Light-guiding devices and monitoring devices incorporating same

An earpiece for detecting and/or measuring physiological information from a subject, the earpiece, comprising:

• a housing;
• at least one optical emitter supported by the housing;
• at least one optical detector supported by the housing;
• a motion sensor supported by the housing, wherein the motion sensor is configured to sense motion information from the subject;
• and
• a processor supported by the housing, wherein the processor is configured to remove motion artifacts from signals produced by the at least one optical detector in response to signals produced by the motion sensor to produce filtered signals, and wherein the processor is configured to process the filtered signals to generate parsed output data by executing one or more processing methods to provide information that is fed into a multiplexed output serial data string comprising motion-related information and physiological information.

A wearable device for detecting and/or measuring physiological information from a subject, comprising:

• a housing;
• at least one optical emitter supported by the housing;
• at least one optical detector supported by the housing;
• a first light guide supported by the housing, wherein the first light guide is in optical communication with the at least one optical emitter, and wherein the first light guide comprises a distal end that is configured to directly engage a portion of a body of the subject and to deliver light directly from the at least one optical emitter into the body;
• a second light guide supported by the housing, wherein the second light guide is in optical communication with the at least one optical detector, and wherein the second light guide comprises a distal end that is configured to directly engage another portion of the body and to collect light directly therefrom and deliver collected light directly to the at least one optical detector;
• a motion sensor supported by the housing, wherein the motion sensor is configured to sense motion information from the subject;
• and
• a processor supported by the housing, wherein the processor is configured to calculate footsteps, distinguish footsteps from heart beats, and to remove footstep motion artifacts from signals produced by the at least one optical detector, and wherein the processor is configured to process signals produced by the at least one optical detector to determine subject heart rate, and wherein the processor is configured to generate parsed output data by executing one or more processing methods to provide information that is fed into a multiplexed output serial data string of physiological parameters.

An earpiece configured to be worn by a subject for detecting and/or measuring physiological information from the subject, wherein the earpiece comprises:

• at least one optical emitter;
• at least one optical detector;
• a first light guide in optical communication with the at least one optical emitter, wherein the first light guide comprises a distal end that is configured to directly engage a portion of an ear of the subject and to deliver light directly from the at least one optical emitter into the ear portion;
• a second light guide in optical communication with the at least one optical detector, wherein the second light guide comprises a distal end that is configured to directly engage another portion of the ear and to collect light directly therefrom and deliver collected light directly to the at least one optical detector;
• at least one motion sensor;
• at least one temperature sensor configured to measure temperature of a tympanic membrane of an ear of the subject;
• at least one processor configured to process signals from the at least one optical detector, the at least one motion sensor, and the at least one temperature sensor into a multiplexed output serial data string of physiological parameters comprising at least heart rate and tympanic membrane temperature;
• and
• at least one wireless transmitter;
• wherein the at least one processor is configured to communicate the serial data string to an application-specific programming interface (API) of a remote device via the at least one wireless transmitter.