JP2000051157A - Detector for abnormality of subject, information device for abnormality of subject, and emergency system for subject - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change a standard value for judging the abnormal condition of a subject corresponding to physical activity of the subject to improve the accuracy of detecting an abnormal condition of the subject. SOLUTION: An abnormality discrimination value 5 is set at 120 bpm as the upper limit and 60 bpm as the lower limit when signals to indicate the size of activity detected by an acceleration sensor 1 and outputted from an acceleration circuit 2 indicate the activity in daily life, the upper limit and the lower limit are respectively elevated compared to a normal case when the signals to indicate the size of activity indicate the activity in exercise, and the upper limit and the lower limit are respectively lowered when the signals indicate a condition the subject is not movable in a sleeping condition or by generation of abnormality. The value set as such and pulse signals detected by a pulse sensor are compared and an abnormality judging circuit 5 outputs emergency signals based on the comparison result. Thus, the detection accuracy and the sensitivity of an abnormality condition are improved.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for detecting an emergency condition of a subject, an emergency notification device, and an emergency rescue system for the subject.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei 6-242206 and Hei 7-234982 have been proposed for detecting an emergency state of a subject, particularly a patient. Specifically, a biological sensor for detecting a biological signal such as the pulse rate and blood pressure of the subject is provided, and the output of the sensor is compared with a fixed predetermined abnormality determination value. An emergency condition has been detected.

[0003]

However, biological signals such as pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, body temperature, electrocardiogram, arterial oxygen saturation, autonomic nervous action potential, etc., indicate the degree of physical activity of the subject, That is, it fluctuates according to the degree of physical activity. That is, the pulse rate and the respiratory rate increase with exercise, and decrease at rest.

[0004] Therefore, if the judgment value for judging the emergency state of the subject is fixed as described above, for example, the subject is not in an abnormal state, but merely increases in physical activity due to exercise, etc. Even if the value of becomes large, there is a possibility that an abnormal state is erroneously detected. In addition, even when the subject is not in an abnormal state but sleeps and the physical activity decreases and the value of the biological signal decreases, the subject may be erroneously detected as an abnormal state. If the judgment value is broadened in order to prevent such a malfunction, when the subject actually falls into an abnormal state, there is a problem that the state cannot be detected.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a reference value which varies according to the degree of physical activity of a subject detected by an activity detecting section and a biological signal of the subject detected by a biological signal detecting section. And the determination circuit determines the abnormality of the subject based on the comparison result. Therefore, it is possible to detect the abnormal state of the subject according to the magnitude of the physical activity of the subject. Thereby, it is possible to reduce erroneous abnormality detection or a state where an abnormality cannot be detected, and it is possible to improve detection accuracy of an abnormal state.

By using an acceleration sensor as the activity detector, it is possible to easily detect the magnitude of the physical activity of the subject.

The above-mentioned reference value is composed of an upper limit value and a lower limit value,
The width between the upper limit and the lower limit fluctuates according to the magnitude of the physical activity, and the determination circuit determines whether or not the biological signal exceeds the upper limit or is less than the lower limit. Since it is determined that the subject is abnormal, the area of the reference value for determining the abnormal state of the subject can be changed according to the magnitude of the physical activity of the subject. Therefore, the detection accuracy and sensitivity of the abnormal state can be further improved.

[0008] If the alarm means receives the output of the judging means and issues an alarm, it is possible to reliably inform the surroundings of the abnormal state of the subject. In addition, the ratio of false alarm notification can be reduced, and the reliability of the subject for the abnormality notification device can be improved.

If the output of the determination circuit is received by the communication means and an emergency signal is supplied to a monitoring center for monitoring the state of the subject, the monitoring center can reliably recognize the abnormal state of the subject. Further, since false abnormality recognition by the monitoring center is reduced, unnecessary rescue activities at the monitoring center can be reduced.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 of the present application provides a biological signal detecting section for detecting a biological signal of a subject, an activity detecting section for detecting the physical activity of the subject, and the detecting section. A determination circuit that compares a reference value that fluctuates according to the magnitude of the detected physical activity with the detected biological signal, and determines an abnormality of the subject based on the comparison result.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the activity detector is an acceleration sensor.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the reference value comprises an upper limit value and a lower limit value, and a width between the upper limit value and the lower limit value is determined by the magnitude of the physical activity. Accordingly, the determination circuit determines that the subject is abnormal when the biological signal exceeds the upper limit or is less than the lower limit.

The invention according to claim 4 of the present application is directed to claims 1 to
3. An apparatus for detecting an abnormality of a subject according to any one of the items (3) and (3), and alarm means for receiving an output of the determination circuit and performing alarm notification.

The invention according to claim 5 of the present application is directed to claims 1 to
And a communication unit that receives an output of the determination circuit and supplies an emergency signal to a monitoring center that monitors the state of the subject.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, an acceleration sensor 1 constitutes an activity detecting section and is mounted on a dominant arm of a subject such as a patient. That is, the acceleration sensor 1 detects the activity amount of the dominant arm of the subject as the physical activity of the subject. As described above, since the acceleration sensor is used as the activity detector, the magnitude of the physical activity of the subject can be easily detected. Further, as the physical activity of the subject, the activity amount of the dominant arm of the subject, which is highly correlated with fluctuations of biological signals such as pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and electrocardiogram, is detected. Can be set accurately.

The acceleration circuit 2 receives the output of the acceleration sensor 1 and outputs a signal indicating the magnitude of the activity.

The pulse sensor 3 constitutes a biological signal detector,
A pulse is detected from the subject's wrist as a biological signal. The pulse circuit 4 receives the output of the pulse sensor 3 and outputs a pulse signal.

The abnormality determination circuit 5 includes a CPU, ROM, RA
M and the upper limit value and the lower limit value, which are reference values for determining the abnormal state (emergency state) of the subject and stored in the reference determination memory 6, and the pulse signal output from the pulse circuit 4. If the pulse signal exceeds the upper limit value or is less than the lower limit value, it is determined that there is an abnormality, an emergency signal is output, and various operations are controlled. In addition,
The upper limit value and the lower limit value stored in the reference determination memory 6 will be described later.

The alarm 7 comprises a speaker or the like, and issues an alarm in response to an emergency signal output from the abnormality determination circuit 5.

The communication circuit 8 transmits an emergency signal output from the abnormality determination circuit 5 to a monitoring center 10 from a PHS (Personal Handy Phone System) communication device 9. Note that the PHS communication device 9 may be replaced with a mobile phone.

As described above, since the emergency signal is transmitted to the monitoring center 10 which transmits the emergency signal by the PHS communication device 9 or the portable telephone, the abnormal state of the subject can be automatically notified to the monitoring center 10 even when outdoors. Note that the communication circuit 8 and the PHS communication device 9 constitute a communication unit.

[0022]

[Description of operation] Acceleration circuit 2 detected by acceleration sensor 1
When the signal indicating the magnitude of the activity output from the device indicates the amount of activity when the subject is in a daily life, the abnormality determination circuit 5 sets the upper limit to 120 bpm and the lower limit to 60 bpm as a reference. Set in the determination memory 6. That is,
When the subject is moving at a modest acceleration, the pulse rate at which the subject can be determined to have fallen into an abnormal state in a normal state is set as an upper limit and a lower limit.

As described above, in normal times, the pulse rate at which the subject can be determined to be in an abnormal state in a normal state can be set as the upper limit value and the lower limit value. Since the upper limit and lower limit are set so that the pulse state is not detected as an abnormal state,
The detection accuracy and sensitivity of the abnormal state can be improved.

When the signal indicating the magnitude of the activity detected by the acceleration sensor 1 and output from the acceleration circuit 2 indicates the amount of activity when the subject is exercising, the upper limit value is set to 160.
bpm and the lower limit is set to 80 bpm. That is, when it is determined that the user is exercising, the upper limit value and the lower limit value are increased as compared with the normal time.

Therefore, it is possible to reduce erroneous determination of a pulse raised due to exercise as an abnormal state of the subject, and improve the detection accuracy of the abnormal state.

When the signal indicating the magnitude of the activity detected by the acceleration sensor 1 and output from the acceleration circuit 2 indicates a low activity amount such as a sleep state where the subject does not move, the upper limit is set to 100 bpm and the lower limit is set to 100 bpm. Set the value to 35 bpm. That is, when it is determined that the user is in a sleep state or the like, the upper limit value and the lower limit value are respectively reduced as compared with normal times.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent a pulse falling in the sleep state from being erroneously determined as an abnormal state of the subject, and to determine an abnormal state when the pulse exceeds the upper limit value and the lower limit value in such a manner. Therefore, the accuracy of detecting an abnormal state can be improved. The upper limit and the lower limit are not limited to the above, and can be changed as appropriate.

As described above, the width between the upper limit and the lower limit varies according to the magnitude of the physical activity, that is, can be set according to the magnitude of the physical activity. It can be further improved.

As described above, the value set as described above is compared with the pulse signal detected by the pulse sensor 3 and output from the pulse circuit 4, and the emergency signal is determined by the abnormality determination circuit 5 based on the comparison result. Since the output is performed, the detection accuracy and sensitivity of the abnormal state are improved.

Further, with the improvement of the accuracy of abnormality detection, the accuracy of alarm notification executed in response to the occurrence of the emergency signal is improved, the rate of false alarm notification is reduced, and the reliability of the abnormality notification device is improved. I can do it.

Further, with the improvement in the accuracy of abnormality detection, the rate of false notification of an emergency signal to the monitoring center 10 monitoring the state of the subject can be reduced, and unnecessary activities in the monitoring center can be reduced.

Although the acceleration sensor is used as the activity detector in the above description, for example, a pedometer or a mercury switch may be used, or may be changed as appropriate.

In the above description, an example in which a pulse is detected from the wrist as a method of detecting a biological signal has been described. However, the pulse may be detected not only at the wrist but also at a finger, waist, chest, or ankle. Can be changed as appropriate.

In the above description, the pulse is used as the biological signal. However, the biological signal can be changed as appropriate as long as it is a biological signal that changes according to the activity such as the respiratory rate, blood pressure, body temperature, and electrocardiogram. In this case, it is needless to mention that the reference value set in the determination reference memory 6 is also changed according to the applied biological signal.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a transmission circuit 11 for transmitting the output of the acceleration circuit 2 and the pulse circuit 4 by a weak radio wave or a specific low-power radio wave, and an abnormality determination circuit for receiving the radio wave transmitted by the transmission circuit 11 5 may further be provided with a receiving circuit 12 for providing outputs of the acceleration circuit 2 and the pulse circuit 4. In this case, the acceleration sensor 1, the acceleration circuit 2, the pulse sensor 3,
Since the pulse circuit 4 and the transmission circuit 11 can be separated from the reception circuit 12, the abnormality determination circuit 5, the reference determination memory 6, the alarm 7, the communication circuit 8, and the PHS communication device 9, the configuration including the acceleration sensor 1 and the pulse sensor 3 Can be reduced in size, and the burden on the subject when the apparatus is carried can be reduced.

As shown in FIG. 3, the transmitting circuit 11 shown in FIG. 2 is provided in place of the PHS communication device 9 shown in FIG. 1, and the transmitting circuit 11 shown in FIG. If the receiving circuit 12 is provided, it is possible to surely make a report even in a place where radio waves of a radio telephone are difficult to reach such as indoors.

A GPS (Global Positioning System)
If a position search is performed using the PHS or PHS and this search information is transmitted to the monitoring center 10 together with an emergency signal, emergency rescue can be performed in a short time.

If the output of the acceleration sensor 1 is transmitted to the monitoring center 10 at desired time intervals, the activity (health state) of the subject can be monitored.

The subject is not limited to the patient. Anyone who wants to monitor biological signals such as pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, body temperature, electrocardiogram, etc. May be. Among them, in particular, a patient or a person who moves in a fitness club or the like may suddenly have an abnormality. Therefore, when the present apparatus is used, the above-described effects are particularly effective.

[0040]

According to the present invention, the state of the subject is determined according to the degree of physical activity of the subject, so that the accuracy of detecting an abnormal state can be improved.

By using an acceleration sensor as the activity detector, it is possible to easily detect the magnitude of the physical activity of the subject.

The reference value is composed of an upper limit value and a lower limit value,
The width between the upper limit value and the lower limit value fluctuates according to the magnitude of the physical activity, and the determination circuit determines that the biological signal is abnormal when the biological signal exceeds the upper limit value or is less than the lower limit value. Therefore, the area of the reference value for determining the abnormal state of the subject can be changed according to the magnitude of the physical activity of the subject. Therefore, the detection accuracy of the abnormal state can be further improved.

Since the alarm means issues an alarm in response to the output of the determination circuit, the abnormal state of the subject can be reliably notified to the surroundings. Further, the ratio of false alarm notification can be reduced, and the reliability of the emergency notification device can be improved.

When the present invention is applied to an emergency rescue system, false alarms to the monitoring center are reduced, so that unnecessary rescue activities at the monitoring center can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Activity detection part, acceleration sensor 3 Biological signal detection part 5 Judgment circuit 7 Alarm means 8, 9 Communication means 10 Monitoring center

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masanori Fujita 1-1-1 Akanehama, Narashino-shi, Chiba Seiko Precision Co., Ltd. (72) Eisaburo Maeda 3-7-5 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Within Japan Medicare (72) Inventor Akihiko Yasunaga 3343 Aonohara, Tsukui-machi, Tsukui-machi, Kanagawa Prefecture F-term (reference) 4C017 AA10 AA20 AB01 AB02 AC03 AC20 BC11 BD01 BD06 CC01 FF05 5C087 AA02 BB74 DD03 DD49 EE07 EE04 FF GG19 GG31

Claims (5)

[Claims] A biological signal detection unit configured to detect a biological signal of the subject; an activity detection unit configured to detect a physical activity of the subject; A detection circuit that compares a reference value with the detected biological signal and determines an abnormality of the subject based on a result of the comparison. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the activity detecting unit includes:
An abnormality detection device for a subject, which is an acceleration sensor. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reference value comprises an upper limit value and a lower limit value, and a width between the upper limit value and the lower limit value varies according to the magnitude of the physical activity. An abnormality detection apparatus for a subject, wherein the circuit determines that the subject is abnormal when the biological signal exceeds the upper limit value or is less than the lower limit value. 4. An examinee's abnormality detecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an alarm unit that receives an output of the determination circuit and issues an alarm. Abnormality reporting device. 5. An apparatus for detecting an abnormality of a subject according to claim 1, and receiving an output of said determination circuit and supplying an emergency signal to a monitoring center for monitoring a state of said subject. An emergency rescue system for a subject, comprising: communication means.