Vital information acquisition device and method

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a vital information acquisition device, the vital information acquisition device including: a microwave radar system including at least one transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna, and configured to transmit a plurality of microwaves to a target and receive a plurality of microwaves reflected from the target; and a controller including circuitry configured to convert the plurality of received microwaves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals, calculate phase signals of the radar signals, calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal, and estimate heartbeat intervals and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, the periodicity detection techniques including autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms. Another aspect of the present invention is a method of acquiring vital information, comprising storing radar signals, calculating phase signals of the radar signals, calculating first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal, and estimating heartbeat and / or respiration intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, where the periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 275,949, filed November 5, 2021, U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 299,958, filed January 15, 2022, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 414,559, filed October 9, 2022. The entire contents of all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference. [Technical field]

[0002] The present invention is directed to a vital information acquisition device and method that uses millimeter-wave radar to estimate a subject's breathing interval, heart rate interval, and position. [Background technology]

[0003] Vital information monitoring is very important for providing appropriate medical services to patients (PL1, NPL1). In recent years, several millimeter wave radar technologies (PL2, NPL2, NPL3) have been reported for obtaining vital information including heart rate and respiratory interval.

[0004] Patent Citation List PL1 Katsuya Nakagawa et al., "Vital information measuring device, managing device, and vital information communication system," Patent Document 1. PL2 Milan Savic et al., “MM-wave radar vital signs detection apparatus and method of operation”, Patent Document 2.

[0005] Non-Patent Citation List NPL1 Non-patent literature 1. NPL2 Non-patent literature 2. NPL3 Non-patent literature 3. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] European Patent Application Publication No. 1887488(A1) [Patent Document 2] International Publication No. 2015 / 174879(A1) [Non-patent literature]

[0007] [Non-Patent Document 1] Sandy Rolfe, "The importance of respiratory rate monitoring," British Journal of Nursing, 2019 [Non-Patent Document 2] Zhicheng Yang et al., "Monitoring vital signs using millimeter wave," MobiHoc'16, 2016 [Non-Patent Document 3] Takuya Sakamoto, "Recent progress in millimeter-wave radar signal processing," 12th Global Symposium on Millimeter Waves, 2019 Summary of the Invention [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] Vital sign monitoring is very important for providing appropriate medical services to patients. In order to improve the quality of medical services, a non-contact and robust vital sign monitoring technology is highly desirable.

[0009] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is directed to a vital information acquisition device, which includes a microwave radar system including at least one transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna, and configured to transmit a plurality of microwaves to a target and receive a plurality of microwaves reflected from the target; and a controller including a circuit configured to convert the plurality of received microwaves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals, calculate phase signals of the radar signals, calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal, and estimate heartbeat intervals and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, where the periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithm.

[0010] Another aspect of the present invention is a method of acquiring vital information, comprising storing radar signals, calculating phase signals of the radar signals, calculating first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal, and estimating heartbeat and / or respiration intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, where the periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

[0011] A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vital information acquisition device that transmits ultra-wideband millimeter waves to a target and estimates the target's vital information from phase signals and / or their derivatives using periodicity discovery techniques. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a vital information acquisition device that applies one of the multi-value filters to the first, second, and third derivatives of the phase signal. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vital information acquisition device that selects an appropriate position or distance for estimating heart rate intervals and breathing intervals, where the appropriate position or distance for estimating heart rate intervals and the appropriate position or distance for estimating breathing intervals do not have to be the same. [Figure 4] A schematic diagram showing a vital information acquisition device applying a band-path filter to a phase signal of a radar signal, the radar signal, and / or a derivative of the phase signal of the radar signal. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vital information acquisition device that estimates vital information of a target by transmitting ultra-wideband millimeter waves to the target and calculating phase signals from radar signals at multiple positions or distances. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an acquisition device for calculating the phase signal using one of the techniques based on principal component analysis. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an acquisition device that uses one of the techniques based on principal component analysis and applies bandpass filters to radar and phase signals. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an acquisition device that uses one of the techniques based on principal component analysis to apply a band-pass or high-pass filter to a radar signal and estimate vital information of a subject from phase signals and / or their derivatives after application of the band-pass filter. [Figure 9] This is a schematic diagram showing a vital information acquisition device that transmits ultra-wideband millimeter waves to a target, receives multiple sounds including snoring sounds, and estimates the target's vital information by calculating the phase signal of the radar signal at multiple positions or distances and the periodicity of the presence time distribution of sound impacts including sound pressure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] Embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate corresponding or identical elements throughout the various drawings.

[0014] According to an embodiment, the vital information acquisition device of the present invention transmits ultra-wideband millimeter waves and estimates the heartbeat interval and respiration interval of a subject from a phase signal of the radar signal and their derivatives using a periodicity detection technique. According to an embodiment, the vital information acquisition device of the present invention includes a microwave radar system including at least one transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna, and configured to transmit multiple microwaves to a subject and receive multiple microwaves reflected from the subject; and a controller including a circuit configured to convert the multiple received microwaves into multiple radar signals, store the radar signals, calculate phase signals of the radar signals, calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal, and estimate the heartbeat interval and / or respiration interval from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, where the periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithm.

[0015] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use an ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), calculate phase signals of the radar signals (114), calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal (116), and estimate heartbeat and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques (118). Periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero-crossing detection algorithms.

[0016] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may calculate the first, second and third derivatives of each phase signal. A controller including circuitry is configured to calculate the first, second and third derivatives of each phase signal and estimate heart beat and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signals and their first, second and third derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques.

[0017] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may therefore apply one of the multi-value filters to the first, second and third derivatives of the phase signal. FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a target 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the target 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the target are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), calculate phase signals of the radar signals (114), calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal (116), apply one of the multi-value filters to the first, second and third order derivatives of the phase signals (200), and estimate (118) the heartbeat intervals and / or respiration intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques. The multi-value filters include binarization filters. The periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

[0018] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may select a suitable location or distance from the radar signal and / or their phase signals to estimate the heartbeat interval and the breath interval. The controller including the circuit is further configured to select a suitable location or distance from the target region for estimating the heartbeat interval and the breath interval, and to select the heartbeat interval and the breath interval from the phase signal and / or their derivatives at the suitable location or distance using one of the periodicity detection techniques. A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may determine the location of the subject from the selected suitable location or distance for estimating the heartbeat interval and / or the breath interval.

[0019] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may select a suitable position or distance for estimating a heartbeat interval and a breathing interval, where the suitable position or distance for estimating a heartbeat interval and the suitable position or distance for estimating a breathing interval do not need to be the same. FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a target 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the target 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the target are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), calculate phase signals of the radar signals (114), select a suitable location or distance from a region of interest for estimating the breathing interval (300), calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal (116), apply one of the multi-value filters to the first, second, and third derivatives of the phase signals (200), select a suitable location or distance from a region of interest for estimating the heartbeat interval (302), and estimate the heartbeat interval (306) and / or breathing interval (304) from the phase signals and / or their derivatives at the suitable location or distance using one of the periodicity detection techniques, where the suitable location or distance for estimating the heartbeat interval and the suitable location or distance for estimating the breathing interval need not be the same. The selection of a suitable location for estimating the breathing interval may follow the calculation of the derivatives of the phase signals.

[0020] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may apply a band-path filter to the phase signal of the radar signal, the radar signal, and / or the derivative of the phase signal of the radar signal. FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including a circuit is configured to convert a plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), calculate phase signals of the radar signals (114), calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal (116), apply a band-path filter (400) to the phase signals of the radar signals and / or the derivatives of the phase signals of the radar signals, apply one of the multi-value filters (200) to the first, second and third order derivatives of the band-path filtered phase signals, and estimate (118) heartbeat intervals and / or respiration intervals from the band-path filtered phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques. The multi-value filter includes a binarization filter. The periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

[0021] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may calculate tentative heart beat intervals and / or respiratory intervals between multiple positions or distances, select a position or distance with the largest number of detected heart beat intervals or respiratory intervals, and use the detected heart beat interval or respiratory interval of the selected position or distance as the estimated heart beat interval or respiratory interval, because the largest number of detected heart beat intervals or respiratory intervals at a certain position or distance indicates that the radar signal at that position or distance is suitable for estimating heart beat intervals or respiratory intervals.

[0022] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may calculate interim heart rate and / or breathing intervals between multiple locations or distances, and estimate the heart rate or breathing interval using all or a portion of the interim heart rate and / or breathing intervals.

[0023] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may evaluate the continuity of the calculated heartbeat intervals to eliminate those calculated heartbeat intervals that have values ​​that are significantly different from neighboring values, and this evaluation of continuity includes standard deviation, mean deviation, and median absolute deviation. A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may eliminate heartbeat intervals when the difference between the calculated heartbeat interval value and the mean is greater than three times the standard deviation.

[0024] The vital information acquisition device using the embodiment of the present invention may calculate the phase signal of the radar signal based on one of the techniques using the phase rotation information of the radar signal, and the technique using the phase rotation information of the radar signal includes a circle fitting technique. The circle fitting technique of the vital information acquisition device using the embodiment of the present invention is based on a cost function D Z is given by minimizing

[0025]

number

[0026] where α, β, and γ are the parameters for the minimization, and s Il and s Ql are the in-phase and quadrature signal components of the lth data point, L is the data length in the time domain used for calculating the phase signal, and n is a positive number. The circle fitting technique of the vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use a setting of n=2. The circle fitting technique of the vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use a cost function D H is given by minimizing

[0027]

number

[0028] where α and β are the H The circle fitting technique of the vital information acquisition device using the embodiment of the present invention is a parameter for minimizing n H A setting of s = 2 may be used. P (l) is given by the following formula:

[0029]

number

[0030] Here, α M and β M D Z Or D H where (a,b) represents a complex number with real part a and imaginary part b.

[0031] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may apply one of the normalization techniques to the radar signal to prevent data overflow. The radar signal of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention is given by the following equation:

[0032]

number

[0033] Here, Il ' and s Ql ' are the in-phase and quadrature signal components of the lth data point after application of one of the normalization techniques.

[0034] The vital information acquisition device using the embodiment of the present invention may calculate the initial value of the center of phase rotation of the radar signal based on the principal component analysis. The initial value of the center of phase rotation of the radar signal using the embodiment of the present invention is given by the following formula:

[0035]

number

[0036] Here, α i and β i are the in-phase and quadrature components of the initial value of the center of phase rotation of the radar signal for the minimization of equation (1) or equation (4), and T -1 is the inverse matrix of T, T is the principal component analysis transformation matrix of the L × 2 data matrix X, and the l-th row of X represents the in-phase and quadrature signal components s Il and s Ql The initial value for the center of phase rotation of a radar signal using a normalization technique using an embodiment of the present invention is given by:

[0037]

number

[0038] Here, α i ' and β i ' are the in-phase and quadrature components of the initial value of the center of phase rotation of the radar signal for minimization using the normalization technique given by equations (6), (7), and (8).

[0039] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may calculate at least one phase-related function using the phase signal and a first or higher derivative of the phase signal, and estimate the cardiac interval from the phase-related function using one of the periodicity detection techniques, including autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero-crossing detection algorithms.

[0040] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may calculate at least one phase-related complex function using the phase signal and a first or higher order derivative of the phase signal, and estimate the heartbeat interval from the phase-related function using one of the periodicity detection techniques. PR (t) is given by the following formula:

[0041]

number

[0042] where r1, r2, and r3 are complex constants and s P '(t), s P ''(t), and s P '''(t) are the first, second, and third derivatives of the phase signal, and t is the measurement time, which is the slow time. Phase-related functions using embodiments of the present invention may use real, pure imaginary, and pure imaginary constants for r1, r2, and r3, respectively.

[0043] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may select a head position for estimating heartbeat intervals, and a chest or abdominal position for estimating breath intervals.

[0044] A vital sign acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use a transmitting antenna and / or a receiving antenna that further uses a narrow radar beam. By using a narrow radar beam, it is possible to limit the scattering area and suppress measurement errors in the heartbeat interval estimation caused by the fluctuation of the scattering area.

[0045] A vital sign acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use a narrow radar beam, with the width of the radar beam being 20 cm or less. The speed of the pulse wave is 5 to 15 m / s, so this setting should suppress the measurement error in the heart rate interval estimation caused by the scattering field fluctuation to 40 ms or less.

[0046] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use frequency domain interferometry to detect cardiac ejection timing. A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may include an ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system including at least one transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna, and configured to transmit a plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves to a target and receive a plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the target; and a controller including a circuit configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals, calculate phase signals of the radar signals, calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal, and estimate heart beat intervals and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using frequency domain interferometry.

[0047] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use multiple reference signals to estimate heart beat intervals, breathing intervals, and / or other biological information, including cardiac output and blood pressure.

[0048] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention transmits microwaves to a subject and transmits the subject's heartbeat intervals and respiration intervals from a phase signal calculated using multiple radar signals. The vital information acquisition device of the present invention according to an embodiment includes a microwave radar system including at least one transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna, and configured to transmit multiple microwaves to the subject and receive multiple microwaves reflected from the subject; and a controller including a circuit configured to convert the multiple received microwaves into multiple radar signals, store the radar signals, select multiple positions or distances from a target area, calculate at least one phase signal from the radar signals at the selected positions or distances, and estimate the heartbeat intervals and / or respiration intervals from the phase signal using one of the periodicity detection techniques, the periodicity detection techniques including autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithm.

[0049] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use an ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system. FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), select a plurality of locations or distances from a region of interest (500), calculate at least one phase signal from the radar signals at the selected locations or distances (502), and estimate (118) heartbeat and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, including autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero-crossing detection algorithms.

[0050] The vital information acquisition device using the embodiment of the present invention may calculate the phase signal using one of the techniques based on principal component analysis, which includes eigenvalue decomposition, iterative calculation, and calculation of the first principal component of the selected radar signal based on the nonlinear iterative partial least squares method. The phase signal s using the first principal component of the selected radar signal based on the eigenvalue decomposition using the embodiment of the present invention P The calculation of (l) is given by the following formula:

[0051]

number

[0052] Here, m (l) is the radar signal at the mth selected position or distance at the lth data point, and S Im (l) and S Qm (l) is the in-phase and quadrature signal components at the lth data point, j is the imaginary unit, and [] T is the transpose of the matrix in [], and v max is the eigenvector corresponding to the largest eigenvalue of the correlation matrix of u(l). The calculation of the correlation matrix R of u(l) using an embodiment of the present invention is given by the following equation:

[0053]

number

[0054] where [] His the Hermitian transpose of the matrix [ ]. FIG. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a vital sign information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert a plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), select a plurality of locations or distances from a region of interest (500), calculate a correlation matrix from the plurality of radar signals at the selected locations or distances (600), calculate an eigenvector corresponding to a maximum eigenvalue of the correlation matrix (602), calculate a phase signal using the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of the correlation matrix (604), and estimate (118) heartbeat and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signal and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques.

[0055] A principal component analysis based technique using an embodiment of the present invention may use one of the expectation operators. The use of the expectation operator using an embodiment of the present invention is provided by using a weighted sum correlation matrix R' as a replacement for the simple sum correlation matrix R. Weighted sums include the use of Hann windows, Hamming windows, and Gaussian windows.

[0056] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may select multiple locations or distances that have high signal strength from the region of interest.

[0057] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may apply at least one band-pass or high-pass filter to the radar signal to extract a physiological signal of the subject.

[0058] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use a band-pass or high-pass filter that passes frequency components higher than 0.5 Hz for estimating the heartbeat interval, because this setting can suppress most respiratory components and body movements and selectively extract physiological signals corresponding to the heartbeat.

[0059] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may apply at least one band-pass or high-pass filter to the phase signal to extract the physiological signal of the subject.

[0060] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may further calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal and estimate heart rate and / or respiratory rate intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques.

[0061] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may calculate the first, second and third derivatives of each phase signal and estimate heart rate and / or respiratory rate intervals from the phase signals and their first, second and third derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques.

[0062] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may apply one of a multi-value filter to the first, second and third derivatives of the phase signal and is configured to estimate heart beat intervals and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signal and its filtered first, second and third derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, the multi-value filter including a binarization filter.

[0063] According to an embodiment, the vital information acquisition device of the present invention transmits microwaves to a subject and transmits the subject's heartbeat interval and respiration interval from a phase signal calculated using a plurality of radar signals. According to an embodiment, the vital information acquisition device of the present invention includes a microwave radar system including at least one transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna, and configured to transmit a plurality of microwaves to a subject and receive a plurality of microwaves reflected from the subject; a microphone configured to receive a plurality of sounds; and a controller including a circuit configured to convert the plurality of received microwaves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals, select a plurality of positions or distances from a target area, calculate at least one phase signal from the radar signals at the selected positions or distances, convert the plurality of sounds into a plurality of sound signals, store the sound signals, process the sound signals such that an impact including sound pressure is calculated from the sound signals, and estimate the heartbeat interval, respiration interval, sleep stage, sleep apnea and / or hypopnea from the phase signal using one of periodicity detection techniques and / or periodicity of the presence time distribution of the impact including sound pressure, where the periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithm.

[0064] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use an ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system. FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A plurality of sounds including snoring sounds 900 are received by a microphone 902. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals and store the radar signals (112), select a plurality of locations or distances from a region of interest (500), calculate at least one phase signal from the radar signals at the selected locations or distances (502), convert the plurality of sounds into a plurality of audio signals and store the audio signals (112), process the audio signals such that impulses including sound pressure are calculated from the audio signals (904), and estimate (906) heartbeat intervals, breathing intervals, sleep stages, sleep apnea and / or hypopnea from the phase signals using one of the periodicity detection techniques and / or periodicity of the presence time distribution of the impulses including sound pressure. Periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

[0065] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may detect snoring sounds based on the periodicity of the distribution of the presence time of an impact including sound pressure.

[0066] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may detect snoring sounds based on the periodicity of the distribution of the time of the impact including the sound pressure and the breathing interval estimated from the phase signal of the radar signal using one of the periodicity detection techniques, because the breathing interval estimated from the radar signal should match the time interval of the snoring sounds.

[0067] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may estimate a sleep stage from the snoring time distribution, because when a subject snores, he / she should be asleep.

[0068] A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may estimate sleep apnea and hypopnea from the time distribution of snoring and the phase signal of the radar signal, because sleep apnea or hypopnea occurs during the subject's sleep and the amplitude of the phase signal of the radar signal decreases when the movement of the chest or abdomen decreases.

[0069] A vital information acquisition method of the present invention in one embodiment includes storing radar signals, calculating phase signals of the radar signals, calculating first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal, and estimating heartbeat and respiratory intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, where the periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

[0070] A method of acquiring vital information using an embodiment of the present invention includes storing radar signals, selecting a number of locations or distances from a region of interest, calculating at least one phase signal from the radar signals at the selected locations or distances, and estimating heartbeat and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signal using one of the periodicity detection techniques, including autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

[0071] A method of acquiring vital information using an embodiment of the present invention includes storing a radar signal, selecting a number of locations or distances from a region of interest, calculating at least one phase signal from the radar signal at the selected locations or distances, converting a number of sounds into a number of audio signals, storing the audio signals, processing the audio signals such that impulses including sound pressure are calculated from the audio signals, and estimating heartbeat intervals, breathing intervals, sleep stages, sleep apnea and / or hypopnea from the phase signals using one of the periodicity detection techniques and the periodicity of the audio signals and / or the time distribution of the impulses including sound pressure, where the periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

[0072] First Exemplary Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), calculate phase signals of the radar signals (114), calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal (116), apply one of the multi-value filters to the first, second and third order derivatives of the phase signals (200), and estimate the heartbeat intervals from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques (118). The multi-value filters include binarization filters. The periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms.

[0073] Second Exemplary Embodiment FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including a circuit is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), calculate phase signals of the radar signals (114), calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal (116), apply a band-path filter (300) to the phase signals of the radar signals, the radar signals, and / or the derivatives of the phase signals of the radar signals, apply one of the multi-value filters (200) to the first, second, and third order derivatives of the band-path filtered phase signals, and estimate (118) the heartbeat interval from the band-path filtered phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques. The multi-value filter includes a binarization filter. The periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero-crossing detection algorithms.

[0074] Third Exemplary Embodiment FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), calculate phase signals of the radar signals (114), select a suitable location or distance from a region of interest for estimating the breathing interval (300), calculate a first or higher order derivative of each phase signal (116), apply one of the multi-value filters to the first, second, and third derivatives of the phase signals (200), select a suitable location or distance from a region of interest for estimating the heart beat interval (302), and estimate the heart beat interval (306) and / or the breathing interval (304) from the phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques, where the suitable location or distance for estimating the heart beat interval and the suitable location or distance for estimating the breathing interval need not be the same. The selection of a suitable location for estimating the breathing interval may follow the calculation of the derivative of the phase signals.

[0075] Forth Exemplary Embodiment FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), calculate phase signals of the radar signals (114), calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal (116), apply a band-path filter (400) to the phase signals of the radar signals and / or the derivatives of the phase signals of the radar signals, apply one of a multi-value filter (200) to the first, second, and third order derivatives of the band-path filtered phase signals, and estimate (118) cardiac and / or respiratory intervals from the band-path filtered phase signals and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques.

[0076] Fifth Exemplary Embodiment A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use the following configuration: An ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna and at least one receiving antenna. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves are transmitted to a subject. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves are reflected by a body surface of the subject. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna. The system controller including the circuit is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals, calculate phase signals of the radar signals, select a suitable location or distance from the region of interest for estimating the respiratory interval, estimate the respiratory interval from the phase signals and / or their derivatives at the suitable location or distance for the respiratory interval estimation using one of the periodicity detection techniques, calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal, apply one of the multi-value filters to the first, second, and third order derivatives of the phase signals, select a suitable location or distance from the region of interest for estimating the heart beat interval, and estimate the heart beat interval from the phase signals and / or their derivatives at the suitable location or distance for the heart beat interval estimation using one of the periodicity detection techniques. A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention is configured to calculate a cost function D given by the following equation: H The phase signal of the radar signal may be calculated by minimizing '.

[0077]

number

[0078] where α' and β' are D H where α′ and β′ are parameters for minimizing ′, and initial values ​​for α′ and β′ are given by equation (10). A phase-related function using an embodiment of the invention given by equation (11) may use parameters r1, r2, and r3 given by:

[0079]

number

[0080] where a1, a2, and a3 are real numbers and j is the imaginary unit. A vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention may use positive numbers for a1, a2, and a3, including the following settings: (a1, a2, and a3) = (1,1,0.3), (1,1,0.4), (1,1,0.5), (1,1,0.6), (1,1,0.7), (1,1,0.8), (1,1,0.9), (1,1,1), (1,0.3,1), (1,0.4,1), (1,0.5,1), (1,0.6,1), (1,0.7,1), (1,0.8,1), (1,0.9,1), (1,0.3,0.3), (1,0.4,0.4), (1,0.5,0.5), (1,0.6,0.6), (1,0.7,0.7), (1,0.8,0.8), and (1,0.9,0.9).

[0081] Sixth Exemplary Embodiment FIG. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), select a plurality of locations or distances having high signal strength from a region of interest (500), apply a band-pass or high-pass filter to the radar signals (700), calculate a correlation matrix from the plurality of radar signals at the selected locations or distances (600), calculate an eigenvector corresponding to a maximum eigenvalue of the correlation matrix (602), calculate a phase signal using the eigenvector corresponding to a maximum eigenvalue of the correlation matrix (604), apply a band-pass or high-pass filter to the phase signal (702), and estimate heartbeat and / or respiratory intervals from the phase signal and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques (118). The selection of the plurality of locations or distances may be performed following the application of the band-pass or high-pass filter to the radar signals.

[0082] Seventh Exemplary Embodiment FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. The system controller 110 including the circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals, store the radar signals (112), select a plurality of locations or distances having high signal strength from a region of interest (500), apply a bandpass or highpass filter to the radar signals (700), calculate a correlation matrix from the plurality of radar signals at the selected locations or distances (600), calculate an eigenvector corresponding to a maximum eigenvalue of the correlation matrix (602), calculate a phase signal using the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of the correlation matrix (604), calculate first or higher order derivatives of each phase signal (116), apply a bandpass filter to the phase signal of the radar signal, the radar signal, and / or a derivative of the phase signal of the radar signal (400), apply one of the multi-value filters to the first, second, and third derivatives of the bandpass filtered phase signal (200), and estimate a heartbeat interval from the bandpass filtered phase signal and / or their derivatives using one of the periodicity detection techniques (118). Multi-level filters include binarization filters. Periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using the Fourier transform, and zero-crossing detection algorithms.

[0083] Eighth Exemplary Embodiment FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a vital information acquisition device using an embodiment of the present invention. The ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system includes at least one transmitting antenna 104 and at least one receiving antenna 106. A plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are transmitted to a subject 100. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves may be modulated using one of the pulse compression techniques, such as m-sequence. The transmitted ultra-wideband millimeter waves 108 are reflected by the body surface of the subject 100. The plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the subject are received by the receiving antenna 106. A plurality of sounds including snoring sounds 900 are received by a microphone 902. A system controller 110 including circuitry is configured to convert the plurality of received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals and store the radar signals (112), select a plurality of locations or distances from a region of interest (500), calculate at least one phase signal from the radar signals at the selected locations or distances (502), convert the plurality of sounds into a plurality of audio signals and store the audio signals (112), process the audio signals such that impulses including sound pressure are calculated from the audio signals (904), and estimate (906) heartbeat intervals, breathing intervals, sleep stages, sleep apnea and / or hypopnea from the phase signals using one of the periodicity detection techniques and / or periodicity of the presence time distribution of the impulses including sound pressure. Periodicity detection techniques include autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithms. [Explanation of symbols]

[0084] 100 Target 102 Ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system 104 Transmitting Antenna 106 Receiving Antenna 108 Ultra-wideband millimeter waves 110 System Controller 112 Data Storage Block 114 Phase signal calculation block 116 Phase signal derivative calculation block 118 Heart Rate and Breathing Interval Estimation Block 200 Multi-value filter application block 300 Selecting an appropriate position for breathing interval estimation 302 Selecting an appropriate location for heart rate estimation 304 Breathing interval estimation block 306 Heart Rate Interval Estimation Block 400 band-path filter application block 500 Select multiple locations or distances 502 Calculate a phase signal from a radar signal at a selected position or distance 600 Calculate a correlation matrix from multiple radar signals at selected positions or distances 602 Calculate the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of the correlation matrix 604 Calculate the phase signal using the eigenvector corresponding to the maximum eigenvalue of the correlation matrix 700 Applying a bandpass or highpass filter to a radar signal 702 Apply a bandpass or highpass filter to the phase signal 900 Snoring Sounds 902 Microphone 904 Calculate the impact including sound pressure 906 Vital Information Estimation Block

Claims

1. A vital information acquisition device, Multiple microwaves are transmitted to the target, a microwave radar system configured to receive a plurality of microwaves reflected from the object; and converting the received microwaves into a plurality of radar signals; determining a plurality of phase signals by calculating each of the plurality of phase signals for each of the plurality of radar signals; calculating one or more derivatives of each of said phase signals; estimating biological information including heartbeat intervals and / or breathing intervals from the phase signal and the derivative; a controller including circuitry configured to: An apparatus comprising:

2. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 1, wherein estimating the heart rate interval and / or breathing interval includes using one of the periodicity detection techniques.

3. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 2, wherein the periodicity detection technology is selected from the group consisting of autocorrelation, frequency analysis using Fourier transform, and zero crossing detection algorithm.

4. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 3, wherein estimating biological information including the heart rate interval and / or breathing interval includes applying a multi-value filter.

5. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 4, wherein the multi-value filter includes a binarization filter.

6. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 5, wherein the circuit is further configured to select an appropriate position or distance from a target region for estimating a breathing interval, and to estimate the breathing interval from the phase signal and / or their derivatives at the appropriate position or distance.

7. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 6, wherein the appropriate position or distance for estimating the heartbeat interval is different from the appropriate position or distance for estimating the respiratory interval.

8. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 1, wherein calculating the phase signal of the radar signal is performed based on a technology that uses phase rotation information of the radar signal.

9. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 1, the circuitry is further configured to use a plurality of reference signals; the biological information further includes cardiac output and blood pressure based on the plurality of reference signals; Device.

10. A vital information acquisition device, Multiple microwaves are transmitted to the target, a microwave radar system configured to receive a plurality of microwaves reflected from the object; and converting the received microwaves into a plurality of radar signals; Selecting multiple locations or distances from the region of interest; determining a plurality of phase signals by calculating each of the plurality of phase signals for each of the plurality of radar signals at the selected plurality of positions or distances; calculating one or more derivatives of each of said phase signals; estimating biological information including heartbeat intervals and / or breathing intervals from the phase signal and the derivative; a controller including circuitry configured to: An apparatus comprising:

11. A vital information acquisition device, Transmitting multiple ultra-wideband millimeter waves to the target, an ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system configured to receive a plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the object; and converting the received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals; Selecting multiple locations or distances from the region of interest; determining a plurality of phase signals by calculating each of the plurality of phase signals for each of the plurality of radar signals at the selected plurality of positions or distances; calculating one or more derivatives of each of said phase signals; estimating biological information including heartbeat intervals and / or breathing intervals from the phase signal and the derivative; a controller including circuitry configured to: An apparatus comprising:

12. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 11, wherein calculating the phase signal uses a technique based on principal component analysis.

13. The vital information acquisition device of claim 12, wherein the principal component analysis-based technique is selected from the group consisting of calculating a first principal component of the selected radar signal based on eigenvalue decomposition, iterative calculation, and nonlinear iterative partial least squares.

14. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 11, wherein selecting the multiple positions or distances from the target area includes selecting multiple positions or distances that have high signal strength from the target area.

15. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 11, wherein the circuit is further configured to apply at least one of a bandpass filter and a highpass filter to the plurality of radar signals to obtain the plurality of phase signals.

16. A vital information acquisition device, Multiple microwaves are transmitted to the target, a microwave radar system configured to receive a plurality of microwaves reflected from the object; a microphone configured to receive a plurality of sounds; and converting the received microwaves into a plurality of radar signals; Selecting multiple locations or distances from the region of interest; determining a plurality of phase signals by calculating each of the plurality of phase signals for each of the plurality of radar signals at the selected plurality of positions or distances; calculating one or more derivatives of each of said phase signals; converting the plurality of sounds into a plurality of audio signals; processing the plurality of audio signals to calculate an impact including a sound pressure from the plurality of audio signals; a controller including circuitry configured to estimate biological information including heartbeat intervals, breathing intervals, sleep stages, sleep apnea and / or hypopnea from the phase signal and the derivative using periodicity detection techniques and / or periodicity of the impact time distribution including sound pressure; An apparatus comprising:

17. A vital information acquisition device, Transmitting multiple ultra-wideband millimeter waves to the target, an ultra-wideband millimeter wave radar system configured to receive a plurality of ultra-wideband millimeter waves reflected from the object; a microphone configured to receive a plurality of sounds; and converting the received ultra-wideband millimeter waves into a plurality of radar signals; Selecting multiple locations or distances from the region of interest; determining a plurality of phase signals by calculating each of the plurality of phase signals for each of the plurality of radar signals at the selected plurality of positions or distances; calculating one or more derivatives of each of said phase signals; converting the plurality of sounds into a plurality of audio signals; processing the plurality of audio signals to calculate an impact including a sound pressure from the plurality of audio signals; a controller including circuitry configured to estimate biological information including heartbeat intervals, breathing intervals, sleep stages, sleep apnea and / or hypopnea from the phase signal and the derivative using periodicity detection techniques and / or periodicity of the impact time distribution including sound pressure; An apparatus comprising:

18. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 17, wherein the circuit is further configured to detect snoring sounds based on the periodicity of the distribution of the time duration of the impact including sound pressure.

19. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 18, wherein the circuit is further configured to estimate a sleep stage from the snoring time distribution.

20. A vital information acquisition device as described in claim 18, wherein the circuit is further configured to estimate sleep apnea and hypopnea from the time distribution of snoring and the phase signal of the radar signal.

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