Physiological measurement system with a multi-chip module

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 multi-chip module having two or more electronic circuit boards with electrical connections between the circuit boards. The circuit boards may be vertically stacked or horizontally displaced within the wearable strap.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A wearable physiological measurement system, comprising:
 a wearable strap configured to be couplable to an appendage of a user, the wearable strap comprising:
 one or more light emitters for emitting light toward a user's skin; 
 one or more light detectors for receiving light reflected from the user's skin; and 
 an electronic circuit board comprising a plurality of electronic components configured for analyzing data corresponding to the reflected light to automatically determine a heart rate of the user, 
   wherein the plurality of electronic components of the electronic circuit board are assembled as a multi-chip module within the strap such that a first set of the components is provided as a first electronic circuit board and a second set of the components is provided as a second electronic circuit board, and wherein one or more electrical connections are provided between the first and second electronic circuit boards.   
     
     
         2 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second electronic circuit boards are vertically stacked within the strap such that the first electronic circuit board forms a first vertical layer of the multi-chip module proximal to the user's skin and the second electronic circuit board forms a second vertical layer of the multi-chip module distal to the user's skin. 
     
     
         3 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second electronic circuit boards are horizontally displaced from each other within and along the strap. 
     
     
         4 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the strap includes one or more slots for removably coupling one or more batteries to the strap. 
     
     
         5 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic circuit board comprises:
 a signal processing module configured to process one or more signals associated with the reflected light and/or associated with a motion of the user; and   a microcontroller configured to perform data analysis to automatically determine the heart rate of the user based on the one or more signals processed by the signal processing module.   
     
     
         6 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a first set of one or more batteries for supplying electrical power to the one or more light emitters, the one or more light detectors, and the electronic circuit board; and   a second set of one or more batteries chargeable by an external power source, the second set of batteries configured to recharge the first set of batteries.   
     
     
         7 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , further comprising a visual display device configured to render a user interface for displaying an indication of the heart rate of the user. 
     
     
         8 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , further comprising a global positioning system (GPS) sensor. 
     
     
         9 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , further comprising a storage device for storing the data corresponding to the reflected light. 
     
     
         10 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the strap comprises a wireless transmitter for transmitting the data corresponding to the reflected light to an external computational device. 
     
     
         11 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the multi-chip module includes a processing module configured to detect an identity of a portion of a user's body to which the strap is coupled based on one or more signals associated with the heart rate of the user and to adjust data analysis of the reflected light to determine the heart rate of the user based on the identity of the portion of the user's body. 
     
     
         12 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the multi-chip module includes a processing module configured to determine that the strap is taken off from a user's body, and if the strap is determined to be taken off from the user's body, to deactivate the one or more light emitters and the one or more light detectors and cease monitoring the heart rate of the user. 
     
     
         13 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the multi-chip module includes a processing module configured to automatically and continually determine a sequence of instantaneous heart rate of the user. 
     
     
         14 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 13 , wherein the processing module is further configured to determine a heart rate variability of the user based on the sequence of the instantaneous heart rate. 
     
     
         15 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the wearable strap further comprises a motion sensor for detecting a motion of the user. 
     
     
         16 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 15 , wherein the multi-chip module includes a processing module configured to determine a motion status of the user based on data received from the motion sensor, and based on the motion status of the user, to automatically and selectively activate one or more of the light emitters to determine a heart rate of the user. 
     
     
         17 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 15 , wherein the multi-chip module includes a processing module configured to process one or more signals from the motion sensor to determine a motion status of the user, and to automatically adjust at least one of a duty cycle of the one or more light emitters and a current supplied to the one or more light emitters based on the motion status of the user. 
     
     
         18 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , further comprising a piezo-sensor for detecting a pulse rate at the user's skin. 
     
     
         19 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more of the light emitters are selectively activated based on historical data corresponding to the user. 
     
     
         20 . The wearable physiological measurement system of  claim 19 , wherein the historical data corresponds to a habit of the user.