JP2013063124A - Breathing training device, and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To practice a highly-efficient training for abdominal deep breathing.SOLUTION: A hallow elastic tube is wound around the chest and abdomen of a user, and the air pressure of the elastic tube is increased to thereby compress the chest and abdomen. In addition, the expansion rates of the chest and abdomen by breathing are detected as pressure values, and the detected pressure values determine whether abdominal breathing is successfully carried out. Then, the expansion rates and the determination results whether abdominal breathing is successfully conducted are indicated along a time axis.

Description

  The present invention relates to a respiration rate indicating apparatus for performing abdominal respiration training and a control method thereof.

  It has become clear that respiration has a great influence on the autonomic nerve and circulatory system. Breathing is generally classified into thoracic (or rib cage) breathing and abdominal breathing, and it has also been found that abdominal breathing is particularly desirable for maintaining health.

  In view of such points, techniques for inducing or measuring abdominal breathing are known as Patent Documents 1 and 2. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for inducing abdominal breathing by bringing an electrode into contact with the abdomen of a subject, passing a predetermined number of currents through the electrode, and contracting muscles. On the other hand, Patent Document 2 attaches a device having a movable part that detects expansion and contraction to a subject's abdomen using a belt, a band, or the like, and determines the number of times the subject's abdomen is expanded or contracted. A technique for counting as a respiration rate is disclosed.

JP 2004-136083 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-250779

  It is rare to breathe with only one of chest or abdominal breathing. In many cases, chest breathing and abdominal breathing are mixed, and the ratio is different for each individual. Although the techniques according to Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above act to induce or recommend abdominal breathing, they do not indicate the degree of course whether or not chest breathing is performed. . Therefore, it cannot be said that an effective abdominal respiration (breathing with a small ratio of chest respiration) is shown to the subject.

  Furthermore, especially in training that continues abdominal deep breathing in a very slow cycle of about 6 times a minute (10 seconds per breath) for 5 minutes, the autonomic nerve is stimulated and is considered good for the circulatory system. Yes.

  The present invention seeks to provide a technique for assisting efficient deep breathing training.

In order to achieve the above object, for example, a respiratory training apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
A respiratory training device for performing abdominal deep breathing over a preset time T1 per cycle,
First detecting means for detecting the degree of expansion of the chest;
A second detection means for detecting the degree of expansion of the abdomen,
Bisecting the time T1 into an inhalation period and an exhalation period, and displaying which one is currently, thereby inducing a deep breathing timing;
A determination unit that determines whether or not abdominal breathing is performed by comparing the degree of expansion of the chest detected by the first detection unit and the degree of expansion of the abdomen detected by the second detection unit; ,
Each expansion degree detected by the first and second detection means and a second display means for displaying the determination result by the determination means along the time axis.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to perform abdominal deep breathing training with high efficiency.

It is a block block diagram of the respiratory training apparatus in an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the display apparatus during breathing training. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of a respiratory training apparatus.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, it is assumed that the person who operates the apparatus and the person who performs abdominal breathing training are the same, and hereinafter simply referred to as a user, but it is clear that each may be a different person. It is.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an abdominal breathing training apparatus according to an embodiment. In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes a CPU that controls the entire apparatus, and reference numeral 102 denotes a ROM that stores a program that is a processing procedure of the CPU 1. As will be described later, the ROM 102 stores a plurality of music data 103 having a rhythm suitable for performing one abdominal deep breathing in 10 seconds. This music data 103 is, for example, data encoded in the MP3 format, and is displayed in the menu at an initial stage, and abdominal breathing training is performed while selecting and reproducing one of the menus. A RAM 104 is used as a work area during the processing of the CPU 101. An operation unit 105 includes various switches and keys for selecting various parameters such as menu selection. Reference numeral 106 denotes a display device such as a liquid crystal, which functions as a menu display for various settings, and further a device for notifying the user during training of the state during breathing training.

  Reference numeral 107 denotes a band-shaped rib band wound around the user's rib cage, which can maintain a hollow airtight state inside, for example, an outer diameter of about 10 mm to 20 mm formed of urethane, silicon, vinyl chloride, or the like, and an inner diameter of 8 mm. An elastic tube of about ˜9 mm is accommodated. For example, hook-and-loop fasteners are attached to both ends of the rib cage band 107 to hold the wound state around the rib cage. Reference numeral 108 denotes a pump for feeding compressed air in order to increase the air pressure in the elastic tube in the thorax band 107. Reference numeral 109 denotes a pressure sensor for detecting the air pressure in the elastic tube of the rib cage band 107. In such a configuration, the rib band 107 is wound around the user's rib cage and the pump 108 is driven until the pressure in the elastic tube reaches a predetermined value. Thereafter, by detecting the pressure change by the pressure sensor 109, the expansion and contraction of the user's thorax can be detected, and one cycle of this expansion and contraction can be detected as a motion of chest respiration.

  The abdominal band 110, the pump 111, and the pressure sensor 112 have structures corresponding to the thorax band 107, the pump 108, and the pressure sensor 109, respectively. That is, the abdomen band 110 is wound around the user's abdomen and the pump 111 is driven until the pressure inside the elastic tube reaches a predetermined value. Thereafter, by detecting a pressure change by the pressure sensor 112, it is possible to detect expansion and contraction of the user's abdomen, and one cycle of this expansion and contraction can be detected as an abdominal breathing exercise. The chest band 107 and the abdominal band 110 are each provided with an exhaust valve (not shown) for exhausting the internal air after the breathing training described later.

  Reference numeral 113 denotes a voice synthesis circuit that generates an analog signal from the music data decoded in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 101 and drives the speaker 114, and plays back the music selected by the user for the respiratory training described above. It is. The speaker 114 may be installed on the floor or may be a type that is worn as headphones, and the type thereof is not limited. Reference numeral 115 denotes a timer for measuring time.

  The apparatus of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration functions as a slow abdominal deep breathing training apparatus of 6 cycles / minute. For this reason, in this embodiment, first, an index indicating whether or not the user is performing an abdominal breathing as well as whether or not the user is performing an abdominal breathing is presented. Secondly, inspiratory movement to take air into the lungs and expel air to facilitate breathing in 10 seconds (= 1 minute / 6 cycle = 10 seconds / cycle) Present each period of exhalation exercise.

  For the first problem, first, the pumps 108 and 111 are driven, and the internal pressures of the elastic tubes in the rib cage band 107 and the abdominal band 110 are set to preset pressures while monitoring the detected pressures from the pressure sensors 109 and 112. Boost up to

  In this state, the user performs the operation of expanding the rib cage to the maximum and the operation of reducing the rib cage to the minimum. The maximum pressure and the minimum pressure at that time are detected by the pressure sensor 109, and the range of the minimum pressure and the maximum pressure is set to 0. Normalize to 100. Thereafter, not the actually measured pressure value detected by the pressure sensor 109 but a value mapped to the normalized range is detected as the chest pressure Pk.

  Thereafter, an operation for expanding the abdomen to the maximum and an operation for reducing the abdomen to the minimum are performed, the maximum pressure and the minimum pressure at that time are detected by the pressure sensor 112, and the range of the minimum pressure and the maximum pressure is set to 0 to 100. Normalize. Thereafter, not the actually measured pressure value detected by the pressure sensor 112 but a value mapped to the normalized range is detected as the abdominal pressure Pf.

  As a result, the degree of expansion and contraction of both the chest and abdomen can be compared on the same scale regardless of the user's body shape and size.

  In the present embodiment, when abdominal pressure Pf> chest pressure Pk, the degree of inflation of the abdomen is larger than that of the chest, and it is determined that abdominal breathing is performed when this relationship is satisfied. I did it. And it was made to notify visually to a user whether it is this abdominal breathing state.

  An appropriate coefficient R may be provided, and abdominal breathing may be determined when Pf> Pk × R is satisfied. In this case, it is desirable that R can be freely set by the user. In particular, when R is a coefficient greater than 1, it means that the determination that it is abdominal breathing becomes severe, so that it is possible to cope with users who have become used to training.

  Next, for the second task, not only playing music that matches 10 seconds of breathing, but also dividing the interval of 10 seconds into a period of 5 seconds each in the previous and second half, and now the inspiratory and expiratory movements An indicator of which to perform is visually shown to the user.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the display screen 200 of the display device 106 during the abdominal deep breathing training for realizing the first and second problems in the present embodiment.

  In the figure, reference numeral 201 denotes a display unit that indicates an inspiration and expiration period on a time axis of 10 seconds, and the pointer 203 is moved and displayed on the bar 202 immediately below from the left end to the right end. I made it. When the pointer 203 moves to the right end, it is repeatedly displayed from the left end. From the relationship with the display unit 201 immediately above, the current point is of course the inspiration period or the expiration period. An indicator of how much time should elapse until the next breathing exercise can be shown. In the embodiment, since the period for one abdominal deep breathing training is 5 minutes, the remaining time is also shown in the area indicated by reference numeral 204 in the drawing.

  On the other hand, a window 205 is provided at the top of the screen to indicate chest pressure Pk and abdominal pressure Pf during breathing. A chest pressure curve 206 indicating the time transition of the chest pressure Pk is displayed in the upper part of the window 205, and an abdominal pressure curve 207 indicating the time transition of the abdominal pressure Pf is displayed in the lower part. The right end of the illustrated window 205 indicates the current point, and the left side indicates past measurement results. That is, the chest pressure curve 206 and the abdominal pressure curve 207 of the chest pressure Pk and the abdominal pressure Pf in the illustrated window 206 are scroll-displayed from the right side to the left side of the screen.

  Also, the chest pressure curve 206 and the abdominal pressure curve 207 show a broken line portion and a solid line portion. The broken line portion indicates that abdominal pressure Pf ≦ chest pressure Pk and is not regarded as abdominal breathing, and the solid line portion indicates that abdominal pressure Pf> chest pressure Pk and abdominal breathing is determined. ing. In the drawing, the line type indicates whether or not the abdominal breathing is successful, but it may be indicated by a curve color. Moreover, you may show by a background color instead of the color of a curve. In short, it is only necessary that the display form informs the user whether or not abdominal breathing is being performed.

  In addition, in order to show how much of the elapsed time since the start of training is determined as abdominal respiration, the abdominal respiration index is displayed as a percentage in the area indicated by reference numeral 208 in the figure. I tried to do it.

  Next, the processing procedure of the CPU 101 in the embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The process shown in FIG. 10 is started when an instruction to start training is input from the operation unit 105. Before that, the chest band 107 and the abdominal band 110 are completely wrapped around the chest and abdomen of the user. It shall be.

  First, initial setting processing is performed in step S11. In this initial setting process, the pumps 108 and 111 are driven and pressurized until the internal pressure of the elastic tubes in the chest band 107 and the abdominal band 110 reaches a predetermined pressure set in advance. Since high accuracy is not required for pressurization at this time, the pump may be stopped when the predetermined pressure is reached. A message is displayed on the display device 106 to inflate the thorax to the maximum and to perform the operation to minimize it several times. The maximum and minimum pressures are detected by the pressure sensor 109, and the chest expands and contracts. Normalize the pressure change range by. Similarly, a message is displayed on the display device 106 so that the abdomen is fully inflated and minimized, and the maximum and minimum pressures are detected by the pressure sensor 112 while the abdomen is inflated and contracted. Normalize the pressure change range by. In addition, a list of music data 103 that can be played back during training is displayed, and a desired one of them is selected.

  Thereafter, in step S12, time measurement for 5 minutes, which is a training period, is started (the current time is acquired from the timer 115, and the time after 5 minutes is set as the training end time). In step S13, the movement display of the pointer 203 and the reproduction of the selected music data are started.

  Thereafter, in step S14, the chest pressure Pk and the abdominal pressure Pf are acquired by detecting the pressure with the pressure sensors 109 and 112 as described above. The sampling interval for pressure detection by the pressure sensors 109 and 112 is about 100 ms. Now, if the chest pressure Pk and the abdominal pressure Pf are acquired, it will progress to step S15 and it will be judged whether the relationship of Pf> Pk is materialized. If it is determined that Pf> Pk, it is considered that the abdominal breathing has been successful, and in step S16, a drawing process for connecting the previous measurement pressure with a solid line and a scroll process are performed. On the other hand, if it is determined that Pf ≦ Pk, it is determined that abdominal breathing has failed, and a drawing process and a scroll process are performed to connect the previous measurement pressure with a line segment by a broken line.

  In either case, the total number of times the pressure value is detected from the start of training to the present is used as the denominator, and the abdominal breathing success rate is calculated using the successful solution of the abdominal breathing as the numerator. Is displayed as an abdominal breathing index in the area 208, and the remaining time is displayed in the area 204.

  Thereafter, in step S18, it is determined whether or not 5 minutes have elapsed since the start of training. If not, the processes in and after step S14 are repeated. Further, when it is determined that 5 minutes have elapsed since the start of training, this processing is terminated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the degree of expansion and contraction of the chest and abdomen due to respiration, and the determination result of abdominal respiration and chest respiration are displayed. Of course, it is possible to easily grasp whether or not the abdominal breathing is more efficient from the fluctuation of the chest pressure. Further, by displaying a marker indicating the timing of inspiration and expiration of 6 breaths / minute, it is possible to easily perform the deep breathing operation.

  In the above embodiment, it is not determined whether the user is actually taking a deep breath for 10 seconds, but this determination is based on the time difference between the pressure peak by the pressure sensor 112 and the next peak. The determination can be made based on whether or not it is 10 seconds. Therefore, a time difference Δt that is allowed in advance is provided, and when the detected time interval is outside the range of 10 seconds ± Δt, a message may be displayed on the display device 106 so as to breathe a little earlier (or later).

  In the embodiment, the expansion and contraction of the rib cage and the abdomen are detected using the air pressure. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment because a member whose impedance changes by expansion and contraction may be used. .

  In the embodiment, abdominal deep breathing is exemplified as 1 cycle = 10 seconds (6 cycles / minute), but this number may be appropriately modified.

100: CPU 102: ROM 103: Music data 104: RAM 105: Operation unit 106: Display device 107: Thorax band 108, 111: Pump 109, 112: Pressure sensor 110: Abdominal band 113: Speech synthesis circuit 114: Speaker 115: Timer

Claims (9)

A respiratory training device for performing abdominal deep breathing over a preset time T1 per cycle,
First detecting means for detecting the degree of expansion of the chest;
A second detection means for detecting the degree of expansion of the abdomen,
Bisecting the time T1 into an inhalation period and an exhalation period, and displaying which one is currently, thereby inducing a deep breathing timing;
A determination unit that determines whether or not abdominal breathing is performed by comparing the degree of expansion of the chest detected by the first detection unit and the degree of expansion of the abdomen detected by the second detection unit; ,
A respiratory training apparatus comprising: a second display unit configured to display each degree of expansion detected by the first and second detection units and a determination result by the determination unit along a time axis.   Each of the first and second detection means is composed of an elastic tube for storing compressed air and wrapping around the chest or abdomen of the subject, and a pressure sensor for detecting the air pressure in the elastic tube. The respiratory training device according to claim 1.   The first display means displays the time T1 separately along the horizontal axis into the inspiration period and the exhalation period, and repeats a pointer that moves over the horizontal axis over the time T1. The respiratory training device according to claim 1, wherein the breathing training device is displayed.   The second display means displays the degree of expansion detected by the first and second detection means on a curve having a horizontal axis as a time axis, and the determination result of the determination means as the time axis. The breathing training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the breathing training apparatus is displayed along the line.   The second display means includes a type or color of a line segment of a curve in a period in which it is determined that the determination means is performing abdominal breathing and a period in which it is determined that non-abdominal breathing is performed. The respiratory training device according to claim 4, wherein the breathing training device is changed.   The respiratory training apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the time T1 is 10 seconds.   The apparatus further comprises third display means for displaying a ratio of the time determined to be abdominal respiration among the time from the start of the detection processing by the first and second detection means to the present. The respiratory training device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The respiratory training device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising music reproducing means for reproducing music having the time T1 as a rhythm. A first detecting means for detecting the degree of expansion of the chest and a second detecting means for detecting the degree of expansion of the abdomen, for performing abdominal deep breathing over a preset time T1 per cycle; A method for controlling a respiratory training device, comprising:
Dividing the time T1 into an inhalation period and an exhalation period, and displaying the current time, thereby displaying a timing of deep breathing;
A determination step of determining whether or not abdominal breathing is performed by comparing the degree of expansion of the chest detected by the first detection means and the degree of expansion of the abdomen detected by the second detection means; ,
Control of a breathing training apparatus, comprising: a second display step for displaying each degree of expansion detected by the first and second detection means and a determination result of the determination step along a time axis. Method.

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