JP2007089920A - Living body diagnostic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a living body diagnostic apparatus which does not limit a measuring part and does not affect conditions of vascular contraction, etc. <P>SOLUTION: The living body diagnostic apparatus 1 has an electric signal emitting means 7 which adjusts a frequency and emitting an electric signal, an electric signal detecting means 8 which detects the electric signal through the living body, a dielectric constant calculation means 9 which calculates a dielectric constant for each frequency of the emitted electric signal by analyzing the electric signal detected by the electric signal detecting means 8, a dielectric relaxation frequency calculation means 10 which calculates a dielectric relaxation frequency from the relation between the frequency of the emitted electric signal and the calculated dielectric constant, and a health condition determination means 11 which determines health conditions using a calculated dielectric relaxation frequency. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a biodiagnosis apparatus capable of noninvasively measuring blood rheology and alcohol concentration of a living body.

  Currently, methods using blood information are used for diagnosis of health conditions, diseases, and the like. Among blood information, in particular, evaluation of blood rheology (ease of blood flow in blood vessels) is regarded as important for the prevention of cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction, and the like.

  In addition, medically, blood information is generally evaluated by collecting blood from a living body by injection or the like and then subjecting the collected blood to component analysis. However, such a method for collecting blood from a living body must be performed in a medical institution or the like equipped with predetermined equipment, and is difficult to implement in a general household. Therefore, many measuring devices, measuring methods and the like that can measure blood information non-invasively so that blood information can be evaluated even in general households are known.

For example, a circulatory performance measuring device (Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2) that measures blood rheology by transmitting and receiving waves from the surface of the living body to the inside, and measuring impedance characteristics by transmitting and receiving electrical signals to and from the living body In addition, there are a measuring method (Patent Document 3) for measuring blood viscosity and a measuring device (Patent Document 4) for measuring alcohol concentration in the body non-invasively using photoacoustic impedance and electromagnetic waves. Thus, at present, it is common to measure impedance characteristics when non-invasively measuring blood rheology and alcohol concentration in the body.
JP 2003-210425 A JP 2003-210426 A Japanese Patent Publication No.57-501665 Special table 2001-524342

  However, when the blood rheology and the alcohol concentration in the body are evaluated using such impedance characteristics, there is a problem that the measurement location is limited to a place where blood vessels are concentrated such as fingertips and wrists. Moreover, since the blood flow velocity is greatly influenced by body movement, the measurement must be performed in a resting state. That is, in the evaluation based on the impedance characteristics, for example, since the blood vessel contraction state due to stress or the like is affected, there is a limit to accurately measuring the blood rheology.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a biodiagnosis device that does not limit the measurement location even in measurement using impedance characteristics and does not affect the state of blood vessel contraction or the like.

  The biodiagnostic measurement apparatus according to the present invention is detected by an electric signal transmitting unit that adjusts a frequency to transmit an electric signal, an electric signal detecting unit that detects the electric signal passing through a living body, and the electric signal detecting unit. A dielectric constant calculating means for calculating a dielectric constant for each transmission frequency of the transmitted electrical signal by analyzing the transmitted electrical signal, and dielectric relaxation from the relationship between the transmitted frequency of the transmitted electrical signal and the calculated dielectric constant Dielectric relaxation frequency calculation means for calculating a frequency, and health condition determination means for determining a health condition using the calculated dielectric relaxation frequency.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the biodiagnosis apparatus which does not affect the state of a blood vessel contraction is also provided, without limiting a measurement location.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having substantially the same functions and configurations are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  FIG. 1 shows a block unit of each component of the biodiagnosis apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the biodiagnosis device 1 according to this embodiment includes a transmission unit 2, a measurement unit 3, an arithmetic processing unit 4, and a determination unit 5.

  The transmitter 2 includes a signal source 6 that generates an electrical signal. Furthermore, the signal source 6 includes frequency adjusting means 6 'that can adjust the frequency of the generated electrical signal. With this frequency adjusting means 6 ′, an electrical signal can be transmitted by changing the frequency transmitted from the signal source 6 arbitrarily or by setting, for example, the frequency in the GHz band.

  The measuring unit 3 includes an electric signal transmitting unit 7 that transmits an electric signal transmitted from the signal source 6 to a living body, and an electric signal detecting unit 8 that detects an electric signal passing through the living body.

  The electric signal transmitting means 7 and the electric signal detecting means 8 include, for example, an S terminal 101 connected to the waveguide 100 and a ground G terminal 103 connected to the waveguide 102 as shown in FIG. It consists of At the time of measurement, when the waveguides 100 and 102 are brought into contact with a predetermined part of the living body 13 where the blood vessel 12 is located, for example, as shown in FIG. Since it passes through the inside 13, the electrical characteristics change. The electrical signal whose electrical characteristics have changed is detected as an electrical signal passing through the living body 13.

  The arithmetic processing unit 4 analyzes the electric signal detected by the electric signal detecting unit 8 and calculates a dielectric constant for each transmission frequency of the electric signal transmitted by the electric signal transmitting unit 7, and an electric signal Dielectric relaxation frequency calculating means 10 for calculating a dielectric relaxation frequency from the relationship between the transmission frequency of the electrical signal transmitted by the transmission means 7 and the calculated dielectric constant is provided.

  The determination unit 5 includes a health state determination unit 11 that determines the health state of the living body using the dielectric relaxation frequency calculated by the dielectric relaxation frequency calculation unit 10.

  The health condition determination unit 11 includes a blood state determination unit 11a that determines the health state by determining the blood state of the living body, and an alcohol concentration calculation unit 11b that calculates the alcohol concentration of the living body and determines the health state. .

The blood state discriminating means 11a discriminates blood rheology based on the temporal change of the measured dielectric relaxation frequency. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, reference value storage means 14 for storing the measured dielectric relaxation frequency as a reference value (ε ′ _relax ), and the newly measured dielectric relaxation frequency as a measured value (ε _relax ). A measured value recording means 15 for recording, a blood rheology calculating means 16 for calculating a difference (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax ) between the measured value (ε _relax ) and the reference value (ε ′ _relax ), the measured value and the reference value, Blood rheology discrimination means 17 for discriminating blood rheology from the difference (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax ).

In general, blood contains various components such as sugar, cholesterol, and thrombolytic enzymes, which change depending on stress, physical condition, diet, etc., and thus the viscosity of blood also changes. As the viscosity of the blood changes, the vibration of water molecules in the blood changes, thereby changing the dielectric relaxation frequency of the water. For example, when blood is muddy, water molecules in the blood are less likely to vibrate, so that the dielectric constant of the water molecules in the blood component decreases and the dielectric relaxation frequency also decreases. On the other hand, when the blood is smooth, water molecules in the blood are likely to vibrate, so that the dielectric constant of the blood component is increased and the dielectric relaxation frequency is also increased. By measuring the change in the dielectric relaxation frequency, the blood rheology of the subject can be determined. For example, the dielectric relaxation frequency measured when the measurement subject feels that his / her health condition is good is stored as a reference value (ε ′ _relax ). Thereafter, after a while, a value when the dielectric relaxation frequency is newly measured is recorded as a measured value (ε _relax ). Later, the difference (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax ) between the measured value (ε _relax ) and the reference value (ε ′ _relax ) is calculated. When the difference between the calculated measured value and the reference value (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax ) is negative, that is, when (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax ) <0, the blood state at the time of recording as the reference value is used. It can be determined that the blood has changed to a muddy state. Further, when the difference between the calculated measurement value and the reference value (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax ) is positive, that is, when (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax )> 0, the blood value when recorded as the reference value It can be determined from the state that the blood has changed to a smooth state. Further, when there is no difference (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax ) between the calculated measurement value and the reference value, that is, when (ε _relax −ε ′ _relax ) = 0, the state of blood when recorded as the reference value From this, it can be determined that the blood rheology has not changed.

  From the above, it is possible to easily grasp one's current health condition by measuring changes in blood rheology on a daily basis.

  In addition, by measuring blood rheology, it is possible to know the physical condition at the time of drinking. When alcohol is used, the parasympathetic nerve dominates at the start of drinking, and when the patient becomes relaxed, the peripheral nerves are relaxed and blood flow is improved. In addition, a substance formed from endothelial cells of the blood vessel wall activates the thrombolytic enzyme by stimulation due to the expansion and contraction of the blood vessel. Therefore, the blood becomes smooth. However, if alcohol is excessively consumed, water is deprived from the body due to diuretic action, etc., and water in the blood is reduced, and platelet aggregation and adhesion are increased. Therefore, the blood becomes muddy. Therefore, by measuring the dielectric relaxation frequency using the biodiagnosis device of the present invention and checking the change of the dielectric relaxation frequency as needed, it is possible to accurately grasp the state of one's blood during drinking, and excessive drinking Etc. can be avoided.

  The alcohol concentration calculation unit 11b calculates the alcohol concentration from the dielectric relaxation frequency obtained by measuring the living body based on a relational expression between the dielectric relaxation frequency and the alcohol concentration obtained in advance.

Generally, the dielectric relaxation frequency has a specific value depending on the substance. For example, the dielectric relaxation frequency of ethyl alcohol is 2 GHz, and the dielectric relaxation frequency of water is 25 GHz. These dielectric relaxation frequencies can be easily measured from an aqueous alcohol solution or the like. Therefore, by using the aqueous alcohol solution and changing the concentration of the aqueous alcohol solution and measuring the dielectric relaxation frequency at each alcohol concentration, the dielectric relaxation frequency ε _{relax (aq)} and the alcohol in the aqueous alcohol solution as shown in FIG. A relational expression (C _{alcohol (aq)} = a × ε _{relax (aq)} + b: a and b are constants) with the concentration C _{alcohol (aq)} can be obtained.

In addition, it is said that 70% of the living body is composed of water, and the dielectric constant of the living body is almost close to water. Therefore, it is possible to measure the alcohol concentration of the living body as well as the alcohol aqueous solution. Therefore, as described above, using an aqueous alcohol solution or the like, a relational expression between the dielectric relaxation frequency and the alcohol concentration obtained in advance (C _{alcohol (aq)} = a × ε _{relax (aq)} + b: a and b are constants. The alcohol concentration (C _alcohol ) of the living body can be calculated by substituting the dielectric relaxation frequency (ε _relax ) of the living body obtained by measuring the living body into the dielectric relaxation frequency (ε _{relax (aq)} ) of ₎ It is.

A state in which the alcohol concentration of the person being measured is zero (no alcohol drinking at all) in the relational expression (C _{alcohol (aq)} = a × ε _{relax (aq)} + b: a and b are constants) obtained in advance The corrected relational expression (C) shown in FIG. 5 is obtained by adding the difference (ε _relax0 −25) between the dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax0 of the living body measured in the state) and the dielectric relaxation frequency (25 GHz) of water as the correction value α. It is preferable to calculate the alcohol concentration of the living body using _{alcohol (aq)} = a × ε _{relax (aq)} + (b + α): a and b are constants. Accordingly, it is possible to calculate a more accurate living body alcohol concentration in consideration of measurement variations due to individual differences among persons to be measured.

  The biodiagnosis device 1 according to the present invention can measure not only the alcohol concentration of a living body but also the alcohol concentration in blood in a blood vessel. About 55% of blood components are plasma components and about 90% of plasma components are water. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when contacting a predetermined part of the living body 13 where the blood vessel 12 is located, the dielectric relaxation frequency of the blood in the blood vessel 12 can be measured, thereby measuring the alcohol concentration in the blood. It is possible.

  As described above, since the dielectric relaxation frequency shows a specific value depending on the substance, measuring the dielectric relaxation frequency of the living body does not affect the blood vessel contraction due to stress or the like, and limits the measurement location. Without doing so, it becomes possible to accurately measure the blood rheology of the living body and the alcohol concentration of the living body.

  Next, the operation mechanism of the blood state determination unit and the alcohol concentration calculation unit according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a configuration circuit diagram of a biodiagnosis apparatus according to the present invention.

  First, the determination mechanism of the blood state determination means will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, an electrical signal whose frequency is adjusted is transmitted from the transmitter 20. The electrical signal transmitted from the transmitter 20 is separated into two signals, one as a reference signal 21 and the other as a test signal 22, and the test signal 22 is transmitted to the living body 23. When the test signal 22 is transmitted to the living body 23, a reflected signal 24 and a transmission signal 25 are generated from the living body 23. This transmission signal 25 can be ignored because the impedance of the living body and this apparatus is much smaller than the reflected signal 24 when impedance matching is performed.

  Next, the reflected signal 24 from the living body 23 is converted into a constant IF signal by the L.O. transmitter 26 and the mixer 30. The converted IF signal passes through the IF filter 31 and is digitally converted by the A / D converter 32. On the other hand, the reference signal 21 is converted into a constant IF signal by the L.O. transmitter 26 and the mixer 27. The converted IF signal passes through the IF filter 28 and is then converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 29. The digital signals converted by the A / D converters 29 and 32 are output to the first digital signal processing device 33, and the amplitude ratio A of each digital signal is measured. Further, the digital signals converted by the A / D converters 29 and 32 are output to the second digital signal processing device 34, and the phase ratio φ of each digital signal is measured. The amplitude ratio A measured by the first digital signal processing device 33 is output to the first arithmetic circuit 37 as the amplitude signal 35, and the phase ratio φ measured by the second digital signal processing device 34 is output as the phase signal 36, respectively. Then, impedance Z conversion is performed. Thereafter, a dielectric constant ε conversion process is performed by the second arithmetic circuit 38.

The second arithmetic circuit 38 is configured by sweeping the frequency of the signal from the transmitter 20 and the frequency of the signal from the L.O. transmitter 26 within a range of, for example, 500 MHz to 50 GHz. _Is output to the third arithmetic circuit 39, and the dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax is calculated. The processed dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax is output to the blood rheology discrimination circuit 40, and the blood rheology is discriminated based on the temporal change of the dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax measured by the measurement subject.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart when the person to be measured starts drinking. First, the frequency of the signal from the transmitter 20 and the L.P. O. The frequency of the signal from the transmitter 26 is swept (S101). Next, the dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax is measured by the arithmetic circuit 39 (S102). By repeating this, the average dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax within a predetermined time can be measured. Next, a change in blood vessel rheology in a temporal change is measured by obtaining a difference in average dielectric relaxation frequency after a lapse of a certain time (S103). Here, it can be determined that when the blood vessel is dilated and the blood is in a smooth state due to the start of drinking, the dielectric relaxation frequency of the blood is increased and the blood is easy to flow. Furthermore, if drinking continues, the amount of water in the blood decreases due to the diuretic effect, and when the blood becomes muddy, it can be determined that the dielectric relaxation frequency of the blood is lowered and the blood is less likely to flow. The result of these blood rheology is notified by voice, characters, images, etc. (S104). As a result, the subject can observe temporal changes in blood rheology during his or her drinking.

  Next, the determination mechanism of the alcohol concentration calculation means will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 6, an electrical signal whose frequency is adjusted is transmitted from the transmitter 20. The electrical signal transmitted from the transmitter 20 is separated into two signals, one as a reference signal 21 and the other as a test signal 22, and the test signal 22 is transmitted to the living body 23. When the test signal 22 is transmitted to the living body 23, a reflected signal 24 and a transmission signal 25 are generated from the living body 23. This transmission signal 25 can be ignored because the impedance of the living body and this apparatus is much smaller than the reflected signal 24 when impedance matching is performed.

  Next, the reflected signal 24 from the living body 23 is converted into a constant IF signal by the L.O. transmitter 26 and the mixer 30. The converted IF signal passes through the IF filter 31 and is digitally converted by the A / D converter 32. On the other hand, the reference signal 21 is converted into a constant IF signal by the L.O. transmitter 26 and the mixer 27. The converted IF signal passes through the IF filter 28 and is then converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 29. The digital signals converted by the A / D converters 29 and 32 are output to the first digital signal processing device 33, and the amplitude ratio A of each digital signal is measured. Further, the digital signals converted by the A / D converters 29 and 32 are output to the second digital signal processing device 34, and the phase ratio φ of each digital signal is measured. The amplitude ratio A measured by the first digital signal processing device 33 is outputted to the first arithmetic circuit 37 as the amplitude signal 35, and the phase ratio φ measured by the second digital signal processing device 34 is outputted as the phase signal 36, respectively. Then, impedance Z conversion is performed. Thereafter, a dielectric constant ε conversion process is performed by the second arithmetic circuit 38.

The above processing is performed by sweeping the frequency of the signal from the transmitter 20 and the frequency of the signal from the L.O. transmitter 26 in the range of 1 GHz to 30 GHz, and the dielectric from the second arithmetic circuit 38. The rate signal is output to the third arithmetic circuit 39 to perform arithmetic processing of the dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax . The processed dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax is output to the alcohol concentration determination circuit 41, and a relational expression (C _{alcohol (aq)} = a × ε _{relax (aq)} + b between the dielectric relaxation frequency and the alcohol concentration obtained in advance is obtained. : Substitutes the dielectric relaxation frequency (ε _relax ) of the living body obtained by measuring the living body for the dielectric relaxation frequency (ε _{relax (aq)} ) of a and b are constants to calculate the alcohol concentration C _alcohol of the living body can do.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart when the person to be measured starts drinking. First, the frequency of the signal from the transmitter 20 and the L.P. O. The frequency of the signal from the transmitter 26 is swept (S201). Next, the dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax is measured by the third arithmetic circuit 39 (S202). By repeating this, it is possible to measure the average dielectric relaxation frequency ε _relax within a certain time, thereby reducing the measurement error due to the contact method between the living body and the device. Next, the alcohol concentration C _{alcohol of the} living body is calculated using a relational expression (C _{alcohol (aq)} = aε _{relax (aq)} + b) between the dielectric relaxation frequency and the alcohol concentration obtained in advance (S203). Then, notification is made with characters, images, etc. (S204). As a result, the person being measured can check the alcohol concentration in the body at the time of his / her drinking.

It is a block part showing each structure part of the biodiagnosis apparatus in connection with embodiment of this invention. It is an external view showing an example of a structure of the measurement part in connection with embodiment of this invention. It is an external view at the time of making a measurement part contact the biological body. It is a block part explaining the blood state discrimination | determination means of the biodiagnosis apparatus in connection with embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relational expression of the alcohol concentration used for an alcohol concentration calculation means, and a dielectric relaxation frequency. 1 is a configuration circuit diagram of a biodiagnosis apparatus according to the present invention. It is a flowchart which measures the blood rheology of the biological body when a to-be-measured person starts drinking. It is a flowchart which measures the alcohol concentration of the biological body when a to-be-measured person starts drinking.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Biodiagnosis apparatus 2 Transmitting part 3 Measuring part 4 Operation processing part 5 Determination part 6 Signal source 6 'Frequency adjusting means 7 Electric signal transmitting means 8 Electric signal detecting means 9 Dielectric constant calculating means 10 Dielectric relaxation frequency calculating means 11 Health condition determination Means 11a Blood state determination means 11b Alcohol concentration calculation means 12 Blood vessel 13 Living body 14 Reference value recording means 15 Measurement value recording means 16 Blood rheology calculation means 17 Blood rheology determination means 20 Transmitter 21 Reference signal 22 Test signal 23 Living body 24 Reflected signal 25 Transmission signal 26 LO transmitter 27 Mixer 28 IF filter 29 A / D converter 30 Mixer 31 IF filter 32 A / D converter 33 First digital signal processor 34 Second digital signal processor 35 Amplitude signal 36 phase signal 37 first arithmetic circuit 38 second arithmetic circuit 39 third arithmetic circuit 40 blood rheo Logistic determination circuit 41 Alcohol concentration determination circuit 100 Waveguide 101 S terminal 102 Waveguide 103 G terminal

Claims (4)

Electrical signal transmitting means for adjusting the frequency and transmitting an electrical signal;
Electrical signal detecting means for detecting the electrical signal via a living body;
A dielectric constant calculating means for analyzing the electric signal detected by the electric signal detecting means and calculating a dielectric constant for each transmission frequency of the transmitted electric signal;
Dielectric relaxation frequency calculating means for calculating a dielectric relaxation frequency from the relationship between the transmission frequency of the transmitted electric signal and the calculated dielectric constant;
Health condition determining means for determining a health condition using the calculated dielectric relaxation frequency;
A biodiagnosis device comprising:   2. The living body according to claim 1, wherein the health state determining unit includes at least one of a blood state determining unit that determines a blood state and an alcohol concentration calculating unit that calculates an alcohol concentration of the living body. Diagnostic device. The blood state determination means includes a reference value storage means for storing the measured dielectric relaxation frequency as a reference value;
A measured value recording means for recording the newly measured dielectric relaxation frequency as a measured value;
Blood rheology calculating means for calculating a difference between the measured value and the reference value;
Blood rheology determination means for determining blood rheology based on a difference between the measured value and the reference value;
The biodiagnosis apparatus according to claim 2, comprising: The alcohol concentration calculating means calculates the alcohol concentration from the dielectric relaxation frequency calculated by the dielectric relaxation frequency calculating means, based on a relational expression between the alcohol concentration and the dielectric relaxation frequency obtained in advance. Item 3. The biodiagnosis device according to Item 2.

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