US 11,786,180 B2
Apparatus and method for estimating bio-information
Jae Min Kang, Seoul (KR); Yong Joo Kwon, Yongin-si (KR); Youn Ho Kim, Hwaseong-si (KR); Sang Yun Park, Hwaseong-si (KR); and Jin Woo Choi, Suwon-si (KR)
Assigned to SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., Suwon-si (KR)
Filed by SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD., Suwon-si (KR)
Filed on Mar. 6, 2020, as Appl. No. 16/811,774.
Claims priority of application No. 10-2019-0090105 (KR), filed on Jul. 25, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0022677 A1, Jan. 28, 2021
Int. Cl. A61B 5/02 (2006.01); A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/0205 (2006.01); G01L 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 5/021 (2006.01); A61B 5/024 (2006.01); A61B 5/16 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 5/6843 (2013.01) [A61B 5/0205 (2013.01); A61B 5/681 (2013.01); A61B 5/6898 (2013.01); A61B 5/742 (2013.01); A61B 5/7485 (2013.01); G01L 5/0038 (2013.01); A61B 5/02007 (2013.01); A61B 5/02108 (2013.01); A61B 5/02427 (2013.01); A61B 5/165 (2013.01); A61B 2560/0223 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An apparatus for estimating bio-information, the apparatus comprising:
a touch screen configured to generate touch data when the touch screen is touched by an object;
a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor configured to measure a PPG signal from the object during a bio-information measurement;
a force sensor configured to measure a force exerted by the object to the PPG sensor during the bio-information measurement;
a processor configured to:
during calibration, obtain a reference contact area between the object and the touch screen, based on the touch data that is generated by the touch screen to represent a light intensity of each of a plurality of pixels of the touch screen, by determining one or more pixels that have the light intensity greater than a threshold value as the reference contact area, among the plurality of pixels;
during the bio-information measurement, obtain a contact pressure based on the force that is obtained during the bio-information measurement, and the reference contact area between the object and the touch screen that is obtained during the calibration and stored in the apparatus; and
estimate the bio-information based on the contact pressure and the PPG signal; and
a storage configured to store the reference contact area,
wherein the processor is further configured to, when the PPG signal is measured, retrieve the reference contact area from the storage.