Patent Description:
Biological characteristics detection devices have promising applications in detecting biological characteristics, such as human blood pressure, blood flow, blood oxygen, cerebral oxygen, muscle oxygen, blood glucose, microcirculatory peripheral vascular pulse rate, respiratory rate and respiratory volume. The PPG front-end processing module is an important component of these wearable non-invasive detection devices. The accuracy of biological characteristics detection using a biological characteristics detection device is affected by the fact that the phototransducer of the biological characteristics detection device may not be positioned in the exact location of the blood vessels during the measurement or the biological characteristics detection device may be displaced relative to the body during the test. Various devices trying to improve the accuracy of biological characteristics detection are disclosed in <CIT>, <CIT>, and <CIT>. Therefore, it is necessary to address the above-mentioned issues.

One purpose of the present application is to disclose a PPG circuit, a biological characteristics detection device and a biological characteristics detection method to address the above-mentioned issues.

One embodiment of the present application discloses a PPG circuit, which configured to control a light source and N photoelectric converters to sense biological characteristics of an object under test, wherein N is an integer greater than <NUM>, and the PPG circuit includes: a transmitting channel, configured to control the light source to perform light emitting operations during pulse repetition cycles; K receiving channels, wherein K is an integer greater than <NUM>, and the N photoelectric converters are divided into K sets of photoelectric converter sets, the K receiving channels respectively correspond to the K sets of photoelectric converter sets; and a controller, configured to control the PPG circuit to operates in a partial sampling phase or a full sampling phase, when the controller controls the PPG circuit to operate in the partial sampling phase, the controller activates J receiving channels of the K receiving channels as current receiving channels and activates J sets of photoelectric converter sets of the K sets of photoelectric converter sets corresponding to the J receiving channels to sense received light for performing the sampling operation, so as to generate J biological characteristics sampling results during each of the pulse repetition cycles, wherein J is smaller than K; and when the controller controls the PPG circuit to operate in the full sampling phase, the controller activates all receiving channels of the K receiving channels and activates all of the K sets of photoelectric converter sets to sense the received light for performing the sampling operation, so as to generate K biological characteristics sampling results during each of the pulse repetition cycles, and from the K receiving channels, re-select J receiving channels as the current receiving channels to be activated during the next partial sampling phase according to the K biological characteristics sampling results generated during each of the pulse repetition cycles of the full sampling phases.

Another embodiment of the present application discloses a biological characteristics detection device, including: the PPG circuit; the photoelectric converter; and the light source.

Another embodiment of the present application discloses a biological characteristics detection method, configured to control a light source and N photoelectric converters to sense biological characteristics of an object under test, wherein N is an integer greater than <NUM>, the N photoelectric converters are divided into K sets of photoelectric converter sets, and the biological characteristics detection method includes: controlling the light source to perform only one light emitting operation during each of the pulse repetition cycles; during a partial sampling phase, only activating J sets of photoelectric converter sets of the K sets of photoelectric converter sets to simultaneously sense received light for performing sampling operation, and generating J biological characteristics sampling results via the activated J sets of photoelectric converter sets during each of the pulse repetition cycles, wherein J is smaller than K; and during the full sampling phase, activating all of the K sets of photoelectric converter sets to simultaneously sense the received light for performing the sampling operation, so as to generate K biological characteristics sampling results during each of the pulse repetition cycles, and from the K receiving channels, re-selecting J receiving channels as the current receiving channels to be activated during the next partial sampling phase according to the K biological characteristics sampling results generated during said each of the pulse repetition cycles of the full sampling phases.

The PPG circuit, biological characteristics detection device and biological characteristics detection method of the present application utilize multiple receiving channels to reduce the power consumption and increase the accuracy.

When measuring pulse cycle or cardiac blood oxygenation using the photoplethysmogram (PPG) technique, light is irradiated onto the skin to detect changes in the volume of blood perfusion to the dermis and subcutaneous tissue. As the volume of perfused blood changes, the amount of light absorbed also changes, and a subcutaneous blood plethysmogram can be obtained from the measured intensity of reflected light to reflect the heart rate and cardiac oxygen status. Biological characteristics detection devices typically use multiple photoconverters corresponding to multiple locations, and sample by using multiple photoconverters in turn during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, or sample by using all photoconverters simultaneously which are connected in parallel so as to collect subcutaneous blood plethysmograms of different locations at one time during each pulse repetition cycle TPF.

With respect to the method that photoelectric converters are used for sampling in turns, one has to drive the light source to emit light each time when the photoelectric converters perform the sampling process; that is, during each pulse repetition cycle, the light source has to be driven multiple times to sample the multiple photoelectric converters in turns, which leads to significant increase in the power consumption. With respect to the method that multiple photoelectric converters are connected in parallel, if only one or a few of the multiple photoelectric converters contain the valid information, such approach would greatly increase the requirement of the receiving channel to a dynamic range specification, thereby increasing the power consumption of the receiving channel of the biological characteristics detection device. Moreover, connecting multiple photoelectric converters in parallel would greatly increase the parasitic capacitance effect, causing more difficulties in the stability design of the current-to-voltage converter of the receiving channel of the biological characteristics detection device and an increase in the noise amplification effect thereof, and the power consumption of the current-to-voltage converter will increase significantly if it is intended to achieve the noise level and circuit stability of a single photoelectric converter.

The present application uses multiple receiving channels in a biological characteristics detection device to reduce the power consumption and increase the accuracy of such device.

<FIG> is a functional block diagram of a biological characteristics detection device according to embodiments of the present application. The biological characteristics detection device <NUM> includes a PPG circuit <NUM>, a light source <NUM> and N photoelectric converters, wherein the N photoelectric converters are divided into K sets of photoelectric converter sets 110_1~110_K, wherein N and K are integers greater than <NUM>; in the present embodiment, each set of the photoelectric converter sets 110_1~110_K includes N/K photoelectric converters that are parallelly connected, and N/K is an integer greater than <NUM>; however, the present application is not limited thereto, in some embodiments, each set of the photoelectric converter sets 110_1~110_K may include different numbers of photoelectric converters. The PPG circuit <NUM> is configured to control the light source <NUM> and N photoelectric converters to sense biological characteristics of an object under test <NUM>, e.g., the blood pressure, blood flow, blood oxygen, cerebral oxygen, muscle oxygen, blood glucose, microcirculatory peripheral vascular pulse rate, respiratory rate, respiratory volume, etc. of a living organism, and periodically generate biological characteristics sampling result DR according to a pulse repetition cycle TPF. In some embodiments, the N photoelectric converters are photodiodes, and the light source <NUM> is a light-emitting diode (LED); however, the present application is not limited thereto.

The PPG circuit <NUM> includes a transmitting channel <NUM>, K sets of receiving channels 104_1~104_K and a controller <NUM>, wherein the transmitting channel <NUM> is configured to perform a light-emission operation EP; the K sets of receiving channels 104_1~104_K are configured to perform a sampling operation SP. When the transmitting channel <NUM> performs the light-emission operation E, the transmitting channel <NUM> controls the light source <NUM> to generate incident light EL onto the object under test <NUM> which results in a reflective light RL carrying biological characteristics information. The K sets of receiving channels 104_1~104_K correspond to said K sets of photoelectric converter sets 110_1~110_K, when any one receiving channel of the K sets of receiving channels 104_1~104_K performs the sampling operation SP, it controls a corresponding photoelectric converter set of the K sets of photoelectric converter sets 110_1~110_K to sense received light, so as to generate current to the any one receiving channel. The received light includes the reflective light RL with the biological characteristics information; however, light leakage will take place if there is a gap between the biological characteristics detection device <NUM> and the object under test <NUM>, thereby leading to the received light additionally including ambient light AL.

The controller <NUM> is configured to control the light source <NUM> to perform the light-emission operation EP once during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, and specifically, during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, the controller <NUM> controls a portion (i.e., during a partial sampling phase; for example, J sets, and J is <NUM>) or all (i.e., during a full sampling phase) of the K sets of photoelectric converter sets 110_1~110_K to perform the sampling operation SP. The transmitting channel <NUM> includes a light source driver <NUM>, which is configured to drive the light source <NUM>; for example, if the light source <NUM> is an LED, the light source driver <NUM> is an LED driver. The receiving channels 104_1~104_K includes current-to-voltage converters 114_1~114_K and are configured to convert the current outputted by the photoelectric converter sets 110_1~110_K into voltage. In some embodiments, the controller <NUM> is implemented using a digital circuit, and the transmitting channel <NUM> may further include a digital-to-analog converter <NUM> coupled between the light source driver <NUM> and the controller <NUM>; the receiving channels 104_1~104_K may further include an analog-to-digital converter118_1~118_K coupled between the current-to-voltage converters 114_1~114_K and the controller <NUM>.

With respect to hear rate or cardiac/blood oxygen measurement, the object under test is generally the finger or wrist, and the biological characteristics detection device generally use multiple photoelectric converters corresponding to multiple location, and wherein only one or two locations thereof may provide valid biological characteristics sampling results. The controller <NUM> of the biological characteristics detection device <NUM> according to the present application enters the full sampling phase from the partial sampling phase every preset update interval T, so as to re-select J (e.g., one) receiving channels which are most effective for sampling the biological characteristics from the K receiving channels 104_1~104_K corresponding to the K sets of photoelectric converter sets 110_1~110_K as the current receiving channels RXS. The current receiving channels RXS are used during each pulse repetition cycle TPF for simultaneous sampling operation SP, so as to generate biological characteristics sampling result DR periodically. Since the full sampling phase is carried out once every preset update interval T to compare biological characteristics sampling results DR sampled by all the receiving channels 104_1~104_K, and if there are other candidates better than the current receiving channels RXS that are currently in use, such better receiving channel(s) will be set as the current receiving channels RXS. In the present application, during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, the light source <NUM> is only driven once; in the present embodiment, the preset update interval T is greater than <NUM> second, such as <NUM> seconds, and the length of the pulse repetition cycle TPF is in millisecond level, e.g., several millisecond; therefore, the preset update interval T is much greater than pulse repetition cycle TPF.

<FIG> is flow diagram illustrating the operation procedure of the biological characteristics detection device according to embodiments of the present application. In Step <NUM>, during the partial sampling phase, the controller <NUM> controls J current receiving channels RXS of the K receiving channels 104_1~104_K to simultaneously perform the sampling operation SP during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, so as to generates J biological characteristics sampling results DR during each pulse repetition cycle TPF. In this phase, the K-J receiving channels other than the current receiving channels RXS will not perform the sampling operation SP; in other words, during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, the simultaneous sampling operation SP will only be performed once; in other words, during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, the light source <NUM> will only be irradiated once.

In the present embodiment, when the duration of Step <NUM> lasts for a preset update interval T, the biological characteristics detection device <NUM> enters the full sampling phase, i.e., Step <NUM>, in which the controller <NUM> controls all K receiving channels 104_1~104_K to simultaneously perform sampling operation during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, so as to generate K biological characteristics sampling results DR. The full sampling phase will last for M pulse repetition cycles TPF, wherein M is an integer greater than <NUM>, so as to collect sufficient biological characteristics sampling results DR that can be used in Step <NUM> for determining which J receiving channels from the K receiving channels 104_1~104_K to be selected as the current receiving channels RXS, according to M*K biological characteristics sampling results DR, and then returns to Step <NUM>. It should be noted that, during the M pulse repetition cycles TPF of the full sampling phase, and before the current receiving channels RXS have been determined and updated, the controller <NUM> still uses the biological characteristics sampling results DR of the previouse current receiving channels RXS.

Specifically, in Step <NUM>, the controller <NUM> can generate K quality factors FOM corresponding to the K receiving channels 104_1~104_K according to M*K biological characteristics sampling results DR, and determine the current receiving channels RXS according to the K quality factors FOM. In the present application, the quality factor FOM can be any self-defined factors; in one embodiment, the controller <NUM> generates the K quality factors FOM according to a ratio of the DC component to the AC component of the M*K biological characteristics sampling results DR. In a further embodiment, the controller <NUM> generates the K quality factors FOM according to the signal intensity of the M*K biological characteristics sampling results DR at a specific frequency band. In yet another embodiment, the controller <NUM> further receives a gravity sensing signal G and generates the K quality factors FOM according to the M*K biological characteristics sampling results DR and the gravity sensing signal G.

Compared with the existing approach where multiple photoelectric converters are sampled alternatively during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, thereby driving the light source multiple times during each pulse repetition cycle TPF, the biological characteristics detection device <NUM> according to the present application will only be driven once during each pulse repetition cycle TPF; therefore, embodiments of the present application may save more power. Also, compared with another conventional approach where all photoelectric converter are parallelly connected and sampled together, the biological characteristics detection device <NUM> according to the present application divides all photoelectric converter into multiple sets and increases the number of the receiving channel to correspond to the multiple sets of photoelectric converters; in this way, only the photoelectric converters that are divided into the same set are parallelly connected instead of connecting all the photoelectric converter in parallel, therefore, it poses less impact to the dynamic range specification and suffers less parasitic capacitance effects. Furthermore, even during the M pulse repetition cycles TPF of the full sampling phase, before the current receiving channels RXS are determined and updated, the controller <NUM> still uses the biological characteristics sampling result DR from the previouse current receiving channels RXS, and hence the measurement of the heart rate and cardiac/blood oxygen level performed by the biological characteristics detection device <NUM> is not interrupted.

The PPG circuit <NUM> according to the present application can be implemented using a chip <NUM>, wherein the chip <NUM> can be a semiconductor chip implemented using various processes, and the N photoelectric converters and the light source <NUM> are disposed outside the chip <NUM> where the PPG circuit resides. Yet, the present application is not limited thereto; in some embodiments, the N photoelectric converters and/or the light source <NUM> can also be disposed in the chip <NUM> where the PPG circuit resides.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating a chip <NUM> including the biological characteristics detection device <NUM> according to embodiments of the present application, applied in an electronic device <NUM>. Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> includes a chip <NUM>. The electronic device <NUM> may be a wearable electronic device, e.g., watch, necklace or any other smart wearable device. The electronic device <NUM> may also be a handheld electronic device, such as a smart phone, digital personal assistant, hand-held computing system or tablet computer, etc..

Claim 1:
A photoplethysmogram (PPG) circuit (<NUM>), configured to control a light source (<NUM>) and N photoelectric converters to sense biological characteristics of an object under test (<NUM>), wherein N is an integer greater than <NUM>, and the PPG circuit (<NUM>) comprises:
a transmitting channel (<NUM>), configured to control the light source (<NUM>) to perform light emitting operations during pulse repetition cycles;
K receiving channels (104_1~104_K), wherein K is an integer greater than <NUM>, and the N photoelectric converters are divided into K sets of photoelectric converter sets (110_1~110_K), the K receiving channels (104_1~104_K) respectively correspond to the K sets of photoelectric converter sets (110_1~110_K); and
a controller (<NUM>), configured to control the PPG circuit (<NUM>) to operate in a partial sampling phase or a full sampling phase, when the controller (<NUM>) controls the PPG circuit (<NUM>) to operate in the partial sampling phase, the controller (<NUM>) activates J receiving channels of the K receiving channels (104_1~104_K) as current receiving channels and activates J sets of photoelectric converter sets of the K sets of photoelectric converter sets (110_1~110_K) corresponding to the J receiving channels to sense received light for performing the sampling operation, so as to generate J biological characteristics sampling results (DR) during each of the pulse repetition cycles, wherein J is smaller than K; and when the controller (<NUM>) controls the PPG circuit (<NUM>) to operate in the full sampling phase, the controller (<NUM>) activates all receiving channels of the K receiving channels (104_1~104_K) and activates all of the K sets of photoelectric converter sets (110_1~110_K) to sense the received light for performing the sampling operation, so as to generate K biological characteristics sampling results (DR) during each of the pulse repetition cycles, and from the K receiving channels (104_1~104_K), re-select J receiving channels as the current receiving channels to be activated during the next partial sampling phase according to the K biological characteristics sampling results (DR) generated during each of the pulse repetition cycles of the full sampling phases;
wherein the controller (<NUM>) controls the PPG circuit (<NUM>) to operate in the full sampling phase every preset update interval, and the preset update interval is greater than the pulse repetition cycle.