Acoustic Breathing Detection Using Smartphone Audio Reflections
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies require specialized hardware for monitoring physiological movements like breathing and body movements, which is a barrier to efficient monitoring, especially in resource-limited settings.
Innovation Solution
Utilizing a mobile device with integrated or externally connectable speaker and microphone to generate and sense sound signals, processing these signals to detect breathing and motion, employing modulation and demodulation techniques to overcome reverberation and directionality issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If specialized hardware circuitry and antennas are used for radio location or ranging application, then measurement precision and reliability are improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces specialized radio location hardware with acoustic sensing using a mobile device's microphone. The system uses sound wave propagation and reflection principles to detect physiological movements like breathing and body motion, substituting complex electromagnetic sensing with simpler acoustic measurement that leverages existing consumer electronics components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables a mobile device to perform multiple functions: it uses the speaker to generate sound waves for active sensing, the microphone to detect reflected acoustic signals, and the processor to analyze physiological movements. This multi-functional approach allows a single consumer device to replace specialized monitoring equipment.
2Device complexity
If acoustic sensing is used to detect physiological movement, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision and reliability deteriorate due to reverberation and directionality issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces sound waves as an intermediary medium between the mobile device and the subject. The speaker generates acoustic waves that propagate through the environment, reflect off the subject's body, and return to the microphone. This intermediary approach enables indirect sensing of physiological movements while overcoming the limitations of direct contact or line-of-sight requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic sound wave emission and reception cycles to continuously monitor physiological movements. By sending out sound pulses at regular intervals and analyzing the reflected signals, the system maintains continuous monitoring capability while filtering out non-periodic environmental noise and reverberation effects.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient and effective monitoring of breathing and motion without specialized equipment, allowing detection of sleep states and apnea events using common devices like smartphones.
Implementation Method 1
controlling producing, via a speaker coupled to an electronic processing device, a sound signal in a vicinity that includes a user
Implementation Method 2
controlling sensing, via a microphone coupled to the electronic processing device, a sound signal reflected from the user
Implementation Method 3
controlling sensing, via a microphone coupled to the electronic processing device, a sound signal reflected from the user
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and devices provide physiological movement detection with active sound generation. In some versions, a processor may detect breathing and/or gross body motion. The processor may control producing, via a speaker coupled to the processor, a sound signal in a user's vicinity. The processor may control sensing, via a microphone coupled to the processor, a reflected sound signal. This reflected sound signal is a reflection of the sound signal from the user. The processor may process the reflected sound, such as by a demodulation technique. The processor may detect breathing from the processed reflected sound signal. The sound signal may be produced as a series of tone pairs in a frame of slots or as a phase-continuous repeated waveform having changing frequencies (e.g., triangular or ramp sawtooth). Evaluation of detected movement information may determine sleep states or scoring, fatigue indications, subject recognition, chronic disease monitoring/prediction, and other output parameters.