Hollow-Cylindrical Sensor Carrier for Ear Canal Vital Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing devices for sensory detection of human vital parameters inserted into the external auditory canal often impair acoustic perception and ventilation due to their design, which seals the canal acoustically and aeratically, limiting wearing comfort and inconspicuousness.
Innovation Solution
A hollow-cylindrical sensor carrier made from a thin-film polymer substrate that nests against the inner wall of the auditory canal, maintaining acoustic and ventilation access by forming a continuously open channel, with sensors integrated or applied on the substrate that can be wound into a shape-retaining cylinder without mechanical constraints, ensuring minimal disruption to natural pressure equalization and acoustic perception.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a plug-like housing part is used to seal the auditory canal for sensor attachment, then secure attachment and sensor stability are improved, but acoustic perception and ventilation are severely impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a thin-film polymer substrate (few µm to few 100 µm thick) that is flexible enough to conform to the auditory canal walls while remaining acoustically transparent. This thin-film structure provides secure attachment through surface contact without forming a sealing plug, thus maintaining acoustic perception and ventilation while ensuring reliable sensor positioning.
2Reliability
If the auditory canal is sealed acoustically tight for sensor protection, then sensor stability is improved, but natural pressure equalization and acoustic perception are impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The thin-film polymer substrate allows pressure equalization through its acoustically transparent structure, preventing pressure buildup while maintaining sensor stability. The film conforms to the auditory canal geometry without creating a sealed cavity, thus eliminating pressure-related discomfort and acoustic perception impairment while keeping sensors securely positioned.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical sealing system (plug-like housing) with an acoustically transparent thin-film system that relies on surface contact and conformance to anatomical geometry for sensor stabilization, rather than mechanical sealing. This substitution eliminates the harmful sealing effect while maintaining sensor stability through the film's flexibility and adhesion properties.
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
The solution allows for continuous acoustic coupling and ventilation, preserving natural pressure equalization and enhancing wearing comfort while enabling the detection of vital parameters like heart rate, ECG signals, and blood oxygen saturation without visible or noticeable impairment.
Implementation Method 1
The flat substrate has a shape-retaining rigidity inherent in the material, so that the flat substrate formed by winding in the manner of a hollow cylinder has two opposite flat substrate sections which, due to the winding and without external mechanical constraint, overlap each other loosely
Implementation Method 2
at least one optical emitter is provided, the emitted light of which radiates onto the rear earpiece. The light components transmitted through the auricle are detected by an optical receiver attached to the housing part and then subjected to a photoplethysmographic evaluation
Implementation Method 3
the carrier, on or in which at least one sensor for detecting a vital parameter is attached, is designed in the form of a flat substrate, which in Art a hollow cylinder, which delimits a continuously open hollow channel radially to a cylinder axis assigned to the hollow cylinder
Data Source
Figure 1a~3
Figure 4a~4c
AI summary
The invention relates to a device for detecting at least one human vital parameter by means of a sensor, comprising a support which is suitably shaped and dimensioned so as to be removably placed at least partly in the human outer ear canal and to which at least one sensor is attached in order to detect a vital parameter. The invention is characterized in that the support is a flat substrate which is shaped in the form of a hollow cylinder, outwardly delimits a continuously open hollow channel radially to a cylindrical axis paired with the hollow cylinder, and has a hollow cylindrical outer wall region that at least partly contacts the surface of the human outer ear canal when the support is at least partly placed in the human outer ear canal.