Wide-band Phase Gradient Biosignal Acquisition with Minimal Temporal Skew
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrocardiographic instruments struggle to capture and record biosignals at micro-Volts or sub-micro-Volts resolutions, which are often masked by noise and difficult to discern due to interference from external and internal sources.
Innovation Solution
The system employs multiple biosignal acquisition channels with gain amplifiers that amplify biopotential signals without filtering that causes distortion above 1 kHz, and simultaneously samples these signals with a temporal skew of less than 1 μs to generate wide-band phase gradient signals, minimizing non-linear distortions and noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional electrocardiographic instruments are used to acquire biosignals, then the instruments can record biopotential signals, but the signal resolution is limited by the noise floor making micro-Volt or sub-micro-Volt signals difficult to discern
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the signal acquisition process into multiple high-resolution channels, each capturing narrow frequency bands separately. This allows the system to achieve micro-Volt or sub-micro-Volt resolution by processing multiple segmented signals rather than relying on a single low-resolution measurement, thereby overcoming the noise floor limitation of conventional instruments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a frequency-domain dimension to traditional time-domain ECG recording. By acquiring signals across multiple frequency bands (wide-band phase gradient signals) and transforming them into phase space, the system creates an additional dimension for signal representation that separates useful biological information from noise, enabling detection below the conventional noise floor.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If filtering is applied to remove noise from biosignals, then noise reduction is achieved, but non-linear distortions and phase errors are introduced above 1 kHz
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary action by acquiring wide-band phase gradient signals at high resolution before any filtering occurs. The system captures the complete frequency spectrum including components above 1 kHz, and only applies filtering or transformation after the signal has been preserved in its original form. This preliminary acquisition of unfiltered signals allows subsequent processing to remove noise while maintaining signal fidelity through phase-space representation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical filtering approaches with a computational approach using phase space transformation. Instead of using physical filters that introduce non-linear distortions, the system substitutes a mathematical transformation (Fourier transform and phase space mapping) that can remove noise while preserving the original signal's phase and frequency characteristics, thereby eliminating the trade-off between noise reduction and signal fidelity.
3Quantity of substance
If multiple biosignal channels are simultaneously sampled to capture wide-band signals, then signal completeness is improved, but temporal skew among channels introduces measurement errors
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms in the signal acquisition system that continuously monitor and adjust the sampling timing of multiple channels. By using feedback from the sampling process itself, the system compensates for temporal skew between channels and maintains precise synchronization, allowing simultaneous sampling of wide-band signals from multiple channels without introducing measurement errors due to timing misalignment.
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
This approach allows for the effective capture and recording of biosignals at resolutions significantly below the noise-floor of conventional instruments, providing clear and accurate wide-band phase gradient signals for analysis in the phase space domain.
Implementation Method 1
a gain amplifier configured to amplify biopotential signals received from an associated surface electrode placed on a patient
Implementation Method 2
analog-to-digital conversion circuit that simultaneously samples each of the two or more biosignal acquisition channels to generate a wide-band cardiac phase gradient signal data stream
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure facilitates capture of biosignal such as biopotential signals in microvolts, or sub-microvolts, resolutions that are at, or significantly below, the noise-floor of conventional electrocardiographic and biosignal acquisition instruments. In some embodiments, the exemplified system disclosed herein facilitates the acquisition and recording of wide-band phase gradient signals (e.g., wide-band cardiac phase gradient signals, wide-band cerebral phase gradient signals) that are simultaneously sampled, in some embodiments, having a temporal skew less than about 1 μs, and in other embodiments, having a temporal skew not more than about 10 femtoseconds. Notably, the exemplified system minimizes non-linear distortions (e.g., those that can be introduced via certain filters) in the acquired wide-band phase gradient signal so as to not affect the information therein.