Patent ID: 8705784
Filing Date: 2014-04-22
Classification: A61B,H04R

Abstract:
1. An apparatus comprising an earpiece suitable to be applied at an auditory opening of a user's ear, the earpiece comprising a speaker enabled to be supplied with an audio signal for generating sound, and a microphone arranged in vicinity of the speaker to acquire a sound signal from sounds present inside the auditory opening when the earpiece is applied at the ear; a signal processor, wherein the signal processor is arranged to determine whether the earpiece is applied at the user's ear by analysis of the acquired sound signal comprising any of a sound signal component of an in-ear sound type present when the earpiece is applied or an outside-ear sound type present when the earpiece is not applied, the signal processor being arranged to determine a distribution over frequency of the acquired sound signal to determine whether the earpiece is applied at the user's ear; the in-ear sound type signal component comprising a physiological sound signal, wherein the physiological sound signal comprises a signal component associated with heart beat sounds of the user; and the signal processor comprising a low pass filter being arranged to extract the heart beat sounds by low pass filtering the physiological sound signal in the low pass filter to detect a heart beat signal.