Patent Description:
Traditionally, biological electrical activity sensors have been fixed to the body. For example, surface electromyography (EMG) recording sensors or electrocardiography (ECG) electrodes are commonly held against the body with adhesive tape or a selfadhesive sticker/pad.

As the quality of the signals obtained by such sensors is strongly dependent on the contact between the sensor and the body, care is taken to prepare the surface of the body to ensure a sound contact by removing hair and cleaning the surface with alcohol.

However, the use of such sensors is wholly unsuitable for certain applications. For example, on the face, or parts of the body which frequently move or where the skin frequently wrinkles and stretches can render the adhesives holding the sensors ineffective, and some users can develop allergies to the adhesives used. Furthermore, the onerous application process described above can render the sensors unsuitable for casual use, or use in the home by non-medical consumers.

To overcome some of these issues, systems using non-adhesive sensors have been developed in recent years. These systems, however, have encountered further problems related to sensors lifting from the surface of the body and artefacts in the signal caused by movement of the body, each of which degrades the quality of the measured signals and can lead to the capture of erroneous data.

All of the systems above encounter interference in their measured signals due to ambient electric- and magnetic- fields, major sources of which include the mains electric power system and nearby radio, television or radar facilities. Such sources can couple to the body or the measurement device capacitively or via magnetic induction. Though such noise can be unpredictable, it is generally picked up uniformly across the body and the electrodes and hence it is referred to as "common-mode" noise or interference.

A partial solution to the problem of common-mode noise is shown in the known circuit <NUM> of <FIG>, known as a "driven right leg" (DRL) circuit. A patient <NUM> has their arms connected to two ECG electrodes <NUM> and <NUM>. The common-mode voltage of the body is derived from the signal common to the signals from the electrodes <NUM> and <NUM> - for example, by averaging the signals from the electrodes <NUM> and <NUM> using the resistor and amplifier network shown in <FIG>. This common-mode voltage is then inverted and amplified by op-amp <NUM> and fed back to the right leg. On the basis that the component common to well-spaced electrodes <NUM> and <NUM> substantially comprises noise, this provides a negative feedback loop that cancels environmental noise at the sensors and drives the common-mode voltage to a low value.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for measuring biological electrical activity, comprising: a plurality of sensors adapted for contact with a human or animal body; a signal injector configured to inject a reference signal into the body, the reference signal having a frequency substantially different to frequencies characteristic of the biological electrical activity; a lift-detection unit configured to receive signals from the plurality of sensors and, in dependence on the magnitude of the reference signal detected by each sensor, form a measure of the degree of contact between each respective sensor and the body; and a noise calculation unit configured to form an active cancellation signal by combining the signals detected by the sensors in dependence on their respective measures of the degree of contact with the body and to cause the signal injector to inject the active cancellation signal into the body.

The noise calculation unit may be configured to form the active cancellation signal by forming a weighted average of the signals detected by the sensors, wherein the signal detected by each sensor is weighted according to the measure of the degree of contact between that sensor and the body.

The noise calculation unit may be configured to downweight signals detected by sensors with lower measures of the degree of contact relative to signals detected by sensors with higher measures of the degree of contact.

The noise calculation unit may be configured to downweight signals detected by sensors whose respective measures of the degree of contact are below a predefined threshold.

The noise calculation unit may be configured to downweight signals detected by sensors in proportion to their measure of the degree of contact of the sensors relative to the predefined threshold, with signals detected by sensors further below the predefined threshold being downweighted to a greater degree than signals detected by sensors closer to the predefined threshold.

The measure of the degree of contact may be a binary measure indicating whether a sensor is or is not in contact with the body in dependence on whether the magnitude of the reference signal detected by that sensor is above or below a predetermined threshold, respectively.

The noise calculation unit may be configured to only combine the signals detected by sensors whose measure of the degree of contact indicate that those sensors are in contact with the body.

The apparatus may further comprise inertial motion units associated with one or more of the sensors, configured to form a measure of the movement of the respective one or more of the sensors, and wherein the noise calculation unit is configured to combine the signals detected by the one or more sensors in dependence on the measure of movement formed by the inertial motion unit associated with said one or more sensors.

The noise calculation unit may be configured to remove the reference signal from the signals detected by the plurality of sensors prior to combining those signals so as to form the active cancellation signal.

The noise calculation unit may further include a filter configured to remove the reference signal from the signals detected by the plurality of sensors.

The filter may be a band-stop or low-pass filter configured to attenuate frequencies at the reference signal frequency but pass frequencies below the reference signal.

The sensors may be configured to detect electromyographic signals.

The lift-detection unit may be further configured to identify patterns in the signals detected by the sensors characteristic of one or more facial expressions.

There is also provided headwear comprising the apparatus as described above. There is also provided glasses comprising the apparatus as described above. The signal injector may be located on an arm of the glasses such that it contacts the skin behind the ear of a wearer.

There is also provided a method for measuring biological electrical activity using a plurality of sensors adapted for contact with a human or animal body, the method comprising: injecting a reference signal into the body, the reference signal having a frequency substantially different to frequencies characteristic of the biological electrical activity; receiving signals detected by the plurality of sensors; forming a measure of the degree of contact between each sensor and the body in dependence on the magnitude of the reference signal detected by each sensor; forming an active cancellation signal by combining the signals detected by the sensors in dependence on their respective measures of the degree of contact with the body; and injecting the active cancellation signal into the body.

The forming of the active cancellation signal may comprise forming a weighted average of the signals detected by the sensors, wherein the signal detected by each sensor is weighted according to the measure of the degree of contact between that sensor and the body.

Signals detected by sensors with lower measures of the degree of contact may be downweighted relative to signals detected by sensors with higher measures of the degree of contact.

The signals detected by sensors whose respective measures of the degree of contact are below a predefined threshold may be downweighted.

The frequency of the reference signal may be substantially above the frequencies characteristic of the biological electrical activity. The frequency of the reference signal may be greater than <NUM>. The frequency of the reference signal may be greater than <NUM>. The frequency of the reference signal may be between <NUM> and <NUM>. The frequency of the reference signal may be between <NUM> and <NUM>.

The frequencies characteristic of the biological electrical activity may be between <NUM> and <NUM>.

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a particular application.

The system shown in <FIG> can suffer from problems when one of the electrodes <NUM> or <NUM> detaches or makes a poor connection to the body. This can result in one of the electrodes <NUM> or <NUM> not benefitting from the cancellation of the DRL circuit (since that electrode does not receive the common-mode cancellation signal), whilst that electrode still contributes to the common-mode voltage. This has the effect of degrading the quality of the signal from the electrode which is still in contact with the body. In some cases, the noise received at the fully or partially detached sensor will increase, leading to a net injection of noise into the system rather than a cancellation of common-mode noise at the sensors.

The present disclosure addresses these problems.

<FIG> illustrates an exemplary apparatus <NUM> comprising a plurality of biological electrical activity sensors <NUM>. The sensors may be configured to detect one or more of EEG (electroencephalogram), ECG (electrocardiogram), EOG (electrooculography) and EMG (electromyogram) signals from the body <NUM> of a person or animal. Each type of biological electrical activity will generally lie within a characteristic frequency range. For example, frequencies within the range of <NUM> to <NUM> are typically characteristic of electrical muscle activity.

Suitable sensor types include surface electromyographic (sEMG) sensors (e.g. contact sensors, such as those manufactured by mc10 or Toumaz) and electric potential (EP) sensors (e.g. such as Plessey EPIC sensors). It can be advantageous to use electric potential sensors because these exhibit high sensitivity and do not require a conductive medium such as a gel or conductive adhesive patch to electrically couple the sensor to the skin.

A signal injector <NUM> is configured to inject an electrical reference signal, into the body <NUM>. The signal injector <NUM> may be, for example, one or more electrodes. The signal injector <NUM> may inject signals into the body <NUM> at a single location, or at a plurality of different locations. A lift-detect signal is an example of a reference signal. The signal injector <NUM> may be configured to inject a lift-detect signal at a single frequency or a plurality of different frequencies.

The sensors <NUM> are configured such that they can detect signals across a frequency range that encompasses the frequencies of the biological electrical and the lift-detect signal. The lift-detect signal has a substantially different frequency to that of the biological electrical activity that is to be measured. Preferably, the frequency of the lift-detect signal should be sufficiently different from that of the biological electrical activity that is to be measured, so these signals can be easily separated. For example, for electrical muscle activity, which is typically within the range of <NUM> to <NUM>, a lift-detect signal of greater than <NUM> may be used. The lift-detect signal may be a greater frequency than that of the biological electrical activity being measured. The lift-detect signal may have a frequency that is <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM> times greater than the frequencies characteristic of the biological electrical activity being measured. The lift-detect signal may have a frequency of at least <NUM>. The lift-detect signal may have a frequency in the range of <NUM> to <NUM>, or <NUM> to <NUM>. The maximum practical frequency of the lift-detect signal is determined by the capabilities of the electronics described below and the electrical characteristics of the human or animal body.

Each sensor <NUM> may be connected to an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) <NUM> that converts the electrical signals detected by the sensors <NUM> to a digital signal, suitable to be processed by digital electronics. ADC <NUM> may then pass the converted signals to a lift-detection unit <NUM>. The lift-detection unit <NUM> is configured to determine the magnitude of the lift-detect signal received at each of the sensors - for example, the lift-detection unit <NUM> may be configured to determine the magnitude of the signals received by each of the sensors <NUM> at the frequency of the lift-detect signal. The magnitude of a signal may be any suitable measure of the strength of a signal, such as one or more of: amplitude, energy or power content over a predefined range of frequencies, a measure of the average or maximum signal at a predefined frequency or over a predefined range of frequencies. The lift-detection unit <NUM> may be configured to determine the amplitudes of the signals received by each of the sensors <NUM>.

Any suitable technique may be used to determine the magnitude of the lift-detect signals received at each sensor. For example, a filter (such as a band-pass filter configured to pass the frequency of the lift-detect signal) may be used to isolate the lift-detect signal from each sensor and its magnitude determined by measuring the energy or power of that isolated signal. For example, a Fourier analysis (e.g. using a fast Fourier transform or FFT) could be used to identify the energy of the frequency components at the frequency of the lift-detect signal. In some implementations a phase-locked loop could be used to extract the lift-detect signal received at each sensor.

The lift-detection unit <NUM> is configured to form a measure of the degree of contact between each sensor <NUM> and the body <NUM>. This measure is formed in dependence on the magnitude of the lift-detect signal received by each sensor <NUM>. The degree of contact between a sensor <NUM> and the body may vary in dependence on several factors. Examples of these factors include: the relative orientation of the sensor and the body, the force with which a sensor is pressed against the body, and the presence of moisture, hair and other skin contaminants between the sensor and the body.

The measure of the degree of contact may be a binary indication, e.g. an indication of either contact or no contact. The binary indication may be determined depending on whether or not the magnitude of the lift-detect signal received by a given sensor <NUM> is above or below a predetermined threshold. For example, sensors <NUM> which receive the lift-detect with a magnitude above the predetermined threshold may be determined to be in contact with the body <NUM>. Conversely, sensors <NUM> which receive the lift-detect with a magnitude below the predetermined threshold may be determined to not be in contact with the body <NUM>.

A suitable predetermined threshold may be established in any suitable manner - e.g. empirically and/or through a calibration process. The predetermined threshold may be a static value or the lift-detection unit <NUM> may be configured to vary the threshold during operation. The predetermined threshold may be set during a calibration process such that, in a given signal environment, the threshold for a sensor <NUM> is set in dependence on the magnitude of the lift-detect signal at the point a sensor <NUM> is deemed to lose contact with the body <NUM> (e.g. when the sensor loses physical contact with the body or when the sensor is some predefined distance from the body).

In some implementations, the threshold may be set for a sensor in dependence on the level of the lift-detect signal relative to the noise level in the signal according to any suitable measure of signal noise - for example, the threshold may be set at the point at which the ratio of the magnitude of the lift-detect signal to the magnitude of the signal noise is some predefined ratio. For example, the predefined ratio may comprise the magnitude of the lift-detect signal being <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> or <NUM> times greater than the magnitude of the signal noise. In general, a sensor <NUM> that loses contact with the body can no longer provide useful data for a given application. Each sensor may have its threshold independently set, one or more groups of sensors may have their threshold set together, or all of the sensors may have a common threshold set for them. Sensors may have their thresholds set differently as the strength of the coupling between each sensor and the signal injector <NUM> can vary depending on their relative location. For example, the threshold for a given sensor may vary in dependence on its distance from the signal injector <NUM>. Sensors further away from the signal injector may have a lower threshold than sensors nearer to the signal injector <NUM>. In some examples, different sensors may be different types of sensors and so may have different thresholds.

The measure of contact may be a continuous measure which varies in dependence on the magnitude of the lift-detect signal. For example, the measure may decrease from a maximum value (when the sensor <NUM> is in firm contact with the body <NUM>) as the contact becomes poorer until the measure reaches a minimum when no lift-detect signal is detected.

The system <NUM> further includes a noise calculation unit <NUM>. The noise calculation unit <NUM> is configured to form an active cancellation signal by combining signals received by the sensors <NUM>. The noise calculation unit <NUM> is configured to combine the signals received by the sensors <NUM> in dependence on the measure of the degree of contact of the sensors <NUM> with the body <NUM>. The noise calculation unit <NUM> is configured to cause the signal injector <NUM> to provide the active cancellation signal to the body. The noise calculation unit <NUM> may operate in a similar manner to the DRL system described in relation to <FIG>, wherein a common-mode voltage on the body is derived - for example, by averaging the received signals, inverting the average, and feeding it back to the body. In accordance with the principles described herein the input of the sensors <NUM> may be weighted according to their degree of contact with the body <NUM>, as is described in more detail below.

In general, any suitable technique may be used for combing the signals from the sensors so as to capture the noise signal common to the set of sensors <NUM> for use as the active cancellation signal. More complex approaches can be used than simply averaging the signals received from the sensors - for example, statistical or Fourier analyses may be used as is known in the art of signal processing. It can be necessary to scale the signals received from sensors so as to account for variations in sensitivity between sensors.

The lift-detect signal itself is preferably filtered out and/or cancelled from the signals received from the sensors prior to combining the sensor signals so as to form the active cancellation signal. This may be achieved, for example, through the use of a band-stop filter configured to attenuate signals at the frequency of the lift-detect signal, and/or by a low-pass filter configured to attenuate signals at or above the frequency of the lift-detect signal (e.g. in examples in which the characteristic frequencies of the biological signals are below the lift-detect signal), and/or by combining each received signal with an inverted and optionally scaled copy of the lift-detect signal so as to cancel the lift-detect signals present the signals from the sensors.

The noise calculation unit <NUM> may form its active cancellation signal in any suitable manner, including in the analogue or digital domain. In <FIG>, the noise calculation unit <NUM> is shown as operating in the digital domain. The system may further comprise a digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) <NUM> configured to convert a digital active cancellation signal into an analogue signal. Prior to causing the signal injector <NUM> to provide the active cancellation signal to the body, the noise calculation unit <NUM> may use any suitable means to filter out the contribution of the lift-detect signal to the active cancellation signal. For example, a filter such as a band-pass filter configured to filter out the frequency of the lift-detect signal may be used.

The lift-detection unit <NUM> and the noise calculation unit <NUM> may be implemented into the same device, as shown in <FIG>, referred to as the control device <NUM>. The lift-detection unit <NUM>, noise calculation unit <NUM> and control device <NUM>.

Sensors <NUM> in poor contact with the body <NUM> will generally benefit less from the active noise cancellation by virtue of their poor contact with the body. These sensors <NUM> will therefore have a low signal-to-noise ratio. Thus, the feedback loop of active noise cancellation which drives the noise to a low level during ideal operation can be disrupted. This can result in the active cancellation signal being a poor representation of the real unwanted noise, resulting in a degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio in the signals received by all sensors. Furthermore, in some situations, sensors in poor contact with the body may receive greater environmental noise than sensors in good contact with the body. Hence, forming an active cancellation signal by combining the signals received by sensors in dependence on measures of the degree of contact provides an improved active cancellation signal when compared with known DRL systems.

The noise calculation unit <NUM> may form the active cancellation signal by calculating a weighted average of the received signals. The individual signals from respective sensors <NUM> may be weighted according to the degree of contact between each respective sensor <NUM> and the body <NUM>. The signals from sensors <NUM> with a low degree of contact may be completely disregarded (equivalent to downweighting the signals from those sensors to zero). The signals from sensors <NUM> that have been disregarded (or downweighted to zero) will therefore not contribute to the determination of the active cancellation signal.

The functions of the lift-detection unit <NUM> and noise calculation unit <NUM> may be performed by the same device, i.e. a control device <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>. These units/devices may be implemented using one or more of: algorithms programmed into firmware, hardware and software.

<FIG> shows an example including four sensors 204a, 204b, 204b and 204d in varying degrees of contact with the body <NUM>. Signal injector <NUM> is shown injecting the lift-detect signal and the active cancellation signal and should preferably be maintained in good contact with the body <NUM>. Sensor 204a is also in good contact with the body <NUM>, receiving the active cancellation signal at an ideal magnitude and the lift-detect signal at a large magnitude.

Sensor 204b is shown with a lesser/worse degree of contact. Thus, sensor 204b may not fully benefit from the active cancellation signal and may only receive the lift-detect signal with an intermediate magnitude. If the measure of the degree of contact between sensor 204b and the body <NUM> is binary, the signal from the sensor 204b may or may not be excluded from contributing to the determination of the active cancellation signal, depending on the predetermined threshold. If the measure of the degree of contact between sensor 204b and the body <NUM> is continuous, the signal from the sensor 204b may be downweighted in the determination of the active cancellation signal.

Sensor 204c is shown with a particularly bad degree of contact. Thus, sensor 204c may hardly benefit from the active cancellation signal and may only receive the lift-detect signal with a negligible magnitude. If the measure of the degree of contact between sensor 204c and the body <NUM> is binary, the signal from the sensor 204c will be excluded from contributing to the determination of the active cancellation signal. If the measure of the degree of contact between sensor 204c and the body <NUM> is continuous, the signal from the sensor 204c may be downweighted in the determination of the active cancellation signal. The signal from sensor 204c may be downweighted to zero.

Sensor 204d is not in contact with the body. Thus, sensor 204d will not benefit from the active cancellation signal and will not receive the lift-detect signal. As with sensor 204c, if the measure of the degree of contact between sensor 204d and the body <NUM> is binary, the signal from the sensor 204d will be excluded from contributing to the determination of the active cancellation signal. If the measure of the degree of contact between sensor 204d and the body <NUM> is continuous, the signal from the sensor 204d may be heavily downweighted in the determination of the active cancellation signal. The signal from sensor 204d may be downweighted to zero.

A method <NUM> by which lift is detected and used to improve noise cancellation is shown in <FIG>. In the first step <NUM>, an out-of-band lift-detect signal is injected into the body. In the second step <NUM>, signals are received from each of the sensors. As described above, the signals will generally contain, to some degree, the desired biological signal, the lift-detect signal, and common-mode noise. In the third step <NUM>, a measure of contact between each sensor and the body is formed in dependence on the magnitude of the lift-detect. In the fourth step <NUM>, the signals from each sensor are weighted according to the measure of the degree of contact with the body. As discussed above, sensors in poor contact with the body will have their contributions reduced. In the fifth step <NUM>, the lift-detect signal is filtered out of the received signals. In the sixth step <NUM>, an active cancellation signal is determined by taking a weighted average of the signals, using the weights from step <NUM>. The active cancellation signal is then injected into the body in the seventh step <NUM>, by way of an electrode in contact with the body.

Applications of the present invention include any system in which the contact between biological electrical sensors and a body cannot be assured. Any use of these sensors which does not use gels and adhesives, such as personal users in a non-clinical setting can benefit from the present invention. One such application of the present invention is face monitoring headwear (and/or facewear). Sensors intended for contact with the face often suffer from a poor degree of contact with the skin due to the frequent, varied and unpredictable motion of the face. Facial movements may result from facial expressions, talking, eating, twitches and tics. Due to these movements of the face, it is difficult to provide sensors on facewear which are held in good contact with the skin at all times. Furthermore, these facial movements make adhesive sensors unsuitable for use on the face. For these reasons, facewear mounted sensors can particularly benefit from compensation for the degree of contact provided by the present invention. The apparatus <NUM> may be integrated into a pair of glasses. Glasses including the apparatus <NUM> are particularly suited for measuring biological electrical activity in an unobtrusive and inconspicuous manner. Glasses including the apparatus <NUM> allow the biological electrical activity to be measured without impeding a wearer's movement or vision.

<FIG> shows an exemplary use <NUM> of the present invention for accurately and reliably identifying and monitoring facial expressions. EMG sensors could be positioned at one or more of the identified locations <NUM> to <NUM>, where they would be able to monitor the electrical activity of muscles underlying the skin. The contact between the sensors and the skin can be significantly affected by the bunching of skin during certain facial expressions. For example, the contact between a sensor at location <NUM> may be significantly different during a frown than when relaxed, due to the skin bunching.

Certain locations may be more suited to signal injectors as opposed to sensors. For example, behind the ear at location <NUM> is particularly suited for the injection of signals, as performed by signal injector <NUM>, as components at this location do not obscure or obstruct the face. If the apparatus <NUM> is integrated into a pair of glasses, one or more electrodes of the signal injector <NUM> may be positioned on the arm of the glasses (e.g. at the distal end of the arm of the glasses) such that the signal injector <NUM> contacts the skin behind the ear.

Using the present invention on and around the face can provide further benefits. For example, the measure of the degree of contact, as determined by the lift-detection unit <NUM> may be indicative of the facial expression of a user. More specifically, the lift-detection unit <NUM> may be configured to identify patterns in the signals from the sensors <NUM> characteristic of one or more facial expressions. The lift-detection unit <NUM> may determine a facial expression by identifying patterns in the biological electrical signals and lift-detect signals received by the sensors <NUM>. This is advantageous as previous systems simply used the biological electrical systems and treated sensor lifting as an unwanted effect.

Claim 1:
Apparatus for measuring biological electrical activity, comprising:
a plurality of sensors adapted for contact with a human or animal body;
a signal injector configured to inject a reference signal into the body, the reference signal having a frequency substantially different to frequencies characteristic of the biological electrical activity;
a lift-detection unit configured to receive signals from the plurality of sensors and, in dependence on the magnitude of the reference signal detected by each sensor, form a measure of the degree of contact between each respective sensor and the body; and
a noise calculation unit configured to form an active cancellation signal by combining the signals detected by the sensors in dependence on their respective measures of the degree of contact with the body and to cause the signal injector to inject the active cancellation signal into the body.