JP2008278903A - Bioinstrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bioinstrument which measures brain functions of a plurality of subjects simultaneously. <P>SOLUTION: The bioinstrument is provided with measuring terminals for measuring blood kinetics of living bodies using light and an intensive control unit for carrying out data acquisition and analysis presentation by controlling a plurality of measuring terminals. Each measuring terminal is constructed of a plurality of probes 101 for irradiating the scalp with light and for detecting the light, a measurement control section 111 for acquiring detected light volume data and storing the data in an external recording medium 113, a radio transmission section 112 for communicating with the intensive control unit, and a battery 114. Light sources 102 and light detectors 103 are arranged on the probe 101. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for observing brain activity by irradiating the head with visible or infrared light and noninvasively measuring the blood dynamics of the brain.

  Techniques for noninvasively measuring or observing blood dynamics in living tissues using light of visible to near-infrared wavelengths are widely known, such as measuring oxygen metabolism in tissues and brain blood dynamics. A device for measuring brain activity and observing the state of brain activity has been realized and applied to the medical and industrial fields. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-115232, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-260532, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-275323 are devices that measure the inside of a living body by irradiating the living body with light and detecting light reflected from the living body. It is described in. Further, an apparatus which is simplified in size is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-140715 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-150123.

JP 57-115232 A JP 63-260532 A JP-A 63-275323 JP-A-9-140715 Japanese Patent Application 2002-150123

As a device for measuring the blood dynamics of a living body, particularly the brain using light, only one subject can be measured, and it has been difficult to measure brain activities of a plurality of subjects at the same time. For example, when evaluating the usability and effectiveness of a product by measuring brain activity when using a product, it is necessary to acquire data from many subjects under the same conditions. In this case, in order to increase the measurement throughput, it is necessary to measure many subjects at the same time. It takes time and money to prepare a large number of devices and statistically analyze the data measured individually under controlled conditions.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for simultaneously measuring brain activities of a large number of subjects.

  A measurement terminal that measures the blood dynamics of a living body using light and a centralized control device that controls a plurality of measurement terminals and performs data acquisition and analysis display are provided.

  When observing brain activity by measuring cerebral hemodynamics, it is necessary to present subjects with stimuli such as speech and images, or to perform tasks such as calculation tasks and to measure the accompanying changes in hemodynamics . If this stimulus presentation and task timing presentation are made common and data of many subjects can be measured with a single system, measurement conditions can be easily controlled, and data management and statistical analysis can be easily realized. The time and cost required for measurement can be reduced. Furthermore, if the brain activity of a plurality of subjects can be measured simultaneously, the interaction between subjects, for example, the brain activity during conversation or group action can be observed.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The system of the present invention comprises a plurality of measuring terminals 100 and a centralized control device 200 for centrally controlling them. As shown in FIG. 2, the measurement terminal 100 includes a plurality of probes 101 for irradiating and detecting light from the scalp, a measurement control unit 111 that acquires detected light amount data and stores it in an external storage medium 113, and centralized control. A wireless communication unit 112 that communicates with the apparatus and a battery 114 are included. Although the figure shows a configuration in which a light source 102 and a light detector 103 are arranged on a probe 101, the light source and the detector are arranged in a measurement control unit, and optical transmission is performed between the probe and the probe using an optical fiber. It is good also as a structure. All or some of the functions may be arranged on the probe 101. Operating conditions such as irradiation light intensity, measurement time, and measurement sequence are written in an external storage medium 113 such as a CompactFlash (registered trademark) card, and the measurement terminal operates accordingly. The centralized control device 200 controls a plurality of measurement terminals and manages, calculates, and displays the measurement data. The centralized control device 200 has a wireless LAN access point function, and the measurement terminal is accommodated in the wireless LAN. In the case where a plurality of centralized control devices exist close to each other, in order to avoid mutual interference, they can be separated using a wireless LAN function such as SSID or MAC address restriction.

  The procedure for measuring brain activity using the biological measurement apparatus 200 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In the centralized control device 200, measurement terminals 100 to be controlled are registered using identification symbols and displayed in a list. The wireless communication state and operation state of each measurement terminal can be monitored on the display of the central control device. Further, the user can arbitrarily designate a measurement terminal to be used for measurement from the list, and control is performed on the designated measurement terminal.
The operating conditions of the measuring terminal can be specified by removing the external storage medium of the measuring terminal and inserting it directly into the drive device built in the centralized control device and writing directly, or by using the wireless communication from the centralized control device. Write to. When wireless is used, it becomes easy to collectively control the operating conditions of each measuring terminal before starting measurement. The central control apparatus can designate the same operating condition for all measuring terminals or different operating conditions for each measuring terminal.
In order to make the signal intensity of each measurement site obtained by one measurement terminal uniform, the intensity of the light source and the amplification factor of the detection system are adjusted in advance. This is called automatic gain adjustment.

  A centralized control device using radio to turn on / off the light source of each measurement terminal, execute automatic gain adjustment, start / end measurement, or insert timing markers simultaneously at all measurement terminals or individually at each measurement terminal A control signal can also be transmitted from. In particular, the automatic gain adjustment needs to be re-executed individually according to how the probe is mounted. The measurement terminal that has succeeded in automatic gain adjustment stands by in a measurement preparation completion state, and re-executes automatic gain adjustment for the measurement terminal that has failed. The measurement is started after all measurement terminals are ready for measurement, but the user can forcibly start the measurement even when there is an incomplete measurement terminal. Thereby, it is possible to improve the overall measurement efficiency by excluding measurement terminals that are not ready, or allowing measurement to be performed even in an insufficient state. Here, the timing marker records, for example, the timing of the start and end of stimulation, and can be used to perform average processing of repeated measurements and to compare data with other subjects.

  Turn on and off the light source of each measurement terminal, execute automatic gain adjustment, start and end measurement, or insert a timing marker as a batch process at a preset time using a clock built into the measurement terminal. You can also. However, the time of the internal clock of the measuring terminal is wirelessly set in advance by the central control device. In addition, turning on and off the light source of each measurement terminal, executing automatic gain adjustment, starting and ending measurement, or inserting a timing marker can be performed manually using buttons arranged on the measurement terminal. Moreover, it can also be performed by an external input signal input from an external input terminal prepared in the measurement terminal. FIG. 4 shows an example of a flowchart when a timing marker is transmitted to the measurement terminal using a timing signal from an external stimulus presentation device as a trigger.

  The user designates in advance by the centralized control apparatus whether the control is performed by radio, batch processing, manual, or external signal. When performing wireless, batch processing, or external signal control, the button for manual operation is disabled. However, the termination function can be disabled in case the measurement needs to be interrupted.

  Data acquired at each measurement terminal, timing marker, sampling time, and the like are recorded in an external storage medium. Each measurement terminal can also transmit all data or a part of data specified in advance as an operation condition to the central control apparatus by wireless communication during measurement. Thereby, the user can also monitor data in real time using the centralized control device. In addition, the centralized control device can acquire measurement data stored in each measurement terminal using wireless communication after measurement.

At the end of measurement, the acquired data is automatically saved in the external storage medium.
The measurement terminal runs on batteries to make it portable. In order to lengthen the operation time, after performing various operation settings from the centralized control device, or after transmitting a measurement start command wirelessly, it has a function of disconnecting the measurement terminal wirelessly. Furthermore, it is possible to set so that the wireless communication is automatically restored after the measurement is completed and the measurement completion is reported to the central control apparatus.

A display method of the central control apparatus 200 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
The centralized control device 200 has a function of displaying any part of data 400 out of data sent from all measurement terminals. For example, a single measurement terminal is used to measure changes in light transmission at multiple measurement positions of a subject, but the central control device uses the same measurement position of multiple subjects, for example, changes in blood dynamics in the language area. Can be displayed simultaneously. This makes it easy to compare brain activity between subjects. It is also possible to switch to display all measurement positions of one or more subjects. In the figure, the time change of the hemoglobin concentration obtained by calculation from the acquired data is drawn, but it may be a distribution diagram.

  A display method of another centralized control device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In order to examine brain activity statistically, the average of data from multiple subjects is often obtained. Data transmitted from each measurement terminal is averaged, and an average signal between subjects is displayed for each measurement site. At this time, it is also possible to display the standard deviation. In addition, by dividing the subjects into groups, giving different stimuli for each group, and determining the average signal of brain activity signals for each group, the difference in brain activity due to the difference in stimuli can be statistically compared. Brain activity varies widely among subjects, and such statistical processing is often required. Conventionally, these statistical processes have been performed by analysis after measurement, but in the present invention, the measurement terminals are divided into groups, the operation conditions are changed as necessary, and the average signal of each group is measured during measurement. Can be compared, so statistical results can be obtained during measurement. Actually, an image showing a change in hemoglobin concentration is displayed by averaging for each group, or a difference between groups is displayed. Further, a p value, a t value, and the like may be displayed. Each of the left diagrams in FIG. 6 shows the oxygenated hemoglobin concentration distribution, the left diagram is an average image of subjects in group A to which language stimulation was given, and the middle image is an average image of subject group B to which pure tone stimulation was given. It is. By comparing these, a response area to a language stimulus with a pure tone stimulus as a contrast is found. It will become clearer if these differences are displayed as shown in the right figure. Since FIG. 6 can be displayed as a moving image obtained in real time, the result of statistical comparison can be monitored while checking the measurement protocol. If statistical processing results and their comparison can be made during measurement in this way, not only can the time be shortened, but the effect of checking measurement failures while viewing the results, and changing the measurement protocol and applied stimulus can be achieved. is there. In the figure, a distribution map of the amount of change in hemoglobin concentration obtained by calculation from the acquired data is drawn, but it may be a time series graph of the measurement site of interest.

  In addition, since there is no guarantee that the data of all measurement terminals can be obtained at the same time, the data is shifted in time or resampling is performed, and average processing and comparison processing between subjects are performed using the timing marker as a reference.

  So far, the data transmitted during measurement from the measurement terminal by wireless communication has been described. However, the same processing can be applied to data acquired wirelessly after measurement or data acquired via an external storage medium after measurement. .

  The measurement data management method of the present invention will be described.

  Each measurement terminal and the central control apparatus have individual identification symbols. At the time of measurement, for each measurement, a measurement identification symbol, for example, a number created using the date and time when the measurement start command is transmitted from the central control device is set. This measurement identification symbol is common regardless of the measurement terminal, is produced by the centralized control device, and is recorded as operation information in the external storage medium of the related measurement terminal before measurement. Measurement data and measurement terminal operating conditions corresponding to the measurement, and user input information such as subject name, comment, measurement description, etc. are obtained using the corresponding measurement identification symbol, measurement terminal identification symbol, and centralized controller identification symbol. to manage. This makes it possible to manage data that is complicated due to the presence of a plurality of measuring terminals and a plurality of systems. These pieces of information are stored and managed in the external storage medium of each measurement terminal for each measurement terminal, and are centrally managed by the central control device.

  So far, we have described devices that measure brain activity using light as measurement terminals. However, devices with other measurement functions such as heart rate, electrocardiogram, respiration, blood pressure, and acceleration can be included in the LAN in the same format. For example, biological information can be obtained in a composite manner.

  When performing a long-term brain activity monitor or cerebral blood flow monitor, it is necessary to acquire the condition of the subject and classify and select data accordingly. Therefore, the measurement terminal 100 incorporates a position measurement device, an accelerometer, and an image capturing device, and acquires the positional relationship and movement of each subject using the centralized control device 200. The central control apparatus uses these pieces of information to extract, analyze, and display cerebral hemodynamic data when the subject is stationary. Thereby, the fluctuation | variation of the cerebral blood flow accompanying an exercise | movement can be excluded. It is also possible to extract, analyze and display cerebral hemodynamic data when a specific subject is nearby. Thereby, control of the strength of interaction between test subjects is attained.

  Another embodiment of the group processing described in Embodiment 2 will be described. In the second embodiment, the groups are divided from the beginning. However, the grouping can be performed dynamically using the attributes of the measurement terminals transmitted from the measurement terminals to the central control apparatus. The attributes include subject information such as sex, age, weight, medical history, test results conducted in advance, or physiological information of subjects such as pulse and blood pressure obtained using the method of Example 2, The subject position information obtained by using the method. Thus, a group is created for each attribute or a combination of a plurality of attributes, and the difference in brain activity due to the difference in the group is displayed using the method shown in the second embodiment. It can be known in real time, and the presentation stimulus and measurement conditions can be immediately changed and corrected according to the result. This processing is performed by a processing routine prepared in advance in the central control apparatus, but may be changed manually from the screen. It is also possible to optimize the presentation stimulus and measurement conditions so that the difference between groups is the largest.

  When using the apparatus of the present invention, a single examiner may give instructions to a plurality of subjects or answer questions. That is, the examiner sometimes needs to communicate with a particular subject individually and sometimes with all subjects at the same time. By providing the measurement terminal 100 and the centralized control device 200 with a voice communication function or a character communication function, this can be easily realized. Further, the voice communication function, the character communication function, and further the image communication function can be used as a stimulus presenting means for the subject.

  It can be used as medical and research equipment, or for market research such as confirmation of educational effects, home health management, and product monitoring.

Measuring terminal and centralized control device. Probe and measuring terminal. The flowchart of the centralized control apparatus at the time of measurement preparation and measurement. The flowchart of the centralized control apparatus during measurement. An example of hemodynamic data display. An example of a group comparison diagram of hemodynamic distribution.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Measuring terminal, 101 ... Probe, 102 ... Light source, 103 ... Photo detector, 111 ... Measurement control part, 112 ... Wireless communication part, 113 ... External storage medium, 114 ... Battery, 200 ... Centralized control apparatus, 400 ... Data .

Claims (10)

Living body measurement comprising a measuring terminal that irradiates and detects a specific part of a living body with visible light or infrared light to acquire internal information of the living body, and a centralized control device that controls two or more measuring terminals and receives data apparatus. 2. The biological measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measurement terminal has an external storage medium, the measurement terminal performs measurement according to information in the external storage medium, and obtains acquired data from the external storage medium. And the centralized control device acquires or sets data in the external storage medium using wireless communication, or acquires or sets data via the external storage medium. The living body measurement apparatus according to claim 1, in particular, a measurement preprocessing instruction, a measurement start instruction, a measurement stop or end instruction, and a part of a timing marker from the central control apparatus to one or more measurement terminals. Alternatively, a living body measuring apparatus that transmits all of them wirelessly. 4. The biological measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, particularly, the measurement terminal is started to be measured by wireless communication from the central control apparatus, and then the wireless measurement apparatus is disabled. 5. The optical measurement apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, particularly, the radio of the measurement terminal is automatically enabled after completion of the measurement. 6. The biological measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein in particular, a selected part of a plurality of data obtained and calculated from one or two or more measurement terminals by wireless is processed in real time or wirelessly. A living body measurement apparatus characterized in that the time of each data is shifted and displayed with reference to a timing marker acquired from a measurement terminal. The living body measurement apparatus according to claim 6, wherein signals from a plurality of subjects are processed and displayed. The biological measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of measurement terminals are divided into two or more groups and managed, and statistical processing calculation for each group and its display during measurement, or different control for each group, or A biological measurement apparatus that performs different data processing and display. 9. The biological measurement apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the group is rearranged during measurement. 9. The biological measurement apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a voice communication or character communication function is provided between the measurement terminal and the central control device.

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