CN1985752A

CN1985752A - Distributed physiological signal monitoring equipment

Info

Publication number: CN1985752A
Application number: CNA2005101377400A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 周常安
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-12-19
Filing date: 2005-12-19
Publication date: 2007-06-27
Also published as: WO2007071180A1

Abstract

A distributed physiological signal monitoring device comprising: a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices including electrodes and/or sensors; and at least three units electrically connected to each other and combined with a substrate to form a combined body, in which: at least one unit is provided with a battery to provide power supply required by the equipment; at least one unit is provided with a wireless transceiving module; at least one unit for wired connection with the physiological signal sensing device; and at least one unit is provided with a signal analog-digital conversion module, wherein the units are attached to the base body in a dispersed mode, so that the combined body can have the characteristics of weight dispersion and conformity with a human body curve when being arranged on the head, the limbs or the body of a user for monitoring the physiological signals.

Description

Distributed physiological signal monitoring equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a portable physiological signal monitoring device, and more particularly, to a distributed physiological signal monitoring device that reduces the weight experienced by a user when the device is worn on the body using a distributed structure.

Background

With the health emphasis of modern people and the coming of aging society, the need of physiological signal monitoring, especially multiple physiological signal monitoring, is becoming more and more important in modern life, for example, the detection of sleep disorder requires multiple physiological signal monitoring, but the known multiple physiological signal monitoring devices have considerable disadvantages.

In most conventional multiple physiological signal monitoring apparatuses, only the sensing devices for various physiological signals to be detected are integrated, so that the user is full of the sensing devices, and during measurement, the user needs to set all the electrodes/sensors on the user through the connecting wires, so that the user is full of the connecting wires and is restricted in movement. Furthermore, if it is necessary to move during the measurement, which is equivalent to the need to re-adapt the connection lines, it is not only inconvenient for the user, but also cumbersome for the adapting medical staff, and therefore, in fact, a rather complicated measurement behavior. In addition, a single physiological signal monitoring device with multiple electrodes also has the same trouble, for example, a great number of electrodes need to be arranged on the head of a user in general electroencephalogram physiological signal detection, and the position arrangement of the electrodes on the head is not easy, so that the device is a great project if the electrodes need to be connected again.

Alternatively, there are further improved devices which miniaturize the device and integrate it into a slightly smaller machine so that it can be placed around or carried directly on the body during measurement, however, even in this way the machine still has a considerable weight, and the feeling of weight caused by carrying on the body is not so convenient for the user. Even though the volume has been reduced, the way of placing the device around the body and contacting the device by using the connecting wire still limits the mobility of the user, so that in the future with an increasing demand for multiple physiological signal monitoring devices, how to make such multiple physiological signal monitoring become simpler, lighter and easier to implement is indeed a goal to be achieved.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a physiological signal monitoring device which is light and has the characteristics of weight dispersion and flexibility when being installed on a user.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a physiological signal monitoring device using a distributed concept as a configuration principle, in which the weight can be distributed in a distributed manner, thereby reducing the load.

Disclosure of Invention

An embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus, comprising a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices including electrodes and/or sensors, and at least three units electrically connected to each other and combined with a substrate to form a combined body, wherein: at least one unit is provided with a battery to provide power supply required by the equipment; at least one unit is provided with a wireless transceiving module; at least one unit for wired connection with the physiological signal sensing device; and at least one unit is provided with a signal analog-digital conversion module; the units are attached to the base body in a dispersed manner, so that the combined body can have the characteristics of weight dispersion and body curve fitting when being arranged on the head, limbs or body of a user for physiological signal monitoring.

Preferably, one of the physiological signal sensing devices has a wireless transceiving function, and the physiological signal sensed by the physiological signal sensing device with the wireless transceiving function is wirelessly transmitted to the unit with the wireless transceiving module on the base body.

And the sensor of the physiological signal sensing device comprises: a heart sensor, an electroencephalogram sensor, an eye movement sensor, a myoelectricity sensor, a snore sensor, a respiration sensor, a chest and abdomen respiration sensor, a four limbs movement sensor, a body movement sensor, a head movement sensor and a blood oxygen sensor; the base body and one of a chest belt and an abdominal belt included in the thoracoabdominal respiration sensor can be integrated into a single belt body, and the body movement sensor is arranged in one of the units.

Alternatively, when the physiological signal sensing device is a plurality of identical electrodes, the physiological signal monitoring device may be an electroencephalogram signal monitoring device or an electrocardiograph signal monitoring device.

According to a preferred embodiment, the battery may be separately separated from the combined body to be externally charged and/or replaced, or alternatively, the unit having the battery may be separately separated from the base body to be externally charged, in which case, the unit having the battery further includes a processing module to implement a pairing process (pairing process) before wireless transmission with an external device, and the unit having the battery may further include a memory to implement transmission to an external reading device through the processing module.

According to another preferred embodiment, at least one of the units further includes a memory capable of being implemented in an extracted form, and the unit including the memory may further include a processing module to implement a pairing procedure before wireless transmission with an external device, and the unit including the memory may also be separately separated from the base to implement transmission to an external reading device through the processing module.

In addition, the base body may be implemented as a belt body for surrounding the head, limbs or trunk of the user, and the units are carried on the belt body, and a line for electrical connection between the units is disposed inside the belt body, or the base body may be implemented as a harness, and the units are attached to the harness, or the base body may also be implemented in a form of covering the units and the inter-unit connection lines to achieve the effects of fixation and series connection at the same time, or the base body may also be implemented in a form of a patch for carrying the units to facilitate attachment to the user. In addition, preferably, the base is implemented as a flexible PCB, and the modules in the units are directly disposed on the flexible PCB, and the connection between the units is also achieved through the flexible PCB.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, one of the units further comprises an operation interface and a display device for operating the physiological signal monitoring apparatus.

In another embodiment, the physiological signal monitoring device further comprises a wireless control unit located outside the combination body for controlling the physiological signal monitoring device and providing storage and display functions, wherein the wireless control unit can be disposed on the user through another base body, and the other base body can be implemented as a hand strap, so that the wireless control unit can be worn on the wrist or in the form of a patch for carrying the wireless control unit, thereby facilitating attachment to the user.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus comprising a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices, including electrodes and/or sensors, and at least three units, electrically connected to each other, wherein: at least one unit is provided with a battery to provide power supply required by the equipment; at least one unit is provided with a wireless transceiving module; at least one unit for wired connection with the physiological signal sensing device; and at least one unit is provided with a signal analog-digital conversion module; the unit is arranged on the body of the user in a dispersion mode when monitoring the physiological signal so as to realize the effects of weight dispersion and conformity with the human body curve.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus is provided, which includes a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices including electrodes and/or sensors; the first unit and the second unit are electrically connected with each other and are positioned on a base body to form a combination body, wherein the first unit can be separated from the combination body independently and comprises a battery for providing power supply required by the physiological signal monitoring equipment, and a processing module is used for setting the first unit and the second unit; the second unit comprises a module for connecting the physiological signal sensing device in a wired mode and a processing module at least having a signal analog-digital conversion function, wherein the processing module in at least one of the first unit and the second unit has a wireless transceiving function; and the first unit and the second unit are attached to the base body in a dispersed manner, so that the combined body can have the characteristics of weight dispersion and conformity to a human body curve when being arranged on the head, the limbs or the body of a user for the purpose of physiological signal monitoring.

In an implementation manner of the foregoing embodiment, the processing module of the first unit may have a wireless transceiving function, and the processing module may implement a pairing procedure before performing wireless transmission with the external device, and the first unit may implement setting communication with the external device by using the processing module of the first unit, so as to set the second unit. In another embodiment, the processing module of the second unit may have a wireless transceiving function, wherein the processing module of the second unit may implement a pairing procedure before wireless transmission with the external device through the wireless transceiving function, or the second unit may also communicate with the external device through the first unit, and implement a pairing procedure before wireless transmission with the external device through communication between the processing module and the processing module of the first unit. In addition, the processing modules of the first unit and the second unit have a wireless transceiving function.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus, which includes a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices including electrodes and/or sensors, and a first unit and a second unit electrically connected to each other, wherein the first unit includes a battery for providing a power supply required by the physiological signal monitoring apparatus, and a processing module for setting the first unit and the second unit; and the second unit comprises a module for connecting the physiological signal sensing device in a wired mode and a processing module at least having a signal analog-digital conversion function, wherein the processing module included in at least one of the first unit and the second unit has a wireless transceiving function, and the first unit and the second unit are attached to the body of a user in a dispersion mode so as to achieve the effects of weight dispersion and body curve fitting during physiological signal monitoring.

A further embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus, comprising a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices including electrodes and/or sensors, at least one of which has a wireless transceiving function, and a unit for controlling all of the physiological signal sensing devices, and combining with a substrate to form a combination body to surround the head, limbs or body of a user when monitoring the physiological signal, wherein the unit includes a processing module; a battery to provide power for the physiological signal monitoring device; a wireless transceiving module for wirelessly transmitting with the physiological signal sensing device with wireless transceiving function and an external device; the module is used for being connected with the physiological signal sensing device in a wired mode so as to be connected with the physiological signal sensing device without a wireless transceiving function; and a signal analog-digital conversion module.

In the above embodiment, the unit may further include a memory, and the memory may be externally accessible after the unit is separated from the base, but of course, the memory may be implemented as a removable memory, or alternatively, the memory and the battery may be integrated into a single unit that is separable from the unit for external access and charging.

A further embodiment of the present invention provides a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus, which includes a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices including electrodes and/or sensors, at least one of which has a wireless transceiving function, and a unit for controlling all of the physiological signal sensing devices and being disposed on a user's body during monitoring of the physiological signals, wherein the unit includes a processing module; a battery to provide power for the physiological signal monitoring device; a wireless transceiving module for wirelessly transmitting with the physiological signal sensing device with wireless transceiving function and an external device; the module is used for being connected with the physiological signal sensing device in a wired mode so as to be connected with the physiological signal sensing device without a wireless transceiving function; and a signal analog-digital conversion module.

In another embodiment, the present invention provides a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus, which includes a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices including electrodes and/or sensors, a flexible and elastic substrate, and a circuit distribution disposed on the substrate; the circuit distribution includes: a battery to provide the power supply required by the equipment; a wireless transceiver module for wireless transmission with an external device; a module for wired connection to the physiological signal sensing device; and the signal analog-digital conversion module is used for placing the substrate bearing the circuit distribution on a user body during the physiological signal monitoring, and achieving the effects of dispersing the weight of the physiological signal monitoring equipment and conforming to the curve of the human body through the characteristics of flexibility and elasticity.

According to the above embodiment, the sensor of the physiological signal sensing device comprises: a heart sensor, an electroencephalogram sensor, an eye movement sensor, a myoelectricity sensor, a snore sensor, a respiration sensor, a chest and abdomen respiration sensor, a four limbs movement sensor, a body movement sensor, a head movement sensor and a blood oxygen sensor; the body movement sensor is arranged in the circuit distribution, and when the physiological signal sensing device is a plurality of same electrodes, the physiological signal monitoring device is an electroencephalogram signal monitoring device or an electrocardiosignal monitoring device.

In addition, preferably, the batteries may be separately distributed from the circuit to be externally charged and/or replaced. Preferably, the distributed physiological signal monitoring device in the above embodiment further includes a memory, and the memory may be implemented as a removable memory, or the memory may be integrated with the battery into a sub-module that can be distributed and separated from the circuit, so as to be accessed and charged externally.

Furthermore, the substrate in the above embodiments is implemented in a form of covering the circuit distribution or in a form of a patch for carrying the circuit distribution, so as to facilitate attachment to a user, wherein, more preferably, the substrate is implemented in a flexible PCB, and the circuit distribution is directly disposed on the flexible PCB and electrically connected to the circuit through the flexible PCB.

In addition, the distributed physiological signal monitoring device may further include a wireless control unit for remotely controlling the physiological signal monitoring device and providing storage and display functions, wherein the wireless control unit may be disposed on the user through another base, and the other base is implemented as a hand strap, so that the wireless control unit may be worn on the wrist, or implemented in a form of a patch for carrying the wireless control unit, so as to facilitate attachment to the user.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of a distributed unit according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows another implementation of the first embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a second embodiment of a distributed unit according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a third embodiment of a distributed unit according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a detailed schematic diagram showing a coupling body included in a first preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of the distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of a second preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of a third preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of a fourth preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of a fifth preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of a sixth preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of a seventh preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram showing an actual implementation of an eighth preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of a ninth preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing a practical implementation of a tenth preferred embodiment of a distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention;

fig. 16 is a schematic diagram showing an eleventh preferred embodiment of the distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention.

Wherein the reference numerals are as follows:

1 base body 10 Unit

12 unit and 14 unit

30 units 32 units

40 unit 401 subunit

50 unit 52 unit

54, 54 'unit 56, 56' unit

60 brain electric sensor 61 eye movement sensor

62 myoelectric sensor 63 electrocardio sensor

64 limbs movement sensor 65 rising-to-suction sensor

Chest belt of 66 snore detector 67 chest belly respiration sensor

68 belly belt 69 blood oxygen sensor of chest and belly respiration sensor

70 wireless blood oxygen sensor 72 wireless limb movement sensor

80 integration chest strap 90 strap on arm

92 body movement sensor 102 ear oximeter

104 patch 110 watch band

112 unit 114 blood oxygen sensor

116 wireless electrocardio sensor 118 electromyography sensor

120 headband 122 unit

124 respiration sensor 126 snore sensor

128 wireless blood oxygen sensor 130 integrated chest belt

131 abdominal belt 132 unit of chest-abdomen respiration sensor

134 unit 140 wireless control unit

141 unit 142 patch

143 breathing sensor 144 snore sensor

145 ear blood oxygen sensor 146 wireless electrocardio sensor

150 unit 152 unit

154 base 156 and base combined electrocardio-electrode

158 electrocardio-electrode 160 base body combined with base body

161 unit 162 unit

Detailed Description

The present invention will be fully understood and implemented by those of ordinary skill in the art with the following examples, but the present invention is not limited to the specific examples described below.

The invention provides a distributed physiological signal monitoring device, which replaces the traditional heavy device and ensures that a user does not feel burden even if all devices are arranged on the body when the user monitors the physiological signal so as to increase the comfort and mobility of the user when the user uses the device.

Therefore, under the principle, the distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present inventive concept comprises at least one unit for operation and a plurality of physiological signal sensors, wherein the operation unit is attached to a base to form a combination to be disposed on the limbs, the head or the body of the user, and the plurality of physiological signal sensing devices can be implemented as electrodes and/or sensors.

The base body to which the unit for operation is attached may be implemented in various forms, such as, but not limited to, a belt form (for example, for encircling a body, limbs, a head, or a strap), a coating form material (for example, silica gel capable of being tightly combined with the coating unit at the same time), a patch form, and the like, and if there are a plurality of operation units, a connecting line between the units may be hidden in the belt or tightly combined and coated. In addition, the base body can be made flexible and elastic so as to be curved and tightly combined with the human body, thereby providing comfort for the user when carrying the operation unit. It is to be reminded here that when using the option of a similar flexible PCB, all the lines will be able to be placed directly on the flexible PCB without the need for extra connecting wires, but the flexible PCB can also be used only for connecting the units, again in combination with other options as a base.

Next, regarding the monitoring part of the physiological signal, as is well known, what is needed to accomplish the monitoring of the physiological signal is not: the supply of power, acquisition of signals, digital-to-analog conversion, amplification, storage, analysis, etc., therefore, according to the principles of the present invention, the modules having these functions are distributed in the operation unit on the substrate with small volume and portability.

How to distribute and how many each module, there is a completely free space to play, that is, the number of each module is not limited to one, and each module is not limited to exist in only one unit, and can be adjusted according to the actual factors such as the required number, configuration mode, and measurement quality. Thus, the various embodiments illustrated below are merely possible preferred implementations, not necessarily requirements for implementation.

First, the operation unit according to the present invention described above can be implemented in three or more numbers, and the reason for doing so is that: when one device is compared with a plurality of devices having the same total weight, it is natural that the plurality of devices having the weight distributed in a dispersed manner are relatively easy to bear on a human body having a load, and if one device can be divided into a plurality of devices without reducing the function, the human body having a load can also experience a preferable characteristic of being attached to the body curve.

Fig. 1 shows an example of the present invention implemented by three operation units, which is a first embodiment of a combination of distributed physiological signal monitoring devices according to the present invention, and the three (but not limited to) units electrically connected to each other included on the base 1 mainly function as: the unit 10 is used for wired connection with a physiological signal sensing device; the unit 12 includes a processing module having a wireless transceiving function and an analog-to-digital conversion function; the unit 14 includes a battery to provide power.

It is to be noted here that although fig. 1 shows a case of three units, three or more units are similarly applicable. The basic principle is that the weight dispersion and the human body curve compliance characteristics are met, and the configuration is convenient.

The unit 10 is a medium for performing wired connection between the physiological signal sensing device and the processing module, that is, when the physiological signal sensing device performs signal transmission in a wired manner, a component for plugging the connection line of the physiological signal sensor device and receiving the physiological signal in the combination body is the unit 10 with the corresponding number of plugging pins.

In this embodiment, the unit 12 performs the core operation of the whole device by including a processing module having at least an analog-to-digital conversion function, and the physiological signals received by the unit 10 enter the unit 12 for performing the basic analog-to-digital conversion and other related processing. Besides the processing of these data, the processing module in the unit 12 can also have a wireless transceiving function, so that the physiological signal monitoring device has a wireless transceiving function, and thus, the physiological signal monitoring device can have a capability of wirelessly communicating with an external device, in this case, the real-time external transmission of the physiological signal can be completed, that is, the physiological signal can be transmitted to an external receiving device such as a computer, a PDA, and the like without an external connection, so that the user is completely free from the trouble that the action is limited by a connection line.

Besides the above situation, if the physiological signal sensing device includes a sensor with wireless transceiving function, the wireless transceiving module in the unit 12 can also be used to receive the physiological signal wirelessly transmitted by the wireless sensor, and in this case, the physiological signal can be received through the wireless transceiving module of the unit 12 without passing through the plug-in module of the unit 10.

The unit 14 is primarily used as a power supply. In order to further realize the movement without removing the connecting wires and the unlimited concept, the unit 14 is a battery for providing power to the whole physiological signal monitoring device, so that the charging process is performed away from the user (and the whole combination body is removed from the user to realize the charging process, and the full battery is replaced to continue the measuring process. Furthermore, the invention can also be implemented in such a way that the unit 14 with the battery can be detached separately from the combination (here, likewise, the unit 14 with the battery is also exchangeable), so that, in addition to the charging procedure, other procedures can also be implemented by means of modules with other functions arranged in the unit 14. For example, when the battery-equipped unit 14 further includes a memory, the memory reading operation can be performed while charging, or the battery-equipped unit 14 can further include a transceiver module (except the transceiver module in the unit 12), so that the wireless transmission operation with the external device can be handed over to the unit 14, and vice versa, that is, the allocation of the wireless transmission operation between the unit 12 and the unit 14 is not absolutely limited, or the unit 14 can be responsible for communication with the wireless sensor, and the unit 12 is responsible for communication with the external device, or only one unit (12 or 14) is responsible for all the wireless transmission operations. However, it should be specifically mentioned here that, since the unit 14 is designed to be detachable from the combination, if it is responsible for wireless transmission service to external devices, the configuration and communication (referred to as pairing procedure herein) required before wireless transmission can be realized not only by wireless pairing but also by contact pairing by detaching, which makes the whole design more flexible.

It is to be noted, however, that since the units are electrically connected to each other, the arrangement of the functional modules can be made quite flexible in order to meet practical requirements, for example, fig. 2 is another possible implementation, wherein, since many plug positions may be needed, the plug positions are distributed over two units, so that the detailed module distribution is not absolute, and it is the spirit of this embodiment of the present invention to meet the principle of structural distribution.

In the embodiment of the above structure, the present invention proposes the basis of dispersion for the known technology that: the device such as the host computer which originally needs a large volume is dispersed into a plurality of units with small volume, so that the weight is dispersed, and the weight is relatively consistent with the human body curve, therefore, the user can not feel the burden even if wearing the device on the body, moreover, the arrangement mode is very important, the user can completely avoid the external connection when in test, the action of the user is still not limited after the arrangement of the electrodes/sensors is completed, and the operations such as charging, data reading and analyzing and the like can be easily completed without detaching the combination and a plurality of electrodes/sensors.

The concept of the present invention can be implemented in more than three units, and various embodiments other than the embodiments illustrated in fig. 1 and 2 are possible, and some examples of which will be illustrated later.

Next, the number of the operation units may also be implemented as two according to the concept of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 3, two operation units 30, 32 electrically connected to each other are attached to the base 1, wherein the unit 30 is used for wired connection with the physiological signal sensing device and may include a processing module having an analog-to-digital conversion function, and the unit 32 has a battery for providing power and a processing module having a wireless transceiving function.

Here, the unit 30 is equal to the combination of the units 10 and 12, that is, the receiving, the analog-to-digital conversion, and the related processing of the wired physiological signal are all completed on the unit 30, and the functions of the units 10 and 12 are described in detail in the foregoing, so that the detailed description is omitted. It is emphasized, however, that if a wireless sensor is involved in the monitoring of the physiological signal, the processing module in the unit 30 may accordingly have a function of transmitting and receiving wireless signals. Furthermore, the unit 32, similar to the unit 14 described above, can also be separated from the base 1 to independently charge the internal battery (while avoiding electrical isolation problems).

In this case, it is preferable that the unit 32 further includes a memory, so that the memory can be accessed externally independently when the battery is separated from the base, but the memory can be configured in the unit 30, and then the wireless transceiving function of the unit 32 or the unit 30 is used to transmit the physiological signal externally, or directly implemented as a removable memory, or the physiological signal can be transmitted externally in real time. Since the unit 32 can be separated from the base, the pairing procedure with the external device before transmission can be performed by a contact pairing method as well as a wireless pairing method.

In the above two-operation-unit structure, in addition to the principle of distributing the operation hosts, the present invention proposes a distribution basis for the prior art that: the procedures that would cause a measurement interruption and/or that would have to be performed by detaching the electrodes/sensors and/or devices and the like arranged on the body, such as charging, memory access, contact fitting and the like, are particularly separated from the existing devices, so that the user can still perform these procedures without affecting the arranged electrodes/sensors, and the operating power thereof is not limited as such.

Finally, the number of the operation units may also be implemented as one, as shown in fig. 4.

The only one unit 40 on the base 1 is a collection of the above units, so it can not only be separated from the base 1, but also include all functions, therefore, it can not only be connected to the physiological sensing device by wire, but also be connected to the sensor with wireless transmission function and the external wireless equipment wirelessly, so as to reduce the number of connecting wires and ensure the mobility of the user. In this case, since some sensors are separated from the operation unit 40 due to the wireless transmission function, the volume of the unit 40 is reduced, and the manufacturing technology of electronic components has been miniaturized nowadays, and the space occupied by some common circuits can be saved by integrating many circuits required for physiological signal monitoring, therefore, even if this embodiment only uses one operation unit, the volume is not as large as that of the conventional device, and the user can still feel no burden when carrying on the body. Furthermore, the battery and the memory of the unit 40 can be integrated into a sub-unit 401 which can be separated from the unit 40, so that the charging, memory reading and other programs can be independently performed and replaced externally without charging the whole unit 40, and even a wireless transceiving function can be integrated into the sub-unit 40 to realize a pre-configuration program of wireless transmission of the unit 40 by using a contact pairing method.

Therefore, various numbers of operation units can be attached to the base body of the physiological signal monitoring device according to the present invention, but the principle of dispersion is still satisfied, because the dispersion of the operation units or the dispersion generated by the wireless sensor can achieve the effect of making the physiological signal monitoring device easier to be installed on the body of the user, and the user can perform the measurement without limitation due to the installation, and more importantly, does not need to sacrifice any physiological signal to be detected.

Now, a description of some detailed examples will be made for the case of practical application.

Example 1

When the physiological signal monitoring device according to the present invention is implemented as a multiple sleep detection device (PSG), the physiological signal monitoring items included are: electrocardiographic (ECG), electroencephalographic (EEG), Electromyographic (EMG), ocular motility (EOG), respiratory, snore, thoracoabdominal respiratory, blood oxygen, movement (including body movement, limb movement, and head movement), etc., so that, in this case, the combination may be implemented as shown in fig. 5, according to the structure of the present invention, and the actual implementation in a human body is shown in fig. 6. In this embodiment, the unit 10 providing the electrode/sensor insertion position shown in fig. 1 is divided into two so that the number of operation units becomes 4, and wherein, as shown in fig. 5 and 6, in the insertion positions respectively provided by the two

units

54 and 56 for insertion, the unit 54 includes: EEG60, EOG61, EMG62, ECG63, and limb movement detection 64 (typically located on the foot, which can detect movement or myoelectricity), and unit 56 includes: breath detection 65, snore detection 66, chest and abdomen breath detection 67, 68, blood oxygen detection 69. In addition, the unit 50 includes a battery, a memory and a processing module with wireless transceiving function, while the unit 52 includes a processing module with analog-to-digital conversion function, and particularly a sensor 521 directly located in the unit 52 for detecting the movement of the body. In addition, if a head movement sensor (not shown) is required, it is provided on the head of the user.

It is specifically noted herein, however, that although fig. 5 clearly indicates the type of physiological signal sensing device plugged into each unit, this is only one possibility and is for illustration only and does not represent a specific limitation.

After the physiological signals from all the electrodes/sensors are transmitted to the

units

54 and 56 through the connection lines, they are collected to the unit 52 for analog-digital conversion and related processing, and then enter the unit 50 for external storage and/or transmission.

Here, all detected physiological signals can be transmitted to the outside in real time by the wireless transceiving function in the unit 50, or recorded in a memory and then accessed externally by separating the unit 50 from the base 1 after the measurement is finished, or recorded in a memory and then transmitted by wireless transmission, etc.

In addition, as shown in fig. 6 in particular, all the electrodes/sensors are connected to the

units

54, 56 by wires, but even in such a case, the physiological measurement items to be measured in all the sleep laboratories can still be covered by the distributed physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention, the subject can move freely without much hindrance because other electrodes/sensors than the electrodes/sensors on the head are located on the body and limbs, the connecting wires are distributed along the body curve, and the units arranged in a dispersed manner are designed to be as light and small as possible, so that the user can have a feeling similar to wearing only one chest belt.

Therefore, it is clear that the disadvantages of conventional such complete multiple sleep tests, such as the used equipment (e.g. used in sleep laboratories) is too bulky; a large number of connecting wires must be provided on the subject to connect to external equipment; and the subject can hardly move and can only lie in bed after the electrode/sensor configuration is completed, are overcome in the present invention.

Example 2

When the sensors at a greater distance in example 1 are implemented with wireless transceiving functions, the distributed physiological signal monitoring device according to the present invention can be further simplified. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 7, the sensors distributed on the limbs, such as the blood oxygen sensor 70 and the limb movement sensor 72, are implemented to have wireless transceiving functions, and correspondingly, the processing module in the unit 52 also has wireless transceiving functions, so that after detecting the physiological signal, the wireless sensor wirelessly transmits the physiological signal to the unit 52, and then performs the subsequent processing, storage and transmission as in example 1.

In this embodiment, the wireless transceiver function of the unit 52 is used for wireless transmission with internal wireless sensors, while the wireless transceiver function of the unit 50 is used for wireless transmission to external devices, however, this is for illustrative purposes only and different configurations are possible, as previously described.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment of this embodiment, the user will be further perceived by the user to be free to move more unrestrained during use through the use of wireless transmission, and by separating the two sensors, the volume of the units 54 'and 56' can be further reduced, further contributing to the reduction of the load on the base.

Example 3

The embodiment of example 2 is further simplified, as shown in fig. 8, i.e. the base body 1 and the chest strap 67 originally used for detecting thoraco-abdominal respiration can be integrated into a single chest strap 80, so that not only the exposed connecting lines can be further reduced, but also the number of base bodies/chest straps provided on the body can be reduced, and furthermore the electrode/sensor placement steps before measurement can be further simplified.

Example 4

Of course, the combination may be disposed at other positions such as an arm. In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 9, the base originally located on the chest is embodied as a belt 90 attached to the upper arm of the user, and, in particular, the body movement sensor 92 originally located in the unit 52 is in this embodiment provided on the chest belt of the thoracoabdominal respiration sensor. Such an embodiment is suitable for users who are not applicable or accustomed to chest loads.

The following will describe a case where the physiological signal detected by the physiological signal monitoring device according to the present invention includes only a part of the above-mentioned physiological signal monitoring items, that is, a case where an easy preliminary judgment is made by using the physiological signal monitoring items having correlation in the integrated part.

Example 5

This example is a further variation of example 2, as shown in fig. 10, wherein at least one of the

units

54, 56 "to wire connect the physiological sensing devices is implemented as follows: in addition to the original wired electrical connection, the

units

54, 56 ″ can be wirelessly connected to the unit 50, i.e., the

units

54, 56 ″ can be attached to other parts of the user's body without being disposed on the base.

The reason for configuring in this manner is that: if the positions of part of the physiological signal sensing devices are close to each other, for example, when the physiological signal sensing devices are positioned near the head, the units containing the plugging positions of the physiological signal sensing devices can be integrated and arranged nearby, so that the wiring complexity is reduced; alternatively, if the correlation between some physiological signal sensing devices is stronger, for example, when all physiological signal sensing devices directly relate to respiration, only the unit integrating the required physiological signal monitoring items can be used for detection when only the multiple physiological signal monitoring items with simplified contents are needed, and it is not necessary to carry all devices on the body for some physiological signal monitoring items, and the user has more flexibility in use due to the distributed configuration.

For example, in fig. 10, the physiological signals detected by the unit 56 "are all located near the head (here, the blood oxygen sensor 102 is implemented in a manner of measurement by ear, but of course, a fingertip measurement and wireless transmission manner may be adopted as before), and are all related to the detection items of respiration (respiration, snore, thoraco-abdominal respiration, blood oxygen), so that the unit 56" is implemented to be detachable from the base 1 and attachable to the part of the user near the head by another base 104, for example, the shoulder, and the like.

Example 6

If implemented more simply, the physiological signal monitoring device according to the invention can also be implemented with only the simplest two physiological signal monitoring items. For example, only two kinds of blood oxygen detection and electrocardiographic detection can be performed, as shown in fig. 11, the base is implemented as a belt body 110 surrounding the wrist of the user, and an operation unit 112 is attached to the belt body, and the unit 112 can be connected to the blood oxygen sensor 114 by wire, and can also be wirelessly connected to an electrocardiographic sensor 116 with wireless transceiving function.

The purpose of integrating these two sensing devices is to detect both cardiovascular aspects and to have a correctable relationship between them, i.e. the ecg signals measured during the blood oxygen detection can be used to correct the interference signals (artifacts) easily caused by movement during the blood oxygen detection, so that they belong to a meaningful combination.

In addition, correction of such interference signals may also be achieved by using the electromyographic sensor 118 in the vicinity of the blood oxygen sensor. Under the structure of the present invention, the myoelectric measurement can be realized only by adding the plugging position of the myoelectric electrode on the unit 112, and certainly, a wireless connection mode can also be used, and in addition, the possibility that three sensing devices (blood oxygen, electrocardio and myoelectric) exist and operate simultaneously exists obviously, so as to realize a more accurate measurement result.

Example 7

Another combination of physiological signal monitoring items is shown in fig. 12, which is a combination of respiration detection, snore detection, and blood oxygen detection, and in this case, the base is implemented as a band 120 around the head of the user, and an operation unit 122 is attached thereon, so that the reason for this is that the band 120 is located near the head because the respiration detection 124 and the snore detection 126 are both located on the head of the user, and the blood oxygen sensor 128 located far away is wireless. However, the blood oxygen sensor may be implemented to acquire signals through the ear or forehead.

Such a combination can be used to make an easy diagnosis of sleep disordered breathing. Whether the user stops breathing during sleeping can be judged through breathing detection and snore detection, and the judgment on the severity of sleep disordered breathing can reach certain accuracy by the aid of blood oxygen detection.

Example 8

Furthermore, in order to determine sleep disordered breathing more accurately, a chest-abdomen respiration sensor and a body movement sensor may be added, as shown in fig. 13. In the case of adding a thoraco-abdominal respiration sensor, the headband in example 7 is eliminated, the chest belt 130 and the abdominal belt 131 of the thoraco-abdominal respiration sensor are directly used to support the operation unit 132, and as mentioned above, the body movement sensor (not shown) can be directly arranged in the unit 132, and the wireless blood oxygen sensor and the wired respiration and snore sensors are added, so that the combination can almost completely judge the cause of the sleep disordered breathing (central or obstrutive), which is quite feasible. Here, the number of the operation units is not limited to one shown in the figures, and may be different, and as shown in the figures, another operation unit 134 may be further included, for example, the unit 134 may include a battery, a memory, and the like, so as to perform external charging, memory reading, and the like.

Example 9

In addition, it should be especially noted that, in all the above embodiments, the operation unit (whether the operation unit is located on the body or on the hands or even on the head) may further include an operation interface and/or a display device (not shown) for monitoring the change and result during the whole physiological signal monitoring period; alternatively, the physiological signal monitoring device may be directly wirelessly controlled by an external device.

Furthermore, as shown in fig. 14, the operation interface and the display device can be integrated into a wireless control unit 140 located outside the combination body, so that the user can control the whole physiological signal monitoring, receive and store the data transmitted by the operation unit, and display the related data and information, and since the wireless control unit 140 does not need to connect any electrode/sensor, it can be located at a position easy to operate on the body, such as the wrist (and thus implemented as a watch), or can be located at the side (not shown) without being disposed on the body, but still without being involved by the connecting wires.

FIG. 14 is implemented in detail as follows: an operation unit 141 is disposed on the user by a base (patch) 142, and is connected with a respiration sensor 143, a snore sensor 144 and an (ear) blood oxygen detector 145 by wires, and is connected with an electrocardiograph detector 146 by wires, and a wireless control unit 140 is worn on the wrist, so that the user can easily control the operation, storage and display of all physiological signal monitoring through the unit 140.

In addition to the above-described case where multiple physiological signal monitoring is performed simultaneously, the physiological signal monitoring apparatus according to the present invention is also applicable to the case of single physiological signal monitoring.

Example 10

When the physiological sensing device is implemented as the same electrode, the physiological sensing device is equivalent to a single physiological signal monitoring device with a plurality of the same electrodes, such as electroencephalogram measurement or twelve-lead electrocardiograph measurement. In this case, according to the concept of the present invention, the entire monitoring apparatus can be distributed and worn on the body, and the burden on the user can be reduced and the movement can be made unlimited.

As shown in fig. 15, which shows a twelve lead electrocardiographic measurement, the number of operating units used is 2 and the number of electrodes required is 10, but of course the number of units can be implemented to be greater than 2. According to the present invention, in this embodiment, two

operation units

150, 152 are included, wherein the unit 152 is a unit including a battery, and can be separated from the base 154 for charging from the outside, and has a wireless transceiver module for wireless communication with an external device, and the unit 150 is used for plugging all electrodes, and in addition, some electrodes (e.g. 156, 158) can be directly disposed on the surface of the base 154 supporting the

unit

150, 152, which is in contact with the skin of the user, due to the disposition of the base 154.

Example 11

Fig. 16 shows the case of electroencephalography, in which the number of electrodes may vary as required, for example 16, 32, etc., but it is not essential that according to the invention, at least two operating

units

160, 162 are used, one of which is a unit 161 with a battery and separable from the base 160, and the remaining are units 162 for plugging in the electrodes and performing the relevant processing. Of course, if a larger number of electrodes are used, such as 32 or even 64, the base 160 may also be provided with electrodes (not shown) on the surface contacting the skin of the user to reduce wiring complexity.

The examples described above are merely some of the many possible embodiments of the invention and are presented by way of illustration only and not by way of limitation.

In addition, in the above embodiments of the present invention, the used wireless transmission mode may be any mode capable of implementing wireless transmission, such as but not limited to bluetooth, Zigbee, 802.11X, and the like, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In addition, the information obtained by the physiological signal monitoring equipment can be transmitted to a remote server, a doctor and the like through a network of the external equipment, so that a medical network is formed.

In summary, under the distributed structure of the present invention, the physiological signal monitoring device can become smaller and more portable, and the user does not need to bear huge weight, and the complexity of the configured connecting wires is greatly reduced through the distributed structure, and no external connecting wires are needed, so that the user can obtain better mobility.

Although the present invention has been described in detail by the above embodiments, a person skilled in the art may make various modifications and adaptations without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A distributed physiological signal monitoring device comprising:

a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices comprising electrodes and/or sensors; and

at least three units electrically connected to each other and combined with a substrate to form a combined body, wherein: at least one unit is provided with a battery to provide power supply required by the equipment; at least one unit is provided with a wireless transceiving module; at least one unit for wired connection with the physiological signal sensing device; and at least one unit is provided with a signal analog-digital conversion module;

the units are attached to the base body in a dispersed manner, so that the combined body can have the characteristics of weight dispersion and body curve fitting when being arranged on the head, limbs or body of a user for physiological signal monitoring.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the physiological signal sensing devices has a wireless transceiving function, and the physiological signal sensed by the physiological signal sensing device having the wireless transceiving function is wirelessly transmitted to the unit having the wireless transceiving module on the base.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor of the physiological signal sensing device comprises: the device comprises a heart sensor, an electroencephalogram sensor, an eye movement sensor, a myoelectricity sensor, a snore sensor, a breathing sensor, a chest and abdomen breathing sensor, a four limbs movement sensor, a body movement sensor, a head movement sensor and a blood oxygen sensor.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said base is integrated with one of a chest strap and an abdominal strap included in said thoracoabdominal respiration sensor as a single strap, and said body movement sensor is disposed in one of said units.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein when said physiological signal sensing means is implemented as a plurality of identical electrodes, said physiological signal monitoring device is one of an electroencephalogram signal monitoring device and a cardiac signal monitoring device.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the battery is separately detachable from the combined body to be externally charged and/or replaced.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the battery-backed unit is separately detachable from the base for external charging, the battery-backed unit further comprises a processing module for performing a pairing procedure prior to wireless transmission with an external device, and the battery-backed unit further comprises a memory for enabling transmission to an external reading device via the processing module.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one of the units further comprises a memory implemented as a removable memory, or the unit comprising the memory is implemented separately from the base for enabling transmission to an external reading device through a processing module included therein, and the processing module is also used for enabling a pairing procedure prior to wireless transmission with an external apparatus.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base is implemented as a belt for carrying the units and surrounding the head, limbs or body of the user, and the wires for electrical connection between the units are provided inside the belt; alternatively, the base is implemented as a harness and the unit is attached to the harness; or, the substrate is implemented in a form of covering the units and the connecting lines among the units, so as to achieve the effects of fixation and series connection at the same time; alternatively, the base is implemented in the form of a patch carrying the unit to facilitate attachment to the user; alternatively, the substrate is implemented as a flexible printed circuit board and the modules in the unit are arranged directly on the flexible printed circuit board.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein one of said units further comprises an operation interface and a display means for operating said physiological signal monitoring device.

11. The device of claim 1, further comprising a wireless control unit outside the combination for controlling the physiological signal monitoring device and providing storage and display functions; the wireless control unit can be arranged on the user through another base body, and the other base body can be implemented as a hand belt, so that the wireless control unit can be worn on the wrist; or in the form of a patch carrying the wireless control unit to facilitate attachment to the user.

12. A distributed physiological signal monitoring device comprising:

at least three cells electrically connected to each other, and in which:

at least one unit is provided with a battery to provide power supply required by the equipment;

at least one unit is provided with a wireless transceiving module;

at least one unit for wired connection with the physiological signal sensing device; and is

At least one unit is provided with a signal analog-digital conversion module;

the unit is arranged on the body of the user in a dispersed mode when monitoring the physiological signals so as to realize the effects of weight dispersion and conformity with the human body curve.

13. A distributed physiological signal monitoring device comprising:

a first unit and a second unit electrically connected to each other and disposed on a substrate to form a combination, wherein,

the first unit may be separately separated from the combined body, and includes:

a battery to provide power for the physiological signal monitoring device;

a processing module for setting the first unit and the second unit; and

the second unit includes:

a module for wired connection to the physiological signal sensing device; and

a processing module at least having signal analog-digital conversion function,

wherein,

the processing module included in at least one of the first unit and the second unit has a wireless transceiving function; and

the first unit and the second unit are attached to the base body in a dispersed manner, so that the combined body can have the characteristics of weight dispersion and body curve conformity when being arranged on the head, limbs or body of a user for physiological signal monitoring.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first unit is separated from the base and the battery can be externally charged.

15. The device of claim 13, wherein the processing module of the first unit has a wireless transceiving function, and the processing module is capable of implementing a pairing procedure before wireless transmission with the external device, and the first unit is capable of implementing setup communication with the external device by using the processing module thereof, so as to setup the second unit.

16. The device of claim 13, wherein the processing module of the second unit has a wireless transceiving function, and wherein the processing module of the second unit can perform a pairing procedure with the external device before wireless transmission through the wireless transceiving function; or, the second unit may communicate with the external device through the first unit, and then communicate with the processing module in the first unit to implement a pairing procedure before wireless transmission with the external device.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the processing modules of the first and second units each have a wireless transceiving function.

18. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the first unit further comprises a memory, such that the transfer to an external reading device is accomplished by its processing module after being separated from the combination, and the memory is a removable memory.

19. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second unit further comprises a memory, and the memory is a removable memory.

20. A distributed physiological signal monitoring device comprising:

a first unit and a second unit electrically connected to each other,

the first unit includes:

a battery to provide power for the physiological signal monitoring device; and

a processing module for setting the first unit and the second unit; and

the second unit includes:

a module for wired connection to the physiological signal sensing device; and

a processing module at least having signal analog-digital conversion function,

wherein,

the first unit and the second unit are attached to the body of a user in a dispersed mode, so that the effects of weight dispersion and body curve fitting are achieved when the physiological signals are monitored.

21. A distributed physiological signal monitoring device comprising:

a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices, which comprise electrodes and/or sensors, and at least one of which has a wireless transceiving function; and

a unit for controlling all of the physiological signal sensing devices and combining with a base to form a combination body to surround the head, limbs or trunk of a user during monitoring of the physiological signals, the unit comprising:

a processing module;

a battery to provide power for the physiological signal monitoring device;

a wireless transceiving module for wirelessly transmitting with the physiological signal sensing device with wireless transceiving function and an external device;

the module is used for being connected with the physiological signal sensing device in a wired mode so as to be connected with the physiological signal sensing device without a wireless transceiving function; and

a signal analog-digital conversion module.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the wireless transceiver module is capable of wirelessly communicating with the external device in real time while monitoring physiological signals.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein said unit further comprises a memory.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the memory is a removable memory, or the memory is externally accessible after the unit is separated from the substrate; or the memory and the battery are integrated into a subunit which can be separated from the unit for access and charging from the outside.

25. A distributed physiological signal monitoring device comprising:

a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices, wherein at least one of the physiological signal sensing devices comprises an electrode and/or a sensor and has a wireless transceiving function; and

a unit for controlling all of the physiological signal sensing devices and disposed on a user's body when monitoring the physiological signals, the unit comprising:

a processing module;

a battery to provide power for the physiological signal monitoring device;

a signal analog-digital conversion module.

26. A distributed physiological signal monitoring device comprising:

a plurality of physiological signal sensing devices comprising electrodes and/or sensors;

a flexible and elastic substrate; and

a circuit distribution, disposed on the substrate in a distributed manner, comprising:

a battery to provide the power supply required by the equipment;

a wireless transceiver module for wireless transmission with an external device;

a module for wired connection to the physiological signal sensing device; and

a signal analog-digital conversion module;

the substrate bearing the circuit distribution is placed on a user body when the physiological signal monitoring is carried out, and the effects of weight dispersion and body curve fitting of the physiological signal monitoring equipment are achieved through the characteristics of flexibility and elasticity of the substrate.

27. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein one of the physiological signal sensing devices has a wireless transceiving function, and the physiological signal sensed by the physiological signal sensing device with the wireless transceiving function is wirelessly transmitted to the wireless transceiving module on the base.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the sensor of the physiological signal sensing device comprises: the device comprises a heart sensor, an electroencephalogram sensor, an eye movement sensor, a myoelectricity sensor, a snore sensor, a breathing sensor, a chest and abdomen breathing sensor, a four limbs movement sensor, a body movement sensor, a head movement sensor and a blood oxygen sensor.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the body movement sensors are disposed in the circuit distribution.

30. The apparatus according to claim 26, wherein when said physiological signal sensing device is implemented as a plurality of identical electrodes, then said physiological signal monitoring device is one of an electroencephalogram signal monitoring device and a cardiac signal monitoring device.

31. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the batteries are individually separable from the circuit distribution for external charging and/or replacement.

32. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising a memory, wherein the memory is implemented as a removable memory, or the memory is integrated with the battery as a sub-module separable from the circuit distribution for external access and charging.

33. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the substrate is implemented in the form of a patch that encases the circuit distribution, or the substrate is implemented in the form of a patch that carries the circuit distribution to facilitate attachment to a user; or the substrate is implemented as a flexible printed circuit board, and the circuit distribution is directly arranged on the flexible printed circuit board and the circuit is electrically connected through the flexible printed circuit board.

34. The device of claim 26, further comprising a wireless control unit for remote control of the physiological signal monitoring device and providing storage and display functions, wherein the wireless control unit is configured to be placed on the user via a separate base, and the separate base is configured as a hand strap, such that the wireless control unit is wearable on the wrist; or a patch type for carrying the wireless control unit, so as to be attached to the user.