Systems and methods for detecting physical changes without physical contact
Inventors
LANGLEY, II, John B. • McIlroy, Guy
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-11026593-B2
Publication Date
2021-06-08
Expiration Date
Abstract
Systems and methods are provided for detecting and analyzing changes in a body. For example, a system includes an electric field generator configured to produce an electric field. The system includes an external sensor device configured to detect physical changes in the electric field, where the physical changes affect amplitude and frequency of the electric field. The system includes a quadrature demodulator configured to detect changes of the frequency of the output of the electric field generator. The system includes an amplitude reference source and an amplitude comparison switch configured to detect changes of the amplitude of the output of the electric field generator. The system includes a signal processor configured to analyze the changes of the amplitude and frequency of the output of the electric field generator.
Core Innovation
The disclosed invention detects and analyzes changes in a body by generating an electric field that associates with the body and using an external sensor device to detect a physical change in the body in the electric field. The physical change causes a frequency change in the electric field, and changes in the frequency of the electric field are monitored and detected by a quadrature demodulator to produce a detected response that includes at least a frequency component.
The quadrature demodulator includes a resonant circuit that generates a quadrature input based on an input of the quadrature demodulator, and a mixer coupled to the resonant circuit. The mixer mixes the input of the quadrature demodulator and the quadrature input to generate an output of the quadrature demodulator, and a low pass filter receives the detected response and filters out the high frequency component to generate a filtered response.
A signal processor receives the filtered response and analyzes the filtered response to detect the physical change in the body. In dependent implementations, an amplitude reference source and an amplitude comparison switch compare an amplitude reference with the amplitude of the electric field to produce an amplitude comparison response for analysis, and the physical change can be displayed in relation to the frequency of the electric field.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims include an apparatus system, a corresponding method, and a non-transitory computer readable medium. Across the independent claims, there are six inventive features centered on associating an electric field with a body, detecting physical change as frequency change, and using quadrature demodulation with filtering to produce a filtered response for processor analysis.
Electric field association with a body
An electric field generator generates an electric field that associates with the body.
External sensing of physical change causing frequency change
An external sensor device detects a physical change in the body in the electric field, wherein the physical change causes a frequency change in the electric field.
Quadrature demodulation with resonant circuit and mixer
A quadrature demodulator detects changes in the frequency of the electric field and produces a detected response that includes a low frequency component and a high frequency component, wherein the quadrature demodulator comprises a resonant circuit configured to produce a quadrature input based on an input of the quadrature demodulator and a mixer configured to mix the input of the quadrature demodulator and the quadrature input and generate an output of the quadrature demodulator.
Low pass filtering to obtain a filtered response
A low pass filter receives the detected response from the quadrature demodulator and filters out the high frequency component of the detected response to generate a filtered response.
Processor analysis of filtered response
A signal processor receives the filtered response from the low pass filter and analyzes the filtered response.
Non-transitory instructions to perform quadrature demodulation and analysis
A non-transitory computer readable medium stores executable instructions operable for detecting and analyzing a change in a body to cause a processor to perform operations comprising generating an electric field, detecting a physical change affecting frequency of the electric field, monitoring and detecting via a quadrature demodulator, generating a quadrature input by a resonant circuit, mixing via a mixer to generate an output of the quadrature demodulator, generating a filtered response by a filter, and analyzing the filtered response.
The independent claims collectively cover detecting a physical change in a body by correlating it to frequency change in an electric field and extracting analysis-relevant signal content using quadrature demodulation, followed by filtering and processor-based analysis. Additional dependent refinements add amplitude comparison using an amplitude reference source and an amplitude comparison switch, and display of the physical change in relation to the frequency of the electric field.
Stated Advantages
Not explicitly described in patent.
Documented Applications
Not explicitly described in patent.
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