WO2019035844A1

WO2019035844A1 - Shoe with body function measurement system

Info

Publication number: WO2019035844A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/047568
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ma'An Nassar Raja Al-Ani; Mohammed Thamer Mohammed Jassim AL-ATHANI
Original assignee: Al Ani Maan Nassar Raja; Al Athani Mohammed Thamer Mohammed Jassim
Priority date: 2017-08-18
Filing date: 2017-08-18
Publication date: 2019-02-21

Abstract

The shoe with body function measurement system (10) is an article of footwear (28) having multiple sensors (16, 18, 24, 26) for measuring a variety of body functions of a wearer of the article of footwear. A controller (22) is mounted in the article of footwear (28) and is in electrical communication with at least one load cell sensor (16, 18), which generates signals representative of a weight of the wearer of the article of footwear (28). A temperature sensor (26) is also mounted in the article of footwear (28) for generating signals representative of a temperature of the wearer of the article of footwear (28). Further, a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor (24) is mounted in the article of footwear (28) for generating signals representative of a heart rate of the wearer of the article of footwear (28). A wireless transceiver (36) transmits signals representative of the body functions to a device (12).

Description

SHOE WITH BODY FUNCTION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to footwear, and particularly to an article of footwear with integrated sensors for measuring body functions of the wearer.

BACKGROUND ART

Although footwear with hardware for analyzing athletic ability is known, such devices are typically limited to very specific measurements, restricting the data collected solely to particular motions by the user and the like. Given that most people wear footwear throughout the day, every day, footwear provides a common wearable article which is ideal for taking daily health-related measurements. Thus, a shoe with integrated sensors solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The shoe with body function measurement system is an article of footwear having multiple sensors for measuring a variety of body functions of a wearer of the article of footwear. A controller, such as a microcontroller (MCU) or the like, is mounted in the article of footwear and is in electrical communication with at least one load cell sensor, also mounted in the article of footwear. The at least one load cell sensor generates signals representative of a weight of the wearer of the article of footwear. A temperature sensor is also mounted in the article of footwear and is in electrical communication with the controller. The temperature sensor generates signals representative of a temperature of the wearer of the article of footwear. Further, a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor is mounted in the article of footwear and is in electrical communication with the controller. The photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor generates signals representative of a heart rate of the wearer of the article of footwear. The controller is in communication with a wireless transceiver for transmitting signals representative of the wearer' s body functions to a remote device. The remote device may, in turn, transmit data representative of the wearer's body functions to a remote server for storage thereof.

These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 diagrammatically illustrates a shoe with body function measurement system according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating system components of the shoe with body function measurement system according to the present invention.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The shoe with body function measurement system 10 is an article of footwear having multiple sensors for measuring a variety of body functions of a wearer of the article of footwear. It should be understood that shoe 28, shown in Fig. 1, is shown for exemplary purposes only and that the shoe with body function measurement system 10 may be manufactured in the form of any desired footwear. Additionally, although only a single shoe is shown in Fig. 1 , it should be understood that the system described below may be integrated into a pair of shoes.

A controller 22, such as a microcontroller (MCU) or the like, is mounted in the article of footwear 28 and is in electrical communication with at least one load cell sensor. In Fig. 1, a pair of load cell sensors 16, 18 are shown. It should be understood that any desired number of load cell sensors may be utilized for generating signals representative of a weight of the wearer of the article of footwear 28. As shown in Fig. 1, the controller 22 and the load cell sensors 16, 18 are preferably embedded in the sole 32 of the article of footwear 28. It should be understood that controller 22 may be any suitable type of processor, microcontroller, programmable logic controller or the like. Additionally, it should be understood that load cell sensors 16, 18 may be any suitable type of load cell sensors for measuring the weight of the wearer, or may be replaced by any suitable type of weight sensors.

In addition to load cell sensors 16, 18, a temperature sensor 26 is also mounted in the article of footwear 28 and is in electrical communication with the controller 22. The temperature sensor 26 generates signals representative of a temperature of the wearer of the article of footwear 28. Further, a photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor 24 is mounted in the article of footwear 28 and is in electrical communication with the controller 22. The photoplethysmogram (PPG) sensor 24 generates signals representative of a heart rate of the wearer of the article of footwear 28. In Fig. 1, temperature sensor 26 and PPG sensor 24 are shown secured to the tongue 30 of the article of footwear 28. It should be understood that, dependent upon the style of footwear, the temperature sensor 26 and PPG sensor 24 may be mounted to the shoe upper. Alternatively, the temperature sensor 26 and PPG sensor 24 may be located in any other suitable position for respectively measuring the temperature and heart rate of the wearer.

The controller 22 is in communication with a wireless transceiver 36 for transmitting signals representative of the wearer's body functions to a remote device 12. As shown in Fig. 1, the wireless transceiver 36 may be embedded in the sole 32. Wireless transceiver 36 may operate using any desired communications standard, such as, for example, the Bluetooth standard. Remote device 12 may be a mobile device, such as the wearer's smartphone, or may be any other device or computer capable of receiving wireless signals from wireless transceiver 36. Alternatively, wireless transceiver 36 may be replaced by a transceiver for wired communication with device 12. The remote device 12 may, in turn, transmit data representative of the wearer's body functions to a remote server 14, such as a cloud storage server, for storage thereof.

As further shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a battery 20 is also preferably embedded in sole 32 of the article of footwear 28 for providing power to the controller 22, the wireless transceiver 36, and sensors 16, 18, 24, 26. Preferably, battery 20 is rechargeable, thus a charging port 34 may also be integrated into the sole 32 for selective recharging of battery 20. It should be understood that additional components, such as a GPS locator 40, for example, may also be mounted to, or embedded in, the article of footwear 28.

As noted above, remote device 12 may be a mobile device, such as the wearer's smartphone, or may be any other device or computer capable of receiving wireless signals from wireless transceiver 36. As shown in Fig. 2, remote device 12 may be any conventional type of computer, smartphone, mobile device or the like, including a processor 50 (or any other suitable type of controller, programmable logic controller or the like), computer readable memory 56, a display 54, a user interface 52, and a wireless transceiver 58 for communicating with wireless transceiver 36.

Processor 50 receives the transmitted signals from wireless transceiver 36, via wireless transceiver 58, and stores the data in memory 56, as well as displaying data to the wearer via display 54. For example, the wearer's instantaneous weight or average weight (measured by load cell sensors 16, 18) may be recorded in memory 56 and/or displayed to the wearer on display 54. Similarly, the wearer's heart rate (measured by PPG 24) may be recorded in memory 56 and/or displayed to the wearer on display 54 in the form of a heartbeat graph or the like. PPG 24 may also be used to indirectly measure the wearer's blood pressure which, along with the wearer' s temperature (measured by temperature sensor 26), may be recorded in memory 56 and/or displayed to the wearer on display 54.

From the above measured data, as well as data entered into device 12 through interface 52, the remote device 12 may be used to calculate and tally a wide variety of information. As an example, the wearer may enter his or her height into remote device 12, via interface 52, and processor 50 can calculate the wearer's body mass index (BMI) from both the measured weight of the wearer and the entered height. The body mass index (BMI) (also referred to as the Quetelet index) is a value derived from the weight and height of an individual and is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height. This calculated BMI value can then be presented to the wearer via the display 54. Additional tables and calculations, stored as databases, software and the like in memory 56, may also be applied. For example, the calculated BMI may be used to generate a further report to the wearer, indicating that the wearer is overweight, underweight, healthy, etc., for example.

As another example, remote device 12 may be used to calculate the basal metabolic rate (BMR) of the wearer. The BMR is the minimal rate of energy expenditure per unit time at rest. A number of estimates of BMR are possible. As an example, if the wearer inputs his or her height and age, the Mifflin St. Jeor equation may be used to calculate the total heat

„ „ /10.0m 6.25ft 5.0a \ ,

production at complete rest, P, as P = —^■ 1 h s kcal/day, where m is ^{r r} V 1 kg 1 cm 1 year / ^J

measured mass (measured by load sensors 16, 18) in kg, h is height in cm (input via interface 52), a is age in years (input via interface 52), and s is +5 for males and -161 for females.

As a further example, remote device 12 may be used to calculate body fat percentage. The wearer enters his or her waist length, neck length (i.e., circumferences) and height into remote device 12 via interface 52. For men, body fat percentage is calculated as %Fat =

495

- - -— 450, and for women, hip circumference is

1.0324-0.19077 log(waist-neck)+0.15456 log(height) ^r

also entered, and body fat percentage is calculated as

495

%Fat = — 450. From the calculation of

1.29579-0.35004 log(waist+hip-neck)+0.22100 log(height)

body fat percentage, the lean body mass (LBM) may be easily calculated as weight x (100 - %Fat).

It should be understood that the above calculations are only examples of the data which may be calculated by processor 50 of remote device 12. Raw data, individual calculations or any desired type of reports may be presented to the wearer through display 54. A typical report may include body composition data (%Fat, weight, temperature, pulse rate, heartbeat graph and blood pressure), and/or a muscle-fat analysis (weight and skeletal muscle mass), an obesity analysis (BMI, BMR, %Fat, and LBM or fat free mass). GPS locator 40 may also be used to incorporate distance and location tracking information to the report. Information related to walking, balance and calories burned per unit of time may also be presented to the wearer.

The remote server 14 may be any conventional remote storage system, such as a conventional cloud storage server or the like, including a processor 60 (or any other suitable type of controller, programmable logic controller or the like), computer readable memory 62, and a wireless transceiver 64 for communicating with wireless transceiver 58 of remote device 12. It should be understood that server 14 may communicate with remote device 12 by any suitable type of communication, including wired communication, such as the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network or the like. Both raw data and reports generated by remote device 12, as described above, may be stored remotely and selectively accessed through storage in computer readable memory 62 of server 14. By storing this data on remote server 14, the wearer may also use any other type of device, computer or the like to access his or her data from any accessible location.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A shoe with body function measurement system, comprising:

an article of footwear;

a controller mounted in the article of footwear;

at least one load cell sensor mounted in the article of footwear and in electrical communication with the controller, the at least one load cell sensor generating signals representative of a weight of a wearer of the article of footwear;

a temperature sensor mounted in the article of footwear and in electrical communication with the controller, the temperature sensor generating signals representative of a temperature of the wearer of the article of footwear; and

a photoplethysmogram sensor mounted in the article of footwear and in electrical communication with the controller, the photoplethysmogram sensor generating signals representative of a heart rate of the wearer of the article of footwear.

2. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 1, wherein the at least one load cell sensor is embedded in a sole of the article of footwear.

3. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is secured to a tongue of the article of footwear.

4. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor is secured to an upper portion of the article of footwear.

5. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 1, wherein the photoplethysmogram sensor is secured to a tongue of the article of footwear.

6. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 1, wherein the photoplethysmogram sensor is secured to an upper portion of the article of footwear.

7. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a battery in electrical communication with the controller.

8. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 7, wherein the battery is a rechargeable battery.

9. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 8, further comprising a charging port for recharging the battery.

10. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 9, wherein the battery and the charging port are embedded in the sole of the article of footwear.

11. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 1, further comprising a wireless transceiver in communication with the controller for transmitting signals representative of the wearer's body functions to a remote device.

12. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 11, wherein the remote device is a mobile device.

13. A shoe with body function measurement system, comprising:

an article of footwear having a sole;

a controller embedded in the sole of the article of footwear;

at least one load cell sensor embedded in the sole of the article of footwear and in electrical communication with the controller, the at least one load cell sensor generating signals representative of a weight of a wearer of the article of footwear;

14. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 13, wherein the temperature sensor is secured to a tongue of the article of footwear.

15. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 13, wherein the temperature sensor is secured to an upper of the article of footwear.

16. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 13, wherein the photoplethysmogram sensor is secured to a tongue of the article of footwear.

17. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 13, wherein the photoplethysmogram sensor is secured to an upper of the article of footwear.

18. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 13, further comprising a battery in electrical communication with the controller.

19. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 18, wherein the battery is a rechargeable battery.

20. The shoe with body function measurement system as recited in claim 13, further comprising a wireless transceiver in communication with the controller for transmitting signals representative of the wearer's body functions to a remote device.