Patent Application
20130338471
The present invention relates to a physiological signal detection device, and in particular to a physiological signal detection device that comprises a prominent projection for easy contact and secure engagement with a surface of human body, in order to facilitate detection of physiological signals of human body.
Nowadays, to detect physiological signals of human body, such as heart beat and brain wave, a plurality of sensor elements of physiological detection equipment is attached to (or worn on) various sites on a surface of human body. These sensor elements detect the current that spreads to the peripheral tissues or body surface occurring when nervous impulses (namely variation of membrane potential) passes through human body organs (such as heart and head). The detected signal is then transmitted from the sensor elements by electrical wires to the physiological detection equipment to be processed and converted into data to be displayed. In this way, the condition of an inspected portion (such as heart rate and variation of brain wave) can be realized.
The sensor elements are often made in the form of an electrode pad. The conventional electrode pad has a structure comprising an adhesive base layer (such as a layer of conductive adhesive) and an electrical conductive portion bonded to the base layer. To use in inspecting physiological signals, a surface of the base layer is completely and adhesively attached, through the adherence thereof, to the human body surface, whereby electrical current on the human body surface may flow through the base layer, the electrically conductive portion, electrical wires, to the physiological detection equipment. On the other hand, to carry out electrotherapy, electrical current is transmitted from the physiological detection equipment to the human body surface to penetrate into the body surface to simulate the portion to be treated.
However, the human body surface is a curved surface that is irregularly raised and recessed, particularly for prominently projecting portions (such as shoulders and knees), and this often leads to a gap existing between the base layer of the conventional electrode pad and the human body surface. When the human body makes movement, the peripheral portions of shoulder blade or the elbow joint may push away the base layer of the conventional electrode pad. This may lead to partial separation of the base layer and no longer attached to the human body surface, or even completely detached. These situations make it not possible to generate any detection signal and may lead to interruption of detection. Further, when a plurality of conventional electrode pads is used, these pads must be separately positioned on various portions of human body surface to be detected and then fixed. This makes the use very troublesome.
Further, the base layer of the conventional electrode pad may get cracking due to drying and may be easily stained with sweat dirt to have the transmission of physiological signal affected. Further, the retained sweat dirt may lead to moldiness and blackening. Or it may be easy to stick other contaminants (such as dusts) to induce noise interference. Further, the sweat dirt or contaminants that attach to the surface of the base layer may make the base layer losing adherence. Thus, the conventional electrode pad is often damaged due to the above discussed problems and inconvenience of use may result.
In view of these problems, the present invention aims to provide a physiological signal detection device that forms distinct projections and is easy to attach to and securely bond to human body surface in order to make inspection of physiological signals of an inspection subject easy and to increase convenience of use.
An object of the present invention is to provide a physiological signal detection device that forms distinct projections and is easy to attach to and securely bond to human body surface in order to make inspection of physiological signals of an inspection subject easy and to increase convenience of use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a physiological signal detection device that comprises an edge enclosure to provide the functions of positioning and improving comfortableness and aesthetics and also reduce the influence thereof to conduction of electrical current and also reduce noise interference.
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a physiological signal detection device that comprises a base layer; at least one electrode pad, which is positioned on a top surface of the base layer, the electrode pad and the base layer forming a first receiving compartment therebetween; and at least one projection, which is retained in the first receiving compartment. The projection comprises at least one raised surface, and the raised surface of the projection supports and raises the electrode pad. As such, a prominent projection is provided for easy contact and secure engagement with the surface of human body in order to facilitate detection of physiological signal of an inspection subject and improve convenience of operation. Further, an edge enclosure band is also included to provide function of positioning, improving comfortableness and aesthetics, and reducing influence on conduction of electrical current and lowering noise interference.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the drawings, in which:
With reference to the drawings and in particular to
In an example way of practice, the physiological signal detection device 1 has a simple structure of which the assembled configuration is illustrated in
With the above discussed constituent components, the present invention, when attached to the surface of human body, may be set in compliance with the surface curve of the human body to tightly attach thereto. The projection 30 is set in alignment with and supports and raises the electrode pad 11 so as to make a face of the electrode pad 11 projecting upward, whereby when observed from outside, the local face of the electrode pad 11 shows a projecting configuration to help tightly engage (or tightly abut against) the surface of human body with substantially no gap existing therebetween to allow electrical current on the surface of human body to be easily transmitted to the electrode pad 11 and facilitating detection of variation of physiological signal.
The physiological signal detection device 1 can be embodied in various formed according different number of electrode pads 11 used. For an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied with a single electrode pad 11, a wearable article (such as a wrist band or a wrist protector, not shown) to which the physiological signal detection device 1 according to the present invention is combined, together with an electronic device (such as a multimedia playing device, not shown), with an opposite end of the electronic device being electrically connected to an accessory (such as an earphone, not shown) that is attached to another portion of human body (such as an ear) for grounding (or negative electric pole) purposes so as to form a detection circuit. For an embodiment in which the present invention is embodied with a plurality of electrode pads 11, the physiological signal detection device 1 of the present invention is not limited to being mounted to wrist and may, as shown in
Opposite to the raised surface 31, the projection 30 comprises an opposite surface 32, which can be embodied in a raised form (not shown) or a flat form (see
The electrode pad 11 is provided with a plurality of mesh pores 111 (see
The projection 30 can be embodied with foam, silicone rubber, cotton fabric, or elastic objects for easy manufacture. For an embodiment where the projection 30 is made of an elastic object, the projection shows resiliency and is expandable or compressible and is prone to bending and folding and may resume the original shape thereafter so as to easily comply with the curve of surface of human body when attached to the surface of human body thereby facilitating easy use and replacement.
The base layer 20 may comprise a fabric layer, a plastic sheet, or a layer of polyester fibers.
Further, in the instant embodiment, the at least one electrode pad 11 can be a plurality of electrode pads 11, and the at least one projection 30 can be a plurality of projections 30. The term “a plurality of” refers to a number that is equal to or greater than two. An example of the present invention shown in
The second receiving compartment S2 functions to receive and retain other objects (such as electrical wires, sensors, and controllers). In case that no article or object is received in the second receiving compartment S2, the connection band 12 is bonded to the top surface of the base layer 20.
In a practical application, connection made between each of the electrode pads 11 and the base layer 20 and the connection band 12, and connection made between the connection band 12 and the base layer 20 include sewing (being stitched with threads), adhesives (being bonded with application of adhesives) or thermal fusion (being first cut and heating applied to the cut site for fusion and jointing) to ensure secure connection.
Further, as shown in
Further, as shown in
Further, for an electrode pad 11 of a relatively large size, to save expense and to effectively form electrical engagement between the electrode pad 11 and body surface, as shown in
In a practical application, where the present invention is embodied with a single electrode pad 11, the extension conductor 13 discussed above can also be included. Further, when the present invention is embodied with more than two electrode pads 11, based on the sizes thereof, the electrode pads 11 can be selectively provided with and coupled to extension conductors 13.
The extension conductor 13 discussed above for the electrode pad 11 is formed by composing a plurality of conductive yarns that are provided for weaving purposes and are relatively flexible. The extension conductor 13 is electrically connected to an electrical wire (not shown), which has an opposite end electrically connected to physiological detection equipment (not shown), whereby electrical current of body surface flows through the electrode pad 11, the extension conductor 13, and the electrical wire to enter the physiological detection equipment. In a practical application, the extension conductor 13 is not a necessary component and the electrode pad 11 is directly and electrically connected to the electrical wire (not shown).
As such, the present invention provides a physiological signal detection device, which comprises a combined structure of at least one electrode pad 11, a base layer 20, and at least one projection 30 to provide a prominent projection for easy contact with and secure engagement with a surface of human body in order to facilitate detection of physiological signal of an inspection subject and improve convenience of operation. Further, an edge enclosure band 40 is also included to provide function of positioning, improving comfortableness and aesthetics, and reducing influence on conduction of electrical current and lowering noise interference.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
