Abstract:
A biosensing meter includes: a routing matrix including a plurality of switching units and a plurality of connecting ends; a sensors and actuators group, coupled to a plurality of connecting ends of the wire matrix; an RFID reader, for reading an RFID tag to obtain a parameter related to an application software, and a processing module, coupled to the switching units of the wire matrix and the RFID reader, the processing module including: a storage device, for storing the application software; and a processing unit, coupled to the storage device, for executing the application software according to the parameter to control the switching units to change the coupling condition between the sensors and actuators group and the processing module to measure a testing piece and obtain a measurement result.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a biosensing device, and more particularly, to a biosensing device having an RFID device. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    In general, a biosensing device is utilized to measure the concentration of biological materials (for example, blood glucose concentration) in humans&#39; blood. Therefore, a diabetic can monitor his blood glucose concentration by using the biosensing device to maintain his health. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,609 discloses a biosensing device, which utilizes a read-only-memory key (ROM key) to select a specific biosensing procedure to be executed or to provide parameters for biosensing procedures to achieve the purpose of measuring the concentration. For example, when different testing strips (testing samples) are plugged into the biosensing device, different ROM keys can be used to inform the biosensing device to execute a corresponding biosensing procedure according to different testing strips or to execute the biosensing procedure according to different parameters. 
         [0006]    As mentioned previously, it can be seen that the above-mentioned biosensing device is flexible because it can utilize the ROM keys to adjust the procedure and the operation according to the selected procedure or the parameters. But this means the user has to carry the ROM key when the biosensing device is utilized. This restriction makes the user inconvenient. 
         [0007]    Furthermore, the ROM key needs to output data through electrical contacts. That is, the user has to insert the ROM key into the biosensing device to obtain related parameters. Therefore, as time goes by, the ROM key may be abraded. In addition, in the actual usage, the user may accidentally break the ROM key, or incorrectly insert the ROM key (e.g: the ROM key may be inserted reversely). From the above disclosure, it can be seen that the ROM key is not a good solution for inputting data (parameters) into the biosensing device. 
         [0008]    Furthermore, because the above-mentioned biosensing device utilizes the bus structure, this means all analog signals (including measurement results and temperature measurement results) have to be firstly converted into digital signals such that the microprocessor can deal with the digital-form measurement results and temperature measurement results. Therefore, in the above-mentioned structure, multiple ADCs should be converted into the biosensing device. This not only increases the cost, but also reduces the hardware flexibility. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    In view of the above-mentioned problems, an object of the invention is to provide a biosensing device having an RFID device, to utilize the RFID device to solve the above-mentioned problem. 
         [0010]    According to an embodiment of the present invention, a biosensing device for performing a measurement operation on a testing strip to generate a measurement result is disclosed. The biosensing device comprises: a routing matrix, comprising a plurality of connecting ends and a plurality of switch devices; a sensors and actuators group, coupled to a plurality of connecting ends of the plurality of connecting ends of the routing matrix; an RFID reader, for reading an RFID tag to obtain at least one related parameter related to application software; and a processing module, coupled to the RFID reader and a plurality of connecting ends of the plurality of connecting ends of the routing matrix, the processing module comprises: a storage device storing the application software; and a processing unit, coupled to the storage device; for executing the application software according to the at least one parameter to control the plurality of switch devices inside the routing matrix to change electrical connections among the sensors and actuators group and the processing module such that the measuring operation is performed and the measurement result is obtained. 
         [0011]    According to another embodiment of the present invention, a biosensing device for performing a measuring operation on a testing strip to generate a measurement result is disclosed. The biosensing device comprises: a bus; a sensors and actuators group, coupled to the bus; an RFID reader, for reading an RFID tag to obtain at least one parameter related to an application software; and a processing module, coupled to the bus and the RFID reader, the processing module comprises: a storage device storing the application software; and a processing unit, coupled to the storage device, for executing the application software according to the at least one parameter, obtained by the RFID reader, to control the sensors and actuators group to perform the measuring operation such that the measurement result is obtained. 
         [0012]    The present invention biosensing device utilizes the RFID technique to replace the prior-art ROM key. This makes the user carry it more easily and use it more conveniently. Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention utilize a routing matrix to replace the prior art bus structure. Therefore, the present invention can have better hardware flexibility and the hardware cost can be reduced. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a biosensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the routing matrix  130  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a diagram showing a blood glucose testing strip according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is a diagram of a biosensing device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a diagram of a biosensing device  100  of a first embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the biosensing device  100  comprises a processing module  110 , an RFID reader  120 , a routing matrix  130 , a sensors and actuators group  140 . The sensors and actuators group  140  comprises an exciting voltage source  150 , a sensing amplifier  160 , a temperature sensor  170 , and an analog-to-digital converter  180 . 
         [0018]    In addition, the processing module  110  comprises a microprocessor  111  and a memory  112  electrically connected to the microprocessor  111 . The memory  112  stores application software. Furthermore, the RFID reader  120  is coupled to the processing module  110 . 
         [0019]    Please note that, the processing module  110 , the exciting voltage source  150 , the sensing amplifier  160 , the temperature sensor  170 , the A/D converter  180 , and an under-test testing strip (biosensing sample)  190  to be measured are respectively electrically connected to the routing matrix  130 . The operations and functions of the biosensing device  100  will be illustrated in the following disclosure. 
         [0020]    Please refer to  FIG. 2 , which is a circuit diagram of an embodiment of the routing matrix  130  shown in  FIG. 1 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the routing matrix  130  comprises a plurality of transmission gates I 11 -I 33 , X 11 -X 23 , and O 11 -O 32 , and a plurality of connecting ends. The connecting ends are respectively electrically connected to the above-mentioned inner devices and the pins  1 - 4  of the testing strip  190 . It should be noticed that, the electrical connections among the devices and the routing matrix  130  are shown in  FIG. 2 , and further illustrations are thus omitted here. 
         [0021]    From  FIG. 2 , it can be seen that the routing matrix  130  can change the circuit configuration (change the electrical connections among the inner devices of the biosensing device  100 ) according to the conditions of each of the transmission gates I 11 -I 33 , X 11 -X 23 , and O 11 -O 32 . In this embodiment, the microprocessor  111  is coupled to each of the transmission gates I 11 -I 33 , X 11 -X 23 , and O 11 -O 32  (not shown). Therefore, when the microprocessor  111  executes the application software inside the memory  112 , the microprocessor  111  is able to control the conducting condition of each transmission gate in order to further control the circuit configuration of the entire routing matrix  130  such that the biosensing device  190  can perform a measuring operation on the testing strip  190 . 
         [0022]    Please note that, the RFID reader  120  is utilized to read an RFID tag  121  and obtain parameters related to the application software (for example, the parameters can be utilized to call a certain sub-program) from the RFID tag  121 . In this way, the microprocessor  111  can perform a specific measuring operation corresponding to a specific testing strip  190 . Or, the microprocessor  111  can use specific parameters corresponding to a specific testing strip  190  to perform the same measuring operation. In this embodiment, the RFID tag  121  can be embedded in the testing strip  190 , or can be manufactured as an independent identification card for the RFID reader  120  to read. 
         [0023]    For example, assume that the biosensing device  100  supports different types of testing strips (for example, the blood glucose testing strip, the uric acid testing strip, etc.). Therefore, if a user wants to measure the blood glucose, the biosensing device  100  (microprocessor  111 ) has to know that the currently-used testing strip is a blood glucose testing strip such that a corresponding blood glucose measurement operation can be performed correctly. In this embodiment, the RFID reader  120  can read the RFID tag  121  (as mentioned previously, it can be embedded in the blood glucose testing strip) and transfer the read information to the microprocessor  111 . The microprocessor  111  therefore knows the type of the currently-used testing strip from the information transferred from the RFID reader  120 . In this way, the microprocessor  121  can perform related software program related to the blood glucose measurement. 
         [0024]    Surely, besides the above-mentioned mechanism, the microprocessor  111  may firstly store the information (such as the above-mentioned parameters), which the RFID reader  120  reads from the RFID tag  121 , inside the memory  112  and use the stored information when the application software is executed. This mechanism is good because the biosensing device  100  does not have to repeatedly read the information from the RFID tag. Instead, the microprocessor  111  can directly read the needed information from the memory  112 . This really improves the efficiency of the biosensing device  100 . 
         [0025]    Please refer to  FIG. 3 , which is a diagram showing a blood glucose testing strip  190  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The microprocessor  111  can perform application software stored inside the memory  112  according to the information stored inside the RFID tag (as mentioned previously, the information can be transferred from the RFID reader  120  which reads the RFID tag  121 , or previously stored inside the memory  112 ) to perform the following steps: First, the microprocessor  111  turns on the transmission gates I 21 , X 22 , and O 21  to check whether the external voltage source (such as a battery voltage) Vcc is normal. And then, the microprocessor  111  turns on the transmission gate  122  for setting the voltage level provided by the exciting voltage source  150  to ensure that the voltage level is workable for the following electronic chemical reaction of the testing strip  190 . Then, the microprocessor  111  turns on the transmission gates I 11 , I 22 , I 33 , X 11 , X 23 , O 11 , O 31  and determines the gain value of the sensing amplifier  160  such that the voltage level provided by the exciting voltage source  150  can be transferred to the pins  1 - 2  of the testing strip  340 . In this way, the testing strip  190  can start an electronic chemical reaction and generate a reaction result. The reaction result is amplified by the sensing amplifier  160  to generate an amplified signal. The A/D converter  180  transforms the amplified signal into a digital signal for the microprocessor  111  to process. At last, the microprocessor  111  turns on the transmission gates I 31 , X 23 , and O 21  to utilize the temperature sensor  170  to detect the environment temperature and utilize the A/D converter  180  to transform the detection result of the temperature sensor into a digital temperature signal. Therefore, the microprocessor  111  can process the digital signal and the digital temperature signal to obtain a final measurement result of the blood glucose. 
         [0026]    As mentioned previously, because each of the transmission gates inside the routing matrix  130  can be turned on/off (switched) according to different circuit demands, the inner devices of the biosensing device  100  can have different combination (configurations) such that the biosensing device can have a better hardware flexibility. For example, the above-mentioned sensing amplifier  160  and the temperature sensor  170  can share the same A/D converter  180  by switching the inner transmission gates inside the routing matrix  130 . 
         [0027]    In addition, the present invention utilizes the RFID techniques to replace the conventional ROM key. The RFID tag can be embedded in the testing strip or the container of the testing strips. This could make the user much easier to carry the RFID tag. In addition, as long as the RFID tag lies in a predetermined range of the RFID reader, the RFID reader is able to derive information from the RFID tag. Therefore, the present invention biosensing device  100  is more convenient to use. 
         [0028]    Please note, in this embodiment, the present invention does not limit the type of the memory  112 . For example, the memory  112  can be implemented with ROM, PROM, EPROM, or RAM. 
         [0029]    Furthermore, the routing matrix  200  is only regarded as an embodiment, not a limitation of the present invention. In the actual implementation, the present invention can utilize any other programmable routing matrix to control the circuit configuration of every component inside the biosensing device  100 . This also obeys the spirit of the present invention. For example, the transmission gates inside the routing matrix are used as a switch. Therefore, the transmission gate can be replaced by a switch or transistor. Moreover, the circuit path can be implemented with jumping wires or fixed wires. 
         [0030]    Furthermore, the present invention does not limit the position of the RFID tag. In the actual implementation, the RFID tag can be placed in every possible position as long as it can be correctly read by the RFID reader  120 . For example, it can be embedded inside the testing strip or an independent card. These changes belong to the scope of the present invention. 
         [0031]    Moreover, how to store information inside the RFID tag has been known by those having average skills in the art. For example, in the standard (ISO15696 or ISO18000) of the RFID tag, some reservation fields are not utilized. Therefore, the reservation fields can be utilized to record the above-mentioned information (parameters). 
         [0032]    Please refer to  FIG. 4 , which is a diagram of a biosensing device  400  according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the biosensing device  400  comprises a processing module  410 , an RFID reader  420 , a bus  430 , an excitation voltage source  450 , a sensing amplifier  460 , a temperature sensor  470 , and two ADCs  480  and  490 . 
         [0033]    In this embodiment, the processing module  410  comprises a microprocessor  411  and a memory  412 , where the memory  412  is coupled to the microprocessor  411 . The memory  412  stores application software. Furthermore, the processing module  410  communicates with the excitation voltage source  450  and the ADCs  480  and  490  via the bus  430 . In addition, the RFID reader  410  is coupled to the processing module  410 . 
         [0034]    Please note, in this embodiment, the biosensing device  400  is similar than a conventional biosensing device. The difference between them is the biosensing device  400  comprises an RFID reader  420  for reading information from an RFID tag  421  which is used for the microprocessor  411  to execute the application software. 
         [0035]    Similarly, the microprocessor  411  may firstly store the information (such as the above-mentioned parameters), which the RFID reader  420  reads from the RFID tag  421 , inside the memory  412  and use the stored information when the application software is executed. The advantage of this mechanism has been illustrated in the above disclosure and thus omitted here. 
         [0036]    The operation of the biosensing device  400  is similar to the biosensing device  100 . Similarly, the microprocessor  411  can perform application software stored inside the memory  412  according to the information stored inside the RFID tag  421  (as mentioned previously, the information can be transferred from the RFID reader  420  which reads the RFID tag  421 , or previously stored inside the memory  412 ) to perform the following steps: First, the microprocessor  411  sets the voltage level provided by the exciting voltage source  450  via the bus  430  to ensure that the voltage level is workable for the following electronic chemical reaction of the testing strip  440 . Then, the testing strip  440  can start an electronic chemical reaction and generate a reaction result. The reaction result is amplified by the sensing amplifier  460  to generate an amplified signal. The A/D converter  480  transforms the amplified signal into a digital signal. At last, the temperature sensor  170  detects the environment temperature and the A/D converter  490  transforms the detection result of the temperature sensor into a digital temperature signal. Therefore, the microprocessor  411  can obtain the digital signal and digital temperature signal outputted from the ADCs  480  and  490  via the bus  430  and obtain a final measurement result of the blood glucose. 
         [0037]    Please note, the biosensing device  400  use the bus mechanism. Therefore, it doesn&#39;t have the same flexibility as the biosensing device  400  using the routing matrix. Therefore, in this embodiment, the biosensing device  400  should utilize two ADCs to respectively convert the signals outputted from the sensing amplifier  460  and the temperature sensor  470  into digital signals for the microprocessor  411  to process. 
         [0038]    However, in this embodiment, the RFID techniques are utilized to replace the ROM key. As mentioned previously, the RFID tag is easier to use such that the biosensing device  400  is easier to use. 
         [0039]    Furthermore, the present invention does not limit the position of the RFID tag. In the actual implementation, the RFID tag can be placed in every possible position as long as it can be correctly read by the RFID reader  420 . For example, it can be embedded inside the testing strip or an independent card. These changes belong to the scope of the present invention. 
         [0040]    Please note, in this embodiment, the present invention does not limit the type of the memory  412 . For example, the memory  412  can be implemented with ROM, PROM, EPROM, or RAM. 
         [0041]    The present invention biosensing device utilizes the RFID technique to replace the prior-art ROM key. This makes the user carry it more easily and use it more conveniently. Furthermore, in an embodiment of the present invention, the present invention utilize a routing matrix to replace the prior art bus structure. Therefore, the present invention can have better hardware flexibility and the hardware cost can be reduced. 
         [0042]    While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative of and not restrictive on the broad invention, and that this invention should not be limited to the specific construction and arrangement shown and described, since various other modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.