Method, Apparatus and / or Computer Program Product for Analyzing Pulse Wave Signals

Abstract

According to one aspect, a computer-implemented method is provided for analyzing a pulse wave signal (PWS) obtained from a subject, the PWS comprising pulse wave measurements of one or more cardiac cycles of the subject during a first time period, the method comprising the steps of (i) determining 1PWS as a first derivative with respect to time of the PWS, (ii) determining 2PWS as a second derivative with respect to time of the PWS, (iii) analyzing 2PWS to identify a first time point corresponding to an occurrence of a first maximum value of 2PWS, (iv) determining a value of 1PWS at the first time point, (v) normalizing the value of 1PWS at the first time point relative to the maximum value of 1PWS, and (vi) assessing a quality of the PWS using the normalized value.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a pulse wave signal obtained from a subject, the pulse wave signal having pulse wave measurements for one or more cardiac cycles of the subject over a period of time. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to methods, apparatus and computer program products for analyzing the pulse wave signal. [Background technology]

[0002] US2016360984A1 describes a system for providing values ​​of biological properties.

[0003] US2017065230A1 relates generally to the field of cardiovascular disease, and more specifically to methods and systems for obtaining data for the assessment and management of cardiovascular disease.

[0004] CN112545472A relates to the technical field of monitoring pulse wave signals, and in particular to a PPG signal quality evaluation method, a PPG signal quality evaluation device, a PPG signal quality evaluation computer device, and a computer-readable storage medium.

[0005] In many hemodynamic monitoring applications, the arterial pulsation is one of the most important physiological processes to be measured to derive hemodynamic parameters. For example, in invasive blood pressure monitoring, a catheter in the subject's arterial blood can measure the arterial pulsation, blood pressure, etc. This measurement is known as the arterial blood pressure (ABP) measurement. From this arterial pulsation, other important hemodynamic parameters can also be calculated, such as cardiac output, stroke volume, etc. Another example is the measurement of the pulsation from the outside of the subject's artery, for example by photoplethysmography (PPG) measurements. An important use case for PPG measurements is as a surrogate blood pressure measurement, i.e., as a measurement of a physiological characteristic from which blood pressure, i.e., changes in blood pressure, are derived. Furthermore, the PPG signal can also be used to measure the oxygen concentration in the blood, known as the SpO2 measurement. This is done, for example, by measuring the PPG signal for two wavelengths of light, such as red and infrared. From these two signals, the SpO2 can be determined as a metric of blood oxygenation.

[0006] The PPG signal is an example of a pulse wave signal (WPS), i.e. a signal representing a measurement of a pulse wave. In some applications, a signal such as a PPG signal may be corrupted by motion artifacts, for example when a subject wearing a PPG sensor is engaged in physical activity or exercise. On the other hand, in medical applications, such as during surgery, the blood perfusion in the body part where the PPG sensor is worn (e.g. a peripheral body part such as a finger) may be reduced or decreased (e.g. by the use of drugs or physiological blood pressure regulation effects by smooth muscles), which reduces the signal-to-noise ratio of the useful signal in the measured PPG signal (e.g. measured by a PPG method) and makes the metrics calculated from the PPG signal less accurate. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, it may not be immediately apparent, or even apparent at all, that the quality of the PPG signal or other PWS has deteriorated (temporarily or otherwise) or is otherwise unable to provide a reliable measurement of the physiological characteristic being monitored (e.g., heart rate, SpO2, blood pressure, etc.).

[0008] Several techniques for calculating a measure of the quality of the measured arterial pulse are known in the art, as described, for example, in “Signal quality measure for pulsatile physiological signals using morphological features: Applications in reliability measure for pulse oximetry” by Elyas Sabeti et al., Informatics in Medicine Unlocked, Volume 16, 2019. In one technique, the “skewness” of the measured signal was used as a metric to evaluate the quality of the PPG. However, such general metrics often need to be tailored to the specific sensor and sensor front-end, e.g., filtering to control the effective bandwidth of the signal. Moreover, these metrics are often sensitive to variations in arterial compliance. Older subjects, vascular co-morbidities (e.g., stiffer arteries) or smooth muscle contraction are known to reduce vascular compliance.

[0009] Therefore, there is a need for improved techniques for assessing the quality of PWS that provide a simple quality measure and that are independent of sensor characteristics and / or less dependent on vascular stiffness, making the techniques more robust compared to techniques known in the art. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The invention is defined by the independent claims. The dependent claims define advantageous embodiments.

[0011] According to a first particular aspect, a computer-implemented method for analyzing a pulse wave signal (PWS) obtained from a subject is provided. The PWS comprises pulse wave measurements of one or more cardiac cycles of the subject during a first time period. The method includes (i) determining 1PWS as the first derivative with respect to time of the PWS, (ii) determining 2PWS as the second derivative with respect to time of the PWS, (iii) analyzing 2PWS to identify a first time point corresponding to the occurrence of a first maximum value in 2PWS, (iv) determining a value of 1PWS at the first time point, (v) normalizing the value of 1PWS at the first time point with respect to the maximum value of 1PWS, and (vi) using the normalized value to evaluate the quality of the PWS. This technique thus provides a simple quality measure that is independent of sensor characteristics and / or has a low dependency on vascular stiffness.

[0012] In some embodiments, the first maximum value of 2PWS, the value of 1PWS at the first time point, and / or the maximum value of 1PWS are determined from multiple sample values ​​of 2PWS and / or 1PWS. These embodiments improve the accuracy of assessing the quality of the PWS.

[0013] In some embodiments, step (iii) comprises identifying the first maximum in 2PWS as a maximum value of 2PWS in a portion of the 2PWS, where the portion of the 2PWS has a duration equal to or less than the duration of the cardiac cycle.

[0014] In some embodiments, step (vi) comprises determining the quality of the PWS as a function of the difference between the normalized value and a target value T.

[0015] In some embodiments, step (vi) comprises:

number

[0016] In these embodiments, the target value T may be 0.5. In alternative embodiments, the target value T depends on one or more characteristics of the subject. The latter embodiment allows the target value to be set or varied between subjects.

[0017] In some embodiments, the method further comprises performing at least one repetition of steps (iii)-(v) for at least a second time point corresponding to the occurrence of at least a second maximum in the two PWSs, and step (vi) comprises assessing the quality of the PWS using the normalized value. These embodiments allow for assessing the quality of the PWS over time. In these embodiments, step (vi) may comprise assessing the quality of the PWS using a function of the normalized value. In these embodiments, the function of the normalized value may be a smooth function. In these embodiments, the first maximum may be associated with a first cardiac cycle in a first time period and the second maximum may be associated with a second cardiac cycle in the first time period.

[0018] In some embodiments, the method further comprises obtaining the PWS from a pulse wave sensor.

[0019] In some embodiments, the method further comprises obtaining a sensor signal from a pulse wave sensor, the sensor signal comprising a pulse wave measurement of the subject by the pulse wave sensor according to a first sampling rate, and generating a PWS by using an interpolation technique on the sensor signal to increase the sampling rate, where increasing the sampling rate can improve reliability or accuracy of the quality assessment.

[0020] In some embodiments, the method further comprises the step of determining whether to calculate a physiological characteristic of the subject from the PWS according to the quality of the PWS.

[0021] In some implementations, the method further comprises outputting an indication of the quality or trustworthiness of the PWS according to the assessed quality.

[0022] According to a second aspect there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein which, when executed by a suitable computer or processor, configures the computer or processor to perform a method according to the first aspect or any embodiment.

[0023] According to a third particular aspect, a device is provided that is configured to analyze a pulse wave signal (PWS) obtained from a subject. The PWS comprises pulse wave measurements of one or more cardiac cycles of the subject during a first time period. The device has a processing unit configured to: (i) determine 1PWS as the first derivative of the PWS with respect to time; (ii) determine 2PWS as the second derivative of the PWS with respect to time; (iii) analyze 2PWS to identify a first time point corresponding to the occurrence of a first maximum value in 2PWS; (iv) determine a value of 1PWS at said first time point; (v) normalize the value of 1PWS at said first time point with respect to the maximum value of 1PWS; and (vi) evaluate the quality of the PWS using said normalized value. Thus, this technique provides a simple quality measure that is independent of sensor characteristics and / or has a low dependency on vascular stiffness.

[0024] In some embodiments, the first maximum value of 2PWS, the value of 1PWS at the first time point, and / or the maximum value of 1PWS are determined from multiple sample values ​​of 2PWS and / or 1PWS. These embodiments improve the accuracy of assessing the quality of the PWS.

[0025] In some embodiments, in operation (iii), the processing unit is configured to identify a first maximum in 2PWS as a maximum value of 2PWS in a portion of the 2PWS, where the portion of the 2PWS has a duration equal to or less than the duration of a cardiac cycle.

[0026] In some embodiments, in operation (vi), the processing unit is configured to determine a quality of the PWS depending on a difference between the normalized value and a target value T.

[0027] In some embodiments, in operation (vi), the processing unit:

number

[0028] In these embodiments, the target value T may be 0.5. In alternative embodiments, the target value T depends on one or more characteristics of the subject. The latter embodiment allows the target value to be set or varied between subjects.

[0029] In some embodiments, the processing unit is configured to perform at least one repetition of operations (iii)-(v) for at least a second time point corresponding to the occurrence of at least a second maximum in the two PWSs, and in operation (vi), the processing unit is configured to assess the quality of the PWS using the normalized value. These embodiments allow for assessing the quality of the PWS over time. In these embodiments, in operation (vi), the processing unit can be configured to assess the quality of the PWS using a function of the normalized value. In these embodiments, the function of the normalized value can be a smooth function. In these embodiments, the first maximum can be associated with a first cardiac cycle in a first time period and the second maximum can be associated with a second cardiac cycle in the first time period.

[0030] In some embodiments, the device is further configured to obtain a PWS from a pulse wave sensor, the sensor signal comprising a pulse wave measurement of the subject by the pulse wave sensor according to a first sampling rate, and the processing unit is further configured to generate a PWS by increasing the sampling rate using an interpolation technique on the sensor signal, increasing the sampling rate may improve reliability or accuracy of the quality assessment.

[0031] In some embodiments, the processing unit is further configured to determine whether to calculate a physiological characteristic of the subject from the PWS according to a quality of the PWS.

[0032] In some implementations, the processing unit is further configured to output an indication of the quality or reliability of the PWS according to the assessed quality.

[0033] These and other aspects will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0034] Exemplary embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which: [Figure 1] FIG. 1(a) shows a 1 second portion of a PPG signal, and FIG. 1(b) and FIG. 1(c) show the first and second derivatives, respectively, of that PPG signal. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating a patient's quality score Q over time, derived in accordance with various embodiments. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating a smoothed quality index for the patients shown in FIG. 2, derived in accordance with various embodiments. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a graph showing the distribution of quality scores Q for the patients shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a graph showing the distribution of quality values ​​Q for a data set containing multiple different patients. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a graph showing the maximum peak in quality values ​​versus patient age. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to various exemplary embodiments. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for analyzing a pulse wave signal obtained from a subject to determine an index of blood pressure or changes in blood pressure. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating various operations in analyzing a pulse wave signal according to various embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] The techniques described herein provide an assessment of the quality of a pulse wave signal (PWS). The PWS contains information about the pulse changes / pulse waves at measurement points on the subject's body. The PWS can be, for example, a PPG signal or a pulse wave signal obtained using tonometry or a pressure sensor. According to the described techniques, the quality of the PWS is assessed using information derived from the first and second derivatives of this PWS. The use of these derivatives is beneficial because any signal baseline (offset) is removed in such derivative signals. The offset can be caused, for example, by characteristics of the sensor front end and is not related to the dynamic behavior of the pulsating pressure waves in the artery.

[0036] In the following, the signal corresponding to the first derivative of PWS with respect to time is denoted as "1PWS" and the signal corresponding to the second derivative of PWS with respect to time is denoted as "2PWS". With reference to a specific example of a PPG signal, 1PWS is also called "velocity waveform" (v-PPG) and 2PWS is also called "acceleration waveform" (a-PPG). FIG. 1(a) shows an exemplary 1 second portion of a PPG signal, where the timing of the dicrotic notch is shown. FIG. 1(b) shows the first derivative with respect to time of the PPG signal in FIG. 1(a), and FIG. 1(c) shows the second derivative with respect to time of the PPG signal in FIG. 1(a). Typically, an acceleration waveform is assumed to consist of five "reference points" or "fiducial points" as shown in FIG. 1. These five fiducial points are shown in the acceleration waveform in FIG. 1(c). Point a indicates the start of the direct pulse wave, which is the start of the pulse wave (i.e., the pulsation of blood caused by the beating of the heart), point b indicates the end of the direct pulse wave, point e indicates the end of systole (aortic valve closure), and for the purposes of this disclosure, point c is assumed to indicate the start of the reflected wave and point d to indicate the end of the reflected wave.

[0037] In the following, the quality of the PWS is evaluated based on the value of one PWS at the occurrence of point a in the second derivative of the PWS (a-PPG in Fig. 1) and the value of the peak in the first derivative of this PWS (v-PPG in Fig. 1). In particular, the time value of the maximum of the second derivative of the PWS is used to evaluate the sample value in the first derivative of the PWS, which is then normalized by the peak value in the first derivative of the PWS to obtain a metric that is independent of the scaling of the sensor, etc. Experiments with real patients measured during surgery and in hospital recovery rooms show that this normalized value is (ideally) equal to 0.5, even if the characteristics of the arterial stiffness are different, e.g. the arterial compliance varies depending on the patient's age.

[0038] It will be appreciated that the better the signal quality of the PWS / PPG, the less noise is present in the a-PPG signal. The PPG signal in Fig. 1(a) has a sampling rate of 125 Hz with a resolution of 12 bits. It can be seen that calculating the second derivative of the PPG signal results in a very poor signal due to the noise and quantization in this PPG signal. Smoothing of the signal (either in time or over multiple cardiac cycles) can be applied to improve the detection of the fiducials. The smoothed signal is superimposed on the a-PPG in Fig. 1(c), which was obtained by applying a Savitz-Golay filter (polynomial smoothing filter) with polynomial order 4 and frame length 11 to the a-PPG signal.

[0039] In some embodiments, to improve the time resolution of peak detection, an interpolation technique can be used that assumes a limited bandwidth of the PWS / PPG signal and estimates the time and sample values ​​between two samples of the original PWS / PPG signal.

[0040] As mentioned above, the quality of a PWS can be given by the sample value in the first derivative of the PWS that coincides with the maximum value (point a) of the second derivative of the PWS normalized by the peak value of the first derivative of the PWS. This quality value, denoted Q, is given by the following mathematical formula:

number

[0041] As mentioned above, experiments have shown that in ideal measurement situations, i.e., when the quality of the acquired PWS is relatively high or high, the quality value Q is equal to 0.5. Thus, the derived quality value Q indicates the quality of the PWS. In some embodiments, the quality value Q can be compared to a target value T to evaluate the quality of the PWS. In some embodiments, the target value T is 0.5, but in other embodiments, the target value T can be fine-tuned or adjusted for a particular subject.

[0042] Since each cardiac cycle in the PWS has its own a-point, the maximum value of SD can be determined in a portion of the PWS that corresponds to a single cardiac cycle of the subject. That is, a portion / window of the PWS having a duration equal to or approximately equal to the cardiac cycle of the subject can be evaluated, and the FD(t maxSD ) can be used in equation (1) to determine the quality value Q. In these embodiments, maxSD The value of Q can be based on the maximum of the FDs in that signal portion of the PWS, or based on the (global) maximum of all FDs. In these embodiments, the quality value Q relates to the quality of a particular portion of the PWS (i.e., a windowed portion), in which case the quality value Q of another portion of this PWS can be determined, for example, by sliding a window along the PWS.

[0043] In some embodiments, the quality index QI is calculated according to the following formula (2):

number

[0044] In an embodiment in which multiple quality values ​​Q or multiple quality indicators QI are determined for each portion of the PWS, these quality values ​​Q or quality indicators QI are averaged to obtain an average quality value Q av or the average quality index QI av This averaging can smooth the derived quality value Q or quality index QI over multiple cardiac cycles. Alternatively, a different smoothing function can be used to smooth the quality value Q or quality index QI over several cardiac cycles. The following equation (3) shows an example of a smoothing function for smoothing the quality index QI over different cardiac cycles, as indicated by the index k: sm teeth,

number

[0045] The graph in FIG. 2 shows the quality value Q of a patient over time, derived according to equation (1) above. PWS is a PPG signal, acquired from a patient in an acute phase, during the first half of the time period covered by the PPG signal there are signal artifacts due to patient / PPG sensor movement and poor perfusion at the periphery (e.g. the finger where the PPG sensor is attached to the patient). During the second half of the time period, intermittently (every 7 minutes), the cuff is inflated, interrupting blood flow to the PPG measurement site, resulting in a temporary "small signal" or "zero signal". For each cardiac cycle measured, a quality value Q is determined. It can be seen that the quality value Q is relatively stable at 0.5 during the second half of the time period (except for the times when the zero signal occurs), but is very unstable during the first half of the time period.

[0046] The graph in Figure 3 shows a smoothed QI for the patient shown in Figure 2. This smoothed QI is determined according to equations (2) and (3) above, using a value of 0.5 for the target value T, a sensitivity of 0.1, and a smoothing factor β of 0.75. As in Figure 2, the quality index QI is relatively stable in the range of 0.9 to 1 during the latter half of the time period (except during times when small / zero signals occur), but is very unstable during the first half of the time period.

[0047] The graph in Figure 4 shows the distribution (histogram) of the quality values ​​Q in Figure 2. It can be seen that for this patient, the quality value Q in Figure 2 has the highest frequency exactly at 0.5. A second peak is also seen around Q=0.7, which is due to the sub-optimal perfusion of the patient, which leads to poor a-PPG calculation and subsequent peak detection.

[0048] The graph in Figure 5 shows a similar distribution (histogram) of quality values ​​Q for a data set including several different patients. In particular, Figure 5 shows the distribution of quality values ​​Q derived from PPG signals for 40 patient cases. In each case, the PPG signals span a time period of approximately 5 hours. It can be seen that the quality value Q has its highest value just at 0.5, and the "tail" of this distribution ranges from 0.4 to 0.6.

[0049] Using the same data set, the graph in FIG. 6 plots the quality value Q with the highest frequency / number for each patient against the patient's age. The graph distinguishes between patients with vascular problems (data points with ◯) and patients with other non-vascular problems (data points with ×). Thus, the graph can show whether the quality value Q varies with age and / or vascular condition. It can be seen that the quality value Q is stable across the patient group, despite a large range of patient ages and therefore arterial compliances. Thus, FIG. 6 suggests that the quality value Q is not particularly dependent on the subject's age or whether the subject has vascular complications. This makes the quality value Q suitable for assessing the quality of PWS, including calculating the quality index QI using the assumption of an optimal quality value Q (e.g., 0.5) or a target value T (e.g., 0.5).

[0050] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a device 30 for analyzing PWS, according to various embodiments of the techniques described herein. A pulse wave sensor 32 is shown in FIG. 7 that is used to measure pressure waves at a single point on the subject's body and output the PWS. This pulse wave sensor 32 can be a PPG sensor, a pressure sensor, a tonometry-based sensor, or a hydraulic sensor pad that can apply some applied pressure to the subject's (upper) arm and uses any type of pressure sensor, for example, the MPXV6115 series board-mounted pressure sensor by NXP Semiconductors. In some embodiments, the pulse wave sensor 32 can be part of the device 30 or can be integrated with the device 30. In other embodiments, the device 30 can be connected to the pulse wave sensor 32 either directly (e.g., wired) or indirectly (e.g., using wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, cellular communication protocols). In alternative embodiments, the device 30 may not be connected to a pulse wave sensor 32 and instead the device 30 may obtain the PWS from another device or apparatus, such as, for example, a server or database.

[0051] As is known, the PPG sensor 32 can be placed on the subject's body, e.g., on the arm, leg, earlobe, finger, etc., and can provide an output signal ("PPG signal") related to the amount of blood passing through that part of the body. The amount of blood passing through that part of the body is related to the pressure of blood in that part of the body, which changes dynamically within each cardiac cycle. The PPG sensor 32 typically includes a light sensor and one or more light sources. The PPG signal output by the PPG sensor 32 can be a raw measurement signal from the light sensor (e.g., the PPG signal can be a signal representing light intensity over time). Alternatively, the PPG sensor 32 can perform some pre-processing on this light intensity signal, e.g., to reduce noise and / or compensate for motion artifacts, although it is understood that this pre-processing is not required for the implementation of the techniques described herein.

[0052] Apparatus 30 may take the form of, or be part of, a computing device such as a server, desktop computer, laptop, tablet computer, smartphone, smart watch, or a type of device typically found in a clinical environment, such as a patient monitoring device used to monitor (and optionally display) various physiological characteristics of a subject / patient (e.g., a monitoring device placed at a patient's bedside in a clinical environment).

[0053] The device 30 includes a processing unit 34 configured to control the operation of the device 30 and to implement or execute the methods described herein for analyzing PWS. The processing unit 34 may be implemented in a number of ways using software and / or hardware to perform the various functions described herein. The processing unit 34 may comprise one or more microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSPs) that are programmed using software or computer program code to perform the required functions and / or to control the components of the processing unit 34 to provide the required functions. The processing unit 34 may be implemented as a combination of dedicated hardware (e.g., amplifiers, preamplifiers, analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and / or digital-to-analog converters (DACs)) to perform some functions and processors (e.g., one or more programmed microprocessors, controllers, DSPs and associated circuitry) to perform other functions. Examples of components that may be used in various embodiments of the present disclosure include, but are not limited to, conventional microprocessors, DSPs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), hardware for implementing neural networks, and / or so-called artificial intelligence (AI) hardware accelerators (i.e., processors or other hardware specifically designed for AI applications that are used in conjunction with a main processor).

[0054] The processing unit 34 is connected to a memory unit 36 ​​that can store data, information and / or signals used by the processing unit 34 in controlling the operation of the device 30 and / or in performing or executing the methods described herein. In some implementations, the memory unit 36 ​​stores computer readable code that is executed by the processing unit 34 to cause the processing unit 34 to perform one or more functions, including the methods described herein. In certain embodiments, the program code can be in the form of an application for a smartwatch, smartphone, tablet, laptop or computer. The memory unit 36 ​​may comprise any type of non-transitory machine-readable medium, such as cache memory or system memory, including volatile and non-volatile computer memory, such as random access memory (RAM), static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), and electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), and the memory unit 36 ​​may be implemented in the form of a memory chip, an optical disk (e.g., a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disk), a hard disk, a tape storage solution, or a solid-state device, including a memory stick, a solid-state drive (SSD), a memory card, etc.

[0055] In some embodiments, device 30 has a user interface 38 that includes one or more components that allow a user of device 30 to input information, data, and / or instructions into device 30 and / or that allow device 30 to output information or data to a user of device 30. Information that may be output by user interface 38 may include an indication of the quality of the PWS. User interface 38 may include any suitable input components, including, but not limited to, a keyboard, a keypad, one or more buttons, switches or dials, a mouse, a trackpad, a touch screen, a stylus, a camera, a microphone, etc., and / or interface 38 may include any suitable output components, including, but not limited to, a display screen, one or more lights or light elements, one or more loudspeakers, a vibrating element, etc.

[0056] Although not shown in FIG. 7, the device 30 may have one or more additional sensors for measuring physiological characteristics of the subject, or the processing unit 34 may be configured to receive measurement signals from one or more additional sensors.

[0057] It will be understood that an actual implementation of the device 30 may include components in addition to those shown in FIG. 7. For example, the device 30 may also include a power source, such as a battery, or components to allow the device 30 to be connected to a mains power source. The device 30 may also include interface circuitry to allow data connection and / or exchange with other devices, including the pulse wave sensor 32 (in embodiments where the pulse wave sensor 32 is separate from the device 30), a server, a database, a user device, and / or other sensors. The flow chart of FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary method for analyzing a PWS obtained from a subject to assess the quality of the PWS. In some implementations, the processing unit 34 in the device 30 is configured to perform the method of FIG. 8. In other implementations, a computer or processing unit 34 may be provided with computer readable code that, when executed by the computer or processing unit 34, causes the computer or processing unit 34 to perform the method of FIG. 8.

[0058] The PWS is received from a pulse wave sensor 32 placed at a single measurement point on the subject, and the PWS represents a measurement of the pulse wave for multiple cardiac cycles (i.e., heart beats) of the subject. For example, the PWS may be received directly from the pulse wave sensor 32 when the PWS is generated, and the PWS may be analyzed in real-time or near real-time. Alternatively, the PWS may be stored in memory, in the memory unit 36 ​​of the device 30 or in a memory unit of a remote device or server, and the PWS may be retrieved or obtained from the memory when analyzing the PWS.

[0059] The PWS may be a PPG signal, although the method is applicable to other types of PWS. In some implementations, the method of FIG. 8 is performed periodically or continuously on the PWS as it is received or measured from the subject. In some implementations, the method of FIG. 8 may operate on a longer windowed portion of the PWS, e.g., a one-minute window of the PWS covering a one-hour time period. However, it should be understood that the method may be applied to a PWS having any desired length covering any number of cardiac cycles. In the following description, references to operations or steps performed on the PWS refer to performing those operations or steps on a portion of the PWS of interest, e.g., a portion corresponding to a one-minute period.

[0060] In the first step of the method, step 101, the first derivative with respect to time of the PWS is determined. This provides the first derivative PWS, denoted 1PWS. As mentioned above, this step can operate on the entire PWS or a portion of the PWS.

[0061] In another step of the method, step 103, the second derivative with respect to time of PWS is determined. This provides the second derivative PWS, denoted as 2PWS. It will be appreciated that steps 101 and 103 may be performed in either order or simultaneously.

[0062] In step 105, the 2PWS is analyzed to identify a first time point corresponding to the occurrence of a first maximum in this 2PWS. Step 105 aims to identify the "a" fiducial point in the 2PWS, i.e. the start of the direct pulse wave. As described above with reference to FIG. 1, each cardiac cycle in the "accelerometer waveform" (the second derivative of the PWS with respect to time) can be considered to have five "reference points" or "fiducial points". The a fiducial point indicates the start of the direct pulse wave, which is the start of the pulse wave (i.e. the pulsation of blood caused by the beating of the heart), and the b point indicates the end of the direct pulse wave. The e point indicates the end of systole (aortic valve closure), and for the purposes of this disclosure, it is assumed that the c point indicates the start of the reflected wave and the d point indicates the end of the reflected wave. Thus, step 105 aims to identify the "a" fiducial point in the 2PWS, i.e. the start / beginning of the direct pulse wave. Step 105 can use conventional peak detection techniques to identify a maximum in the 2PWS. The first time point can be determined as the time point corresponding to the sample with the first maximum. Alternatively, the 2PWS maximum can be determined from multiple sample values ​​at or near the maximum. For example, if the PWS signal does not have a sufficiently high sampling rate, multiple samples can be used with an interpolation technique, such as cubic-interpolation, to obtain improved accuracy in determining the 2PWS maximum.

[0063] In some embodiments, the quality of the PWS should be evaluated for each cardiac cycle, and therefore step 105 operates on a portion of 2PWS, the portion having a duration equal to or less than the duration of the cardiac cycle. In this way, the maximum value of 2PWS in the portion should correspond to the "a" reference point. The duration of the cardiac cycle (and therefore the duration of the portion) can be pre-determined, for example set based on a typical cardiac cycle duration, such as 1 second (for a pulse rate of 60 beats per minute (bpm)), or can be determined by analyzing the PWS to determine the pulse rate. In the latter case, conventional PWS analysis techniques can be used to determine the pulse rate from the PWS and thus the duration of the portion to be analyzed in step 105.

[0064] In step 107, the value of 1PWS at a first time point is determined, i.e. the value of 1PWS when 2PWS is at a first maximum value is determined. This step comprises simply determining the value of 1PWS at said first time point, or, if there is no sample value of 1PWS at the first time point, the value of 1PWS closest to this first time point. Alternatively, the value of 1PWS at the first time point can be determined from a number of sample values ​​at or near the first time point. For example, the value of 1PWS can be determined as a function (e.g., a linear weighted average) of two values ​​of 1PWS at or near the first time point. This embodiment is useful when the PWS (and therefore 1PWS) does not have a sufficiently high sampling rate to mitigate jitter in the determination of the sample values ​​of the 1PWS signal.

[0065] In step 109, the value of 1PWS determined in step 107 is normalized with respect to the maximum value of 1PWS. This normalized value is the quality value mentioned above. Step 109 may thus comprise determining the maximum value of 1PWS and normalizing the value of 1PWS at the first time point according to this determined maximum value (e.g. by dividing by said determined maximum value according to equation (1)). Step 109 may comprise determining a global maximum value of 1PWS or, in an embodiment in which step 105 is performed for a portion of 2PWS (e.g. a portion having a duration equal to or less than a cardiac cycle), step 109 may comprise determining the maximum value of 1PWS for said portion evaluated in step 105. Conventional peak detection techniques may be used to identify the maximum value in 1PWS. The maximum value of 1PWS may be determined as the highest value of any sample in 1PWS (or in said portion of 1PWS, if applicable). Alternatively, the maximum value of 1PWS may be determined from multiple sample values ​​at or near the maximum value. For example, if the PWS signal does not have a sufficiently high sampling rate, multiple samples can be used in an interpolation technique, such as cubic interpolation, to obtain improved accuracy in determining the 1PWS maximum value. Either of these embodiments is useful if the 1PWS maximum value is the result of signal artifacts.

[0066] In step 111, the quality of the PWS is evaluated using a normalized value. In some embodiments, this normalized value (e.g., a quality value Q) is indicative of the quality of the PWS. In some embodiments, the quality of the PWS is indicated by the difference between the normalized value and a target value T. The target value T may be a static value, e.g., 0.5, or a value that depends on one or more characteristics of the subject, e.g., the age and / or vascular condition of the subject.

[0067] In some embodiments, in step 111, the quality of the PWS may be evaluated using a quality index QI determined according to equation (2) above.

[0068] In some embodiments, multiple normalized values ​​can be determined for different cardiac cycles in the PWS, and in step 111, the multiple normalized values ​​are used to evaluate the quality of the PWS. Thus, for example, the method can further comprise repeating steps 105-109 for a second time point corresponding to the occurrence of a second maximum in the PWS, the second maximum being associated with a different cardiac cycle than the first maximum. Steps 105-109 can be repeated any desired number of times. In these embodiments, the quality of the PWS can be evaluated based on the multiple normalized values ​​themselves, or based on the respective quality indicators QI determined according to equation (2) above. The quality may also be evaluated based on a function of the normalized values, for example the average of the normalized values ​​or the average of the quality indicators QI determined from these normalized values. In either case, the function may be, for example, a smoothing function as defined in equation (3) above.

[0069] As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the sampling rate of the PWS can be increased. Thus, prior to step 101, the method can further comprise obtaining a sensor signal from a pulse wave sensor having a pulse wave measurement according to a first sampling rate, and using an interpolation technique on the sensor signal to generate the PWS by increasing the sampling rate.

[0070] In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining whether to calculate a physiological characteristic of the subject from the PWS according to the quality of the PWS. For example, if the quality of the PWS is too low or below some threshold, the PWS or the portion of the PWS / cardiac cycle to which the normalized value is associated may not be used to calculate the physiological characteristic. On the other hand, if the quality of the PWS is sufficient, e.g., above some threshold, the PWS or the portion of the PWS / cardiac cycle to which the normalized value is associated may be used to calculate the physiological characteristic.

[0071] In some embodiments, the method may further comprise outputting an indication of the quality or reliability of the PWS according to the assessed quality, which may be output via the user interface 38.

[0072] FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating various operations in the analysis of a PWS, according to various exemplary embodiments. The various operations and functions illustrated in FIG. 9 are implemented by the processing unit 34 shown in FIG. 7. In this exemplary illustrated embodiment, the PWS is a PPG signal 901. The PPG signal 901 is input to a first derivative calculation block 902, which determines the first derivative of the PPG signal with respect to time (1PPG), and a second derivative calculation block 903, which determines the second derivative of the PPG signal with respect to time (2PPG). It will be appreciated that in an alternative implementation, the second derivative calculation block 903 may be replaced by another first derivative calculation block that operates on the 1PPG output by the first derivative calculation block 902 to determine the 2PPG.

[0073] In some embodiments, not shown in FIG. 9, the PPG signal 901 may be multiplied by N x A serial-to-parallel (S / P) converter may be provided that divides or separates into one or more windows of samples. The windows of the PPG signal may be overlapping or contiguous.

[0074] The 2PPG is input to a peak detection block 904 which detects a first maximum value of the 2PPG (in accordance with step 105 above). The peak detection block 904 detects a first time point t maxSD Output.

[0075] The 1PPG is input to another peak detection block 905, a first value extraction block 906 (denoted FD(t)), and a second value extraction block 907 (also denoted FD(t)). The peak detection block 905 finds the maximum value of the 1PPG (used in step 109 above) and extracts t maxFD The time at which this maximum occurs, denoted as x, is output to a first value extraction block 906.

[0076] The first value extraction block 906 extracts the time t maxFD It will be appreciated that if the peak detection block 905 outputs the maximum value of the 1PPG itself, rather than outputting the time at which the maximum occurs, then the first value extraction block 906 may be omitted.

[0077] The second value extraction block 907 receives the PPG signal and detects the peaks from the peak detection block 904. maxSD The second value extractor 907 receives the time t maxSD The 1PPG value determined by the first value extraction block 906 and the second value extraction block 907 is input to a ratio calculation block 908, which calculates a quality value Q (909) by dividing the value of the 1PPG signal at the time when the 2PPG signal has its maximum value by the maximum value of the 1PPG signal. The ratio calculation block 908 performs step 109 above.

[0078] This quality value Q (909) can be used to assess the quality of the PPG signal (as in step 111 above). In some embodiments, the quality value Q is compared to a target value that represents a high quality PPG signal.

[0079] However, in further embodiments, a quality index QI can be calculated from the quality value Q (909) by the quality index calculation block 910. The quality index calculation block 910 compares the quality value Q (909) to a target value T (shown as "optimum Q" in FIG. 9) to determine a quality index QI (911). The quality index calculation block 910 can determine the quality index QI (911) according to equation (2) above, where the quality index calculation block 910 can also receive a sensitivity value 912. In some embodiments, the value of the optimal Q is pre-determined (e.g., 0.5), while in other embodiments, this value of optimal Q can be calculated by the optimal Q calculation block 913 and output to the quality index calculation block 910. This is useful because, as suggested by FIG. 6, some subjects have optimal values ​​slightly below 0.5 or slightly above 0.5. The quality value Q (909) is input to an optimal Q calculation block 913 along with a lock-in range 914 that limits the range of values ​​of the quality value Q used to determine the optimal Q to values ​​within the lock-in range. This acts to limit the possible optimal Q values ​​to a particular range of values. For example, the lock-in range may be between 0.4 and 0.6. The optimal Q calculation block 913 may calculate the optimal Q by determining a long-term average of the quality value Q of a subject. If the current value of the quality value Q is outside the lock-in range, the calculation of the long-term average of the quality value Q may be stopped, i.e., the current quality value Q may be removed from consideration when determining the optimal Q.

[0080] Thus, techniques are provided for improving the analysis of the quality of PWS. Variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and implemented by those skilled in the art in implementing the principles and techniques described herein, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, nor does it exclude a plurality of them. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain means are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these means cannot be used to advantage. A computer program can be stored or distributed on a suitable medium, for example an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium, supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but can also be distributed in other forms, for example via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems. Any reference signs in the claims should not be interpreted as limiting the scope thereof.

Claims

1. 1. A computer-implemented method for analyzing a pulse wave signal obtained from a subject, the pulse wave signal having pulse wave measurements for one or more cardiac cycles of the subject during a first period of time, the method comprising: (i) determining a first derivative with respect to time of the pulse wave signal; (ii) determining a second derivative with respect to time of the pulse wave signal; (iii) analyzing the second derivative to identify a first point in time corresponding to an occurrence of a first maximum in the second derivative; (iv) determining a value of the first derivative at the first point in time; (v) normalizing the value of the first derivative at the first time point relative to a maximum value of the first derivative; and (vi) evaluating the quality of the pulse wave signal using the normalized value.

13. A computer-implemented method comprising:

2. 2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first maximum in the second derivative and / or a value of the first derivative at the first time point and / or a maximum value of the first derivative is determined from a plurality of sample values ​​of the second derivative and / or the first derivative.

3. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein step (vi) comprises determining a quality of the pulse wave signal according to a difference between the normalized value and a target value T.

4. The step (vi) comprises: [006] 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a quality index (QI) according to:

5. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing at least one repetition of steps (iii)-(v) for at least a second point in time corresponding to an occurrence of at least a second maximum in the second derivative, and wherein step (vi) comprises assessing a quality of the pulse wave signal using the normalized value.

6. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein step (vi) comprises assessing a quality of the pulse wave signal using a function of the normalized value.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of determining whether to calculate a physiological characteristic of the subject from the pulse wave signal according to a quality of the pulse wave signal.

8. 13. A computer program product having a computer readable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code being configured, when executed by a suitable computer or processor, to cause the computer or processor to perform the method of claim 1.

9. 1. An apparatus configured to analyze a pulse wave signal obtained from a subject, the pulse wave signal having pulse wave measurements for one or more cardiac cycles of the subject during a first period of time, the apparatus comprising: (i) determining a first derivative with respect to time of the pulse wave signal; (ii) determining a second derivative with respect to time of the pulse wave signal; (iii) analyzing the second derivative to identify a first point in time corresponding to an occurrence of a first maximum in the second derivative; (iv) determining a value of the first derivative at the first time point; (v) normalizing the value of the first derivative at the first time point relative to a maximum value of the first derivative; and (vi) evaluating the quality of the pulse wave signal using the normalized value. The apparatus has a processing unit configured to:

10. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a first maximum in the second derivative and / or a value of the first derivative at the first time point and / or a maximum value of the first derivative is determined from a plurality of sample values ​​of the second derivative and / or the first derivative.

11. 11. The device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein in operation (vi), the processing unit is configured to determine a quality of the pulse wave signal according to a difference between the normalized value and a target value T.

12. In operation (vi), the processing unit [0070] 10. The apparatus of claim 9, configured to determine a quality index (QI) according to:

13. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processing unit is configured to perform at least one repetition of operations (iii)-(v) for at least a second time point corresponding to an occurrence of at least a second maximum in the second derivative, and in operation (vi), the processing unit is configured to evaluate a quality of the pulse wave signal using the normalized value.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein in operation (vi), the processing unit is configured to evaluate a quality of the pulse wave signal using a function of the normalized value.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine whether to calculate a physiological characteristic of the subject from the pulse wave signal according to a quality of the pulse wave signal.

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