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EP-4736775-A1 - ELECTRONIC DEVICE

EP4736775A1EP 4736775 A1EP4736775 A1EP 4736775A1EP-4736775-A1

Abstract

An electronic device includes a diaphragm having a contact surface configured to contact a subject and a reflective medium on a surface of the diaphragm opposite the contact surface, the diaphragm being configured to elastically deform when pressed by the subject at the contact surface; a light-emitting diode; an aperture configured to narrow light emitted by the light-emitting diode; a photodetector having a light-receiving surface configured to receive light that passes through the aperture and is specularly reflected by the reflective medium; an output unit configured to output a signal based on light in an illuminated region formed on the light-receiving surface by the reflected light; and a housing enclosing the light-emitting diode, the aperture, and the photodetector, wherein the diaphragm is configured to form part of an exterior of the electronic device together with the housing, and wherein a boundary of the illuminated region, the boundary being defined by the light narrowed by the aperture and specularly reflected by the reflective medium, moves in accordance with displacement of the contact surface caused by elastic deformation of the diaphragm, thereby changing an area of the illuminated region on the light-receiving surface and changing an output of the output unit.

Inventors

  • KOJIMA, KEIZO
  • SAMEJIMA, KEISUKE
  • YAMANAKA, HIROMICHI
  • WATANABE, SHINRI
  • MIYASHITA, TAKUYA
  • YAMAGUCHI, NORITOMO
  • SASAOKA, OSAMU
  • NIHEI, HIRONOBU

Assignees

  • Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20240627

Claims (20)

  1. An electronic device comprising: a diaphragm having a contact surface configured to contact a subject and a reflective medium on a surface of the diaphragm opposite the contact surface, the diaphragm being configured to elastically deform when pressed by the subject at the contact surface; a light-emitting diode; an aperture configured to narrow light emitted by the light-emitting diode; a photodetector having a light-receiving surface configured to receive light that passes through the aperture and is specularly reflected by the reflective medium; an output unit configured to output a signal based on light in an illuminated region formed on the light-receiving surface by the reflected light; and a housing enclosing the light-emitting diode, the aperture, and the photodetector, wherein the diaphragm is configured to form part of an exterior of the electronic device together with the housing, and wherein a boundary of the illuminated region, the boundary being defined by the light narrowed by the aperture and specularly reflected by the reflective medium, moves in accordance with displacement of the contact surface caused by elastic deformation of the diaphragm, thereby changing an area of the illuminated region on the light-receiving surface and changing an output of the output unit.
  2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an area of the illuminated region on the light-receiving surface decreases as a displacement amount of the contact surface increases.
  3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein an area of the illuminated region on the light-receiving surface increases as a displacement amount of the contact surface increases.
  4. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the area of the illuminated region is defined by: the boundary; a first edge that is stationary with respect to displacement of the contact surface and whose length remains unchanged despite the displacement; and a second edge that is stationary with respect to the displacement but whose length changes when the contact surface displaces.
  5. The electronic device according to claim 4, further comprising a second aperture configured to narrow light specularly reflected by the reflective medium, wherein the first edge is defined by light narrowed by the second aperture.
  6. The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the first edge is an edge of a photosensitive area of the photodetector.
  7. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the electronic device is configured to measure vibration of the subject.
  8. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising a transmitter configured to transmit an audio signal based on an output of the output unit to an external audio output device.
  9. The electronic device according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising: a chest piece including the housing and configured to measure vibration of the subject; and a grip attached to the chest piece and gripped by a user.
  10. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the grip includes a display device configured to display a state of the electronic device.
  11. The electronic device according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the grip includes an operation unit configured to accept user settings for the electronic device.
  12. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the reflective medium is provided, on the surface of the diaphragm opposite the contact surface, in a region including a center of the diaphragm.
  13. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein an incident angle θ of light incident on a surface of the reflective medium satisfies 45° < θ < 90°.
  14. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the reflective medium is a sheet member affixed to the surface of the diaphragm opposite the contact surface.
  15. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein the housing is made of metal and an areal density of the housing is greater than an areal density of the diaphragm.
  16. An electronic device comprising: a diaphragm having a contact surface configured to contact a subject and a reflective medium on a surface of the diaphragm opposite the contact surface, the diaphragm being configured to elastically deform when pressed by the subject at the contact surface; a light-emitting diode; an aperture configured to narrow light emitted by the light-emitting diode; a photodetector having a light-receiving surface configured to receive light that passes through the aperture and is specularly reflected by the reflective medium; an output unit configured to output a signal based on light in an illuminated region formed on the light-receiving surface by the specularly reflected light; and a housing enclosing the light-emitting diode, the aperture, and the photodetector, wherein the diaphragm is configured to form part of an exterior of the electronic device together with the housing.
  17. An electronic device comprising: a diaphragm having a contact surface configured to contact a subject and a reflective medium on a surface of the diaphragm opposite the contact surface, the diaphragm being configured to elastically deform when pressed by the subject at the contact surface; a light-emitting diode; an aperture configured to narrow light emitted by the light-emitting diode; a photodetector having a light-receiving surface configured to receive light that passes through the aperture and is specularly reflected by the reflective medium, the photodetector generating a signal based on light reaching the light-receiving surface; a signal extraction module configured to extract a biosignal in a specific frequency band from the signal generated by the photodetector; an audio output unit configured to output sound based on the biosignal; and a controller configured to increase or reduce a volume of the audio output unit based on the signal generated by the photodetector before extraction by the signal extraction module.
  18. The electronic device according to claim 17, wherein the controller determines whether the diaphragm is being pressed by the subject based on the signal generated by the photodetector, increases the volume from a first volume to a second volume greater than the first volume when the diaphragm is determined to be pressed by the subject, and reduces the volume from the second volume to the first volume when the diaphragm is determined not to be pressed by the subject.
  19. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein a time required to reduce the volume from the second volume to the first volume is shorter than a time required to increase the volume from the first volume to the second volume.
  20. The electronic device according to any one of claims 17 to 19, further comprising an indicator configured to notify a user of information regarding a pressing state of the diaphragm determined based on the signal generated by the photodetector.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an electronic device. BACKGROUND ART Electronic devices such as electronic stethoscopes, which have sensors for measuring vibrations in target bodies and are capable of obtaining body sounds by the sensors, have become widespread in recent years. Patent Literature (PTL) 1 proposes an electronic stethoscope that obtains body sounds using a condenser microphone. PTL 2 proposes an auscultation apparatus that uses a vibration sensor in an obtainment unit that obtains body sounds. CITATION LIST PATENT LITERATURE PTL 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2022-119446PTL 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2017-47095 SUMMARY OF INVENTION TECHNICAL PROBLEM With a microphone having a size that fits in an auscultation apparatus such as that described in PTL 1, it is difficult to accurately detect vibrations produced by the target body in low-frequency bands around 10 Hz. In an auscultation apparatus that detects vibrations of a target body using a vibration sensor such as that described in PTL 2, a constant pressure is applied by pressing the vibration sensor against the surface of the target body, which reduces the amount of displacement of the surface of the target body and worsens the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). With the conventional electronic devices, it has been difficult to accurately measure vibrations in a subject such as a target body. Some aspects of the present invention provide a technique for accurately measuring vibrations in a subject. SOLUTION TO PROBLEM According to some embodiments, an electronic device comprising: a diaphragm having a contact surface configured to contact a subject and a reflective medium on a surface of the diaphragm opposite the contact surface, the diaphragm being configured to elastically deform when pressed by the subject at the contact surface; a light-emitting diode; an aperture configured to narrow light emitted by the light-emitting diode; a photodetector having a light-receiving surface configured to receive light that passes through the aperture and is specularly reflected by the reflective medium; an output unit configured to output a signal based on light in an illuminated region formed on the light-receiving surface by the reflected light; and a housing enclosing the light-emitting diode, the aperture, and the photodetector, wherein the diaphragm is configured to form part of an exterior of the electronic device together with the housing, and wherein a boundary of the illuminated region, the boundary being defined by the light narrowed by the aperture and specularly reflected by the reflective medium, moves in accordance with displacement of the contact surface caused by elastic deformation of the diaphragm, thereby changing an area of the illuminated region on the light-receiving surface and changing an output of the output unit, is provided. ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION According to the foregoing embodiment, displacement in a subject can be accurately measured. Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Note that throughout the accompanying drawings, identical reference numerals denote identical or similar components. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain principles of the invention. FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the external appearance of an electronic stethoscope according to a first embodiment.FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the external appearance of the electronic stethoscope according to the first embodiment.FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example configuration of a chest piece according to the first embodiment.FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating a variation on the chest piece according to the first embodiment.FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram illustrating a variation on the chest piece according to the first embodiment.FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of operations of the chest piece according to the first embodiment.FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of operations of the chest piece according to the first embodiment.FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of movement of reflected light according to the first embodiment.FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of movement of reflected light according to the first embodiment.FIG. 4C is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of movement of reflected light according to the first embodiment.FIG. 4D is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of movement of reflected light according to the first embodiment.FIG. 4E is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of movement of reflected light according to the first embodiment.FIG.