the biopotential electrodes with a hand. The biopotential electrodes can be any of many different types of electrodes capable of obtaining biopotential measurements representative of cardiac activity, which exhibits its function through electrical activity.

[0071] The heart rate monitor 248 also includes a signal conditioning circuit 252 that is configured to generate an electrocardiogram signal from the biopotential measurements. An example of a suitable signal conditioning circuit is implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), such as the AD8233 type heart rate monitor from Analog Devices, Inc.

[0072] In some examples, the control component 208 (microprocessor) is coupled to the signal conditioning circuit 252 and is also configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the control body 102 or the aerosol delivery device 100 based on an electrocardiogram signal or a calculated user heart rate. The control component may include a component configured to calculate the user's heart rate based on the electrocardiogram signal and to control the operation of the functional element(s) based on the heart rate so calculated. The heart rate may be calculated in any suitable manner and expressed in beats per minute (bpm).

[0073] The functional element(s) of the control body 102 or the aerosol delivery device 100 may be controlled in any of a variety of different ways based on the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate. For example, an indicator 254 (e.g., visual indicator, audio indicator, tactile indicator) may be controlled to provide user-perceivable feedback (e.g., visual, auditory, tactile feedback). The feedback may include, for example, a visual reading of the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate. Additionally or alternatively, for example, the feedback may include visual, auditory, and / or tactile notifications that the heart rate is above or below a predetermined threshold, or within or outside a predetermined range. In these cases, the indicator may provide user-perceivable feedback such as an alarm, buzzer, vibration, or visual indicator (e.g., LED).

[0074] Figure 3 System 300 is shown, which includes an aerosol delivery device 100 that wirelessly communicates with a computing device 302 (external computing device) external to the aerosol delivery device. The computing device may also include several different devices, such as any of several different mobile computers. More specific examples of suitable mobile computers include portable computers (e.g., laptop computers, notebooks, tablet computers), mobile phones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones), wearable computers (e.g., smartwatches), and the like. In other examples, the computing device may be implemented in ways other than a mobile computer, such as a desktop computer, a server computer, and the like.

[0075] In some examples, the communication interface 246 of the aerosol delivery device 100 is configured to enable the establishment of or connection to a wireless personal area network (WPAN) 304 that includes the computing device 302. Examples of suitable WPAN technologies include those based on or specified by the IEEE 802.15 standard, including Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (Bluetooth LE), ZigBee, infrared (e.g., IrDA), radio frequency identification (RFID), wireless USB, and the like. Other examples of suitable WPAN technologies include Wi-Fi Direct and certain other technologies based on or specified by the IEEE 802.11 standard that support direct device-to-device communication.

[0076] In some examples, the communication interface 246 of the aerosol delivery device 100 is configured to enable a connection to a wireless local area network (WLAN) 306. Examples of suitable WLAN technologies include those based on or specified by the IEEE 802.11 standards and marketed as Wi-Fi. The WLAN includes appropriate networking hardware, some of which may be integrated and some of which may be separate and interconnected. As shown, for example, the WLAN includes a wireless access point 308 configured to allow wireless devices including the aerosol delivery device 100 and a computing device 302 to connect to the WLAN. Also as shown, for example, the WLAN may include a gateway device 310 configured to connect the WLAN to an external computer network 312, such as a residential gateway, and the external computer network 312 such as a wide area network (WAN) like the Internet. In some examples, the wireless access point or gateway device may include an integrated router to which other systems or devices may be connected. The WLAN may also include other integrated or separate and connected networking hardware, such as network switches, hubs, digital subscriber line (DSL) modems, cable modems, and the like.

[0077] In some examples, the system 300 further includes a service platform 314, which may include a computer system accessible by the WLAN 306 or the external network 312 (as shown). The service platform may include one or more servers, such as may be provided by one or more blade servers, cloud computing infrastructure, and the like. In some examples, the service platform is implemented as a distributed computing apparatus including multiple computing devices, such as may be used to provide cloud computing infrastructure. And in these examples, the computing devices forming the service platform may communicate with each other via a network such as the external network.

[0078] In some examples, the service platform 314 may be accessed by the aerosol delivery device 100 via the WLAN 306 and the external network 312 and is configured to provide one or more services for the user of the aerosol delivery device and possibly users of other aerosol delivery devices. For example, the service platform may be operated by medical professionals, health, activity, or fitness tracking companies or organizations, etc. The service platform may enable users to access and use various features, such as features for monitoring or tracking the electrocardiogram signal and / or heart rate of the user of the aerosol delivery device.

[0079] In some examples, similar to the aerosol delivery device 100, although the WLAN or external network may vary between the aerosol delivery device and the computing device, the service platform 314 can also be accessed by the computing device 302 via the WLAN 306 and the external network 312. The computing device can include or otherwise provide installed applications or other interfaces through which the service platform can be accessed. The application or other interface can be a thin client such as a web browser application or other client application, or can be provided by the thin client or other client application. A web page (e.g., service portal) provided by the service platform can be accessed through the web browser application. As another example, the application or other interface can be a dedicated application or can be provided by a dedicated application, such as a mobile app installed on a computing device implemented as a mobile computing device.

[0080] Then, in some examples, the control component 208 is configured to cause the communication interface 246 to wirelessly transmit an electrocardiogram signal or a heart rate to the computing device 302 and / or the service platform 314, and the computing device 302 and / or the service platform 314 are configured to control the operation of at least one of their respective functional elements based on the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate. In more specific examples, the communication interface can be caused to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal. In these examples, the computing device and / or the service platform can calculate the user's heart rate based on the electrocardiogram signal and control the operation of its corresponding functional elements based on the heart rate so calculated.

[0081] Similar to the aerosol delivery device 100, the functional elements of the computing device 302 and / or the service platform 314 can be controlled in any of a variety of different ways based on the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate. For example, the computing device can control an indicator 316 (e.g., visual indicator, audio indicator, tactile indicator) to provide user-perceivable feedback (e.g., visual, auditory, tactile feedback), such as a visual reading of the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate, and / or a visual, auditory, and / or tactile notification of the heart rate being above or below a predetermined threshold or within or outside a predetermined range. In another example, the service platform can include a database 318 that is controlled to store the electrocardiogram signal and / or the heart rate for later retrieval / analysis and / or display by, for example, the user and / or a healthcare professional authorized by the user. This can also trigger other actions, such as dispatching an ambulance or calling an emergency contact in the case of the heart rate being above or below a predefined threshold.

[0082] The foregoing description of the manner of use of the article(s) can be applied, with minor modifications that will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the additional disclosure provided herein, to the various example embodiments described herein. However, the foregoing description of the manner of use is not intended to limit the manner of use of the article, but to comply with all the necessary requirements of the disclosure of the present disclosure. Figures 1 to 3 Any of the elements shown in the article(s) illustrated or otherwise described above can be included in an aerosol delivery device according to the present disclosure. Benefiting from the teachings presented in the foregoing description and the associated drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains will appreciate many modifications and other embodiments of the present disclosure set forth herein. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. In addition, although the foregoing description and the associated drawings describe example embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of elements and / or functions, it should be understood that different combinations of elements and / or functions can be provided by alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In this regard, for example, combinations of elements and / or functions different from those expressly described above are also contemplated, as are some of the same as those set forth in the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

Claims

1. An aerosol delivery device, comprising: At least one elongated housing that encloses a reservoir holding an aerosol precursor composition; A heating element; A microprocessor configured to operate in an active mode in which the control body is configured to control the heating element to activate and vaporize components of the aerosol precursor composition; And A heart rate monitor including a plurality of biopotential electrodes fixed to the elongated housing and configured to obtain biopotential measurements from a user touching the plurality of biopotential electrodes, and including a signal conditioning circuit configured to generate an electrocardiogram signal based on the biopotential measurements, The microprocessor is coupled to the signal conditioning circuit and further configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the aerosol delivery device based on the electrocardiogram signal or the user's heart rate calculated therefrom being higher or lower than a predetermined threshold.

2. The aerosol delivery device according to claim 1, wherein, The microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the aerosol delivery device includes: being configured to calculate the user's heart rate based on the electrocardiogram signal, and being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element based on the heart rate so calculated.

3. The aerosol delivery device according to claim 1, wherein, The microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the aerosol delivery device includes: being configured to control an indicator to provide user-perceivable feedback.

4. The aerosol delivery device according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes a communication interface configured to be capable of wireless communication, Wherein, the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the aerosol delivery device includes: being configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to a computing device, the computing device being configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the computing device based on the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate.

5. The aerosol delivery device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The communication interface wirelessly transmitting the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate includes: causing it to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal, and Wherein, the computing device being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device includes: being configured to calculate the user's heart rate based on the electrocardiogram signal; and being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device based on the heart rate so calculated.

6. The aerosol delivery device according to claim 5, wherein, The computing device being configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the computing device includes: being configured to control an indicator of the computing device to provide user-perceivable feedback.

7. The aerosol delivery device according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes a communication interface configured to be capable of wireless communication with a service platform through at least one network including a wireless local area network (WLAN), Wherein, the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of the at least one functional element of the aerosol delivery device includes: being configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to the service platform for storage in a database.

8. The aerosol delivery device according to claim 7, wherein, The microprocessor is configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to the service platform, so as to further enable medical professionals to monitor or track the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate.

9. The aerosol delivery device according to claim 1, wherein the aerosol precursor composition comprises glycerol and nicotine.

10. A control body, coupled to or capable of being coupled to a cartridge to form an aerosol delivery device, the cartridge being equipped with a heating element and containing an aerosol precursor composition, the control body comprising: An elongated housing; A microprocessor configured to operate in an active mode, in which the control body is coupled to the cartridge, and the microprocessor in the active mode is configured to control the heating element to activate and vaporize the components of the aerosol precursor composition; And A heart rate monitor including a plurality of biopotential electrodes fixed to the elongated housing and configured to obtain biopotential measurements from a user who touches the plurality of biopotential electrodes with a hand, and including a signal conditioning circuit configured to generate an electrocardiogram signal based on the biopotential measurements, The microprocessor is coupled to the signal conditioning circuit and is further configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the control body or the aerosol delivery device based on whether the electrocardiogram signal or the heart rate calculated therefrom of the user is higher than or lower than a predetermined threshold.

11. The control body according to claim 10, wherein, The microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the control body or the aerosol delivery device includes: being configured to calculate the heart rate of the user based on the electrocardiogram signal, and being configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the control body or the aerosol delivery device based on the heart rate calculated in this way.

12. The control body according to claim 10, wherein, The microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the control body or the aerosol delivery device includes: being configured to control an indicator to provide user-perceivable feedback.

13. The control body according to claim 10, characterized in that, It further includes a communication interface configured to be capable of wireless communication, wherein the microprocessor being further configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the control body or the aerosol delivery device includes: being configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to a computing device, and the computing device is configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the computing device based on the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate.

14. The control body according to claim 13, wherein The communication interface wirelessly transmitting the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate includes: causing it to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal, and wherein the computing device being configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the computing device includes: being configured to calculate the heart rate of the user based on the electrocardiogram signal; and being configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the computing device based on the heart rate calculated in this way.

15. The control body according to claim 14, wherein The computing device being configured to control the operation of at least one functional element of the computing device includes: being configured to control an indicator of the computing device to provide user-perceivable feedback.

16. The control body according to claim 10, wherein It further includes a communication interface configured to be capable of wireless communication with a service platform through at least one network including a wireless local area network (WLAN), Wherein, the microprocessor is further configured to control the operation of the control body or at least one functional element of the aerosol delivery device, including: being configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to the service platform for storage in a database.

17. The control body according to claim 16, wherein The microprocessor is configured to cause the communication interface to wirelessly transmit the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate to the service platform, so as to further enable medical professionals to monitor or track the electrocardiogram signal or heart rate.

18. The control body according to claim 10, wherein The aerosol precursor composition contains glycerol and nicotine.

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