Patent Description:
Recently, technologies using optical sensors have been developed in various fields, such as non-invasive monitoring of human diseases. For example, diabetes is a chronic disease that causes various complications and is difficult to cure, and hence people with diabetes are advised to check their blood glucose regularly to prevent complications. Especially, when insulin is administered to control blood glucose, the blood glucose levels may have to be closely monitored to avoid hypoglycemia and control insulin dosage. In general, noninvasive methods are easier to diagnose than invasive methods, but accuracy may be reduced. Research on technology for improving accuracy of noninvasive methods by combining an optical sensor with an ultrasonic wave transmitter device has been conducted.

Examples of prior art solutions are described in <CIT> and in the article "<NPL>.

According to an aspect of an example embodiment, there is provided an apparatus configured to analyze a component of an object, the apparatus including a signal detection sensor including a light source configured to emit light to the object, a detector configured to detect a signal of light scattered or reflected from the object, an ultrasonic generator configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave toward the object at irregular ultrasonic transmission time intervals to modulate a frequency of the light emitted to the object, and a controller configured to control the ultrasonic transmission time intervals of the ultrasonic generator to be irregular, and a processor configured to control the signal detection sensor and analyze the component of the object based on the signal of light detected by the detector.

The controller is configured to gradually increase or decrease the ultrasonic transmission time intervals based on an order of ultrasonic transmission of the ultrasonic generator or assign some of a plurality of predefined different time intervals to the ultrasonic transmission time intervals based on a pseudo random sequence.

The controller is configured to control a difference between an ith transmission time interval Ti and an (i+<NUM>)th transmission time interval Ti+<NUM> to be greater than a predetermined threshold, where i is an integer greater than or equal to <NUM>.

The predetermined threshold is greater than a length of an ultrasonic transmission wave of the ultrasonic generator, or is greater than a length of time for which a main reflected wave for an ultrasonic transmission wave of the ultrasonic generator is received by the detector.

The controller may be further configured to control a difference Ti-Tj between an ith transmission time interval Ti and a jth transmission time interval Tj to be equal to a product of a predetermined threshold and a difference i-j between i and j, where i is an integer greater than or equal to <NUM>, and j is an integer greater than or equal to <NUM> and is not equal to i.

The controller may be further configured to select two or more time intervals from among a plurality of predefined different time intervals and repeatedly assign the two or more selected time intervals to the ultrasonic transmission time intervals.

The controller may be further configured to select two or more time intervals having values consecutive to each other from among the plurality of predefined different time intervals.

The processor may be further configured to extract second signals of a plurality of time intervals from a first signal detected by the detector, ensemble average the extracted second signals, and analyze the component of the object based on an ensemble average result. "Ensemble average" means, for example, adding the extracted second signals of the plurality of time intervals and dividing the resulting sum by the number of the plurality of time intervals.

The processor may be further configured to extract, from the first signal, the second signals of same time intervals based on a transmission time point of each ultrasonic wave.

The processor may be further configured to detect, from the ensemble average result, a time interval in which a main light signal is received based on a signal intensity, and analyze the component of the object based on a signal of the detected time interval.

The processor may be further configured to detect a time interval in which the signal intensity is greatest from among remaining time intervals, except for signals of ultrasonic transmission intervals in the ensemble average result, as a time interval in which the main light signal is received.

The component of the object may include one or more of blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol, calories, protein, antioxidant related components, carotenoids, lactate, and uric acid.

According to another aspect of an example embodiment, there is provided a method of analyzing a component of an object, as set out in claim <NUM>.

The transmitting of the ultrasonic wave may include selecting two or more time intervals from among a plurality of predefined different time intervals and repeatedly assigning the two or more selected time intervals to the ultrasonic transmission time intervals.

The analyzing of the component of the object may include extracting second signals of a plurality of time intervals from a first signal detected in the detecting of the signal of light, ensemble averaging the extracted second signals, and analyzing the component of the object based on an ensemble average result.

The analyzing of the component of the object may include detecting, from the ensemble average result, a time interval in which a main light signal is received on the basis of a signal intensity, and analyzing the component of the object based on a signal of the detected time interval.

The above and/or other aspects, features, and advantages of example embodiments will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:.

Details of example embodiments are provided in the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. The disclosure may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of example embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the example embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these example embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the disclosure will only be defined by the appended claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

Also, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In the specification, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word "comprise" and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising," will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements. Terms such as "unit" and "module" denote units that process at least one function or operation, and they may be implemented by using hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

Hereinafter, example embodiments of a signal detection sensor and an apparatus and method for analyzing a component of an object will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating a signal detection sensor according to an example embodiment.

The signal detection sensor <NUM> according to an example embodiment may be a sensor that detects a signal of light scattered or reflected from an object and may be mounted as a module in a device that analyzes a component of the object using the signal of light. The signal detection sensor <NUM> may be formed as a separate sensor device and may be electrically connected to the device for analyzing the component of the object or connected through wireless communication.

Referring to <FIG>, the signal detection sensor <NUM> may include a light source <NUM>, a detector <NUM>, an ultrasonic generator <NUM>, and a controller <NUM>.

The light source <NUM> emits light of one or more wavelengths to the object OBJ. The light source <NUM> may include a light emitting diode (LED), a laser diode, a phosphor, and the like, but is not limited thereto. For example, the light source <NUM> may be formed of a single LED to irradiate the object with light of one or more wavelengths in a time division manner. The light source <NUM> may be formed of a plurality LED arrays and each LED may emit light of the same wavelength or a different wavelength.

The detector <NUM> detects scattered or reflected light when light emitted to the object OBJ by the light source <NUM> is scattered or reflected from the object OBJ. The detector <NUM> may include a photodiode, a photo transistor, or an image sensor. However, embodiments are not limited thereto. For example, the detector <NUM> may be formed of a single photodiode or a plurality of photodiode arrays. The detector <NUM> may output a signal of the detected light as an electrical signal.

The ultrasonic generator <NUM> may transmit ultrasonic waves toward a measurement area of the object <NUM> and transmit ultrasonic waves toward the object OBJ in a direction different from a light emission direction of the light source <NUM>. The ultrasonic generator <NUM> may be an ultrasonic transducer. However, the types of communication are not limited to the above examples. The ultrasonic generator <NUM> may transmit ultrasonic waves of a predetermined frequency under the control of the controller <NUM>, and the ultrasonic waves may converge on the measurement area BV in the object OBJ.

The light emitted by the light source <NUM> may interact with the ultrasonic waves in the measurement area BV in the object OBJ, so that optical properties, for example, scattering or reflecting ability of light, may be changed. That is, a frequency of the light signal emitted by the light source <NUM> and scattered or reflected from the measurement area BV may be demodulated by the frequency of the ultrasonic waves and be detected by the detector <NUM>. Thus, the position of the measurement area BV may be more efficiently searched to more accurately analyze a component of the object.

The controller <NUM> may be electrically connected to the light source <NUM>, the detector <NUM>, and/or the ultrasonic generator <NUM>. The controller <NUM> may drive the light source <NUM> to continuously emit light of a predetermined wavelength toward the measurement area BV of the object OBJ for a predetermined period of time. Also, the controller <NUM> may control the ultrasonic generator <NUM> to emit ultrasonic waves toward the object OBJ. Meanwhile, the controller <NUM> may adjust an emission direction of the light source <NUM> and/or the ultrasonic generator <NUM> such that the light and the ultrasonic waves can converge on the measurement area BV of the object OBJ.

The light emitted by the light source <NUM> has a frequency modulated to the ultrasonic wave in the measurement area BV of the object OBJ, and the scattered or reflected light signal whose frequency is modulated is detected by the detector <NUM>. The detector <NUM> may output a signal of the detected light to an apparatus for analyzing a component of an object, and the apparatus for analyzing a component of an object may analyze components of the object through an analysis of a frequency of a light signal.

<FIG> and <FIG> are diagrams for describing a method of driving an ultrasonic generator.

For example, when a component of an object is analyzed, the component of the object may be analyzed by measuring a signal a plurality of times for a predetermined period of time and overlapping the measured signals in order to improve a signal-to-noise ratio.

Referring to <FIG>, in general, a plurality of ultrasonic waves TX1 and TX2 may be transmitted at uniform time intervals by setting an ultrasonic transmitting period T of the ultrasonic generator <NUM> to be constant. In this case, various reflected waves for the ultrasonic waves exist in the measurement area BV of the object OBJ, and the reflected waves affect, as interference signals, light signals to be measured.

For example, as shown in <FIG>, a first light signal MS1, a second light signal MS2, and a third light signal MS3 may be detected by the detector <NUM>. In this case, the second light signal MS2 may be modulated by a parasitic reflected wave of a first ultrasonic wave TX1 and the third light signal MS3 may be modulated by a main reflected wave of a second ultrasonic wave TX2. Further, electrical interference signals IS1 and IS3 by the first ultrasonic wave TX1 and the second ultrasonic wave TX2, an interference signal IS2 by the main reflected wave MW_TX1 of the first ultrasonic wave TX1, an interference signal IS5 by a main reflected wave MW_TX2 of the second ultrasonic wave TX2, an interference signal IS4 by the parasitic reflected wave PW_TX1 of the first ultrasonic wave TX1, and the like may be detected by the detector <NUM>.

As such, the signals detected for a predetermined period of time by the detector include various interference signals besides main light signals scattered or reflected from the measurement area, and the interference signals affect the intensity of the main light signals, thereby affecting the accuracy of component analysis of the object. For example, when a method in which light signals are overlapped through repeated measurement of the light signal in order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio is employed, it is difficult to distinguish the main light signal from various interference signals, which hinders extraction of the main light signal necessary for component analysis of the object. Thus, the accuracy of the object component analysis may be reduced.

According to the example embodiment, the controller <NUM> may adjust the ultrasonic transmission period of the ultrasonic generator <NUM> to be irregular so as to increase the accuracy of the method of analyzing the component of the object by repeatedly measuring the light signal and overlapping the detected light signals.

Referring to <FIG>, when a signal is detected N times and the detected signals are overlapped, the controller <NUM> may control the ultrasonic transmitter <NUM> to transmit an ultrasonic wave at a plurality of time points t<NUM>, t<NUM>, t<NUM>, t<NUM>, t<NUM>,. , TN-<NUM>, and tN. The controller <NUM> may adjust N ultrasonic transmission time intervals T<NUM>, T<NUM>, T<NUM>, T<NUM>,. , TN-<NUM>, and TN to be irregular.

For example, the controller <NUM> may control the ultrasonic transmission time intervals to be gradually increased or decreased in the order of the ultrasonic transmission times. In this case, each of the ultrasonic transmission time intervals T<NUM>, T<NUM>, T<NUM>, T<NUM>,. , TN-<NUM>, and TN may be controlled to have a value greater than a predetermined threshold Tmin. For example, the predetermined threshold Tmin may be set to have a value greater than a length of time for which a main reflected wave of an ultrasonic transmission signal is received at an ultrasonic receiving end.

For example, the controller <NUM> may control a difference Di between the ith (i is an integer greater than or equal to <NUM>) transmission time interval Ti and the (i+<NUM>)th transmission time interval Ti+<NUM> to be greater than a predetermined threshold Dmin. In this case, the predetermined threshold Dmin may be set to have a value greater than a length Tburst of an ultrasonic transmission wave.

The controller <NUM> may control the ultrasonic transmission time interval to be gradually increased or decreased, and may gradually increase or decrease a degree of increase or decrease in the ultrasonic transmission time interval. For example, each of a first ultrasonic transmission time interval T<NUM>, a second ultrasonic transmission time interval T<NUM>, and a third ultrasonic transmission time interval T<NUM> may be set to <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM>, thereby gradually increasing the degree of increase in the ultrasonic transmission time interval. In this case, the degree of increase or decrease in the ultrasonic transmission time interval may be set in advance.

According to an example embodiment, the control unit <NUM> may control the ultrasonic transmission time interval to be gradually increased or decreased in the order of the ultrasonic transmission times, but maintain the same degree of increase or decrease in the ultrasonic transmission time interval. For example, a difference Tj-Ti between the ith transmission time interval Ti and the jth (j is an integer greater than or equal to <NUM>) transmission time interval may be controlled to be equal to the product of a predetermined threshold D and a difference i-j between i and j. In this case, the predetermined threshold D may be set in advance.

In another example, the controller <NUM> may randomly assign some of a plurality of predefined different time intervals to the respective ultrasonic transmission time intervals using a pseudo random sequence. For example, as described above, a plurality of time intervals may be predefined so as to gradually increase or decrease in the order of the ultrasonic transmission times. The controller <NUM> may allow an ultrasonic wave to be transmitted at irregular time intervals having no predetermined pattern by randomly assigning values of the plurality of predefined different time intervals to the respective ultrasonic transmission time intervals.

As another example, the controller <NUM> may select two or more time intervals from among values of the plurality of predefined different time intervals, and repeatedly assign the selected time intervals to the ultrasonic transmission time intervals. For example, a set of values of the plurality of different time intervals {T<NUM>, T<NUM>, T<NUM>, T<NUM>, T<NUM>,. , and Tn} is predefined, the controller <NUM> may select two or more consecutive values (e.g., T<NUM>, T<NUM>, and T<NUM>) or two or more non-consecutive values (e.g., T<NUM>, T<NUM>, and TN) from among the values, and repeatedly assign the selected values to the ultrasonic transmission time intervals.

Various example embodiments of controlling the ultrasonic transmission time intervals to be irregular have been described above. However, the embodiments are not limited to the above examples and may be modified in various other ways.

Referring again to <FIG>, when the signals detected by the detector are overlapped in predetermined time units W1, W2, W3, W5, WN-<NUM>, and WN and ensemble-averaged, a main light receiving signal EMS and an interference signal EIS1 by an ultrasonic transmission signal may increase in their intensity and a light receiving signal EPS and the other interference signals EIS2 and EIS3 by the other parasitic reflected waves do not overlap or overlap to a small extent, and thus the signal intensity is detected to be relatively weak. Therefore, the signal-to-noise ratio of the main light receiving signal may be improved, and thereby it is possible to accurately detect the timing of occurrence of the main light signal, and it is possible to improve the accuracy by analyzing a component of the object using the main light receiving signal measured at a correct position. "Ensemble average" means, for example, adding the overlapped signals in the predetermined time units and dividing the resulting sum by the number N of predetermined time units.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for analyzing a component of an object according to an example embodiment.

The apparatus <NUM> for analyzing a component according to the example embodiment may include the above-described signal detection sensor <NUM> or a module separately fabricated to implement various functions of the signal detection sensor <NUM>. The apparatus <NUM> for analyzing a component may be manufactured in a small size and mounted in a wearable device that can be worn on a wrist of a user or in a smart device that can be carried by the user, and be used in noninvasively analyzing a component. However, embodiments are not limited thereto, and the apparatus <NUM> for analyzing a component may be mounted in a noninvasive or in-vivo analysis device that can be used in a medical institution for diagnosing and studying a human disease through analysis of a light signal. The apparatus <NUM> for analyzing a component may be mounted in an analysis device used in various fields that utilize a light signal other than a device for component analysis of a living body.

Referring to <FIG>, the apparatus <NUM> for analyzing a component may include a signal detection sensor <NUM> and a processor <NUM> according to an example embodiment.

The signal detection sensor <NUM> may include a light source and a detector. The light source and the detector may perform light signal detection for component analysis of an object. In this case, the object may be a biological tissue, such as a skin tissue of a human body, but is not limited thereto, and may include objects that may utilize other light signal analysis. Hereinafter, a biological tissue, such as human skin, will be described as an example for convenience of description.

For example, the light source may be formed of one or more LEDs and may emit light in a direction of a blood vessel of the object. The detector may be formed of one or more photodiodes and the like and may detect a light signal that is scattered or reflected from a blood vessel wall or inside the blood vessel of the object or is scattered or reflected by other components in the biological tissue.

Also, the signal detection sensor <NUM> may further include an ultrasonic generator that transmits an ultrasonic wave to a measurement area in order to modulate the light signal emitted by the light source. A location of the measurement area, for example, a depth of a blood vessel, may be specified using the ultrasonic wave. The ultrasonic generator may transmit a plurality of ultrasonic waves having a predetermined frequency a plurality of times. In this case, the ultrasonic generator may transmit ultrasonic waves at irregular time intervals.

The light emitted by the light source interacts with the ultrasonic waves and, in turn, the frequency is modulated. For example, the frequency of the light emitted by the light source may be reflected by the blood vessel wall and modulated to a first frequency. In addition, the light entering the blood vessel may be Doppler-shifted with respect to the frequency of the ultrasonic waves by the Doppler effect in the flowing blood, and be modulated to a second frequency. As such, the frequency-modulated light signals may be detected by the detector. The detector may convert the detected light signal into an electrical signal and transmit the electrical signal to the processor <NUM>.

In addition, the signal detection sensor <NUM> may further include a controller that controls a time interval at which ultrasonic waves are transmitted to be irregular. The controller may be integrated with the processor <NUM>. For example, the controller may gradually increase or decrease a ultrasonic transmission time interval. In this case, a degree of increase or decrease in each ultrasonic transmission time interval may be identical to or different from each other. In another example, the controller may randomly assign values of a plurality of predefined different time intervals to each ultrasonic transmission time interval. According to an example embodiment, values of two or more any time intervals are selected from among a plurality of different time intervals and the selected values may be repeatedly assigned. These examples have been described with reference to <FIG>, and thus detailed descriptions thereof will not be reiterated.

The processor <NUM> may analyze a component of the object using a signal received from the detector of the signal detection sensor <NUM>. For example, a component of the subject may include, but is not limited to, one or more of blood sugar, triglycerides, cholesterol, calories, protein, antioxidant related components, carotenoids, lactate, and uric acid.

For example, the processor <NUM> may extract second signals of a plurality of time intervals from a first signal detected by the detector and analyze the component of the object by ensemble averaging the extracted second signals. For example, as illustrated in <FIG>, the processor <NUM> may ensemble average windows of the same time intervals based on the transmission time point of each ultrasonic wave in the first signal, and extract a main light signal from a signal obtained through the ensemble average.

The processor <NUM> may extract the main light signal from the ensemble-averaged signal on the basis of the signal intensity. For example, the processor <NUM> may extract a signal of a time interval in which the signal intensity is the greatest as the main light signal, except for signals at the time of transmitting the ultrasonic waves. When the ensemble average is made by setting ultrasonic transmission time intervals to be irregular, the main light signals are overlapped and thus the intensity of the main light signal is increased, while the intensity of the remaining interference signals is relatively decreased. Therefore, it is possible to relatively accurately specify a reception time point of the main light signal.

The processor <NUM> may analyze the component of the object using the detected main light signal. For example, the component may be estimated using a component estimation model that defines a correlation between the intensity of the main optical light signal and the component to be analyzed. However, embodiments are not limited thereto, and various known component analysis techniques may be used.

Thus, by more accurately extracting the main light signal whose frequency is modulated by the ultrasonic wave, the signal of the light scattered or reflected from the measurement area to be analyzed may be utilized for component analysis, thereby improving component analysis performance.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for analyzing a component of an object according to another example embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, an apparatus <NUM> for analyzing a component may include a signal detection sensor <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, an output interface <NUM>, a storage <NUM>, and a communication interface <NUM>. Configurations of the signal detection sensor <NUM> and the processor <NUM> are described in detail above, and thus descriptions thereof will be omitted.

The output interface <NUM> may output a processing result of the processor <NUM> and provide the same to a user. For example, a component analysis result of the object may be provided to the user by using a visual output module, such as a display, a voice output module, such as a speaker, or a haptic module that provides information by vibration or tactile sensation. In addition, a health condition of the user may be monitored based on the component analysis result, and a warning may be output when a risk of the health condition is expected.

The storage <NUM> may store a variety of information required for component analysis of the object or a processing result of the processor <NUM>. For example, reference information may include information on driving of the signal detection sensor, such as a light source driving condition or an ultrasonic wave generation frequency, an estimation model required for component analysis of the object, and the like. The information may include information on a user's personal characteristics, such as health status, age, gender, and the like of the user. However, the information is not limited to the above examples.

The storage unit <NUM> may include at least one type of storage medium of a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia card micro type, a card type memory (for example, secure digital (SD) or extreme digital (XD) memory), a random access memory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk, but is not limited thereto.

The communication interface <NUM> may communicate with an external device to transmit and receive data on signal detection and component analysis of the object. In this case, the external device may include a user's portable device, such as a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a desktop PC, a notebook PC, and the like, or a device used in a professional medical institution. The communication interface <NUM> may use Bluetooth communication, Bluetooth low energy (BLE) communication, near field communication unit, wireless local access network (WLAN) communication, Zigbee communication, infrared data association (IrDA) communication, Wi-Fi direct (WFD) communication, ultra wideband (UWB) communication, Ant+ communication, Wi-Fi communication, and <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> communication technologies. However, the types of communication are not limited to the above examples.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a method of analyzing a component of an object according to an example embodiment. The method of <FIG> may be an example embodiment of a component analysis method performed by the apparatus <NUM> for analyzing a component as illustrated in <FIG> or apparatus <NUM> for analyzing a component as illustrated in <FIG>.

The apparatus <NUM> or <NUM> for analyzing a component may emit light toward an object in operation <NUM>. When a request for analyzing a component of the object is received from a user or an external device, the apparatus <NUM> or <NUM> for analyzing a component may drive a light source to continuously emit light of a predetermined wavelength for a predetermined time.

Then, an ultrasonic wave may be transmitted toward the object a plurality of times using an ultrasonic generator in operation <NUM>. At this time, ultrasonic transmission time intervals may be set to be irregular. For example, the ultrasonic transmission time intervals may be gradually increased or decreased, or predefined different time intervals may be randomly assigned to the respective ultrasonic transmission times. According to an example embodiment, two or more different time intervals may be repeatedly assigned.

In this case, the order of operations <NUM> and <NUM> is not clearly specified. For example, an ultrasonic wave may be first transmitted to specify an area to be measured in the object and then light may be emitted to the corresponding measurement area.

Thereafter, a returning light signal scattered or reflected from the object may be detected by a detector in operation <NUM>. The light emitted to the measurement area of the object interacts with the ultrasonic wave at the measurement area of the object and is, in turn, modulated. For example, the light may be Doppler-shifted and modulated by the Doppler effect according to a blood flow in a blood vessel. Thus, by detecting the light whose frequency is modulated by the Doppler effect, it is possible to more accurately detect a light signal of the desired measurement area.

Then, a component may be analyzed using the light signal detected in operation <NUM> in operation <NUM>. A main light signal may be extracted by making an ensemble average over predetermined time interval units from a signal detected for a predetermined period of time by the detector. By making the ultrasonic transmission time intervals irregular, the overlapping width of surrounding interference signals is relatively reduced compared to the overlap of the main light signals, and hence by using such a characteristic, it is possible to more accurately detect a time point at which the main light signal is received. For example, a signal at a position at which the signal intensity is the greatest, except for an interference signal at the time of transmitting an ultrasonic wave, or a signal at a position at which the signal intensity is greater by a predetermined threshold than the intensity of signals at different time points may be obtained as a main light signal. In this case, the obtained main light signal is a light signal scattered or reflected in a blood vessel of interest and thus it is possible to more accurately estimate a component of the blood vessel of interest.

The example embodiments can be implemented as computer readable codes in a computer readable record medium. The computer readable record medium includes all types of record media in which computer readable data read by a computer system are stored.

Examples of the computer readable record medium include a ROM, a RAM, a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disk, and an optical data storage. Further, the record medium may be implemented in the form of a carrier wave such as Internet transmission. In addition, the computer readable record medium may be distributed to computer systems over a network, in which computer readable codes may be stored and executed in a distributed manner. Further, functional programs, codes, and code segments for implementing the embodiments can be easily inferred by a skilled computer programmer in the art.

A number of example embodiments have been described above. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents.

Claim 1:
An apparatus (<NUM>) configured to analyze a component of an object, the apparatus comprising:
a signal detection sensor (<NUM>, <NUM>) comprising:
a light source (<NUM>) configured to emit light to the object,
a detector (<NUM>) configured to detect a signal of light scattered or reflected from the object, an ultrasonic generator (<NUM>) configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave toward the object at irregular ultrasonic transmission time intervals to modulate a frequency of the light emitted to the object, and
a controller (<NUM>) configured to control the ultrasonic transmission time intervals of the ultrasonic generator to be irregular; and
a processor (<NUM>) configured to control the signal detection sensor and analyze the component of the object based on the signal of light detected by the detector,
characterized in that the controller is further configured to gradually increase or decrease the ultrasonic transmission time intervals based on an order of ultrasonic transmission of the ultrasonic generator or assign some of a plurality of predefined different time intervals to the ultrasonic transmission time intervals based on a pseudo random sequence,
wherein the controller is further configured to control a difference between an ith transmission time interval Ti and an (i+<NUM>)th transmission time interval Ti+<NUM> to be greater than a predetermined threshold, where i is an integer greater than or equal to <NUM>,
wherein the predetermined threshold is greater than a length of an ultrasonic transmission wave of the ultrasonic generator, or
wherein the predetermined threshold is greater than a length of time for which a main reflected wave for an ultrasonic transmission wave of the ultrasonic generator is received by the detector.