Motion artifact reduction using multi-channel PPG signals

1. A data processing device for using motion artifact reduction to extract a desired vital signal, which comprises a physiological information component pertaining to a subject of interest, from sensor data that includes:

time-dependent first sensor data, obtained from a sensed region in a first spectral channel that is sensitive to blood volume variations, and comprising the physiological information component and at least one motion artifact component, and

time-dependent second sensor data in the form of photoplethysmography (PPG) data, obtained simultaneously with the first sensor data,

wherein the PPG data is indicative of a position, a velocity, or an acceleration of the sensed region as a function of time in one or more spatial dimensions;

the data processing device comprising:

a decomposition circuit configured to:

receive the second sensor data,

decompose the second sensor data as a function of time into a set of different components that form at least two components of the decomposed second sensor data, and

provide, based on the decomposed second sensor data, at least two different sets of motion reference data in at least two different motion reference data channels; and

an artifact removal circuit configured to:

receive the first sensor data and the at least two different motion reference data channels, and to

determine and provide at its output the vital signal formed from a combination of the first sensor data and the motion reference data of at least two of the motion reference data channels;

wherein the decomposition circuit is further configured to filter the second sensor data as a function of time with respect to its phase components, to provide the at least two components of decomposed second sensor data as a function of time in the form of at least two respective phase components of the second sensor data that are phase shifted relative to each other.

2. The data processing device of claim 1 , wherein the artifact removal circuit is configured to determine individual weights of the respective spectral and motion reference data channels subject to the combination using a boundary condition that requires that a weight vector that has as its vector components the individual weights of the spectral channels and of the motion reference data channels to be selected for the combination forms an optimum of a correspondence measure indicative of a correspondence of the vital signal to a prestored normalized correlation vector (b).

3. The data processing device of claim 1 , which is configured to structure the time-dependent first and second sensor data into frames containing sensor data pertaining to predetermined time spans, wherein the decomposition circuit is configured to decompose the second sensor data on a frame-by-frame basis, and the artifact removal circuit is configured to determine the combination of the first sensor data and the motion reference data on the frame-by-frame basis.

4. The data processing device of claim 1 , wherein the at least two respective phase components of the second sensor data are phase shifted by −π/2 radians relative to each other.

5. The data processing device of claim 1 , wherein the PPG data is indicative of an amount of electromagnetic radiation reflected from or transmitted through the sensed region in at least one second spectral channel that is less sensitive to blood volume variations in the sensed region than the first spectral channel.

6. An apparatus for using improved motion artifact reduction to determine a desired vital signal, which contains a physiological information component pertaining to a subject of interest, the apparatus comprising:

an emitter circuit comprising at least one emitter that is configured to emit electromagnetic radiation in at least a first spectral channel that allows determining the physiological information component;

a sensor circuit that is configured to:

ascertain and provide at its output first sensor data that is indicative of an amount of electromagnetic radiation reflected from or transmitted through a sensed region of a subject of interest as a function of time in the first spectral channel that includes the physiological information component and at least one motion artifact component in a respective spectral region of the electromagnetic spectrum, and

ascertain second sensor data in the form of photoplethysmography (PPG) data that is indicative of a position, a velocity or an acceleration of the sensed region as a function of time in one or more spatial dimensions;

a decomposition circuit configured to:

receive the second sensor data,

decompose the second sensor data as a function of time into a set of different components that form at least two components of the decomposed second sensor data, and

provide, based on the decomposed second sensor data, at least two different sets of motion reference data in at least two different motion reference data channels; and

an artifact removal circuit that is configured to:

receive the first sensor data and the at least two different motion reference data channels, and to

determine and provide at its output the desired vital signal formed from a combination of the first sensor data and the motion reference data of at least two of the motion reference data channels;

wherein the decomposition circuit is further configured to filter the second sensor data as a function of time with respect to its phase components, so as to provide the at least two components of decomposed second sensor data as a function of time in the form of at least two respective phase components of the second sensor data that are phase shifted relative to each other.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein:

the emitter circuit is additionally configured to emit electromagnetic radiation in the at least one second spectral channel that is less sensitive to blood volume variations in the sensed region than the first spectral channel, and

the sensor circuit is configured to ascertain data indicative of an amount of electromagnetic radiation reflected from or transmitted through the sensed region in the at least one second spectral channel.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the at least two respective phase components of the second sensor data are phase shifted by −π/2 radians relative to each other.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the PPG data is indicative of an amount of electromagnetic radiation reflected from or transmitted through the sensed region in at least one second spectral channel that is less sensitive to blood volume variations in the sensed region than the first spectral channel.

10. A data processing method for using improved motion artifact reduction to extract a desired vital signal, which contains a physiological information component pertaining to a subject of interest, from sensor data, the data processing method comprising:

receiving sensor data in the form of photoplethysmography (PPG) data that includes time-dependent first sensor data, obtained from a sensed region in a first spectral channel, comprising the physiological information component and at least one motion artifact component, and that includes time-dependent second sensor data in the form of PPG data, obtained simultaneously with the first sensor data, wherein the PPG data is indicative of a position, a velocity, or an acceleration of the sensed region as a function of time in one or more spatial dimensions,

decomposing the second sensor data as a function of time into a set of different components that form at least two components of the decomposed second sensor data and

providing, based on the decomposed second sensor data, at least two different sets of motion reference data in at least two different motion reference data channels; and

determining and providing as an output the vital signal formed from a combination of the first sensor data and the motion reference data of at least two of the motion reference data channels;

wherein the decomposing further comprises filtering the second sensor data as a function of time with respect to its phase components, so as to provide the at least two components of decomposed second sensor data as a function of time in the form of at least two respective phase components of the second sensor data that are phase shifted relative to each other.

11. The data processing method of claim 10 , wherein the at least two respective phase components of the second sensor data are phase shifted by −π/2 radians relative to each other.

12. The data processing method of claim 10 , wherein the PPG data is indicative of an amount of electromagnetic radiation reflected from or transmitted through the sensed region in at least one second spectral channel that is less sensitive to blood volume variations in the sensed region than the first spectral channel.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program code that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to:

receive sensor data in the form of photoplethysmography (PPG) data that includes time-dependent first sensor data, obtained from a sensed region in a first spectral channel, comprising the physiological information component and at least one motion artifact component, and that includes time-dependent second sensor data in the form of PPG data, obtained simultaneously with the first sensor data, wherein the PPG data is indicative of a position, a velocity, or an acceleration of the sensed region as a function of time in one or more spatial dimensions,

decompose the second sensor data as a function of time into a set of different components that form at least two components of the decomposed second sensor data and

provide, based on the decomposed second sensor data, at least two different sets of motion reference data in at least two different motion reference data channels; and

determine and provide as an output a vital signal formed from a combination of the first sensor data and the motion reference data of at least two of the motion reference data channels;

wherein the program code causes the computer to decompose the second sensor data by filtering the second sensor data as a function of time with respect to its phase components, so as to provide the at least two components of decomposed second sensor data as a function of time in the form of at least two respective phase components of the second sensor data that are phase shifted relative to each other.

14. The medium of claim 13 , wherein the PPG data is indicative of an amount of electromagnetic radiation reflected from or transmitted through the sensed region in at least one second spectral channel that is less sensitive to blood volume variations in the sensed region than the first spectral channel.