JP4954252B2 - Biological information collection computer device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a computer device that collects biological information related to the health management of an operator.

Conventionally, many dedicated instruments for measuring biological information such as a human heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, and electrocardiogram have been commercially available.
In addition, for example, a cellular phone in which a function for measuring biological information as described above is added in addition to the original communication function has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This mobile phone has a belt with a built-in sensor attached to the mobile phone body, and collects biological information and displays it on the display of the mobile phone by winding the belt around the arm.

JP 2002-102179 A

However, dedicated instruments often become troublesome or forget to measure regularly. Also, in the case of the special mobile phone as described above, since it is necessary to wrap it around the arm, wearing becomes increasingly troublesome.
On the other hand, recently, it is preferable to check body fat and blood flow every day because of a sense of crisis and awareness of metabolic syndrome, but as with the above, it is quite a measurement instrument that must be consciously used or worn. The current situation is not to continue.

  In view of such conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that can naturally collect biological information related to health care (particularly, metabolic syndrome) without the user being particularly conscious.

(1) The present invention is a biological information collection computer device including a keyboard as an input device, for measuring body fat provided on the surface of a key touched by a finger of a left hand at a touch typing home position on the keyboard. A function for measuring impedance between the left hand electrode and the right hand electrode for body fat measurement provided on the surface of the key touched by the finger of the right hand, and the left hand electrode and the right hand electrode. Body fat measuring means for obtaining data on the body fat of an operator who touched the left hand electrode with a left hand finger and simultaneously touched the right hand electrode with a right hand finger, Blood flow measuring means for acquiring blood flow data in the finger of the operator who operates the operation part by a blood flow sensor provided in any operation part in the computer device It is those with a.

  In such a biological information collection computer device, the personal computer stores data on body fat and blood flow by placing an finger on the home position of the keyboard or operating any one of the operation parts in the computer device. Can be collected.

(2) Further, in the biometric information collection computer system of the above (1), left-hand electrode on the surface of the key "F", the right-hand electrode on the front surface of the key 'J', it is preferable to provide each.
In this case, since these keys have protrusions for confirming the touch with fingers, it is highly possible that the left and right index fingers are touching. Therefore, body fat data can be acquired more reliably.

(3) In the biological information collecting computer apparatus of ( 1 ), the left-hand electrode is provided on at least one surface of the keys “A”, “S”, “D”, and “F”, and is used for the right hand. The electrode may be provided on at least one of the keys “J”, “K”, “L”, and “;”.
In this case, since any of the four keys on the left and right can be used as electrodes, variations in electrode installation increase and it is convenient in design.

(4) Further, in the biological information collecting computer apparatus of (1), the sensor chip of the blood flow sensor is “A”, “S”, “D”, “F”, “J”, “K”, “ It may be provided on the back side of either of the keys “L” and “;”.
In this case, as in the case of body fat measurement, blood flow volume data can be acquired naturally simply by the operator placing his finger at the home position of the keyboard.

(5) Moreover, in the biological information collecting computer apparatus of (1), the sensor chip of the blood flow sensor may be provided on the back side of the power switch.
In this case, the power switch is often located on the personal computer main body side, and the personal computer main body often has room for internal space compared to a keyboard or the like, so that the blood flow sensor can be easily installed.

(6) Moreover, in the biological information collection computer device according to any one of the above (1) to (5), the body fat data and the blood flow data may be periodically transmitted to a predetermined destination. .
In this case, for example, if data is transmitted to a personal computer used by a doctor, the doctor can make a diagnosis based on the transmitted data.

  According to the biological information collecting computer apparatus of the present invention, the operator places a finger at the home position of the keyboard or operates any of the operation parts in the computer apparatus, so that the computer apparatus can detect body fat and blood flow. Therefore, it is possible to naturally collect biological information related to health care (especially metabolic syndrome) even if the person himself / herself is not particularly conscious.

It is a perspective view showing the outline of the living body information collection computer device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of a keyboard. It is a perspective view which shows only 4 keys of "F", "G", "H", and "J". It is a figure which shows the structure of a blood-flow sensor. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure as a biometric information collection computer apparatus of a personal computer main body and a keyboard. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the procedure of a body fat measurement or a blood flow rate measurement. It is a figure which shows the example which provided the sensor chip of the blood flow sensor in the back side of the power switch. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure as a biometric information collection computer apparatus at the time of providing a blood flow sensor in the back side of the power switch of the personal computer main body side.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outline of a biological information collecting computer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the apparatus is basically a personal computer, and includes a personal computer main body 1, a keyboard 2, a display 3, and a mouse 4. The keyboard 2, the display 3 and the mouse 4 are connected to the personal computer main body 1 via cables 5, 6 and 7, respectively. The personal computer main body 1 incorporates a well-known device (not shown) such as a CPU, a memory, a hard disk and the like. There is also a power switch 12. Such personal computers are now installed everywhere, and there are very many people who use personal computers every day or at a frequency close to that at work or at home.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the keyboard 2. The keyboard layout of the keyboard 2 is the most popular ANSI layout (ASCII layout). Such a keyboard 2 has a home position for touch typing. According to this, the keyboard 2 is made to correspond to a finger as shown in Table 1 below with reference to the “F” key and the “J” key.

  Therefore, during the type standby, there is a high possibility that the fingers of the left and right hands are touching the key. In particular, since the “F” and “J” keys have protrusions for confirming the touch with fingers, the possibility that the left and right index fingers are touching is extremely high. Therefore, electrodes for body fat measurement are provided on both the keys “F” and “J”. Thereby, the data of body fat can be acquired reliably.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing only four keys “F”, “G”, “H”, and “J”. The basic material of the key is resin. The “F” and “G” keys have the protrusions 21 described above. Further, an electrode 22 is provided on the surface of each of the “F” key and the “J” key by, for example, a conductive coating. The electrode 22 is electrically connected to the lead wire 23 by pulling out to the back side through a through hole (not shown) or by wrapping the coating on the back side. The material of the electrode 22 is, for example, stainless steel or copper (other good conductors are also acceptable).
The above-described method of providing the electrode 22 is merely an example. In addition, for example, the electrode 22 may be formed by insert molding in a resin, or the key material itself may be made conductive. .

The two lead wires 23 are connected to the measurement unit 24, and the measurement unit 24 can perform impedance measurement by passing a minute current through the body of the operator who touches both the “F” and “J” keys with the index finger. It can be done. That is, the two electrodes 22 and the measurement unit 24 constitute an impedance measuring instrument 2A.
In addition, the lead wire 23 and the measurement part 24 are built in the keyboard 2, and cannot be seen in appearance.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the blood flow sensor 2B. The blood flow sensor 2B includes a sensor chip 25 and a driving / detecting unit 27, and constitutes a sensor portion of a so-called laser Doppler blood flow meter. The key shown in FIG. 4 is one of the eight keys in Table 1. However, when the “F” and “J” keys are used as the electrodes 22, other keys that do not overlap with them are preferable. Here, for example, the “K” key is assumed. The key is made of a transparent or translucent resin.

On the back side of the upper surface of the “K” key, a sensor chip 25 having a laser diode 25L and a photodiode 25P on a silicon substrate is provided. Each of the laser diode 25L and the photodiode 25P is connected to the drive / detection unit 27 via a lead wire 26.
The lead wire 26 and the drive / detection unit 27 are built in the keyboard 2 and are not visible in appearance. According to such a configuration, blood flow data can be acquired naturally without making the operator particularly aware of the blood flow sensor.

  The driving / detecting unit 27 emits laser light having a constant frequency from the laser diode 25L. In the home position, there is a high possibility that the middle finger of the right hand touches the “K” key, and in this case, the blood vessel of the finger is irradiated with laser light. The scattered / reflected laser light is received by the photodiode 25 </ b> P and sent to the driving / detecting unit 27. The received laser light includes light that is reflected back from a stationary part such as a blood vessel and light that is reflected back from a blood cell moving by blood flow. The former has the same frequency as the irradiated light. However, in the latter, the frequency is shifted by the Doppler effect (Doppler shift). Due to the difference between these frequencies, the driving / detecting unit 27 can detect and output a beat signal generated by the interference between the two lights.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the personal computer main body 1 and the keyboard 2 as a biological information collection computer device. Note that description of well-known functions inherent in the personal computer is omitted here. In the figure, the keyboard 2 is mounted with the impedance measuring device 2A and the blood flow sensor 2B as described above. Output signals from the impedance measuring device 2A and the blood flow sensor 2B are sent to the personal computer main body 1 through the interface unit 2C such as PS / 2 or USB together with a key input signal from the keyboard 2.

  On the other hand, the personal computer main body 1 includes a body fat measurement unit 1A and a blood flow rate measurement unit 1B as functional parts configured by hardware such as a CPU, a memory, and a hard disk, and software. The body fat measuring unit 1A, together with the impedance measuring device 2A, constitutes body fat measuring means for acquiring body fat data. The blood flow measuring unit 1B constitutes blood flow measuring means for acquiring blood flow data together with the blood flow sensor 2B.

  Further, the personal computer main body 1 includes an interface unit 1C similar to the interface unit 2C of the keyboard 2, a storage unit 1D mainly composed of a hard disk, and a communication unit 1E for connecting to the outside via Ethernet (registered trademark). Yes. The personal computer main body 1 can communicate with a remote personal computer 9 via the Internet 8. This personal computer is used in advance by a doctor at a specific medical institution who has an online medical contract through the Internet.

  Body fat measurement and blood flow measurement are performed according to the procedure stored in the personal computer main body 1. Software that executes such a procedure can be resident in a memory, for example, and executed in the background. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of such a procedure. In the figure, first, the personal computer (CPU of the personal computer main body 1) waits for the measurement time to come (steps S1 and S2). The measurement is performed periodically, and the interval at which the measurement is performed can be freely set. For example, it can be performed with various settings from a high frequency of multiple times a day to a low frequency such as once a day, once a few days, once a month.

When the set time comes, the personal computer performs body fat measurement and blood flow measurement (step S3). When performing body fat measurement, information of a person (operator) who uses the personal computer is stored in advance in the personal computer (storage unit 1D). The information includes, for example, a person name, an identification number corresponding to the name, date of birth, sex, height, and weight. These can be set or changed as needed.
The personal computer (body fat measurement unit 1 </ b> A) operates the impedance measuring device 2 </ b> A and measures the impedance when the operator touches the electrode 22. Body fat is measured in consideration of sex, height, and weight data in this impedance value.

  On the other hand, the personal computer (blood flow measuring unit 1B) operates the blood flow sensor 2B and receives the above-described beat signal when the operator touches the “K” key. The beat signal includes power corresponding to the Doppler shift for each blood cell. The blood flow rate is generally the sum (integral) of the products of the velocity (Doppler shift) of each blood cell and the number (power) of blood cells. Therefore, the blood flow rate can be calculated based on the power spectrum of the beat signal.

  The body fat measurement and blood flow measurement as described above may be performed once, but in order to improve accuracy, it is preferable to measure and average several times. Therefore, the personal computer performs a predetermined number of measurements (steps S3 and S4), and stores an average value for each of body fat measurement and blood flow measurement (step S5). Subsequently, the personal computer transmits the stored average value together with the name or identification number of the operator from the communication unit 1E, specifying the destination as the personal computer 9 (step S6). Thereafter, the same processing is performed every time the measurement time comes.

The doctor on the personal computer 9 side makes a diagnosis based on the transmitted data. Since body fat and blood flow data are important decision factors in the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, physicians can take appropriate measures for prevention or treatment.
In this way, the personal computer can collect body fat and blood flow data simply by placing the finger at the home position on the keyboard 2 that the operator uses every day. In other words, it is possible to naturally collect biological information related to health care even if the person is not particularly conscious. Moreover, since the collected data is delivered to a doctor, it is extremely useful for prevention and diagnosis of metabolic syndrome.

  In the above embodiment, the body fat measurement electrode 22 is provided on the “F” and “J” keys, but the electrode 22 may be provided on another key that is highly likely to be touched with a finger at the home position. In this case, since any of the four keys on the left and right can be used as electrodes, variations in electrode installation increase and it is convenient in design. Further, electrodes may be provided on a plurality of keys for the left and right hands, respectively, so that they can be touched more reliably.

  In the above embodiment, the blood flow sensor 2B is also provided on the key that touches the finger at the home position. However, the detection target site of the blood flow sensor 2B is sufficient with one finger, so it is not always necessary to stick to the home position. Good. For example, it may be provided on an “Enter” key or a space key that is frequently touched.

Furthermore, the blood flow sensor 2 </ b> B can be provided on the mouse 4 or the personal computer main body 1 without regard to the keyboard 2. For example, the power switch 12 (FIG. 1), which is an operation part that a person who uses a personal computer touches every day, is suitable as an installation place when the personal computer body 1 is provided.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example in which a sensor chip 25 (laser diode 25L, photodiode 25P) of a blood flow sensor is provided on the back side of the power switch 12. In this case, the measurement is basically once a day, depending on the operation status. Since the personal computer main body 1 often has a sufficient internal space compared to the keyboard 2, the blood flow sensor can be easily installed.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration as a biological information collecting computer device when a blood flow sensor 2B ′ is provided on the back side of the power switch on the personal computer body 1 side.
In this case, since the blood flow sensor 2B ′ is not in the keyboard 2 but in the personal computer main body 1, the configuration of the keyboard 2 is simpler than that in FIG.
However, in this case, since it takes time to start up the OS and application software of the personal computer main body 1 after turning on the power switch, the blood flow sensor 2B ′ and the blood flow measurement unit 1B are separately turned on, for example, It is necessary to configure only hardware that operates simultaneously with the operation. Further, in this case, in order to ensure a time during which the finger is touching a certain value or more, a power switch may be used so that the personal computer cannot be turned on unless it is continuously operated (pressed) for a certain time.

The measurement flowchart as shown in FIG. 6 may be performed separately for body fat measurement and blood flow measurement.
In addition to the above embodiment, the measured data can be displayed on the display 3.
In addition, the computer device shown in FIG. 1 of the above embodiment is a so-called desktop type, but it may be a personal computer in which a personal computer body and a display are integrated, or a notebook personal computer in which a keyboard is also integrated. Similarly, body fat measuring means and blood flow measuring means can be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 PC main body 1A Body fat measuring device 1B Blood flow measuring part 2 Keyboard 2A Impedance measuring device 2B, 2B 'Blood flow sensor 12 Power switch 22 Electrode

Claims (6)

A biological information collecting computer device including a keyboard as an input device,
Left hand electrode for body fat measurement provided on the surface of the key touched by the finger of the left hand at the home position of touch typing on the keyboard, and for the right hand for body fat measurement provided on the surface of the key touched by the finger of the right hand Electrodes,
It has a function of measuring the impedance between the left hand electrode and the right hand electrode, and when the set time has come, touch the left hand electrode with the finger of the left hand, and at the same time, with the finger of the right hand A body fat measuring means for acquiring body fat data of the operator who touched the right hand electrode ;
Blood flow volume measuring means for acquiring data of blood flow volume in the finger of the operator who operates the operation site by a blood flow sensor provided at any operation site in the computer device. Biological information collecting computer device. On the surface of the key of the left hand electrode is "F", the right-hand electrode on the front surface of the key "J", the living body information collecting computer system of claim 1 wherein provided respectively. The left-hand electrode is provided on at least one of the keys “A”, “S”, “D”, and “F”, and the right-hand electrode is “J”, “K”, “L”, and “F”. The biological information collecting computer device according to claim 1 , wherein the biological information collecting computer device is provided on at least one surface of the keys.   The sensor chip of the blood flow sensor is provided on the back side of any of the keys “A”, “S”, “D”, “F”, “J”, “K”, “L”, and “;”. The biological information collecting computer apparatus according to claim 1.   The biological information collecting computer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a sensor chip of the blood flow sensor is provided on a back side of a power switch.   The biological information collection computer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the body fat data and the blood flow data are periodically transmitted to a predetermined destination.

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