JP2005253924A - Sleep apnea examining and alarming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a downsized lightweight portable apparatus with simple operability, for example, which can keep record and give an alarm by detecting respiration signals, pulsation signals and movement abnormality signals simultaneously by the same sensor and statistically processing them, in a sleep apnea examining and alarming apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The respiration signals, the pulsation signals and the movement abnormality signals are simultaneously detected using a polyvinylidene fluoride film (PVDF film) which is a piezoelectric substance of a distributed parameter system. The signals are separated and extracted by utilizing differences in each frequency bandwidth and signal intensity and checked with the elapsed time to perform statistical processing using an electronic circuit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention is a device that continues this in a healthy sleep state and detects this in a sleep apnea state, which is abnormal sleep, and warns the parties, and at the same time, notifies a related person in the case of an unexpected accident during sleep. About.

In the conventional method of detecting respiratory abnormalities, a breathing sensor is attached to a person's nasal cavity, chest, and abdomen so as to restrain the body, and directly detects exhalation or expansion and contraction of the diaphragm. The equipment is large and the settings are complicated, which can be a burden on the nurse and cause discomfort to the parties, which may be an obstacle to sleep. Therefore, it is not used for normal patients with mild symptoms, but is often used for anesthesia patients in unavoidable for a long time or as emergency bedside monitors for hospital critical patients. For this reason, sudden changes in the condition of mild patients may be overlooked and become severe. Although an electrocardiograph is also used as a monitor, it cannot be said to be effective as a 10 second apnea sensor that is defined as apnea. On the other hand, the blood oxygen saturation measurement device is the final monitor attached to the fingertips, etc., but sleep apnea continues considerably, except when the air is clearly recognized by the parties, such as when climbing high mountains. It is a device for detecting and confirming abnormalities in blood, and does not directly detect apnea. In addition, MRI can medically examine the obstruction of the throat of an apneic patient to diagnose respiratory disorder, but cannot be used as a monitor during sleep.
Sleep apnea syndrome is associated with hemorrhoids and sleep deprivation, but as a result of being identified as a normal person's hemorrhoids, sleep apnea syndrome has been reported not only by the person concerned but also by relatives, causing a serious accident due to lack of sleep In addition, it is said that the body organs are damaged and deteriorated during sleep due to insufficient blood oxygen concentration. The same syndrome as medical apnea is defined when the situation where the depth of sleep breathing is shallow is repeated. Conventionally, a plurality of large-scale devices have been required for diagnosing or examining sleep apnea syndrome for those who are not supposed to be abnormal at first glance. First of all, it is necessary for the person to be aware of the suspicion of apnea in daily life.After that, he / she was admitted to a specialized hospital for one day with the presence of a doctor / nurse, electrocardiograph, respiratory rate sensor, blood It was to sleep while wearing a medium oxygen saturation measuring device on the body. In other words, sleeping with the body restrained, there is a contradiction in obtaining a natural sleep, food and drinks are restricted in advance, and there are inconveniences that limit the starting for sleeping stools and others. This is because apnea is caused by abnormalities of the central nervous system, cerebral infarction, nasopharyngeal tumor, adenoid, arrhythmia, heart failure, etc. in addition to mouth and throat hypertrophy, and medical diagnosis and treatment are necessary. Even after diagnosis and treatment at the hospital, it is inconvenient that the treatment effect cannot be confirmed because it is not possible to check easily at home where eating and drinking is possible. For this reason, re-hospitalization was sometimes necessary. On the other hand, if the suspicion of apnea can be easily recognized at home before admission, it will be possible to increase the effectiveness of the detailed examination after hospitalization without losing the opportunity of hospitalization.

In order to eliminate these inconveniences and sleeping contradictions, it operates with a small power source such as a battery, is compact and lightweight, is easy to carry, is easy to operate and install, does not restrain the body, has a natural sleep, and does not feel strange. There is a need for a sleep apnea detection and alarm device that can be applied safely and easily in daily life, and at the same time, in the event that an unexpected situation occurs in the party during sleep, other than breathing It is desirable from the viewpoint of versatility and reliability of the device that there is a device for detecting a heartbeat or the like as a biological signal and confirming its normality.

  The problem to be solved is the realization of a respiratory sensor and a pulsation sensor that do not restrain the body at all. The conventional breathing sensor elastically wraps a strain gauge around the side of the body to detect resistance change. In addition to exhalation in front of the nostril, inhalation heat resistance wire, thermistor, resistance change due to temperature change of pyroelectric material Mainly the method of detecting. These are clearly methods of restraining the body and cause the parties to feel uncomfortable at sleep. In addition, heartbeats or electrocardiograms that replace them are accompanied by restraints near the rib cage and wrist. These are cumbersome to handle and it is not easy for the parties to wear them on the body so that the sensor operates correctly without the help of others. Even after wearing, it is assumed that the sensor falls off due to unintentional turning over during sleep, movement of bedding, and the like. Getting out of bed for sleeping stools will also be restricted due to sensor reattachment and inspection. Since each sensor is an independent device that is not related, complexity that requires synchronous integration as a biological signal also occurs. As a result, it is assumed that it is difficult for the parties to be hospitalized and to easily and easily try an apnea test at home, and at the same time, it is assumed that the obtained measurement data lacks scientific reliability.

In view of such circumstances and circumstances, the present invention devised a sensor to solve the technical difficulties of sleep apnea test alarm devices, and the respiration and pulse data are continued during the bed by simply performing the bed bed as usual during sleep. The feature is that it can be obtained. In addition, these data are completely synchronized signals from a sensor of the same distributed system having an infinite number of detection elements in a wide range.

As an effect of the present invention, since it is not necessary to wear a sensor on the body, natural sleep can be obtained, and the bed can be removed while sleeping, so that accurate data collection at home is easy and there is no hindrance to the lives of the parties concerned. Data collection is possible at home as well as at home as it is small and portable. This makes it possible to provide appropriate information to doctors, greatly contributing to the health examination of the parties concerned. In addition, since it is not worn on the body, there is no sense of incongruity, and data can be collected even through underwear or sheets, so it is hygienic and the operation can be done by turning the power on and off, so no extensive knowledge or experience is required at all There is sex. Therefore, it can be used in many homes where drought is a problem, and it is possible to collect information essential for a health check while sleeping alone, especially without a family check. It can contribute greatly. It becomes possible to diagnose apnea syndrome caused by arrhythmia or heart failure from pulse data obtained in synchronization with the respiratory signal. In addition, in the case of sleep of infants, unlike adults, the risk of breathing accidents due to lying down at home or other places, pressure from bedding, or nasal discharge has been pointed out. In order to prevent accidents, it is important to always consider and pay attention to close relatives. However, if there is at least 10 seconds of apnea or low-breathing hypopnea, it is possible to report related abnormalities. Become. Due to the simplicity of the device of the present invention which is unconstrained, there is an effect that it can be easily applied to infants.

The PVDF film below the polyvinylidene fluoride film utilizing the piezoelectric effect as a sensor is a film having a thickness of 10 to 100 microns obtained by polarizing the resin after uniaxial stretching. A thin film made of aluminum, nickel copper alloy, gold or the like is deposited on both sides of this film during deposition, and electrodes are attached by silk printing or the like. A voltage is generated when pressure or twist is applied to the film. This is called a piezoelectric effect or a piezo effect. Since any part of the film can detect the piezoelectric effect, it can be used as a distributed constant sensor. The frequency characteristic is 0.001 Hz to 1 GHz. This is a frequency range including the respiratory cycle and the pulse cycle. The present invention has been devised by paying attention to this point, and simultaneously detects and superimposes a respiratory signal and a pulse signal from the same PVDF film in the respiratory frequency range of about 0.4 Hz and the pulse frequency range of about 1 Hz. Are separated and subjected to statistical processing to produce a significant biological signal.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[FIG. 1] is an example in which the sleep apnea test alarm device of the present invention is applied to a subject. Reference numeral 1 denotes a PVDF film sensor disposed on the back of the body. It is a respiration sensor and a pulse sensor, that is, a heart rate sensor. Since the sensor is a film of 100 microns or less, the thickness is several millimeters or less including the protective cover. A switch for sensing weight is arranged on a part of the cover. Because they are all thin sensors, they are almost buried in bedding and do not disturb sleep. The sensor can detect changes in body pressure and pulsation due to respiration of a living body as basic data without being directly attached to the body. Reference numeral 2 denotes a signal processing device and an alarm device connected to the sensor by wire or wirelessly. The signal processing device may be integrated with the film sensor using a film-type electronic integrated circuit. The alarm device may be combined with a wired or wireless telephone device. Although 3 is a bed, a normal bed is sufficient.
FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of this apparatus. Sensor data starts collecting data based on a body weight signal from a living body, that is, a subject's bed. Therefore, since there is no data collection other than the time when getting out of bed, the determination of apnea etc. is stopped. Respiration and heart rate data are recorded with time, and the respiration rate and heart rate are obtained by collating with time. An apnea or low respiratory intensity hypopnea and abnormal heart rate are judged by a logic device built in the device, and an alarm is issued. The logic is a medical definition described in the explanatory text of FIG. Although the signal generated when turning over, lying on the floor, or leaving the bed is not shown, the voltage generated in the sensor is high, and the body motion noise elimination circuit works and the signal at this time can be ignored for a certain period of time. However, if the body movement continues for a long time, it is recorded as an abnormal signal and an alarm is issued. All of these records can be recorded with an integrated electronic circuit, i.e., an IC recorder, along with the elapsed time and time of occurrence. These can be configured to be small and thin and are portable.
Since this apparatus includes not only breathing but also a heart rate meter, it can also be used as a simple bedside monitor in a hospital or the like.
[FIG. 3] is basic data of the subject obtained from the sensor used in the present invention. This is data in which a respiratory signal and a pulse signal obtained from the same sensor are superimposed. Since the respiratory signal and the pulse signal have different frequency bands, they can be electronically extracted and separated as separate signals by the frequency band separation device shown in FIG.
[Fig.4]

It is a respiration signal extracted from basic data. When there is a lack of respiratory signal or hypopnea with low respiratory signal intensity during sleep for 10 seconds or more during sleep, this is regarded as one apnea. Sleep apnea syndrome can be diagnosed by medical definition when there is an apnea of 5 times or more per hour or 30 times or more of apnea during 7 hours of sleep or when apnea continues for 30 seconds or more. Especially in the case of infants, there is a risk of being directly connected to respiratory abnormalities even after one apnea or hypopnea.
[FIG. 5] is a pulse signal extracted from the basic data of [FIG. 3]. Thereby, it is possible to know an abnormal heart rate. Heart rate abnormalities due to arrhythmia during sleep or heart failure may cause respiratory abnormalities, which can contribute to continuous diagnosis of apnea syndrome that requires close examination such as electrocardiogram.
Although this device has been described as an application example when sleeping, it is not limited to this, but because of its small size and lightness, people's physiological status and psychology during awake sitting, such as working in a sitting position, driving a vehicle, watching a theater, watching sports, playing indoor games, etc. It is clear that the present invention can be applied to a case where a state-based physiological response is examined in an unrestrained state.

Application example of sleep apnea test alarm device of the present invention Configuration diagram of sleep apnea test alarm device of the present invention Example of basic data of subjects Respiratory signal extracted synchronously Synchronized extracted pulse signal

Explanation of symbols

1 ... PVDF breathing, pulse film sensor 2 ... Signal processing record alarm device 3 ... Bed

Claims (1)

  The subject's breathing signal, pulse signal, and abnormal body motion signal are detected by the same distributed constant piezoelectric film, and each signal is separated and extracted using the difference in frequency band and signal intensity, and statistical processing is performed synchronously for abnormal physiology. A device characterized by detecting the occurrence of a condition and recording this at the same time as the elapsed time to alert a subject or a person concerned

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