Physiological measurement system with motion sensing

Abstract

Embodiments provide physiological measurement systems, devices and methods for continuous health and fitness monitoring. A wearable strap may detect reflected light from a user's skin, where data corresponding to the reflected light is used to automatically and continually determine a heart rate of the user. The wearable strap may include a motion sensor that is used to determine a motion status of the user. Based upon the motion status of the user, the system may activate light emitters on the wearable strap to determine the heart rate of the user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wearable physiological measurement system, comprising:
 a plurality of light emitters for emitting light toward a user's skin;   a plurality of sensors, comprising:
 a plurality of light detectors for receiving light reflected from the user's skin; 
 a motion sensor for detecting a motion of the user; and 
   a processing module configured to determine a heart rate of the user based on light received by one or more of the plurality of light detectors, wherein the processing module is further configured to:
 process one or more signals generated by at least one of the plurality of sensors, 
 based on the one or more processed signals, automatically adjust an operational characteristic of one or more of the plurality of light emitters and/or one or more of the plurality of light detectors to minimize consumption of power by the wearable physiological measurement system, 
 process the one or more signals to determine a motion status of the user; and 
 adjust a duty cycle of the one or more light emitters and a corresponding sampling rate of the one or more light detectors based on the motion status of the user. 
   
     
     
         2 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is configured to:
 upon determining that the motion status indicates that the user is at a first level of motion, activate the one or more light emitters at a first duty cycle and sample the reflected light using the one or more light detectors at a first sampling rate; and   upon determining that the motion status indicates that the user is at a second lower level of motion, activate the one or more light emitters at a second duty cycle and sample the reflected light using the one or more light detectors at a second sampling rate,   wherein the second sampling rate is lower than the first sampling rate and the second duty cycle is lower than the first duty cycle.   
     
     
         3 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 2 , wherein the first level of motion is exercise, and wherein the second level of motion is sleep or rest. 
     
     
         4 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 2 , wherein the first level of motion is light motion, and wherein the second level of motion is sleep or rest. 
     
     
         5 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is configured to, based on the one or more processed signals, automatically adjust power consumption by the one or more light emitters by adjusting the duty cycle of the one or more light emitters. 
     
     
         6 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is configured to, based on the one or more processed signals, automatically adjust power consumption by the one or more light emitters by adjusting a current supplied to the one or more light emitters. 
     
     
         7 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module is configured to:
 process the one or more signals to determine a characteristic of the reflected light detected at the one or more light detectors; and   based on the one or more processed signals, automatically adjust a current supplied to the one or more light emitters.   
     
     
         8 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 7 , wherein the characteristic of the reflected light indicates an ambient light condition and/or an optical characteristic of the user's skin. 
     
     
         9 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , further comprising a wireless transmitter, and wherein the processing module is further configured to:
 determine an amount of data to be transmitted to an external computational device; and   based on the amount of data to be transmitted, automatically adjust a data transmission rate from the wearable physiological measurement system to the external computational device.   
     
     
         10 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 9 , wherein the amount of data to be transmitted is based on an amount of data collected by the system from a time when data was last transmitted from the wearable physiological measurement system. 
     
     
         11 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 9 , wherein physiological data associated with the user is transmitted from the wearable physiological measurement system to the external computational device when the amount of data to be transmitted exceeds a predetermined threshold. 
     
     
         12 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , further comprising a wireless receiver and a wireless transmitter, and wherein the processing module is further configured to:
 use the wireless receiver to detect an external computational device in proximity to the wearable physiological measurement system; and   automatically initiate transmission of physiological data associated with the user from the wearable physiological measurement system to the external computational device using the wireless transmitter.   
     
     
         13 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the operational characteristic is adjusted based on historical data corresponding to the user. 
     
     
         14 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 13 , wherein the historical data corresponds to a habit of the user. 
     
     
         15 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , further comprising a piezo-sensor for detecting a pulse rate at the user's skin. 
     
     
         16 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 15 , wherein the processing module is further configured to:
 upon determining that the motion status indicates that the user is in motion, selectively activate at least one of the plurality of light emitters and at least one of the plurality of light detectors to perform optical measurement of the pulse rate at the user's skin; and   upon determining that the motion status indicates that the user is at rest or is asleep, selectively activate the piezo-sensor to detect the pulse rate at the user's skin.   
     
     
         17 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of light emitters are selectively activated based on historical data corresponding to the user. 
     
     
         18 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 17 , wherein the historical data corresponds to a habit of the user.