초록 ▼

A medical apparatus to be worn in the mouth comprises a battery-fed measuring unit (15) including a clock generator (18) and a counter (20) for counting the pulses of the clock generator. Accuracy of the time measurement decisively depends on the precision of the oscillating frequency of the clock g

A medical apparatus to be worn in the mouth comprises a battery-fed measuring unit (15) including a clock generator (18) and a counter (20) for counting the pulses of the clock generator. Accuracy of the time measurement decisively depends on the precision of the oscillating frequency of the clock generator. In the invention, there is used a clock generator (18) wherein frequency precision is low. When the counted value of the counter (20) is read into an external evaluating unit, the measuring unit supplies a reference time required by the clock generator (18) for generating a number of pulses. The evaluating unit calculates the time corresponding to the counted value under consideration of the length of the reference time. Thus, the evaluating unit measures the cycle length of the pulses of the clock generator, and this cycle length is multiplied by the number of the counted clock pulses. In this manner, time measurement is performed in a precise manner without requiring a highly precise clock generator.

대표청구항 ▼

A wearing time measuring device for measuring the length of time that a removable medical apparatus is worn, the device comprising: a measuring unit, the measuring unit comprising a clock generator for generating clock pulses, a counter for counting the clock pulses and for generating a count value,

A wearing time measuring device for measuring the length of time that a removable medical apparatus is worn, the device comprising: a measuring unit, the measuring unit comprising a clock generator for generating clock pulses, a counter for counting the clock pulses and for generating a count value, and at least one sensor which enables the count value to be incremented when the medical apparatus is worn, the clock generator defining a reference time corresponding to the time required for the clock generator to generate a predetermined number of clock pulses, an external evaluating unit adapted for receiving the count value from the measuring unit, means for supplying the reference time from the measuring unit to the evaluating unit, and means associated with the evaluating unit for using the count value and the reference time to calculate a length of time corresponding to the length of time that the removable medical apparatus is worn. The device according to claim 1, wherein the evaluating unit comprises: means for generating a quotient substantially equal to the reference time divided by the number of clock pulses generated by the clock generator during the reference time, and means for multiplying the quotient and the count value.