FI131199B1

FI131199B1 - Wearable health measurement device with clip mechanism

Info

Publication number: FI131199B1
Application number: FI20236136A
Authority: FI
Inventors: Antti Immonen; Saku Levikari; Antti Jokela; Tomi Harjunmaa
Original assignee: Vire Health Oy
Priority date: 2023-10-12
Filing date: 2023-10-12
Publication date: 2024-12-02
Also published as: WO2025078719A1; FI20236136A1

Abstract

The embodiments relate to a wearable device (100) for measuring health-related parameters from a user. The device comprises a measurement part (101) and a clip part (103), wherein the measurement part (101) comprises a first side (101a) and a second side (101b), the first side (101a) being in contact with user’s skin, and wherein the clip part (103) is connected to the measurement part (101); a groove part (105) between the measurement part (101) and the clip part (103) to receive an edge of a clothing, wherein the first side (101a) of the measurement part (101) comprises at least one heart sensor and at least one temperature sensor to collect data from a user; wherein the measurement part (101) has a larger dimension in thickness than the clip part (103).

Description

WEARABLE HEALTH MEASUREMENT DEVICE WITH CLIP MECHANISM

Technical Field

The present solution generally relates to an apparatus for measuring health- related parameters on a user.

Background

Over decades, athletes have been interested in their heart rates (HR) during exercise, whereupon devices for personal HR monitoring have rapidly evolved.

Upon the development of the sensor technology, devices with more intelligent measurement and analysis capabilities have become available for any consumer, who is interested in their health and well-being.

Sports-related measurement devices typically comprise a belt or a band to receive physical signals directly from user's chest, an arm or a forehead, which signals are then transmitted wirelessly to user's wristwatch or other device for further analysis or reporting. So called activity watches (or smartwatches) are capable of measuring the heart rate and other body signals directly from the wrist and making the analysis on user’s well-being and activity by themselves.

More wearable health measurement devices are entering the market. One example is a ring that measures body signals from user’s finger, and transmits the measured data to an analysis device, such as a mobile phone.

These devices are limited to their possibilities to make health-related analysis,

N whereupon broader perspective on the matter is needed.

N

S Summary ™ 30

I The present invention improves the prior art by providing a health

W measurement device that is not limited to the data obtained from fingers, chest, 2 forehead, but can provide more extensive analysis on well-being of the user.

N

R 35 The scope of protection sought for various embodiments of the invention is set out by the independent claims. The embodiments and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments of the invention.

Various aspects include a method, an apparatus and a computer readable medium comprising a computer program stored therein, which are characterized by what is stated in the independent claims. Various embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims.

According to a first aspect, there is provided a wearable device for measuring health-related parameters from a user, the device comprising a measurement part and a clip part, wherein the measurement part comprises a first side and a second side, the first side being in contact with user's skin, and wherein the clip part is connected to the measurement part; a groove part between the measurement part and the clip part to receive an edge of a clothing, wherein the first side of the measurement part comprises at least one heart sensor and at least one temperature sensor to collect data from a user; wherein the measurement part has a larger dimension in thickness than the clip part.

According to a second aspect, there is provided a method for measuring health-related parameters from a user, the method comprising receiving data from a user by a measurement part of a wearable health measurement device, wherein the measurement part comprises a first side and a second side, the first side being in contact with user's skin, and wherein a clip part is connected to the measurement part to enable attaching of the wearable health measurement device to an edge of a clothing; wherein the first side of the measurement part comprises at least one heart sensor and at least one

N temperature sensor; wherein the measurement part has a larger dimension in

N thickness than the clip part.

S en 30 According to an embodiment, the wearable device further comprises at least

E one skin electrode on the first side of the measurement part.

O

N

According to an embodiment, the hinge is arranged to a second end of the clip part and to a spring part, said spring part being connected to the measurement part.

According to an embodiment, the second end of the clip part has at least two dimensions to allow two positions of the clip part with respect to the measurement part by the hinge.

According to an embodiment, the heart sensor is a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor that comprises at least one light source and at least one receiver.

According to an embodiment, the light source is a light-emitting diode (LED) and the receiver is a photodetector.

According to an embodiment, the first side comprises at least one pair of skin electrodes for measuring impedance between the electrodes.

According to an embodiment, the second side comprises at least one temperature sensor to form a temperature heat channel with said at least one temperature sensor on the first side, and the temperature sensors and the heat channel form a heat flux sensor.

According to an embodiment, the second side comprises at least one electrical contact area for connecting the second side to an external electrode area supported by the interior of the edge of the waistband of the clothing.

S

N According to an embodiment, the wearable device further comprises a clip

S locking mechanism to tighten the edge of the waistband of the clothing en 30 between the clip part and the second side of the measurement part. 7 © According to an embodiment, the wearable device further comprises at least 2 one processor, memory including computer program code.

S

N 35

Description of the Drawings

In the following, various embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which

Fig. 1 shows a simplified example of a wearable health measurement device according to an embodiment;

Fig. 2 shows an example of the measurement part of the wearable health measurement device according to an embodiment;

Fig. 3a shows an example of the wearable health measurement device being attached to a clothing;

Fig. 3b shows an intersection of the wearable health measurement device shown in Fig. 3a;

Fig. 4 shows another example of the wearable health measurement device being attached to a clothing;

Figs. 5a, 5b show an exploded view of the wearable health measurement device according to an embodiment with a section view;

Figs. 6a — 6c show various positions of a clip part;

Fig. 6d shows the clip part as a part of whole mechanics, and

Figs. 6e-6i show different kind of examples of clip part and its second end

S

N Fig. 7 shows a simplified example of the wearable health measurement device

S attached to a clothing and forming an air gap; and ™ 30

I Fig. 8 shows an example of a system according to an embodiment a

O

S

N 35 The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not to be construed as unnecessarily limiting. The specific details are provided for a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, in certain instances, well-

known or conventional details are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description. Reference in this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one 5 embodiment of the disclosure.

The present embodiments relate to a wearable health measurement device.

Despite the term, the device can be considered as an activity measurement device, well-being device, health device, or any device that is able to measure health-related parameters or signals from a user's body and is able to derive analysis therefrom relating to user's well-being. Shortly, the wearable health measurement device is referred interchangeably to as “a device” or “an apparatus”. Term “health-related parameters” refers to electrical and non- electrical signals that can be measured and monitored from a user's body. In addition, for the purposes of the present embodiments, “health-related parameters” also cover other measurable data from a user or users environment. Such data may comprise any one or more of the following: temperature, humidity, altitude, air condition, air quality, carbon dioxide (CO2) or carbon monoxide (CO) or other gases in the air. It is appreciated that in addition to these examples, or alternatively, other environmental data can be measured as well.

Figure 1 illustrates a structure of the wearable health measurement device 100, according to an embodiment. It is to be noticed that the illustration in

Figure 1 is a simplified example of a possible configuration of the device, and the design can vary from what is shown in Figure 1. The device may be

N consisted of two parts, wherein one of the parts is a measurement part that

N houses electronics and sensors. Another part, i.e., clip part, acts as fastening

S mechanism. The parts of the device can be mechanically connected, or the en 30 parts of the device can be integrated. 7 © Figure 1 shows the device 100 comprising a measurement part 101 and a clip © part 103. The measurement part 101 comprises sensing elements (not shown 2 in Figure 1) and purpose of the clip part 103 is to attach the device 100 to a

R 35 place where the measurement is to be carried out from the user's body. The device is configured to be attached to an edge of a clothing. However, with this respect and in any embodiment discussed in the following, term “clothing”

should be interpreted to cover any piece of garment, a cap, a beanie, a belt, a waistband, a headband, a HR belt, just to mention few as examples.

The measurement part comprises a first side 101a and a second side 101b, wherein the first side 101a is (at least partly) in contact with user’s skin when the device 100 is used, and the second side 101b is facing the clip part 103.

The first side 101a of the device 100 comprises the sensors/electrodes for measuring data from the user. The second side 101b of the device 100 is outwards from user’s skin and body. The clip part 103 is connected to a spring part 102 with a hinge (whose pin is indicated by reference number 104), said spring part 102 being located at one end of the measurement part 101. The device 100 comprises a groove part 105 between the measurement part 101 and the clip part 103 to receive the edge of the clothing. The clip part 103 has a design, where a locking has an offset distance between a closing head 106 and the hinge axis. When the clip part 103 is opened, a clothing or garment is arranged to be set to the groove part 105.

The design of the clip part 103 may be such that it allows a clothing to be clipped within the device. For example, the clip part 103 may be flat and curved towards the measurement part (as shown in Figure 1). The clip part 103 may have one or more holes, to allow humidity to go through the clip part. Clip part 103 with one hole may have a circular design. Alternatively, the clip part 103 may be uniform.

The purpose of the wearable health measurement device is to measure signals on a user from a skin area of the user. According to an embodiment, the skin

N area is on the waist of the user. The waist may be defined as a smallest

N circumference of central body area. Alternatively, or in addition, the waist may

S be defined to by located about 10 cm above a waistline or a hipline. According en 30 to other embodiments, the skin area may be on the forehead or on the chest

I of the user. For simplicity, the following embodiments have been discussed

W with reference to a waist area of the user.

O

2 Figure 2 illustrates an example of the measurement part 101 according to an

R 35 embodiment. As said, the measurement part 101 comprises a plurality of sensors for measuring data from a user. The measurement part 101 may comprise first sensor(s) located on (or in primary transducing contact with) the first side facing the skin, and second sensor(s) located on (or in primary transducing contact with) second side of the measurement part 101. The second sensors may benefit from the mechanical properties of the clip mechanism. The first sensors may comprise at least a heart sensor, such as a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor, and a skin temperature sensor. The

PPG sensor may comprise at least one light-emitting diode (LED) and one photodetector. In addition, the first side may have one or more light emitters, and one or more light detectors for optical measurements, e.g, plethysmography. According to another embodiment, the first sensors may comprise at least a skin electrode, a heart sensor, and a skin temperature sensor.

The sides (e.g., second side) not facing the skin may include, e.g., one or more instances of a contact temperature measurement point (temperature sensor), and infrared (IR) sensor, ambient light sensor, or a relative humidity measurement (RH) sensor.

In the example of Figure 2, there are thermal contacts including temperature sensors 202 to electrode areas 201. In addition, in the example of Figure 2, there is an infrared (IR) temperature sensor 203, which does not have to be in contact with the skin. In addition, the IR temperature sensor or another IR temperature sensor can be arranged on the second side of the measurement part, as described above. In the example of Figure 2, there are also receivers, such as photodetectors 204 (“photosensors”), and light sources, such as light- emitting diodes (LEDs) 205 for IR, red light, and green light. In the example of

Figure 2, there are also electrical contacts 206 to electrode areas 201. Finally,

N the electrode areas 200 are provided with metal or other electrical conducting

N material (not shown in Figure 2) on the top of the electrode area grooves.

S These elements 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206 are provided on the first side en 30 101a of the measurement part 101. 7 © It is to be noted that Figure 2 shows one possible example of the arrangement © of the sensors on the first side of the measurement part. However, the number 2 and nature of sensors and their configuration and locations may vary in other

N 35 embodiments.

Therefore, device may also comprise at least one movement sensor (e.g., linear acceleration) situated inside the measurement part 101.

The device may have electrodes or contact points for electrodes on all sides of the device. On the first side of the measurement part, they directly interface the skin impedance or biopotential measurements. On the other sides, the electrodes may constitute an impedance-based humidity/evaporation measurement or interface the clip to external circuitry on clothing.

Thus, as shown above, the measurement part comprises a plurality of sensors being configured to measure health-related data from user's body, which health-related data is used to make analysis on user's health and well-being.

Also, the measurement part may comprise sensors being configured to measure data from the environment. In addition to, or instead of, the sensors as discussed above, the device may comprise one or more of the following sensors: - optical heart rate sensor(s) (OHRM), which can operate in a transmissive and/or reflective mode; - electrodes and electronics for electrocardiography (ECG); - electrodes and electronics for measuring electrical impedances, such as galvanic skin resistance (GSR) and/or bioimpedance analysis (BIA); - contact or contactless temperature sensor(s), such as one or more of the following: thermistor(s), infrared temperature sensor(s), thermocouple(s); - heat flux sensor(s); - humidity sensor(s);

N - inertial sensor(s) such as one or more of the following: linear

N accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), gyroscope(s);

S - barometer(s); en 30 - mechanical force sensor(s), such as pressure sensor(s) and/or strain 7 gauge(s);

W - acoustic sensor(s), such as contact microphone(s) and/or contactless © microphone(s); 2 - optical sensor(s), such as charge-coupled device (CCD) imaging

N 35 sensor(s) and/or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) imaging sensor(s).

The optical heart rate sensor may be placed close to the point, where the wearable device experiences the greatest mechanical support from the user's clothing, such as near the joint of the clip mechanism.

The humidity sensor(s) may be placed so that at least one of the sensors is located away from the user's skin, but underneath the user's clothing, such as at one end of the wearable device.

The thermal (i.e., temperature, heat flux) sensors may be located such that at least one of the sensor(s) is at skin contact, while the others can be located out of skin contact, e.g., the exterior or interior of the enclosure of the first part of the wearable health measurement device.

According to an embodiment, the device can contain four or more temperature sensors located in such way, that at least two of the sensors are in skin contact, and at least two of the sensors are not in contact with the skin, in such a way that the thermal resistance between one pair of a skin-external temperature sensors, and another pair with similar setup is dissimilar. The temperature sensors may be able to measure temperature at a resolution of at least 0.01 degrees Celsius relative to one another, and 0.1 degrees Celsius absolute temperature accuracy. It is appreciated that in some embodiments, the temperature scale can be other than Celsius scale. Also, in some embodiments, the number of the temperature sensors may be less than four.

The measurement data being measured by the sensors may comprise one or more of the following: PPG, HR, skin conductance/impedance, skin

N temperature, body temperature through heat flow sensors,

N electrocardiography (ECG), tissue impedance for determining tissue content

S (fat, muscle, bone), electromyography (EMG), infrared sensor for skin en 30 temperature, humidity, accelerometer. 7 © Figure 3a illustrates an example of the wearable health measurement device © being attached to a clothing 300. In this example, the clothing 300 is pants 2 having a waistline 310, into which the device is attached. According to other

R 35 embodiments, the clothing may be other bottom of the clothing, or a top of the clothing such as a bra, or a hat. According to other embodiments, the clothing may be a belt, such as a waist belt, chest belt or a head belt. As show in Figure

3a, the clip part 103 of the device is located outside the clothing 300, and the measurement part 101 is located inside the clothing 300 so that the measurement part 101 is at least mostly in contact with user's skin. Figure 3b is an exploded view of the wearable health measurement device of the intersection A-A of Figure 3a. In Figure 3b, elements of the measurement part 101 with hinge (whose pin is indicated by reference number 104) and the clip part 103 are shown. The first side 101a of the measurement part 101 is towards user's skin. The waistline 310 fabric of the clothing 300 is shown to be located between the measurement part 101 and the clip part 103. In addition,

Figure 3b shows a textile contact area 315 on the clothing 310 that is in contact with the second side 101b of the measurement part 101.

The purpose of the clip part 103 is to attach the device to the user's clothing.

The clip part 103 may include a base part and a cam actor level mounted rotatably to the base part. The clip part 103 is attached to the measurement part on a side other than the skin-contacting side. Thus, the device is mechanically attached into user's clothing in such a way that the device is in contact with the user's skin. The clip mechanism allows attaching and detaching of the device easily without damaging the clothing.

Figure 4 shows the wearable health measurement device according to another embodiment being attached to a clothing 300. In this embodiment, the device is additionally electrically connected to a piece of clothing, such as underwear, such that the piece of clothing can be used to provide e.g., external skin contact electrodes for ECG or BIA measurements. Thus, in the embodiment of

Figure 4, the clothing comprises a textile conductor 420 within the waistband

N 310 and an additional electrode area 425, wherein the conductor 420

N electrically connects the additional electrode area 425 to the device. The

S additional electrode area 425 may comprise silver conductive fabric and an en 30 evaporative guard (e.g., nitrite). The additional electrode area 425 may be

I placed on the waistband 310 of the clothing 300. In this embodiment, the

W clothing may be a specific clothing to be used with the wearable health © measurement device according to the embodiments. The clothing 300 of this 2 example may be sold as a device accessory, and in addition to the electrode

R 35 area the clothing may have further measurement units.

In addition to above elements, the wearable health measurement device according to an embodiment may comprise other electronics as follows: - a microprocessor, - memory for storing data measured by the sensors; - aradio frequency communication device for relaying the data measured by the sensors; - a battery; - optionally one or more of the following: wireless charging means; a display and/or indicator lights and/or switches in the enclosure of the device; a loudspeaker; a mechanical vibrator.

The physical structure and enclosure of the wearable health measurement device according to embodiments have been designed such that the device has few or no sharp edges for user comfort. In addition, the wearable health measurement device according to embodiments has a flat shape. The thickness may be less than 5mm. However, in some embodiments the thickness may be 5mm or more. Other dimensions (width and/or height and/or diameter) may be less than 50mm. However, in some embodiments, one or more of the dimensions may be 50mm or more. It is appreciated that these dimensions may have the same size or each of them may have their own size differing from the others. According to an embodiment, the measurement part has larger dimension in thickness than the clip part. This enables a contact pressure against the skin.

Figure 5a shows an exploded view of the health measurement device according to an embodiment, and Figure 5b shows section B-B of each of the

N elements shown in Figure 5a. It is to be noticed that any size or dimension

N shown in Figures 5a and 5b may vary and thus should not be interpreted

S unnecessarily limiting. The elements of the wearable health measurement en 30 device comprise a clip part 103, a hinge (whose pin is indicated by reference

I number 104), a spring part 102, and a measurement part 101. The spring part

W 102 can be a separate element with respect to the measurement part 101, and © thus connected to the measurement part, or the spring part 102 can part of the 3 measurement part 101.

N 35

Figures 6a — 6c show different positions of the clip part 103 with respect to the spring part 102 as exploded views. In the final product, the clip part 103 is arranged into a gap D of the spring part 102, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 6a shows clip part 103 in its first position, i.e., closed, Figure 6b shows clip part 103 in its second position, i.e., moving, and Figure 6¢ shows a clip part 103 in its third position, i.e., opened. The closing head 106 of the clip part is designed to have different dimensions with respect to a hinge aperture 604 in clip part's different angle positions: dimension d1 in the first position; dimension d2 in the second position and dimension d3 in the third position. When the clip part 103 is closed (first position, Fig. 6a), the dimension d1 is pressed against a spring plate area 620. The gap D of the spring part 102 may be shorter than dimension d1, so that when the clip part 103 is in the first position, the dimension d1 of the clip part 103 forces the spring part 102 to open the gap D for the dimension d1 towards arrows C. This will keep the clip part 103 closed with the force of the spring 102.

When the clip part 103 is opened (Figure 6b), i.e., it is in moving position, i.e., the second position, the dimension d2 is in place against the spring plate area 620. Because dimension d2 is shorter than dimension d1, the spring 102 is less loaded than in the first position. The dimension d2 can be designed to be shorter than gap D, or equal to the gap D, or a slightly longer than gap D.

The device may be designed to have at least two dimensions (d1, d2) to allow two positions of the clip part (103) with respect to the measurement part by the hinge (whose pin is indicated by reference number 104). The device may be also designed to have three dimensions (d1, d2, d3) to allow three positions of the clip part (103) with respect to the measurement part by the hinge.

S

N According to an embodiment, the device has a third dimension d3 and thus

S three positions of the part (103) with respect to the measurement part by the en 30 hinge. In such case, when the clip part is in the third position (Figure 6c), i.e.,

I opened, the dimension d3 is against the spring plate area 620. Dimension d3

W is designed to be longer than the gap D, so that in the third position, there is © also a force to keep the clip part 103 open. This will help to put a clothing 2 between the clip part 103 and the measurement part 101. & 35

The shape of the closing head 106 of the clip part 103 can be designed differently, and the angle 625 of the plate area 620 can be tuned. The plate area 620 can be flat or rounded. The plate area 620 can also be grooved to improve friction and give haptic feedback to the user when closing or opening the clip part 103. The plate area 620 as well the corresponding area of the closing head may be designed to be smooth and it can be polished to get very smooth movement to open and close the clip. The spring part 102 can be the same or different material than the clip part 103 and/or the measurement part 101. The material can be stainless steel, aluminum, plastic, such as Teflon,

PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene), PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride), PPE (Polyphenylene ether), PI (Polyimide), PMMA (Poly(methyl methacrylate), or

PVC (Polyvinyl chloride).

The different examples of the closing end part of clip 106 are shown in Figures 6e-6i. Figure 6d shows an example of the clip part as a part cross-sectional picture of the device mechanics. The clip part is marked as a dotted line.

The wearable health measurement device according to embodiments is able to perform measurements from the user and the environment continuously at predetermined intervals. Alternatively, the device can reduce, halt, or continue its measurements and operation under an external influence, such as movement, in order to increase the battery’s life of the device. The device can store all of its measurement data from a time span of 24 hours. Alternatively, the device can store the measurement data over a smaller or larger time period. The measurement data from the wearable health measurement device can be transferred to another device, such as a mobile phone, for processing, data visualization and user feedback. Alternatively, or in addition, the measurement data can be delivered from the device to an external server (e.g.,

N in a cloud network), where the processing and long-term storage of the

N measurement data takes place. The data can be downloaded from the cloud

S to another device, such as a mobile phone, for data visualization and user en 30 feedback. 7 © Also, the wearable health measurement device may comprise means for giving © feedback to a user. Such means may comprise an LED of piezo or vibrating 2 element to provide optical and/or haptic feedback and/or alarms and/or

R 35 indication triggered by measured data and/or time or other feedback defined by the device or communicated from a mobile device through a wireless connection to the device.

Some of the embodiments of the wearable health measurement device have been discussed above. Some of the further embodiments are considered next.

According to an embodiment, the measurement part 101 has a larger dimension in thickness than the clip part 103. According to an embodiment, the thickness Tm of measurement part 101 may be two times bigger that the thickness Tc of the clip part 103. The thickness Tm of measurement part may be 3-10mm and the thickness Tc of the clip part may be 1 — 4 mm measured — from the thickest point.

Figure 7 shows a simplified illustration, where a device having a measurement part 101 and a clip part 103 is attached to a clothing 310, and wherein the measurement part 101 is in contact with skin 710. In this configuration, the measurement part 101 reserves a space between the skin 710 and clothing 310. On each side of the measurement part 101 there will be air gaps (i.e., air spaces) 750 formed by the skin 710, device and the clothing 310. An additional garment, such as t-shirt or other garment, may further cover the device and also cover the air gap being formed. The air gap will have an appropriate temperature and humidity. Such temperature and humidity can be measured for the purpose of determining e.g., a heat flux.

According to an embodiment, a PPG sensor may comprise at least one light source (e.g., an LED) and one receiver (e.g., a photodetector). According to another embodiment, the PPG sensor comprises at least two light sources and two receivers. The line of light sources and the receivers may be perpendicular

N to the axis of the hinge.

N

S According to an embodiment, the first side 101a may comprise two skin en 30 electrodes (against the skin) for measuring the impedance between the

I electrodes. a

O

N 35

According to an embodiment, the second side of the measurement part may have at least one temperature sensor within the measurement part to form a temperature heat channel with one temperature sensor on the first side to form a heat flux sensor.

According to an embodiment, the second side of the measurement part may have at least one electrical connecting area for contacting the second side to the external electrode area supported by the inner side (towards the skin) of the upper edge of the underwear or panties.

According to an embodiment, the clip locking mechanism may tighten the upper edge of the garment between the clip and the second side of the device preventing the garment to move after locking the clip.

According to an embodiment, the edge of the garment may be positioned at least over the middle point the measurement part in vertical (y- axis) dimension.

According to an embodiment, open space may be formed in the part of the wearable device, between the measurement part and clip part when they are closed, and the garment is set to its designed position.

According to an embodiment, one electrode of the first side can be used as first ECG electrode and the electrode connected to the connecting area of the second side can be used as the second ECG electrode. The ECG signal can be measured between the first and second ECG electrodes.

According to an embodiment, one electrode area may be used for impedance

N or ECG measurement is connected thermally to the skin temperature sensor,

N so that metal of the electrode area conduits the skin temperature to the skin

S temperature sensor connected thermally to the electrode in one point of the en 30 electrode area. 7 © The measurements made by the wearable health measurement device © generate an output, such as HR, heart rate variability (HRV), skin temperature, 2 body temperature, perfusion index, ECG, EMG, oxygen saturation (SpO2),

R 35 activity, body position (sitting, standing, laying), sleep stature, respiration.

These outputs will further be formed and communicated with features such as overall vitality; sleep and recovery, activeness, and strain, HRV and respiration, circadian alignment, hormonal alignment, biological rhythms, and habits identification, feeding or meal detection, readiness, forward-looking recommendations, etc.

The wearable health measurement device can transmit the collected data to a client application that can locate on a mobile device. Figure 8 illustrates such an example. The implementation may be done in a similar way as the data is transmitted from a smartwatch or smart ring to a mobile device and further to a (e.g., cloud) server. In the example of Figure 8, the wearable health measurement device 100 forms a data transfer network with a mobile device 810 for data delivery 1. The mobile device can be a smartphone, a tablet device, a laptop, a general computer etc. The data transfer network may be a

Bluetooth connection, a Near Field Connection (NFC) or any other current or future wireless or wired data transfer network. For that respect, both the wearable health measurement device 100 and the mobile device 810 have corresponding radio interface and communication means. The mobile device 810 stores the client application 820 that may have been downloaded from a server to the mobile device 810. Alternatively, the mobile device 810 may only comprise a browser that is able to retrieve a view to the client application being located in a (e.g., cloud) server. However, despite the location of the client application, the client application is part of the computing system of the wearable health measurement device.

The purpose of the client application 820 is at least to visualize the data received from the wearable health measurement device 100 and generate feedback or analysis on the well-being of the user. The analysis may contain

N data on overall vitality; sleep and recovery, activeness, and strain, HRV and

N respiration, circadian alignment, hormonal alignment, biological rhythms, and

S habits identification, feeding or meal detection, readiness, forward-looking n 30 recommendations, etc. fz © The mobile device 810 may be in connection with a (e.g., cloud) server 850 to © deliver data from the client application 820 to the server 850. The server 850 2 may gather data from multiple users, to make broader analysis on a general

R 35 wellbeing of plurality of users and to generate statistics. According to some embodiments, the user-related analysis may also be done at the server 850 instead of the mobile device 810, whereupon such analysis may be returned back to the mobile device 810 for visualization. The data transfer network 2 between the mobile device 810 and the server 850 may be created by any known wireless or wired communication technology. Examples of such are mobile networks of different generations (3G, 4G, 5G, etc.) and local and/or — wide area networks.

The mobile device 810 comprises at least one processor and at least one memory, wherein the memory stores computer-implemented instructions according to which visualization of data, processing of data, analysis of data, etc. can be implemented. The memory may also store measurement data. In addition, the mobile device 810 comprises a user interface, e.g., in the form of graphical user interface (GUI). In addition to the GUI, the mobile device 810 may contain other user interaction means, e.g., a microphone and/or loudspeakers.

The measurement data received from the wearable health measurement device may be at least partly stored in the mobile device 810 and at least partly in the cloud 850. For example, the cloud 850 may store history data, whereas the mobile device 810 may store measurement data obtained within a certain shorter time period (e.g., a week, a month).

It is appreciated that a client application may be interpreted to be an element belonging to the wearable health measurement device, despite it has a physical location at the mobile device. Therefore, the wearable health measurement device may utilize capabilities (e.g., processing power) of the mobile device through the client application.

S

N The wearable health measurement device has the following advantages. For

S example, the measurement part is arranged in a direction that minimizes en 30 moving artefact in perpendicular to the axis of hinge. This means that the

E sensing areas and skin contacts are arranged using wider area of the device.

O

© The method generally comprises receiving data from a user by a measurement 2 part of a wearable health measurement device, wherein the measurement part comprises a first side and a second side, the first side being in contact with user's skin, and wherein a clip part is connected to the measurement part to enable attaching of the wearable health measurement device to an edge of a clothing; wherein the first side of the measurement part comprises at least one heart sensor and at least one temperature sensor; and wherein the measurement part has a larger dimension in thickness than the clip part. The steps can be implemented by a respective module of a computer system of the wearable health measurement device.

An apparatus according to an embodiment comprises measurement part and a clip part, wherein the measurement part comprises a first side and a second side, the first side being in contact with user's skin, and wherein the clip part is connected to the measurement part; a groove part between the measurement part and the clip part to receive an edge of a clothing, wherein the first side of the measurement part comprises at least one heart sensor and at least one temperature sensor to collect data from a user; wherein the measurement part has a larger dimension in thickness than the clip part.

The wearable health measurement device discussed in previous is suitable for measuring and monitoring the user's biosignals and health parameters as well other parameters and actions. If the device is attached to the waist area, it provides even more advantages for monitoring and measuring. The waist area is close to the body mass center so the activity measured is representing the whole-body movements compared to a device and sensor on the user's wrist.

The waist area is also more convenient and stable for monitoring skin and core temperatures as well heat flow from the center body to the skin.

The device can be used for collecting one or more of the following health parameters (but not limited to them): activity data, temperature and heat flow

N data, skin impedance data and heart rate and heart rate variability. The heart

N rate and heart rate variability can be monitored optically using a

S plethysmography sensor comprising one or more LED sources and one or en 30 more photoreceivers, or heart rate can be monitored using electrodes to

E measure electrocardiogram (ECG) and detect heart pulsing from ECG signal.

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R 35 preprocessed data is sent. The device can be a smart phone, tablet, laptop, or another computing device. The data can also be processed in a cloud service.

The processed data and its output can be sent or shared to different devices or it can be available for reading and/or viewing on the display of the device, smartphone, tablet, laptop, or another computing device.

In one example, the device monitors different parameters to provide health status data about a user. The health status can be studied over time at trends and variations. It is also possible to estimate future forecasts and trends. It is also possible that a user simulates different activities such physical activities, dietary or meal taking actions, sleep times and scores selecting different activities and selecting time slots for them, and the data processing calculates simulated expectations and forecasts about health status and impact of those selected actions and activities.

The measured parameters and history data may be used as a reference and learning data to evaluate and calculate forecasting data.

In one example, the device is equipped with an accelerometer to measure body movements and accelerations. Current accelerometers are typically 3- axis accelerometers providing acceleration data in three orthogonal dimensions. It is known to define the orientation of the device by calculating the direction of the Earth's gravity direction. By knowing the device's location, it is possible to define the user's position, whether s/he is lying or standing, for example. Furthermore, by following the signal variation, it is possible to define reasonably reliable if a user is sitting or standing. The accelerometer signal can be used in different ways. First, it will indicate overall status of activity over day, for example it can be calculated how many steps have been taken using each hour over the day. This amount can be also calculated as energy

N consumption such as kcal/hour or kcal/day. It is also possible to measure

N speed of movements (i.e., accelerations) as such, and analyze the energy of

S different movements. For example, it is possible to measure how fast a user en 30 stands up from lying to sitting position, or from sitting position to standing and

I starting to walk), how much and how fast other movements are in up-down

W direction, and how much and fast movements are in left-right or forward- © backward directions. Furthermore, it is possible to measure and monitor a 2 parameter describing how a user is keeping posture, and how much there is

R 35 translational movement or translational movement energy related to total movement or movement energy. These can be referred to as movement efficiency or posture control efficiency. These movements may describe how lively a user is moving, whether a user is brisk, lazy, or tired. Such a parameter can be named, for example, vigor. It can describe activity, and it has timescale from seconds to hours.

In another example, the device monitors sleep parameters using skin temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability and/or activity. It is known to define the moment of falling asleep and wake up time of the user based on one or more the parameters. The amount and quality of sleep, i.e., sleep scores, and different sleep phases can be also detected and marked. A heart rate level at sitting position may also a good marker for energy. If the heart rate is abnormally low, it may mean that a user has high sleep depth and may fall asleep soon. On the other hand, if the heart rate is higher than normally at sitting position it may mean higher energy, if the user is otherwise healthy and not having a flu, for example.

Sleep is regulated by homeostatic and circadian processes. The circadian rhythm is mainly driven daylight-night periods. There are variations individually, but it is possible to indicate by monitoring the body core temperature variations which indicates the circadian rhythm of a user.

Homeostatic process, which can be also called sleep-wake regulatory, describes that sleep dept increases during daytime and dept is decreased when slept. Amount of sleep debt can be compensated by sleeping longer or sleeping deeper. Daily activity, physical exercising, social activity, meals, etc. affect the homeostatic process as well circadian rhythm.

The monitor/device/system will follow up sleep behavior, sleeping clock times,

N sleeping amount, sleep phases, sleep guality, and form a curve to show daily

N energy level which resembles sleep debt or oppositely vitality over day. The

S monitor/device/system will also follow up circadian rhythm of a user referenced en 30 to the time of day, by using for example going to bedtime or falling asleep time,

I or center point of the sleep time, or body core temperature or rest heart rate or

W other parameter describing circadian rhythm of a user. These two curves can © be compared and combined to analyze homeostatic process and circadian 2 drive of person. More information about homeostatic process and circadian

N 35 clock is discussed in the scientific paper: “Sleep homeostasis and the circadian clock: Do the circadian pacemaker and the sleep homeostat influence each other’s functioning?, T.Deboer, Neurobiol Sleep Circadian Rhythms. 2018 Jun; 5: 68-77".

The homeostatic process and circadian clock rhythms and curves can be analyzed to see if these are in a balance, or if one is heading and one is behind the other, and how these curves are changing and evolving over days and weeks. Both curves have a natural cycle of a day (24 hours). The variation of the cycle and the difference of cycles can be used as an energy variation parameter of a user. The curve as such can be interpreted as an energy level or daily level of a user. Such effects can be accounted for as additional components in the energy parameter, for example by calculating the sum between state of alertness related to physical activity, and the energy parameter obtained from circadian and homeostatic process analyses, as mentioned above. Moreover, the weight of the components in the sum can be adjusted by e.g., collecting subjective feedback from the user via queries in a smart phone application, and adjusting the weight parameters so that the resulting curve represents the user's experiences in a best possible manner.

The parameter can be named, for example, day-energy. It can be described as energy, and it has timescale from hours to days.

In another example the device can monitor physical exercises by monitoring activity, movements, heart rate, temperature and/or heat flow. The time of exercise, the length of exercise and intensity of exercise can be monitored. It is known that exercise improves physical condition and health when done regularly. For example, the scientific paper: “A nonlinear model for the characterization and optimization of athletic training and performance, James

N D.Turner et al, Biomedical Human Kinetics, 9, 82-93, 2017” has discussed a

N model how training affect the performance.

S en 30 Training may boost energy level or vigor for some minutes and hours after

I exercise, but naturally it also causes some kind of tiredness after some hours.

W However, it is known that regularly made training once per day or every second © day will improve overall performance and health status. This kind of long-term 2 overall health status can be named, for example, overall vitality. It can describe

R 35 overall health and physical performance, and resistance to different health challenges. It has timescale from several days to weeks.

The vitality status can also comprise other health-related metrics, such as homeostatic process, circadian drive, the alignment of the two, as well as subjective wellbeing scores obtained from the user via a smartphone application. The evolution of the aforementioned components can be analyzed over time to provide the user with information about how the aforementioned components have changed over time, possibly in response to changes in daily habits, such as physical activity. Furthermore, the interaction of the aforementioned components can be analyzed over time, e.g., to provide the user with information on how the components relate to each other, and what cause-and-relationship effects may have taken place based on the data. For example, increase in daily physical activity may improve sleep guality over time, which can be observed as positive correlation between scores representing physical activity and sleep guality. A possible application for such a correlation metric is to notify the user about the observed correlation if a pre- determined correlation threshold is exceeded.

Physical activity also affects circadian rhythm and sleep debt so it is important to evaluate different aspect to optimize and guide a user to do right things in right time. Due to the practical life conditions and limitations, it is important to evaluate how the proposed action changes short time, medium time or long- time vigor, energy, or vitality. It is thus preferred that these different timescale parameters are evaluated together. One parameter affects to another. For example, the high vigor parameter (seconds-to-hours) can indicate a good time for high intensity physical exercise. On the other hand, medium level vigor level can indicate a good time for long lasting medium intensity exercise for boosting overall activity for some hours during afternoon. Low vigor level may

N indicate that it is time to fill energy resources to take a snack or so. Short time

N vigor parameter can be also used as an indication on daily energy level and

S used as a measured reference for sleep homeostatic and circadian clock en 30 processes. 7 © Energy parameter (hours-days) may tell how a sleep-wake rhythm is in © balance and how it is evolving for example after jet lags or nightshifts. When 2 physical exercises are made or extra naps are taken, it is possible to follow

R 35 and analyze how the energy level behaves over hours and following days. The system will learn how different actions such as physical exercise, extra sleep, meal taking, walking, mindful exercise such as yoga, and their intensity and length affect to the next day or days energy and so the long-time scale vitality parameter. New studies as well machine learning methods can propose optimal times and actions for a user to improve health status.

It is also possible that a user simulates different activities such as physical activities, dietary or meal taking actions, sleep times and scores selecting different activities and selecting time slots for them, and the data processing calculates simulated expectations and forecasts about health status and impact of those selected actions and activities on different time scales, i.e., impact on vigor parameter, energy parameter and/or vitality parameter.

If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed in a different order and/or concurrently with other. Furthermore, if desired, one or more of the above-described functions and embodiments may be optional or may be combined.

Although various aspects of the embodiments are set out in the independent claims, other aspects comprise other combinations of features from the described embodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of the independent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set out in the claims.

It is also noted herein that while the above describes example embodiments, these descriptions should not be viewed in a limiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modifications, which may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as, defined in the appended claims.

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Claims

Claims:

1. A wearable device (100) for measuring health-related parameters from a user, the device (100) comprising - a measurement part (101) and a clip part (103), wherein the measurement part (101) comprises a first side (101a) and a second side (101b), the first side (101a) being in contact with user's skin, and wherein the clip part (103) is connected to the measurement part (101); - a groove part (105) between the measurement part (101) and the clip part (103) to receive an edge of a clothing, - wherein the first side (101a) of the measurement part (101) comprises at least one heart sensor and at least one temperature sensor to collect data from a user; - wherein the measurement part (101) has a larger dimension in thickness than the clip part (103).

2. The wearable device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one skin electrode on the first side (101a) of the measurement part (101).

3. The wearable device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a hinge for connecting the clip part (103) and the measurement part (101).

4. The wearable device according to claim 3, wherein the hinge is N arranged to a second end (106) of the clip part (103) and to a spring N part (530), said spring part being connected to the measurement S part (101). ™ 30

I 5. The wearable device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the second W end (106) of the clip part (103) is designed to have at least two © dimensions (d1, d2) to allow at least two positions of the clip part 3 ac (103) with respect to a spring plate area of the measurement part. N

6. The wearable device according to any of the claims 1 to 5, wherein the heart sensor is a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor that comprises at least one light source and at least one receiver, wherein the light source is a light-emitting diode (LED) and the receiver is a photodetector.

7. The wearable device according to any of the claims 1 to 6, wherein the first side (101a) comprises at least one pair of skin electrodes for measuring impedance between the electrodes.

8. The wearable device according to any of the claims 1 to 7, wherein the second side (101b) comprises at least one temperature sensor to form a temperature heat channel with said at least one temperature sensor on the first side, and the temperature sensors and the heat channel form a heat flux sensor.

9. The wearable device according to any of the claims 1 to 8, wherein the second side (101b) comprises at least one electrical contact area for connecting the second side to an external electrode area supported by the interior of the edge of the clothing.

10. The wearable device according to claim 8, further comprising a clip locking mechanism to tighten the edge of the clothing between the clip part (103) and the second side (101b) of the measurement part (101). N

11. The wearable device according to any of the claims 1 to 10, further N comprising at least one processor and a memory including computer S program code for processing data being collected from a user. ™ 30 I

12.A method for measuring health-related parameters from a user, the W method comprising © - receiving data from a user by a measurement part (101) of a 2 wearable health measurement device, wherein the measurement part (101) comprises a first side (101a) and a second side (101b), the first side (101a) being in contact with user's skin, and wherein a clip part (103) is connected to the measurement part (101) to enable attaching of the wearable health measurement device to an edge of a clothing; - wherein the first side (101a) of the measurement part (101) comprises at least one heart sensor and at least one temperature sensor; and - wherein the measurement part (101) has a larger dimension in thickness than the clip part (103).