JP2004181218A - Monitoring system and monitoring method for infants' circumstances - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a monitoring system and a monitoring method in which an appropriate measure in relation to abnormal changes in infants can be taken by presuming the present circumstances of the infants by using not only physiological information but also motion information. <P>SOLUTION: The physiological and motion as well as mental conditions of the infants are presumed by a biological information sensor terminal equipped with sensors which measure the physiological information and the motion information of the infants. Presumed results are transmitted to a monitor terminal of a childcare monitoring person wirelessly. Furthermore, the monitor terminal of the childcare monitoring person can report emergency on an emergency report receiving terminal installed in a hospital, or the like when the abnormal change happens in the infants. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring system and a monitoring method for notifying the state of a living body based on biological information of the living body.

  A system for monitoring the state of a living body is useful and may be in demand in various places. Especially when a child care watcher engages in housekeeping other than child care in a family with infants, the child care watcher is not worried about the baby and cannot concentrate on other tasks. In order to engage in other household chores, a system for monitoring the condition of infants was required.

As a technology for monitoring the health condition of an infant, a device that attaches an optical sensor to the infant, measures a pulse rate and oxygen saturation of arterial blood, and outputs an abnormal signal when a certain threshold is exceeded (for example, see Patent Document 1) ), The infant is placed on a sheet of conductive fiber, and the movement of the infant or the potential generated by the infant over time is measured in a state where the movement is unrestricted, and the body temperature is measured. Based on the measurement result, the heart rate is determined. There is a device that calculates a respiratory rate and outputs an abnormal signal when a certain threshold value is exceeded (for example, see Patent Document 2).
JP-A-2001-224561 (page 12, FIG. 1) JP-A-2002-224051 (page 9, FIG. 4)

  With conventional monitoring systems, it is not possible to know exercise information such as what the baby is doing because it does not measure behavior information by measuring only physiological information, so it is known that the state of the baby has changed However, there is a problem in that appropriate actions are delayed because the infants do not know what has happened.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring system and a monitoring method for estimating the current situation of an infant using not only physiological information but also behavior information, so that appropriate measures can be taken for abnormalities of the infant. I have.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned object, a situation monitoring system according to the present invention includes a biological information sensor terminal and a monitoring terminal, and the biological information sensor terminal measures physiological information and behavior information of an infant and obtains a biological information from the measured information. It is characterized by estimating the physiological state, exercise state, and psychological state of the subject.

  Further, the condition monitoring system monitors the condition of the infant.

  Further, in the situation monitoring system, the monitoring terminal includes an emergency report unit for making an emergency report to an emergency report receiving unit installed in a medical institution or the like.

  In the situation monitoring system, the monitoring terminal may include a notification unit that notifies the childcare monitoring person of the abnormality of the baby by light, sound, and vibration when the received biological information of the baby indicates an abnormality. It is characterized by.

  Further, in the situation monitoring system, the biological information sensor terminal measures movement of the infant as behavior information, measurement means measures a pulse rate as physiological information, and the sleep state of the infant from the measured data. And estimating means for estimating the presence or absence of turning over.

  The situation monitoring method includes a step of measuring physiological information and behavior information of a living body, a step of transmitting the measured biological information, a step of receiving the transmitted data, a step of displaying the received data, and a step of displaying the received data. Estimating the physiological state, the exercise state, and the mental state of the living body from the physiological information and the behavior information obtained.

  Further, the situation monitoring method is characterized in that a physiological state, an exercise state, and a mental state of the infant are estimated.

  Further, the situation monitoring method is characterized in that the emotion of the infant is estimated by referring to a database having biological information measured in advance by the biological information sensor terminal.

  In the situation monitoring method, a cry and a pulse rate of the infant are measured as biological information for estimating an emotion.

  Further, in the state monitoring method, the amount of the database used for the emotion estimating means is increased by inputting the emotion of the baby with the monitoring terminal.

  In the situation monitoring method, the infant's pulse rate is measured as the infant's physiological information measured by the biological information sensor terminal, and the infant's voice is measured only when the infant's pulse rate exceeds a certain threshold. It is characterized by doing.

  The present invention is configured as described above, and has the following effects. According to the present invention, the childcare monitor can monitor not only the infant's physiological condition but also the exercise condition and the psychological condition even at a remote place, so that it is possible to quickly respond to abnormalities of the infant.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a situation monitoring system according to the present invention. As shown in this figure, this situation monitoring system includes a biological information sensor terminal 1a and a monitoring terminal 1b. The biological information sensor terminal 1a includes a physiological information measuring means 1c for measuring physiological information, a behavior information measuring means 1d for measuring behavior information, an estimating means 1e for estimating a state of a living body from these measurement results, and It has communication means 1f for transmitting to the monitoring terminal 1b.

  The monitoring terminal 1b includes a communication unit 1g for receiving the estimation result transmitted from the transmission unit 1f for transmitting the estimation result, and a display unit 1h for displaying the received estimation result.

  As described above, the state of the living body is estimated from the physiological information and the behavior information of the living body, and the monitoring result is transmitted to the monitoring terminal, so that the observer can grasp the state of the living body even from a remote place.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another example of the situation monitoring system according to the present invention.

  As shown in this figure, the situation monitoring system includes a biological information sensor terminal 2a, a monitoring terminal 2b, and an emergency notification receiving terminal 2c. The biological information sensor terminal 2a includes a physiological information measuring means 2d for measuring physiological information, a behavior information measuring means 2e for measuring behavior information, an estimating means 2f for estimating a state of a living body from these measurement results, and wirelessly transmitting the estimated result. And communication means 2g for transmitting the data.

  The monitoring terminal 2b is a communication unit 2h that receives the estimation result sent from the transmission unit 2g that sends the estimation result and a display unit 2i that displays the received estimation result, and further sends an emergency call when there is an abnormality in the living body. It has an emergency notification means 2j for performing. The emergency call receiver 2c has an emergency call receiving unit 2k for receiving the emergency call sent from the emergency call unit 2j.

  As described above, in the situation monitoring system, by having the emergency notification means, it is possible to quickly respond when an abnormality occurs in the living body.

  Hereinafter, a situation monitoring system according to the present invention will be described in detail based on one embodiment.

  FIG. 3 is a system block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the living body whose biological information is measured by the biological information sensor terminal is an infant. As shown in FIG. 3, the situation monitoring system includes a biological information sensor terminal 3a, a biological information sensor terminal 3b, a monitoring terminal 3c, and an emergency notification receiving terminal 3d.

  The biological information sensor terminal 3a performs measurement of biological information, estimation of a state, and transmission of an estimation result, and includes a voice measurement unit 3e, a pulse measurement unit 3f, an action measurement unit 3g, an estimation unit 3h, and a communication unit 3i. The communication means 1f performs communication using, for example, bluetooth or weak radio.

  The biological information sensor terminal 3b performs only measurement of the behavior information and transmission of the measurement result, and includes a behavior measurement unit 3j and a communication unit 3k. The monitoring terminal 3c includes a communication unit 31, a display unit 3m, an emotion input unit 3n, and an emergency notification unit 3o, and the emergency notification reception terminal 3d includes an emergency notification reception unit 3p.

  The pulse rate is measured using an optical sensor or an ultrasonic sensor, and the behavior information is measured using an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor. The behavior information measured by the behavior measurement means 3j is wirelessly transmitted to the communication means 3i of the biological information sensor terminal 3a by the communication means 3j and input to the estimation means 3h.

  The estimating means 3h estimates the status of the infant based on the voice measurement result, the pulse measurement result, the behavior measurement result measured by the biological information sensor terminal 3a, and the behavior measurement result measured by the biological information sensor terminal 3b. The estimating means estimates the exercise state based on the behavior information and the pulse rate based on the pulse rate, and estimates the posture such as whether the infant is lying on his back or lying face down if sleeping. Estimate the emotions of infants based on the result of analyzing the voice information.

  If it is determined from the estimation result that the baby has an abnormality, an abnormal signal is wirelessly transmitted to the communication means 3l of the monitoring terminal 3c by the communication means 3i, and if no abnormality is determined, the estimation result is monitored by the communication means 3i. The data is transmitted to the communication means 31 of the terminal 3c and displayed on the display means 3m.

  When an abnormal signal is transmitted, the monitoring terminal 3c notifies the childcare monitoring person of the abnormality of the infant by sound, light, and vibration. Further, an emergency signal is transmitted to the emergency report receiving terminal 3d by the emergency report means 3o and received by the emergency report receiving means 3p of the emergency report receiving terminal. When the emotion of the infant is input to the emotion input means 3n of the monitoring terminal 3c, the input data is transmitted from the communication means 31 to the communication means 3i, and the transmitted data is stored in the database of the estimation means 3h.

  In this way, by attaching the biological information sensor terminal to the infant, monitoring the physiological state, psychological state, and exercise state and notifying the monitoring terminal of the childcare observer, the childcare observer can be placed at a distance from the infant It is possible to respond immediately to the incident.

  In this embodiment, the biological information sensor terminal is attached to an infant, but the same effect can be obtained by attaching the terminal to, for example, an elderly person, a sick person, a pet, or the like that needs nursing care.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the living body whose biological information is measured by the biological information sensor terminal is an infant.

  The upper limb 4b of the infant 4a is equipped with a biological information sensor terminal 4c for measuring biological information, estimating the state and transmitting the estimation result, and the lower limb 4d is a biological information sensor for measuring only the behavior information and transmitting the measurement result. The terminal 4e is worn, and the lower limb action information is transmitted from the biological information sensor terminal 4e to the biological information sensor terminal 4c.

  The biological information sensor terminal 4c estimates the status of the infant 4a based on the data transmitted from the biological information 4e and the data measured by itself. The estimated result is transmitted to the monitoring terminal 4g of the childcare monitor 4f. Further, when an abnormality occurs in the infant 4a, an emergency call is made from the monitoring terminal 4g to an emergency call receiving terminal 4h installed in a hospital or the like.

  In this way, the biological information sensor terminal is attached to the infant in this way, and the physiological state, psychological state, and exercise state are monitored and reported to the monitoring terminal of the childcare supervisor. By making an emergency call to the emergency call receiving terminal installed in the system, the childcare monitor can immediately respond to the abnormalities of the baby even if the child is away from the baby.

  In this embodiment, two biological information sensor terminals are mounted, but the same effect can be obtained with one biological information sensor terminal. A specific data flow will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for estimating the sleep state of the infant and estimating the presence or absence of turning over.

  The sleep state of the baby is estimated based on the acceleration measured by the sensor (5a) (5b). If the acceleration shows a change above a certain threshold, it is estimated that the infant is awake (5c), and if the change in acceleration is below the threshold, it is checked whether the pulse rate exceeds the threshold (5d). If the pulse exceeds the threshold value, it is assumed that a sensor abnormality or an abnormality has occurred in the infant, and an abnormal signal is transmitted (5e).

  If the pulse rate is within the threshold, it is determined that the infant is sleeping (5f). Further, by mounting the acceleration sensor in a predetermined direction in advance, the presence or absence of turning over is estimated from the direction of the acceleration sensor (5g) (5h) (5i).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for estimating the emotion of a baby.

  By determining whether the pulse rate measured by the sensor (6a) exceeds the threshold value 1, it is estimated whether the infant is crying (6b). Further, it is determined whether the pulse rate exceeds the threshold value 2 (6c), and if it exceeds, it is estimated that the infant has an abnormality (6d). If it is determined that the value is not exceeded, voice measurement starts (6e), and the emotion of the infant is estimated (6f).

  Estimation of emotions uses the pulse rate and the power and frequency spectrum of crying. Based on the database obtained in advance, the frequency component is in the range of x1 to x2, and the pulse rate is in the range of y1 to y2, so the infant is hungry. Since the frequency component is in the range of x3 to x4 and the pulse rate is in the range of y3 to y4, the infant is sleepy and crying, and the emotion of the infant is estimated. The database collects the results of measurement for a plurality of infants in advance, and estimates the emotions of the infants by comparing this database with the measurement results.

  Furthermore, as the childcare monitor inputs the emotions of the infant, the amount of the database increases, and the accuracy of emotion estimation increases.

  In this embodiment, the pulse rate and the voice information are used for estimating the emotion of the living body. However, the same effect can be obtained by estimating the emotion using brain waves, skin conductivity, or the like as a means for estimating the emotion.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a monitoring terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The monitoring terminal 7a is, for example, a wristwatch and includes a display screen 7b, a display screen mode switching button 7c, an infant action input button 7d, an emergency call button 7e, a data transmission command button 7f, and a speaker 7g. The display screen 7b displays one of the pulse display screen 7h, the status display screen 7i, and the emotion display screen 7j by the mode switching button 7c.

  When abnormal information is received from the biological information sensor terminal, the speaker 7g emits a warning sound, the display screen 7b emits light, and the monitoring terminal 7a vibrates to notify the childcare monitoring person of the abnormalities of the infant.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a flow of data transmission from the biological information sensor terminal to the monitoring terminal.

  The biological information sensor terminal constantly performs sensing to estimate the status of the infant (8a), and when it is estimated that there is an abnormality (8b), immediately transmits an abnormality signal to the monitoring terminal (8c). Even if no abnormal signal is detected, if there is a data transmission command from the monitoring terminal (8d), the estimation result is immediately transmitted to the monitoring terminal (8e). Even if there is no command from the monitoring terminal, the biological information sensor terminal transmits the estimation result to the monitoring terminal at regular intervals (8f) (8g).

1 is a block diagram illustrating a situation monitoring system according to the present invention. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a situation monitoring system according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart at the time of estimating the sleep state of one Example in this invention, and estimating the presence or absence of turning over. 5 is a flowchart for estimating an emotion according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic structure figure of a monitoring terminal of one example in the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the data transmission from the biological information sensor terminal to the monitoring terminal of one Example in this invention.

Explanation of reference numerals

1a, 2a, 3a, 3b, 4c, 4e, 7a Biological information sensor terminal
1b, 2b, 3c, 4g Monitoring terminal
1c, 2d physiological information measuring means
1d, 2e Behavior information measurement means
1e, 2f, 3h Estimation means
1f, 1g, 2g, 2h, 3i, 3k, 3l Communication means
1h, 2i, 3m Display means
2c, 3d, 4h Emergency call receiving terminal
2j, 3o Emergency call method
2k, 3p Emergency call receiving means
3e Voice measurement means
3f Pulse measurement means
3g, 3j Behavior measurement means
3n emotion input means
4a infants
4b upper limb
4d lower limb
4f Childcare Watch
7b display screen
7c Display screen mode switch button
7d action input button
7e Emergency call button
7f Data transmission command button
7g speaker
7h Pulse display screen
7i Status display screen
7j emotion display screen

Claims (11)

Biological information measuring means for measuring biological information of the living body, a biological information sensor terminal having a transmitting means for transmitting the measured biological information,
A monitoring terminal including a reception unit that receives transmission data from the transmission unit, and a display unit that displays data received by the reception unit;
In the situation monitoring system consisting of
A situation monitoring system, wherein the biological information sensor terminal includes an estimation unit that measures physiological information and behavior information as biological information, and estimates a physiological state, an exercise state, and a mental state of the living body from the measured information.   2. The situation monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the living body whose biological information is monitored is an infant in the situation monitoring system.   3. The status monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein in the status monitoring system, the monitoring terminal includes an emergency notification unit for making an emergency notification to an emergency notification receiving terminal installed in a medical institution or the like.   In the situation monitoring system, the monitoring terminal may include a notification unit that notifies the childcare monitoring person of the abnormality of the infant by light, sound, and vibration when the received biological information of the infant indicates an abnormality. The status monitoring system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein:   In the situation monitoring system, the biological information sensor terminal measures movement of the infant as behavior information, a measurement unit that measures a pulse rate as physiological information, and estimates a sleep state of the infant from the measured data. The situation monitoring system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising estimation means for estimating the presence or absence of turning over. Measuring physiological and behavioral information of the living body;
Transmitting the measured biological information;
Receiving the transmitted data;
Displaying the received data;
Estimating the physiological state, exercise state, and mental state of the living body from the measured physiological information and behavior information.   7. The situation monitoring method according to claim 6, wherein in the situation monitoring method, a living body whose biological information is monitored is an infant.   8. The situation monitoring method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of estimating an emotion of the infant by comparing a previously stored database with the physiological information and the behavior information.   9. The situation monitoring method according to claim 8, further comprising a step of measuring a baby's cry and a pulse rate as biological information for estimating an emotion.   The situation monitoring method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the amount of the database is increased by inputting the emotions of the infant obtained in the step.   The situation monitoring method according to any one of claims 7 to 10, further comprising a step of measuring a pulse as the physiological information of the infant and measuring a voice of the infant when a pulse rate exceeds a threshold.

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