Method and apparatus for measuring animal's condition by acquiring and analyzing its biological signals

An apparatus for measuring the biological condition of a non-human anima;

• by acquiring and analysing biological signals, the apparatus comprising:
• a biological signal section unit which is adapted to be attached to the non-human animal's skin and detects a biological signal of the non-human animal;
• and
• a condition analysis unit which determines the biological condition, including needs and emotions, of the non-human animal by comparing a predetermined feature vector including any one or any combination of the mean heart rate of the photoplethysmogram and its standard deviation, the very low frequency, low frequency, and high frequency components of heart rate variability of the animal with a feature vector extracted by analyzing the biological signal detected by the biological signal detection unit.

An apparatus for measuring the biological condition of an animal by acquiring biological signals, the apparatus comprising:

• a biological signal detection unit including a plurality of sensors and electrodes, which is adapted to be attached to the animal's skin and detects biological signals from skin temperature, and electrocardiogram (ECG), a photoplethysmogram (PPG), electrodermal activity (EDA), an electromyogram (EMG), and an electrogastrogram (EGG);
• a feature vector extraction unit which extracts feature vectors from the biological signals detected by the biological signal detection unit, the feature vectors including the mean heart rate of the photoplethysmogram and its standard deviation, the very low frequency, low frequency, and high frequency components of heart rate variability, the frequency and mean amplitude of skin conductance responses, and the mean and maximum skin temperatures;
• a biological information database which stores reference vectors reflecting the behaviors, needs, and emotions of different kinds of animals for various biological conditions;
• and
• a biological condition analysis unit which compares the feature vectors extracted by the feature vector extraction unit with reference vectors of the biological information database and determines the biological condition, including needs and emotions, of the animals as to whether or not the animal feels hunger or fear, how much the animal is stressed, or whether or not the animal needs to have a bowel movement.

A method for determining the biological condition of an animal by acquiring and analyzing a biological signal, the method comprising:

• (a) acquiring a predetermined biological signal using a biological signal detection unit which is adapted to be attached to the animal;
• (b) extracting a predetermined feature vector, elected from a plurality of feature vectors corresponding to different kinds of animals, from the acquired predetermined biological signal, wherein the feature vectors include any one or any combination of the mean heart rate of the photoplethysmogram and its standard deviation, the very low frequency, low frequency, and high frequency components of heart rate variability of the different kinds of animals;
• and
• (c) analyzing and determining the biological condition of the animal, including emotions and needs of the animal, from the predetermined feature vector.