Patent Application
20120226176
This Application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 100106844 filed on Mar. 2, 2011, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure generally relates to a physiological signal receiving device, and more particularly relates to a physiological signal receiving device comprising an ExpressCard interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the progress of medical science, human beings are paying more attention to their health. However, modern people usually spend little time to have checkups due to their busy lives. A heartbeat, and one's breath and brain waves are all important indexes of health. A combination of the above indexes is helpful for people and family doctors to understand physical conditions of a person.
Traditional sensing systems for heartbeat, breath and brain waves are wired sensing systems. For example, a patient must put many electrodes on his body when using an electrocardiogram (ECG). The electrodes conduct heartbeat signals, and a device processes the heartbeat signals and then displays processed signals on a monitor. Use of wires and electrodes limit the motion of patients when in use and may make them reluctant to have checkups.
Medical devices are expensive and complex, so most people are not capable of easily examining their own physiological signals. In summary, it is necessary to invent a wireless, small and cheap physiological signal receiving device for receiving physiological signals of a person.
An ExpressCard interface is an expansion interface for information devices. The ExpressCard interface is developed by PCMCIA and supports hot swapping.
In one exemplary embodiment, the disclosure is directed to an electronic device for receiving a physiological signal of a user, comprising: a physiological signal receiving device, comprising: a sensor, configured to receive the physiological signal of the user; a first processor, coupled to the sensor, and configured to convert the physiological signal into a digital signal; a first communication interface, configured to output the digital signal; a battery and power management system; an ExpressCard connector, coupled to the first processor; and a computing device, comprising: a second communication interface, configured to receive the digital signal; and an ExpressCard socket.
In another exemplary embodiment, the disclosure is directed to a physiological signal receiving device for receiving a physiological signal of a user, comprising: a sensor, configured to receive the physiological signal of the user; a processor, coupled to the sensor, and configured to convert the physiological signal into a digital signal; a communication interface, configured to output the digital signal; a battery and power management system; and an ExpressCard connector, coupled to the processor.
In one exemplary embodiment, the disclosure is directed to a physiological signal receiving method for receiving a physiological signal of a user, comprising: receiving the physiological signal of the user via a physiological signal receiving device; converting the physiological signal into a digital signal via the physiological signal receiving device; outputting the digital signal wirelessly via the physiological signal receiving device; receiving the digital signal wirelessly via a computing device; and generating user status information according to the digital signal via the computing device, wherein the physiological signal receiving device comprises an ExpressCard interface.
In another exemplary embodiment, the disclosure is directed to a computing device for computing a digital signal, comprising: a processor, generating user status information according to the digital signal.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In one embodiment of the invention, as shown in
As shown in
After receiving a digital signal, the processor 141 may display the digital signal on the display unit 142 directly, or calculate user status information according to the digital signal and then display the user status information on the display unit 142. In one embodiment, the physiological signal is a heartbeat or pulse, the digital signal is an electrocardiogram, and the user status information is a sentiment index that is calculated via the processor 141 according to the electrocardiogram. In another embodiment, the physiological signal is a brain wave, the digital signal is an electroencephalogram, and the user status information is a sleep index that is calculated via the processor 141 according to the electroencephalogram. The ExpressCard socket 146 may be electrically connected to the ExpressCard connector 126 of the physiological signal receiving device 120 in order to provide electric power for the battery and power management system 127 of the physiological signal receiving device 120. Therefore, the computing device 140 may serve as a charging device. In some embodiments, the digital signal can be transmitted from the physiological signal receiving device 120 to the processor 141 of the computing device 140 through the ExpressCard socket 146.
In one embodiment of the invention, the physiological signal receiving device 120 is utilized for measuring an electrocardiogram of a user and calculating a sentiment index of the user. The physiological signal receiving device 120 can be applied to a checkup or a polygraph. First, the user puts two thumbs on the sensing metals 221a, 221b of the obverse side 220 of the physiological signal receiving device, respectively. If necessary, other fingers can be put on the ground metal 241 of the back side 240 of the physiological signal receiving device. By measuring potential differences between the sensing metals 221a, 221b, the processor 121 of the physiological signal receiving device 120 can convert a physiological signal (heartbeat or pulse) into a digital signal (electrocardiogram). Next, the physiological signal receiving device 120 wirelessly transmits the electrocardiogram to the processor 141 of the computing device 140. The processor 141 displays the electrocardiogram on the display unit 142, and calculates user status information (sentiment index) according to heart rate and heartbeat waveforms of the electrocardiogram. Then, the processor 141 displays the user status information on the display unit 142. For example, the sentiment index can be ordered from 0 to 100. If the sentiment index is smaller than 40, it means that the user is relax, if the sentiment index is between 40 and 60, it means that the user is not that relaxed buy not tense, if the sentiment index is larger than 60, it means that the user is tense. By calculating the sentiment index, emotions of a user can be quantified, such that, for example, whether or not someone being asked questions is lying may be determined.
The invention utilizes an ExpressCard as an interface of the physiological signal receiving device because the ExpressCard is cheap, and easy to be incorporated into a notebook, and portable electronic device. Thus, the physiological signal receiving device of the invention has a commercial advantage, wherein people or hospitals may use the device to understand physical conditions of users.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the invention. It is intended that the standard and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosed embodiments being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100106844 | Mar 2011 | TW | national |
