Methods and systems for gathering and analyzing human biological signals

Abstract

Introduced are methods and systems for an adjustable bed device configured to: gather biological signals associated with multiple users, such as heart rate, breathing rate, or temperature; analyze the gathered human biological signals; and heat or cool a bed based on the analysis.

1 . A system comprising:
 a sensor strip, comprising:
 a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of an environment surrounding the temperature sensor; 
 a piezo sensor configured to measure a biological signal associated with a user; 
 a computer bus having an adjustable length and configured to bend at specified locations to change said adjustable length of said sensor strip; and 
   a thermal member, configured to modify said temperature of a bed; and   a computer processor communicatively coupled to said sensor strip and said thermal member, said computer processor configured to determine a presence in said bed associated with said user solely based on a temperature recorded by said temperature sensor, and to determine a control signal, and a time to send said control signal to said thermal member.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , said computer processor configured to determine said presence in said bed when said temperature recorded by said temperature sensor is between 36° C. and 37.5° C. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said thermal member is divided into a plurality of zones corresponding to a plurality of users, wherein each zone of said plurality of zones is controlled independently of remaining zones of said plurality of zones. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein each said zone is further divided into a plurality of subzones, wherein said thermal member is configured to uniformly heat each subzone in said plurality of subzones. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , wherein said thermal member has a density that is higher in said subzone corresponding to lower back, or feet, than in said plurality of subzones corresponding to other parts of a body. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein each said zone is further divided into a plurality of subzones, wherein said thermal member is configured to uniformly cool each subzone in said plurality of subzones. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein said thermal member has a density that is higher in said subzone corresponding to lower back, or feet than in said plurality of subzones corresponding to other parts of a body. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 3 , further comprising a power supply, wherein said power supply is configured to independently supply power to each of said plurality of zones corresponding to said plurality of users. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said biological signal associated with said user corresponds to said presence in said bed associated with said user, a motion associated with said user, a breathing rate associated with said user, or a heart rate associated with said user. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said control signal comprises one of: an instruction to heat said thermal member, or an instruction to cool said thermal member. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said time comprises average bedtime associated with said user. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said computer bus comprises three straight strips, wherein said three straight strips include a first strip that is coupled at a right angle to a second strip, and said second strip is coupled at a right angle to a third strip, and further wherein said first strip is configured to bend backwards at specified locations, thereby extending a total length of said sensor strip. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein said thermal member comprises a left thermal member and a right thermal member, wherein said left thermal member and said right thermal member are mirror images of each other, and further wherein said left thermal member comprises a plurality of consecutive elongated rectangles, each rectangle sharing and elongated edge with a neighboring rectangle, and further wherein each said rectangle is missing a short edge, wherein said short edge is different from a first short edge missing in said neighboring rectangle. 
     
     
         14 . A system comprising:
 a sensor strip, comprising:
 a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of an environment surrounding the temperature sensor; 
 a piezo sensor configured to measure a biological signal associated with a user, said biological signal comprising a heart rate associated with said user, a breathing rate associated with said user, or a motion associated with said user; 
 a computer bus having an adjustable length and configured to bend at specified locations to change said adjustable length of said sensor strip; and 
   a computer processor communicatively coupled to said sensor strip and configured to determine a presence in a bed associated with said user based on a temperature recorded by said temperature sensor.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein said computer processor is configured to identify said user based on at least one of: said heart rate associated with said user, said breathing rate associated with said user, or said motion associated with said user. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein said computer processor is configured to determine a sleep phase associated with said user, based on said biological signal. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , said computer processor configured to determine that said presence in said bed associated with said user when said temperature recorded by said temperature sensor is between 36° C. and 37.5° C. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein said computer processor is configured to calculate an average bedtime associated with said user based on said presence in said bed associated with said user. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein said computer bus comprises three straight strips, wherein a first strip is coupled at a right angle to a second strip, and said second strip is coupled at a right angle to a third strip, and further where said first strip is configured to bend backwards at predetermined locations to extend said adjustable length of said sensor strip. 
     
     
         20 . A method comprising:
 measuring a temperature associated with a bed using a temperature sensor coupled to said bed;   determining that a user is present in said bed solely based on when said measured temperature is within 35.5° C. to 37.5° C. range; and   upon determining that said user is present in said bed, sending a control signal to an appliance.