Abstract:
An apparatus and method for determining if a forward voltage of an LED in a pulse oximeter is within a predetermined range. This is accomplished by measuring the current through the LED, and also by knowing the duty cycle of the pulse width modulator (PWM) drive signal to the LED.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to oximeters, and in particular to controlling the LED voltage.  
         [0002]     Pulse oximetry is typically used to measure various blood chemistry characteristics including, but not limited to, the blood-oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood, the volume of individual blood pulsations supplying the tissue, and the rate of blood pulsations corresponding to each heartbeat of a patient. Measurement of these characteristics has been accomplished by use of a non-invasive sensor which scatters light through a portion of the patient&#39;s tissue where blood perfuses the tissue, and photoelectrically senses the absorption of light in such tissue. The amount of light absorbed is then used to calculate the amount of blood constituent being measured.  
         [0003]     The light scattered through the tissue is selected to be of one or more wavelengths that are absorbed by the blood in an amount representative of the amount of the blood constituent present in the blood. The amount of transmitted light scattered through the tissue will vary in accordance with the changing amount of blood constituent in the tissue and the related light absorption. For measuring blood oxygen level, such sensors have typically been provided with a light source that is adapted to generate light of at least two different wavelengths, and with photodetectors sensitive to both of those wavelengths, in accordance with known techniques for measuring blood oxygen saturation.  
         [0004]     Known non-invasive sensors include devices that are secured to a portion of the body, such as a finger, an ear or the scalp. In animals and humans, the tissue of these body portions is perfused with blood and the tissue surface is readily accessible to the sensor.  
         [0005]     The light sources, typically light emitting diodes (LEDs), need to be driven with current to activate them. In order to determine sensor failure, such as an open or shorted LED, the current through the LED can be measured. Typically, this is done with a feedback resistor across which the voltage is measured to determine if any current is flowing. If no current is flowing, there is assumed to be an open connection.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present invention provides an apparatus and method for determining if a forward voltage of an LED in a pulse oximeter is within a predetermined range. This is accomplished by measuring the current through the LED, and also by knowing the duty cycle of the pulse width modulator (PWM) drive signal to the LED.  
         [0007]     In one embodiment, the determination of the forward voltage being within a predetermined range is done within a processor, which provides an error signal if the forward voltage is outside the range. The error signal could indicate, for example, a short or open connection in the LED sensor.  
         [0008]     In one embodiment, the processor includes a proportional integral (PI) loop which generates the PWM signal from an error signal corresponding to the difference between the actual current and desired current delivered to the LED.  
         [0009]     For a further understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention, reference should be made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an oximeter incorporating the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram of a LED drive circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIGS. 3 and 4  are graphs illustrating the forward voltage versus current and PWM duty cycle versus power, respectively, for an LED in an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0000]     Oximeter Front-End  
         [0013]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of an oximetry system incorporating the present invention. A sensor  10  includes red and infrared LEDs and a photodetector. These are connected by a cable  12  to a board  14 . LED drive current is provided by an LED drive interface  16 . The received photocurrent from the sensor is provided to an I-V interface  18 . The IR and red voltages are then provided to a sigma-delta interface  20  incorporating the present invention. The output of sigma-delta interface  20  is provided to a microcontroller  22  which includes a 10-bit A/D converter. Microcontroller  22  includes flash memory for a program, and SRAM memory for data. The oximeter also includes a microprocessor  24  connected to a flash memory  26 . Finally, a clock  28  is used and an interface  30  to a digital calibration in the sensor  10  is provided. A separate host  32  receives the processed information, as well as receiving an analog signal on a line  34  for providing an analog display.  
         [0000]     LED Drive Circuit  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram of the LED drive circuit according to an embodiment of the invention, which forms a portion of LED drive interface  16  of  FIG. 1 . A voltage regulator  36  provides a voltage separate from the voltage supply for the overall oximeter circuitry. The output is provided as a 4.5 volt signal on line  38 , with the level being set by the feedback resistor divider of resistors R 89  and R 90 . The voltage on line  38  is provided to a FET transistor Q 11  to an inductor L 6 . The current through inductor L 6  is provided by a switch  40  to one of capacitors C 65  and C 66 , which store charge for the red and IR LEDs, respectively. A red/IR control signal on line  42  selects the switch position under control of the oximeter processor. A control signal LED PWM gate on line  44  controls the switching of transistor switch Q 11 .  
         [0015]     Once the capacitors are charged up, the control signal on line  44  turns off switch Q 11  and current is provided from either capacitor C 65  or C 66 , through switch  40  and inductor L 6  to either the red anode line  46  or the IR anode line  48  by way of transistors Q 5  and Q 6 , respectively. A signal “red gate” turns on transistor Q 5 , while its inverse, “/red gate” turns off transistor Q 7 . This provides current through the red anode line  46  to the back to back LEDs  50 , with the current returning through the IR anode to transistor Q 8  and through resistor R 10  to ground. Transistor Q 8  is turned on by the signal “/IR gate” while the inverse of this signal, “IR gate” turns off transistor Q 6 . The signals are reversed when the IR anode is to be driven, with the “IR gate” and “red gate” signals, and their inverses, changing state, so that current is provided through transistor Q 6  to IR anode  48  and returns through red anode  46  and through transistor Q 7  to resistor R 10  and ground. The “LED current sense” signal is read for calibration purposes not relevant to the present invention.  
         [0016]     When the current from the capacitor C 65  or C 66  is provided through inductor L 6  to the LEDs, and that current is switched off at the desired time, transistor Q 11  is turned on so that the remaining current during the transition can be dumped into capacitor C 64 . This addresses the fact that the FET transistor switching is not instantaneous. Subsequently, C 64  will dump its current through Q 11  and inductor L 6  into the capacitors when they are recharged.  
         [0017]     Resistor R 38  and capacitor C 67  are connected in parallel to inductor L 6  to protect against signal spikes, and provide a smooth transition. Connected to inductor L 6  is a sampling circuit with a switch  52  controlled by an LED sample hold signal on line  54  to sample the signals and provide them through an amplifier  56  to a “LED current” signal on line  58  which is read by the processor. An integrating capacitor C 68  provides feedback for amplifier  56 . A switch  60  responds to a “clear LED sample” signal to operate the switch to short out the capacitor between samples.  
         [0018]     Operational amplifier  56  operates between 4.5 volts and ground. Thus, a voltage reference slightly above ground, of 0.2 volts, is provided as a voltage reference on pin  3 .  
         [0019]     The sample and hold circuit measures the voltage at node T 18 , between capacitor C 69  and inductor L 6 , to determine the current. Capacitor C 69  is 1/1000 of the value of capacitors C 65  and C 66 . Thus, a proportional current is provided through C 69 , which is injected through switch  52  to integrating capacitor C 68  to provide a voltage which can be measured at the output of amplifier  56  on line  58 . The voltage measured by the processor on line  58  is used as a feedback, with the processor varying the width of the pulse delivered to transistor Q 11  to selectively vary the amount of energy that&#39;s delivered to the capacitors  65  and  66 , and then is eventually discharged to the LEDs  50 . A PI (Proportional Integral) loop inside the processor then controls the PWM signal that controls Q 11 . This allows precise control of the LED intensity, allowing it to be maximized, if desired, without exceeding the desired limits.  
         [0020]     The lower left of the diagram shows a “4.5 v LED disable” signal which is used by the microprocessor to turn off the voltage regulator  36  in certain instances. For example, diagnostics looking for shorts in a new sensor plugged in may turn off the voltage regulator if there is a problem with the LED line.  
         [0000]     LED Voltage Determination  
         [0021]      FIGS. 3 and 4  illustrate the properties discovered by the present inventors which allowed development of the present invention.  FIG. 3  is a graph of LED forward voltage versus LED current. The three different graphs produce three different lines with three different slopes for different types of loads: an IR LED, a red LED and a functional tester (SRC) which has a diode and a resistor in series. As can be seen, measuring the current alone does not indicate what the LED forward voltage is unless one also knows the type of load, and has stored a curve such as that shown in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  illustrates a plot of LED PWM duty cycle, which is the pulse width modulated drive signal for driving the LED. This is plotted on the vertical axis versus the power on a horizontal axis (LED voltage times LED current). As can be seen, for four different types of LED or SRC devices plotted, the plots are nearly identical with nearly identical slopes. From this recognition, the inventors determined that the voltage could be determined if one knows the PWM duty cycle and the current. The current is available from line  58  in  FIG. 2 , the LED current signal provided to the processor. The processor itself produces the PWM signal, and thus the processor has the two pieces of information needed to calculate the LED voltage for a particular LED, without knowing the type of LED. By using the information in  FIG. 4 , showing that the duty cycle is proportional by a constant to the power dissipated in the LED, a forward voltage can be derived.  
         [0023]     In one embodiment, the PWM signal is generated using a PI (proportional integral) loop. This loop takes the formal equation set forth below: 
 
 y=Ae ( t )+ B∫e ( t ) dt  
 
 where: 
        A and B are constants     e=error signal, difference between desired and actual current     y=PWM signal        
 
         [0027]     In one embodiment, a PWM duty cycle generated by the processor is provided to a lookup table which stores the data in the graph of  FIG. 4 . The lookup table will produce the power dissipated as an output. This value can then be divided by the LED current as provided on line  58 . The result of the division will be the forward voltage of the LED.  
         [0028]     Alternately, in another embodiment, a lookup table can be eliminated and a comparison can be done of the duty cycle and the current. Since the duty cycle is equal to the current times the voltage times a constant, upper and lower ranges for the ratio of duty cycle/LED current can be established to indicate conditions such as a short circuit or open connection in the LED. Alternately, a series of ranges could be used, with an outer range indicating the short or open condition, and an inner range, in one example, indicating the desired operating range for the LED. For example, the oximeter may need to drive the LED harder, near its maximum current, for certain patients with weak pulse signals.  
         [0029]     As will be understood by those with skill in the art, the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. For example, the determination of forward voltage could be done entirely in hardware, rather than in software in a processor. Accordingly, the foregoing description is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention which is set forth in the following claims.