EP-4242678-B1 - METHOD FOR DETECTING LEAKAGE CURRENT OF BIOMETRIC INFORMATION MEASUREMENT DEVICE

EP4242678B1EP 4242678 B1EP4242678 B1EP 4242678B1EP-4242678-B1

Inventors

KANG, YOUNG JEA
HA, JUNG UK
LEE, JIN WON

Dates

Publication Date: 20260513
Application Date: 20210728

Claims (11)

A method for detecting, in a measuring device (10) comprising a transmitter (11), and a sensor (13) comprising a working electrode (13-1) and a counter electrode (13-5), whether there is a leakage current in the sensor (13) which is inserted into the skin (1), the method comprising: measuring, by an applied current measuring unit (110), the magnitude of an applied current (IS) which is applied from a battery of the transmitter (11) to the working electrode (13-1) of the sensor (13); and measuring, by an output current measuring unit (130), the magnitude of an output current (IC) which is output from the counter electrode (13-5) of the sensor (13); and determining whether there is leakage current in the sensor (13) inserted into the skin (1) by calculating a difference in magnitude between the applied current (IS) and the output current (IC) and by comparing the difference in the magnitude with each of a first threshold range .
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the working electrode (13-1) of the sensor (13) and the counter electrode (13-5) of the sensor (13) are inserted into the skin (1) when the measuring device (10) is attached to a user's skin (1) to measure the user's biometric data; and an applied current (IS) is applied via the working electrode (13-1) of the sensor (13) inserted into the skin (1) and an output current (IC) is output from the counter electrode (13-5) of the sensor (13) inserted into the skin (1).
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the working electrode (13-1) and the counter electrode (13-5) of the sensor (13) are insulated from each other.
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that if the magnitude of the applied current (IS) and the magnitude of the output current (IC) are the same as each other, it is determined that the applied current (IS) is not leaking to the body through the sensor (13).
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the step of determining whether there is a leakage current further comprises steps of: determining whether the difference in magnitude between the applied current (IS) and the output current (IC) exceeds the first threshold range; and determining whether the difference in magnitude between the applied current (IS) and the output current (IC) exceeds a second threshold range, wherein the second threshold range is larger than the first threshold range.
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that , in the step of determining whether there is a leakage current, if the difference between the applied current (IS) and the output current (IC) is within the first threshold range, the applied current (IS) and the output current (IC) are determined to be the same as each other and so the leakage current state is determined to be a normal state.
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that , in the step of determining whether there is a leakage current, if the difference between the applied current (IS) and the output current (IC) is larger than the first threshold range and is smaller than the second threshold range, the leakage current state is determined to be a caution state.
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that , in the step of determining whether there is a leakage current, if the difference between the applied current (IS) and the output current (IC) exceeds the second threshold range, the leakage current state is determined to be a warning state.
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the method further comprises a step of: outputting the leakage current state.
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the method further comprises a step of: generating a notification message for notifying the leakage current state, and transmitting the notification message to a user terminal.
The method for detecting a leakage current as claimed in claim 10, characterized in that the notification message is transmitted to a management server (70) through the user terminal.

Description

Technical Field The present invention relates to a method for detecting a leakage current during measurement of biometric data by using a biometric data measuring device, and more particularly, a method is provided whereby it is possible to detect whether there is leakage of current in a sensor in the state of measuring biometric data while a part of a sensor is inserted into the user's skin, by comparing the difference in magnitudes between an applied current applied via one terminal of the sensor inserted into the skin and an output current output via the other terminal of the sensor. Document WO 2019/118060 A1 shows a different leakage current measuring method. Background Diabetes is a leading cause of death worldwide and is a factor which causes physical impairments, and therefore many people develop health problems due to diabetes. In particular, diabetes is a serious disease which causes heart and kidney disease, blindness, neural damage and high blood pressure. Looking at long-term clinical studies, the occurrence of complications can be significantly reduced by means of adequately controlling blood glucose levels. Therefore, it is important to continuously manage diabetes, and a major factor thereof is self-monitoring of blood glucose levels. Due to such requirements, personal biometric devices which can directly test the blood glucose of the user are widely supplied to and used by users. Typical blood glucose measuring devices measure a user's blood glucose level by smearing the user's blood onto a sensor strip in the form of a test paper. That is, the sensor strip smeared with blood is inserted into the blood glucose measuring device and the blood glucose level measured via the sensor strip is displayed on the blood glucose measuring device. At this time, the blood glucose measuring device receives an electrical signal generated by an electrochemical reaction of the collected blood and the reactants inside the sensor strip and so measures the blood glucose level. This blood-collecting blood glucose meter (finger prick method) helps with a diabetes patient's blood glucose management, but there is a problem in that it is difficult to accurately understand the frequently changing blood glucose value since only the result at the time of measurement is indicated. Diabetes patients generally move between hyperglycaemic and hypoglycaemic states, with emergencies occurring in the hypoglycaemic state, and, when the supply of glucose does not last for a long time, they may lose consciousness or, in the worst case, may lose their lives. Therefore, the prompt detection of a hypoglycaemic state is very important to diabetes patients. But blood-collecting blood glucose meters which intermittently measure blood glucose have obvious limitations. In order to overcome the limitations of such blood-collecting blood glucose meters, a continuous blood glucose measuring system (Continuous Glucose Monitoring System, CGMS) which is inserted into the body to measure blood glucose at intervals of a few minutes has been developed, and this can be used to manage diabetic patients and easily cope with emergency situations. The continuous blood glucose measuring system comprises: a measuring device which is inserted into the human body and is for collecting test material such as a bodily fluid of the user and measuring the blood glucose; and a receiver for communicating with the measuring device and displaying the blood glucose data measured by the measuring device. Meanwhile, measuring devices typically consist of a sensor and a transmitter, and when the measuring device is attached to the skin, a portion of the sensor that is inserted into the skin measures the blood glucose and provides the measured blood glucose data to the transmitter. Measuring devices have a fixed term of life, for example, a service life of 15 days or 1 month, and are attached to the user's body during the service life to continuously measure the user's blood glucose data and transmit the measured blood glucose data to the receiver periodically or upon request from the receiver. The receiver not only outputs the blood glucose data received from the measuring device to the user, but also can provide an alarm to the user when the user has hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia on the basis of the blood glucose data, or can monitor the service condition of the measuring device and provide an alarm to the user. Biometric data measuring devices as described above are products that are used by attaching to the user's skin, and undergo multiple safety tests in advance in the manufacturing process before being provided to the user. Among the safety tests, there is a test for whether there is a leakage current in the measuring device. This test for leakage current is a test for the occurrence of a leakage current from the measuring device itself. However, despite the measuring device being one that has undergone testing relating to whether there is a leakage current i