JP2013022302A - Huggable respiration inducing body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a huggable respiration inducing body having the function of inducing the respiration of a hugging person so as to stabilize a respiration rhythm and, at the same time, comfortably healing his/her mind.SOLUTION: The huggable respiration inducing body 1 includes: a huggable body 2 formed to have a stuffed toy shape; a respiration sensor 3 arranged in the body 2 and detecting the respiration rate of a person M hugging the body 2; an expansion/contraction mechanism 4 which is incorporated in the body 2 and expands/contracts the contact side of the body 2 with the hugging person M; and an expansion/contraction control part 5 which performs respiration induction using entrainment such that the respiration rate of the person M hugging the body 2 approximates the expansion/contraction times in the abdominal part 2b of the body 2, by controlling first the driving of the expansion/contraction mechanism 4 in such a manner that the expansion/contraction times of an abdominal part 2b being the contact side of the body 2 with the hugging person M imitates the respiration rate of the person M, based on the detection signal of the respiration sensor 3, and by controlling the driving of the expansion/contraction mechanism 4 in such a manner that the expansion/contraction times of the abdominal part 2b becomes gradually slow.

Description

  The present invention relates to a breathable derivative in a form that can be held, and more particularly, to a breathable form in a form that can hold and stabilize a respiratory rhythm, and at the same time has a function of relaxing and healing the mind. .

  Conventionally, a toy has been proposed in which the abdomen of an animal-shaped stuffed animal body is pushed out or returned to express movement similar to that of an animal or a person.

For example, conventionally, Patent Document 1 discloses that a drum 91, a drive source 13, a drum member 93 that regularly strikes the drum 91 with power from the drive source 13, and a drive source 13 inside an animal-shaped stuffed animal. Rotating members 79 and 85 that regularly rotate by the power from the drum are housed, and the drum 91 is hit by the drum member 93 to generate a sound similar to the beating sound of the animal's heart. , 85 has lump tips 81 and 87, and lump tips 81 and 87 are stuffed toys configured to extrude or return the abdomen of an animal to express movement similar to animal breathing. Proposed.
However, in the case of this Patent Document 1, the abdomen of the stuffed toy is pushed out or put back to express the movement similar to the breathing of the animal, but the abdomen is expanded and contracted according to a predetermined period. It has been estimated that there is no contrivance to induce the breathing of a person holding a stuffed toy.

  In Patent Document 2, the user's respiration detected by the respiration sensor 5 is presented to the user as a change in the shape of the guidance graphic presented on the video presentation device 2, and the expiration control unit 10 performs the expiration period. The target time is set, and the guidance graphic is presented to the video presentation device 2 as the achievement of the specific shape, and the user changes his / her breathing state detected by the breathing sensor 5 to the change of the guidance graphic. A respiratory induction system configured to guide the user's breathing to a predetermined breathing state simply by being conscious of adjusting the expiration period so that the induced figure becomes a specific shape has been proposed. Yes.

  However, in the case of this patent document 2, it is the structure which employ | adopted the video presentation apparatus 2 which presents a user's respiration state as a change of the shape of a guidance figure, and requires a complicated and large-scale apparatus structure.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-39593 JP 2010-104455 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is that there is no breathable form of a breathable derivative that has the function of inducing breathing and stabilizing the breathing rhythm of the person to be held, and at the same time capable of relaxing and healing the mind. .

  A breathable form of a huggable form according to the present invention includes a main body in a huggable form, a respiration sensor that is disposed in the main body and detects a respiration rate of a person holding the main body, and is incorporated in the main body, the person holding the main body in the main body Based on the detection signal of the respiration sensor and the expansion / contraction mechanism part that expands / contracts the contact side with the person, the number of expansions / contractions on the contact side with the person who initially holds the body so as to imitate the respiratory rate of the person The expansion / contraction mechanism is driven and controlled, and the expansion / contraction mechanism is controlled so that the number of expansions / contractions on the contact side gradually decreases. The main feature is to have an expansion / contraction control unit that performs respiration induction using entrainment so as to approximate the number of expansions / contractions on the side.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the person holding the body holds the body that can be held, a change in the number of expansions / contractions of the abdomen of the body is transmitted to the person holding the person, and emotional breathing is induced, and the person's breathing It is possible to realize and provide a breathable derivative in a huggable form that exhibits the effect of stabilizing the rhythm and at the same time relaxing and healing the mind.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, based on the configuration in which the main body is stuffed, the change in the number of expansions and contractions in the abdomen of the main body is transmitted to the person who is held and the emotional breathing is induced. Thus, it is possible to realize and provide a breathable derivative in the form of a hugging body that stabilizes the breathing rhythm of the hugging person and at the same time exhibits the effect of relaxing and healing the mind.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, the abdomen of the main body is similar to the invention described in claim 1 on the basis of the structure of the stuffed toy shape in which the main body is any one of a doll shape, an animal shape, and a pseudo animal shape. A change in the number of expansions and contractions of the body is transmitted to the person and emotional breathing is induced to stabilize the person's breathing rhythm, while at the same time realizing a form of a breathable derivative that can relax and heal the mind. Can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a breathable form of a huggable form according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the breathing induction operation of the person to be held by the respiratory derivative in the form that can be held according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a control system for a breathable derivative in a form that can be held according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the breathing induction operation of the person to be held by the breathable derivative in the form that can be held according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a waveform diagram showing changes in breathing before, during and after breathing of the experimenter and the subject in the breath-holding experiment. FIG. 6 is a table showing the breathing rates of the seven subjects in the breath holding experiment before, during and after holding the breath. FIG. 7 is a graph showing the respiratory rate of seven subjects in the breath holding experiment before, during and after holding the breath. FIG. 8 is a table showing changes in VAS before and after breathing of seven subjects in a breath-holding experiment. FIG. 9 is a graph showing changes in VAS before and after breathing of seven subjects in a breath-holding experiment. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the relationship between the subject's respiratory increase rate and characteristic anxiety in a breath holding experiment. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the subject's EEG, its effective value, changes in dipole voltage, and the state of the temporal pole and amygdala occurring in the subject's brain in a breath-holding experiment. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the subject's EEG, its effective value, dipole potential change, and the state of the temporal pole and amygdala that occur in the subject's brain in a breath-holding experiment.

  The object of the present invention is to realize and provide a breathable form of a breathable derivative having a function of inducing a person's breathing and stabilizing the breathing rhythm, while at the same time relaxing and healing the mind. A main body, a respiration sensor that is disposed in the main body and detects a respiration rate of a person holding the main body, an inflating / contracting mechanism section that is built in the main body and expands / contracts a contact side of the main body with the holding person, and the breathing Based on the detection signal of the sensor, the expansion / contraction mechanism unit is driven and controlled so as to imitate the respiration rate of the person who initially holds the person in contact with the person holding the person in the main body, and gradually expands and contracts on the contact side. Breathing using entrainment so that the expansion / contraction mechanism is driven and controlled so that the number of contractions is slow, and the respiration rate of the person holding the body approximates the number of expansions / contractions on the contact side of the body Guide And deflating control unit, realized by the configuration with.

  Hereinafter, a breathable derivative in a form that can be held according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, the premise concept regarding the breathable derivative of the embracable form according to the present embodiment will be described first.

  In general, not only infants but also infants and adults change their breathing rate when there are emotional changes such as anxiety and irritation.

The source of such emotional breathing is the respiratory rhythm, which is thought to change emotions and not to change emotions.
Considering the relationship between anxiety and breathing in infants and adults, when anxiety feelings occur, activity occurs in the amygdala, which is the center of the limbic emotion in the brain, and anxiety is amplified when the activity is large .

  In general, it tends to be thought that the activity propagates to the hypothalamus, enhances autonomic nerve activity, and increases heart rate and respiratory rate. The rhythm of breathing is not autonomic innervation.

It should be noted that the amygdala's activity when anxiety occurs is accompanied by breathing, and the amygdala's activity increases with the breathing rhythm. To go. In other words, it can be said that the respiratory rhythm creates emotion.
On the other hand, the reason why people with anxiety and irritability forcibly take deep breaths relieves their feelings because they slow their breathing rhythm and their amygdala activity decreases.

Next, an experiment conducted by the present inventor on the propagation of emotion from person to person will be described below.
It has been reported to date that breathing changes due to various emotions, and negative emotions such as fear and anxiety are known to increase the respiratory rate.

  This so-called emotional breathing, unlike metabolic breathing mainly originating from the medulla oblongata, has been shown to involve the upper brain, that is, the limbic system such as the amygdala and temporal pole, rather than the brain stem. (Masaoka & Homma I., 1997).

  It has also been clarified that emotional changes in breathing are unconscious and depend on individual anxiety scales (Masaoka & Homma I., 2001).

  In other words, observing changes in breathing can be an indicator of the person's emotions and emotions.

  The inventor of the present application has experimented in consideration of a new viewpoint with respect to “breathing difficulty”, which is an emotion most closely related to breathing, based on research on breathing and emotions so far.

  In recent years, brain research on mirror neurons has been actively conducted. In terms of emotions, this means that just by observing a sad expression or a person who is given a stress stimulus, the observer's brain is also active.

  Emotional propagation is often observed in daily life, and understanding this mechanism is important for understanding sociality and adaptability.

  The inventor of the present application observes a person who feels "sufficiency" by another person, whether that person feels "sufficiency", that is, whether or not "sufficiency" is transmitted, and what is it I examined this from the aspect of respiration, psychology, and brain activity (estimation of power supply in the brain by EEG dipole tracking). The details of this experiment will be specifically described below.

[Target]
The study was conducted on 7 healthy adult males (average 34.6 years). To eliminate the effects of gender differences, only men were enrolled.

[Experiment Overview]
As a method of conveying so-called “sufficiency”, we selected “hold breath” because of its familiarity and simplicity.

[Breathing]
The experimenter is defined as the person who holds the breath, the subject is the person who observes the breath, and the subject observes the breathing of the experimenter, and the breathing gas analyzer (the experimenter) : AE 300S, MINATO) and breath gas analyzer (subject: CPEX-1, ARCO
SYSTEM) was used to analog out the flow rate and the breathing of both the experimenter and the subject was recorded via Power Lab (ADInstruments).

[EEG]
Subject's brain waves were recorded simultaneously. That is, an electroencephalograph (Neurofax EEG-1100, Nihon
Koden), an indifferent electrode was attached to the subject's left ear, and the electrode was attached according to International 10-20 method.

[Psychology]
Immediately before the start of the experiment, STAI (Spielberger's State Trait Anxiety Inventory): A state-characteristic anxiety test was performed to measure the anxiety scale of the subjects.

[Numeric]
The VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) was used to quantify the subject's “breathing difficulty” while observing the experimenter's “holding breath”.

  An example of each respiratory waveform before, during, and after the breathing of the experimenter, and before and during the breathing of the subject observing the experimenter, FIG. 5 shows an example of each respiration waveform after “pick up”.

  In addition, FIG. 6 shows the respiratory rate (time / minute) before “holding breath”, during “holding breath”, and after “holding breath” for seven subjects, and similarly before “holding breath” for seven subjects. FIG. 7 shows a graph representing the respiratory rate (times / minute) after “holding breath” during “holding breath”.

Furthermore, VAS (Visual Analogue) of 7 subjects before and after breathing
Scale) changes are shown as a table in FIG. 8, and as a graph in FIG.

  In FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, “0” is shown as not feeling breathlessness at all, and “100” is shown as the maximum breathing difficulty.

  Furthermore, FIG. 10 shows the relationship between the rate of increase in breathing (%) after holding and the characteristic anxiety (Trait STAI) compared to before holding.

  FIGS. 11 and 12 show, for example, changes in the electroencephalogram (EEG), its effective value (RMS), and dipole potential (Dipolarity) related to two subjects (observers) and in the subject's brain. It shows the state of the temporal pole and amygdala, respectively.

  In each of FIGS. 11 and 12, the temporal pole T and the amygdala A of the subject are shown based on the image of the coronal and transverse sections of the head. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, a respiratory-related anxiety potential (RAP) appears in synchronization with respiration at 300 to 500 msec after inhalation starts with the subject's brain wave, The power source was found in the temporal pole T and amygdala A, which are strongly related to anxiety.

When the above experimental results are verified, the results are as follows.
A. When the subject observed “holding breath”, the breathing rate of the subject increased during “holding breath” and “after holding breath” compared to “before holding” (FIGS. 6 and 7).
B. Among the seven subjects, all cases showed an increase in respiratory rate “after breathing” rather than “before breathing” (FIGS. 6 and 7).
C. Of the 7 subjects, “after breathing” was felt more “breathing” than “before breathing” in all cases (FIGS. 8 and 9). However, there was no correlation between changes in VAS and the rate of increase in respiratory rate.
D. In subjects with higher characteristic anxiety, the rate of increase in respiration rate after “holding breath” was larger than the respiration rate before “holding breath” (FIG. 10).

  From the above results, all the subjects who observed other people's "holding breath" felt "breathing", but it was found that the feeling of "breathing" was accompanied by the phenomenon of increased breathing rate unconsciously. .

  However, there was no relationship between the degree of “breathing difficulty” felt by individual subjects and “respiration rate”. Rather, the magnitude of “anxiety” was strongly related to “respiration rate”. In other words, people who were more likely to feel anxiety tended to increase their respiratory rate.

  From this, it can be said that the sensation of “breathing” is closely related to human anxiety.

  Strictly speaking, the fact that “sufficiency” is transmitted can be paraphrased as the fact that the anxiety of the subject (observer) unconsciously created one subjectivity of “sufficiency”.

  Next, a breathable derivative in a form that can be held according to an embodiment of the present invention based on the above premise concept and breath holding experiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the breathable derivative 1 according to the present embodiment is a stuffed animal having an outer cover 2 a made of, for example, a cloth material on the outer peripheral portion, and a pseudo animal shape that can be held. A body 2 formed on the body 2, a breathing sensor 3 that is disposed on the body 2 and detects the respiration rate of the person M holding the body 2, for example, in the vicinity of the abdomen, and the body 2 embracing the body 2. Based on the expansion / contraction mechanism 4 that expands and contracts the side of the abdomen 2b in contact with the person M and the detection signal of the respiration sensor 3, the number of expansions / contractions of the abdomen 2b in the main body 2 is imitated. The person M holding the main body 2 by controlling the drive of the expansion / contraction mechanism 4 so that the number of expansions / contractions of the abdomen 2b is gradually reduced. Slowly breathing on the abdomen 2b side of the body 2 An expansion / contraction control unit 5 that performs respiration induction using entrainment so as to approximate the number of expansions / contractions, and a power supply unit (for example, a battery) 6 that supplies electric power necessary for the operation of the respiratory derivative 1. ing.

  Here, entrainment is a psychological term and refers mainly to the interaction between mother and child in the developmental stage of infants. This is the most basic interaction between mother and child at this time, and through this emotional symbiosis stage, infants form their own emotional core (Emdi) and move to autonomous self. .

  The infant's various desires are transmitted emotionally to the mother, and the mother responds appropriately by the emotional rhythm (stern) of adjusting to the infant's emotional expression.

  The breathable derivative 1 in the form that can be held according to the present embodiment utilizes the entrainment as described above.

  Examples of the shape of the main body 2 include animal shapes such as dogs and cats that are familiar to any person, including small children, pseudo-animal shapes imitating these, and doll shapes, but are particularly limited. It is not a thing. Furthermore, the robot form similar to these may be used.

  As the respiration sensor 3, for example, a pressure-type respiration sensor that detects the respiration rate of the person M using the pressure change caused by the abdominal expansion and contraction accompanying the respiration of the person M can be used. It is not limited.

  The inflating / contracting mechanism unit 4 includes, for example, an in / out block moving body 7 facing the abdomen 2b of the main body 2 and an actuator 8 that pushes and returns the in / out block moving body 7. In addition, it can also comprise by the combination of an air bag and an air pump.

  The expansion / contraction control unit 5 includes, for example, a CPU 10 that is a control unit that performs overall control, a memory 9 that stores an operation program of the respiratory derivative 1 in advance, and a drive circuit 11 for the actuator 8.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the respiration induction | movement operation | movement of the person M held by the respiration derivative 1 of the form which can be held according to a present Example is demonstrated.

  When the person M holding the respiratory derivative 1 embracs and brings the abdomen 2b of the respiratory derivative 1 into close contact with his abdomen, the respiratory sensor 3 of the respiratory derivative 1 changes the pressure due to the abdominal expansion and contraction associated with the breathing of the person M holding the respiratory derivative 1 Are continuously detected and a detection signal is sent to the expansion / contraction control unit 5.

  The expansion / contraction control unit 5 receives a detection signal from the respiration sensor 3, calculates the respiration rate of the person M based on the operation program, and outputs a drive signal from the drive circuit 11 to the actuator 8. A person who drives the actuator 8 of the expansion / contraction mechanism section 4 in FIG. 4 and pushes back and forth to the abdomen side of the person M holding the entrance / exit lump-like moving body 7 and returns to the original position, thereby holding the number of expansions / contractions of the abdomen 2b. A state that mimics the respiratory rate of M is assumed.

  Thereafter, the expansion / contraction control unit 5 outputs a drive signal from the drive circuit 11 to the actuator 8 based on the operation program, drives the actuator 8 of the expansion / contraction mechanism unit 4, and pushes out the in / out lump-like moving body 7. The period of return is gradually slowed so that the number of expansions / contractions of the abdomen 2b is gradually slowed down, so that the respiration rate of the person M holding the body 2 is reduced to the abdomen 2b side of the body 2 Respiratory induction using entrainment is performed to approximate the number of slow inflation / deflation.

  For example, when the respiratory rate of the person M to be held is initially 25 times / minute, the respiratory rate is induced to be a normal value of 18 to 20 times / minute.

  As a result, the person M who is embracing is merely embracing the respiratory derivative 1 and is guided so that his / her respiration rate approximates the number of slow expansions / contractions of the abdomen 2b of the main body 2 from the initial state. The breathing rhythm is stabilized, and at the same time, the mind can be relaxed and healed (relaxed).

  The present invention has mental health care for children at home and school, stress management for people who tend to be unstable, bedtime support for people who have trouble sleeping, lack of sleep, emotional disorders, mental disorders It can be widely applied to uses such as respiratory assistance / emotional support for people and treatment support for people with respiratory symptoms.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Respiration derivative 2 Main body 2a Outer jacket 2b Abdominal part 3 Respiration sensor 4 Inflating / contracting mechanism part 5 Inflating / contracting control part 6 Power supply part 7 In / out lump-like moving body 8 Actuator 9 Memory 10 CPU
11 Drive circuit A Amygdala T Temporal pole M

Claims (3)

A body that can be held;
A breathing sensor disposed on the body for detecting the breathing rate of a person holding the body;
An inflating / contracting mechanism part that is incorporated in the main body and expands / contracts the contact side of the main body with the person to be held;
Based on the detection signal of the respiration sensor, the expansion / contraction mechanism unit is driven and controlled so as to imitate the respiration rate of the person who initially holds the person on the contact side with the person holding the person, and gradually the contact side Using the entrainment to drive and control the expansion / contraction mechanism so that the number of expansions / contractions of the body is slow, and the respiration rate of the person holding the body approximates the number of expansions / contractions on the contact side of the body An inflating and deflating control unit for performing breathing guidance,
A respirable derivative in a huggable form characterized by comprising: A stuffed animal body that can be hugged,
A breathing sensor disposed on the body for detecting the breathing rate of a person holding the body;
An inflating / contracting mechanism part that is incorporated in the main body and expands / contracts the contact side of the main body with the person to be held;
Based on the detection signal of the respiration sensor, the expansion / contraction mechanism unit is driven and controlled so as to imitate the respiration rate of the person who initially holds the person on the contact side with the person holding the person, and gradually the contact side Using the entrainment to drive and control the expansion / contraction mechanism so that the number of expansions / contractions of the body is slow, and the respiration rate of the person holding the body approximates the number of expansions / contractions on the contact side of the body An inflating and deflating control unit for performing breathing guidance,
A respirable derivative in a huggable form characterized by comprising: In the form of a stuffed toy that can be hugged, a main body that is one of a doll shape, an animal shape, a pseudo animal shape,
A breathing sensor disposed on the body for detecting the breathing rate of a person holding the body;
An inflating / contracting mechanism part for inflating / contracting the abdomen side in contact with the person holding the person in the main body;
Based on the detection signal of the respiration sensor, the expansion / contraction mechanism unit is driven and controlled so as to imitate the respiration rate of the person who initially holds the abdominal expansion / contraction in the main body. The expansion / contraction mechanism is driven and controlled so that the respiration rate of the person holding the main body approximates the number of expansions / contractions on the abdomen side of the main body to perform respiration induction using entrainment. A contraction control unit;
A respirable derivative in a huggable form characterized by comprising: