JP2019130070A - Biological information measurement device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a biological information measurement device capable of measuring biological information other than SpOwhile having a compact probe configuration.SOLUTION: A biological information measurement device 10 comprises: a probe 100 comprising a measurement light emission part for emitting a measurement light to a measurement portion, and a transmission/reflection light entry part to which a transmission light or reflection light of the measurement light which passed the measurement portion enters, and being attached to the measurement portion; a multi wavelength light source 210 for emitting light including at least red light and near infrared light; a calculation part 220 for determining a plurality of kinds of biological information based on transmission/reflection light; and a light cable 300 provided between the multi wavelength light source 210 and the probe 100, and between the probe 100 and the calculation part 220, sending the light obtained on the multi wavelength light source 210 to the probe 100, and sending the transmission/reflection light obtained on the probe 100 or an electric signal based on the transmission/reflection light to the calculation part 220.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a biological information measuring device, for example, a biological information measuring device capable of measuring arterial blood oxygen saturation (hereinafter simply referred to as SpO ₂ or oxygen saturation).

Pulse oximeters are widely used as biological information measuring devices capable of measuring SpO ₂ . A pulse oximeter is a medical device that can noninvasively measure arterial oxygen saturation, which represents the ratio of oxygenated hemoglobin to total hemoglobin in arterial blood (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  The pulse oximeter is configured to attach a probe to a measurement site such as a finger, a footpad or an earlobe. The probe is provided with a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode and a photo detector such as a photodiode.

Then, by alternately emitting light emitting elements that emit red light and light emitting elements that emit near-infrared light, red light and near-infrared light are alternately irradiated toward the measurement site and transmitted through the measurement site. Or the light reflected from the measurement site is detected by a photodetector. In general, red light in SpO ₂ measurement is defined as 660 nm ± 5 nm, and near-infrared light is defined as 800 to 950 nm. Therefore, red light and near infrared light in this specification mean light in this range.

  The pulse oximeter calculates oxygen saturation using a detection signal of transmitted light or reflected light obtained by a photodetector. Specifically, the fluctuation of the light detection level synchronized with the pulse of arterial blood is compared between the case of red light and the case of near infrared light, and the oxygen saturation is calculated from the ratio. The pulse oximeter displays the calculated arterial blood oxygen saturation on the display unit.

  As a probe of a pulse oximeter, for example, there is one configured by providing a light emitting part and a light receiving part in a case that can be attached to a fingertip. There is also a configuration in which a light emitting part and a light receiving part are provided on a sheet-like base material (see, for example, Patent Documents 3 and 4).

JP 2001-78990 A JP-A-2015-107152 US Pat. No. 5,800,349 JP 2004-329607 A JP 2011-209265 A JP 2002-65645 A JP 2017-205264 A

  By the way, since the probe is attached to the fingertip of the subject, it is preferable that the probe is as compact as possible.

In addition, in the conventional pulse oximeter, it is required to emit red light and near infrared light alternately at a predetermined timing. However, red light and near infrared light are not emitted alternately and simultaneously. If SpO ₂ can be measured even when light is emitted, the light emission drive circuit can be simplified, which is preferable.

Furthermore, it would be very convenient if other biological information other than SpO ₂ could be measured.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides a biological information measuring apparatus capable of measuring biological information other than SpO ₂ while having a compact probe configuration.

One aspect of the biological information measuring device of the present invention is:
A measurement light emitting part that emits measurement light toward the measurement site and a transmission / reflection light incidence unit that transmits the transmitted / reflected light of the measurement light that is transmitted or reflected through the measurement site, and is attached to the measurement site A probe to be
A multi-wavelength light source that emits light including at least red light and near infrared light;
A calculation unit for obtaining a plurality of types of biological information based on the transmitted / reflected light;
Provided between the multi-wavelength light source and the probe, and between the probe and the calculation unit, and transmits the light obtained by the multi-wavelength light source to the probe and the transmission obtained by the probe. An optical cable for sending an electrical signal based on the reflected light or the transmitted / reflected light to the arithmetic unit;
Have

According to the present invention, since the multi-wavelength light source is connected to the probe by the optical cable, it is possible to realize a biological information measuring device capable of measuring biological information other than SpO ₂ while having a compact probe configuration.

Schematic which shows the whole structure of the biological information measuring device which concerns on embodiment A perspective view showing a configuration example of a probe

<1> Background to the Present Invention Before the embodiment of the present invention is described, the background to the present invention will be described.

The inventor of the present invention first focused on the following points.
In a conventional pulse oximeter, the light emitting part is composed of an LED that emits red light and an LED that emits near-infrared light, and the light receiving part is one PD that detects these lights that have been transmitted or reflected through the living body. (Photo-Diode). Since the light receiving unit is configured by one PD in this way, when red light and near infrared light are incident on the PD at the same time, it becomes impossible to distinguish between red light and near infrared light. Light is emitted alternately (to be exact, red light → off → near infrared light → off →...).

  As a result, in conventional pulse oximeters, red and near-infrared LEDs are made to emit light alternately, so measurement in each color cannot be performed at the same time. For example, a delay of several milliseconds occurs. There is a drawback that the measurement accuracy is lowered. Further, since it is necessary to cause red and near-infrared LEDs to alternately illuminate at a predetermined timing, there is a drawback that the operation circuit of the LEDs becomes complicated.

Therefore, the inventor of the present invention uses a multi-wavelength light source including both red light and near infrared light, and only the first photodetector for detecting only infrared light and only near infrared light. It was considered that the SpO ₂ measurement similar to the conventional one can be realized while simplifying the driving circuit of the light emitting section by providing the second photodetector for detecting the light emission.

Furthermore, since the probe is attached to the corner or finger, if not only SpO ₂ but also the water content of the skin, blood glucose level, lipid, etc. can be measured, a plurality of biological information can be obtained collectively. We thought that it would be possible to realize a very convenient biological information measuring device. Therefore, as a multi-wavelength light source, it was decided to use not only SpO ₂ but also a light source capable of measuring, for example, the skin water content, blood glucose level, lipid and the like.

  The inventor of the present invention decided to use a halogen lamp or a xenon lamp as such a multi-wavelength light source. The halogen lamp generally has a very wide effective wavelength of about 350 to 3500 nm. Incidentally, the xenon lamp also has a wide effective wavelength of about 185 to 2000 nm. Since the halogen lamp has a gentle emission intensity within the above effective wavelength range, the use of the halogen lamp makes it possible to perform better biological information measurement than the xenon lamp.

  For example, Patent Document 5 describes an apparatus for measuring skin moisture content using near infrared light having a wavelength of 1100 to 2400 nm.

  For example, Patent Document 6 emits light including a wavelength of 1000 to 2500 nm using a halogen lamp, divides the light of wavelength 1000 to 2500 nm into two parts, and uses them for human body irradiation and reference, respectively. A non-invasive blood glucose meter is described that separates glucose and other noise component signals and evaluates blood glucose levels.

  For example, Patent Document 7 describes an apparatus for measuring blood lipid concentration using first light of 750 nm or more and light shorter than the first light and 900 nm or less.

If a multi-wavelength light source such as a halogen lamp is used in this way, not only SpO ₂ but also the moisture content of the skin, blood glucose level, lipid and the like can be measured. However, multi-wavelength light sources such as halogen lamps are large in size and almost impossible to mount on probes that are worn on the human body such as fingertips.

Therefore, the inventor of the present invention can configure various probes including SpO ₂ without increasing the size of the probe by configuring the probe and the multi-wavelength light source separately and connecting the probe and the multi-wavelength light source with an optical cable. It was considered that information could be measured optically, leading to the present invention.

<2> Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a biological information measuring apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The biological information measuring device 10 includes a probe 100 attached to a fingertip of a subject, a biological information monitor 200, and an optical cable 300 that connects the probe 100 and the biological information monitor 200. As the optical cable 300, for example, an optical fiber cable is used. The optical cable 300 is detachably connected to the probe 100 and the biological information monitor 200 via a connector (not shown).

  The biological information monitor 200 includes a multi-wavelength light source 210 and a calculation unit 220.

The multi-wavelength light source 210 emits light including at least red light and near infrared light. Specifically, the multi-wavelength light source 210 of the present embodiment is a halogen lamp. The biological information measuring apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is intended to optically measure a plurality of biological information such as skin moisture content, blood glucose level, lipid, etc. in addition to SpO _2. 210 includes light of red light (for example, wavelength 660 [nm]) and near-infrared light (for example, wavelength 940 [nm]) that can measure SpO ₂ well, and other biological information. Including light of a wavelength that can be measured well. For example, a multi-wavelength light source 210 including a wavelength of 1100 to 2400 nm may be provided when the skin water content is to be measured, and a multi-wavelength light source including a wavelength of 1000 to 2500 nm when a blood glucose level is also to be measured. 210 may be provided, and when a blood lipid concentration is to be measured, a multi-wavelength light source 210 including a wavelength of 750 to 900 nm may be provided.

  The light from the multi-wavelength light source 210 is sent to the probe 100 via the optical cable 300.

  The probe 100 is attached to the fingertip of the subject. The probe 100 includes a measurement light emitting unit that emits measurement light toward the measurement site, and a transmitted light incident unit that receives the transmitted light of the measurement light that has passed through the measurement site. The configuration of the probe 100 will be described later. In the present embodiment, a case where biological information is obtained mainly based on transmitted light that has passed through the measurement site will be described. However, biological information may be obtained based on reflected light reflected from the measurement site. Therefore, “transmission” in the following description can be read as “reflection”. Furthermore, the measurement site to which the probe is attached is not limited to the fingertip, and may be another site of the body.

  The transmitted light incident on the transmitted light incident part of the probe 100 is sent to the calculation part 220 of the biological information monitor 200 via the optical cable 300.

The calculation unit 220 obtains biological information based on the transmitted light. Specifically, the calculation unit 220 obtains the skin water content, blood glucose level, and / or lipid in addition to SpO ₂ based on the transmitted light. Of course, the calculation unit 220 may obtain the biological information using not only the transmitted light but also the light of the multi-wavelength light source 210. The method for obtaining the biological information by the calculation unit 220 can be applied to various methods that have been known in the past, and will be briefly described here.

The calculation unit 220 includes a spectroscopic sensor (not shown), and extracts, from the wavelengths included in the transmitted light transmitted from the optical cable 300, a wavelength component necessary for calculation of biological information to be obtained by the spectroscopic sensor. In addition, the biological information is obtained by calculation using the extracted wavelength component. The calculation unit 220 includes a photoelectric conversion unit (not shown), and filters out wavelength components necessary for calculation of biological information to be obtained out of wavelengths included in transmitted light transmitted from the optical cable 300. Or biometric information may be obtained by calculation using the extracted wavelength component. For example, when obtaining SpO ₂ as the biological information, the calculation unit 220 extracts, for example, the level of red light with a wavelength of 660 nm and the level of near infrared light with a wavelength of 940 nm from the wavelength components included in the transmitted light. Then, SpO ₂ is calculated by performing a predetermined calculation based on them.

  The biological information monitor 200 displays a plurality of biological information obtained by the calculation unit 220 on the display unit 230.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration example of the probe 100. The probe 100 has, on one surface of a sheet-like substrate 110, a measurement light emitting unit 120 that emits measurement light toward the measurement site, and a transmitted light incident unit 130 that enters the transmitted light of the measurement light that has passed through the measurement site. , Is provided. Of the surfaces of the substrate 110, one surface on which the measurement light emitting unit 120 and the transmitted light incident unit 130 are provided is an adhesive surface, and the probe 100 has an adhesive force as shown in FIG. It is attached to the subject's fingertip in a state. When the probe 100 is mounted, the measurement light emitting unit 120 is disposed so as to contact the vicinity of the nail, and the transmitted light incident unit 130 is disposed so as to contact the belly of the finger opposite to the nail.

  The measurement light emitting unit 120 includes a window that emits multi-wavelength measurement light transmitted from the optical cable 300, and an optical system such as a mirror that directs the measurement light toward the window. The transmitted light incident unit 130 includes a window that receives the transmitted light that has passed through the finger, and an optical system such as a mirror that directs the transmitted light that has entered from the window toward the optical cable 300.

  By using such a probe 100, it is possible to irradiate a predetermined measurement site with multi-wavelength measurement light transmitted from the optical cable 300 and to allow the transmitted light of the measurement light transmitted through the measurement site to enter the optical cable 300. become able to.

  Here, in order to make the probe 100 a disposable probe, for example, a connector (not shown) that can insert and remove the optical cable 300 may be provided on the base 110.

  In the present embodiment, the case where the transmitted light obtained by the probe 100 is sent to the calculation unit 220 via the optical cable 300 and the calculation unit 220 performs photoelectric conversion has been described. However, the photoelectric conversion is performed on the probe 100 side. You may do it. For example, the transmitted light incident part 130 of the probe 100 is configured by a device having a photoelectric conversion function such as a photodetector. In this case, the optical cable 300 includes an electric wire that sends the photoelectrically converted electric signal to the arithmetic unit 220.

Specifically, in order to have a function of measuring SpO ₂ , the probe 100 receives a transmitted light transmitted through the measurement site, and detects a red light contained in the transmitted light; A second photodetector that receives the transmitted light that has passed through the measurement site and detects near-infrared light included in the transmitted light. The optical cable 300 is in addition to the optical cable that transmits the light of the multi-wavelength light source 210. Thus, the configuration may include an electric wire that transmits an electric signal obtained by the first and second photodetectors. That is, since the necessary wavelength component differs depending on the biological information to be obtained, only the wavelength component necessary for the biological information to be obtained is extracted on the probe 100 side and then sent to the calculation unit 220. .

  However, as in the embodiment, the probe 100 does not have a photo detector, but transmits light as it is to the optical cable 300, and a configuration in which a photoelectric conversion unit (photo detector) is provided on the calculation unit 220 side. This is advantageous when the probe 100 is a disposable type.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the measurement light emitting unit 120 that emits the measurement light toward the measurement site, and the transmitted light incident unit 130 that receives the transmitted light of the measurement light that has passed through the measurement site. A probe 100 attached to the measurement site, a multi-wavelength light source 210 that emits light including at least red light and near-infrared light, and a calculation unit 220 that obtains a plurality of types of biological information based on transmitted light, , Provided between the multi-wavelength light source 210 and the probe 100, and between the probe 100 and the calculation unit 220, and transmits light obtained by the multi-wavelength light source 210 to the probe 100 and transmission obtained by the probe 100. By providing an optical cable 300 that sends an electrical signal based on light or transmitted light to the calculation unit 220, other biological information other than SpO ₂ is measured while having a compact probe configuration. A biological information measuring device that can be determined can be realized.

In particular, when SpO ₂ is measured, since a multi-wavelength light source is used, it is not necessary to alternately emit red light and near-infrared light at a predetermined timing, and the drive circuit for the light source can be simplified.

  The above-described embodiments are merely examples of implementation in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist or main features thereof.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the probe 100 is formed by a sheet-like base material having an adhesive surface has been described. However, the probe is not limited to this, and is formed by a case that covers a fingertip, A measurement light emitting part and a transmitted light incident part may be provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the probe 100 is a type that is worn on the finger has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the probe unit is of a type that is worn on a measurement site such as a footpad or an earlobe. It may be a thing.

  Furthermore, although the case where the multi-wavelength light source 210 and the calculation unit 220 are provided in the biological information monitor 200 has been described in the above-described embodiment, the multi-wavelength light source 210 may be provided at a position different from the biological information monitor. However, if both the multi-wavelength light source 210 and the calculation unit 220 are provided in the biological information monitor 200 as in the embodiment, light irradiation to the measurement site and transmission / reflection of light to the biological information monitor 200 are performed. There is a merit that it can be performed with a single optical cable.

The present invention can obtain an effect that a biological information measuring device capable of measuring biological information other than SpO ₂ can be realized while having a compact probe configuration, and is used in cooperation with a biological information monitor, for example.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Biological information measuring apparatus 100 Probe 110 Base material 120 Measuring light emission part 130 Transmitted light incident part 200 Biological information monitor 210 Multiwavelength light source 220 Calculation part 230 Display part 300 Optical cable

Claims (8)

A measurement light emitting part that emits measurement light toward the measurement site and a transmission / reflection light incidence unit that transmits the transmitted / reflected light of the measurement light that is transmitted or reflected through the measurement site, and is attached to the measurement site A probe to be
A multi-wavelength light source that emits light including at least red light and near infrared light;
A calculation unit for obtaining a plurality of types of biological information based on the transmitted / reflected light;
Provided between the multi-wavelength light source and the probe, and between the probe and the calculation unit, and transmits the light obtained by the multi-wavelength light source to the probe and the transmission obtained by the probe. An optical cable for sending an electrical signal based on the reflected light or the transmitted / reflected light to the arithmetic unit;
A biological information measuring device. Based on the transmitted / reflected light, the calculation unit can obtain SpO ₂ and biological information different from the SpO ₂ .
The biological information measuring device according to claim 1. The plurality of pieces of biological information include skin water content, blood glucose level, or lipid.
The biological information measuring device according to claim 2. The multi-wavelength light source and the calculation unit are provided in a biological information monitor,
The optical cable is connected between the probe and the biological information monitor.
The biological information measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The multi-wavelength light source is a halogen lamp or a xenon lamp.
The biological information measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The probe sends the transmitted / reflected light as light to the optical cable.
The biological information measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The probe is
A first photodetector for receiving the transmitted / reflected light and detecting red light included in the transmitted / reflected light;
A second photodetector that receives the transmitted / reflected light and detects near-infrared light included in the transmitted / reflected light;
Have
The optical cable is
In addition to the optical transmission line that transmits the light of the multi-wavelength light source, it has an electric wire that transmits the electrical signal obtained by the first and second photodetectors,
The biological information measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The probe is
A sheet-like substrate;
A connector provided on the base material and capable of inserting and removing the optical cable;
Having
The biological information measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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