Skin-Facing Bio-Signal Sensor for Flexible Heart Rate Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wearable devices for monitoring heart rate often rely on chest straps or transthoracic measurements, which can be inconvenient and limited in their application, especially for tracking muscle activity in various regions of the body.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a sensing unit with skin-facing electrodes and a controller that captures bio-signals, applies band-pass filtering, and uses detection algorithms to determine heartbeat signal portions and compute heart rate without the need for chest straps, allowing for heart rate detection on various body locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If chest straps or transthoracic measurements are used for heart rate monitoring, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the heart rate detection function from the traditional chest strap configuration and relocates it to surface electrodes that can be positioned on various body parts. This allows the core measurement function to be maintained while removing the constraint of fixed chest placement, thereby improving ease of operation without sacrificing measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The sensing unit with surface electrodes is designed to be universally applicable across multiple body locations, not limited to the chest. This multi-position capability allows the same device to maintain accurate heart rate detection whether placed on the chest, arm, leg, or other body surfaces, resolving the contradiction between measurement accuracy and operational flexibility
2Ease of operation
If surface electrodes are used for heart rate detection on various body parts, then ease of operation is improved, but measurement precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces signal processing algorithms and noise filtering mechanisms as intermediaries between the surface electrodes and the heart rate calculation. These intermediaries process the bio-signal to extract accurate heart rate information even when the electrodes are placed on body parts with higher motion artifacts or noise, thereby maintaining measurement precision while enabling flexible placement
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts signal processing parameters such as filter frequencies and detection thresholds based on the specific body location and signal quality. This adaptive parameter adjustment allows the device to maintain high measurement precision across different body parts, resolving the contradiction between placement flexibility and detection accuracy
3Measurement precision
If band-pass filtering and detection algorithms are applied, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a tiered signal processing approach where basic band-pass filtering is always applied, and more complex detection algorithms are activated only when needed based on signal quality assessment. This partial application of processing complexity maintains measurement precision for clear signals while reducing unnecessary computational overhead, thereby balancing precision with device complexity
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 accurate and convenient heart rate monitoring on different body parts, reducing noise interference and motion artifacts, and providing a flexible solution for fitness and medical tracking.
Implementation Method 1
at least one sensor positioned to acquire a bio-signal from the skin surface
Implementation Method 2
generate a preprocessed bio-signal stream by band-pass filtering the captured bio-signal stream with a predetermined passband
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method and device are described for detecting a heart rate. A sensing unit can have a skin-facing surface that is removably securable to a user's skin surface and include at least one sensor positioned to acquire a bio-signal from the skin surface. A controller can be configured to capture a bio-signal stream using the at least one sensor and generate a preprocessed bio-signal stream by band-pass filtering the captured bio-signal stream with a predetermined passband. The controller can also be configured to determine, in a moving window, heartbeat signal portions when the preprocessed bio-signal stream has heartbeat impulse characteristics and determine the time between adjacent heartbeat signal portions to compute the heart rate.