Claims for Patent: 9,444,503

Summary for Patent: 9,444,503

Title:	Active signal processing personal health signal receivers
Abstract:	The invention provides a receiver associated with a body, e.g., located inside or within close proximity to a body, configured to receive and decode a signal from an in vivo transmitter which located inside the body. Signal receivers of the invention provide for accurate signal decoding of a low-level signal, even in the presence of significant noise, using a small-scale chip, e.g., where the chip consumes very low power. Also provided are systems that include the receivers, as well as methods of using the same.
Inventor(s):	Arne; Lawrence (Palo Alto, CA), Au-Yeung; Kit Yee (San Francisco, CA), Crandall; Kenneth C. (Sunnyvale, CA), Robertson; Timothy (Belmont, CA)
Assignee:	Proteus Digital Health, Inc. (Redwood City, CA)
Application Number:	14/735,915
Patent Claims:	1. A signal receiver comprising: a demodulator configured to: receive an encoded signal associated with an in vivo transmitter, the encoded signal comprising information about a frequency of the encoded signal, in a power spectrum of the encoded signal, where a maximum amplitude of the encoded signal occurs; tune to the frequency; adapt to frequency variations of the encoded signal; and generate a reconstructed encoded signal locked in frequency and phase to the encoded signal; and a symbol recovery component configured to: receive the reconstructed encoded signal; determine a signal clock and phase of the reconstructed encoded signal; identify a start sequence in the reconstructed encoded signal; and decode the reconstructed encoded signal with substantially no error. 2. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the signal receiver has a high coding gain. 3. The signal receiver according to claim 2, wherein the signal receiver has a coding gain ranging from 6 dB to 12 dB. 4. The signal receiver according to claim 3, wherein the signal receiver has a coding gain ranging from 8 dB to 10 dB. 5. The signal receiver according to claim 4, wherein the signal receiver has a coding gain of 9 dB. 6. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the encoded signal is received from an in vivo transmitter in a low signal to noise ratio (SNR) environment, wherein the SNR is 7.7 dB or less. 7. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the signal receiver is configured to decode the encoded signal with 10% error or less. 8. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the encoded signal is transmitted conductively. 9. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the encoded signal is modulated using frequency shift keying (FSK), on off keying (OOK), amplitude modulation (AM), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), or binary phase shift keying (BPSK). 10. The signal receiver according to claim 9, wherein the encoded signal is modulated using binary phase shift keying (BPSK). 11. The signal receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a coherent demodulator functional block. 12. The signal receiver according to claim 11, wherein the demodulator comprises a Costas loop demodulating functional block. 13. The signal receiver according to claim 1, further comprising an actively adjustable rate sampler configured to adjust a sampling rate of the receiver based on the received encoded signal. 14. The signal receiver according claim 1, further comprising a decoder block configured to translate measured signals into data having a low probability of error. 15. The signal receiver according to claim 14, wherein the decoder block is configured to: convert the measured signals to hard code decision values; perform an error check on the hard code decision values to assess a likelihood of errors associated with the hard code decision values; and based on results of the error check, adjust the measured signals toward or away from a measurement point. 16. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the signal receiver is sized to be stably associated with a living subject in a manner that does not substantially impact movement of the living subject, wherein the living subject is a human subject. 17. The signal receiver according to claim 16, wherein the signal receiver has a volume that is about 5 cm.sup.3 or less. 18. The signal receiver according to claim 17, wherein the signal receiver has a chip size limit ranging from 10 mm.sup.2 to 2 cm.sup.2. 19. The signal receiver according to claim 17, wherein the signal receiver has a volume that is about 1 cm.sup.3 or less. 20. The signal receiver according to claim 16, wherein the signal receiver is configured to be contacted with an external location of the human subject. 21. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the signal receiver has a topical patch configuration. 22. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the signal receiver is an implantable signal receiver that is configured to be implanted inside of a living subject. 23. The signal receiver according to claim 1, wherein the signal receiver is configured to retransmit data of the received encoded signal to a location external to a living subject. 24. The signal receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a power generation element. 25. The signal receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a data storage element. 26. A system comprising: a signal receiver according to claim 1; and an in vivo signal transmitter configured to communicate with the signal receiver. 27. A method of transmitting data from an in vivo transmitter to a body associated receiver sized to be stably associated with a living subject in a manner that does not substantially impact movement of the living subject, the method comprising: receiving, by a demodulator, an encoded signal associated with an in vivo transmitter, the encoded signal comprising information about a frequency, in a power spectrum of the encoded signal, where a maximum amplitude of the encoded signal occurs; tuning the demodulator to the frequency; adapting the demodulator to frequency variations of the encoded signal; and generating by the demodulator a reconstructed encoded signal locked in frequency and phase to the encoded signal; and receiving, by a symbol recovery component, the reconstructed encoded signal; determining, by the symbol recovery component, a signal clock and phase of the reconstructed encoded signal; identifying, by the symbol recovery component, a start sequence in the reconstructed encoded signal; and decoding, by the symbol recovery component, the reconstructed encoded signal with substantially no error. 28. The method according to claim 27, further comprising actively adjusting a sampling rate of the modulated encoded data signal using an adjustable rate sampler. 29. The method according to claim 27, further comprising translating, by a decoder block, measured signals into data having a low probability of error. 30. The method according to claim 29, further comprising, by the decoder block of the signal receiver: converting the measured signals to hard code decision values; performing an error check on the hard code decision values and assessing a likelihood of errors associated with the hard code decision values; and based on results of the error check, adjusting the measured signals toward or away from a measurement point. 31. A signal receiver comprising: a demodulator configured to: receive an encoded signal associated with an in vivo transmitter, the encoded signal comprising information about a frequency of the encoded signal, in a power spectrum of the encoded signal, where a maximum power of the encoded signal occurs; tune to the frequency; adapt to frequency and power variations of the encoded signal; and generate a reconstructed encoded signal locked in frequency and phase to the encoded signal; and a symbol recovery component configured to: receive the reconstructed encoded signal; determine a signal clock and phase of the reconstructed encoded signal; identify a start sequence in the reconstructed encoded signal; and decode the reconstructed encoded signal with substantially no error. 32. The signal receiver of claim 31, wherein the demodulator comprises a Costas loop demodulating functional block. 33. The signal receiver of claim 32, wherein the Costas loop demodulating functional block comprises a voltage-controlled oscillator, wherein the voltage-controlled oscillator is tuned according to the first frequency. 34. The signal receiver of claim 31, wherein the symbol recovery component is configured to implement a predetermined delay that is used to determine the signal clock of the reconstructed encoded signal. 35. The signal receiver of claim 31, wherein the symbol recovery component is configured to perform an early-late gate calculation to identify the start sequence in the reconstructed encoded signal.