JP2002073818A - Diet control supporting system, and diet control supporting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve work efficiency of image analyzing workers, reduce personnel expenses for the image analyzing workers, and reduce service utilizing cost charged to people requiring control as users of a system, and diet supporting people. SOLUTION: A control device 1 is provided with a specific in-image range extracting means 18 to extract a specific range in-image data received by an image data receiving means 11, an image spectrum resolution means 21 to conduct image spectrum resolution by obtaining color information for the specific range extracted, an image spectrum accumulating means 29 storing data of contents of diet to which spectrum resolution is preliminarily conducted, an image spectrum collation means 22 to collate newly resolved image spectrum data with the data accumulated in the image spectrum accumulating means 29, and an image spectrum collation result display means 26 to display result of collation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a meal management support system and a meal management support method which can be used in the health field, the medical field, the welfare field, and the like. The present invention relates to a system and a method for supporting a meal management of a manager who needs a meal management as a means of meal management and healthy slimming.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the rapid aging of society in recent years, medical financing in Japan has become tight, and it is necessary to respond to this. The government aims to increase the burden of medical expenses on the people and, as a basic policy, set targets for lifestyle-related diseases and set specific numerical targets for morbidity and mortality. Is being prepared for the start of FY2001. Diabetes is a representative of diseases related to lifestyle-related diseases.The aging of the population, the deterioration of the social environment, increased stress, lack of exercise, and the westernization of dietary content have led to an increase in the incidence and prevalence of diabetes. linked.

In recent years, diets have become popular, especially among young people. Diet means diet, restricted diet, and reduced diet, and means losing weight through dietary restriction (balancing intake and expenditure of energy). It is said to reduce excess body fat without reducing muscles and bones instead of reducing body fat.

[0004] The basics of prevention and treatment of diabetes are, as has been said so far, lifestyle guidance centered on eating, exercising and resting, and drug treatment which complements it and which further recovers the disease state. Above all, it goes without saying that the importance of nutrition dietary guidance is immovable. Therefore, some health management systems or nutrition management systems using computers or information systems have been proposed, particularly for the prevention and treatment of diabetes.

[0005] These conventional health management systems or nutrition management systems are meal management support systems that are composed of terminals and management devices used by managers requiring assistance, and support the management of meals by those requiring management. These systems support the self-management of meals required by managers, but in meal management, the managers who need meal management often do not determine the menu of all meals themselves. . For example, meals (especially dinner) when the manager in need of a company employee is a person who mainly cares for the meals of the manager in need at home (supporter), and the supporter often determines the menu. In this case, the supporter must prepare food every day within the determined range of nutrients as instructed by the medical staff, and the labor is very large. Especially when the manager in charge has just started meal management, supporters must also learn how to manage meals using food exchange tables, etc., and whether it is good or bad for the daily menus they cook. I can't make my own decisions and I'm going to have a very uneasy day. In addition, in food management using a food exchange table, food materials must be weighed using a weighing scale, and the work that must be performed every time each meal is cooked is very troublesome for supporters.

[0006] In addition, in the existing system, the accuracy of meal management is very poor. For example, if the manager in need is a company employee and lunch is a restaurant, the supporter does not know what and how much the manager needs to eat during lunch, and it is difficult to fully understand the contents of the meal. In fact, they are very anxious about the health of the managers, and even though the managers are restricted in the daily nutrient intake, the supporters are He was very confused because he couldn't figure out what to make for dinner because he couldn't keep track of the nutrient levels at lunch.

[0007] That is, the existing system of the prior art is based on the premise that a manager who needs meal management is required to manage his / her own food. The point of view that the burden was extremely large was lacking.

[0008] Further, regarding the accuracy of meal management, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-295565 discloses a terminal device capable of inputting meal contents by button operation. In this conventional example, for example, toast and coffee are used. Since "1 set", wells are input in units such as "1 serving" and miso soup in "2 cups", the amount of meal content cannot be accurately defined, and the accuracy of meal management is very poor. Was.

[0009] Further, if attention is paid to diabetes, many managers and supporters in their forties are in their forties and fifties.
Generally, they are very unfamiliar with the operation of information devices such as computers. For this reason, in the conventional system requiring a complicated device operation, there was a problem that the meal management could not be continued. Therefore, an improvement in the operation method has been desired.

In view of the above problems, appropriate support information is presented to a supporter who decides a meal menu of a manager requiring meal management (a person who takes care of a meal required by the manager) and provides the supporter with appropriate information. With a focus on providing a meal management support system and a meal management support method that can reduce the burden of,
Furthermore, it is possible to provide to the supporter almost in real time when the manager needs to eat a meal, and to provide the supporter with the accurate analysis result of the meal required by the manager and the contents of the meal. As a meal management system that can be easily input by even the user, the administrator-required terminal device used by the administrator required includes an imaging unit and an image data transmission unit that transmits the captured image data. Transmitting to the management device, the management device receives the image data transmitted from the terminal device,
In addition to storing the image data in the data storage means, the image data is transferred to the image analysis worker terminal device, and from this image, the image analysis worker is asked to judge the contents of the meal required by the administrator and converted into nutrient amounts. Received and stored again in the data storage means of the management device, and also transferred the image data and the nutrition analysis result by the analysis assistant to a qualified professional such as a dietitian or medical professional under the contract, A meal management support system and method in which management advice is input to a professional qualified person terminal device, stored in a data storage unit of the management device three times, and an analysis result is returned to a manager or a supporter who needs it. Has been proposed.

[0011]

However, in the above-mentioned meal management support system and method, when the image analysis worker judges the contents of the meal from the image of the meal and converts it into the amount of nutrients, the menu and the ingredients are not used. Judge,
Since the process of searching and registering the database took about 10 minutes per meal, the labor cost of the image analysis worker was 600 yen per hour × 10 minutes / meal × 3 meals / day × 30 days = 900
The administrator has to impose a cost burden of 00 yen / month or more, which has been a major obstacle to the spread of the system. Therefore, there has been proposed a method of identifying a meal by spectrally decomposing an image of a meal and collating it with an image spectrum database stored in advance, but a background such as a tablecloth or a plate in the image has been proposed. If the angle of the vessel or the angle of the photographing is slightly changed, the spectrum will be completely different, so that the image analysis operator has to manually search the database again.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has greatly improved the work efficiency of an image analysis worker, greatly reduced the human rights cost of the image analysis worker, and has been described as a system user. An object of the present invention is to provide a meal management system and a meal management support method that can significantly reduce the service usage price for a manager and a meal supporter.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a meal management system according to the present invention converts meal data input to a manager required terminal device 3 by a manager who needs meal management via a network. Meal management that accumulates and analyzes the received management device 1 and presents the analysis result via the network 2 to the manager terminal device required or the supporter terminal device 4 for the supporter who determines the meal menu of the manager required. The administrator-required terminal device 3 includes an imaging unit 5 and an image data transmitting unit 6, and can transmit image data of a meal taken by the administrator to the management device 1. The apparatus 1 includes an image data receiving unit 1
1, an image data display means 16, and a nutrition analysis means 17, which enable the image data receiving means 11 to receive the image data sent from the administrator required terminal device 3. In a system in which the nutrition analysis unit 17 can perform nutrition analysis with reference to a meal image taken by the administrator in need, the management device 1
Is a specific region extracting unit 18 for extracting a specific region of the image data received by the image data receiving unit 11.
Image spectrum decomposing means 21 for obtaining color information of the extracted specific region and performing image spectrum decomposition
Image spectrum storage means 29 in which data obtained by spectrally decomposing meal contents is stored in advance, and newly decomposed image spectrum data and image spectrum storage means 2
9 is provided with an image spectrum collating means 22 for collating the data stored in the memory 9 and an image spectrum collation result displaying means 26 for displaying the collation result.

With such a configuration, the image data transmitted from the administrator required to the management apparatus 1 is converted into the specific area of the image data received by the image data receiving means 11 by the specific area extracting means 18 in the image. Is extracted, the color information of the specific area extracted by the image spectrum decomposing means 21 is acquired, and the image spectrum is decomposed, and the newly decomposed image spectrum data and the image spectrum storage means 29 are obtained.
Data stored in the image spectrum matching means 22
Can be compared, and the matching result can be displayed by the image spectrum matching result display means 26. The processing equivalent to the processing conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means 17 can be semi-automatically performed with a simple system configuration. In this case, the specific area extraction unit 18 in the image extracts a specific area of the image data received by the image data receiving unit 11 and performs image spectrum decomposition. The effect of the background can be minimized.

The management apparatus 1 includes an image data registration unit 12, an analysis result registration unit 15, a meal image history storage unit 13, and a nutrition analysis result history storage unit 14. The registration means 15 allows the meal image history storage means 13 and the nutrition analysis result history storage means 1
It is preferable that the data can be registered in each of them.
With such a configuration, the meal image history of the administrator who needs to be stored can be stored in the meal image history storage unit 13, and the nutrition analysis result history can be stored in the nutrition analysis result history storage unit 14. .

Further, the specific area extracting means 18 in the image
Is an in-image area drawing means 1 for specifying an area by drawing on image data displayed on the image data display means 16
9 and an in-image specific area information obtaining means 20 for obtaining coordinate information of the specified area. With such a configuration, it is possible to easily draw on the image data, specify the region, and obtain the coordinate information of the specified region.

Further, the image spectrum collating means 22
Are image spectrum comparing means 23 for comparing newly decomposed image spectrum data with image spectrum data obtained by searching the image spectrum accumulating means 29.
And the image spectrum coincidence scoring means 24 for scoring the result of comparing the image spectrum data, and the data which obtained the highest score among the image spectrum data obtained by searching from the image spectrum accumulating means 29 and It is preferable that a scoring result holding means 25 for holding a score is provided. With such a configuration, the image spectrum data newly decomposed by the image spectrum comparing means 23 is compared with the image spectrum data obtained by searching the image spectrum storing means 29, and the image spectrum matching degree scoring means 24 is compared. The result obtained by comparing the image spectrum data is converted into a score, and the scoring result holding unit 25 holds the data with the highest score among the image spectrum data retrieved from the image spectrum storage unit 29 and holds the obtained score. Can be done.

The image spectrum collation result display means 26 includes a comparison source image data display means 27 for displaying comparison source image data serving as a comparison source corresponding to the newly decomposed image spectrum data, and a high score acquired image. Alternatively, it is preferable to include a collation result list display means 28 capable of displaying the acquired score or the high score acquired image corresponding nutrition analysis result as a list in the order in which the high score was acquired. With such a configuration, it is possible to easily display the comparison source image data,
The comparison result list can be displayed, and it can be easily compared whether or not the displayed comparison source image data has a match in the comparison result list.

The management device 1 includes an image spectrum collation result approving means 31 and an image spectrum registering means 30.
When the display result of the image spectrum collation result display means 26 is approved, the nutrition analysis result accumulated in the nutrition analysis result history accumulation means 14 is stored by the image spectrum collation result approval means 31 in the analysis result registration means 15. To the nutrient analysis result history accumulating means 14, and in the case of denial, the result separately analyzed by the other nutrient analyzing means 17 is transferred to the analysis result registering means 15, and the nutritional analysis result history accumulating means is transferred. It is preferable that the data can be stored in the image spectrum storage means 29 by the image spectrum registration means 30 while the data can be stored in the image spectrum storage means 29. With such a configuration, when the display result of the image spectrum matching result display means 26 is approved, processing equivalent to the processing conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means 17 can be semi-automated. The nutritional analysis is performed using the nutritional analysis means 17 in the same manner as in the prior art. At this time, the result analyzed by the nutritional analysis means 17 is stored not only in the nutritional analysis result history storage means 14 but also in the image spectrum storage means 29. , Which can be used as a comparison target in the next matching.

Further, the meal management support method of the present invention stores and analyzes the meal data input to the manager required terminal device 3 by the manager requiring meal management into the management required terminal device 3 in the management device 1 received via the network. This is a meal management support method in which the analysis result is presented via a network to the manager terminal device 3 or the supporter terminal device 4 for the supporter who determines the meal menu of the manager. After transmitting the image data obtained by photographing the meal to the management device 1, the management device 1 receives the image data sent from the administrator required terminal device 3, performs the image data registration process in the storage unit, and then executes the meal. The nutrient analysis process of converting image data into nutrient amount information is performed while browsing the meal image data ingested by the manager in need who is referred to from the storage means by the image analysis worker. In the method of presenting the analysis result to the manager terminal device 3 or the supporter terminal device 4 for the supporter who determines the meal menu of the manager by registering in the storage means and the browsing means through the network, first, Performing image specific area extraction to extract a specific area of the received image data for the data after the image data reception processing, and then obtain the color information of the extracted specific area,
Performs an image spectrum decomposition process of performing image spectrum decomposition, and further performs an image spectrum matching process of comparing newly decomposed image spectrum data with data stored in an image spectrum storage unit 29 in which an image spectrum is stored in advance. Finally, an image spectrum matching result display process for displaying a matching result is performed.

By adopting such a method, it is possible to semi-automatically perform the same processing as that conventionally performed by using the nutrition analysis means 17 by a simple method, and to perform the image spectrum decomposition. Perform an image specific area extraction to extract a specific area of the received image data,
Next, the color information of the extracted specific region is obtained, and the image spectrum decomposition processing for performing the image spectrum decomposition is performed.
It is possible to minimize the influence of the background such as the table cloth in the image.

In the above-described image specific area extracting process, first, an in-image area drawing processing for specifying an area by drawing on image data is performed, and then, in-image specific area information obtaining processing for obtaining coordinate information of the specified area. Preferably, a treatment is performed. By adopting such a method, it is possible to specify a region by drawing on image data and obtain coordinate information of the specified region by a simple method.

The image spectrum matching process is performed by first comparing the newly decomposed image spectrum data with the image spectrum data obtained by searching the image spectrum storage means 29 in which the image spectrum is stored in advance. Processing, and then perform image spectrum coincidence scoring processing for scoring the result of comparing the image spectrum data, and further obtain the high score among the image spectrum data obtained by searching from the image spectrum storage means 29. It is preferable to perform a scoring result holding process for holding the obtained score. By adopting such a method, from the image spectrum data stored in the image spectrum storage means 29, the one that is close to the newly decomposed image spectrum data is scored and the one that has obtained a high score is selected. And the holding of the acquired points.

The image spectrum collation result display processing includes a comparison source image data display processing for displaying image data corresponding to the newly decomposed image spectrum data, and a data obtained by the scoring result holding processing. It is preferable to perform a collation result list display process of displaying the list as a list in the order of acquisition of the collation results. By adopting such a method, display of the comparison source image data and display of the comparison result list are performed, and the comparison result list displayed as the list in the order in which the displayed comparison source image data has obtained the high score is displayed. You can easily compare whether there is a match.

The management apparatus 1 first performs the image spectrum collation result display processing. If the result is approved by the analysis worker, the management apparatus 1 registers the result in the nutrition analysis result history storage means 14. When a result approval process is performed and the result is rejected, the result separately analyzed by the other nutrition analysis means 17 is registered as an analysis result,
It is preferable to perform image spectrum registration processing for registering image spectrum data in the image spectrum storage means 29. By adopting such a method, as a result of performing the image spectrum collation result display processing, if the result is approved by the analysis operator, the processing equivalent to the processing conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means 17 is partially performed. If it can be automated and denied, nutrition analysis is performed using the nutrition analysis means 17 in the same manner as before, but at this time, the results analyzed by the nutrition analysis means 17 are not only stored in the nutrition analysis result history storage means 14 but also image It is stored in the spectrum storage means 29 and can be used as a comparison target at the time of the next collation.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a meal management support system, and FIG.
Is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the administrator terminal device required, FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the supporter terminal device, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a daily nutrition analysis result, and FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of advice for the analysis result, FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of nutritional analysis result for dinner menu determination, FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of advice for dinner menu determination, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of a part related to an image analysis worker, FIG. 9 is an image analysis worker operation screen, FIG. 10 is a display diagram of an example of an image spectrum decomposition component, and FIG. is there.

The meal management support system shown in FIG.
Network (communication network) such as Internet network, packet-type wireless network, public digital circuit network, etc., with management device 1 at the core
2 comprises a required administrator terminal device 3 and a supporter terminal device 4 which can access the management device 1 through the terminal 2.

The administrator required terminal device 3 is small and lightweight and can be carried by the administrator required. Even if the administrator needs to go out and eat a meal, the administrator required terminal device 3 is provided with a meal. Data can be entered. FIG. 2
As shown in (1), the administrator-required terminal device 3 includes an imaging unit 5, an image data transmitting unit 6, an analysis result / advice data receiving unit 7, and an analysis result / advice data display unit 8, and the administrator required a meal. At the time of ingestion, the imaging means 5 captures the contents of the meal to be ingested from now on, and the image data transmitting means 6 transmits the captured image data to the management device 1. In addition, the analysis result / advice data transmitted from the management device 1 is received by the analysis result / advice data receiving unit 7, and the analysis result / advice data display unit 8 allows browsing of the meal management analysis result and advice. I have.

The supporter terminal device 4 is, as shown in FIG.
An analysis result / advice data receiving unit 9 and an analysis result / advice display unit 10 are provided, and the analysis result / advice data from the management device 1 is received by the analysis result / advice data receiving unit 9, and the analysis result / advice display unit is provided. 10 can be displayed.

By the way, in the diet management generally called diet therapy, the amount of calorie intake per day by the manager in need is limited, and the diet management is performed based on the instruction amount specified by the medical staff. For this reason, the meal supporter had to weigh the ingredients using a weighing scale when cooking and converted the weight into calories to comply with the intake limit, which was very troublesome, but this meal management support system Just by shooting and transmitting image data to the management device 1, the management device 1
Can receive analysis results / advice from, and can easily manage meals.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show examples of analysis results / advice, which are the results of nutritional analysis for the daily intake of the administrator in need and the advice of a specialist (here, a dietitian).
In the diet management of diabetic patients, a food exchange table has been devised, and when eating a food of the food groups from Table 1 to Table 6 while observing the prescribed amount prescribed for each food group in advance. , Nutrition balance can be controlled calories.

The graph of FIG. 4 shows how much the actual intake is relative to the indicated amount (corner of a regular hexagon) for each food group from Table 1 to Table 6 per day. It is a graph shown. The manager and the meal supporter browse this graph and use it as a reference for the subsequent meal intake and meal preparation. FIG. 5 shows an example of the advice of a dietitian, and the administrator in need and the meal supporter use this advice as a reference for eating and cooking. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the foods in Table 1 are insufficient, so that potatoes are ingested to improve the nutritional balance.

As examples of other analysis results and advice, there are examples of nutrition analysis results for dinner menu determination as shown in FIG. 6 and examples of advice for dinner menu determination as shown in FIG. For example, if the manager needs to go to work during the day and usually eats out for lunch, the meal supporter does not know what the manager needs to eat at lunch and knows how much to make for dinner. Did not manage food properly. However, by providing the small and lightweight administrator terminal device 3 and the supporter terminal device 4 as a system configuration as described above, even when the administrator needs lunch out, the administrator needs to manage on the go. By transmitting the data to the device 1, the management device 1 can return the nutritional analysis result and the advice for the dinner menu decision to the meal supporter by the evening, so that the proper meal management can be performed with the instruction amount firmly secured. . In addition, since the meal supporter can know not only lunch but also all the meals taken by the manager in need, appropriate meal management can be performed. The bottom row of the table in FIG.
For the food groups in Table 6, the table shows the guideline of the group that should be taken at dinner, and the advice in FIG. 7 shows the remaining calorie intake and the recommended menu, which are guides when determining the dinner menu. I have.

FIG. 8 shows a part of the configuration of the management device 1 for efficiently realizing the service functions described above. In the management device 1, an image analysis worker who converts image data obtained by photographing meal contents sent from the administrator required terminal device 3 into nutrient amount data, and approves the analysis result of the image analysis worker and adds advice Dietitians who work are always available. FIG. 8 shows a configuration of a part related to the processing of the image analysis worker among them, which is implemented in a computer device. The analysis result of the image analysis worker is passed to the dietitian via the nutrition analysis result history storage means 14. The dietitian approves the analysis result delivered from the image analysis worker and adds advice, and then returns the analysis result and advice to the administrator in need and the meal supporter. In the present embodiment, the image analysis worker and the dietitian are arranged in the management device 1, but either or both of the image analysis worker and the dietitian are in a remote place, and the network 2 is connected from the remote place. The above-described processing may be performed via an external device.

The configuration of a part related to the processing of the image analysis worker shown in FIG. 8 mounted on the computer device of the management device 1 will be schematically described.

The management device 1 includes an image data receiving unit 11,
An image data display unit 16 and a nutrition analysis unit 17 are provided, and the image data sent from the administrator terminal device 3 can be received by the image data reception unit 11. The means 17 is a system that enables a nutrition analysis to be performed with reference to the meal image taken by the manager in need. The management apparatus 1 includes a specific area extracting unit 18 for extracting a specific area of the image data received by the image data receiving unit 11, and color information of the extracted specific area is acquired to obtain an image spectrum. Image spectrum decomposing means 21 for performing decomposition, image spectrum storage means 29 in which data obtained by spectrally decomposing the past meal contents of the administrator in need is stored in advance, newly decomposed image spectrum data and image spectrum storage An image spectrum collating unit 22 for collating data stored in the unit 29 and an image spectrum collation result display unit 26 for displaying a collation result are provided. Further, the management device 1 includes an image data registration unit 12, an analysis result registration unit 15, a meal image history storage unit 13, and a nutrition analysis result history storage unit 14, and the image data registration unit 12 and the analysis result registration. The means 15 enables data to be registered in the meal image history storage means 13 and the nutrition analysis result history storage means 14, respectively.

The image specific area extracting means 18 includes an image area drawing means 19 for specifying an area by drawing on the image data displayed on the image data display means 16 and a coordinate information of the specified area. An image specific area information acquiring unit 20 for acquiring the image is provided. The image spectrum matching means 22 compares the newly decomposed image spectrum data with the image spectrum comparison means 23 for comparing the image spectrum data obtained by searching the image spectrum storage means 29 with the image spectrum data. Image spectrum coincidence scoring means 24 for scoring the obtained result
And a scoring result holding unit 25 for holding the data with the highest score among the image spectrum data retrieved from the image spectrum storage unit 29 and holding the obtained score. Further, the image spectrum collation result display unit 26 includes a comparison source image data display unit 26 that displays comparison source image data serving as a comparison source corresponding to the newly decomposed image spectrum data, and a high score acquired image or acquired score or There is provided a matching result list display means 28 capable of displaying a nutrition analysis result corresponding to a high score acquired image as a list in the order in which the high score was acquired. In addition, the management device 1 includes an image spectrum collation result approval unit 31 and an image spectrum registration unit 30.

An image spectrum collating function by extracting a specific area in an image will be described below using the operation screens of the image analysis worker in FIG. 8 and FIG. The image data sent from the administrator required terminal device 3 is received by the image data receiving means 11, and is temporarily stored in the meal image history storing means 13 via the image data registering means 12. In the conventional image analysis method, the menu or the foodstuff shown in the image by the nutrition analysis unit 17 is viewed by the image analysis worker while viewing the meal image displayed on the image data display unit 16 with reference to the meal image history storage unit 13. Are searched in order, and the magnification of each menu or food is set.
5 and registered in the nutrition analysis result history accumulation means 14. For example, the image analysis worker first looks at the image displayed on the image data display means 16 and adds rice,
Recognize that there is miso soup, fried egg, and beans. The nutritional analysis means 17 is provided with a table in which weights and nutrient amounts (here, calories are taken as an example, there are various other proteins, sugars, lipids, etc.) such as 296 kcal for 200 g of cooked rice in advance. The image analysis worker searches this table for an item corresponding to the cooked rice, and further measures the number of times the cooked rice in the image is 200 g of the standard value registered in the table. Register at 17. Then, the amount of energy multiplied by the magnification is registered in the nutrition analysis result history accumulating unit 14 as a part of a meal type (breakfast, lunch, etc.) with a certain date and time via the analysis result registering unit 15. This process was repeated for the remaining miso soup, fried eggs, and beans.
However, this method has a problem that it takes a very long time to find a menu or an ingredient from the table.

In order to solve this problem, according to the present invention, the administrator in need uses a eating habit of regularly (or sometimes not) preferring to eat a meal of the same menu in a specific area in an image. The feature is that image spectrum matching by extraction is performed to greatly improve the work efficiency of image analysis workers. The operation of the image spectrum collation function by extracting the specified area in the image and the operation of the image analysis worker will be described.

The image analysis worker operates the image data display means 1
In the image analysis worker operation screen of FIG. 9 displayed in FIG. 6, the area in which the menu or food to be searched is displayed while viewing the comparison source image 32 which is the meal image sent from the administrator terminal device 3 is included in the image. It is extracted by the specific area extracting means 18. Specifically, the drawing button 34 displayed on the image analysis worker operation screen in FIG. 9 is clicked with a mouse or the like to set an area drawing mode in which the in-image area drawing means 19 can be used, and a closed area is displayed using a mouse or the like. 33 is determined. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, an image of miso soup is specified. When the collation button 35 displayed on the image analysis worker operation screen in FIG. 9 is clicked with a mouse or the like as the next operation, the intra-image specific area extraction unit 18 closes using the intra-image specific area information acquisition unit 20. The area information in the area 33, that is, the position coordinate information of each pixel of the image in the closed area 33 is acquired.

Next, the image spectrum decomposing means 21 obtains color information of each pixel in the closed area 33 and performs statistical processing. Here, the image is decomposed into RGB spectra, but a ground decomposition method such as CYMK may be used. For example, when the image is displayed in 256 colors, all coordinates (x, y) in a certain closed area 33
For (R (x, y), G (x, y), B (x,
y)) (R, G, B are integers from 0 to 255) three-dimensional vector color information is obtained and converted into a frequency distribution. That is, R = 0 to R = 255, G = 0 to R = 2
55, 256 × 3 = 768 from B = 0 to B = 255
Is converted into the vector components. In this state, the component is 76
Since the number is large and it is difficult to compare, each vector component value is averaged, for example, from R = 0 to R = 31 so as to be one component, and eight components are provided for each of R, G, and B colors. , Into a total of 24 components. FIG. 10 shows a graph of this result. The horizontal axis has eight components for each of R, G, and B, and the vertical axis is standardized so that levels from 0 to 9 can be taken. In this example, the spectrum of a total of 24 dimensional vector components, each having 8 components of R, G, and B with a resolution of 10 levels and an image resolution of 256 colors, is shown as an example, but it is not always necessary to stick to this. Alternatively, the number of vector components and the resolution level may be increased or decreased.

The image thus decomposed by the image spectrum decomposing means 21 is stored in the image spectrum accumulating means 29 by the image spectrum collating means 22 and stored in the past of the administrator who transmitted the image to be collated. It is compared with the image spectrum data selected from the meal history. First, the image spectrum data retrieved by the image spectrum comparing means 23 from the image spectrum accumulating means 29 is scored by the image spectrum coincidence scoring means 24. Specifically, the degree of coincidence of the 24 component vectors shown in FIG. 10 is calculated, and the degree of coincidence is evaluated for each component in five stages from 1 point to 5 points, and 24 points are added to obtain a total score. . The comparison is repeated for a large number (for example, 90) of menus or ingredients accumulated in the past of the manager in need, and the scoring result holding means 25 always holds data of the five menus or ingredients with the highest score among them. It has become.

However, the image spectrum data to be collated need not necessarily be the administrator who transmitted the image to be collated, the degree of coincidence need not be a five-level evaluation, and the number of data to be compared is 90 menus or It is not necessary to use the ingredients, and the score of the menu or ingredients to be kept is 5
It is not necessary to connect. Finally, the image data corresponding to the five spectrum data held by the scoring result holding means 25 is compared with the comparison source image data display means 27 and the comparison result list display means 28 of the image spectrum comparison result display means 26.
As a result, a list is displayed on the image analysis worker operation screen as the comparison result list 38 together with the comparison source image 32 as shown in FIG.

The image analysis operator compares the comparison source image 32 and the collation result list 38 displayed on the operation screen, and if there is a list that seems to match, clicks on the image to select it. When the registration button 36 displayed on the image analysis worker operation screen is pressed, the nutrition analysis result corresponding to the image selected by the image spectrum collation result approval unit 31 is stored in the analysis result registration unit 15 from the nutrition analysis result history storage unit 14. It is read out and stored in the nutrition analysis result history storage means 14 together with additional information of the date and time and the type of meal such as breakfast and lunch. The processing equivalent to the processing conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means 17 is partially performed. Can be automated.

If the image analysis worker compares the comparison source image 32 and the collation result list 38 displayed on the operation screen and finds that none of the lists match, the image analysis worker displays the operation result on the image analysis worker operation screen. By pressing the displayed next page button 37, the image data display means 16 and the nutrition analysis means are displayed as before, the analysis is performed as described above, and the results are stored in the nutrition analysis result history via the analysis result registration means 15. Register with the means 14. At this time, the comparison source image 32 is associated with the nutrition analysis result, and the image spectrum registration unit 30
Is stored in the image spectrum storing means 29 via the image spectrum comparing means 22 so that the image spectrum comparing means 22 can use it as a comparison target at the next collation.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of an image spectrum collation process by extracting a specific area in an image. The management device first performs an image specific area extraction process 39. Specifically, the in-image area drawing processing 40 is performed according to the operation of the image analysis worker, and the closed area 33 is determined from the comparison source image 32. Next, a specific area information acquisition process 41 in the image is performed to acquire color information of each pixel in the closed area 33. Next, image decomposition processing 42 is performed to perform statistical processing of the image spectrum as described above, and the image spectrum is compared with the past history data of the image spectrum of the administrator in need stored in the image spectrum storage means 29 by the image spectrum comparison processing 43. I do. Specifically, the spectrum data accumulated in the image spectrum accumulating means 29 by the image spectrum comparing process 44 is sequentially compared with the spectrum data just decomposed by the image decomposing process 42, and an image spectrum several degree scoring process 45 is performed. The degree of coincidence is scored, and data that has obtained a high score by the scoring result holding process 46 is held. The image data corresponding to the spectrum data that has acquired a high score and is finally held by the scoring result holding process 46 is displayed to the image analysis worker by the image spectrum matching result display process 47. Specifically, the comparison source image 32 is displayed by the comparison source image data display processing 48,
The collation result list 38 is displayed by the collation result list display processing.

When the image analysis worker approves the result,
That is, when it is determined that the displayed menu contains the same menu or food as the image of the image (closed area 33) in the collation result list, the collation result is approved by the image spectrum collation result approval process 51. Specifically, a corresponding image is clicked and selected from a list, and a registration button 36 is selected.
When the is pressed, the analysis result registration unit 15 reads the nutrition analysis result corresponding to the image selected by the image spectrum collation result approval unit 31 from the nutrition analysis result history accumulation unit 14 and stores the date and time and the type of meal such as breakfast and lunch. The information is stored in the nutrition analysis result history storage unit 14 together with the additional information.

On the other hand, when the result is denied, that is, when it is determined that there is not the same menu or food in the collation result list by looking at the displayed contents, it is determined that the result is denied, and the image spectrum collation result approval processing is performed. I do. More specifically, the image analysis worker operates the image data display means 1 as in the past.
6 and the nutrition analysis means 17 are displayed and the result of the analysis as described above is registered in the nutrition analysis result history accumulation means 14 via the analysis result registration means 15. At that time, the comparison source image 3
2 is stored in the image spectrum storage means 29 via the image spectrum registration means 30 in association with the nutrition analysis result, and can be used as a comparison target when the image spectrum matching means 22 performs the next matching.

[0050]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the management device extracts a specific area in an image for extracting a specific area of the image data received by the image data receiving means. Means, an image spectrum decomposing means for acquiring the extracted color information of a specific region and performing image spectrum decomposition, an image spectrum accumulating means in which data obtained by spectrally decomposing meal contents are stored in advance, An image spectrum collating unit for collating the decomposed image spectrum data with data stored in the image spectrum accumulating unit, and an image spectrum collation result display unit for displaying the collation result, so that the image It has an image spectrum collation function by extracting a specific area inside, so that the image sent from the administrator who needs Compared to the image analysis processing of menu and food data search by manual operation by the nutrition analysis means, it is possible to semi-automate the processing equivalent to the processing conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means with a simple system configuration, In this case, the specific area extraction unit in the image
Since the image data receiving unit extracts a specific area of the received image data and performs image spectrum decomposition, it is possible to minimize the influence of the background such as a table cloth appearing in the image and perform accurate image analysis. Things. And with a simple system configuration, the same processing that was conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means can be semi-automated, greatly improving the efficiency of image analysis workers and significantly increasing the labor costs of image analysis workers. As a result, it is possible to significantly reduce the service usage price for the system users who need management and meal supporters, and
Since the cost can be reduced in this way, the penetration rate of the meal management system is greatly increased, and for those who need dietary management for lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, wellness behavior is enhanced and quality of life (QOL) is improved. This has the effect. Furthermore, the QOL improvement effect has the effect of greatly reducing the medical expenses of each individual and greatly reducing the financial burden of medical expenses in the country.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the management device may further include an image data registration unit, an analysis result registration unit, and a meal image history storage unit. And a nutrition analysis result history storage means, and the data can be registered in the meal image history storage means and the nutrition analysis result history storage means by the image data registration means and the analysis result registration means. The history is stored in the meal image history storage means, and the nutrition analysis result history is stored in the nutrition analysis result history means, and can be used as data for the next and subsequent analyses.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the specific area extracting means in the image is drawn on the image data displayed on the image data display means. Area drawing means for specifying the area by specifying the specified area information obtaining means for obtaining the coordinate information of the specified area. And a system for obtaining coordinate information of the specified area.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the image spectrum collating means searches the newly decomposed image spectrum data and the image spectrum accumulating means. Image spectrum comparing means for comparing the obtained image spectrum data, image spectrum matching degree scoring means for scoring the result obtained by comparing the image spectrum data, and image spectrum accumulating means. Of the acquired image spectrum data, and a scoring result holding means for holding the acquired score, the image spectrum data stored in the image spectrum accumulating means by a simple system. Those that are close to the newly decomposed image spectrum data are scored and those that have obtained high scores are selected. In which it can be held in the data and the acquired score.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the fourth aspect of the present invention, the image spectrum collation result display means displays a comparison source corresponding to the newly decomposed image spectrum data. The comparison source image data display means for displaying the comparison source image data, and the high score acquired image or the acquired score or the high score acquired image corresponding nutrition analysis result,
Since there is provided a comparison result list display means that can be displayed as a list in the order in which the high scores have been obtained, it is possible to easily compare whether the displayed comparison source image data has a match in the comparison result list. Things.

Further, in the invention according to claim 6, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the management device comprises an image spectrum collation result approval means and an image spectrum registration means. The nutritional analysis result stored in the nutritional analysis result history storage means by the image spectrum collation result approval means when the display result of the image spectrum collation result display means described in claim 1 is approved. Means to be stored in the nutrition analysis result history storage means again, and in the case of denial, the result separately analyzed by the other nutrition analysis means is transferred to the analysis result registration means, and the result is transferred to the nutrition analysis result history storage means. Since image data can be stored and data can be registered in the image spectrum storage means by the image spectrum registration means, If the display result of the display means is approved, it is possible to semi-automate the processing equivalent to the processing that was conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means, and if it is denied, perform the nutrition analysis using the nutrition analysis means as before. At this time, the results analyzed by the nutritional analysis means are stored not only in the nutritional analysis result history storage means but also in the image spectrum storage means, and the probability of being able to be used as a comparison target at the next matching and to be semi-automated. It can be raised gradually.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a meal management support method for extracting a specific area of received image data from the data after the image data receiving processing, and then extracting the specific area. The color information of the specified specific area is obtained, the image spectrum is decomposed to perform image spectrum decomposition, and the newly decomposed image spectrum data and the image spectrum stored in advance in the image spectrum storage means are stored. Performs an image spectrum matching process that matches data, and finally performs an image spectrum matching result display process that displays the matching result, so semi-automated processing equivalent to the processing that was conventionally performed using nutrition analysis means with a simple method And image extraction for extracting a specific area of the received image data upon image spectrum decomposition. Performs area extraction, then acquires the color information of the extracted specific area, and performs image spectrum decomposition processing to perform image spectrum decomposition, so that the influence of the background such as tablecloth etc. in the image is minimized. You can do it. In addition, as described above, the processing equivalent to the processing conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means can be semi-automated, so that the work efficiency of the image analysis worker is greatly improved and the labor cost of the image analysis worker is increased. As a result, it is possible to greatly reduce the service use price for the system user who needs to be a manager and meal supporter, and in this way the cost can be reduced. The spread rate of the meal management system is greatly increased, and for people who need meal management for lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, there is an effect that the wellness behavior is enhanced and the quality of life (QOL) is improved. And QO
With the L improvement effect, medical expenses for each individual are greatly reduced,
This has the effect of significantly reducing the financial burden on the national medical expenses.

According to the invention of claim 8, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 7, the image specific area extraction processing of claim 7 first draws the image on image data. Performing the in-image area drawing processing to specify the area, and then performing the in-image specific area information obtaining processing to obtain the coordinate information of the specified area, specify the area by drawing on the image data using a simple method. , The coordinate information of the specified area can be obtained.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the seventh aspect of the present invention, the image spectrum collating process first stores the newly decomposed image spectrum data and the image spectrum in advance. Performs image spectrum comparison processing for comparing image spectrum data obtained by searching for the obtained image spectrum storage means, and then performs image spectrum matching score processing for scoring the result of comparing the image spectrum data, and further performs image processing. Since the scoring result holding processing for holding the data with the highest score and the obtained score among the image spectrum data obtained by searching from the spectrum storage means is performed, the image spectrum stored in the image spectrum storage means by a simple method. High score is obtained by scoring data that is close to newly decomposed image spectrum data from data. It is capable of performing the a the chosen retention of that data and acquired scoring ones.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention,
In addition to the effect of the ninth aspect of the present invention, the image spectrum matching result display processing includes a comparison source image data display processing for displaying image data corresponding to the newly decomposed image spectrum data, and a scoring result holding processing. Since the stored data is displayed as a list in the order in which the high score was obtained, the comparison result list display processing is performed, so that the comparison source image data and the comparison result list are displayed by a simple method, and the displayed comparison is performed. It is possible to easily compare whether or not there is a match in the comparison result list displayed as a list in the order in which the original image data has obtained the high score.

Further, in the invention according to claim 11,
In addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 7, the management device further comprises:
First, as a result of performing the image spectrum matching result display processing, if the result is approved by the analysis worker, perform the image spectrum matching result approval processing of registering the result in the nutritional analysis result history storage means, and if rejected, The result of the image spectrum collation result display processing is displayed because the results of separate analysis by the other nutrition analysis means are registered as analysis results and the image spectrum registration processing is performed to register the image spectrum data in the image spectrum storage means. If the result is approved by a member, the processing equivalent to the processing conventionally performed using the nutrition analysis means can be semi-automated, and if it is denied, the nutrition analysis is performed using the nutrition analysis means as before. At this time, the results analyzed by the nutrition analysis means are stored not only in the nutrition analysis result history storage means but also in the image spectrum storage means. Are those that can be made available as a target for comparison during the next verification, gradually increases the probability of a semi-automated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a meal management support system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an administrator required terminal device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a supporter terminal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a daily nutrient analysis result of the above.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of advice for a daily nutrition analysis result of the above.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a dinner menu determination nutrition analysis result of the above.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a dinner menu decision advice of the above.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a part of the management device in which an image analysis worker is involved.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an image analysis worker operation screen of the above.

FIG. 10 is a display diagram of an example of an image spectrum decomposition component according to the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an image spectrum matching process by extracting a specific area in the image according to the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 management device 2 network 3 administrator required terminal device 4 supporter terminal device 5 imaging means 6 image data transmission means 11 image data reception means 12 image data registration means 13 meal image history storage means 14 nutrition analysis result history storage means 15 analysis results Registration means 16 Image data display means 17 Nutrition analysis means 18 Specific area extraction means within image 20 Image spectrum decomposition means 22 Image spectrum collation means 23 Image spectrum comparison means 24 Image spectrum coincidence scoring means 25 Scoring result holding means 26 Image spectrum collation results Display means 28 comparison result list display means 29 image spectrum storage means 30 image spectrum registration means 31 image spectrum comparison result approval means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Mitsuhide Maeda 1048 Kadoma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Works Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomoyuki Hatanaka 1048, Kazuma, Kadoma, Osaka Pref., Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. (72) Inventor Osamu Nishimura 1048, Kazuma, Kazuma, Kadoma, Osaka Pref. DD00 EE07 GG00 5B057 AA19 BA02 CA01 CA12 CA16 DA06 DB02 DB06 DC25 5L096 AA02 BA02 BA06 CA02 GA38 HA09 JA11

Claims (11)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A management device requiring meal management inputs and stores meal data input to a management required terminal device in a management device received via a network, and analyzes the analysis result. A meal management support system for presenting, via a network, a supporter terminal device for a supporter who determines a meal menu of a manager requiring management, wherein the management required terminal device includes an imaging unit and an image data transmission unit, Image data obtained by photographing a meal taken by a person can be transmitted to the management device. The management device includes an image data receiving unit, an image data display unit, and a nutrition analysis unit. Image data received by the image data receiving means,
In a system that enables a nutrition analysis to be performed by referring to a meal image taken by a manager required by an image data display unit and a nutrition analysis unit, the management device includes a specific image data received by the image data reception unit. A specific area extracting means in the image for extracting the area, an image spectrum decomposing means for acquiring the color information of the extracted specific area and performing the image spectral decomposition, and data obtained by spectrally decomposing meal contents in advance are stored. Image spectrum storing means, image spectrum matching means for comparing newly decomposed image spectrum data with data stored in the image spectrum storing means, and image spectrum matching for displaying a matching result. A meal management support system, comprising: a result display unit. 2. The management device includes an image data registration unit, an analysis result registration unit, a meal image history storage unit, and a nutrition analysis result history storage unit. 2. The meal management support system according to claim 1, wherein data can be registered in each of the history storage unit and the nutrition analysis result history storage unit. 3. The in-image specific area extracting means according to claim 1, wherein the in-image specific area extracting means draws on image data displayed on the image data display means to specify an area.
2. The meal management support system according to claim 1, further comprising an in-image specific area information obtaining unit for obtaining coordinate information of the specified area. 4. An image spectrum comparing means according to claim 1, wherein said image spectrum comparing means compares said newly decomposed image spectrum data with image spectrum data obtained by searching said image spectrum storing means. Means for scoring the result of comparing the image spectrum data into image spectrum coincidence score means, and retaining the acquired data and the data which has obtained a high score among the image spectrum data retrieved from the image spectrum accumulating means. 2. The meal management support system according to claim 1, further comprising: a scoring result holding unit for performing the evaluation. 5. The comparison source image for displaying comparison source image data as a comparison source corresponding to the newly decomposed image spectrum data according to claim 4. A data display means, and a collation result list display means capable of displaying the high score acquired image or the acquired score or the high score acquired image corresponding nutrition analysis result as a list in the order in which the high score was acquired. 4. The meal management support system according to 4. 6. The management device according to claim 1, further comprising an image spectrum matching result approver and an image spectrum registering unit, wherein when the display result of the image spectrum matching result display unit is approved, The nutrition analysis result accumulated in the nutrition analysis result history accumulation means is transferred to the analysis result registration means according to claim 1 by the image spectrum collation result approval means, and is again stored in the nutrition analysis result history accumulation means according to claim 1. In the case of denial, the result of separate analysis by other nutritional analysis means is passed to the analysis result registration means, and the result can be stored in the nutritional analysis result history storage means, and the request can be made by the image spectrum registration means. 2. The meal management support system according to claim 1, wherein data can be registered in the image spectrum storage means according to claim 1. 7. The management device receiving the meal data inputted by the manager who needs the meal management to the manager terminal device is stored and analyzed in the management device received via the network, and the analysis result is stored in the manager terminal device or A meal management support method for presenting, via a network, to a supporter terminal device for a supporter who determines a meal menu of a manager required, transmitting image data of a meal taken by the manager required to the management device, The management device receives the image data sent from the administrator terminal device required, performs image data registration processing to the storage means, and then converts the meal image data into nutrient amount information. This is performed while browsing the meal image data ingested by the manager who needs to be referred to from the storage means by the member, and by registering the result in the storage means and the browsing means, In a method of presenting the analysis result through a network to a terminal device requiring administrator or a supporter terminal device for a supporter who determines a meal menu of the administrator required, first, an image received for data after image data reception processing Perform image specific area extraction to extract a specific area of data, then obtain color information of the extracted specific area, perform image spectrum decomposition processing to perform image spectrum decomposition,
Further, an image spectrum collation processing for collating the newly decomposed image spectrum data with data stored in an image spectrum accumulating means in which an image spectrum is previously stored, and finally displaying a collation result. A food management support method characterized by performing: 8. The image specifying area extracting process according to claim 7, wherein an image in-image area drawing process for specifying an area by drawing on image data is performed first, and then an image for obtaining coordinate information of the specified area is obtained. 8. The meal management support method according to claim 7, wherein an inside specific area information acquisition process is performed. 9. The image spectrum matching process according to claim 7, wherein the image spectrum data newly decomposed is compared with the image spectrum data obtained by searching the image spectrum storage means in which the image spectrum is stored in advance. Perform image spectrum comparison processing, and then perform image spectrum coincidence scoring processing for scoring the result of comparing image spectrum data, and further obtain a high score among the image spectrum data obtained by searching from the image spectrum storage means. The meal management support method according to claim 7, wherein a scoring result holding process for holding the acquired data and the acquired score is performed. 10. The image spectrum collation result display process according to claim 7, wherein the comparison source image data display process for displaying image data corresponding to the newly decomposed image spectrum data according to claim 9; 10. The meal management support method according to claim 9, further comprising performing a collation result list display process of displaying the data held by the scoring result holding process according to item 9 as a list in the order in which the high scores were obtained. 11. The management apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image spectrum matching result display processing according to claim 7 is performed, and if the result is approved by an analysis worker, the result is displayed as a nutrition analysis result history. 8. An image spectrum collation result approval process to be registered in the storage means is performed, and if rejected, a result separately analyzed by another nutrition analysis means is registered as an analysis result, and the image spectrum is stored in the image spectrum storage means according to claim 7. 8. The meal management support method according to claim 7, wherein an image spectrum registration process for registering data is performed.