Today's popular wearable devices have been occupied by a variety of smart watches and smart bracelets. This type of equipment is mainly used for measuring physical signs of exercise, such as heart rate, breathing, body temperature, calorie consumption, etc. The style is similar to no novelty, no fashion sense, and it is still troubled whether the measured data is accurate or not. An important challenge for the industry.
Is there a more suitable way for wearable devices besides the hand? Valencell's answer is yes. Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, founder and chairman of the company, recently said in an exclusive interview with the journal in China that the ear is a better place to obtain these physiological signs compared to the wrists and arms of the human body. "The ear provides a relatively noisy, relatively stable physiological sign collection environment, and the blood flow rate in the ear is different from other parts, where the skin is very thin, containing the internal carotid artery system in the ear canal area, the tragus, the earlobe is rich. With capillaries, the sensor can be very close to the capillaries, which is more conducive to monitoring arterial pulsations and the measurement data is more accurate."
Figure 1: Dr. Steven LeBoeuf, founder and chairman of Valencell, and the Jabra headset with its technology.
Steven LeBoeuf explained that most smart watches or bracelets now detect the pulse of the wrist through an infrared light sensor, and the measurement at this location can be affected by many factors. First of all, in addition to blood vessels, there are many muscle groups, capillaries, etc., which will have noise effects on infrared emission and receiving measurement signals. Secondly, during exercise, body shaking may cause the device to leave the measurement site, affecting the accuracy of the data. In addition, sweating, external light, etc. can also interfere with measurement accuracy. “The light sensor integrated in the earphone is not affected by the swing of the body when it is worn in the ear. The darker, closed and relatively simple skin structure improves the accuracy of the measurement. It is worth emphasizing that the ear is The blood pressure beat signal is much stronger than the wrist, and the signal peak is higher than the noise peak (the noise level is higher than the signal peak at the wrist). It is easy to measure and can also reduce the power consumption of the sensor. - Peak data (RRi) detects possible heart diseases such as arrhythmia, etc. Not only that, but also the internal temperature of the ear is suitable for measuring body temperature."
Figure 2: Principles of ValencellPerformTek biometric sensing technology.
Valencell has developed a physiological monitoring module and licensed the manufacturer to integrate the other into the in-ear headphones, allowing users to collect vital signs such as heart rate, body temperature and respiratory rate while listening to music. Its main working principle is to use photoelectric sensors to detect the difference in reflected light intensity after absorption through the blood and tissues of the ear, to record changes in the volume of the blood vessels during the cardiac cycle, and then to remove interference such as skin vibration and external light by DSP processing. After the factor, the data is converted into the above information. The collected information can be sent to the user's mobile phone app via Bluetooth for easy viewing.
Compared to other infrared sensor modules, Steven LeBoeuf emphasizes that the technology has the advantage of being smaller, lower power, and more. Valencell's partners include Jabra, LG, Intel, Scosche, etc. Intel released the first wearable headset that does not require a battery at the end of last year. He said that follow-up will continue to increase blood pressure, blood oxygen and other signs detection function.
24/7, how do wearable devices make people want to wear more?
In fact, at this stage, including wearable devices such as smart watches such as Apple Watch, standby time is a fatal injury. “Consumers may use it at first because of curiosity, but their enthusiasm diminishes as they get charged every day, until they end up getting tired of it,†Steven LeBoeuf said. “So, wearables take 24 hours/ 7 days standby is available."
Wearable devices, how to make consumers want to wear more? He proposed several solutions. “First, integrate it into the devices that users are already using, so that users don’t forget. Make these devices part of what people are already using, and to some extent people will want to wear them, such as rings, Headphones, etc. Second, it is easier to charge in design - wireless charging is a good way, more fashionable, smaller size, more features, higher precision. Third, how to better use the data? This requires such as customization Personalized design that matches the personal characteristics of the user. Finally, wearable devices that involve medical care also need to consider legal and regulatory issues."
Perhaps Valencell's solution is not perfect, for example, how to allow users to take care of comfort and fall off when wearing headphones for a long time, and whether long-term wear has an impact on hearing may be investigated. But Valencell's exploration can be seen as providing another direction for the wearable device industry, rather than focusing on watches and bracelets.
Figure 3: Valencell biometric sensor module.
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