NV Magnetometer Array Layout for Cardiac Signal Gradient Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies struggle to accurately detect and differentiate weak magnetic signals from a beating heart, particularly in unshielded environments, leading to noisy and poorly resolved signals that can result in false alarms and missed diagnoses of heart-related diseases.
Innovation Solution
A device utilizing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) magnetometers embedded in a support body, such as a cushion or mattress, with a geometric arrangement and a gradiometer configuration, allows for high-resolution, contactless detection of cardiac magnetic fields by eliminating background interference through a homogenous bias magnetic field and using a gradiometer circuit to measure magnetic field gradients.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional magnetometers are used to detect cardiac magnetic signals, then the detection can be performed in unshielded environments, but the signal resolution is poor and background interference cannot be eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses an array of multiple NV magnetometer sensors arranged in a specific geometric configuration to segment the measurement space. This allows the system to capture spatial gradients of the magnetic field, enabling differentiation between cardiac signals and background interference through spatial analysis of the segmented field measurements.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the measurement parameter from absolute magnetic field strength to magnetic field gradient by using a gradiometer configuration. This parameter transformation allows the system to reject uniform background fields while enhancing the detection of localized cardiac magnetic signals through differential measurement.
2Measurement precision
If a large active measuring volume is used, then the sensor can detect broader magnetic fields, but the signal integrates to zero due to surface coverage
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs NV magnetometer sensors with extremely small active measuring volumes (on the order of micrometers or nanometers) to achieve local quality measurement. This small volume allows the sensors to detect magnetic field gradients without integrating over large areas, preserving the spatial information of the cardiac magnetic signals while avoiding signal cancellation.
3Measurement precision
If NV magnetometer sensors with very small active volume are used, then high-resolution detection is achieved, but the device complexity increases due to geometric arrangement requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The invention designs the NV magnetometer sensor array to serve multiple functions simultaneously: individual sensors detect magnetic field strength, the geometric arrangement provides gradient information, and the overall configuration enables both cardiac signal detection and background rejection. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate systems while maintaining high detection resolution.
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 precise detection of cardiac signals, allowing early detection of heart diseases like atrial fibrillation and myocardial infarction, reducing false alarms and improving diagnostic accuracy in everyday environments.
Implementation Method 1
This utilizes the fact that the energy levels of certain spin states of unpaired electrons split under the influence of an external magnetic field, the so-called Zeeman effect. The splitting of the energy levels results in changed transitions during relaxation from excited states, which can then be measured
Implementation Method 2
DE 10 2022 204 526.2 describes a magnetometer that utilizes optically pumped and optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR)
Implementation Method 3
which can then be measured, for example, by optical excitation and frequency-dependent detection of the resulting fluorescence radiation
Implementation Method 4
or by observation of optical properties such as the absorption of light
Data Source
AI summary
A device is for detecting magnetic signals generated by a beating heart. The device includes a support body having a contact surface, and an arrangement of at least two nitrogen-vacancy centers, NV, magnetometer units. The arrangement is embedded in the support body. The support body is configured to receive a user sitting or lying on the contact surface.