JP2008237617A - Activity meter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an activity meter capable of efficiently collecting measured data of a subject. <P>SOLUTION: The activity meter includes an acceleration detecting means 1 attached to a user's body for detecting the acceleration; a user ID registration means 2a for registering the user's ID; a user ID selecting means 2b for selecting the user ID to be used from among a plurality of user IDs registered in the user ID registration means 2a; an activity quantity computing means 2c for computing the quantity of activity based on the acceleration acquired by the acceleration detecting means 1; a measured data storage means 3 to be used for storing the quantity of activity computed by the activity quantity computing means 2c; and a measured data storing means 2d for storing the user ID selected by the user ID selecting means 2b and the quantity of activity computed by the activity quantity computing means 2c as correlated to each other in the measured data storage means 3. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an activity meter that is attached to a human body and measures an activity amount.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed an activity meter that is attached to a human body and measures an activity amount such as a person's exercise intensity (activity intensity) and kinetic energy consumed by a person's action.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 includes an input unit for inputting data of a subject (measurement object), an acceleration sensor, an activity data processing unit, a calendar unit, a display unit, a storage unit, a data receiving unit, An activity meter (activity state measuring device) composed of a data transmission unit is disclosed.

The activity meter of Patent Document 1 converts a signal (analog signal) output from an acceleration sensor into acceleration data (digital signal), and creates activity data (activity intensity) from the converted acceleration data. Based on the data, kinetic energy (exercise consumption) is calculated.
JP 2004-121562 A

  In recent years, with the spread of the activity meter as described above, the activity meter has come to be used in health guidance such as health management and a health examination business for conducting a health examination. For example, a daily activity deficit is evaluated by measuring an activity amount of a subject for one week using an activity meter.

  In such a medical examination business, there is a demand for efficiently collecting measurement data such as the amount of activity of a subject in order to conduct a medical examination for many people.

  However, since the conventional activity meter can only store measurement data such as activity data for one person, it is necessary to collect measurement data every time a subject's measurement is completed. There is a problem that labor is required, measurement data cannot be collected smoothly, and efficiency is poor.

  In order to solve such a problem, it is only necessary to pass an activity meter to each of the subjects, but another problem arises that the cost required for the implementation of the health checkup project becomes high.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an activity meter that can efficiently collect measurement data of a subject.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the invention of claim 1, an acceleration detection unit that is mounted on a human body and detects acceleration, a user ID registration unit that registers a user ID, and a plurality of user ID registration units registered by the user ID registration unit User ID selection means for selecting a user ID to be used from user IDs, activity amount calculation means for calculating an activity amount based on the acceleration obtained by the acceleration detection means, and activity calculated by the activity amount calculation means Measurement data storage means used for storing the quantity, and measurement data storage means for associating the user ID selected by the user ID selection means with the activity amount calculated by the activity quantity calculation means, and storing it in the measurement data storage means It is characterized by having.

  According to the invention of claim 1, since the activity amount calculated by the activity amount calculation means and the user ID selected by the user ID selection means are stored in association with each other in the measurement data storage means, Since the measurement data of all subjects can be obtained by reading the measurement data when the measurement is completed, unlike the conventional method, it is not necessary to read the measurement data every time the measurement of the activity amount is completed, and the measurement data of the subject is efficiently obtained. Can be collected.

  The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1, the display means and display control means for displaying the user ID selected by the user ID selection means on the display means.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent wrong use of another person's user ID.

  The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, an operation means for starting or stopping the measurement of the amount of activity is provided.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the measurement of the activity amount can be started or stopped by operating the operation means, for example, when the measurement is not performed such as during sleep, the measurement of the activity amount is stopped. Therefore, if the activity meter's battery capacity and the storage capacity of the data storage means are the same, power consumption of the activity meter can be saved, and the measurement data storage means can be saved. Can be collected.

  The present invention has an effect that measurement data of a subject can be collected efficiently.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an activity meter according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an acceleration detection unit 1 that is mounted on a human body and detects triaxial acceleration, an arithmetic processing unit 2 that performs various data processing, and a storage device. A measurement data storage means 3, a display means 4 comprising an image display device (not shown) such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and its drive circuit (not shown), and a user who operates the activity meter It comprises an operation means 5 as an interface, a power source means (not shown) such as a battery for driving the activity meter, and a housing (not shown) for storing these. In addition, the said housing | casing consists of resin molded products etc., for example, and is formed in the magnitude | size which a person can carry. The image display device is exposed in the housing.

  The acceleration detecting means 1 is, for example, a three-axis acceleration sensor (not shown) that outputs each of three-axis accelerations perpendicular to each other in an analog format, and samples the output of the three-axis acceleration sensor at a predetermined period in a digital format. And an acceleration detection circuit (not shown) for converting into an output.

  As the three-axis acceleration sensor, for example, an acceleration sensor using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) having a small size and low power consumption is used. As the acceleration sensor, a piezoresistive acceleration sensor, a capacitance acceleration sensor, or the like can be used. As the triaxial acceleration sensor, a sensor that can output a triaxial acceleration value by combining a biaxial acceleration sensor and a monoaxial acceleration sensor may be used. It is also possible to use one that can output a three-axis acceleration value.

  The arithmetic processing unit 2 includes, for example, a hardware resource such as a microcomputer housed in the casing, and includes a user ID registration unit 2a for registering a user ID and a plurality of user IDs registered by the user ID registration unit 2a. The user ID selection means 2b for selecting the user ID to be used, the activity amount calculation means 2c for calculating the activity amount based on the acceleration obtained by the acceleration detection means 1, and the user ID selection means 2b. Measurement data storage means 2d for associating the user ID with the activity amount calculated by the activity amount calculation means 2c and storing them in the measurement data storage means 3, and display control means 2e for controlling the display means 4. These user ID registration means 2a, user ID selection means 2b, activity amount calculation means 2c, measurement data storage means 2d, and display control means 2e are software that performs calculation and processing of information in cooperation with hardware resources. It is realized by. Moreover, the arithmetic processing means 2 is provided with means necessary for exhibiting various functions of the activity meter.

  In this arithmetic processing means 2, a user ID registration mode in which the user ID registration means 2a mainly operates, a user ID selection mode in which the user ID selection means 2b mainly operates, an activity amount calculation means 2c and a measurement data storage means 2d mainly operate. The operation mode has three operation modes (that is, the activity meter operation mode), and these operation modes can be switched by the operation means 5.

  The user ID registration unit 2a is for registering a user ID for identifying a subject. For example, by storing the user ID input by the operation unit 5 in the measurement data storage unit 3, the user ID is registered. It is configured to register.

  The user ID selection means 2b includes the user IDs of subjects who measure the amount of activity of a plurality of user IDs registered in advance by the user ID registration means 2b (that is, user IDs stored in the measurement data storage means 3). It is used for selecting from the above, and when a user ID is selected by the operation means 5, the user ID is output to the measurement data storage means 2d.

  The activity amount calculating means 2c calculates an activity amount based on the acceleration obtained by the acceleration detecting means 1. In this embodiment, the activity amount calculating means 2c calculates and calculates an activity amount consisting of exercise intensity (activity intensity). The activity amount is output to the measurement data storage means 2d. Here, the exercise intensity is a value used in the American Sports Medicine Association, which is a value indicating how many times the consumption energy during exercise (resting metabolic rate) is “METs ( 1 [METs] corresponds to an oxygen consumption of 3.5 [ml / kg / min].

  In the activity amount calculating means 2c in the present embodiment, for example, a data table indicating the relationship between the fluctuation average of norm having the acceleration of each axis obtained by the acceleration detecting means 1 as a vector component and the oxygen consumption, or the minimum two The exercise intensity is calculated using an arithmetic expression obtained by multiplication or the like. Such data tables and arithmetic expressions are based on the correlation between the oxygen consumption measured by changing the intensity of exercise with the breath gas measuring device and the fluctuation average of the norm corresponding to the intensity of exercise. Obtainable. The method for calculating the amount of activity is not limited to the above method, and a conventionally known method may be adopted.

  By the way, in addition to the function of calculating the activity amount as described above, the activity amount calculation means 2c is the average of the activity amount per unit time such as one hour or one day, exercise [METs · h], one day exercise. It may be configured to calculate various data (hereinafter referred to as “activity data”) relating to human activities such as amount, calorie consumption, number of steps, and exercise time. In addition, since calculation methods, such as exercise and consumption calories, can use a conventionally well-known method, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The measurement data storage unit 2d receives the user ID received from the user ID selection unit 2b (that is, selected by the user ID selection unit 2b) and the activity amount calculation unit 2c (that is, calculated by the activity amount calculation unit 2c). The activity amount is associated with the activity data and stored in the measurement data storage means 3.

  The display control means 2e changes the display content of the display means 4 depending on whether the operation mode is a user ID registration mode, a user ID selection mode, or a measurement mode. For example, in the user ID registration mode, the user ID being input by the operation means 5 is displayed on the display means 4, and in the user ID selection mode, the registered user ID (stored in the measurement data storage means 3). Current user ID) and the currently selected user ID are displayed on the display means 4, and in the measurement mode, the activity amount calculated by the activity amount calculation means 2c, energy consumption, exercise time, etc. are displayed. Display on means 4. Further, the display control means 2e is configured to display the user ID selected by the user ID selection means 2b on the display means 4 in the measurement mode.

  The measurement data storage means 3 is used mainly for storing the activity amount calculated by the activity amount calculation means 2c and for storing the user ID, and includes a storage device such as a RAM. In this embodiment, the measurement data storage means 3 is configured to be detachable from the activity meter. Accordingly, the measurement data storage means 3 is stored in the measurement data storage means 3 by removing the measurement data storage means 3 from the activity meter and connecting it to another external device (for example, a device for analyzing measurement data owned by a medical examination company). The measured data can be read out. Instead of detachably configuring the measurement data storage means 3 from the activity meter, the activity meter is provided with measurement data transmission means (not shown) capable of transmitting measurement data to an external device, and the measurement data transmission means Thus, the measurement data stored in the measurement data storage unit 3 may be transmitted to the external device. Further, the user ID may be stored by another storage device.

  The operation means 5 is a user interface including a plurality of push buttons for operation input, for example, a power button (not shown) for performing an on / off operation for turning on / off the activity meter, and an arithmetic processing means 2. An operation mode selection button (not shown) for selecting the operation mode, an input button (not shown) for registering a user ID in the user ID registration mode, and a user ID selection in the user ID selection mode A selection button (not shown) for measuring, a measurement start button (not shown) for starting the measurement of the activity amount in the measurement mode, and a measurement stop button (not shown) for stopping the measurement. Note that the configuration of the push button of the operation means 5 is not limited to the above example.

  The activity meter according to the present embodiment is configured as described above. Next, the flow of measurement data collection will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, to start collecting measurement data, the user ID of each subject is registered in the activity meter (step S1). Here, when registering the user ID, the operation mode selection button of the operation unit 5 is used to switch the operation mode of the activity meter to the user ID registration mode, and the user ID of each subject is registered using the input button of the operation unit 5. do it. Note that such user ID registration work is generally performed by a medical examination company that collects measurement data.

  After the registration of the user ID is completed, the subject who actually measures the amount of activity selects his / her user ID (step S2). Here, when the user ID is selected, the operation mode of the activity meter is switched to the user ID selection mode by the operation mode selection button of the operation means 5, and the user ID registered by the selection button of the operation means 5 is changed. What is necessary is just to select the user ID to be used. When a user ID is selected, the selected user ID is displayed on the image display device of the display unit 4 by the display control unit 2e.

  After the selection of the user ID is completed, the activity amount is measured, but when the activity amount is measured, the operation mode of the activity meter is changed to the measurement mode by the operation mode selection button of the operation means 5. . The activity amount is not measured only by switching the operation mode to the measurement mode, and the activity amount measurement is started when the measurement start button of the operation means 5 is pressed (step S3).

  When the measurement of the activity amount is started, the activity amount calculation unit 2c calculates the activity amount based on the acceleration obtained by the acceleration detection unit 1 (step S4). The activity amount calculated by the activity amount calculation means 2c is stored in the measurement data storage means 3 in association with the user ID selected in step S2 (step S5). This measurement of the amount of activity is continued until the measurement stop button of the operation means 5 is pressed (step S6).

  If measurement data is obtained for all the subjects whose user IDs are registered, the process proceeds to step S8. If all measurement data is not obtained, the process returns to step S2, and the amount of activity is not measured. An activity meter is handed to the subject (step S7).

  In the last step S8, the measurement data of all the subjects are read from the measurement data storage means 3. In addition, reading of such measurement data is generally performed by a medical examination company that collects measurement data.

  According to the activity meter of the present embodiment described above, the activity amount calculated by the activity amount calculation means 2c and the user ID selected by the user ID selection means 2b are associated with each other and stored in the measurement data storage means 3. Therefore, since the measurement data of all the subjects can be obtained by reading the measurement data when the measurement of the activity amount of all the subjects is completed, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to read the measurement data every time the measurement of the activity amount is completed. The measurement data of the subject can be collected efficiently.

  Further, when the measurement is performed, the user ID selected by the user ID selection unit 2b is displayed on the display unit 4, so that it is possible to prevent the user ID of another person from being used by mistake.

  Furthermore, since the subject can arbitrarily start or stop the measurement of the activity amount by the operation means 5, for example, when the measurement is not performed such as during sleep, the activity meter is stopped by stopping the measurement of the activity amount. When power saving and useless measurement data can be prevented from being stored in the measurement data storage means 3 (that is, the used capacity can be saved), and the battery capacity of the activity meter and the storage capacity of the measurement data storage means 3 are the same If so, the measurement data of more subjects can be collected.

  Although the acceleration detecting means 1 of the present embodiment uses a triaxial acceleration sensor, a biaxial acceleration sensor may be used, or a uniaxial acceleration sensor may be used. .

It is a block diagram of the activity meter of one embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart of measurement data collection.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Acceleration detection means 2a User ID registration means 2b User ID selection means 2c Activity amount calculation means 2d Measurement data storage means 2e Display control means 3 Measurement data storage means 4 Display means 5 Operation means

Claims (3)

  Acceleration detecting means mounted on a human body for detecting acceleration, user ID registering means for registering a user ID, and user ID selecting means for selecting a user ID to be used from among a plurality of user IDs registered by the user ID registering means An activity amount calculation means for calculating an activity amount based on the acceleration obtained by the acceleration detection means, a measurement data storage means used for storing the activity amount calculated by the activity amount calculation means, and a user ID selection means An activity meter, comprising: a measurement data storage unit that associates the user ID selected in step 1 with the activity amount calculated by the activity amount calculation unit and stores it in the measurement data storage unit.   2. The activity meter according to claim 1, further comprising display means and display control means for displaying the user ID selected by the user ID selection means on the display means.   3. The activity meter according to claim 1, further comprising operation means for starting or stopping the measurement of the activity amount.

Images