JP2006141679A - Nursing care terminal and notification system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To monitor a care-receiver in case of an abnormal state, and when determining that the abnormal state occurs, automatically execute emergency notification to a predetermined notification addressee. <P>SOLUTION: This nursing care terminal 100 monitors a voice acquired from a microphone 101, monitors the blood pressure of the care-receiver or the like by a blood pressure sensor 102, and when detecting abnormal voice or abnormal blood pressure, automatically executes emergency notification to a predetermined contact addressee, such as another terminal 160 or an emergency organization 180. The notification can be executed via a server 150. The server can further notify other notification addressees of it. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention automatically detects such abnormalities in an abnormal situation occurring in the surroundings of an elderly person or a cared person who needs care, particularly an elderly person living alone, or an abnormal situation occurring in the vicinity. It is related with the terminal for care and the reporting system for care which can be reported.

  It is expected that our country will have a “super-aging society” and the life of elderly people alone will increase rapidly. Therefore, various services related to nursing care are being studied.

  For example, by placing an infrared sensor in the room and reporting to the caregiver by e-mail once a day how long the caregiver has stayed in the room, whether or not there is any disruption to life rhythm Proposals have been made for systems that check emails, and systems that can send and receive e-mails and can communicate with the outside via fixed text emails with the push of a few buttons.

Patent Document 1 discloses a system that provides a detailed life support service by a report from a care recipient.
JP 2004-70464 A

  However, it is difficult for a caregiver to always accompany a care recipient, and an elderly person who does not need special care may live alone.

  In such a case where one person is staying at home, none of the above systems is useful when an emergency such as an abnormal situation occurring in the body that cannot be reported by himself or an abnormal situation in the vicinity occurs.

  The present invention has been made in such a background, and its purpose is to monitor an abnormal situation that has occurred in a cared person, etc., and when it is determined that an abnormal situation has occurred, an emergency call is automatically made to a predetermined report destination. It is to provide a nursing care terminal and a nursing care reporting system capable of performing the above.

  The nursing care terminal according to the present invention is a nursing care terminal for making an emergency call regarding a care recipient, etc., a voice recognition means for recognizing voice, and an abnormality detection means for detecting occurrence of an abnormality based on the recognized voice. In addition, when an abnormality is detected, it is provided with a notification means for notifying a predetermined report destination that the abnormality has occurred and location information of the care recipient via the communication network.

  For example, the abnormality detection unit determines that an abnormal situation has occurred when the voice recognition unit detects a predetermined keyword or detects a sound exceeding a predetermined volume level. At this time, the reporting means makes an emergency call to a predetermined reporting destination. This emergency call can be made, for example, by at least one of an automatic voice message by telephone, a DTMF signal, an electronic mail, and a short message.

  Blood pressure measuring means for measuring the blood pressure of a cared person or the like may be further provided. In this case, the abnormality detecting means detects blood pressure abnormality based on blood pressure measurement.

  The abnormality detecting means repeatedly executes the blood pressure measurement when the blood pressure is not within the normal range at the time of blood pressure measurement, and determines that the blood pressure is abnormal when the blood pressure is not within the normal range for a predetermined predetermined number of times. As a result, it is possible to prevent erroneous determination as an abnormality immediately due to a temporary increase in blood pressure.

  After detecting that the blood pressure is not within the normal range once, the abnormality detection means is configured to advance at least the timing of the next blood pressure measurement when the blood pressure returns to the normal range within the predetermined number of times. Also good. Thereby, even if it is not judged as “abnormal” once the blood pressure is out of the normal range, the blood pressure measurement frequency can be increased and fine monitoring can be performed.

  Before notifying the occurrence of the abnormality, means for visually and / or audibly informing the cared person that the operation mode for reporting the occurrence of the abnormality has occurred; and means for canceling the operation mode In addition, when the operation mode is not canceled within a predetermined time, the notification may be performed. As a result, when the care recipient or the like is aware of this when the operation mode is entered due to a malfunction or the like, and can perform the operation by himself, an emergency call is made by performing a release operation within the predetermined time. Can be stopped.

  The nursing care notification system according to the present invention is a nursing care reporting system comprising a nursing care terminal that makes an emergency report regarding a care recipient and the like, and a server connected to the nursing care terminal via a communication network. The care terminal includes a voice recognition means for recognizing voice, an abnormality detection means for detecting the occurrence of an abnormality based on the recognized voice, the fact that the abnormality has occurred when the occurrence of the abnormality is detected, and the care recipient Reporting means for reporting the location information of the person, etc. to the server via the communication network, the server reporting that the abnormality has occurred to the designated report destination, and the position information of the care recipient, etc. It is characterized by providing reporting means for reporting via a communication network.

  With this system, the care terminal can report to a plurality of report destinations only by reporting to the server. In this case, it is also possible to make a report using a report method that is not supported by the care terminal.

  According to the present invention, since the care terminal automatically detects the occurrence of an abnormal situation and makes an emergency call, it is possible to deal with cases where the care recipient or the like cannot perform an abnormal situation report operation. In addition, it is expected that prompt and efficient notification will be performed since the notification does not involve human hands.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration example of an emergency call system according to the present invention.

  The care terminal 100 is a terminal device carried by a cared person or the like (not necessarily a person who needs care), or a terminal apparatus installed in a room or the like where the cared person lives. A microphone 101 and a blood pressure sensor 102 are connected to the care terminal 100 by wire or wirelessly.

  The care terminal 100 is connected via a communication network 155 to a server 150, an emergency response organization 180, a telephone 160 including a mobile phone and a fixed telephone.

  The server 150 is a computer device installed in a service provider that provides the user with the notification service of the present embodiment. The emergency response organization 180 is an organization that responds to an emergency, and is typically a public emergency call destination such as a fire department or a police station (a police box). When the emergency response organization 180 receives the emergency call, the emergency response organization 180 can recognize the occurrence of the emergency and the location of the occurrence by the notification message, and can rush to the care recipient. The emergency response organization 180 in this embodiment is assumed to include a fixed telephone 181 and a DTMF automatic response device 182. The DTMF automatic response device 182 has a function of automatically responding to an incoming call by a DTMF signal, interpreting the DTMF signal, and transmitting the message to the person in charge of the emergency response organization 180 by display or voice. However, the DTMF automatic response device 182 is not essential in the present invention. Further, the server 150 is not necessary when reporting to all the report destinations necessary for the care terminal 100.

  In FIG. 2, the various forms of the terminal for care in this invention are shown. FIG. 2A shows a portable care terminal 100 a that includes a display unit 204, an operation unit 206, and a microphone 101. The care terminal 100a is connected to the blood pressure sensor 102 by wire or wireless. The blood pressure sensor 102 has a form that can be always worn on the body of a cared person such as a wristwatch.

  FIG. 2B shows a stationary nursing terminal 100b. In the figure, a desktop personal computer (PC) is shown, but a notebook PC may be used. A microphone 101 is attached to the care terminal 100b. As in the case of FIG. 2A, the blood pressure sensor 102 is connected to the care terminal 100b by wire or wirelessly. The microphone 101 may be installed at the position of the stationary care terminal 100b when the movement range of the care recipient is limited.

  FIG. 2C shows a stationary nursing terminal 100c similar to FIG. 2B, but differs from the configuration of FIG. 2B in that a microphone 101 is attached to the blood pressure sensor 102. The blood pressure sensor 102 attached to the microphone 101 can also be employed in FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic internal configuration of the care terminal 100.

  The care terminal 100 includes a control unit 200, a communication unit 202, a display unit 204, an operation unit 206, a memory 208, an RTC (Real Time Clock) unit 210, a speaker 230, a microphone 101, a GPS (Global Positioning System) control unit 234, A blood pressure sensor wireless I / F 240 is provided, and these are connected to each other by a control line 210 and a data line 220. The control line 210 is a line for transmitting control data from the control unit 200. The data line 220 is a transmission line for transmitting data.

  The control unit 200 includes a central processing unit (CPU) and the like, and controls each unit of the care terminal 100 by executing a program. In particular, the functions of the control unit 200 in the present embodiment include voice recognition and blood pressure measurement functions.

  The communication unit 202 is connected to the base station via the antenna 203 by wireless communication, and has a telephone and data communication function. In this embodiment, when the operation mode of the terminal shifts to the emergency mode (emergency call mode), as the emergency call, predetermined digital data is modulated and converted into high-frequency data for a predetermined report destination. Then, the data is transmitted to the antenna 203.

  The display unit 204 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and has a function of displaying a cared person's state (data transmitted from a blood pressure monitor) or displaying that an emergency call has been made to inform the user. Have.

  The operation unit 206 includes various operation keys for a user to input, such as a power key, a numeric keypad, and a cancel key. In particular, in the present embodiment, the emergency mode can be canceled with the cancel key when the emergency call is stopped before the emergency call is made after entering the emergency mode by mistake.

  The memory 208 is a storage unit that stores various programs and data, and also provides a work area for the CPU, a temporary data storage area, and the like. In the present embodiment, normal values and abnormal values of the sphygmomanometer, words for speech recognition (for example, keywords such as “help”), and the like are also stored.

  The RTC unit 210 has a time measuring function and a timer function.

  The speaker 230 has a function of emitting an electric signal such as a sound as a sound, and is used to generate a warning sound or the like when making an emergency call in this embodiment.

  The microphone 101 has a function of converting sound into an electric signal, and collects sound of a cared person or the like and sound generated in the surroundings.

  The GPS control unit 234 is a kind of position detection means, communicates with a plurality of satellites via the GPS antenna 235, measures the delay time of the received signal, and calculates the current position of the terminal 100.

  The blood pressure sensor wireless interface (I / F) 240 has a function of performing wireless communication with the blood pressure sensor 102 and supplying measurement data to the control unit 200. As this wireless interface, existing ones such as Bluetooth (trademark) and wireless LAN can be used. However, when the portable care terminal 100a as shown in FIG. 2A is worn and carried on the clothes of the care recipient, the blood pressure sensor 102 can be connected to the terminal by wire.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating functions mainly achieved by the control unit 200 of the care terminal 100 according to the present embodiment.

  The blood pressure detection unit 41 detects and outputs the blood pressure of the care receiver based on the measurement data from the blood pressure sensor 102. This output is input to the blood pressure determination unit 42 to determine whether the blood pressure is within the normal range. However, in the present embodiment, even if a blood pressure outside the normal range is detected once, it is not immediately determined to be abnormal, and it is determined to be abnormal when it continuously falls outside the normal range after a predetermined number of measurements.

  On the other hand, the voice recognition unit 43 performs voice recognition processing (including voice level detection processing) on the voice data input from the microphone 101, and the input of voice that matches the registered keyword is detected, or Recognizing that sound exceeding a predetermined volume level has occurred.

  The emergency mode setting unit 45 receives the signal indicating the occurrence of abnormality from the blood pressure determination unit 42 or the signal indicating the occurrence of abnormality from the voice determination unit 44 and sets the emergency mode.

  After a predetermined time (for example, about several seconds to several tens of seconds) after the emergency mode is set, an emergency call generation instruction is output from the emergency mode setting unit 45, and the emergency call generation unit 46 via the communication unit 202 Send an emergency message to the designated contact. It should be noted that the transition to the emergency mode is informed to the user by the display from the terminal or the generation of sound, and the predetermined mode is used when the user notices the transition to the emergency mode due to a malfunction or an erroneous operation. The transition can be canceled by an instruction from the operation unit 206 such as the cancel key.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the care terminal 100 in the present embodiment. This process is repeated until an emergency call is made.

  In step S11, voice determination is performed. In this example, voice recognition processing and volume detection processing are performed. This detailed processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In step S12, it is checked whether or not an abnormality is detected by the voice determination in step S11. Here, “abnormal” corresponds to a case where the voice of a predetermined keyword registered in advance is recognized or the occurrence of a sound exceeding a predetermined volume level is detected. If an abnormality is detected, the process proceeds to step S16.

  When no abnormality is detected in step S12, blood pressure measurement is performed when it is determined in step S13 that the blood pressure measurement timing has come (S14). This detailed processing will be described later with reference to FIG. Various timings such as every 10 minutes, every several tens of minutes, every hour, every few hours, etc. can be considered as the timing of blood pressure measurement. Preferably, the user can select or variably set the timing.

  In step S15, it is checked whether or not a blood pressure abnormality has been detected. If an abnormality is detected, the process proceeds to step S16. If no abnormality is detected, the process returns to step S11 and the above process is repeated.

  In step S16, the emergency mode is set. In the present embodiment, the emergency mode is an operation mode in which notification is made to a predetermined report destination when an abnormality is detected by voice determination and blood pressure determination. Here, the timer by the RTC unit 210 is activated, and the elapsed time after shifting to the emergency mode is started. The user is informed that the emergency mode has been entered visually and / or auditorily, such as the generation of an alarm sound or voice message from the speaker 230, or the display of a message on the display unit 204.

  Next, in step S17, the GPS control unit 234 is activated to measure the current position of the terminal.

  In step S18, it is checked whether or not there has been an instruction from the user such as the cancel key. If there is this instruction, the emergency mode is canceled in step S21, and the process returns to step S11.

  In step S19, if the elapsed time from the emergency mode setting reaches a predetermined time (timeout), the process proceeds to step S20. Until the predetermined time is reached, it is monitored whether there is an input of a cancellation instruction in step S19.

  In step S20, a predetermined message and location information are urgently notified to a predetermined destination by a predetermined notification method. After this emergency call, this process is terminated. After this processing is completed, this processing is resumed by turning off / on the terminal, resetting, or the like. Or you may make it return to step S11 as it is after step S20.

  FIG. 6 shows various aspects of emergency notification in the present embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), an emergency call can be made from a care terminal or a server.

  When making a report from the nursing care terminal 100 of FIG. 6A, the reporting destination is at least one of the server 150, the emergency response organization 180, the individual and the company telephone 160, and the server 150 has a nursing care terminal. Information specifying the report destination can be included in the report message from. Alternatively, if the report destination is registered by user registration for each care recipient in advance, it is not necessary to include the report destination information in the report message. The reporting method is at least one of a voice message by telephone, a DTMF signal, an e-mail, and a short message. The notification content is a message that informs the occurrence of an emergency and the location information of the terminal 100 for nursing care.

  When making a report from the server 150 in FIG. 6B, it is assumed that an emergency call is first made from the care terminal 100 to the server 150. The notification destination from the server 150 is at least one of the emergency response organization 180, an individual, and a company telephone 160. Although it is not necessary to repeat the report to the report destination to which the report is made from the care terminal 100, the report may be performed in duplicate. The notification method and notification contents of the emergency call from the server 150 are the same as in the case of FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a specific processing example of the voice determination shown in step S11 of FIG. As a premise of this processing, sound is continuously captured by a microphone, and a signal captured by the microphone is sampled at a predetermined cycle and converted into a digital signal, and at least the latest predetermined time is stored. In the process of FIG. 7, when the generation of a sound volume of a predetermined level or higher is detected, it is determined that a sound is generated (S31, Yes). This sound can include not only the sound uttered by the care recipient but also the voices and sounds of other people.

  A known speech recognition process is performed on the stored digital audio signal (S32). If any word is recognized by voice recognition (S33, Yes), it is checked whether the recognized word matches a keyword registered in advance (S34). If they match, it is determined that an abnormal situation has occurred (S35).

  If any wording is not recognized by voice recognition in the previous step S33, or if it is recognized but the wording does not match the registered keyword in step S34, whether or not the generated sound is an abnormal sound in step S36. Is checked (S36). An abnormal sound is, for example, a sound whose volume level exceeds a predetermined high volume level. It is determined that an abnormal situation has occurred even when such an abnormal sound is detected (S35).

  If it is determined in step S36 that the sound is not abnormal, it is determined that the sound is normal (there is no abnormal situation) (S37).

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a specific process example of blood pressure measurement shown in step S14 of FIG.

  The blood pressure is measured at the blood pressure measurement timing (S41), and it is checked whether it is within the normal range (S42). It is preferable that the upper and lower blood pressure values within the normal range can be variably set by a cared person or the like in the care terminal. If it is not within the normal range, the blood pressure is measured again immediately or after some time (S41). That is, when blood pressure outside the normal range is once detected at the blood pressure measurement timing (FIG. 5, S13), blood pressure measurement is repeated. When a measurement result that is not within the normal range continues n times (n is a predetermined positive integer such as 2, 3, 4, etc.), it is determined as abnormal (S44). The reason for seeing the measurement results for n consecutive times is that even if it is determined that the measurement is outside the normal range in one measurement, it is temporary and often causes no problem. When the measurement result outside the normal range returns to the normal range before continuing n times (S42, Yes), it is determined as normal (S45). However, in such a case, the time interval for determining the next measurement timing may be set shorter than usual. If it is determined that all are within the normal range at a predetermined number of measurement timings after shortening the time interval, the time interval is restored.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating another configuration example of the care terminal 100. Elements that are the same as those shown in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted. In this configuration example, a camera 251 having a digital image sensor such as a CCD, and a camera control unit 250 for controlling the photographing operation of this camera are added. The camera 251 is installed at a position where the state of the room where the cared person lives can be seen. The control unit 200 receives an incoming call from an external communication terminal (for example, 160 in FIG. 1) in the communication unit 202 (for example, an automatic incoming call after generation of a predetermined number of ringing sounds), and receives access right information such as a password and predetermined operation information. Is received, the captured image from the camera 251 is acquired via the camera control unit 250 and transmitted to the external communication terminal. For a person who does not know the telephone number of the care terminal 100 or the access right information of the camera (for example, the emergency response organization 180), such information can be included in the notification message. A plurality of cameras 251 may be installed so that they can be selected from the outside. The camera angle and zoom may be adjusted from the outside. Furthermore, a camera mounted on a movable robot such as a dog-type robot AIBO (“AIBO” is a registered trademark) marketed by Sony Corporation can be remotely controlled by a command described in an e-mail from a portable terminal. It is also possible to receive the reply of the photographed image by controlling the control. Or you may make it transmit a picked-up image automatically from a care terminal, without waiting for the access from the outside with respect to a specific report destination.

  With such a configuration of FIG. 9, when an emergency call is received from the care terminal, the state of the care recipient can be confirmed from the outside.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but various modifications and changes other than those mentioned above can be made. For example, although the case where both voice determination and blood pressure measurement are performed is shown, only one of them can be performed. Although the blood pressure abnormality has been described as an abnormality of the body of the care recipient, other body information such as pulse and body temperature may be measured and determined in addition to the blood pressure. Position information detection uses GPS, but any other position detection means can be used. Further, if the position information of the care recipient is known, it is not necessary to provide the position detection means itself by storing the information in the notification message in advance. Although only the case where the transition to the emergency mode is automatic has been described, an operation means (for example, an operation key) for manually instructing the transition to the emergency mode may be provided when the care recipient or the like can operate. Even in this case, the emergency mode can be canceled by the cancel key.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structural example of the emergency call system in this invention. It is a figure which shows the various forms of the terminal for care in this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the schematic internal structure of the terminal for care which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the function mainly achieved by the control part of the terminal for care in the embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of the terminal for care in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the various aspects of the emergency call in embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart showing the specific process example of the audio | voice determination shown to step S11 of FIG. It is a flowchart showing the specific process example of the blood pressure measurement shown to step S14 of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the other structural example of the terminal for care in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 41 ... Blood pressure detection part, 42 ... Blood pressure determination part, 43 ... Voice recognition part, 44 ... Voice determination part, 45 ... Emergency mode setting part, 46 ... Emergency call generation part, 100 ... Care terminal, 101 ... Microphone, 102 ... Blood pressure sensor, 150 ... server, 155 ... communication network, 160 ... telephone, 180 ... emergency response organization, 181 ... fixed telephone, 182 ... automatic response device, 200 ... control unit, 202 ... communication unit, 203 ... antenna, 204 ... display , 206, operation unit, 208, memory, 209, RTC unit, 210, control line, 220, data line, 230, speaker, 234, control unit, 235, antenna, 250, camera control unit, 251, camera

Claims (10)

It is a nursing care terminal that makes an emergency call regarding the care recipient, etc.
Speech recognition means for recognizing speech;
An anomaly detecting means for detecting the occurrence of an anomaly based on the recognized voice;
A care terminal characterized by comprising: a notification means for notifying that the abnormality has occurred at a predetermined reporting destination when the occurrence of the abnormality is detected and the location information of the care recipient via the communication network. .   The abnormality detecting means determines that an abnormal situation has occurred when the voice recognition means detects a predetermined keyword or detects a sound exceeding a predetermined volume level. 1. The care terminal according to 1. Equipped with blood pressure measuring means for measuring the blood pressure of the care recipient,
The nursing terminal according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality detection unit detects a blood pressure abnormality based on blood pressure measurement.   The abnormality detection means repeatedly performs blood pressure measurement when the blood pressure is not within the normal range at the time of blood pressure measurement, and determines that the blood pressure is abnormal when the blood pressure is not within the normal range for a predetermined predetermined number of times. Item 3. A care terminal according to Item 3.   The abnormality detecting means, once detecting that the blood pressure is not within the normal range, then at least advances the timing of the next blood pressure measurement when the blood pressure returns to the normal range within the predetermined number of times. The care terminal according to claim 4.   2. The care terminal according to claim 1, wherein the emergency call is made by at least one of an automatic voice message by telephone, a DTMF signal, an e-mail, and a short message. Means for visually and / or audibly informing the care recipient that the operation mode for reporting the occurrence of the abnormality has occurred before reporting the occurrence of the abnormality;
Means for canceling the operation mode,
The nursing care terminal according to claim 1, wherein the reporting means performs the reporting when the operation mode is not canceled within a predetermined time.   The care terminal according to claim 1, further comprising position information detection means for detecting position information.   2. The care terminal according to claim 1, further comprising photographing means for photographing an image and means for transmitting the photographed image via a communication network. A nursing care notification system comprising a nursing care terminal for making an emergency report regarding a care recipient and a server connected to the nursing care terminal via a communication network,
The care terminal is
Speech recognition means for recognizing speech;
An anomaly detecting means for detecting the occurrence of an anomaly based on the recognized voice;
A reporting means for reporting the occurrence of the abnormality when the occurrence of the abnormality is detected and the location information of the care recipient to the server via the communication network;
The server is provided with reporting means for notifying the specified reporting destination that the abnormality has occurred and the location information of the care recipient via a communication network. .

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