DEVICE FOR MONITORING ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS TO DETERMINE A CONDITION AND DIAGNOSIS OF THE HUMAN BRAIN AND BODY
Embodiments of the present systems and method may provide devices that can be conveniently worn continuously, yet monitor a wide range of physical and physiological parameters. For example, a system for monitoring human body activity may comprise a device mounted in an ear of a human, the device comprising a first portion adapted to be inserted in an ear canal of the human and a second portion adapted to protrude from the ear of the human, the first portion comprising a plurality of protrusions comprising at least one sensor, each sensor adapted to monitor a physical or physiological parameter of the human and output a signal, a data collection device adapted to receive the of signals and to process the signals to form digital data representing the monitored physical or physiological parameters, and a data processing device adapted to process digital data representing the monitored physical or physiological parameters.
1 . A system for monitoring human body activity comprising:
a device adapted to be mounted in an ear of a human, the device comprising a plurality of sensors, each sensor adapted to monitor a physical or physiological parameter of the human and output a signal representing the monitored physical or physiological parameter;
a data collection device adapted to receive the plurality of signals from the plurality of sensors and to process the signals to form digital data representing the monitored physical or physiological parameters; and
a data processing device adapted to process digital data representing the monitored physical or physiological parameters to determine a condition or activity of the human body.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the device adapted to be mounted in an ear of a human further comprises a first portion adapted to be inserted in an ear canal of the human and a second portion adapted to protrude from the ear of the human; and
the first portion comprises a plurality of protrusions, wherein at least some of the plurality of protrusions comprise at least one sensor.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the sensors comprise at least a plurality of sensors selected from a group comprising: audio sensors, video sensors, EEG sensors, ECG sensors, heart rate sensors, breathing rate sensors, blood pressure sensors, body temperature sensors, head movement sensors, body posture sensors, and blood oxygenation levels sensors.
4 . The system of claim 2 , wherein each protrusion comprises an electrically conductive rubber portion and an electrically isolated shell, wherein the electrically conductive rubber portion is adapted to be a dry electrode and to sense signals to be used for at least one of electroencephalography and electrocardiography.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein each protrusion further comprises microelectromechanical systems transducer comprising a mechanical transducer adapted to output an electrical signal representing a mechanical signal and an electrode adapted to output electrical signals received from a skin surface of the human body.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the electrode is a flexible electrode and the microelectromechanical systems transducer is further adapted to output an electrical signal representative of physical movement of the flexible electrode.
7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the data processing device is further adapted to determine artefacts of the physical movement that may be present in the electrical signal output from the flexible electrode, and to subtract the artefacts from the electrical signal output from the flexible electrode, to form a cleaner signal.
8 . The system of claim 2 , further adapted to perform at least some of blood pressure measurement using Pulse Transit Time (PTT) and/or Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV), tympanic membrane infrared temperature measurement, accelerometer measuring of heart rate (HR), breathing rate (BR) and activity tracking, Photoplethysmography (PPG) optical measurement of blood volume changes, hearing aid functions, and music streaming capabilities with noise cancellation.
9 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the second portion comprises a battery.
10 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the device adapted to be mounted in an ear of a human is further adapted to provide at least one of: an audio experience using custom fit earbuds, customized sound using an integrated equalizer, connected voice control, real-time translation, disturbance-free communication using inner-ear voice capture; augmented digital hearing to adjust the volume of natural hearing to a desired level, dynamic hearing protection by setting an accepted level of sound in dB and automatically maintaining the selected level, dynamic environment awareness by dynamically blending desired audio quality and outside sounds, and hearing protection by attenuating outside noise while providing desired audio.
11 . A computer-implemented method for monitoring human body activity comprising:
receiving from each of a plurality of sensors a signal representing a monitored physical or physiological parameter, wherein each sensor is adapted to monitor a physical or physiological parameter of the human and output a signal representing the monitored physical or physiological parameter;
processing the received signals to form digital data representing the monitored physical or physiological parameters; and
processing digital data representing the monitored physical or physiological parameters to determine a condition or activity of the human body.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein each sensor is included in a protrusion included in a first portion of a device adapted to be mounted in an ear of a human, the device comprising a first portion adapted to be inserted in an ear canal of the human and a second portion adapted to protrude from the ear of the human.
13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the sensors comprise at least a plurality of sensors selected from a group comprising: audio sensors, video sensors, EEG sensors, ECG sensors, heart rate sensors, breathing rate sensors, blood pressure sensors, body temperature sensors, head movement sensors, body posture sensors, and blood oxygenation levels sensors.
14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein each protrusion comprises an electrically conductive rubber portion and an electrically isolated shell, wherein the electrically conductive rubber portion is adapted to be a dry electrode and to sense signals to be used for at least one of electroencephalography and electrocardiography.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein each protrusion further comprises microelectromechanical systems transducer comprising a mechanical transducer adapted to output an electrical signal representing a mechanical signal and an electrode adapted to output electrical signals received from a skin surface of the human body.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the electrode is a flexible electrode and the microelectromechanical systems transducer is further adapted to output an electrical signal representative of physical movement of the flexible electrode.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the data processing device is further adapted to determine artefacts of the physical movement that may be present in the electrical signal output from the flexible electrode, and to subtract the artefacts from the electrical signal output from the flexible electrode, to form a cleaner signal.
18 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the device adapted to be mounted in an ear of a human is further adapted to perform at least some of blood pressure measurement using Pulse Transit Time (PTT) and/or Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV), tympanic membrane infrared temperature measurement, accelerometer measuring of heart rate (HR), breathing rate (BR) and activity tracking, Photoplethysmography (PPG) optical measurement of blood volume changes, hearing aid functions, and music streaming capabilities with noise cancellation.
19 . The method of claim 12 , the device adapted to be mounted in an ear of a human is further adapted to provide at least one of: an audio experience using custom fit earbuds, customized sound using an integrated equalizer, connected voice control, real-time translation, disturbance-free communication using inner-ear voice capture; augmented digital hearing to adjust the volume of natural hearing to a desired level, dynamic hearing protection by setting an accepted level of sound in dB and automatically maintaining the selected level, dynamic environment awareness by dynamically blending desired audio quality and outside sounds, and hearing protection by attenuating outside noise while providing desired audio.
20 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the second portion comprises a battery.