JP2012011133A - System for controlling exercise load and method of controlling exercise load - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for controlling an exercise load for automatically imposing the exercise load with high body fat-burning efficiency to a subject.SOLUTION: The system for controlling the exercise load includes: a loading part for exercising the subject by imposing the load to the subject; a gas analyzing apparatus for detecting exhalation by the subject while the subject exercises with the load imposed by the loading part; a load operation part for calculating the exercise load which is the maximum fat burning efficiency in the subject based on the information of exhalation detected by the gas analyzing apparatus; and a load controller for adjusting the loading part based on the exercise load calculated by the load operation part.

Description

  The present invention relates to an exercise load control system, and more particularly to an exercise load control system for controlling an exercise load with high fat burning efficiency of a subject.

  Japan's population is declining and the birthrate is declining, and the proportion of elderly people over the age of 65 is rapidly increasing. Specifically, in 2013, approximately 1 in 4 people, approximately 25.2% of the total population, became elderly, and in 2035, approximately 1 in 3 people, approximately 33.7% of the total population. Are said to be elderly. The older the elderly, the greater the proportion of medical institutions that are used, so the medical burden is expected to increase in the future.

  In addition, the metabolic syndrome has become a problem for young people due to the fact that the living environment has been remarkably improved and the opportunity to move the body has decreased due to advances in IT technology. The population of young people suffering from is increasing year by year. Thus, the present situation is that there are more opportunities for young people to use medical care.

  In order to prevent metabolic syndrome, it is necessary to incorporate appropriate exercise into daily life. However, people in their twenties to forties are hard to secure time to exercise, and there is an increasing interest in how to burn body fat efficiently with limited short-time exercise.

  By the way, as an example of a suitable biological sample as an index indicating the burning efficiency of body fat, there is exhalation. In particular, acetone in breath is produced when fat (fatty acid) and protein (amino acid) are decomposed, and thus is positioned as an index indicating metabolism of body fat. The mechanism by which body fat becomes acetone and is discharged outside the body is as follows.

  First, when exercise is performed and blood glucose is consumed and insufficient, body fat stored in the body is used as energy. Fat in the blood is metabolized to produce ketone bodies such as acetoacetic acid, hydroxybutyric acid, and acetone. Of the produced ketone bodies, acetoacetic acid and hydroxybutyric acid are reused in organs other than the liver, and acetone is discharged to the outside through the lungs as exhaled air.

  Therefore, acetone is produced in the process of burning body fat, and is contained and discharged in the exhaled breath. For this reason, by measuring the concentration of acetone in exhaled breath, it is possible to directly know the state of burning of body fat.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a body fat combustion amount measuring device that calculates the burnup of body fat from the concentration of acetone in exhaled breath. The body fat burning amount measuring device of Patent Document 1 includes an acetone detection sensor that detects an acetone concentration in exhaled breath, and an informing means that informs a subject of the burning degree of body fat according to the acetone concentration detected by the acetone detection sensor. Is provided.

  When using the body fat combustion amount measuring apparatus of Patent Document 1, the subject can efficiently burn body fat by continuing to exercise under conditions where the degree of body fat combustion is high while checking the notification means.

JP 2001-349888 A

  However, when using the body fat combustion amount measuring device of Patent Document 1, the subject must always exercise while confirming the notification means. In addition, the optimal exercise load of the subject greatly affects the physical condition of the subject at that time and the elapsed time after eating. For this reason, it is necessary to adjust his / her optimal exercise load every time he / she exercises, and the burden on the subject during exercise is heavy.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above present conditions, and is providing the exercise load control system which gives a test subject the load with high combustion efficiency of body fat automatically.

  An exercise load control system according to the present invention includes a load load unit for applying a load to a subject to cause the subject to exercise, and a gas for detecting exhaled breath exhausted by the subject during exercise of the load provided by the load load unit. Analyzing device, load calculating unit for calculating exercise load maximizing lipid burning rate of subject based on exhalation information detected by gas analyzer, and based on exercise load calculated by load calculating unit And a load control unit for adjusting the load of the load loading unit.

  It is preferable that the information processing apparatus further includes notification means for transmitting the exercise load calculated by the load calculation unit to the subject. The gas analyzer preferably includes a gas introduction unit having a gas introduction port for introducing exhaled breath.

  The gas analyzer preferably includes a gas separation unit having a microcolumn for separating the components of the exhaled breath supplied from the gas introduction unit.

  The load calculation unit calculates the exercise load that maximizes the subject's lipid burning rate based on the change rate of the acetone concentration in the exhaled breath discharged by the subject when two different exercise loads are given to the subject. Is preferred.

  When the subject is given two different exercise loads, the rate of change in the concentration of acetone in the breath exhaled by the subject is the initial exercise load set for the concentration of acetone in the exhalation exhaled by the subject when there is no exercise load. In this case, it is preferable that the exercise load when first exceeding the value obtained by adding 0.002 to the rate of change in the concentration of acetone in the exhaled breath discharged by the subject is the optimum exercise load.

  The present invention also relates to an exercise load control method, wherein the exercise load control method increases the load applied to the subject stepwise and causes the subject to exercise, and the subject discharges during the exercise of the subject. A step of detecting exhalation by a gas analyzer, a step of calculating an exercise load by which the lipid burning rate of the subject is maximized based on information of the exhalation detected by the gas analyzer, and the load calculator And a step of adjusting the load of the load load unit by the load control unit based on the exercise load calculated in (5).

  The exercise load control system of the present invention can automatically give an exercise load with high body fat combustion efficiency to the subject by having the above-described configuration.

It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the exercise load control system of this invention. (A) is a schematic diagram which shows a state with an example of a gas analyzer, (b) is a schematic diagram which shows another one state of the gas analyzer of (a). It is a graph which shows the output of a resistance change when exhalation is introduced with respect to a gas analyzer. It is the graph which showed the acetone concentration in the exhaled breath which a subject discharges when each exercise load is given. It is the graph which showed the test subject's lipid burning amount when each exercise load was given.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The configurations shown in the drawings and the following description are merely examples, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to those shown in the drawings and the following description. In the drawings of the present invention, the same reference numerals represent the same or corresponding parts. In the drawings of the present application, the dimensional relationships such as length, width, and thickness are appropriately changed for clarity and simplification of the drawings and do not represent actual dimensional relationships.

<Exercise load control system>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an exercise load control system of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the exercise load control system of the present invention includes a load load portion for applying a load to the subject to cause the subject to exercise, and the subject discharges during exercise of the load provided by the load load portion. A gas analyzer for detecting exhaled breath, a load calculating unit for calculating an exercise load that maximizes the lipid burning rate of the subject, based on the information of the breath detected by the gas analyzer, and the load calculating And a load control unit for adjusting the load of the load load unit based on the exercise load calculated by the unit.

  The exercise load control system of the present invention is used as follows. First, the load control unit gradually increases the exercise load of the load load unit, and causes the subject to exercise so that the exercise load of the subject gradually increases. The subject's exhaled breath discharged at each exercise load is detected by a gas analyzer, and the acetone concentration in the exhaled breath is calculated. In this way, the change rate of the acetone concentration in the exhalation when the exercise load is changed is calculated. Based on the rate of change of the acetone concentration, the load calculation unit determines an exercise load at which the fat of the subject is most easily burned. By giving the exercise load determined here to the subject from the load-loading section, the subject can exercise so that the fat of the subject burns efficiently.

  By imposing the optimal exercise load on the subject in this way, the subject can efficiently burn his body fat. Such an optimal exercise load is calculated by the load calculation unit, and is automatically set by the load control unit and imposed on the subject. For this reason, the subject can perform the exercise with the optimum exercise load only by digesting the exercise with the exercise load that changes every moment.

  The exercise load control system shown in FIG. 1 is not particularly limited as long as it is an exercise device for exercising a subject, and can be introduced to any one of them, for example, a room runner, a cycling machine, an exercise bike, an ergometer. It can be mounted on a treadmill or the like.

<Exercise load control method>
The present invention relates to a method for controlling exercise load, and the method for controlling exercise load involves increasing the load applied to the subject stepwise and causing the subject to exercise, and exhalation exhausted by the subject during the exercise of the subject Detecting by the gas analyzer, calculating the exercise load at which the lipid burning rate of the subject is maximized based on the information of the breath detected by the gas analyzer, and at the load calculator And a step of adjusting the load of the load load unit by the load control unit based on the calculated exercise load.

  By controlling the exercise load using each of these steps, it is possible to convey the exercise load to the subject after grasping the exercise load at which the body fat of the subject burns efficiently, so that the fat burning efficiency is High exercise can be imposed on subjects. Below, each part which comprises the exercise | movement load control system of this invention is demonstrated.

<Loading part>
The load load part in the present invention applies a load to the subject in order to cause the subject to exercise. As the load load portion, any load load portion may be used as long as it can adjust the exercise load applied to the subject. The exercise load of the load load unit is controlled by the load control unit. Examples of the load load section include a load adjustment section of a pedal of a cycling machine and a belt speed adjustment section of a running belt.

  The exercise load applied to the subject by the load load unit is adjusted by a load control unit which will be described later. Information on the exercise load applied to the subject by the load load unit is transmitted from the load load unit to the load calculation unit.

<Load calculation unit>
In this invention, a load calculating part is a site | part provided in order to calculate the exercise load from which a test subject's fat burning rate becomes the maximum. The exercise load that maximizes the fat burning rate of the subject is calculated based on the exercise load in the load-loading section and the acetone concentration discharged by the subject when the exercise load is applied.

  The subject's fat burning rate is calculated based on the rate of change in the concentration of acetone in exhaled breath discharged by the subject when two different exercise loads are given to the subject. More specifically, when the subject is given two different exercise loads, the rate of change in the concentration of acetone in the exhaled breath when the subject exhales is relative to the concentration of acetone in the exhaled breath that the subject exhales when there is no exercise load. The exercise load when the value exceeds 0.002 added to the rate of change in the acetone concentration in exhaled breath discharged by the subject at the set first exercise load is calculated as the optimum exercise load. By calculating the optimal exercise load in this way, the in-vivo environment such as the physical condition of each subject at that time and the elapsed time after eating are taken into consideration.

  Any load calculation unit may be used as long as it has a function of calculating an optimal exercise load. In order to calculate the optimal exercise load, it is necessary to have a function of calculating a differential value between at least two points and a function of comparing a difference between the differential values. An example of such a load calculation unit is a CPU.

  Next, taking a case where the subject exercises using an exercise bike as an example, a method in which the load calculation unit calculates the maximum exercise load will be described. First, the subject is caused to exercise by automatically changing the exercise load in steps of 20 W every minute from 0 W to 140 W on the load of the load part of the exercise bike. And the acetone concentration in the expiration | expired_air when a test subject is exercised for 1 minute by the exercise load of 20W is calculated with a gas analyzer. Next, the exercise load is increased to 40 W, and similarly, the acetone concentration in the exhalation when the subject is exercised for 1 minute is calculated. Similarly, the subject is exercised for 1 minute each with an exercise load of 60 W, 80 W, etc., and the acetone concentration in the exhalation at that time is calculated. The specific structure of the gas analyzer will be described later.

As described above, the acetone concentration in the breath at each exercise load is calculated, and at the same time, the rate of change in the acetone concentration in the expiration when the exercise load is changed is calculated. That is, for example, assuming that the concentration of acetone in expiration when the exercise load is 40 W is C ₄₀ and the concentration of acetone in expiration when the exercise load is 60 W is C ₆₀ , the rate of change in acetone concentration (unit: ppm / W) Is calculated as (C ₆₀ -C ₄₀ ) / (60-40).

  The change rate of the acetone concentration is equal to or higher than the value obtained by adding 0.002 ppm / W to the change rate of the acetone concentration at the beginning of exercise (that is, the change rate of the amount of acetone discharged in the expiration when the exercise load is 20 W). When it is the first time, the fat burning efficiency is the highest. The exercise load at this time is transmitted from the load calculation unit to the load control unit. It is theoretically possible that even if the subject continues to exercise while increasing the load stepwise, the rate of change in the acetone concentration is not satisfied and the optimal exercise load cannot be calculated. In that case, it is necessary to return the exercise load to 0 W and exercise while increasing the load stepwise by 20 W.

  In the above description, the case where the exercise load is changed stepwise by 20 W has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is preferable that the exercise load change stepwise in the range of 10 W to 20 W. If it is less than 10 W, the rate of change in acetone content in exhaled breath is difficult to clarify, and if it exceeds 20 W, the change in exercise load is large, so that the subject is excessive when the subject is exercising continuously. May be burdensome.

<Load control unit>
In this invention, a load control part is provided in order to control the exercise | movement load which a load load part gives to a test subject. Such a load control unit transmits the exercise load calculated by the load calculation unit to the load load unit and adjusts the exercise load applied to the subject. Such a load control part may be anything as long as it can adjust the exercise load of the load load part. An example of the load control unit is a CPU.

  Using the load control unit, the load load unit is controlled so as to give the subject the exercise load calculated by the load calculation unit. This allows the subject to automatically perform the most efficient exercise for burning body fat.

<Informing means>
It is preferable that the exercise load control system of the present invention further includes notification means for transmitting the exercise load calculated by the load calculation unit to the subject. The notification means is provided to indicate to the subject an exercise load for efficiently burning fat. By providing such a notification means, it is possible to notify the subject in advance when the exercise load changes. Thereby, it can suppress that a test subject's exercise load changes rapidly.

<Gas analyzer>
The gas analyzer used in the present invention is provided for analyzing the exhaled breath exhausted by the subject during exercise, and is particularly provided for calculating the acetone concentration in the exhaled breath. An example of such a gas analyzer will be described below with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating a state of an example of the gas analyzer, and FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating another state of the gas analyzer of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the gas analyzer of the present invention separates the components of the gas introduction unit 10 including the gas introduction port 11 for introducing exhalation and the exhalation supplied from the gas introduction unit 10. The gas separation part 20 provided with the micro column 21 for this, and the gas detection part 30 which detects the gas component isolate | separated by this gas separation part 20 are provided. In the microcolumn 21, the stationary phase is modified on the wall surface of the internal flow path 22, and the stationary phase is preferably made of a polar material having a relative dielectric constant of 10 or more at 30 ° C.

  By providing such a stationary phase made of a polar material on the wall surface of the internal flow path 22 of the microcolumn 21, exhaled breath can be separated and the detection accuracy of the gas analyzer can be increased. Below, an example of operation | movement of the gas analyzer of this invention is demonstrated with reference to Fig.2 (a) and FIG.2 (b).

  In the gas analyzer of the present invention, in the state shown in FIG. 2A (hereinafter, this state is also referred to as “first state”), exhaled air is introduced from the inlet of the gas sampling unit 40, The gas is supplied from the gas inlet 11 to the gas storage unit 19 through the first flow path 12. And it is discharged | emitted from the gas accommodating part 19 to the gas collection part 40 through the 2nd flow path 13 and the gas exhaust port 14. FIG. The flow rate of the exhaled breath is controlled by the air flow generating means 25.

  On the other hand, in the first state, the third flow path 15 for supplying the carrier gas is directly connected to the fourth flow path 16 connected to the microcolumn 21 of the gas separation unit 20. Then, the carrier gas whose flow rate is adjusted by the pressure adjusting means 17 flows from the third flow path 15 to the fourth flow path 16 and then flows in the order of the microcolumn 21 of the gas separation unit 20.

  Next, by switching the connection destination of the first flow path 12, the second flow path 13, the third flow path 15, and the fourth flow path 16 from the first state using the flow path switching mechanism 18, FIG. The second state shown in b) is assumed. In the second state, as shown in FIG. 2B, the third flow path 15, the gas storage unit 19, and the fourth flow path 16 are connected. By switching from the first state to the second state in this way, exhaled gas in the gas storage unit 19 introduced from the first flow path 12 is supplied to the fourth flow path 16 together with the carrier gas supplied from the third flow path 15. And supplied to the microcolumn 21 of the gas separation unit 20.

  The exhaled air supplied to the gas separation unit 20 is repeatedly adsorbed and desorbed with the stationary phase on the wall surface of the internal flow path 22 of the microcolumn 21, but the ease of adsorption and desorption differs for each component of exhaled air. For this reason, exhaled breath can be separated into components such that a component that adsorbs well to the stationary phase has a slower moving speed, and a component that does not adsorb much to the stationary phase has a faster moving speed.

  As the exhaled air passes through the gas separation unit 20, the gas components of the exhaled breath whose components are separated are sequentially introduced into the gas detection unit 30. Each of these components is detected by the gas sensor 31 of the gas detection unit 30. The time from when exhaled gas is introduced into the gas analyzer until the gas sensor 31 senses the gas component is referred to as the holding time. The retention time shows a specific value depending on the component of exhalation, and the gas component is identified based on the retention time. In this way, the gas analyzer of the present invention detects the gas component of exhaled breath. Below, each part which comprises the gas analyzer of this invention is demonstrated in detail.

(Gas introduction part)
In the present invention, the gas introduction unit 10 is provided to supply a part of the exhalation to the gas separation unit 20. Such a gas introduction unit 10 is not limited to the structure as shown in FIG. 2, and for example, it is preferable that a switching port is provided in a flow path for supplying exhaled gas to the gas separation unit 20. The gas introduction unit 10 may have any structure as long as the flow rate of the exhalation supplied to the gas separation unit can be adjusted by operating the switching port.

  The gas introduction unit 10 shown in FIG. 2A has a first flow path 12 for introducing exhalation from the gas introduction port 11 and a second channel for discharging a part of the introduced exhalation from the gas discharge port 14. In addition to the flow path 13, the apparatus further includes a gas storage unit 19 that connects the first flow path 12 and the second flow path 13 and holds exhaled air.

  On the other hand, the gas introduction unit 10 supplies exhaled gas to the third flow channel 15 for introducing the carrier gas and the gas separation unit 20 as a flow channel different from the first flow channel 12 and the second flow channel 13. 4th flow path 16 for this. However, in the first state shown in FIG. 2A, the third flow path 15 and the fourth flow path 16 are directly connected without passing through the gas storage portion 19. For this reason, the carrier gas introduced into the third flow path 15 is supplied to the gas separation unit 20 through the fourth flow path 16. In the first state, exhaled air is not supplied to the gas separation unit 20, and exhaled air introduced from the first flow path 12 passes through the gas storage unit 19, and a part thereof is held in the gas storage unit 19. In addition, the remaining portion is discharged from the gas discharge port 14 through the second flow path 13.

(Flow path switching mechanism)
The flow path switching mechanism 18 starts from the first state where the gas storage section 19 is connected to the first flow path 12 and the second flow path 13, and moves the gas storage section 19 from the third flow path 15 to the fourth flow path 16. It is provided in the gas introduction part 10 in order to switch to the connected 2nd state. The flow path switching mechanism 18 switches from the first state shown in FIG. 2A to the second state shown in FIG. In the second state, the exhaled gas held in the gas storage unit 19 in the first state flows into the fourth channel 16 together with the carrier gas supplied from the third channel 15, and the gas flows from the fourth channel 16. It is supplied to the separation unit 20.

  In the second state, when a certain amount of time has passed, when expiration has been exhausted to the gas storage unit 19, or when expiration has been sufficiently supplied to the gas separation unit 20, the flow path switching mechanism 18 causes the second switching mechanism 18 to Switch from state to first state. When switching from the second state to the first state, exhaled air is again introduced from the first flow path 12 into the gas storage unit 19. As described above, by alternately switching between the first state and the second state, it is possible to introduce exhaled air with an appropriate flow rate into the gas separation unit 20 at an appropriate timing.

  In the second state shown in FIG. 2B, the first flow path 12 and the second flow path 13 are directly connected without passing through the gas storage portion 19. For this reason, exhaled air introduced into the first flow path 12 in the second state is discharged to the gas sampling unit 40 through the second flow path 13.

(Pressure control means)
The third flow path 15 preferably includes pressure adjusting means 17. By providing such pressure adjusting means 17, the flow rate of the carrier gas flowing through the third flow path 15 can be controlled. By controlling the flow rate of the carrier gas in this way, a constant flow rate of exhaled air can be supplied to the gas separation unit 20 together with the carrier gas.

The flow rate controlled by the pressure adjusting means 17 is not particularly limited and may be any speed, but is preferably 10 cm / sec or more and 100 cm / sec or less. However, the preferred flow rate differs depending on the length and cross-sectional area of the internal flow path. For example, when the length of the internal flow path is 10 m and the cross-sectional area is 0.04 mm ² , 10 cm / More preferably, it is not less than sec and not more than 50 cm / sec, and further preferably not less than 10 cm / sec and not more than 30 cm / sec. Further, when the length of the internal channel is 17 m and the cross-sectional area is 0.04 mm ² , it is more preferably 40 cm / sec or more and 90 cm / sec or less, and further preferably 50 cm / sec or more and 70 cm / sec or less. . Further, when the length of the internal flow path is 6 m and the cross-sectional area is 0.58 mm ² , it is preferably 5 cm / sec or more and 50 cm / sec or less, more preferably 10 cm / sec or more and 30 cm / sec or less. When the cross-sectional area is 0.04 mm ² , if the flow rate is less than 10 cm / sec, it takes a long time to detect the exhalation component, which is not preferable in terms of the specifications of the apparatus. If the flow rate exceeds 100 cm / sec, the flow rate is too fast, so that it is difficult for the gas separation unit 20 to separate components of exhaled breath.

  Any pressure adjusting means 17 may be used as long as it can adjust the gas pressure. For example, a compressor, a valve, a pump, a regulator, a gas cylinder, or the like can be used. When a compressor, a pump, or the like is used, exhaled air can be supplied to the gas separation unit 20 after adjusting the pressurized air with a pressure reducing valve. As the carrier gas, for example, an inert gas such as helium or air can be used.

(Gas sampling part)
In the gas analyzer of the present invention, it is preferable to connect the gas sampling unit 40 to the gas inlet 11 and the gas outlet 14 as shown in FIG. By connecting the gas sampling unit 40 in this way, exhaled air can be efficiently introduced into the gas inlet 11 and a space for accommodating exhaled air can be provided.

  In addition, such a space of the gas sampling unit also serves as a circulation path through which exhaled air circulates through the gas sampling unit 40, the first flow path 12, the gas storage unit 19, and the second flow path 13.

  It is preferable that the introduction port of the gas collection unit 40 has a mouthpiece, a mask, or the like that can directly introduce exhaled air by opening the mouth. By having a mouthpiece, a mask, and the like in this way, it is easy to introduce exhalation into the gas sampling unit 40.

  And it is preferable that the gas collection part 40 is equipped with the non-return valve 41 in the entrance and exit of an exhalation. As described above, since the gas sampling unit 40 includes the check valve 41, a part of the exhalation is discharged from the gas sampling unit, and the remaining parts are the gas sampling unit 40, the first flow path 12, and the gas storage unit 19. And can be circulated in the second flow path 13.

  2A and 2B exemplify the case where exhalation is introduced into the gas introduction unit 10 using the gas sampling unit 40, but a method of introducing exhalation into the gas introduction unit 10 is illustrated. Is not limited to the gas collection unit 40 alone, and a bag may be directly connected to the gas introduction port 11 to introduce exhalation into the gas introduction unit 10.

(Airflow generation means)
It is preferable to provide the airflow generation means 25 at one or both of the gas inlet 11 and the gas outlet 14. By providing the air flow generation means 25 in this manner, exhaled air can be circulated through the gas sampling section 40, the first flow path 12, the gas storage section 19, and the second flow path 13, and flows through this. The flow rate of exhalation can be controlled. The flow rate of exhaled air controlled by the airflow generating means 25 is not particularly limited and may be any speed, but is preferably 1 mL / min or more and 10 mL / min or less.

(Gas separation part)
In the present invention, the gas separation unit 20 is provided for component separation of various gas components contained in the exhaled breath introduced from the gas introduction unit 10. Specifically, the gas separation unit 20 is a micro provided in the gas separation unit 20. The column 21 separates exhaled air components. By using the microcolumn 21, the gas analyzer can be reduced in size and weight.

  Here, the “microcolumn” means a chip-like chromatography column having a fine flow path having a width and depth of micro order. The external shape of such a microcolumn is not particularly limited. For example, using a substrate such as a Si wafer, the external shape is several mm to several tens cm in length and width, and the thickness is about several mm to several cm. be able to.

  The “component separation” of the detection gas means not only the case where all the components constituting the exhalation are separated for each component, but also one of the components constituting the exhalation is replaced with at least one other component. The case of separation from components is also included. That is, when exhaled breath contains three or more components, as long as at least one of the three or more components is separated from the other two or more components, the effect of exhalation component separation can be obtained.

  The gas separation unit 20 may be a packed column packed with a carrier coated with a stationary phase, a capillary column with an inner wall coated with a stationary phase, or the like as a chromatography column other than a microcolumn. In order to control the temperature, it is necessary to provide a large thermostatic bath, which may undesirably increase the size of the gas analyzer itself, which is contrary to the intended purpose.

  In the present invention, the microcolumn 21 has a stationary phase modified on the wall surface of the internal flow path 22, and the stationary phase is preferably made of a polar material having a relative dielectric constant of 10 or more at 30 ° C. Such a polar material having a relative dielectric constant of 10 or more has a strong polarity, so that the flow rate of a polar substance such as water can be remarkably retarded, so that exhaled breath can be separated into components.

  Examples of such a polar material having a relative dielectric constant of 10 or more include polyethylene glycol having an average molecular weight of 1000 or less, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, polypropylene glycol and the like. In addition, the value computed using the dielectric constant measuring apparatus shall be employ | adopted for the dielectric constant of the material which comprises a stationary phase.

  It is considered that the stronger the polarity of the stationary phase is, the more the difference in polarity of each component of the exhalation causes a difference in the flow rate of the exhaled air flowing through the microcolumn, and the easier it is to separate the exhaled components. And the stronger the polarity of the stationary phase, the higher the relative dielectric constant of the material. According to the relationship between the relative dielectric constant and polarity, the material constituting the stationary phase preferably has a relative dielectric constant of 11 or more, and more preferably has a relative dielectric constant of 13 or more. If the relative dielectric constant of the material constituting the stationary phase is less than 10, it is not preferable because the components of the exhaled breath cannot be separated.

  Here, it is more preferable to use polyethylene glycol having an average molecular weight of 200 or more and 1000 or less (hereinafter also referred to as “PEG”) as a stationary phase material effective for separating each component of exhaled breath. As the average molecular weight of PEG increases, the viscosity increases and the polarity tends to decrease. As the average molecular weight decreases, the viscosity decreases and the polarity tends to increase. For this reason, from the viewpoint of the balance between the viscosity and the polarity of PEG, it is more preferable to use PEG (PEG 600) having a relative dielectric constant of 13.7 at 30 ° C. and an average molecular weight of about 600.

  When the average molecular weight of polyethylene glycol is less than 200, it is difficult to be held on the wall surface of the internal flow path 22 of the microcolumn due to its low viscosity, and when the average molecular weight of polyethylene glycol exceeds 1000, it does not have sufficient polarity. Therefore, there is a tendency for the separation of exhaled breath to decrease.

  Here, the thickness of the stationary phase was calculated by directly measuring the cross section of the microcolumn in which the stationary phase was modified on the wall surface of the internal flow path of the microcolumn, based on an image observed using a microscope. Adopt things.

  Further, the width and depth (height) of the internal flow path of the microcolumn can be set to about 100 to 300 μm, for example. The width and depth of the internal flow path of the microcolumn are preferably determined in consideration of the type of target component, the flow rate of exhaled air introduced into the microcolumn, and the like.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the internal flow path 22 is 3 m or more and 20 m or less in length. If the length of the internal flow path 22 is less than 3 m, it is not possible to sufficiently separate the components of exhalation. If the length of the internal flow path 22 exceeds 20 m, the time required for measurement becomes long. It is not preferable.

(Gas detection part)
The gas detection unit 30 is a part for sequentially detecting the gas components separated by the gas separation unit 20, and a gas sensor 31 is preferably used. In the present invention, the gas detection unit 30 includes a gas sensor 31 for detecting a chemical substance. As the gas sensor 31, a semiconductor sensor, an electrochemical gas sensor, a QCM, an FID, an infrared sensor, or the like can be used. Among these sensors, it is preferable to use a semiconductor sensor from the viewpoint of being inexpensive and easily available.

  In the present invention, the gas sensor 31 is preferably installed in the vicinity of the outlet of the gas component separated by the gas separation unit 20. Thus, by installing the gas sensor 31 in the vicinity of the gas component outlet, the detection sensitivity of the target component can be increased. Here, “in the vicinity of the gas component outlet” means that the gas sensor 31 is located within a range of 0.5 mm to 3.0 mm from the gas component outlet.

  The gas separation unit 20 and the gas detection unit 30 are connected using a capillary glass tube, but the capillary glass tube has a small diameter. For this reason, it is not preferable that the gas component outlet of the capillary glass tube and the gas sensor 31 are separated from each other because the gas sensor 31 tends to hardly detect the expiration.

  The gas sensor 31 is preferably connected to a signal receiving mechanism (not shown) such as a digital multimeter via a conducting wire or the like. Such a signal receiving mechanism needs to receive a change in the voltage value of the constant resistance of the gas sensor 31 as a signal change when the gas sensor 31 detects a gas component.

  Furthermore, the signal receiving mechanism is preferably connected to a computer. Here, the computer refers to a computer that accumulates signal data detected by the signal receiving mechanism, converts the signal data into a chromatogram, and displays the converted data. Note that the computer may have a function of a flow path switching mechanism, and may perform control to switch between the first state and the second state.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example is given and this invention is demonstrated in detail, this invention is not limited to these.

Example 1
The production procedure and performance of the gas analyzer used in the exercise load control system of this embodiment will be described.

(Production method of gas analyzer)
The gas analyzer shown in FIG. 2 (a) and FIG. 2 (b) was produced by the following procedure. First, the gas separation part 20 was prepared by forming the internal flow path 22 having a width of 200 μm and a depth of 200 μm in a meandering manner at intervals of 200 μm.

  Specifically, a meandering groove having a width of 200 μm and a depth of 200 μm was formed on a 4-inch silicon wafer by performing photolithography after photolithography at intervals of 200 μm. Then, a 6-inch square glass plate was adhered to the side of the silicon substrate on which the grooves were formed using anodic bonding. Thereafter, a 9 cm square microcolumn was produced by dicing.

  The total length of the internal flow path 22 thus formed was 16 m. An outside diameter of 0.35 mm, an inside diameter of 0.25 mm, and an unmodified capillary glass were attached to the introduction port and the discharge port of the internal flow path 22 of the gas separation unit 20.

  On the other hand, a 1.0% acetone solution prepared by dissolving polyethylene glycol (PEG 600: manufactured by GL Sciences Inc.) having an average molecular weight of 600 and a relative dielectric constant of 13.74 at 30 ° C. in acetone was prepared. Such a 1.0% acetone solution was introduced from the introduction port of the microcolumn of the gas separation unit 20, and the internal flow path was filled with the acetone solution.

  And the acetone in the internal flow path 22 was almost evaporated by hold | maintaining for 10 minutes, after heating up the gas separation part 20 to 80 degreeC using a hotplate. After substantially evaporating acetone in this manner, a diaphragm type dry vacuum pump DA-15D (manufactured by ULVAC Kiko Co., Ltd.) having a solvent trap was connected to the inlet side of the internal flow path 22.

  By operating this vacuum pump for several tens of minutes to completely remove the solvent in the internal flow path 22, the gas separation unit 20 having a stationary phase made of PEG 600 is provided on the wall surface of the internal flow path 22 of the microcolumn. Formed. When the cross section of the gas separation part 20 thus produced was observed with a microscope and the thickness of the stationary phase was measured, the thickness of the stationary phase was 1.0 μm. The microcolumn manufactured in this way was used as the gas separation unit 20.

  Next, as the gas introduction unit 10, a manual gas sampler for gas chromatography (manufactured by GL Sciences Inc.) was used. Here, a manual gas sampler for gas chromatography (hereinafter also referred to as “gas sampler”) is configured to discharge the first flow path 12 for introducing exhaled gas and a part of the introduced exhaled gas from the gas exhaust port. A second flow path 13, a third flow path 15 for introducing a carrier gas, a fourth flow path 16 for supplying exhaled gas to the gas separation section 20, and a gas storage section 19 for holding exhalation It is what has. The gas sampler for chromatography may be automatic.

  On the other hand, the 4th flow path 16 of the gas sampler and the gas separation part 20 were connected using the 1 / 16x0.25 reducing union. As a result, the carrier gas introduced from the third flow path 15 of the gas sampler was introduced into the microcolumn 21 of the gas separation unit 20 through the fourth flow path 16.

  Next, it connected by inserting the end of a capillary tube with respect to the micro column 21 of the gas separation part 20. FIG. On the other hand, the other end of the capillary tube was connected in the vicinity of the gas sensor 31 of the gas detection unit 30, that is, the other end of the capillary tube and the gas sensor 31 were 1.5 mm, thereby producing the gas detection unit 30. In this way, a gas analyzer was produced.

<Detection of acetone concentration in exhaled breath>
A male with a weight of 65 kg was used as a subject, and the concentration of acetone in expired air discharged when the male walked for 30 minutes was detected. The procedure will be described below.

  First, the pressure of the carrier gas (air) introduced into the microcolumn by the needle valve was adjusted to 0.26 MPa. And the expiration | expired_air was introduce | transduced into the gas sampling part 40 using the mouthpiece with respect to the gas analyzer produced above. And 1 minute after the expiration began to circulate in the gas collection part 40, it switched from the 1st state to the 2nd state. Then, the operation of switching to the first state after holding the second state for 2 seconds was performed. In this way, 50 μl of exhaled breath was introduced into the microcolumn.

  FIG. 3 is a graph showing an output of resistance change when exhalation is introduced into the gas analyzer. According to the graph of FIG. 3, the peak of resistance change was shown at 1 minute 48 seconds, and the resistance ratio was 0.86. This indicates that 50 ppm of exhaled breath contains 0.8 ppm of acetone. From this result, it became clear that the gas analyzer produced above can detect the acetone concentration in the exhaled breath.

<Operation of exercise load control system>
In this example, a cycling machine equipped with the exercise load control system of the present invention was produced. The gas analyzer produced above was used for the exercise load control system of this cycling machine. Since the exercise load is adjusted by increasing / decreasing the weight of the pedal of the cycling machine, the pedal of the cycling machine corresponds to the load load portion.

  This cycling machine has a load control unit that controls the weight of the pedal, and the load control unit used can control the exercise load of the load load unit from 0 W to 250 W. The subject continuously exercised the pedal of the cycling machine, and introduced exhaled air discharged during the exercise into the gas analyzer.

  At this time, the acetone concentration in the expiration was calculated by the gas analyzer, and the calculation result was transmitted to the load calculation unit together with information on the exercise load by the load load unit. A personal computer was used as the load calculation unit here.

  The load calculation unit calculates an exercise load that maximizes the fat burning rate of the subject based on information on the exercise load applied to the subject and information on the acetone concentration in the breath exhaled by the subject exercising with the exercise load. . The optimal exercise load calculated here is transmitted to the load control unit, and the load control unit transmits the exercise load having the maximum fat burning rate to the load load unit. An exercise load control system incorporating such an exercise load control system was prepared.

<Performance evaluation of exercise load control system>
Using the cycling machine prepared as described above, it was examined whether it was possible to automatically control the exercise load with high body fat burning efficiency of the subject. After the test subject started pedaling the cycling machine, the exercise load on the cycling machine pedal was changed from 20 W, 30 W, and 40 W to 145 W at 15 W intervals for 1 minute each. The exhaled breath discharged at each exercise load was analyzed by a gas analyzer, and the acetone concentration in the exhaled breath was calculated. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

  FIG. 4 is a graph showing the concentration of acetone in exhaled breath discharged by the subject at each exercise load. The horizontal axis indicates the exercise load applied to the subject, and the vertical axis indicates the acetone concentration in the exhaled breath. From the results of Table 1 and FIG. 4, the change rate of the acetone concentration when the exercise load is changed at 0 to 20 W is 0.0021, and the value obtained by adding 0.002 to the change rate is 0.0041. is there.

  The change rate of the acetone concentration exceeds 0.0041 when the exercise load of the cycling machine is 55 W as shown in Table 1 (this exercise load is also referred to as the optimum load). Therefore, when the exercise load is 55 W, the load calculation unit has derived that the body fat combustion efficiency is the highest.

  This optimum load information is automatically transmitted from the load calculation unit to the load control unit, and the load control unit sets the pedal of the cycling machine to the optimum load. By automatically setting the cycling pedal to the optimum load in this way, the subject was able to exercise at the optimum load. The amount of lipid combustion when exercising at the optimum load was as follows.

The amount of lipid burning when exercising for 70 minutes was determined by applying an optimal load (55 W exercise load) to the pedal of the cycling machine and measuring the CO ₂ concentration, O ₂ concentration, and ventilation. As a result, it was found that about 30 g of the subject's lipid was burned after 70 minutes of exercise.

Further, the oxygen consumption at the time of maximum fat burning (hereinafter also referred to as “VO ₂ max”) was calculated based on the exercise load that maximizes the fat burning rate. Here, VO ₂ max means the volume of oxygen taken up per kg of body weight per minute, and the unit is expressed in ml / kg · min. With respect to the exercise load at VO ₂ max, the exercise load when the exercise load is about 10% (74 W), the exercise load when the exercise load is about 15% (83 W), about 10% exercise The exercise load (in the case of 40 W) when the load is small was measured by the same method as the 55 W exercise load described above. The result is shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, it is clear that the amount of lipid burning when exercising with an optimal exercise load is significantly higher than the amount of lipid burning when exercising with an exercise load deviating from the optimal exercise load. is there. From this, the exercise load control system according to the present invention is capable of exercising so as to easily burn the body fat of the subject by calculating the optimum exercise load and automatically imposing it on the subject. It became clear.

(Example 2)
In the present embodiment, a cycling machine having the same structure as that of the first embodiment is used except that a liquid crystal display is used as a notification unit with respect to the exercise load control system of the first embodiment. Here, the liquid crystal display is provided to transmit the exercise load calculated by the load calculation unit to the subject, and when the load calculation unit calculates the optimal exercise load, the exercise load is displayed on the liquid crystal display. did.

  Thus, by displaying the exercise load on which the body fat of the subject is most likely to burn on the liquid crystal display, the subject was able to grasp the exercise load during exercise. For this reason, the exercise load suddenly changed and the subject could continue to exercise without being shaken. Moreover, the lipid burning amount of the subject when the exercise with the optimum exercise load was finished was displayed. Thus, after the subject exercised, the result of the exercise could be confirmed visually.

  The exercise load control system described above in the present invention is not limited to the above, and may have a configuration other than the above.

  Although the embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described as described above, it is also planned from the beginning to appropriately combine the configurations of the above-described embodiments and examples.

  It should be understood that the embodiments and examples disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Gas introduction part, 11 Gas introduction port, 12 1st flow path, 13 2nd flow path, 14 Gas discharge port, 15 3rd flow path, 16 4th flow path, 17 Pressure regulation means, 18 Flow path switching mechanism, 19 Gas storage part, 20 Gas separation part, 21 Micro column, 22 Internal flow path, 25 Air flow generation means, 30 Gas detection part, 31 Gas sensor, 40 Gas sampling part, 41 Check valve

Claims (7)

A load-loading unit for applying a load to the subject and causing the subject to exercise,
A gas analyzer for detecting exhaled breath discharged by the subject during exercise of a load provided by the load-loading unit;
Based on the exhalation information detected by the gas analyzer, a load calculation unit for calculating an exercise load that maximizes the lipid burning rate of the subject,
An exercise load control system comprising: a load control unit for adjusting a load of the load load unit based on the exercise load calculated by the load calculation unit.   The exercise load control system according to claim 1, further comprising notification means for transmitting the exercise load calculated by the load calculation unit to the subject.   The exercise load control system according to claim 1, wherein the gas analyzer includes a gas introduction unit having a gas introduction port for introducing exhalation.   The exercise load control system according to claim 1, wherein the gas analyzer includes a gas separation unit having a microcolumn for separating components of exhaled breath supplied from the gas introduction unit.   The load calculation unit calculates an exercise load that maximizes the lipid burning rate of the subject based on the rate of change in the acetone concentration in exhaled breath that the subject exhausts when two different exercise loads are given to the subject. The exercise load control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The change rate of the acetone concentration in exhaled breath exhausted by the subject when the two different exercise loads are applied to the subject is set to the initial concentration of acetone in the exhaled breath exhausted by the subject in the absence of the exercise load The exercise load when exceeding the value obtained by adding 0.002 to the rate of change in the concentration of acetone in exhaled breath exhaled by the subject when the exercise load is the first is set as the optimal exercise load. Exercise load control system. Increasing the load on the subject stepwise to exercise the subject;
Detecting exhaled breath expelled by the subject during exercise of the subject by a gas analyzer;
Based on exhalation information detected by the gas analyzer, calculating the exercise load that maximizes the lipid burning rate of the subject by a load calculation unit;
Adjusting a load of the load load unit by a load control unit based on the exercise load calculated by the load calculation unit.

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