KR101859850B1 - Electrical muscle stimulator warning an user about a pad is not stick to body normally - Google Patents

Abstract

An electrical muscle stimulator applies full boost voltage to first and second pads attached to a user to determine the impedance between the first pad and the second pad. The electrical muscle stimulator may determine based on the determined impedance whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part of the user. If the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part of the user, the electrical muscle stimulator may request the user or a physician to reattach the first and second pads.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an electric muscle stimulator for informing a user that a pad is not normally attached to a body part.

The present invention relates to an electric muscle stimulator.

Electrical Muscle Stimulator (EMS) is a device that uses electrical stimulation to artificially induce contraction in human muscles. Electric muscle stimulators are applied to various fields such as treatment equipment, rehabilitation training equipment, low frequency massage equipment and exercise equipment.

An electrical muscle stimulator may include one or more pads attached to a person's body region to induce electrical stimulation in a person's muscles. When a person attaches two pads to a body part, the electric muscle stimulator can apply a voltage to either of the two pads. The applied voltage can induce contraction in the muscles of the body part.

In the process of applying a voltage to an area of a person's body, the person may be injured by overcurrent or overvoltage. In particular, if the pad is not properly attached, a person may suffer an overcurrent or overvoltage on the pad-attached area. More seriously, a person can be electrocuted by over-current or over-voltage.

The present invention relates to an electric muscle stimulator and an electric muscle stimulation method which prevent a user from being injured due to the pad not normally attached by warning the user that the pad is not normally attached to the body part when the pad is not normally attached to the body part .

Further, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring the impedance between a plurality of pads attached to a body part and measuring the impedance using an electrical muscle stimulator (not shown) that is utilized to measure human biological parameters (e.g., skin condition, muscle mass, body fat mass) And an electric muscle stimulation method.

Further, the present invention proposes an electric muscle stimulator and an electric muscle stimulation method that transmit a constant-sized current to a body part using a measured impedance.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a battery, comprising: a boost converter boosting a DC voltage of a battery to a boost voltage; a first pad attached to a body part of a user's body; A bridge circuit for applying a battery voltage converted into an AC form to the body part by alternately switching in accordance with a cycle of the first and second pads, And a controller for determining an impedance between the first pad and the second pad based on the voltage measured by the detection circuit, wherein the impedance is selected from the group consisting of (1) a first pad And the second pad is attached to the body part and (2) a value that varies with the resistance of the body part. It is provided.

According to one embodiment, the controller is provided with an electrical muscle stimulator for comparing the impedance with a predetermined reference value to determine whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part.

According to one embodiment, when the controller determines that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part, the controller informs the user that the first pad and the second pad are to be reattached to the user An electric muscle stimulator is provided.

According to one embodiment, the controller is provided with an electric muscle stimulator that changes the boost voltage or the switching period in consideration of the state of the body part determined from the impedance.

According to one embodiment, the controller determines the impedance by using the current flowing between the first pad and the second pad and the boost voltage, and the current flowing between the first pad and the second pad is An electric muscle stimulator is provided which is determined based on the amount of change in the amount of charge stored in the boost converter, the switching period, and the number of switching times of the bridge circuit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the user can be informed that the pad is not normally attached to the body part, thereby preventing injury due to the pad not normally attached to the body part.

Further, the electric muscle stimulator according to an embodiment of the present invention measures an impedance between a plurality of pads attached to a body part, and the measured impedance is a function of a human's biological parameters (for example, skin condition, muscle mass, As shown in FIG.

Further, the electric muscle stimulator according to an embodiment of the present invention can transmit a constant current to the body part using the measured impedance.

1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a structure of an electric muscle stimulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram illustrating an operation in which an electrical muscle stimulator according to an embodiment informs a user that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to a body part.
FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating a method for determining impedance between a first pad and a second pad according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.
4 is a graph showing the voltages of the first pad or the second pad according to the impedance between the first pad and the second pad.
5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an operation of stimulating a plurality of body parts by an electric muscle stimulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation performed by an electric muscle stimulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

It is to be understood that the specific structural or functional descriptions of embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein are presented for the purpose of describing embodiments only in accordance with the concepts of the present invention, May be embodied in various forms and are not limited to the embodiments described herein.

Embodiments in accordance with the concepts of the present invention are capable of various modifications and may take various forms, so that the embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail herein. However, it is not intended to limit the embodiments according to the concepts of the present invention to the specific disclosure forms, but includes changes, equivalents, or alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The terms first, second, or the like may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by the terms. The terms may be named for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another, for example without departing from the scope of the right according to the concept of the present invention, the first element being referred to as the second element, Similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. Expressions that describe the relationship between components, for example, "between" and "immediately" or "directly adjacent to" should be interpreted as well.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, the terms " comprises " or " having ", and the like, are used to specify one or more of the features, numbers, steps, operations, But do not preclude the presence or addition of steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning of the context in the relevant art and, unless explicitly defined herein, are to be interpreted as ideal or overly formal Do not.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the scope of the patent application is not limited or limited by these embodiments. Like reference symbols in the drawings denote like elements.

1 is a circuit diagram for explaining a structure of an electric muscle stimulator 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical muscle stimulator 100 according to one embodiment may include at least one of a boost converter 110, a bridge circuit 120, a detection circuit 130, and a controller 140. The controller 140 may transmit control signals to the boost converter 110 and the bridge circuit 120.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electric muscle stimulator 100 according to an embodiment may include a boost converter 110 connected to a battery 150 to boost a DC voltage of the battery to a boost voltage. The battery 150 may apply a direct current battery voltage to the boost converter 110. The boost converter 110 can charge the capacitor 111 using the current flowing from the battery 150 to the inductor 113 according to the operation of the transistor 112. [ The transistor 112 may be controlled by the controller 140. The controller 140 can operate the transistor 112 to boost the DC voltage of the battery to the boost voltage.

Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical muscle stimulator 100 according to one embodiment may include a bridge circuit 120 that applies a voltage in the form of an alternating current generated from a battery voltage boosted to a boost voltage, have. The bridge circuit 120 may include a first electrode P1 connected to a first pad attached to a body part and a second electrode P2 connected to a second pad.

The bridge circuit 120 is connected to the capacitor 111 of the boost converter 110 and can transfer the boosted battery voltage to the body part. In particular, the bridge circuit 120 may alternately switch the boosted battery voltage to the first pad and the second pad in accordance with a preset switching cycle. The bridge circuit 120 may apply the AC voltage to the body part by the switching operation.

More specifically, referring to Fig. 1, the bridge circuit 120 may include a plurality of transistors (Tr1 to Tr4 in Fig. 1). The states of Tr1 to Tr4 are alternately switched to the saturation state and the cut-off state, and the boosted battery voltage can be switched according to the states of Tr1 to Tr4.

For example, Tr1 and Tr4 may become saturated and Tr2 and Tr3 may be in a blocking state. In this case, the boosted battery voltage is applied to the first electrode Pl, and the current can flow from the first electrode Pl to the second electrode P2. Based on the switching period, the states of Tr1 and Tr4 can be switched from the saturated state to the shutdown state. At the same time that the states of Tr1 and Tr4 are switched, Tr2 and Tr3 can be switched from the cut-off state to the saturation state. In this case, the boosted battery voltage is applied to the second electrode P2, not to the first electrode P1, and the current can flow from the second electrode P2 to the first electrode P1.

By repeating the above-described state transition, the boosted battery voltage can be alternately applied to the first pad and the second pad in accordance with the switching cycle. The states of Tr1 to Tr4 may be determined according to the control signal of the controller 140. [

As the states of the plurality of transistors included in the bridge circuit 120 are switched, the battery voltage converted to the AC mode can be applied to the first pad and the second pad. When the user attaches the first pad and the second pad to the body part, the muscles of the body part can be contracted by the voltage applied to the first pad and the second pad. Since the battery voltage converted to the AC voltage is applied to the body part with the battery voltage boosted by the boost voltage, the degree to which the muscle is stimulated can be determined according to the magnitude of the boost voltage and the switching period. Furthermore, even if the boost voltage is the same, the extent to which the muscle is stimulated may vary depending on the area or type of the first pad and the second pad.

As described above, since the boosted voltage of the battery voltage is applied to the bridge circuit 120, the voltage between the first pad and the second pad may not exceed the boost voltage. However, referring to FIG. 1, a voltage drop due to Tr1 and Tr3 may occur. The current between the first pad and the second pad may be determined according to the impedance 160 between the first pad and the second pad. That is, the body part contacting the first pad and the second pad may receive an overcurrent according to the impedance 160.

The impedance 160 between the first pad and the second pad can be determined by the resistance of the body part. Furthermore, the impedance 160 can be determined by the level of adhesion of the first pad to the body part or by the degree to which the second pad is attached to the body part.

The electrical muscle stimulator 100 according to one embodiment may measure the impedance 160 to prevent an overcurrent from flowing between the first pad and the second pad. More specifically, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may determine, based on the impedance 160, whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to a body part. That is, based on the impedance 160, the electric muscle stimulator 100 judges whether the degree of attachment of the first pad and the second pad to the body part is out of a preset range, .

When the user does not normally attach the first pad and the second pad, the electric muscle stimulator 100 informs the user that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part, And to reattach the second pad. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 can induce normal attachment of the first pad and the second pad, thereby preventing an overcurrent from flowing between the first pad and the second pad.

More specifically, referring to FIG. 1, an electrical muscle stimulator 100 according to one embodiment may include a controller 140 for determining an impedance 160 between a first pad and a second pad. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 according to one embodiment includes a detection circuit 130 that measures the voltage of either the first pad or the second pad when the alternating battery voltage is applied to the body part . The controller 140 can use the detection circuit 130 to determine the impedance 160.

The detection circuit 130 according to an exemplary embodiment may include two resistors that receive a voltage of either the first pad or the second pad. Referring to FIG. 1, the detection circuit 130 may include two resistors 131 and 132 that receive the voltage of the second pad. The first resistor 131 may have a resistance that is greater than the magnitude of the expected impedance 160.

For example, the impedance 160 may be in units of hundreds of ohms. In this case, the first resistor 131 may have a resistance of several megohm. Accordingly, the first resistor 131 can cut off power leaking from the bridge circuit 120 to the detection circuit 130. [ That is, the power unnecessarily consumed by the detection circuit 130 can be reduced. Also, the detection circuit 130 may be connected in parallel with any one of the first pad and the second pad such that all of the boosted battery voltage is applied between the first pad and the second pad. Thus, the boost voltage needed to stimulate the body part to a certain degree can be reduced. In other words, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 according to one embodiment may not include a resistor that is unnecessarily distributed with a boost voltage.

In the example of FIG. 1, the detection circuit 130 may be connected in parallel with the second electrode P2. The first resistor 131 and the second resistor 132 can be divided according to the resistance ratio of the first resistor 131 and the second resistor 132 to the voltage applied to the second electrode P2. The controller 140 can measure the voltage of either the first pad or the second pad by measuring the voltage distributed to the second resistor 132. [ In the example of FIG. 1, the controller 140 may determine the voltage applied to the second electrode P2.

In particular, since the second resistor 132 has a lower resistance than the first resistor 131, the second resistor 132 can receive a relatively lower voltage than the boost voltage. By measuring the voltage distributed to the second resistor 132 by the controller 140, a failure that occurs as the overvoltage is applied to the controller 140 can be prevented.

Referring to FIG. 1, the controller 140 may determine the impedance 160 by measuring the voltage distributed to the second resistor 132. The controller 140 may stop the operation of the boost converter 110 during the detection of the impedance 160 in order to eliminate the effect of the boost converter 110 on the measurement of the voltage distributed to the second resistor 132 have. The controller 140 can determine the time to stop the operation of the boost converter 110 in consideration of the voltage supply performance of the boost converter 110. [

The controller 140 may compare the impedance 160 with a preset reference value to determine whether the user has normally attached the first pad and the second pad to the body part. The predetermined reference value may be an impedance between the first pad and the second pad when the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part. When the first pad and the second pad are weakly attached (or not attached) than when the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part, the current is not easily transmitted to the body part. Therefore, the impedance between the first pad and the second pad May be greater than the set reference value. Accordingly, when the impedance 160 is larger than a preset reference value, the controller 140 can determine that the first pad and the second pad are relatively weakly attached to the body part. In addition, the controller 140 may determine that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part even when the impedance 160 is smaller than a preset reference value.

If the impedance 160 exceeds a predetermined reference value, the controller 140 can inform the user that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part. Thus, the electric muscle stimulator 100 according to an embodiment can induce reattachment of the first pad and the second pad, and can prevent the overcurrent from flowing to the body part. Further, the electric muscle stimulator 100 according to an embodiment can transmit a constant magnitude current between the first pad and the second pad.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary view for explaining an operation in which the electric muscle stimulator 100 according to an embodiment informs the user 210 that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part.

Referring to FIG. 2, the first pad and the second pad may be connected to the first electrode P1 and the second electrode P2 of the electric muscle stimulator 100, respectively. The user 210 may attach the first pad and the second pad to a body part. Although not shown, a physician (or rehabilitation trainer) who prescribes an electrical muscle stimulation therapy to the user 210 may attach the first pad and the second pad to the user 210.

The electrical muscle stimulator 100 may boost the DC voltage of the battery to a boost voltage and then convert the boosted battery voltage to an AC voltage and apply the voltage to the body part. The electric muscle stimulator 100 can change the number of times of stimulation while maintaining the amplitude of the voltage applied to the body part constant (frequency change mode). Further, the electric muscle stimulator 100 can change the amplitude (amplitude change mode) while keeping the frequency of the voltage applied to the body part constant.

In the frequency change mode, the electric muscle stimulator 100 can keep the boost voltage constant. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 can change the frequency of the voltage applied to the body part by changing the period for switching Tr1 to Tr4 in Fig. As the frequency changes, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may change the number of times it stimulates the body part. Thus, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may alter the intensity or mode of motion of the user 210.

In the amplitude change mode, the electric muscle stimulator 100 can change the boost voltage while maintaining a period for switching Tr1 to Tr4 in Fig. More specifically, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may change the boost voltage using a control signal delivered to the transistor 112 of FIG. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 can change the degree to which the user's movement site or muscle is stimulated by changing the boost voltage.

The physician or rehabilitation trainer may use the frequency change mode or the amplitude change mode described above to set how the electrical muscle stimulator 100 will stimulate the muscles of the user 210. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 may provide one or more exercise modes that may be applied to a general purpose user based on a frequency change mode or an amplitude change mode.

Referring to FIG. 2, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may measure the impedance 220 between the first pad and the second pad. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 may determine the impedance 220 based on the voltage drop of the bridge circuit comprising the first pad and the second pad and the voltage waveform measured at either the first pad or the second pad . The specific operation in which the impedance 220 is determined may be the same as that described in Fig. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 may determine from the impedance 220 whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part.

The electrical muscle stimulator 100 may compare the impedance 220 to a preset reference value to determine whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part. The predetermined reference value may be the impedance between the first pad and the second pad when the first pad and the second pad are correctly attached to the user 210.

The electrical muscle stimulator 100 may determine, based on the impedance 220, whether to convey to the user 210 a notification to reattach the first pad and the second pad. If the first and second pads are not normally attached to the body part, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may feed back a notification to the user 210 to reattach the first and second pads. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 can prevent electrical shock or burn of the user 210 due to abnormal attachment of the first pad and the second pad by feeding back the abnormal attachment of the first pad and the second pad to the user 210 have.

More specifically, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may inform the external terminal 230 that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part. The electric muscle stimulator 100 may include a communication unit capable of communicating with an external terminal 230. The communication unit can communicate with the terminal 230 through wireless communication such as Bluetooth, WiFi, NFC or LTE, or wired communication.

The terminal 230 may request the user 210 or physician to reattach the first pad and the second pad based on the notification of the electrical muscle stimulator 100. [ Referring to FIG. 2, the terminal 230 may display a message to check the degree of attachment of the first pad and the second pad.

In addition, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may be configured to apply an alternating battery voltage to the first and second pads to prevent electrical shock or burn of the user 210 due to abnormal attachment of the first and second pads You can stop doing that. According to one embodiment, the measured impedance 220 may be utilized to determine how the electrical muscle stimulator 100 will stimulate the muscles of the user 210.

More specifically, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may change the boost voltage or the switching period of the bridge circuit based on the impedance 220. The electrical muscle stimulator 100 can increase the motion efficiency of the user 210 by adjusting the waveform of the voltage output to the first pad and the second pad using the impedance 220. [ Further, the electrical muscle stimulator 100 may determine the physical characteristics of the user 210 based on the impedance 220. [ Physical characteristics may include at least one of skin condition, muscle mass, and body fat mass.

FIG. 3 is a graph illustrating a method for determining impedance between a first pad and a second pad according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3, the waveform 310 of the voltage measured at the point where the bridge circuit and the boost converter are connected and the waveform 320 of the voltage of the first pad or the second pad measured by the controller through the detection circuit Respectively. The electrical muscle stimulator may determine the impedance between the first pad and the second pad based on the waveform 310 and the waveform 320.

For example, waveform 310 corresponds to the voltage at the top of Tr1 and Tr3 of bridge circuit 120 of FIG. Waveform 320 corresponds to the voltage of the voltage of the second electrode P2 in Fig. The electrical muscle stimulator may use the voltage of the second resistor 132 of FIG. 1 to determine the voltage of the second electrode P2.

를 수학식 1에 따라 근사적으로 결정할 수 있다.An electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may determine the impedance between the first and second pads using current and boost voltage 330 flowing between the first and second pads. More specifically, the electrical muscle stimulator is configured to have an impedance between the first pad and the second pad

Can be approximately determined according to Equation (1).

는 부스트 전압(330)을,

은 제1 패드 및 제2 패드 사이를 흐르는 전류를 의미한다. 전기 근육 자극기는

을, 부스트 컨버터에 저장된 전하량의 변화량, 스위칭 주기 및 브릿지 회로의 스위칭 횟수에 기초하여 결정할 수 있다. 예를 들어, 전기 근육 자극기는

을 수학식 2에 따라 결정할 수 있다. Referring to Equation 1,

Boost voltage 330,

Quot; means a current flowing between the first pad and the second pad. Electric muscle stimulator

Can be determined based on the amount of change in the amount of charge stored in the boost converter, the switching period, and the switching frequency of the bridge circuit. For example, an electrical muscle stimulator

Can be determined according to Equation (2).

는 부스트 컨버터에 저장된 전하량의 변화량을 의미한다. 부스트 컨버터에 저장된 전하량은 도 1의 캐패시터(111)에 저장된 전하량을 의미할 수 있다. 캐패시터의 전하량은 Q = C × V 에 따라 결정되므로,

는 수학식 3에 의해 결정될 수 있다.Referring to Equation (2)

Means the amount of change in the amount of charge stored in the boost converter. The amount of charge stored in the boost converter may refer to the amount of charge stored in the capacitor 111 of FIG. Since the charge amount of the capacitor is determined according to Q = C x V,

Can be determined by Equation (3).

는 제1 패드 및 제2 패드가 신체 부위에 부착되는 것에 따른 전압 강하(340)를 의미한다.Referring to Equation (3), C means the capacitance of the capacitor of the boost converter (for example, the capacitor 111 in FIG. 1). 3,

Quot; refers to the voltage drop 340 as the first and second pads are attached to the body part.

는 수학식 4에 의해 결정될 수 있다.Referring again to Equation 2,

Can be determined by Equation (4).

Referring to FIG. 3, the switching time of Equation (4) denotes the length of the time interval 350 during which the boost voltage is applied to the first pad and the second pad during the switching period. For example, the length of time interval 350 may be 100 microseconds. The number of switching means the number of times the bridge circuit performs the switching according to the switching period. Referring to waveform 320, the number of switching times may be three in the example of FIG.

The electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may determine the impedance between the first pad and the second pad using Equations 1-4. In particular, the electrical muscle stimulator can determine the impedance between the first pad and the second pad without using a trial and error. The impedance between the determined first and second pads can be utilized to improve the performance and power efficiency of the electrical muscle stimulator.

4 is a graph showing the voltages of the first pad or the second pad according to the impedance between the first pad and the second pad. Referring to FIG. 4, the graph 410 is a graph showing the voltages of the first pad and the second pad when the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part. The graph 420 is a graph showing the voltages of the first pad or the second pad when the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part.

Referring to FIG. 4, the maximum and minimum voltages of the first pad and the second pad may vary depending on whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part. The electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may determine the impedance between the first pad and the second pad based on the voltage of the first pad or the second pad. The electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment can compare the waveform of the voltage of the first pad or the second pad with a preset waveform to determine whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part. The predetermined waveform may be a waveform of a voltage of the first pad or the second pad measured when the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an operation in which an electric muscle stimulator 510 stimulates a plurality of body parts according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, an electric muscle stimulator 510 according to an embodiment may use a plurality of channel units 530 to stimulate a plurality of body parts. Each of the plurality of channel units 530 may include a separate boost converter, a bridge circuit, and a detection circuit. Since the bridge circuit includes two electrodes connected to the pad, each of the plurality of channel units 530 may be connected to two pads attached to the user.

Referring to FIG. 5, the electrical muscle stimulator 510 may include N channel units (channel unit 1 through channel unit N). In the example of FIG. 5, two pads connected to channel unit 1 may be attached to a portion 570 of the user's arm. The two pads connected to the channel unit 2 may be attached to a portion 580 of the user's leg.

The electrical muscle stimulator 510 may include a controller 520 that independently controls the plurality of channel units 530. The operation in which the controller 520 controls each of the plurality of channel units 530 may be the same as the operation of the controller 140 in Fig. The controller 520 independently controls the plurality of channel units 530 so that the electrical muscle stimulator 510 can apply voltages of different waveforms to a portion 570 of the arm and a portion 580 of the leg. That is, the intensity and the frequency of the voltage output by the electric muscle stimulator 510 to different body parts may be different from each other.

The electrical muscle stimulator 510 according to one embodiment may use the detection circuitry of each of the channel units 530 to measure the impedance between the pads connected to each of the channel units 530. [ The electrical muscle stimulator 510 may determine, based on the measured impedance, whether the pads connected to each of the channel units 530 are normally attached to the body part.

Referring to FIG. 5, the controller 520 may determine the impedance Z1 between the first pad and the second pad connected to the channel unit 1. The controller 520 may determine the current flowing between the first pad and the second pad connected to the channel unit 1 based on Equations 2-4. The controller 520 can determine the impedance Z1 from the boost voltage of the channel unit 1 and the determined current based on Equation (1). The controller 520 may perform the same operation on the channel unit 2 to determine the impedance Z2 between the first pad and the second pad connected to the channel unit 2. [

The controller 520 can independently determine whether the pad is normally attached to the body part for each of the channel units. Referring to FIG. 5, the controller 520 compares impedances Z1 and Z2 with preset reference values to determine whether the pads of each of the channel unit 1 and the channel unit 2 are attached to the body part with normal strength.

If there is a pad that is not normally attached to the body part, the controller 520 may ask the user (or the physician who prescribed the user for the electric muscle stimulation therapy) to reattach the pad. Referring to FIG. 5, the electrical muscle stimulator 510 may include a communication unit 540 that conveys an indication to reattach a pad that is not normally attached to a body part. The communication unit 540 can transmit a notification to re-attach the pad that is not normally attached to the body part to the terminal carried by the doctor. Although not shown, the electrical muscle stimulator 510 according to one embodiment may include an indicator light or a display. The electrical muscle stimulator 510 may display an indication on the display or display to reattach a pad that is not normally attached to the body part.

Referring to FIG. 5, an electrical muscle stimulator 510 according to one embodiment may include a temperature sensor 550 that detects the temperature of the electrical muscle stimulator 510. The controller 520 can detect the temperature rise due to the user's operation based on the value outputted by the temperature sensor 550. [ The controller 520 can detect a temperature rise due to an overvoltage or an overcurrent and a temperature rise due to an abnormal operation of the element of the electric muscle stimulator 510 based on the value outputted by the temperature sensor 550. [

That is, the controller 520 can detect an error of the electric muscle stimulator 510 or a temperature increase due to abnormal operation of the user by using the temperature sensor 550. If an error in the electrical muscle stimulator 510 or a temperature rise due to an abnormal operation of the user is detected, the controller 520 may interrupt the operation of the electrical muscle stimulator 510 or inform the user of the danger. Accordingly, the electric muscle stimulator 510 can prevent a dangerous situation due to an increase in temperature.

5, an electrical muscle stimulator 510 according to one embodiment may include at least one of a gyro sensor 560 or an acceleration sensor that measures movement of a user carrying an electric muscle stimulator 510. [ Using the values output by the gyro sensor 560 or the acceleration sensor, the controller 520 can detect a situation in which the user carrying the electric muscle stimulator 510 is not moving or a situation in which the user falls. If the user does not move or a situation in which the user is collapsed is detected, the controller 520 performs an appropriate countermeasure (e.g., alerting the user or stopping the operation of the electrical muscle stimulator 510) can do. Accordingly, the electric muscle stimulator 510 can cope with an emergency occurring to a user carrying the electric muscle stimulator 510.

6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation performed by an electric muscle stimulator according to an embodiment of the present invention. When the electrical muscle stimulator comprises a plurality of channel units that stimulate different body parts, the electrical muscle stimulator may perform the operation of Figure 6 for each of the plurality of channel units. The operation of FIG. 6 may be performed by a controller included in an electrical muscle stimulator.

Referring to FIG. 6, in step 610, an electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may boost an applied battery voltage to a boost voltage. The electrical muscle stimulator may apply a control signal to the transistor of the boost converter to boost the battery voltage to the boost voltage.

Referring to FIG. 6, in step 620, the electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may convert the boosted battery voltage to an alternating current form with a switching period, and then apply the converted battery voltage to the user. The electrical muscle stimulator can alternately switch the transistors of the bridge circuit to produce an ac stimulation signal. The stimulation signal may be delivered to the user through the first pad and the second pad.

Referring to FIG. 6, in step 630, an electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may measure the voltage of the pad using a detection circuit. The detection circuit may be connected in parallel with any one of the first pad and the second pad so that the boost voltage is not distributed to other elements except for the first pad and the second pad. The electrical muscle stimulator may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for measuring the voltage of the pad. That is, the analog-to-digital converter can output the voltage of the pad in the form of a digital value.

Referring to FIG. 6, in step 640, an electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may determine the impedance between the first pad and the second pad. The electrical muscle stimulator may determine the impedance between the first pad and the second pad using Equations 1-4. The impedance may be determined differently depending on the environment between the first pad and the second pad. For example, the impedance can be determined differently depending on the strength of the first pad attached to the body part, the strength of the second pad attached to the body part, and the resistance of the body part between the first pad and the second pad.

Referring to FIG. 6, in step 650, an electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may determine whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to a body part. The electrical muscle stimulator may compare the determined impedance to a preset reference value to determine whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part.

If the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part, the electrical muscle stimulator may perform at least one of the operations of either step 660 or step 670. Referring to FIG. 6, in step 660, an electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may request the user to reattach the first pad and the second pad. The electrical muscle stimulator may forward the request to a terminal carried by the user or physician. The electrical muscle stimulator may include a communication unit for communicating with the terminal.

6, in step 670, an electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment may change at least one of a boost voltage or a switching period. The electrical muscle stimulator may alter the at least one of the boost voltage or the switching period to lower the intensity that stimulates the body part. Accordingly, the electric muscle stimulator can prevent accidents caused by the fact that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part.

Taken together, the electrical muscle stimulator according to one embodiment can estimate the degree of attachment using the impedance between the pads, which varies with the degree of attachment between the pads and body parts. The electric muscle stimulator can determine whether the pads are normally attached to the body part, and prevent overvoltage or overcurrent, electric shock, or burn that may occur depending on the degree of attachment.

The apparatus described above may be implemented as a hardware component, a software component, and / or a combination of hardware components and software components. For example, the apparatus and components described in the embodiments may be implemented within a computer system, such as, for example, a processor, a controller, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) , A programmable logic unit (PLU), a microprocessor, or any other device capable of executing and responding to instructions. The processing device may execute an operating system (OS) and one or more software applications running on the operating system. The processing device may also access, store, manipulate, process, and generate data in response to execution of the software. For ease of understanding, the processing apparatus may be described as being used singly, but those skilled in the art will recognize that the processing apparatus may have a plurality of processing elements and / As shown in FIG. For example, the processing unit may comprise a plurality of processors or one processor and one controller. Other processing configurations are also possible, such as a parallel processor.

The software may include a computer program, code, instructions, or a combination of one or more of the foregoing, and may be configured to configure the processing device to operate as desired or to process it collectively or collectively Device can be commanded. The software and / or data may be in the form of any type of machine, component, physical device, virtual equipment, computer storage media, or device , Or may be permanently or temporarily embodied in a transmitted signal wave. The software may be distributed over a networked computer system and stored or executed in a distributed manner. The software and data may be stored on one or more computer readable recording media.

The method according to an embodiment may be implemented in the form of a program command that can be executed through various computer means and recorded in a computer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like, alone or in combination. The program instructions to be recorded on the medium may be those specially designed and configured for the embodiments or may be available to those skilled in the art of computer software. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs; magnetic media such as floppy disks; Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include machine language code such as those produced by a compiler, as well as high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware devices described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the embodiments, and vice versa.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. For example, it is to be understood that the techniques described may be performed in a different order than the described methods, and / or that components of the described systems, structures, devices, circuits, Lt; / RTI > or equivalents, even if it is replaced or replaced.

Therefore, other implementations, other embodiments, and equivalents to the claims are also within the scope of the following claims.

100: Electric muscle stimulator
110: Boost converter
111: capacitor
112: transistor
120: bridge circuit
130: Detection circuit
131: first resistance
132: second resistance
140: controller
150: Battery
160: Impedance

Claims (5)

A boost converter for boosting a DC voltage of the battery to a boost voltage;
A bridge circuit for alternately switching the battery voltage boosted by the boost voltage in accordance with a preset switching period to a first pad and a second pad attached to a body part of a user to apply a battery voltage converted into an AC form to the body part, ;
A detection circuit for measuring a voltage of either the first pad or the second pad when the AC voltage is applied to the body part; And
A controller for determining an impedance between the first pad and the second pad based on the voltage measured by the detection circuit,
Lt; / RTI >
The impedance,
(1) the degree to which the first pad and the second pad are attached to the body part, and (2) the value that varies with the resistance of the body part,
The detection circuit comprises:
A first resistor and a second resistor which are connected in parallel with any one of the first pad and the second pad to the bridge circuit and receive the voltage of any one of the first pad and the second pad connected in parallel, Including,
The first resistor and the second resistor are connected in series,
A second pad connected in series to receive the voltage of either the first pad or the second pad connected in parallel and having a resistance value set to prevent a failure due to overvoltage input from the first pad or the second pad,
The controller comprising:
And stops the operation of the boost converter while determining the impedance between the first pad and the second pad using the detection circuit. The method according to claim 1,
The controller comprising:
And comparing the impedance with a preset reference value to determine whether the first pad and the second pad are normally attached to the body part. 3. The method of claim 2,
The controller comprising:
And notifies the user to reattach the first pad and the second pad when it is determined that the first pad and the second pad are not normally attached to the body part. The method according to claim 1,
The controller comprising:
And changes the boost voltage or the switching period in consideration of the state of the body part determined from the impedance. The method according to claim 1,
The controller comprising:
Determining the impedance using the current flowing between the first pad and the second pad and the boost voltage,
And a current flowing between the first pad and the second pad,
The change amount of the amount of charge stored in the boost converter, the switching period, and the number of switching times of the bridge circuit.

Images