# US 10,320,491 B2 · Methods and systems for acoustic data transmission

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- Number: US 10,320,491 B2
- Document ID: US10320491B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/898,088
- Filed: 2018-02-15
- Published: 2018-06-21
- Granted: 2019-06-11
- Earliest claimed: 2006-09-06
- Assignees: Innurvation, Inc.
- Applicants: Innurvation, Inc.
- Inventors: William Robert Bandy; Roger Allen Davenport; Yuri Okunev
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10320491B2

## CPC

- G16H 40/67: for remote operation
- H04B 11/00: Transmission systems employing ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B 1/00016: {using wireless means}
- A61B 1/041: {Capsule endoscopes for imaging}
- A61B 5/0022: {Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet}
- A61B 5/0028: {Body tissue as transmission medium, i.e. transmission systems where the medium is the human body}
- A61B 5/073: {Intestinal transmitters}
- A61B 5/411: {Detecting or monitoring allergy or intolerance reactions to an allergenic agent or substance}
- A61B 5/6861: {Capsules, e.g. for swallowing or implanting}
- A61B 8/0833: {involving detecting or locating foreign bodies or organic structures}
- A61B 8/4236: {characterised by adhesive patches}
- A61B 8/56: {Details of data transmission or power supply}
- A61B 8/565: {involving data transmission via a network}
- H04W 72/0453: Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
- A61B 1/00036: {Means for power saving, e.g. sleeping mode}
- A61B 5/42: {Detecting, measuring or recording for evaluating the gastrointestinal, the endocrine or the exocrine systems (A61B1/00, A61B5/4857, A61B5/486, A61B5/4866, A61B5/4869 take precedence)}
- G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA
- H04B: TRANSMISSION
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)

## Abstract

A method of communicating with an ingestible capsule includes detecting the location of the ingestible capsule, focusing a multi-sensor acoustic array on the ingestible capsule, and communicating an acoustic information exchange with the ingestible capsule via the multi-sensor acoustic array. The ingestible capsule includes a sensor that receives a stimulus inside the gastrointestinal tract of an animal, a bidirectional acoustic information communications module that transmits an acoustic information signal containing information from the sensor, and an acoustically transmissive encapsulation that substantially encloses the sensor and communications module, wherein the acoustically transmissive encapsulation is of ingestible size. The multi-sensor array includes a plurality of acoustic transducers that receive an acoustic signal from a movable device, and a plurality of delays, wherein each delay is coupled to a corresponding acoustic transducer. Each delay may be adjusted according to a phase of a signal received by the corresponding acoustic transducer.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of acoustic communication of information, comprising;
sensing a stimulus via one or more sensors;
generating a sensor output signal based on the sensed stimulus;
selecting a frequency channel from among a plurality of frequency channels based on upon a time interval;
encoding an acoustic communications signal onto the selected frequency channel based on information from the sensor output signal by varying a length of time delay in a transmission between adjacent frequency channels; and
acoustically transmitting the encoded acoustic communications signal.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the encoding the acoustic communications signal comprises:
generating one or more delay intervals based on the information.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the acoustically transmitting the encoded data comprises:
transmitting a first frequency channel through a body of an animal; and
transmitting a second frequency channel adjacent to the first frequency channel through the body of the animal after waiting the one or more delay intervals.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein a number of delay intervals from among the one or more delay intervals corresponds to a logic value contained in the sensor output signal in accordance with pulse interval encoding.

### Claim 5 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the number of delay intervals corresponds to a binary logic value contained in the sensor output signal.

### Claim 6

A method of acoustic communication of information, comprising:
acoustically receiving an encoded acoustic communications signal;
detecting a first frequency channel and a second frequency channel from among a plurality of frequency channels;
measuring a length of time delay until detection of the first frequency channel and detection of the second frequency channel; and
decoding the encoded acoustic communications signal based on the length of time delay in detecting of the first frequency channel and the second frequency channel.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein the measuring the length of time delay comprises:
measuring one or more delay intervals based on a pulse interval encoding scheme.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the acoustically receiving the encoded acoustic communications signal further comprises:
receiving a first frequency channel through a body of an animal; and
receiving a second frequency channel through the body of the animal after waiting the one or more delay intervals.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the number of delay intervals corresponds to a logic value according to the pulse interval encoding scheme.

### Claim 10 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein the number of delay intervals corresponds to a binary logic value.

### Claim 11

An ingestible capsule, comprising:
one or more sensors configured to sense a stimulus and generate a sensor output signal based on the sensed stimulus; and
a communication module configured to:
receive the sensor output signal,
elect a frequency channel from among a plurality of frequency channels based on upon a time interval,
encode an acoustic communications signal onto the selected frequency channel based on information from the sensor output signal by varying a length of time delay in a transmission between adjacent frequency channels, and
acoustically transmit the encoded acoustic communications signal.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The ingestible capsule of claim 11, wherein communication module is configured to generate one or more delay intervals based on the information from the sensor output signal.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The ingestible capsule of claim 12, wherein communication module is configured to:
transmit a first frequency channel through a body of an animal; and
transmit a second frequency channel adjacent to the first frequency channel through the body of an animal after waiting the one or more delay intervals.

### Claim 14 (depends on 12)

The ingestible capsule of claim 12, wherein a number of delay intervals from among the one or more delay intervals corresponds to a logic value contained in the sensor output signal in accordance with pulse interval encoding.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The ingestible capsule of claim 14, wherein the number of delay intervals corresponds to a binary logic value contained in the sensor output signal.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The ingestible capsule of claim 11, wherein the communication module comprises an acoustic transducer configured to:
vibrate at an acoustic frequency, and
acoustically transmit the encoded acoustic communications signal.