JP2016093476A - Manducation feeling feedback device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve satisfaction or enjoyment of eating by giving pseudo food texture without giving physical disorder feeling to a user even when the user chews care food lacking food texture and implement prevention of mis-swallowing, security of the number of times of manducation, and maintenance and improvement of manducation ability by making the user feel the user's manducation.SOLUTION: A manducation feeling feedback device comprises: a myoelectric sensor that is attached, as a manducation detection unit 1, to the vicinity of a user's closing muscle to measure myoelectricity of the closing muscle; a sound presentation device that is attached, as a manducation feeling presentation device 2, to the user's ear; and a manducation feeling signal processing unit 3 that generates an output signal to the manducation feeling presentation device 2 on the basis of a detection signal from the manducation detection unit 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a chewing sensation feedback device for causing a wearer to experience a mastication sound that is greatly related to a texture during mastication using an illusion or the like.

  Patent Document 1 is known as a background art of this technical field, and the texture of the articulated mechanism is reproduced by the articulated force by detecting the bite force by causing the user to bite the tip of the articulated mechanism to the user. A presentation device is described.

JP 2005-34343 A

In recent years, with the aging of society, the development of nursing care foods that are indistinguishable from ordinary foods visually and tastefully so that meals can be enjoyed even by elderly people and patients whose mastication / swallowing ability has decreased. Thereby, the pleasure of vision and taste can be reproduced.
However, not only the visual and taste sensations, but also the texture such as crisp, crispy and crispy influences the enjoyment of food. The texture mentioned here includes not only so-called chewy and chewy textures but also general food perceptions such as freshness and smoothness, graininess, thickness, body, and freshness.

In addition, when reproducing virtual reality in a game or the like, development for reproducing various sensations such as vibration and fragrance as well as vision and hearing is actively performed.
However, in the food texture presentation device of Patent Document 1, it is necessary for the user to bite the tip of the multi-joint mechanism, and daily use is difficult.
Moreover, in order to give the user a sense of incongruity, there is a problem that the reproduced texture must be unrealistic.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment of meals by providing a chewy and chewy texture without giving the user a sense of incongruity even when chewing a nursing food with a poor texture. The purpose is to improve and further improve the maintenance and improvement of chewing ability by preventing users from aspiration, securing the number of chewing cycles, and making them feel that they are chewing themselves.

  In order to solve the above problems, a mastication sense feedback device of the present invention includes a mastication detection means for detecting a mastication action of a user, a mastication feeling presentation device for presenting a pseudo mastication feeling to a user, and a mastication detection means. And a mastication sensation signal processing unit that generates an output signal to the mastication sensation presentation apparatus based on the detection signal from

According to the present invention, a mastication operation is detected by an electromyographic sensor or the like mounted near the user's closing muscle, and an output signal to a mastication presentation device such as an earphone or a headphone is generated based on the detection signal. Is done.
As a result, elderly people with reduced mastication and swallowing ability, and those who cannot eat a normal diet due to organic disorders (for example, some of the functions of swallowing-related organs from the oral cavity to the esophagus due to cancer) Even if you take a soft nursing food, you can simulate the texture of chewing meat, root vegetables, and leafy vegetables in synchronization with chewing without giving a sense of incongruity to chewing. Can be reproduced. As a result, the user can feel that he / she is chewing, can ensure a sufficient number of chewing times, can reproduce the enjoyment of food, prevent aspiration, and further prevent the deterioration of the chewing / swallowing function.

In addition, by presenting a pseudo-mastication sensation, awareness of mastication can be raised, and in addition to the effects of preventing aspiration, monitoring of the state of mastication can also be performed for medical workers and caregivers. It becomes possible.
Furthermore, by adjusting the pseudo chewing sensation presented from the chewing sensation presentation device according to the ingredients, it becomes possible to enjoy a crispy, crispy, crispy texture, for example, in a virtual world such as a game. For example, it is possible to enjoy a texture simply by performing a player biting operation in accordance with an image.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a detection signal output from the myoelectric sensor. FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of the mastication feedback device used in the experiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the frequency characteristics of the myoelectric sensor and the frequency characteristics output to the headphones. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a result of a questionnaire (taste, food texture, overall impression) conducted for the experimental collaborators. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a result of a questionnaire (an uncomfortable feeling, annoyance, a large variety of ingredients, and a rhythmical mastication) conducted for the experiment cooperators. FIG. 7 is an overall configuration diagram of the second embodiment.

  Hereinafter, examples will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Example 1]
FIG. 1 is a basic configuration diagram of this embodiment.
The masticatory sensation feedback device of the present embodiment uses the myoelectric sensor 1 composed of electrodes for surface myoelectrics, which are attached to the upper surface of the user's closed muscle as a mastication detection unit, and is used as a mastication sensation presentation device in the ear. A sound presentation device 2 such as an earphone or a headphone to be worn is used.

  The myoelectric sensor 1 has an electrode for measuring the muscle action potential on the skin surface and, if necessary, a ground electrode, and these electrodes are attached to the myoelectric sensor signal amplification unit 4 of the mastication sensor signal processing unit 3. It is connected.

Myoelectricity generated in the left and right closed muscles when chewed varies depending on the hardness of the food, user-specific chewing ability, habits, wrinkles, etc., but even when chewed on the left and right sides, myoelectricity always occurs on both the left and right sides . When the myoelectric sensor 1 is mounted on the non-mastication side, the output myoelectric amplitude is smaller than that when it is mounted on the mastication side. Is preferred.
However, as will be described later, if the output level from the sound presentation device 2 is adjusted so that a natural mastication feeling is obtained for the user, it may be worn only on one side.

  The detection signal from the myoelectric sensor 1 via the myoelectric sensor signal amplifying unit 4 is sent to the sound presentation device 2 via the output signal processing unit 5 having an equalizer function for adjusting the frequency band and sound pressure, and a mixer function. Is output from. A data recording unit 6 using a personal computer is connected to the myoelectric sensor signal amplifying unit 4 so that the output signal of the myoelectric sensor 1 and the output signal to the output signal processing unit 5 can be recorded over time. It is.

Here, the example of the detection signal of the myoelectric sensor 1 is as shown in FIG. 2, and it can be seen that the main frequency band is included in 20 to 20 kHz of a general audible range.
Therefore, by amplifying the detection signal of the myoelectric sensor 1 as it is, the sound presentation device 2 such as an earphone or a headphone is synchronized with the timing of mastication from the myoelectric sensor 1 and is proportional to the strength of mastication. Feedback sound is obtained.

If the input part of the myoelectric sensor signal amplifying part 4 is provided with a notch filter for cutting power supply noise and a band stop filter for cutting electromagnetic wave noise in the environment, the detection signal from the myoelectric sensor 1 is more accurately detected. Can be extracted.
Further, even when chewing is not performed, the left and right closing muscles move slightly, and a slight myoelectricity is generated each time, an unintended mastication sound is generated, which may cause the user to feel uncomfortable.
Therefore, the subtle movements of the left and right closing muscles and the myoelectricity during mastication are discriminated with an optimum threshold according to the wearer's mastication ability, and only when the mastication is actually performed, the output signal processing unit 5 Can output a feedback sound to the sound presentation device 2.

  In addition, in order to reduce electromagnetic noise, it is possible to incorporate a hearing aid function so that the signal system can be digitized at an early stage and conversation can be performed even when the sound presentation device 2 such as an earphone or a headphone is attached.

In this embodiment, a sound presentation device such as an earphone or a headphone is used as the sound presentation device 2, and the detection signal of the myoelectric sensor 1 is amplified as it is to drive the earphone or the headphone.
However, by adjusting the output signal from the myoelectric sensor 1 by the output signal processing unit 5, the waveform of the feedback sound output from the earphone or the headphone, that is, the frequency band and the sound pressure can be changed. Thereby, for example, it can adjust so that a natural mastication feeling can be obtained by amplifying or attenuating a specific frequency band. Furthermore, it is also possible to adjust according to the user's auditory characteristics.

In addition, as a sound presentation apparatus, a commercially available apparatus can be used, and an optimal apparatus such as an open type, a sealed type, a plug-in type, and a bone conduction type can be selected according to the hearing ability, age, and disorder of the user. As will be described below, for example, when it is desired to emphasize the crispness as a food texture, a material having a special frequency characteristic such as a material that emphasizes 2 kHz or higher may be selected.
A cableless type earphone such as BLUETOOTH (registered trademark) is also preferable.

In order to verify the effect of the present invention, the inventors conducted experiments on 20 to 58 year old male and female experimental cooperators.
5 types of nursing foods with different ingredients (1: 5 kinds of vegetable kinpira, 2: pumpkin chicken soba, 3: radish chicken soba sauce, 4: meat potato, 5: shrimp and scallop cream) A questionnaire survey was carried out to see how it differs depending on the presence or absence of mastication feedback sound in terms of taste, texture, overall impression, and uncomfortable feeling. The care foods are all classified into the care food category 2 (can be crushed by the gums) or 3 (can be crushed by the tongue) set by the Japan Nursing Food Council.

In the experiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a passive surface electrode was used as the myoelectric sensor 1, and a differential electrode was attached to the closing muscle on the right side of the experiment collaborator and a ground electrode was attached to the forehead.
Myoelectricity obtained from these electrodes is input to a biological amplifier (biological signal amplifier) used as the myoelectric sensor signal amplifying unit 4, and is output by the output signal processing unit 5 including adjustment units such as sound pressure adjustment, a mixer, and an equalizer. Feedback sound was generated in accordance with the timing of mastication, and headphones were used as the mastication sensation presentation device 2.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the output signal processing unit 5 causes the frequency characteristic voltage of the detection value of the myoelectric sensor 1 as shown on the upper side to be +15 db for 250 Hz to 1 kHz as shown on the lower side. For other bands, the sound pressure is adjusted by -15 db and output to the headphones. The final sound pressure was adjusted to a sound pressure level that was not harsh but could be heard clearly, while listening to the opinions of each experimental collaborator and adjusting the sound pressure by the output signal processing unit 5.

After that, five types of nursing foods were chewed according to the presence or absence of feedback sound, and a questionnaire survey was conducted each time.
The questionnaire relates to taste, texture, and overall impression, and FIG. 5 shows the total results of totaling the subjective evaluation values of each experimental collaborator for each swallowed food 1-5. The graph of FIG. 5 shows how much the subjective value has changed by the presence of the feedback sound as compared to the case where there is no feedback sound. For example, for the texture, hardness, moist feeling, novelty feeling, chewy feeling A questionnaire survey was conducted on 7 items of interest, texture, and overall texture, and the aggregated values for each of the nursing foods 1 to 5 are shown in order from the left for each item.
Due to the presence of the feedback sound, the texture and the impression are significantly increased in many items, indicating that the present invention is effective.
In addition, about each nursing food 1-5, regardless of the presence or absence of feedback sound, there is no big difference in the mastication rhythm actually performed and the output level of the myoelectric sensor 1, and the bad influence on the mastication operation by the feedback sound is seen. There wasn't.

In addition, FIG. 6 shows a result of a questionnaire survey in terms of the sense of incongruity of sound, annoyance, the variety of ingredients, and whether rhythmical mastication was performed, and the respective subjective evaluation values were tabulated for each nursing food 1-5. ing.
Regarding the care food 2, there is a sense of incongruity between the sound and the food, and the sound is felt loud, but as shown in FIG. 5, the feeling of chewing and eating is significantly increased.

From the above results, the following matters were revealed by presenting mastication sounds.
(1) The feedback sound can change the texture related to hardness (the chewing texture and the hardness of the food), even if there is a sense of incongruity between the sound and the food. It has a changing effect.
(2) If the sense of incongruity is too great, the sound will be noisy, and even if the texture changes, the spiritual satisfaction will not change, but if the sound and ingredients match well, not only the texture but also the fun It is easy to obtain mental effects such as satisfaction and satisfaction.
(3) Depending on the combination of sound and food, it is possible to change the properties of the food other than the texture related to hardness, such as taste, luxury, and types of ingredients included.
(4) Depending on the combination of sound and food, the feeling of biting rhythmically becomes stronger.

Based on the above results, it is possible to adjust the sound pressure for each frequency band of the feedback sound and adjust the peak frequency and its time change according to the food and cooking name of the care food, so that the feedback sound and the food match. This suggests that even when eating a care food that has no texture, chewing experience and satisfaction can be improved.
For example, when the volume of the high frequency band component (about 2 kHz or higher) of actual mastication sound has been enhanced, the crispy and freshness of the food will increase. Although this was confirmed to decrease, it was shown by this experiment that the food texture can be improved by properly presenting the mastication sound even for foods without mastication sound.

[Example 2]
In the first embodiment, the feedback sound output to the sound presentation device 2 such as an earphone or a headphone is generated based on the detection signal of the myoelectric sensor 1, but in this embodiment, the subjectivity of the user and the level of masticatory ability In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, a waveform database 7 for generating various waveforms of feedback sounds is provided so that a more natural chewing sensation can be obtained according to the type of care food.
In the waveform database 7, the myoelectric amplitude is constantly monitored from the myoelectric sensor 1 input via the myoelectric sensor signal amplification unit 4, and the waveform is synchronized with the user's mastication via the output signal processing unit 5. A feedback sound having a frequency characteristic selected from the database 7 is output to the sound presentation device 2.
At that time, the adjustment unit of the output signal processing unit 5 can adjust the amplification factor according to the degree of mastication power of the user and the hearing ability, and can output an optimum level of feedback sound to the sound presentation device 2. .

  In addition, when visually simulating foods and dishes are used as nursing foods, a feedback sound that provides an optimal chewing feeling for each food or dish is registered in the waveform database 7 in advance, and the selected food or dish is subjected to image processing. Alternatively, the feedback sound may be automatically selected by making a determination based on an IC chip or a bar code attached to the periphery.

As mentioned above, although the aspect for implementing this invention was demonstrated based on Example 1, 2, various deformation | transformation are possible.
That is, in Examples 1 and 2, the myoelectric sensor was used as a mastication detecting means for detecting mastication, but it was also possible to perform facial image processing, apply a marker, and optically measure the position of the lower jaw. It is possible to discriminate mastication without giving the user a sense of incongruity.
Further, although the sound presentation device 2 such as an earphone or a headphone is used as the mastication presentation device, a bone conduction device may be used.

Furthermore, by only integrating the headphones and the myoelectric sensor, or by wirelessly connecting the myoelectric sensor 1 with the signal amplifying unit 4 and the output signal processing unit 5, the sound presentation device 2 such as an earphone or a headphone is mounted. Thus, the activity of the closing muscle may be measured so that an optimal feedback sound is output.
As for the surface myoelectric sensor 1 that detects the myoelectricity of the user's closing muscle, for example, a pressure sensor having a transmission function may be incorporated in a denture or denture. Further, by incorporating a sensor for detecting mastication by changing the shape of the outer ear, as disclosed in JP-A-2015-93050, into the earphone, the mastication detection means and the sound presentation device as a mastication sensation presentation device are integrated. May be used.

  As described above, according to the present invention, by generating an output signal to the mastication sense presentation device based on the detection signal from the mastication detection means, it is made to feel that mastication is achieved, and the number of mastications is ensured. Since it can contribute to reproduction of the enjoyment of food, prevention of aspiration, and prevention of lowering of chewing / swallowing functions, it can be expected to be widely used in, for example, nursing facilities and rehabilitation facilities. Furthermore, it can be expected to be used as a mastication sensation reproduction device in virtual reality.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1; Myoelectric sensor 2; Sound presentation apparatus 3; Masticatory sensor signal processing part 4; Myoelectric sensor signal amplification part 5; Output signal processing part 6; Data recording part 7;

Claims (5)

Mastication detection means for detecting mastication of a user;
A mastication sensation presentation device for presenting a pseudo mastication sensation to the user;
A mastication sensation feedback device comprising an output signal processing unit that generates an output signal to the mastication sensation presentation device based on a detection signal from the mastication detection means. The mastication detection means is a myoelectric sensor that is mounted in the vicinity of the user's closing muscle and measures the myoelectricity,
The chewing sensation presentation device is an earphone or a headphone attached to a user's ear,
The mastication sensation feedback device according to claim 1, wherein the output signal processing unit generates an audio signal to be output to the earphone or a headphone based on a detection signal of the myoelectric sensor.   The mastication feedback device according to claim 1, wherein the mastication detecting means analyzes the mastication movement of the user from image data of a user's mouth movement or position data of the lower jaw.   The mastication sensation according to claim 1, wherein the output signal processing unit includes an adjustment unit that adjusts at least one of an output level or a waveform of an output signal output to the mastication sensation presentation apparatus. Feedback device. The mastication sensation according to claim 4, wherein the feedback sound generation unit selects a waveform of an output signal to the sound presentation device with reference to a waveform database based on a command from the adjustment unit. Feedback device.

Images