Wearable stethoscope

Abstract

To provide a wearable stethoscope which improves the discomfort caused by wearing a heart sound sensor in a traditional binding way, by integrating the heart sound sensor with clothes.SOLUTION: A wearable stethoscope 100 includes a body of clothing 12 and a sound sensor configured to collect heart sound signals of a user, the sound sensor having a diaphragm, a piezoelectric sensor, and a circuit board. The circuit board is electrically connected to the diagram and the piezoelectric sensor to preprocess the collected heart sound signals. The sound sensor is integrated with the clothing body.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to related technologies of stethoscopes, and particularly to wearable stethoscopes.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, wearable sensors such as smartwatches and smart bands have emerged like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, enabling continuous monitoring of our health in a non-invasive manner.

[0003] According to a survey report, consumers hope that medical wearable devices can be integrated into their clothing equipment. Also, with the increasing global health awareness, the needs for medical wearable devices are increasing day by day. Technically, it is possible to adopt Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (BLE) technology to connect with a mobile phone, record or analyze various detection values, and upload the detection data to the cloud. Thereby, doctors can monitor and track the health status of the elderly and patients remotely 24 hours a day.

[0004] With the trend of population aging, heart failure has become a global public health problem spreading, imposing a huge burden on the overall medical cost. On the other hand, in recent years, with the increasing concern of people about health problems, by monitoring, recording, and analyzing physiological information over a long period, it can be effectively utilized for health improvement and early disease detection.

[0005] In order to detect disease symptoms early, especially in heart diseases with an extremely high sudden death rate, a wearable auscultation (heart sound) device can provide a device for detecting and recording real-time and effective palpitation abnormal signals. Doctors can provide health warnings and care solutions by using and analyzing these real-time physiological voice information.

[0006] Since initial wearable medical devices were large in size, users were constantly aware of the presence of a foreign body sensation on their bodies, which was likely to cause inconvenience in daily life. In addition, battery replacement was also required. Therefore, unless necessary, users usually refused to wear wearable medical devices.

[0007] Since the emergence of wearable devices until now, many outer forms have been developed for medical wearable devices. However, conventional medical wearable devices such as wearable stethoscopes generally still use a restraint method for wearing, so it is easy to feel uncomfortable when worn for a long time.

[0008] Therefore, there is a strong demand for a wearable stethoscope that can be integrated into clothing and further improves the discomfort caused by wearing a heart sound sensor in a conventional restraint method.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0009] The object of the present invention is to provide a wearable stethoscope that integrates a heart sound sensor with clothing and improves the discomfort caused by wearing a heart sound sensor in a conventional restraint method.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0010] Based on the above object, the present invention provides a wearable stethoscope including a clothing body and a sound sensor configured to collect a user's heart sound signal. The sound sensor includes a diaphragm, a piezoelectric sensor, and a circuit board. The circuit board is electrically connected to the diaphragm and the piezoelectric sensor respectively, and pre-processes the collected heart sound signal. The sound sensor is integrated into the clothing body.

[0011] In one embodiment, the diaphragm, the piezoelectric sensor, and the circuit board are installed in the following manner. That is, the diaphragm is installed on the surface of the circuit board. Also, a sound insulation ring is installed on the surface to surround the diaphragm and, together with the circuit board, encloses and forms a resonance cavity. The piezoelectric sensor is provided on a side of the sound insulation ring that does not contact the circuit board. The piezoelectric sensor is directly attached to a location on the user's skin close to the heart, or is attached to the user's skin via the clothing body.

[0012] In one embodiment, the above piezoelectric sensor includes a piezoelectric material and has conductive electrodes on the surfaces of the upper and lower layers of the piezoelectric material.

[0013] In one embodiment, the above voice sensor is integrated into the clothing body using a storage bag.

[0014] In one embodiment, the above voice sensor is removably integrated into the clothing body by a connecting member.

[0015] In one embodiment, the above connecting member is a hook-and-loop fastener, a fastener, or a zipper.

[0016] In one embodiment, the above clothing body is a tight-fitting garment that adheres to the body so that the piezoelectric sensor of the stethoscope can easily detect body voice signals, particularly heart sound signals.

[0017] In one embodiment, the above circuit board includes at least a filter, a signal amplifier electrically connected to the filter, and an analog-to-digital converter electrically connected to the signal amplifier, which is a signal preprocessing module for sequentially filtering, amplifying, and digitizing the plurality of heart sound signals, and a microprocessor that receives the digitized heart sound signals and performs arithmetic processing to obtain a stable preprocessed heart sound signal with background noise removed.

[0018] In one embodiment, the preprocessed heart sound signal is analyzed and cross-checked by an external computing electronic device communicably connected to the wearable stethoscope.

[0019] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned external computing electronic device is a smartphone.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0020]

Figure 1

Figure 2A

Figure 2B

Figure 2C

Figure 3

Figure 4

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0021] Here, in the present invention, specific embodiments and aspects of the invention will be described in detail. It should be noted that these descriptions are for interpreting and explaining the structure or step flow of the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the claims of the present invention. Therefore, in addition to the specific embodiments and preferred embodiments in the specification, the present invention can be widely implemented in other different embodiments. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described by specific specific examples. A person skilled in the art can easily understand the effects and advantages of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. In addition, the present invention can also be operated and implemented by other specific examples. Each detailed matter described in detail in this specification can be applied according to different needs, and various different modifications or changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0022] Consumer or medical wearables come in a variety of different appearances. Among them, wearable biosensors that can be changed into more diverse forms can appear in the form of gloves, clothes, bandages, implants, etc., and can perform continuous and non-invasive disease diagnosis and health monitoring through body movements.

[0023] Since the most important role of wearable medical devices is to detect various information of the human body, the internal sensor accuracy naturally becomes very important.

[0024] Conventional heart sound devices collect signals using a heart sound probe or a rod-shaped microphone sensor. However, since such sensors are relatively large in volume, it is relatively difficult to realize wearable applications. In particular, during exercise, it is generally difficult to carry things, so the convenience of the present invention and the expectations of consumers become prominent at such times. Therefore, the present invention has a very great advantage in that it can be integrated into clothing during exercise. In one embodiment, the present invention can be patch-type and attached to a human body or a part of clothing, or a stethoscope can be integrated with the clothing. By utilizing the fit and extensibility of the soft material and implementing the detection function in a close-fitting manner, both functionality and comfort can be considered. As a result, it becomes possible to monitor the physiological state while a person is comfortably wearing the device, and the function of immediately collecting exercise data is also achieved.

[0025] Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the integration of the stethoscope 10 and the clothing 12 provided based on an embodiment of the present invention. The stethoscope 10 adopts a design in which a piezoelectric thin film is integrated on a soft substrate, and the detailed structure will be described in detail in FIG. 2. Hereinafter, first, how to integrate the stethoscope 10 with the clothing will be described.

[0026] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the above stethoscope 10 can be patch-type and attached to a part of the human body. Also, refer to the upper right figure in FIG. 1. This figure shows that the pocket (accommodation bag) 12a sewn on the clothing 12 is used as an accommodation space for integrating the stethoscope 10 into the clothing, and the wearable stethoscope 100 is formed as a whole.

[0027] The stethoscope 10 is a removable attachment installed on the main body of the clothing, and is installed on the main body of the clothing by a connecting member such as a fastener, a hook-and-loop fastener, or a zipper. According to another embodiment of the present invention, referring to the lower right figure of FIG. 1, it is shown that the stethoscope 10 is adhered to the clothing in a close contact manner by hook-and-loop fasteners (14a, 14b) to form a wearable stethoscope 100. Usually, a hook-and-loop fastener is composed of two fabrics, one surface of which is covered with a loop structure (soft surface), and the other surface is covered with a hook structure (hook surface). By pressing the two fabrics with force, the hook and the loop are combined to form a primary fastening state. When it is desired to separate them, they can be separated by applying force. As shown in the lower right figure of FIG. 1, when one fabric (for example, 14a) of the hook-and-loop fastener is sewn to the clothing 12, the stethoscope 10 is installed on the other fabric (for example, 14b) of the hook-and-loop fastener.

[0028] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned clothing is a tight-fitting garment that adheres to the body so that the piezoelectric thin film (piezoelectric sensor) of the stethoscope 10 can easily detect body sound signals, particularly heart sound signals.

[0029] Briefly speaking, the wearable stethoscope 100 is accommodated in the main body of the clothing 12 using the storage bag 12a. Alternatively, it is a removable attachment and is installed on the main body of the clothing 12 by a connecting member such as a fastener, a hook-and-loop fastener, or a zipper.

[0030] FIG. 2A shows the structure of a stethoscope 200 according to one embodiment of the present invention, with the left side being a cross-sectional view and the right side being a plan view. Stethoscope 200 includes a diaphragm 201a. This diaphragm 201a is plated with a conductive material and encapsulated within a plastic frame (sound-insulating ring) 207 and a circuit board (hardware module 205). (The diaphragm 201a is combined with a resonant cavity formed by the sound-insulating ring 207 and the circuit board 205 to form a microphone structure.) A piezoelectric sensor 203 is installed below the sound-insulating ring 207 and electrically connected to the circuit board 205 via a circuit 204. The piezoelectric sensor 203 can be used to measure voltage signals generated by vibrations by directly or indirectly (through clothing) contacting human skin 231. In other words, the piezoelectric sensor 203 can be a vibrating plate, and can be used to compensate for the drawback of conventional capacitance sensors, which are poor in response to low-frequency signals (for example, the frequencies of the third and fourth heart sounds are around 20 Hz).

[0031] In one embodiment, the piezoelectric sensor 203 can be configured primarily as a piezoelectric material layer (e.g., polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) thin polymer piezoelectric film, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), or other material), with a conductive metal (e.g., aluminum, copper, etc.) plated on its top and bottom surfaces.

[0032] In one embodiment, the thickness of the piezoelectric sensor is less than 50 μm.

[0033] Figures 2B to 2C show the structure of the stethoscope 200 provided based on another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2B is a plan view. The stethoscope includes a plurality of heart sound sensors 211 and corresponding driving and detecting circuits (hardware module 205) mounted on a PCB circuit board. Also, Figure 2C shows a side view. On the PCB circuit board, a processor, a filter, an analog / digital (A / D) converter, and other electronic components are installed. As the body sound signal to be collected, for example, a plurality of heart sound signals are simultaneously acquired at a plurality of points at different positions of the body, the collected body sound signal is processed, and the processed body sound signal is transmitted to an external computing electronic device for analysis.

[0034] In one embodiment, the above heart sound sensor 211 is a piezoelectric material 211a (for example, materials such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer piezoelectric thin film, lead zirconate titanate (PZT), etc.), and conductive metal (for example, aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), etc.) 211b is plated as an electrode on the upper and lower layer surfaces thereof. The piezoelectric patch formed on the flexible substrate 210 detects the voltage signal generated by vibration.

[0035] The wearable stethoscope 300 includes a plurality of voice sensors 301 and a hardware module, and is integrated into clothing. The functional block diagram of the wearable stethoscope 300 is as shown in Figure 3. The above wearable stethoscope 300 can acquire body sound signals from the human body through the voice sensors 301 respectively, and can be configured as a stethoscope device for monitoring physiological data and remote diagnosis. The wearable stethoscope 300 can receive and transmit data to execute a software application, and includes a microprocessor, a storage unit, and a wireless transmission module.

[0036] The microprocessor 325 can be a microcontroller, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic circuit, or other digital data processing devices that perform processing and operations based on the present invention by executing instructions. The microprocessor 325 is capable of executing various application programs stored in the storage unit.

[0037] The storage unit 327 may include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a flash memory, or any memory generally used in a computer.

[0038] The wireless transmission module 329 is connected to the antenna 329a. The antenna 329a is configured to transmit output data and receive input data through a wireless communication channel. The wireless electrical communication channel can be a digital wireless electrical communication channel such as, for example, WiFi, Bluetooth, RFID, NFC, 3G / 4G / 5G, or any other future wireless communication interface.

[0039] Regarding the body voice signal acquired from the human body through the above voice sensor 301, after removing noise via the filter 331, the signal is amplified by the signal amplifier 333. Regarding the body voice signal after filtering and amplification, the analog signal is converted into a digital signal by the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 335, and then arithmetic processing is performed by the microprocessor 325 to obtain a stable electrocardiogram signal and body voice signal with background noise removed (de-noising). The microprocessor 325 can store the above stable body voice signal with background noise removed (de-noising) in the storage unit according to instructions or programs, or transmit the above signal to a portable device such as a smartphone via the wireless transmission module 329 for further analysis.

[0040] The battery group 337 supplies power to the above-mentioned wearable stethoscope 300 and can optimize the power operation in cooperation with the power management unit 339.

[0041] The above-mentioned filter 331, signal amplifier 333, analog-to-digital converter 335, and microprocessor 325 can be integrated as an integrated circuit (IC) and serve as the processing unit 325a of the wearable stethoscope 300.

[0042] The above-mentioned processing unit 325a is combined with the wireless transmission module 329, storage unit 327, battery group 337, and power management unit 339 to form the hardware module (or also referred to as the system circuit board) of the wearable stethoscope 300.

[0043] The above-mentioned filter 331, signal amplifier 333, and analog-to-digital converter 335 are used as preprocessing modules to filter, amplify, and digitize the plurality of heart sound signals in sequence.

[0044] Flexible electronics, different from the conventional manufacturing method of silicon-based electric circuits, manufactures electronic circuits by changing to film form or direct injection type metal printing. According to this technology, it is possible to manufacture foldable electric circuits, direct injection type electric circuits, or manufacture using organic substances as raw materials. Also, the needs for folding and waterproofing have already been achievable.

[0045] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of voice sensors 301 can be fabricated on a flexible substrate (e.g., a fabric or a plastic such as polyimide PI or polyethylene terephthalate PET). Thereby, it becomes possible to integrate the performance of semiconductor elements with the characteristics of printed electronics such as light weight, thinness, large area, flexibility, and bendability. Since flexible electronics can convert these medical devices into a form suitable for patient wearing, the accuracy of collecting human body data is improved, which helps doctors to more accurately understand the patient's condition and take optimal treatment measures.

[0046] By utilizing the fitness and extensibility of flexible electronics in the device to execute the detection function, the device can simultaneously consider functionality, durability, and comfort. As a result, it becomes possible to immediately monitor physical information through physiological detection while the patient is comfortably wearing the device. By wearing a medical wearable device, various data of the human body can be collected, and furthermore, the function of immediate recording can also be achieved.

[0047] Facing a society with an increasingly aging population, the construction of an immediate and preventive medical system is becoming more urgent, and among them, the application of wearable devices is indispensable.

[0048] As shown in FIG. 4, the wearable stethoscope 400 includes a plurality of heart sound sensors and a system circuit board 203 (see FIGS. 2 and 3), is integrated into the user's clothing 30, and is communicably connected to a portable device (for example, an external computing electronic device such as a smartphone or a tablet PC) 403. The heart sound data collected by the heart sound signal sensor of the wearable stethoscope 400 can be uploaded from the portable device 403 to the cloud server 407 via the cloud network 405 by wireless transmission (for example, a wireless communication method such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or WiFi). In the cloud server, the data is stored in the cloud database. The above system further includes an application program installed in the portable device. The application program includes instructions for receiving and transmitting data among the wearable stethoscope 400, the portable device 403, and the cloud server 407.

[0049] In one embodiment, the above application program is operable on the platform of an operating system such as Android, Windows 10, or iOS, and can upload and store the collected relevant data / signals such as electrocardiogram signals, heart sound signals, and their waveforms to the cloud server 407. Further, after analyzing and calculating the data by a data analysis and feature extraction algorithm, an evaluation report is generated, and medical advice is presented based on the evaluation report.

[0050] With the progress and rapid growth of IoT technology, a large amount of medical information exchange, analysis, and operation are being carried out, which forms the basis of medical big data. In addition, artificial intelligence, which has been rapidly developing in recent years, is also introduced as a technology that inductively uses these data. By integrating IoT and artificial intelligence, real-time mobile medical care will emerge.

[0051] The wearable device can detect the physical condition of the body. After performing real-time detection and comparison / analysis of a large amount of data, it inductively processes and decodes the data to respond, thereby implementing the optimal processing and support at the current time. With smart healthcare, it becomes possible to apply it to physiological monitoring and general home healthcare. In addition, by combining with the software of smartphones and tablet PCs, the measured physiological information is analyzed and managed (for example, activity level, sleep quality, etc.), and by connecting to the backend medical care system in a wireless transmission manner, it is possible to solve many difficulties faced by the current medical system.

[0052] Without departing from the scope of the present embodiment, the above methods and systems may be modified. Therefore, it should be noted that the content included in the above description or shown in the figures is for explanatory purposes only and should not be construed as having a limiting intention. Here, unless otherwise explained, the expression "in the embodiment" has the same meaning as "in some embodiments" and does not refer to all embodiments. In addition, the appended claims are intended to cover all general and specific features described herein and, in terms of language, all expressions of the scope of the present method and system included therebetween.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0053] 12a Storage bag 12 Clothes 10 Stethoscope 100 Wearable stethoscope 14a, 14b Hook-and-loop fasteners 200 Stethoscope 201a Diaphragm 207 Sound insulation ring 203 Piezoelectric sensor 204 Circuit 231 Human skin 211 Heart sound sensor 205 Hardware module 211a Piezoelectric material 211b Metal (for example, aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), etc.) 210 Flexible substrate 300 Wearable Stethoscope 301 Voice Sensor 325 Microprocessor 327 Storage Unit 329 Wireless Transmission Module 329a Antenna 331 Filter 333 Signal Amplifier 335 Analog - Digital Converter (ADC) 337 Battery Group 339 Power Management Unit 400 Wearable Stethoscope 30 Clothes 403 Portable Device 405 Cloud Network 407 Cloud Server

Claims

1. An audio sensor configured to collect a user's heart sound signal, wherein the audio sensor includes a diaphragm, a piezoelectric sensor, and a circuit board. The circuit board is electrically connected to the diaphragm and the piezoelectric sensor respectively, and is a wearable stethoscope for preprocessing the collected heart sound signal, Regarding the installation methods of the diaphragm, the piezoelectric sensor, and the circuit board, the diaphragm is installed on the surface of the circuit board, a sound insulation ring is installed on the surface to surround the diaphragm and enclose and form a resonance cavity together with the circuit board, the piezoelectric sensor is provided on a side of the sound insulation ring that does not contact the circuit board, and the piezoelectric sensor is directly attached to a location on the user's skin close to the heart or is arranged at a location close to the user's heart through the clothing body. A wearable stethoscope.

2. The wearable stethoscope according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric sensor includes a piezoelectric material and has conductive electrodes on the surfaces of the upper and lower layers of the piezoelectric material.

3. The wearable stethoscope according to claim 1, wherein the audio sensor is integrated into the clothing body using a storage bag or is removably integrated into the clothing body by a connecting member, and the connecting member is a hook-and-loop fastener, a fastener, or a zipper.

4. The circuit board includes at least a filter, a signal amplifier electrically connected to the filter, and an analog-to-digital converter electrically connected to the signal amplifier, and is a signal preprocessing module for filtering, amplifying, and digitizing the heart sound signal in sequence, a microprocessor that receives the digitized heart sound signal and performs arithmetic processing to obtain a stable preprocessed heart sound signal with background noise removed. The wearable stethoscope according to claim 1.

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