Sharp Laboratories of America, Inc

Lacamas Life Sciences, Inc.

Bryan Hallberg

Jeffrey Brian Sampsell

Yongji Fu

Jon Arthur Fairhurst

Mark Gregory Hanley

Henry Y Fang

Vishnu Kumar Shivaj Rao

Jeff Brian Sampsell

Gary Alan Feather

George Rome Borden

Yungkai Kyle Lai

Vishnu-Kumar Shivaji-Rao

Renjit Tom Thomas

George Rome Borden, Iv

Kim Phuong Wells

Fredrick Norman Hill

Glenn Peter Piekstra

James Lee Feeler

A system and method are provided for measuring body joint range of motion using inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors capable of measuring their orientations relative to Earth. The method mounts a primary IMU sensor on a proximal body segment, and a secondary IMU sensor on a distal body segment connected to the proximal body segment via a joint. The sensor orientation relationship is measured between the primary IMU sensor and the secondary IMU sensor. In one aspect, the sensor orientation relationship is expressed as a quaternion. The sensor orientation relationship is converted into at least one physiologically modeled constituent joint rotation relationship between the proximal body segment and the distal body segment. More explicitly, the sensor orientation relationship is converted to a constituent axial axis, composite radial, or primary and secondary radial rotations of the distal body segment measured with respect to the proximal body segment.

System and method for measuring body joint range of motion

A system and method are provided for distributed data collection synchronization. Provided are communicating data generation units (DGUs) capable of data storage, having consumable power resources. In response to the DGUs comparing their availability and power resources, a master and slave DGUs are selected, and the slave DGUs synchronize their data collection to a common timing reference supplied by their master DGU. One example of consumable power is battery power. A first DGU may select itself as a master DGU in response to either waiting a first predetermined duration of time after reset, or receiving no link status message from a master DGU for a second predetermined duration of time. Alternatively, a slave first DGU may compare its own available power resources to the available power resources of its master second DGU and select itself as the master DGU when the available power resources of the first DGU are greater.

System and method for synchronized distributed data collection

A sensor calibration method and system dynamically compute a bias offset which is subtracted from field strength readings generated by a sensor to correct them. The three-dimensional space around a sensor is seeded with orientation targets. As the sensor is rotated to different orientations, field strength readings are generated by the sensor and assigned to different targets based on estimated proximity. Once occupancy of targets conforms to a first state of occupancy, a coarse bias offset is computed for the sensor using readings from occupied targets. Once occupancy of targets conforms to a second state of occupancy, a refined bias offset is computed for the sensor using readings from occupied targets. Multiple sensors may be calibrated concurrently. Moreover, a user interface provides a real-time graphic showing the location and occupancy status of individual targets and highlighting the individual target best aligned with a most recent corrected sensor reading.

Sensor calibration method and system

A method is provided for selectively enabling inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors. The method comprises enabling a gyroscope of the IMU sensors for generating a device orientation output estimate, selectively enabling an accelerometer of the IMU sensors for improving the device orientation output estimate when a magnitude of an angular velocity is less than a centripetal velocity threshold, an accelerometer jitter error estimate is less than a gyroscopic orientation error estimate, a filled accelerometer filter length is less than a full length of an accelerometer filter, and a filled magnetometer filter length is less than a full length of a magnetometer filter. The method also includes enabling a magnetometer of the IMU sensors when the accelerometer is enabled, and an accelerometer gravitational error angle is less than a predetermined accelerometer gravitational error angle threshold.

System and method for selectively enabling inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors

The present invention provides a method and engine for defining respiration events in body sensor signals that are highly accurate and compatible with many different classes of respiration monitoring devices. The present method and engine provide improved respiration event definition through the expedients of dynamic thresholding, segment merging and tail identification.

Method and engine for defining respiration events in body sensor signals

A system and method are provided for determining the orientation of an inertial measurement unit (IMU). The method calculates a gyroscopic quaternion, and when the IMU accelerometer reading is about equal to gravity (1 G), a field quaternion is calculated using IMU accelerometer readings. Estimates are made of angular orientation errors due to IMU angular velocity and linear acceleration, and these angular orientation errors are used to selectively mix the gyroscopic quaternion and field quaternion to supply a current sample quaternion. Alternatively, if the accelerometer reading is not about equal to 1 G, the gyroscopic quaternion is used as the current sample quaternion. In one aspect, IMU gyroscope readings and IMU accelerometer readings are calibrated in response to determining a lack of IMU movement. Near-zero gyroscope reading jitter is removed by setting the IMU gyroscopic reading to zero, when the gyroscopic reading is near zero.

System and method for determining the orientation of an inertial measurement unit (IMU)

A system and method are provided for determining sensor contact in a multi-sensor device. The method measures a series of photoplethysmography (PPG) heart beat signals, while simultaneously measuring a series of electrocardiogram (ECG) heart beat signals. The method detects a correlation in time between each of a plurality of PPG signals and corresponding ECG signals. In response to the timing between correlated PPG and ECG signals remaining within a first correlation deviation limit, a correlation state is determined. For example, a correlation state may be determined in response to n out of m number of correlated PPG and ECG signals remaining within the correlation deviation limit, where n and m are integers greater than zero.

System and method for determining poor sensor contact in a multi-sensor device

A wearable physiological acoustic sensor has an embedded and stacked acoustic sensing component architecture that inhibits motion-related impulse noise and environmental background noise, and provides good body sound capture, good patient comfort and an unobtrusive presence. The embedded and stacked component architecture also includes an environmental microphone that enables cancellation of background noise for further noise reduction.

Wearable physiological acoustic sensor

A method and system for low latency, low power, high fidelity wireless transmission of quaternions provides superior performance of real-time applications that transmit and consume quaternions. The method and system provide a quaternion transmission protocol wherein quaternion sources, such as sensor units, construct quaternion update packets containing quaternions encoded in a notation that both conserves bandwidth and preserves angular resolution provided by quaternions. The update packets are transmitted on a wireless communication link to a quaternion destination, such as a data hub, which deconstructs and interprets the update packets.

Method and system for wireless transmission of quaternions

A model-based method for assessing acoustic signal quality in a heart monitoring device. The personal heart sound interval distribution of a person being actively monitored is compared with a modeled global heart sound interval distribution shared by most human beings after which processing action is taken consistent with the quality assessment. The error in the best fit between the personal interval distribution and the global interval distribution is presumed to be caused predominantly by noise, allowing the quality of the fit to serve as a proxy for the level of noise in the acoustic signal and used in making processing decisions.

Model-based method for assessing acoustic signal quality in heart monitoring device

A remote support site having a detector internally collecting information on a user-selectable intrinsic broadcast characteristic of a media-playing set or television and a server enabling specification of a preferred setting for such characteristic from this information. A method including maintaining a remote site, therefrom internally collecting information from the set about a user-selectable intrinsic broadcast characteristic, and therefrom specifying a preferred setting for such characteristic. A similar method but information detected upon user request about user-adjustable component for selecting on-screen characteristic and final step is remotely adjusting component. A similar method but information is about broadcast characteristic potentially selectable initially by user instead remotely specified initially. A similar method but information is about plural broadcast characteristics and final step is remotely providing settings for each. Two methods on menu-free TV control via remote and a method listing possible broadcast outcomes so user can readily target outcome to resolve.

Method and system for configuring media-playing sets

A noise event suppression technique for a monitoring system detects a noise event in a signal waveform when a focal sample in the waveform has an amplitude greater than an amplitude of algorithmically determined earlier and later samples in the waveform that are noncontiguous with the focal sample. When the monitoring system detects the noise event, the monitoring system reduces the amplitude of the focal sample to an amplitude between those of the earlier and later samples. The monitoring system outputs data determined using the waveform once noise events have been adequately suppressed.

Noise event suppression for monitoring system

A computing device having an optimized file system and methods for use therein. File system optimizations include sector-aligned writes, anchored cluster searches, anchored index searches, companion caches dedicated to particular file management data types and predictive cache updates, all of which expedite processing on the computing device. The file system optimizations are especially advantageous for data collection systems where an embedded device is tasked with logging to a target memory data received in a continuous data stream and where none of the streamed data is deleted until after the target memory has been offloaded to another device.

Computing device having optimized file system and methods for use therein

Dual path noise detection and isolation for an acoustic respiration monitoring system detects noise in an acoustic signal recording lung sounds using two discrete noise detection techniques. A first technique detects portions of the signal that exhibit long-term, moderate amplitude noise by analyzing cumulative energy in the signal. A second technique detects portions of the signal that exhibit short-term, high amplitude noise by analyzing peak energy in the signal. Noisy portions of the signal are isolated using the combined results of the dual path detection. A respiration parameter is estimated using the signal without resort to the noisy portions and information based at least in part on the respiration parameter is outputted.

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Vancouver, WA, United States of America

Bryan Hallberg