JP2018023557A - Dripping notification system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dripping notification system that can be stored in a paired state, and does not take much time or labor in being used.SOLUTION: A dripping notification system 2 includes a sensor unit 20 attached to a drip tube 18 for detecting dripping of droplets, and a notification unit 58 that can communicate with the sensor unit 20. The notification unit 58 controls the emission of light of a multi-color LED 66 based on the dripping status received from the sensor unit 20, and notifies a patient and persons around him/her of the dripping status. When the dripping is finished, the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 are stored. At this time the sensor unit 20 is fitted to a fitting part 76 of the notification unit 58. Thereby, the notification unit and the sensor unit 20 are stored in a combined manner.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a drip notification system that notifies a drip condition of a droplet.

  There is known a treatment method called “infusion” in which a liquid (hereinafter referred to as “infusion agent”) containing components such as moisture, electrolytes and nutrients is infused into a patient's body by, for example, intravenous drip injection. An infusion set, which is a medical instrument for connecting a container in which an infusion solution is sealed and an infusion needle punctured into a patient's blood vessel, is used for intravenous infusion. As an infusion set, an infusion set including a drip tube and a clamp in the middle of a conduit including a soft tube connecting a container and a drip needle is widely used.

  When performing infusion, the amount of infusion and the time for infusion are determined by a doctor. In accordance with this, a medical worker such as a nurse adjusts the number of drops of the infusate in the infusion tube per unit time (hereinafter referred to as “the number of drops”) with a clamp. The general-purpose infusion set is for adults, and has a predetermined number of drops (nominal number of drops) corresponding to 1 ml of infusion, such as 20 drops per ml of infusion. For example, when the infusion set for adults is used to inject 500 ml of infusion solution in 4 hours, the number of drops is about 42 drops per minute.

  As an apparatus for easily and accurately adjusting the number of drops, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses an infusion measurement system. This drip measurement system is a system that detects a droplet dropped in a drip tube and displays the number of drops. A sensor slave unit attached to the drip tube and counting the number of drops, a sensor slave unit and a wireless A portable master unit that is communicable and that displays the number of drops received from the sensor slave unit.

  Since this drip measurement system has a configuration in which the sensor slave unit and the portable master unit are separated from each other, the configuration of the sensor slave unit is simplified, and the device is reduced in size and weight. For this reason, it is the system which can perform attachment and measurement with respect to a drip pipe | tube easily and correctly.

JP 2009-240428 A

  By the way, for a patient who is receiving an infusion, the instillation state of the infusion is one of the matters of interest, such as whether or not the infusion is being dispensed normally. Therefore, it is beneficial to display the dropping situation such as the number of drops so that the patient can grasp the dropping situation. In addition, if a person around the patient can know the dropping state of the patient, it is possible to detect the dropping abnormality at an early stage.

  In response to this expectation, the above drip measurement system is designed so that only the nurse carries the portable master unit to check the drip situation. It is not easy to grasp and it is difficult to meet expectations.

  Even in the above drip measurement system, even if the sensor slave unit and the portable master unit are used in pairs and the portable master unit is arranged near the patient, storage of each device becomes a problem. That is, when the drip is completed, the sensor slave unit is removed from the drip tube and stored together with the paired portable base unit, but owns a plurality of sensor slave units and a plurality of portable base units. In some cases, these may be mixed. Therefore, when starting the next drip, troubles such as searching for a pair of sensor slave units and portable master units or performing pairing again will occur.

  An object of this invention is to provide the dripping alert | report system which can be stored in the state of a pair in view of an above-described subject, and does not take time in use.

  In order to achieve the above object, the drip notification system of the present invention is capable of communicating with a sensor unit having a sensor that reacts to a droplet dripping inside a drip tube and a housing provided with the sensor, and the sensor unit. An informing unit that outputs an index of instillation status according to the output of the sensor, and an informing unit having a housing provided with the informing unit, the housing of the sensor unit and the informing The unit casings can be combined with each other.

  Further, the notification unit is capable of communicating with the specific sensor unit.

  The sensor unit includes a secondary battery, and the notification unit includes a power supply unit that supplies power to the secondary battery of the sensor unit.

  The notification unit may include a secondary battery, and the sensor unit may include a power supply unit that supplies power to the secondary battery of the notification unit.

  When the sensor unit is separated from the state combined with the notification unit, the sensor unit starts detecting the dropping.

  Moreover, the housing | casing of the said alerting | reporting unit is provided with the attaching means attached to a building, The housing | casing of the said alerting | reporting unit is combined with the housing | casing of the said sensor unit using the said attaching means, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The drip notification system of the present invention has a configuration divided into a sensor unit and a notification unit, and since each casing can be combined, when the infusion is finished, a pair in which the sensor unit and the notification unit are combined. It can be stored in the state of. Thus, since it is stored in the state of a pair, when using it for the next drip, the effort of searching for the pair of a sensor unit and an alerting | reporting unit does not arise.

(A) It is the figure which showed the usage condition of the sensor unit of the dripping notification system which concerns on embodiment, (b) It is the figure which showed the usage condition of the alerting | reporting unit of the said dripping notification system. It is the schematic of the hardware constitutions of the said sensor unit. It is the schematic of the hardware constitutions of the said alerting | reporting unit. It is a functional block diagram of each unit of the dripping notification system. (A) It is a perspective view of the housing | casing of each said unit, (b) It is a perspective view of the housing | casing of each said unit. It is a perspective view of the sensor unit and the notification unit combined. (A) It is a perspective view of the alerting | reporting unit of the dripping alerting | reporting system which concerns on the modification 1, (b) It is a perspective view of the alerting | reporting unit of the dripping alerting | reporting system which concerns on the modification 2. It is a perspective view of the dripping notification system concerning modification 3. It is a perspective view of the dripping notification system concerning modification 4.

  The embodiment of the drip notification system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, taking as an example the use of a natural drip-type drip intravenous injection (hereinafter simply referred to as “drip”), which is a kind of infusion therapy. explain.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the drip notification system 2 according to the present embodiment is used together with an infusion set 6 for administering an infusion 4 to a patient. This infusion set 6 is a set for infusion of the infusion agent 4 in the infusion bag 8 suspended from a stand (not shown) by natural fall. A bottle needle 12 is pierced into the infusion bag 8 from its outlet 10. Connected to the base of the bottle needle 12 is a conduit 14 that guides the infusion 4 to the patient. The flow path of the conduit 14 is provided with a flow rate regulator 16 operated by a hospital nurse and an infusion tube 18 for measuring the flow rate.

  A sensor unit 20 of the drip notification system 2 is attached to the drip tube 18. The housing 22 of the sensor unit 20 includes a base portion 24 and a pair of arm portions 26 that extend symmetrically from the base portion 24 in the same direction. The pair of arm portions 26 includes a first arm portion 26L and a second arm portion 26R, and the first arm portion 26L and the second arm portion 26R are slightly wider than the tube diameter of the drip tube 18. S are arranged apart from each other. The distal end portion of the first arm portion 26L and the distal end portion of the second arm portion 26R are bent in directions close to each other. Each of the tip portions is hooked on the upper surface of the drip tube 18, so that the sensor unit 20 is hooked so as to hang from the drip tube 18 with the drip tube 18 disposed in the space S.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the sensor unit 20 attached to the drip tube 18 has a drip sensor 30 that reacts to a droplet dripped from the drip port of the drip tube 18. The dropping sensor 30 is a photoelectric sensor, and an infrared LED 32 (Light Emitting Diode) that is a light emitting means provided in the first arm portion 26L, and a phototransistor that is a light receiving means provided in the second arm portion 26R. 34. As shown in FIG. 5, the inner peripheral surface 36 of the first arm portion 26 </ b> L and the inner peripheral surface 36 of the second arm portion 26 </ b> R that are opposed to each other are provided so that the phototransistor 34 can receive the light of the infrared LED 32. Each window 38 is opened. In this example, since four sets of infrared LEDs 32 and phototransistors 34 are used (only one set is shown in FIG. 2 and three sets are omitted), the inner periphery of the first arm portion 26L. In each of the surface 36 and the inner peripheral surface 36 of the second arm portion 26R, four windows 38 arranged in a line in the extending direction are opened.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the output terminal of each phototransistor 34 is connected to an input / output terminal 42 of a microcomputer 40 (hereinafter referred to as “microcomputer 40”) included in the sensor unit 20. The CPU 44 of the microcomputer 40 monitors the output of the phototransistor 34 via the input / output terminal 42. The output of the phototransistor 34 changes by blocking light to the phototransistor 34 every time a droplet is dropped. Whenever the output changes in this way, the CPU 44 detects the dropping of the droplets in the drip tube 18 and obtains the number of drops per unit time. The CPU 44 displays the calculated number of drops on a display 46 connected to the microcomputer 40, and in parallel with this, transmits it to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) module 48 that is a wireless communication means built in the microcomputer 40. As described above, the CPU 44 detects the dropping of the droplets and counts the number of drops, the display unit 52 (FIG. 4) that displays the number of drops together with the display, and the number of drops together with the Bluetooth module 48. It functions as a transmission unit 54 (FIG. 4) for transmission, and these functions are realized by the CPU 44 executing a program stored in the memory 56 in advance.

  The number of drops transmitted from the sensor unit 20 is received by the Bluetooth module 62 built in the microcomputer 60 (hereinafter referred to as “microcomputer 60”) of the notification unit 58, as shown in FIG. The Bluetooth modules 48 and 62 included in each of the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 are paired in advance, and the notification unit 58 can communicate with a specific sensor unit 20. The CPU 64 of the microcomputer 60 acquires the number of drops received by the Bluetooth module 62, and in accordance with the number of drops, two multicolor light emitting diodes 66 (hereinafter referred to as “multicolor LED 66”) that are light emitting means connected to the microcomputer 60. ”). The multicolor LED 66 is disposed in a transparent or translucent dome portion 68 (FIG. 5). For example, the CPU 64 causes the multicolor LED 66 to emit light in a predetermined emission color according to the importance level or the urgency level determined based on the acquired number of drops. Further, the CPU 64 causes the multicolor LED 66 to blink at a cycle according to the acquired number of drops. Thus, the CPU 64 functions as a receiving unit 70 (FIG. 4) that receives the number of drops together with the Bluetooth module 62, and a notification unit 72 (FIG. 4) that performs notification according to the number of drops together with the multicolor LED 66. This function is realized by the CPU 64 executing a program stored in the memory 74 in advance.

  The drop notification system 2 including the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 described above detects the number of drops by the sensor unit 20 counting the number of drops dropped in the drip tube 18, and the notification unit 58 determines the number of drops. Emits light. For this reason, for example, if the notification unit 58 is arranged near the patient, the patient can grasp the situation of the drip at a glance. In addition, for example, as shown in FIG. 1B, if a notification unit 58 is hung on the entrance wall of a hospital room where a patient who is receiving an infusion, a medical worker such as a nurse who visits the hospital at a glance. It is possible to grasp the situation of infusion.

  When the infusion to the patient is completed, the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 are collected and stored in combination with each other as shown in FIG. 6 until used for the next infusion. In this example, in order to combine the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 with each other, as shown in FIG. 5, a fitting portion 76 for fitting the sensor unit 20 is formed in the notification unit 58.

  The fitting portion 76 of the notification unit 58 includes a fitting portion 78 that fits the housing 22 of the sensor unit 20, and a sandwiched portion 80 that is sandwiched between the pair of arm portions 26 included in the housing 22 of the fitted sensor unit 20. It has. The fitting portion 78 is formed by a vertically long plane 84 of the base portion 82, an upper wall portion 86 erected on the upper end portion of the base portion 82, and a lower wall portion 88 erected on the lower end portion of the base portion 82. It is configured. When the housing 22 of the sensor unit 20 is fitted into the fitting portion 78, the back surface 90 of the housing 22 is in contact with the flat surface 84 of the housing 96 of the notification unit 58, and the lower surface 92 of the housing 22 is the lower wall portion of the housing 96. The upper surface 94 of the housing 22 is in contact with the upper wall portion 86 of the housing 96. The vertical movement of the case 22 of the sensor unit 20 fitted therein is restricted by the lower wall portion 88 and the upper wall portion 86 of the case 96 of the notification unit 58.

  The sandwiched portion 80 has a width equal to the interval between the tip portions of the pair of arm portions 26 and extends from the center portion of the upper wall portion 86 of the housing 96 toward the lower wall portion 88. The case 22 of the sensor unit 20 fitted in the fitting portion 78 sandwiches the sandwiched portion 80 between the pair of arm portions 26, so that the sensor unit 20 is fitted to the notification unit 58. As a result, the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 are combined.

  According to the drip notification system 2 according to the present embodiment, since the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 can be combined with each other, a pair of the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 combined after being used for infusion. (FIG. 6). Therefore, when using for the next drip, the trouble of searching for the pair of the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 does not occur.

  When the drip notification system 2 stored as described above is used as the next drip is started, they are combined with each other (hereinafter referred to as “combined state”) and the notification. The unit 58 is separated (hereinafter referred to as “separated state”), the sensor unit 20 is attached to the drip tube 18, and the notification unit 58 is disposed at a predetermined position. Here, in this example, the sensor unit 20 determines the combined state or the separated state based on the input from the notification unit 58 to the connector terminal 98 exposed on the lower surface 92 of the housing 22. The detection, display, and transmission of the number of drops are suspended in the combined state and resumed when the separated state is reached. Note that the input from the notification unit 58 in the combined state is performed through a connector terminal (not shown in FIG. 5) provided on the inner surface of the lower wall portion 88 of the casing 96 of the notification unit 58.

  As a specific example of the above control, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sensor unit 20 includes one input / output terminal 42 of the microcomputer 40 connected to the pull-up resistor 100 and one connector terminal 98. It is connected to the. The connector terminal 102 on the notification unit 58 side corresponding to one terminal of the connector terminal 98 is connected to the ground. According to such a connection detection circuit, in a combined state, one terminal of the input / output terminal 42 is connected to the ground on the notification unit 58 side via the connector terminals 98 and 102 (a low level signal is input). ) On the other hand, in the separated state, only the pull-up resistor 100 is connected (a high level signal is input).

  The CPU 44 of the sensor unit 20 monitors a signal input to one terminal of the input / output terminal 42. As a result, the CPU 44 determines that the combined state is present when the signal is at the low level, and interrupts detection, display, and transmission of dropping. Thereafter, when the signal changes to the high level, the CPU 44 determines that the signal is in the separated state, and restarts detection, display, and transmission of dripping. Thus, the connector terminal 98 of the sensor unit 20 and the connector terminal 102 of the notification unit 58 function as connection portions 104 and 106 (FIG. 4) that electrically connect the units 20 and 58 to each other. Further, the CPU 44 of the connection detection circuit and the sensor unit 20 interrupts the detection, display, and transmission of dripping when the combined state is detected, and resumes when the separated state is detected thereafter (see FIG. 4) is functioning.

  The above control is not limited to the sensor unit 20 alone, and the notification unit 58 performs the same control. In other words, in this example, the notification unit 58 has a connection detection circuit similar to that of the sensor unit 20 described above, and interrupts reception and light emission in the combined state and resumes reception and light emission in the separated state. . Therefore, the CPU 64 of the connection detection circuit and notification unit 58 serves as the operation control unit 110 (FIG. 4) that interrupts or restarts reception and light emission based on the signal on the sensor unit 20 side obtained through the connector terminals 98 and 102. It is functioning.

  According to the drip notification system 2 of the present embodiment, when the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 that have been stored in combination are separated prior to use for infusion, the units 20 and 58 can be automatically used. This is convenient because

  As described above, the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 are combined and stored in a paired state every time an infusion is completed, and are separated and used at the start of the infusion. Every time the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 are repeatedly used, the power of the secondary batteries 118 and 120 of the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 is consumed. In this example, the secondary battery 120 and the notification unit 58 of the sensor unit 20 are consumed. The secondary battery 118 is charged in a combined state.

  For example, a charging control circuit 112 shown in FIG. 3 is used for charging the secondary battery 118 of the notification unit 58. The charging control circuit 112 is a circuit that controls charging of the secondary battery 118 from the external power supply 116 connected to the jack 114 (FIG. 5), and includes a voltage detection circuit and a charging circuit 122. The voltage detection circuit is a circuit that detects the voltage of the secondary battery 118 (hereinafter referred to as “battery voltage”), and is typically a voltage dividing circuit 126 that divides and outputs the battery voltage. The voltage output from the voltage dividing circuit 126 is input to an analog-digital converter 128 (hereinafter referred to as “ADC 128”) built in the microcomputer 60. The ADC 128 converts the divided battery voltage into a digital signal and inputs it to the CPU 64. The CPU 64 detects the battery voltage based on the digital signal, and controls the charging circuit 122 according to the detected battery voltage. The charging circuit 122 is a circuit for charging the secondary battery 118 in accordance with an output signal from the microcomputer 60, and a known constant current constant voltage charging circuit is typically used. As described above, the charging control circuit 112, the ADC 128, and the CPU 64 of the notification unit 58 function as a charging control unit 130 (FIG. 4) that controls charging from the external power supply 116 to the secondary battery 118.

  The external power supply 116 connected to the jack 114 is also supplied into the sensor unit 20 via the connector terminals 102 and 98. As shown in FIG. 2, the sensor unit 20 is also provided with a charge control circuit 132 similar to the notification unit 58, that is, the charging circuit 136 and the voltage dividing circuit 138, and the voltage of the secondary battery 120 is controlled by the microcomputer 40. As a result, the charging circuit 136 is controlled. Thereby, charging of the secondary battery 120 from the external power source 116 is controlled. Therefore, the charge control circuit 132 and the ADC 140 and CPU 44 of the microcomputer 40 function as the charge control unit 142 (FIG. 4). Further, the electric path from the jack 114 of the notification unit 58 to the connector terminal 102 functions as a power supply unit (FIG. 4) that supplies power to the secondary battery 120 of the sensor unit 20.

  As described above, in the dripping notification system 2 according to the present embodiment, each unit can be charged by the single external power supply 116 in a paired state in which the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 are combined. Therefore, it is convenient because it is not necessary to charge the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 separately. And if charge is complete | finished, since it can store as it is (it is in the state of a pair), when using it next, the sensor unit 20 and the alerting | reporting unit 58 are not used in the wrong combination.

  As described above, the drip notification system 2 according to the embodiment has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described form, and may be, for example, a form described below as a modification. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to configurations that are basically the same as those in the above embodiment. Further, the description will focus on the parts that are different from the above embodiment, and the description regarding matters common to the above embodiment will be simply referred to or omitted as appropriate.

[Modification]
(1) As shown to Fig.7 (a), the fitting part 148 of the alerting | reporting unit 146 may be comprised from the fitting part 150 and a pair of nail | claw part 152. FIG. The fitting portion 150 includes a vertically long flat surface 156 of the base portion 154, an upper wall portion 158 erected on the upper end portion of the base portion 154, and a lower wall portion 160 erected on the lower end portion of the base portion 154. It is configured. The upper wall portion 158 and the lower wall portion 160 extend longer than the thickness of the sensor unit 20 (FIG. 5). The pair of claw portions 152 includes an upper claw portion 152U that extends inward from the tip of the upper wall portion 158, and a lower claw portion 152D that extends inward from the tip of the lower wall portion 160. . According to such a fitting portion 148, when the sensor unit 20 is fitted into the fitting portion 150, the upper and lower ends of the front surface 144 of the housing 22 are locked by the pair of claw portions 152. When the notification unit 146 is installed, a base (not shown) that can be locked with the pair of claw portions 152 is provided at the installation location, and the notification unit 146 may be attached to the base.

(2) As shown in FIG. 7B, as another configuration for combining the sensor unit 20 (FIG. 5) and the notification unit 162, an insertion portion 164 may be provided in the notification unit 162. The insertion portion 164 has a columnar shape and is erected on the plane 168 of the base portion 166 of the notification unit 162. The diameter of the insertion portion 164 is substantially the same as the space S (FIG. 5) surrounded by the pair of arm portions 26 (FIG. 5). When the insertion portion 164 is inserted into the space S of the sensor unit 20, the circumferential surface of the insertion portion 164 is held by the pair of arm portions 26, and the notification unit 162 is inserted into the sensor unit 20. . The notification unit 162 has magnets 176 and 178 as attachment means on the distal end surface 170 of the insertion portion 164 and the distal end surface 174 of the lower wall portion 172 erected on the lower end portion of the base portion 166. . The notification unit 162 is attached by attracting the magnets 176 and 178 to a building such as a metal door frame 180 (FIG. 1).

(3) As shown in FIG. 8, as another configuration for combining the sensor unit 182 and the notification unit 184, a fitting structure may be provided in the sensor unit 182 and the notification unit 184. The fitting structure typically includes a concave portion 190 provided on the back surface 188 of the housing 186 of the sensor unit 182 and a convex portion 196 provided on the flat surface 194 of the fitting portion 216 of the housing 192 of the notification unit 184. The inner diameter of the concave portion 190 and the outer shape of the convex portion 196 are substantially equal. Since the configuration of the fitting portion 216 is the same as that of the fitting portion 78, description thereof is omitted here. According to such a fitting structure, when the housing 186 of the sensor unit 182 is fitted into the fitting portion 216, the convex portion 196 is fitted into the concave portion 190. Thereby, the housing | casing 186 of the sensor unit 182 and the housing | casing 192 of the alerting | reporting unit 184 are fitted, and units 182 and 184 are combined so that attachment or detachment is possible.

(4) As shown in FIG. 9, as another configuration for combining the sensor unit 198 and the notification unit 200, the sensor unit 198 and the notification unit 200 may be provided with a suction structure. The suction structure typically includes a suction target 206 such as iron provided on the back surface 204 of the casing 202 of the sensor unit 198, and a magnet provided on the flat surface 210 of the casing 208 of the notification unit 200. And a body 212. According to such a suction structure, the sucked body 206 is sucked by the suction body 212, whereby the housing 202 of the sensor unit 198 is sucked by the housing 208 of the notification unit 200, and the units 198, 200 are connected to each other. Can be detachably combined.

(5) The connection detection circuit of the operation control units 108 and 110 is not limited to the above embodiment. That is, the connection detection circuit of the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 may be any circuit that can detect the presence or absence of connection based on the input from the counterpart unit 58, 20 via the connector terminals 98, 102. . Further, a connection detection circuit in which the input / output terminal 42 of the microcomputer 40 of the sensor unit 20 and the input / output terminal 214 of the microcomputer 60 of the notification unit 58 are connected in series via the respective connector terminals 98 and 102 is employed. The combined state or the separated state may be determined by the microcomputers 40 and 60 of the units 20 and 58 performing predetermined communication processing.

(6) The sensor unit 20 may include a jack to which an external power supply is connected, and may further include an electric circuit from the jack to the charging circuit 136 and an electric circuit from the jack to the connector terminal 98. When an external power source is connected to the sensor unit 20 having the configuration, the external power is supplied to the charging circuit 136 and used for charging the secondary battery 120. The external power is supplied to the charging circuit 122 of the notification unit 58 via the connector terminals 98 and 102 and used for charging the secondary battery 118. Thus, the electric circuit from the jack of the sensor unit 20 to the connector terminal 98 functions as a power supply unit that supplies power to the secondary battery 118 of the notification unit 58.

(7) The notification unit 58 may include a primary battery instead of the secondary battery 118. Further, the notification unit 58 may supply the power generated by the primary battery to the sensor unit 20 via the connector terminals 102 and 98 instead of the external power. On the contrary, the sensor unit 20 may include a primary battery instead of the secondary battery 120. The sensor unit 20 may supply the power generated by the primary battery to the notification unit 58 via the connector terminals 98 and 102.

(8) The output of the voltage dividing circuit 138 of the sensor unit 20 is connected to the ADC 128 of the notification unit 58 via the connector terminals 98 and 102, and the input / output terminal 214 of the microcomputer 60 of the notification unit 58 is connected to the charging circuit of the sensor unit 20. 136 may be connected. If comprised in this way, only the microcomputer 60 of the alerting | reporting unit 58 will be able to control the charging circuit of both units. In addition, the charging control circuit 132 of the sensor unit 20 may be provided in the notification unit 58. That is, the notification unit 58 includes another charge control unit in addition to the charge control unit 130, and the other charge control unit charges the secondary battery 120 of the sensor unit 20 via the connection units 106 and 104. You may control.

(9) The method of charge control by the charge control units 130 and 142 (FIG. 4) is not particularly limited, and known cycle charging or the like may be used, and an IC that performs such charge control may be used.

(10) The notification unit 58 further includes an illuminance sensor (not shown) that reacts according to the surrounding brightness, and the microcomputer 60 adjusts the luminance and emission color of the multicolor LED 66 according to the output of the illuminance sensor. May be.

(11) The dropping sensor 30 used in the sensor unit 20 shown in FIG. 2 is typically composed of light emitting means for irradiating infrared rays and light receiving means for reacting to infrared rays. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the dropping sensor may be a light emitting unit that emits visible light and a light receiving unit that reacts to visible light. According to this drip sensor, since the drip tube is lit up by the light emitting means, visual confirmation inside the drip tube at night is also facilitated.

(12) The sensor unit 20 may include an image sensor instead of the infrared LED 32 and the phototransistor 34. The image sensor is arranged to face the drip tube 18, and the output is connected to the ADC 140 of the microcomputer 40. In this aspect, the microcomputer 40 converts the output signal from the image sensor into a digital signal, and detects droplet dropping based on the converted digital signal.

(13) The sensor unit 20 may include a speaker connected to the microcomputer 40, and the CPU 44 of the microcomputer 40 may output an alarm sound from the speaker when the detected number of drops falls below a predetermined threshold. Further, the CPU 44 of the microcomputer 40 may output a sound in synchronization with the dropping of the droplet.

(14) The notification unit 72 of the notification unit 58 is not limited to the microcomputer 60 and the multi-color LED 66, and may be configured by the microcomputer 60 and display means such as a display that displays the number of drops received by the microcomputer 60. Further, the notification unit 72 may be a microcomputer 60 and a speaker that generates sound according to the number of drops received by the microcomputer 60.

(15) Information transmitted from the sensor unit 20 to the notification unit 58 is not limited to the number of drops, and may be information indicating an instillation state of infusion. Examples of information indicating the drip dropping state include information indicating that dripping has been detected (dropping has occurred) and information indicating that dripping has stopped. Furthermore, the sensor unit 20 may transmit information that the secondary battery 120 is low. The notification unit 58 that has received such information changes the light emission mode of the multicolor LED 66 according to the content of the information. For example, when information indicating that dripping has stopped is received, the light emission period of the multicolor LED 66 is shortened or the light emission color is changed. According to such an aspect, a medical worker or the like can quickly and accurately grasp the change in infusion.

(16) The communication method between the sensor unit 20 and the notification unit 58 is not limited to the communication method using the Bluetooth modules 48 and 62, and other known wireless communication methods may be used. In this case, the sensor unit 20 transmits information indicating the instillation state of the drip, and also transmits an ID assigned to each sensor unit 20, and the notification unit 58 previously specifies the ID of the sensor unit 20 to be paired. The paired sensor units 20 can be specified by storing this ID and comparing the received ID with the received ID.

(17) In the above embodiment, the use of a natural drip-type drip was illustrated, but it can also be applied to other infusion therapies in which an infusion set including an infusion tube is used, such as a tube feeding method. Is possible.

  The present invention can be carried out in various modifications, corrections, and modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and all of these aspects belong to the scope of the present invention. is there. The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

2 drip notification system 18 drip tube 20 sensor unit 22 housing 30 drip sensor 58 notification unit 72 notification unit 76 fitting unit 96 housing 98 connector terminal 102 connector terminal 108, 110 operation control unit 118, 120 secondary battery 130, 142 Charge control unit

Claims (6)

A sensor that reacts to a droplet dropped in a drip tube, and a sensor unit having a housing provided with the sensor;
A notification unit that is communicable with the sensor unit and outputs an index of drip dropping status according to the output of the sensor; and a notification unit having a housing provided with the notification unit;
With
The dropping notification system, wherein the casing of the sensor unit and the casing of the notification unit can be combined with each other.   The dropping notification system according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit is capable of communicating with the specific sensor unit. The sensor unit has a secondary battery,
The dripping notification system according to claim 1, wherein the notification unit includes a power supply unit that supplies power to the secondary battery of the sensor unit. The notification unit has a secondary battery,
The dripping notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the sensor unit includes a power supply unit that supplies power to the secondary battery of the notification unit.   The drop notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sensor unit starts detection of the drop when separated from a state where the sensor unit is combined with the notification unit. The casing of the notification unit is provided with attachment means to be attached to the building,
The dripping notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the casing of the notification unit is combined with the casing of the sensor unit using the attachment means.

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