JP2008113861A - Oxygen enricher operating system, home medical equipment management method, and method of managing use of gas bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an oxygen enricher operation monitoring system which maintains an information sending and receiving function even when the system stops operating owing to a commercial power outage during a disaster. <P>SOLUTION: A respiration gas feeder 2 is composed by arranging a small battery 2-12 which supplies electric power to units such as sending and receiving terminal 3 and a main control sections 2-14 which consume a relatively low amount of electric power and are necessary for the maintenance of a communication function in addition to a large battery 2-13 which supplies emergency electric power to high power consumption units such as a compressor driving motor and a switching electromagnetic valve. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an oxygen concentrator operation system, a home medical device management method, and a gas cylinder usage management method, and more particularly, a medical oxygen concentrator configured to be able to monitor an operation state using a communication technology and an accompanying communication terminal. Regarding improvements.

  In recent years, the number of home medical patients who receive treatment at home has increased. In home medical care, it is not necessary for a patient to frequently visit a facility such as a hospital. For example, it is common to receive outpatient treatment at a facility about once a month. For this reason, it is a medical method that is effective for patients who are difficult to go out, or who are physically, economically, and time-consuming to take out (for example, elderly people), and do not always require hospitalized treatment that has been seen in the past. There is also a significance to contribute to the maintenance of the medical insurance system as a social security system by reducing unnecessary medical expenses by proceeding with treatment at home.

  In such home medical care, a medical device provided by a facility or the like is usually installed in a patient's home, and a patient (medical device user) uses the medical device to perform treatment. For example, oxygen therapy to be supplied from an oxygen cylinder is performed for patients with respiratory diseases, and recently, a respiratory gas supply device for separating and concentrating oxygen in the air to obtain an oxygen-enriched gas has been developed. Oxygen therapy using it is becoming increasingly popular. Such a breathing gas supply apparatus is increasingly used not only in hospitals but also in homes for home medical care. The medical device is a device for performing medical therapy.

  Since such a medical device affects the therapeutic effect of home medical care, that is, the patient's pathology, it is essential to support medical device inspection, parts replacement, response to device abnormalities, and the like. For this reason, in many cases, a company that sells, manufactures, or services medical devices (hereinafter also referred to as a support company), has knowledge of medical devices, and has managers or supporters who manage the devices. . In home medical care, this administrator or supporter goes to the patient (user) home and engages in medical equipment inspection, etc. for medical equipment inspection, parts replenishment, replacement, and equipment response.

  Cases where such an administrator or supporter visits a patient's home include equipment parts, replenishment replacement, and equipment abnormalities in addition to periodic maintenance and inspection of equipment. Regular items are performed according to a plan from the time of installation of the device, while irregular items are performed according to a report of an abnormality from a patient or a notification from a medical device monitoring system.

  By the way, home medical treatment including home oxygen therapy is literally performed mainly in the patient's home, so that it is difficult to perform it unless the patient's home environment is kept good. Factors that worsen the environment include natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and inundation of houses, and malfunctions in social infrastructure such as power outages and traffic disruptions.

As a response to such a situation, for example, the location of the typhoon approaching the patient's location, information on the damaged area, etc. are acquired in real time, map information is generated along with the patient's location information, and the supporter of the support company JP 2002-320675 A (Patent Document 1) discloses an information system for quickly going to a patient for assistance.
JP 2002-320675 A

  Natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes cause damage over a wide area, so if there is any impact on patients who receive home oxygen therapy at home, for example, the operation of the oxygen concentrator stops due to a power failure, In the case where it is difficult to continue operation due to water intrusion and the oxygen concentrator being covered with water due to water intrusion into the electrical equipment, etc., the number of home patients suffering damage increases at a time.

  On the other hand, in such an emergency situation, medical institutions and medical equipment suppliers contact the patient or patient family as much as possible by telephone, etc., so that the oxygen concentrator can continue to operate without damage or the oxygen concentrator It is required to quickly determine whether the vehicle is in a stopped state and should be delivered to the patient in order to continue inhaling the oxygen-enriched gas for the time being.

  However, as mentioned above, disasters often occur in a wide area, and the number of patients who may have been damaged, that is, patients to be confirmed, is extremely large. The confirmation is accompanied by great difficulty.

  In addition, it is also possible to send information to a corresponding patient using a web page browsing or e-mail via a rapidly developing internet communication network, or to send similar information via a mobile phone communication network. However, most of the oxygen therapy patients are elderly people, and they do not necessarily match the users of the IT infrastructure such as the Web and mobile phones. Can not expect to do.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described situation, and the main problem to be addressed is to provide a configuration that allows a user to quickly grasp the operating status of a home medical device when a disaster occurs.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an oxygen concentrator operation system described in (1), (6) and (9) below, a home medical device management method described in (2) to (5), And the use management method of the gas cylinder as described in (7) and (8) is provided.
(1) (A) at least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen rather than oxygen, and an air compressor for pressurizing and / or evacuating air to the adsorption cylinder A pressure fluctuation type oxygen concentrator having a switching valve that enables continuous generation of oxygen-enriched gas by switching between the adsorption process and the desorption process of the adsorption cylinder;
(B) Oxygen concentrator information generation for grasping the operation status of the oxygen concentrator or knowing the occurrence of an abnormality, or performing at least one of confirmation of execution of oxygen therapy treatment using the oxygen concentrator An oxygen concentrator operating system provided with an oxygen concentrator information terminal provided inside or outside the oxygen concentrator for receiving from the means and transmitting to a remote monitoring information terminal,
A first power supply means configured to include an air compressor drive means and a switching valve drive means as the system element to be supplied with power;
A second power supply means configured to include an information generation means and an oxygen concentrator information terminal, and not to include an air compressor drive means and a switching valve drive means, as the system element to be supplied with power; The oxygen concentrator operating system is characterized by comprising each.
(2) (a) understanding of driving status, (b) knowledge of occurrence of abnormalities or prediction of occurrence of abnormalities, and (c) execution of treatment of home medical equipment that is placed in the vicinity of a home patient and is used to treat this patient A home medical device management method including a step of performing remote monitoring of treatment using this home medical device by transmitting at least one of the information of confirmation from the medical device information terminal to a remote monitoring information terminal,
Furthermore, the home medical device management method characterized by having the process of transmitting the information regarding the supply condition of the driving power with respect to the said home medical device from a medical device information terminal to a monitoring information terminal.
(3) The home medical device management method according to (2), wherein the information regarding the supply status of the operating power is transmitted together with the position information of the home medical device generated by the position information generation unit.
(4) The home medical device has at least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen rather than oxygen, and air compression for supplying and / or depressurizing air to the adsorption cylinder. And a pressure fluctuation type oxygen concentrator having a switching valve that enables continuous generation of oxygen-enriched gas by switching between the adsorption process and the desorption process of the adsorption cylinder, (2) Or the home medical device management method as described in (3).
(5) The home medical device is configured such that the driving power is supplied from the battery, and the information regarding the supply status of the driving power is the remaining power amount or the supply voltage of the battery, The home medical device management method according to any one of (2) to (4).
(6) (A) at least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen rather than oxygen, and an air compressor for supplying and / or depressurizing air to the adsorption cylinder. A pressure-variable oxygen concentrator having a switching valve that enables continuous generation of an oxygen-enriched gas by switching between an adsorption process and a desorption process of the adsorption cylinder;
(B) battery means for supplying operating power to the oxygen concentrator;
(C) An oxygen concentrator operating system comprising: a transmission terminal that transmits information on the remaining power amount or supply voltage of the battery means to a remote monitoring information terminal via a communication path.
(7) A step of transmitting information on a result of detection by the detecting means regarding the residual gas amount or gas pressure value of the gas cylinder filled with the supply gas from a transmitting means attached to the gas cylinder to a remote receiving means via a communication path. A gas cylinder use management method.
(8) The gas cylinder usage management method according to (7), wherein the supply gas is an oxygen-enriched gas for inhalation, and the gas cylinder is a portable oxygen cylinder that can be carried and carried by a patient.
(9) (A) At least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen over oxygen, and an air compressor for pressurizing and / or evacuating air to the adsorption cylinder And a pressure-variable oxygen concentrator configured to be portable, having a switching valve that enables continuous oxygen-enriched gas generation by switching the adsorption process and desorption process of the adsorption cylinder,
(B) An oxygen concentrator operating system comprising a means for generating geographical position information of the oxygen concentrator and a transmitting means for transmitting the geographical position information to a remote monitoring information terminal,
A first power supply means configured to include an air compressor drive means and a switching valve drive means as the system element to be supplied with power;
Each of the system elements to be supplied with power includes a second power supply means including a generation means and a transmission means and configured not to include an air compressor drive means and a switching valve drive means. Oxygen concentrator operating system characterized by that.

  The present invention provides a number of effects, such as providing a configuration that allows a user to quickly grasp the operating status of a home medical device when a disaster occurs.

  Hereinafter, a breathing gas supply system which is the best embodiment using the home medical device management method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Basic configuration of breathing gas supply system]
In the breathing gas supply system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the breathing gas supply device 2 and the remote monitoring computer 4 have a communication connection, and perform various operations and information transmission / reception described below. To do.
On the other hand, as a system for grasping and managing the operation status of these breathing gas supply devices arranged in hospitals and homes, it has been described in detail in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2831399, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-52495, etc. It is an effective method to realize the breathing gas supply system 1 of the present embodiment by using the configuration and adding changes thereto.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1 of this specification, the breathing gas supply system 1 is connected to a communication network 5 exemplified by a public telephone line, a transmission / reception terminal 3 connected to the first node 5a of the communication network 5, and a transmission / reception terminal 3. The basic configuration includes a breathing gas supply device 2, a monitoring computer 4 connected to the second node 5b of the communication network 5, and a patient database 6 connected to the monitoring computer 4.
The transmission / reception terminal 3 will be described as a configuration separately provided in the vicinity of the breathing gas supply device 5, but the transmission / reception terminal 3 is entirely or partially incorporated into the breathing gas supply device 2. May be.
The communication network 5 need not be limited to a public telephone line, and can be realized by any available communication network such as an Internet communication network, a dedicated communication line, a PHS communication network, and a mobile phone communication network.

The transmission / reception terminal 3 and the breathing gas supply device 2 are arranged at the home 10 of the patient who receives home medical care, and the monitoring computer 4 is operating normally by the home medical device (the breathing gas supply device 2 in the example). In addition, it is arranged in the monitoring center 11 which is a facility for monitoring the execution of treatment and treatment from a distance and ensuring the execution of appropriate home medical care.
Further, in this system 1, a large number of homes 10 for home patients, that is, the breathing gas supply device 2 and the transmission / reception terminal 3 are arranged in various places such as all over Japan, and the following explanation and illustration are given to avoid complications. Is limited to a single patient home 10.

[Configuration outline of pressure fluctuation type gas separation device]
The above-described breathing gas supply device 2 can be realized as a medical oxygen concentrator which is a pressure fluctuation type gas separation device, for example, and this kind of gas separation device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-83516. Detailed disclosure is made in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-151315.
A gas separation device is a general term for devices for taking out a specific component (hereinafter referred to as product gas) from a gas (hereinafter referred to as source gas) in which at least two kinds of gases are mixed. There are many types of gas separation devices depending on the separation principle, but the pressure swing adsorption type (also called pressure fluctuation type) gas separation device uses an adsorbent that preferentially adsorbs certain gas molecules, Adsorbed to the adsorbent by lowering the gas pressure and an adsorption process in which the raw material gas is brought into contact with the adsorbent at a relatively high pressure to adsorb components that are easily adsorbed by the adsorbent, and the gas pressure is reduced. The apparatus separates the raw material gas into a component that is easily adsorbed by the adsorbent and a component that is difficult to be adsorbed by repeating the desorption process of desorbing and removing the adsorbed component. The product gas can be a component that is easily adsorbed, a component that is difficult to adsorb, or both, but in the actual equipment, the process configuration is optimized so that the target component can be efficiently extracted with the required purity. Has been.

A typical configuration example of a relatively simple pressure swing type gas separation apparatus is shown in FIG. 15 of JP-A-2005-83516.
In this example, the product gas is a component that is difficult to be adsorbed by the adsorbent, and the component that is easily adsorbed is discharged as exhaust gas. Usually, the adsorbent is stored in a cylindrical container called an adsorption cylinder, and gas outlets are attached to both ends of the cylinder. In this configuration example, there are two adsorption cylinders, but one end (hereinafter referred to as supply end) of each adsorption cylinder is connected to a four-way valve, and each adsorption cylinder is connected to a compressor or connected to an exhaust port. Is switched. The compressor works to take in external air, increase the pressure and supply it to the adsorption cylinder, and the exhaust port is normally released to the atmosphere through a silencer. A product take-out valve, a pressure equalizing valve, and an orifice are connected to the other side (hereinafter referred to as product end) of the adsorption cylinder. A product tank is connected to the downstream side of the product take-out valve, and a flow rate adjusting valve is attached to the further downstream side. The product take-off valve may be replaced by a check valve, and the orifice may be attached between each suction cylinder and the product tank, not between the two suction cylinders, but the role is the same. The operation of this device is as follows.

  First, when the four-way valve is switched and the compressor and the adsorption cylinder are connected, and the adsorption cylinder and the exhaust are connected, the raw material gas is supplied to the adsorption cylinder and the pressure rises, and the exhaust gas is discharged from the adsorption cylinder. As a result, the pressure drops. When the pressure in the adsorption cylinder rises to a predetermined pressure, the product take-off valve is opened and product gas is supplied to the product tank. When a predetermined time elapses, the four-way valve is switched, and the adsorption cylinder is connected to the exhaust port, and the adsorption cylinder is connected to the compressor, and is depressurized and pressurized, respectively. When the pressure in the adsorption cylinder reaches a predetermined pressure, the product take-off valve is opened, and product gas is supplied from the adsorption cylinder to the product tank. When the predetermined time elapses, the four-way valve is switched again and returns to the initial state.

  The period during which the adsorption cylinder is pressurized is generally called an adsorption process, and the period during which the adsorption cylinder is exhausted is called a desorption process. The pressure equalizing valve normally opens for a predetermined time before and after the four-way valve is switched, and during that period, gas flows from the adsorption cylinder with the higher pressure through the pressure equalizing valve to the adsorbent with the lower pressure, and the four-way valve is switched. Helps pressurize and depressurize the suction cylinder later. This process is called a pressure equalization process.

  As described above, the orifice is connected between the two adsorption cylinder product ends, and part of the product gas taken out from the adsorption cylinder with the higher pressure flows into the adsorption cylinder with the lower pressure through the orifice, and is unnecessary. Helps exhaust components. This is called purging. When purging is performed, the partial pressure of unnecessary components in the adsorption tower during the desorption process is lower than when purging is not performed, and dissociation of unnecessary components from the adsorbent is promoted. Furthermore, unnecessary components in the gas phase are also pushed out by the purge gas toward the adsorption cylinder supply end and exhausted. This effect increases as the amount of purge gas increases, but if the amount of purge gas increases too much, a part of the purge gas is exhausted from the adsorption cylinder supply end, which substantially discards a part of the product gas. As a result, the separation efficiency is reduced. As described above, when the purge amount is small, the effect of lowering the partial pressure of unnecessary components is low, and when the purge amount is too large, the purge gas is exhausted from the suction cylinder supply end and efficiency is lowered. is there. In many processes, a relatively high separation efficiency is obtained by performing this purge.

[Configuration of breathing gas supply device]
Next, a detailed configuration of the breathing gas supply device 2 for continuously generating and supplying the oxygen-enriched gas for inhalation to the patient will be described with reference to FIG. In the implementation of the present invention, the configuration related to the basic oxygen concentration function of the oxygen concentrator is not limited to the mode described here, and may be a known configuration or various configurations proposed in the future. In addition, in the following description, the operation principle of the pressure fluctuation type gas separation device is appropriately used.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 2, the breathing gas supply device 2 includes an electric motor in an adsorption cylinder (contained in the adsorption unit 2-5) filled with an adsorbent that selectively adsorbs nitrogen rather than oxygen. Compressed air compressed from the atmosphere by a compressor 2-4 as a drive unit is supplied, the inside of the adsorption cylinder is pressurized, nitrogen is adsorbed, and oxygen that has not been adsorbed is taken out. The oxygen-enriched gas, mainly oxygen extracted from the adsorption cylinder, is stored in the product tank 2-6, and then passed through the ultrasonic sensor unit 2-7 and the breathing synchronization unit 2-8, from the product supply end 2-9. It is supplied to the outside of the apparatus 2 and supplied to the user (oxygen therapy patient) through a nasal cannula 2-12 which is a tube member that transports the oxygen-enriched gas from the oxygen concentrator 2 to the vicinity of the patient's nasal cavity.
Here, because the amount of nitrogen that can be adsorbed in one process is determined by the amount and type of adsorbent, the flow switching valve is switched before the amount of nitrogen adsorbed on the adsorbent is saturated. The adsorption cylinder is opened to the atmosphere, the pressure inside the adsorption cylinder is reduced, and nitrogen is desorbed to regenerate the adsorbent.

Further, the flow path switching valve is configured using an electromagnetic valve in the same manner as other switching valves that will be described in the future, and a solenoid actuator that realizes opening and closing of the valve by selection of current conduction and current interruption is attached as its drive unit. ing.
The applied current of the flow path switching valve is controlled by the main control unit 2-14 such that the flow path switching valve is switched at a preset time. In order to increase the adsorption / desorption amount in one process, the pressure inside the adsorption cylinder in the desorption process may be evacuated using a vacuum pump.

  In order to configure the breathing gas supply device 2 of the present embodiment so that it can be operated more compactly and lightly or with high efficiency, for example, using the configuration described in Japanese Patent No. 3269626, pressurization and desorption with respect to a plurality of adsorption cylinders It is desirable that the gas flow path for the suction unit is an adsorption unit 2-5 provided with rotary valve means for successively and continuously forming the rotary part by rotating the rotary part with an electric motor.

  The ultrasonic sensor unit 2-7 has the same direction as the flow direction of the oxygen-enriched gas flowing in the nasal cannula 2-12 as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-214012 related to the applicant's application. And the velocity of the propagation of two sound waves in the opposite direction, eg ultrasound, can be used to determine the actual flow rate of the oxygen-enriched gas flowing through the nasal cannula 2-20 from the different amounts of the two measurements. . Moreover, you may have the structure which measures the actual flow volume of oxygen-enriched gas using another structure and system.

  Furthermore, the respiration synchronizer 2-8 detects the patient's respiration and supplies oxygen-enriched gas only during the inspiration period (inhaling air) and stops supplying during the expiration period (with air) By realizing the function of a so-called demand regulator, it is intended to conserve the amount of oxygen-enriched gas supplied to the patient while not affecting the patient's inhalation. Can be reduced in the operation mode in which the power supply source is used, and the operation time until the next charging can be extended in the operation mode in which the rechargeable battery is the power supply source.

  As described above, the operation mode (hereinafter also referred to as the synchronization mode) in which the patient's respiration is detected and the oxygen-enriched gas is supplied only during the inspiration period, and the oxygen-enriched gas at a constant flow rate is supplied regardless of the patient's respiration. The breathing gas supply device 2 is provided with an operation switch (not shown) for switching the operation mode (hereinafter also referred to as a continuous mode) to be constantly supplied. You may comprise so that oxygen-enriched gas inhalation may be performed in a mode. This is to enable the supply of oxygen-enriched gas to continue even when the patient during sleep breathes through the mouth instead of the nasal cavity and is not detected.

  A specific configuration for detecting patient breathing is, for example, an audio signal (patient breathing sound) using an optical microphone as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-272845 related to the applicant's application. ) Is converted into an optical signal, then converted into a voltage signal, and further converted into a frequency, analysis in the frequency domain is performed, and breathing is detected by the difference in the frequency band, as disclosed in JP-A-62-270170. Capacitance is detected using a method in which a sensor composed of a pyroelectric element is provided on the nasal cannula as described, or a polymer film in which a conductive layer is laminated as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-71894. A configuration using a diaphragm type pressure detector, or a pressure detector provided near the oxygen supply port of the oxygen concentrator main body as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-88078, and oxygen enrichment based on the signal from the pressure detector. There is a method to control the supply of chemical gas, Or it can be realized by other methods.

Note that the breathing gas supply device 2 may be configured to supply the patient with oxygen-enriched gas having only a continuous flow without mounting the breathing synchronization unit 2-9. Therefore, when referring to the supply of oxygen-enriched gas in the following description, there is no particular limitation on whether the supply is a continuous flow or a supply in a tuned mode, and the present invention is not limited in any case. To establish.
The display unit 2-10 is a display means including a display member such as a liquid crystal panel and its peripheral interface unit, and displays information transmitted from the main control unit 2-14 on this display member.

  The input / output terminal 2-11 is an output terminal or transmission interface for sending various information sent from the main control unit 2-14 to a device other than the oxygen concentrator 1 such as a personal computer via a wireless or wired transmission path. (RS-232C, USB, Bluetooth, or other known communication standards may be used), and signals can be sent to and received from the pulse oximeter 3 or other external device via the signal cable 4 etc. Is a reception interface that receives signals from the outside and sends them to the main control unit 2-14 and the like. The information sent from the input / output terminal 2-11 includes the contents displayed on the conventional oxygen concentrator (flow rate setting value, operation hour meter information, etc.), as well as the monitoring computer 4 via the communication path 5. It is also an information path for sending information to be sent to the transmitting / receiving terminal 3 and receiving information from the monitoring computer 4.

  Further, the flow rate setting unit not shown in FIG. 2 is for setting the flow rate of the oxygen-enriched gas to be supplied by a user such as a patient. When a desired selection value is selected from 1 / min, 2 liter / min, 3 liter / min, etc., the main control unit 2-14 that detects this selection value operates the compressor 2-4 and the adsorption unit 2-5. The desired flow rate that has been set is realized by controlling the speed and the like.

The compressor 2-4 includes a compressor driving electric motor (not shown) for driving the compressor 2-4, and the compressor driving motor realizes the rotation speed set by the main control unit 2-14. Thus, the compressor 2-4 is driven to rotate in accordance with the drive current generated and output by the power control unit 2-23. The compression mechanism part of the compressor 2-4 compresses air by the rotational force obtained by the compressor drive motor, and there are various types depending on the compression method. The reciprocating piston type and rotary scroll are available. A type or the like is generally used, but any type may be used as long as it can compress air in the atmosphere.
In addition to the drive current output for driving the compressor 2-4 as described above, the power supply control unit 2-23 has a function of supplying power to each component included in the breathing gas supply device 2.

Note that the breathing gas supply device 2 of the present embodiment has a characteristic point for dealing with a case where a household AC power supply fails due to a disaster or the like. In a conventional typical oxygen concentrator, only a household AC power source is used. The two-way power supply system with a built-in large battery 2-13 and household AC power supply has been adopted. For this purpose, a power input terminal 2-21 is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the housing facing the outside of the apparatus, through which power can be supplied from the AC power supply unit 2-15 in an alternating current, and the power input terminal 2- When power cannot be supplied from the household AC power source through 21, the power is supplied to the power control unit 2-23 by discharging from the battery 2-13.
Note that the battery 2-13 is normally charged with the power supplied from the AC power supply unit 2-15 with the battery 2-13 attached to the portable oxygen concentrator 2 at the power input terminal 2-21. And it is executed by being supplied via the power supply control unit 2-3.

In addition to the large battery 2-13, the breathing gas supply device 2 includes components having relatively high power, such as a drive motor for the compressor 2-4 and an electromagnetic valve actuator for the adsorption unit. A small battery 2-12 realized by a dry battery, a stacked dry battery, a button battery, a rechargeable battery, or the like is disposed. A countermeasure for dealing with a disaster using the small battery 2-12 will be described separately.
The main control unit 2-14 controls each component of the breathing gas supply device 2 to supply the oxygen-enriched gas so as to supply the oxygen-enriched gas. Do all the control to deal with.

[Monitoring operation during normal operation using transceiver terminals]
The breathing gas supply device 2 described above is provided with a number of various sensors (not shown) such as a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a voltage sensor, and a flow rate sensor for monitoring the operation. And the transmission / reception terminal 3 cooperate to make sure that the breathing gas supply device 2 continues to operate normally, that there is no abnormality in the apparatus, or that an abnormality has occurred, for example, the oxygen concentration is currently in the normal range. In spite of this, a downward trend is seen, so that it is predicted that an abnormality such as a future shortage of oxygen concentration is predicted, and that the patient reliably performs treatment using this breathing gas supply device 2 As a result, it is ensured that the treatment is reliably performed.
The transmission / reception terminal 3 includes a transmission unit (not shown) to the communication path 5 via the node 5a and a reception unit (not shown) from the communication path 5.

The breathing gas supply device 2 includes an information collection function unit for collecting information on the use of internal units such as a nitrogen adsorption cylinder and a compressor, a conversion unit for converting the information as necessary, and the converted information. Each component may be provided such as a storage unit for storing the information as necessary, and some of these functions may be executed by the main control unit 2-14.
For example, in the case of an oxygen concentrator such as a membrane type or an adsorption type, such information on abnormalities in pressure, oxygen concentration, flow rate, temperature in the concentrator, current, power supply voltage, built-in computer, etc. is necessary. The oxygen concentration, flow rate, pressure, temperature, and the like, the operation time of the concentrator, the used flow rate setting value, the information on the patient, such as the device number of the concentrator, the name of the patient, and the like.

These pieces of information may be detected and collected by the detection unit provided in the respiratory gas supply device 2, or may be a measuring instrument outside the respiratory gas supply device 2, for example, oxygen It is detected by connecting a detector (that is, a tester) equipped with a concentration detector, a flow meter, etc. to the oxygen concentrator as necessary, and is input by the input means, and this information is also collected and utilized in the same manner. It may be configured as follows.
In addition, for example, since a downward trend is seen even though the oxygen concentration is currently in the normal range, this system predicts the occurrence of abnormalities in this breathing gas supply device 2 such as the point that future oxygen concentration shortage is predicted. 1 is configured to be executable.

  In addition, when supplying respiratory gas to a patient, a means for detecting the patient's inspiration and supplying gas only at the time of inspiration, a so-called demand function unit, is provided, and this patient's respiration detection information is also used as collection target information. Well, in this case, so-called treatment compliance information is obtained as a fact that the supplied gas 2 is not merely operated but the supplied gas is inhaled by the patient. By using treatment compliance information, it is possible to confirm that the patient is actually inhaling oxygen-enriched gas and the home medical treatment is being performed, not just the breathing gas supply device 2 was operating. It becomes.

  The information related to the operation abnormality of the breathing gas supply device 2 includes information about the detected gas pressure, temperature, oxygen concentration, flow rate, etc., and each predetermined value stored in advance (that is, an appropriate value to be compared). ) And the comparison means, and it is desirable that at least one type of information is detected as abnormal when it is determined that there is an abnormality from the result of the comparison.

  Here, the gas pressure refers to, for example, the pressure in an adsorption bed or an oxygen-concentrated gas storage tank that is normally checked in the case of a pressure fluctuation adsorption-type oxygen concentrator, and a vacuum pump in the case of a membrane-type oxygen concentrator. Refers to the pressure in the area reduced by. The temperature refers to the temperature of the internal space of the compressor chamber and vacuum pump chamber, for example, in the case of adsorption type and membrane type oxygen concentrators, and the flow rate refers to the flow rate of the breathing gas used for normal use. Any device may be used as long as it can be used for monitoring the operating state of the respiratory gas supply device 2 and finding abnormalities.

Examples of conversion means provided in the breathing gas supply device 2 include analog / digital (A / D) conversion means and parallel / serial signal conversion means for transmission when the information is an analog signal. In addition, when information is based on a contact signal or an operation signal, there may be a configuration in which the information is used as it is without going through such conversion means.
As the storage means provided, microcomputer means is preferably used. In this case, it is desirable to use at least one of overcurrent, computer operation abnormality, power supply voltage abnormality, etc. as information relating to abnormality.

[Transmission operation of breathing gas supply device operation information and patient information]
Information regarding the operation of the breathing gas supply device 2 as described above, information regarding abnormalities occurring in the breathing gas supply device 2, and patient treatment compliance information (collectively referred to as medical device information). The information is generated as transmission information by the main control unit 2-14 and is once stored in the storage means or transmitted from the transmission / reception terminal 3 to the monitoring computer 4 via the communication path 2 in real time.
The transmission may be performed in real time as described above, or may be performed on a regular basis every day or as needed according to the operation of the transmission / reception terminal 3. Further, it may be performed at any time in response to a request from the monitoring computer 4.

The monitoring computer 4 that has received the transmission information records and holds the information in an appropriate recording means (not shown) such as a hard disk, and displays it on the computer display unit 7 so that the operator can view it. Are generated in a form such as a report and sent to a medical staff by e-mail, or printed on a paper medium by a printing machine (not shown) for viewing.
As a result, in the monitoring center 11, the normal operation of the breathing gas supply device 2 disposed remotely and the execution of the gas inhalation by the patient are continuously confirmed to ensure the execution of home medical care.

[Configuration of monitoring computer and patient database]
The exemplified configuration of the monitoring computer 4 arranged in the monitoring center 11 is a personal computer that is mounted so that an application program for performing the operation described in each of the embodiments of the present application can be executed. The transmission / reception function, the application program execution function, the information recording / reading function, and the like are well-known techniques as a configuration of a general personal computer and peripheral devices, and thus description thereof is omitted.
The computer display unit 7 is a monitor that is connected to the monitoring computer 4 and displays information according to the control thereof, and is realized by a liquid crystal monitor or the like.

In the patient database 6, the patient's name and address (the patient's location, which is the address of the patient's home 10 and where home medical care is performed), information on the communication path node 5a, and the like are exemplified on the hard disk. The server is configured to be recorded in the record holding unit and readable from the monitoring computer 4.
The information stored in this patient database 6 includes patient attribute data such as patient address, name, and gender, type of medical device installed, medical device data such as date of installation, prescription contents by medical device (implementation of home oxygen therapy) Is prescribed by a doctor, and its content is inhaled at a flow rate of 2 liters per minute at a flow rate of 2 liters per minute or more at a flow rate of 3 liters per minute during labor or exercise, such as during exercise or work. ) It can be information related to the patient and home medical care received by the patient, such as prescription data such as the name of the facility.

[Operation of breathing gas supply device and transmitter / receiver terminal in case of disaster-Stage of continuous operation with large battery]
In the case of disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes, power outages in the area often occur.
Therefore, in the breathing gas supply device 2 of the present embodiment, the large battery 2-13 described above is used to supply power to the breathing gas supply device 2 in general so that the oxygen-enriched gas supply to the patient can be prevented during a power failure. Will continue.

  That is, when the main control unit 2-14 detects that the AC power supply from the power input terminal 2-21 has been interrupted, the main control unit 2-14 automatically or in response to a manual operation of a patient or a patient family, or also displays the detection result. In response to the command signal received from the monitoring computer 4 via the communication path, the discharge power from the large battery 2-13 is supplied to each unit of the breathing gas supply device 2, in particular, the compressor driving motor, and the adsorption unit 2- Control is performed so as to be supplied to each unit including 5 solenoid valves or a rotary valve drive unit. When such control is performed, these operations, that is, information transmission for notifying the monitoring center 11 of the fact that the operation of the breathing gas supply device 2 is performed by the power supplied from the large battery 2-13 are performed. It may be performed via the transmission / reception terminal 3 and the communication path 5.

However, the compressor drive motor and the unit including the electromagnetic valve or rotary valve drive unit of the adsorption unit 2-5 consume relatively large power, and the discharge power from the large battery 2-13 takes a long time. It is difficult to continue the operation, and in a typical configuration, the power supplied from the large battery 2-13 is also interrupted after several hours.
Therefore, in the breathing gas supply device 2, while the discharge power is being supplied from the large battery 2-13, the remaining power that the large battery 2-13 can still supply in the future under the control of the main control unit 2-14. The monitoring center 11 is transmitted via the transmission / reception terminal 3 and the communication path 5 by detecting the amount or the supply voltage from the large battery 2-13.

As a result, the monitoring center 11 can know how many hours this patient can continue to inhale the oxygen-enriched gas, and when a spare battery is to be delivered to each patient from the sales office or medical institution. It can also be used to determine priorities, and if it is a serious patient and emergency treatment is needed as soon as possible, it is possible to contact an administrative organization or the like.
It should be noted that the situation differs depending on the individual patient, such as comorbidities and pathological severity, and it cannot be generally stated, but in many cases, patients receiving home oxygen therapy are unable to inhale oxygen-enriched gas. Even if it becomes, it will be noted that there is little possibility that it will interfere with the maintenance of life in a short time.

  In addition, as described above, information on power supply, such as information notifying the occurrence of a power failure, remaining power amount and voltage value of the large battery 2-13, information on the geographical position of the breathing gas supply device 2 can be obtained from GPS. It is also conceivable that such a geographical position measuring device is obtained by being disposed inside or outside the breathing gas supply device and transmitted together with the geographical position information. By configuring in this way, the patient's whereabouts need to be handled can be obtained quickly and without relying on other stored data such as server data. In addition, the patient can be effectively treated even when the stored data at the monitoring center 11 is destroyed or lost.

[Operation of breathing gas supply device and transmission / reception terminal when disaster occurs-Communication maintenance stage with small battery]
When the remaining power of the large battery 2-13 is exhausted as described above, each unit for oxygen generation in the breathing gas supply device 2 cannot be driven or operated, and supply of oxygen-enriched gas to the patient In addition, the operation of the main control unit 2-14 and the transmission / reception terminal 3 is stopped, and all information transmission / reception with the monitoring computer 4 is interrupted. It was a drawback in the prior art configuration that it could not be received.

  Therefore, in the breathing gas supply device 2 of the present embodiment, a small battery 2-12 is provided separately from the large battery 2-13, and the small battery 2-12 serves as a power supply destination of the main control unit 2-14. Including the transmission / reception terminal 3, the high power consumption unit such as the electric motor for driving the compressor 2-4 and the switching valve actuator of the adsorption unit 2-5 is not included.

As a result, even if the configuration of the small battery 2-12 is relatively small capacity, small size, and low cost, the function of each unit of the communication system with relatively low power consumption is maintained over a long period of time. In 11, you can get information and grasp the situation.
In this case, it is effective to include the above-described various sensors and various storage units in addition to the main control unit 2-14 as the power supply destination of the small battery 2-12. Further, the remaining power amount and supply voltage of the small battery 2-12 may be transmitted as information to the monitoring center 11.

  As a result of realizing the communication function maintenance using the small battery 2-12 as described above, if the breathing gas supply device 2 of the present embodiment is used, the fact that the operation switch is turned on or the patient operated the operation unit The fact that the patient is requesting an oxygen-enriched gas supply from the fact, and the situation of the internal configuration of this breathing gas supply device 2 although it is not supplying an oxygen-enriched gas, such as the internal temperature, whether moisture has entered the interior Etc. can be grasped by information transmission, and patient response at the time of disaster can be made more reliable, advanced and quick.

[Modification]
The present invention disclosed in the above description can of course be implemented in various modes without changing the gist of the present invention, and the following modified invention can also be implemented. Make a part.
That is, in the first modified example, the function of the transmission / reception terminal 3 does not include the operation monitoring information of the breathing gas supply device 2, and the information related to the supply of the operating power to the breathing gas supply device 2, that is, described above. Such a configuration specializes in the occurrence of power outages and battery information. With this configuration, the entire system can be configured more simply and the communication cost burden can be reduced.

In the second modified example, the breathing gas supply device 2 itself is not used in a stationary and stationary manner at the patient's home, but a portable mobile type using the battery corresponding to the large battery 2-13 as the main power supply source. Configure as. In this case, the communication channel naturally uses a wireless communication channel.
In the third modification, instead of transmitting information on the power supply status in the oxygen concentrator, detection result information on the residual gas amount or gas pressure value in a cylinder filled with a breathing gas, preferably a portable cylinder To send.
For example, the gas pressure is a value measured by a pressure gauge, and the residual gas amount can be detected based on an integrated supply gas amount by a flow meter.

  By configuring in this way, as well as power outages and battery conditions, the current or future from portable oxygen cylinders, which are important means used as a backup, especially when going out of the patient, when a disaster occurs, or when the oxygen concentrator breaks down It is possible for medical institutions and medical equipment suppliers to grasp the oxygen supply situation over the period. As a result, it is the same advantage as the embodiment described above that the patient can be handled more reliably when a disaster occurs.

In the fourth modification, the large gas 2-13 is not provided as an emergency power source in the breathing gas supply device 2, but only the small battery 2-12 is provided to maintain the communication function in the event of a disaster.
In the fifth modified example, although the functions of the main control unit 2-14 and the like are maintained by the small battery 2-12 and information regarding the state of the breathing gas supply device 2 is generated, the information is transmitted via the communication path. Rather than being transmitted, it is acquired by a communication connection with a hand-held inspection device brought to the breathing gas supply device 2 by the maintenance personnel, or displayed on the display unit 2-10 of the breathing gas supply device 2 It is confirmed by being made.

Further, in the above-described embodiment or modification, a known position detection device represented by GPS is used, or it has a built-in function inside, thereby detecting the geographical position of the oxygen concentrator and the oxygen cylinder. Sending the information together is desirable and recommended as a patient response in the event of a disaster.
The location information here may be address information (also referred to as geographical location information) as a social arrangement such as 2-1-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, such as information handled by car navigation, It may be physical coordinate information (physical position information) on the earth as many times as east longitude, or any other information indicating the position, such as relative position information with respect to a specific reference position.

  In the sixth modification, the oxygen concentrator configured as a stationary type or a portable type is provided with a known position information generation unit typified by GPS inside or outside, and remotely from a transmission terminal also provided inside or outside. A large battery that supplies emergency power to a large power consumption unit such as a compressor drive motor and switching solenoid valve in a configuration for backing up patient behavior by appropriately transmitting the position information of the oxygen concentrator to the monitoring computer In addition, it is configured as an oxygen concentrator provided with a small battery for supplying power to a unit necessary for maintaining the communication function of the position information, such as the position information generation unit and the transmission terminal 3, with relatively low power consumption. As a result, not only when a disaster occurs but also when the power of the large battery is exhausted, the spare battery can be delivered and the patient status can be grasped quickly and reliably.

1 is a configuration diagram of a breathing gas supply system according to the best embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the breathing gas supply apparatus which the system of FIG. 1 has.

Explanation of symbols

2 Breathing gas supply device (pressure fluctuation type oxygen concentrator)
2-4 Compressor (Air compressor)
2-5 Adsorption unit (adsorption cylinder, switching valve)
2-12 Small battery (second power supply means)
2-13 Large battery (first power supply means)
2-14 Main control unit (information generation means)
3. Transmission / reception terminal (oxygen concentrator information terminal)

Claims (9)

(A) at least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen over oxygen, an air compressor for pressurizing and / or evacuating air to the adsorption cylinder, A pressure fluctuation type oxygen concentrator having a switching valve that enables continuous generation of oxygen-enriched gas by switching the adsorption process and desorption process of the adsorption cylinder;
(B) Information on the operation of the oxygen concentrator, information on occurrence of abnormality, or information for performing at least one of confirmation of execution of oxygen therapy treatment using the oxygen concentrator An oxygen concentrator operating system comprising: an oxygen concentrator information terminal provided inside or outside the oxygen concentrator for receiving from a generating means and transmitting to a remote monitoring information terminal,
A first power supply means configured to include a drive means for the air compressor and a drive means for the switching valve as the system elements to be supplied with power;
The system element to be supplied with electric power includes the information generation means and the oxygen concentrator information terminal, and is configured not to include the air compressor driving means and the switching valve driving means. An oxygen concentrator operating system comprising a power supply means. Of the home medical devices that are placed in the vicinity of the home patient and are used to treat this patient, (a) understanding the driving status, (b) knowing about the occurrence or prediction of an abnormality, and (c) confirming the execution of treatment. A home medical device management method including a step of performing remote monitoring of treatment using this home medical device by transmitting at least one information from a medical device information terminal to a remote monitoring information terminal,
Furthermore, the home medical device management method characterized by having the process of transmitting the information regarding the supply condition of the driving power with respect to the said home medical device from the said medical device information terminal to the said monitoring information terminal.   The home medical device management method according to claim 2, wherein the information regarding the supply status of the driving power is transmitted together with the position information of the home medical device generated by the position information generation unit.   The home medical device includes at least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen rather than oxygen, and an air compressor for pressurizing and / or evacuating air to the adsorption cylinder. The pressure fluctuation type oxygen concentrator having a switching valve that enables continuous generation of an oxygen-enriched gas by switching between an adsorption process and a desorption process of the adsorption cylinder. Item 6. A home medical device management method according to Item 3.   The home medical device is configured to be supplied with operating power from a battery, and the information regarding the supply status of the operating power is a remaining power amount or a supply voltage of the battery. The home medical device management method according to any one of claims 2 to 4. (A) at least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen rather than oxygen, an air compressor for pressurizing and / or evacuating air to the adsorption cylinder, and the adsorption A pressure fluctuation type oxygen concentrator having a switching valve that enables continuous production of oxygen-enriched gas by switching the adsorption process and desorption process of the cylinder;
(B) battery means for supplying operating power to the oxygen concentrator;
(C) An oxygen concentrator operating system comprising: a transmission terminal that transmits information related to the remaining power amount or supply voltage of the battery means to a remote monitoring information terminal via a communication path.   Transmitting the information of the detection result by the detection means regarding the residual gas amount or gas pressure value of the gas cylinder filled with the supply gas from the transmission means attached to the gas cylinder to the remote reception means via the communication path; How to use gas cylinders.   The method for managing the use of a gas cylinder according to claim 7, wherein the supply gas is an oxygen-enriched gas for inhalation, and the gas cylinder is a portable oxygen cylinder that can be carried and carried by a patient. (A) at least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent capable of selectively adsorbing nitrogen over oxygen, an air compressor for pressurizing and / or evacuating air to the adsorption cylinder, A pressure-variable oxygen concentrator configured to be portable and having a switching valve that enables continuous generation of oxygen-enriched gas by switching the adsorption process and desorption process of the adsorption cylinder;
(B) An oxygen concentrator operating system comprising: means for generating the geographical position information of the oxygen concentrator; and transmission means for transmitting the geographical position information to a remote monitoring information terminal,
A first power supply means configured to include a drive means for the air compressor and a drive means for the switching valve as the system elements to be supplied with power;
A second power supply means configured to include the generation means and the transmission means, and not to include the air compressor drive means and the switching valve drive means, as the system element to be supplied with power; The oxygen concentrator operating system is characterized by comprising each.

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