JP2582957B2 - Bioactivity monitoring system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bioactivity monitoring system for monitoring the bioactivity of a human being. It is used for the purpose of monitoring

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Humans become more active in the light period and become more active, and in the dark period the humans become less awake and enter rest. This is because of the circadian rhythm.
m: Biological rhythm clocked by a biological clock called a rhythm with a cycle of about one day
It is one of. At the laboratory level, there are quite advanced techniques such as polygraphs to monitor arousal and biological rhythms, but they do not hurt the subject in everyday work situations and do not hinder their work behavior, At present, it is not possible to monitor the activity of a living body non-invasively. Hereinafter, the types of biological rhythms known at the laboratory level, methods for measuring and analyzing them, and methods for evaluating arousal and autonomic nervous activity will be described.

A. About types of biological rhythms When various biological phenomena are represented in time series, they often show periodicity. Moreover, many of them are considered to be self-excited vibrations, and are collectively referred to as biological rhythms. Biological rhythms are divided into several types according to their cycle.
It can be as long as a year or as short as a few seconds.

[0004] Among biological rhythms, circadian rhythms having a cycle of about one day are most closely related to human life. Typical circadian rhythms of humans include body temperature fluctuations, sleep / wake cycles, and hormone secretion fluctuations. In addition, physiological phenomena associated with human life, such as mental and physical activities, work and motor skills, sensitivity to drugs, and functions of the autonomic nervous system, may be considered to exhibit circadian fluctuations.

At present, the theory that the human circadian rhythm may be divided into two groups of vibrators, a group centering on the core body temperature rhythm and a group centering on the sleep-wake cycle, is prevailing. It is said that the core temperature rhythm is affected by the light-dark cycle, and that the sleep-wake cycle is affected by social synchronizing factors.

B. Measurement method of biological rhythm Measurement method of body temperature Body temperature, especially deep body temperature rhythm, has little external influence, shows clear circadian rhythm, relationship with other rhythms is quite clear, continuous Because it can be measured, it is the most important indicator in human circadian rhythm. The candidates for the core body temperature measurement method include rectal temperature, tympanic membrane temperature, esophageal temperature, deep subcutaneous temperature, urine temperature, and the like. The one that satisfies the condition that long-term continuous measurement is possible is rectal temperature. However, it is a drawback that all of these methods are painful to the subject.

A general method for measuring rectal temperature is a method in which a probe having a thermistor embedded at the tip is inserted at least 10 cm from the anus, and fixed with tape so that the probe does not come off. A device that calculates the temperature from the resistance value of the thermistor and stores it in a memory is commercially available as a portable thermometer. In addition to a method of directly measuring rectal temperature, a device (core temp) capable of measuring core body temperature from the surface of skin by a convection heat exchange method is commercially available. The larger the diameter of the sensor, the deeper the body temperature can be measured, about 10m from the skin surface
It is possible to measure the body temperature at m depth. However, in this method, it is necessary to heat the skin with the sensor part, and there is a risk of low-temperature burns when using for a long time as in rhythm measurement, and care must be taken when handling.

Method of Measuring Sleep / Wake Cycle At present, no method of measuring sleep / wake cycle has been established. The easiest way is to fill out the questionnaire of the subject. In this method, the actual sleep / wake time cannot be accurately recorded, but the error is not so great as to hinder the analysis of the circadian rhythm.

On the other hand, in order to determine the timing of sleep onset and awakening strictly and to examine the sleep structure, brain waves and eye movements must be measured. As a method of estimating the sleep-wake cycle by continuous measurement of objective indices, a method of estimating the active period (wake period) from the movement of the hand by attaching an acceleration sensor to the wrist, and a method of estimating the bedtime by the pressure sensor attached to the bed There is a way to measure.

Method of Measuring Living Activity Rhythm The living activity rhythm is to record what physiological changes and behaviors are observed during the waking period during the sleep-wake cycle. It records individual events such as diet, defecation / urination, bathing, exercise, and mental tension, which are expected to affect biological rhythms, but is also important for examining the masking effect on body temperature rhythms. is there.
However, there is a difficulty that cannot be measured automatically. As for sleepiness during the awakening period, there is a method of measuring sleep latency by the MSLT method described later at regular intervals, but sleepiness cannot be measured continuously.

Method for Measuring Hormonal Rhythm The hormone rhythm can be measured by measuring the amount of hormone contained in blood, saliva, urine, and the like.
Hormonal rhythm is important in examining the physiological mechanism of biological rhythm, and cortisol and melatonin rhythms are particularly useful indicators. However, it is difficult to collect samples such as blood, which are subject to trace measurement of hormones, at regular intervals over many cycles, and it is not appropriate to use hormone rhythm as an indicator of circadian rhythm on a daily basis. Absent.

C. Analysis of biological rhythms The analysis of biological rhythms consists of three elements of rhythm (period, phase,
Is the basis. A specific analysis method is divided into two patterns of a body temperature rhythm having different waveforms and a sleep-wake cycle.

Analysis Method of Body Temperature Rhythm In order to analyze body temperature rhythm, as shown in FIG. 14, a period and a maximum value phase are obtained, and an amplitude is obtained as a feature of the shape. Autocorrelation (cholerogram), a method of calculating the rhythm cycle from data measured at regular intervals,
A power spectrum method, a cosiner method, a periodogram method, or the like can be used. In the case of body temperature rhythm, the cosiner method and the periodogram method are often used.

Analyzing Method of Sleep-Wake Cycle In the case of sleep-wake cycle and behavioral rhythm, as shown in FIG. 15, a ratio (α / ρ) of the length of the active period α and the rest period ρ is obtained as the form of the rhythm. The pattern of the sleep-wake cycle is characterized in that a specific phase serving as a rhythm reference is clear, such as an active phase start phase and an active phase end phase.

D. Estimation of arousal level Conventionally, analysis by measuring EEG has been generally performed to evaluate the arousal level of the brain.However, qualitative evaluation methods based on interpretation of EEG are mostly used, and the measurement method is simpler. There is a demand for the development of a method for quantitatively capturing the arousal state without imposing a burden on the subject. Methods for quantifying arousal are:
A method for observing changes in the amount of appearance of α waves and an MSLT (Multiple S) for measuring the time from bed entry to falling asleep in minutes
A method such as “LeepLatency Test” has been proposed. In particular, the MSLT method has been used in many studies as an index for measuring physiological drowsiness.

The present inventors use the fact that the amount of appearance of the α-wave component of brain waves greatly varies depending on the arousal level, and quantify the degree of arousal from the power spectrum of the α-wave when the eyes are closed and when the eyes are open.・ We are devising a test method. According to this method, the subject repeats eye closing for two minutes and eye opening for two minutes four times in a quiet room with an illuminance of several tens of lx in a quiet state while sitting on a chair in accordance with the instructions of the experimenter. While the eyes are open, you can see the wall, landscape photos, etc. about 1.5 m ahead. When the awakening degree is high and the eyes are closed, the brain waves when the eyes are closed, α waves appear as a group wave, and the difference in the amount of α waves between when the eyes are closed and when the eyes are open is clear even after a lapse of time . Conversely, when the arousal level is low and the eyes are closed, the brain wave when the eyes are closed is such that the α waves appear sporadically as a whole, mixed with the background waves of a low frequency (8.0 Hz or less), and the eyes are closed as time passes. The difference between the amount of α-wave at the time and the time of eye opening is eliminated. When the average of the power spectrum of the α-wave every two minutes is obtained, as shown in FIG. 16, the power spectrum is large when the awakening degree is high and the eye is closed, and the power spectrum is sharply reduced by the blocking while the eye is open. When the degree of awakening is low and blurred, the change in the power spectrum between when the eye is opened and when the eye is closed is reduced.

Therefore, in order to capture these quantitatively,
Except for the first time when the eyes are closed and when the eyes are opened, the power spectrum when the eyes are closed is Ci (i = 1, 2, 3), and the power spectrum when the eyes are open is Oi (i = 1, 2, 3).
The arousal level is defined as in equation (1). It is considered that the greater the value of the arousal level, the clearer the state. Arousal level = ΣCi / ΣOi = (C1 + C2 + C3) / (O1 + O2 + O3) (1)

E. Evaluation of autonomic nervous activity The autonomic nervous activity is evaluated by analyzing heart rate RR interval fluctuation. Assuming that the 512-point RR interval time series is sampled at the heartbeat average period, frequency analysis is performed by FFT (Fast Fourier Transform), and a power spectrum of RR interval fluctuation is obtained as shown in FIG. In normal recording, two peaks appear in a low frequency band up to about 0.5 Hz, and the lower frequency (about 0.1 Hz) peak is the blood pressure fluctuation component (MWSA) and the higher frequency (about 0.3 Hz). ) Is called the respiratory variability component (RSA). In some cases, a peak appears at a lower frequency (about 0.05 Hz), which is said to be fluctuation in body temperature.
In some cases, fluctuations in body temperature and fluctuations in blood pressure cannot be separated, and the fluctuations of the added value are examined together with the individual fluctuations. Generally, RSA is the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, MWSA is the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system x sympathetic nervous system, and the ratio MWSA / RS
It is said that A has a correlation with the activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

[0019]

In recent years, with the change of the social system, humans have become active day and night. In addition, with the development of transportation systems and information communication systems, economic activities on a global scale have been carried out, and shift workers and irregular workers have increased in offices. Factories and hospitals also operate 24 hours a day. In the advent of a 24-hour society that operates without distinction between day and night, and in a highly information-oriented society that is developing on a global scale, humans are losing their original rhythm as living things. For example, irregular workers and shift workers have a phenomenon in which the amplitude of the body temperature rhythm is small and they live in a state of low activity throughout the day. In addition, even in ordinary workers, there is a decrease in daytime activity caused by a reduction in sleep time due to long working hours and long commuting times. Shortening of sleep time by children going to cram schools causes similar problems. As described above, the natural rhythm of life since ancient times, in which "a person works during the day and rests during the night," has been forced to change rapidly in modern society. It is considered that the driver of a midnight taxi or a long-distance truck causes a traffic accident or a disaster occurs in a factory at midnight because of these social phenomena. In particular, the effects of disasters caused by human error at large-scale plants such as nuclear power plants are extremely large, and management of biological rhythms is important. Both the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred late at night and are said to be due to human error. This was not a casual accident, but an accident that happened, according to a chronobiologist (Chronobiolo).
gist) claims.

[0020] These phenomena cannot be ignored in society, and in order to know the stress and fatigue of workers, it is necessary to physiologically grasp the regularity of daily rhythms such as daily activities and rest. There is. The mental activity and fatigue state vary in psychological and physiological responses depending on the strength of the stressor and the time at which it is received, depending on the individual's stress tolerance, work content and work environment. In order to know the degree of activity and the state of fatigue, it is necessary to physiologically grasp the regularity of the daily rhythm such as daily activities and rest of the individual, and to grasp the relationship between the circadian rhythm and the degree of activity / fatigue. However, the biggest problem in the measurement of stress or fatigue state is that a noninvasive measurement means that does not hinder the subject daily without giving a stress for measurement has not yet been established. At the laboratory level, mental stress
There are many research achievements to measure fatigue status. However, all of these tasks were created for experiments, and measurement was also performed using conventional methods for detecting biological signals centered on brain waves. Was. Therefore, it is necessary to develop non-invasive measurement methods and measuring devices that do not cause any problems on a daily basis, and to provide feedback to control of devices that warn or prevent stress and fatigue beforehand.
It is necessary to be able to monitor fatigue status in real time.

[0021] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a subject with no pain in daily work and to hinder the work. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system capable of non-invasively monitoring the activity of a living body without using it.

[0022]

In the bioelectrical activity monitoring system according to the present invention SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problem, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the unit about 1 day of the user Circadia , a biological rhythm with a long cycle
First detecting means 1 for detecting a rhythm , a second detecting means 2 for detecting a change in a living body having a short cycle of several minutes to several hours of the user, and first and second detecting means 1 , 2 to determine the bioactivity of the user by superimposing the detection results of the users, whereby about 1 day of the user is defined as a unit. It is possible to continuously monitor the real-time change of the bioactivity of the user superimposed on the biological rhythm (circadian rhythm) having a long cycle.

Here, as the first detecting means 1, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 or 4, means 11 for measuring the body temperature fluctuation of the user is used, or as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. Means 12 for measuring the heart rate variability of the user
May be used. As the second detection means 2, for example, as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 6, a means 21 for measuring the fluctuation of the heartbeat fluctuation of the user and detecting the degree of activity of the autonomic nervous system is used, or As shown in FIG. 4 or 5, a means 22 for detecting the movement of the user's body as a change component of the speed / acceleration may be used.

The body temperature fluctuation may be detected by, for example, an earphone type eardrum temperature sensor 11a as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. Further, the fluctuation of the heart rate and the fluctuation of the heart rate are, for example, as shown in FIG.
Should be detected by Further, the movement of the user's body may be detected by, for example, a wristwatch-type physical activity sensor 22a as shown in FIG. And by wirelessly transmitting the detection signal from such an earphone type or wristwatch type sensor to the portable monitor body, it is possible to monitor the bioactivity without imposing physical and mental burden on the user. it can.

Also, if the environmental control device is wirelessly controlled in accordance with the bioactivity to perform feedback control of the bioactivity, or if an alarm is issued when the bioactivity decreases, the user can be provided with a warning. A comfortable and safe working environment can be guaranteed.

[0026]

[Action] Hereinafter, will be described conceptually with reference to FIG. 1 the effect of the present invention. The first detecting means 1 detects a biological rhythm (circadian rhythm) having a long cycle of about one day of the user. For example, body temperature fluctuations and heart rate fluctuations are biological rhythms having a long cycle of about one day .
As shown by the curve A of FIG. The second detecting means 2 detects a change in a living body having a short cycle of several minutes to several hours. For example, the activity of the autonomic nervous system detected by measuring the heartbeat fluctuation and the activity of the body detected as a change component of speed / acceleration are changes in a living body having a short cycle of several minutes to several hours. , As shown by the curve B in FIG . The bioactivity determination unit 3 determines the bioactivity of the user based on the detection results of the first and second detection units 1 and 2. As a result, it is possible to continuously monitor, in real time, the temporal change of the bioactivity of the user superimposed on the biological rhythm (circadian rhythm) having a long cycle of about one day as a unit.

As an index indicating the activity state of the human body, "alertness" evaluation based on measurement of brain waves, blink responses, eye movements, etc. has been attempted, but these are qualitative evaluation levels. At present, it is far from a quantitative and practical level. Also, as an index for evaluating the "activity" of the autonomic nervous system, a method of quantitatively evaluating by measuring heart rate, respiration, skin potential change, and the like is currently under development. As an index that accurately indicates the activity state of the human body, the above-mentioned “activity level” of the body and “activity level” of the autonomic nervous system as described above
It is important to quantitatively clarify in everyday life at a practical level. But more importantly, humans have a rhythm of the day, the circadian rhythm. "Arousal level" of the body and "activity" of the autonomic nervous system are changing in the rhythm of the living body that changes in about one day. It cannot be said that it accurately indicates the state of physical activity. Therefore,
It is necessary to accurately grasp the relationship between the “arousal level” of the body and the “activity level” of the autonomic nervous system in relation to the rhythm of the living body which changes in about one day. According to the present invention, in order to accurately indicate the activity state of the human body, the "biological rhythm" detected by the first detecting means 1 and the "wakening degree" of the body detected by the second detecting means 2 or The "activity" of the living body can be monitored as an index integrating the "activity" of the autonomic nervous system.

[0028]

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, first detecting means 11 that measures body temperature fluctuations and detects circadian rhythm, second detecting means 21 that measures heart rate fluctuation fluctuations and detects the degree of activity of the autonomic nervous system, Second detecting means 11 and 12
And a biological activity determining means 3 for determining the biological activity based on the detection result of the first step. Here, as a means for measuring body temperature fluctuation, there is a method in which a temperature sensor such as a thermistor is brought into contact with a measurement site. Although this method has no practical problem in terms of continuous measurement, it has a problem in a portion where the temperature sensor is mounted and a mounting method. The central temperatures that can be measured at present include rectal temperature, tympanic temperature, esophageal temperature, deep subcutaneous temperature, urine temperature, etc., all of which are difficult and painful to wear, and even daily rectal temperature with relatively little pain. Hinders, and
Subject's mental resistance is also large. Rather than directly mounting a temperature sensor deep inside the body, and measuring the central temperature so as not to be affected by the outside temperature, it can be indirectly estimated from the measurement of the eardrum temperature and several skin surface temperatures. Next, as a means for measuring the heartbeat fluctuation, the electrocardiogram R wave is analyzed in order to measure the heartbeat fluctuation and detect the degree of activity of the autonomic nervous system. At present, it is difficult to measure the electrocardiographic R wave in daily life because an electrode must be attached to the chest to analyze the electrocardiographic R wave. In order to continuously measure the degree of activity of the autonomic nervous system, a system that can easily measure R-waves without resorting to conventional chest guidance will be developed and incorporated into everyday equipment. It is necessary to For example, the heart rate can be measured relatively easily by a photoelectric pulsimeter,
Since there are no sharp peaks such as waves, it is difficult to accurately determine the cardiac cycle. In the present invention, by adopting a configuration as shown in FIG. 11, which will be described later, information at the time of operation corresponding to the RR interval of the electrocardiogram is efficiently extracted from the pulse wave detected by the heart rate sensor, and the heart rate cycle is measured. In this way, it is possible to estimate the activity of the autonomic nervous system.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, first detecting means 11 for measuring body temperature fluctuation to detect circadian rhythm, second detecting means 22 for detecting body movement as a change component of speed / acceleration, first and second And a biological activity determining means 3 for determining the biological activity based on the detection results of the detecting means 11 and 22. Here, the movement of the body
The specific configuration of the means for detecting a change component of acceleration is described in, for example, JP-A-53-76863, JP-A-53-89471, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2-245702.
No. application.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a first detecting unit 12 that measures the fluctuation of the heart rate and detects the circadian rhythm,
Second detecting means 22 for detecting the movement of the body as a change component of speed / acceleration, and first and second detecting means 12 and 2
And a biological activity determining means 3 for determining the biological activity based on the detection result of the second step. Here, as a means for measuring the fluctuation of the heart rate, a configuration as shown in FIG. 11 to be described later can be adopted.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a first detecting unit 12 that measures the fluctuation of the heart rate and detects the circadian rhythm,
Second detecting means 21 for measuring the fluctuation of the heartbeat to detect the degree of activity of the autonomic nervous system, and bioactivity for determining the bioactivity based on the detection results of the first and second detecting means 12 and 21 Determination means 3.

FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the fifth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an earphone-type eardrum temperature sensor 11a
And a wristwatch-type heart rate sensor 21a, and a portable monitor main body 31 that determines the bioactivity of the user based on detection signals wirelessly transmitted from the sensors 11a and 21a. The earphone type eardrum temperature sensor 11a incorporates a small infrared sensor,
The eardrum temperature is continuously detected, and the detected data is wirelessly transmitted to the monitor main body 31. The wristwatch-type heart rate sensor 21 a detects a pulse wave inside the wrist and wirelessly transmits the detection data to the monitor main body 31. The monitor main body 31 obtains the user's bioactivity based on the eardrum temperature and heart rate, and displays this. In addition, information on the bioactivity is wirelessly transmitted to the environment control device 4 to remotely control the surrounding environment of the user.

FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the sixth embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an earphone-type eardrum temperature sensor 11a
And a wristwatch-type physical activity sensor 22a, and a portable monitor main body 32 that determines the bioactivity of the user based on the detection signals wirelessly transmitted from the sensors 11a and 22a. The earphone type eardrum temperature sensor 11a has a configuration similar to that of the fifth embodiment. Also, a wristwatch-type physical activity sensor 21a
Detects movement of the wrist as components of speed and acceleration, and wirelessly transmits the detected data to the monitor main body 32.
The monitor main body 32 obtains and displays the bioactivity of the user based on the eardrum temperature and the activity of the wrist. In addition, information on the bioactivity is wirelessly transmitted to the environment control device 4 to remotely control the surrounding environment of the user.

FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the seventh embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the heart rate and physical activity sensor 23a of a wristwatch type, and a portable monitor main body 33 that determines the bioactivity of the user based on the detection signal wirelessly transmitted from the sensor 23a are configured. . The wristwatch type heart rate and physical activity sensor 23a detects a pulse wave inside the wrist, detects wrist movement as a component of speed / acceleration, and wirelessly transmits the detected data to the monitor main body 33. The monitor body 33 obtains and displays the bioactivity of the user based on the heart rate and the activity of the wrist. In addition, information on the bioactivity is wirelessly transmitted to the environment control device 4 to remotely control the surrounding environment of the user.

FIG. 10 shows the configuration of the eighth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a wristwatch type heart rate sensor 24a,
A portable monitor body 34 for measuring the fluctuation of heart rate and the fluctuation of heart rate based on the detection signal wirelessly transmitted from the sensor 24a to determine the bioactivity of the user.
It is composed of

FIG. 11 shows the configuration of the ninth embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows a specific configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, and a heartbeat signal pattern matching unit 37 for pattern matching a heartbeat signal pattern detected by the heartbeat sensor 24a with a prestored heartbeat signal template. It is characterized by having. In general,
The physiological activity can be determined based on the excitement state of the nervous system, the alertness level of consciousness, the state of blood circulation and the like. To evaluate them, EEG analysis, EEG analysis such as α-attenuation test, fluctuation of heart rate and respiratory rate, fluctuation of RR interval, skin electroreflection, peripheral blood flow and eye movements Although it is important to select an optimal parameter based on comparison with the biological signal of the system, this embodiment implements a simple monitor that focuses on the fluctuation component of the heartbeat.

Hereinafter, a specific configuration of this embodiment will be described. The detection signal from the heart rate sensor 24a is input to the heart rate signal measurement circuit section 35, where the noise component is removed by the filter 35a, and the signal is measured as a heart rate signal. The heartbeat signal is input to a heartbeat signal pattern matching unit 37a of a heartbeat signal detection unit 37, and is compared with a heartbeat signal template stored in advance in a heartbeat signal template storage unit 36 to perform pattern matching. It is detected as a heartbeat signal by 37b. Then, from the detected heartbeat signal, the heartbeat interval recognition unit 3
8, the heartbeat interval is recognized. The heartbeat interval recognition unit 38
The heartbeat interval is recognized as a digital value by counting the clock generated by the clock generator 39. Each of the circuit units 35 to 39 may be built in the monitor main body 34 shown in FIG. 10 or may be built in the heart rate sensor 24a.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a tenth embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the bioactivity determination means 3
The environmental control device 4 is configured to be remotely controlled based on the biological activity determined in step (1). Here, it is preferable to use, for example, a high-luminance lighting device as the environment control device 4. Originally, humans had a biological habit of repeating activity and rest during the light and dark periods arising from the rotation of the earth since ancient times, but with the advent of light, they have also become active during the dark period on the earth, Has become more and more bright, resulting in more nocturnal humans. In addition, due to the 24-hour urban development and the development of the tertiary industry, irregular workers such as shift workers are increasing. However, even though the lighting equipment has become brighter at night due to the advancement of the lighting equipment, the illuminance is about 1,000 lx, and the brightness of daytime sunlight (average in fine weather: 50,000 l)
x) is not comparable. For this reason, the natural biological rhythm adjustment function by sunlight is lost or weakened,
It is difficult to maintain a healthy state in a biological rhythm. It is well anticipated that in such dark lighting environments, alertness will decrease and the person will not be able to concentrate, which will cause workers to cause accidents. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the surrounding lighting environment is detected by the environment control device 4, and when the bioactivity decreases, the surrounding lighting environment is brought close to the daytime illuminance to increase the bioactivity. .

Hereinafter, a specific configuration of this embodiment will be described. A first detecting means 1 for detecting a biological rhythm (circadian rhythm) having a long cycle of about one day as a unit of the user, and a change of a living body having a short cycle of several minutes to several hours of the user; The second detection means 2 for detecting
A sensor unit, a measurement circuit unit, a biological signal detection unit, and a biological signal recognition unit are provided. The detection results of the respective detecting means 1 and 2 are input to the biological activity determining means 3. The information on the biological activity determined by the biological activity determining means 3 is transmitted to the biological / environmental state monitor 6 and the environmental control device 4 via the wireless transmission / reception unit 5. The biological / environmental state monitor 6 displays the information on the biological activity obtained by the biological activity determination means 3 and also displays the information on the environmental state received from the environment control device 4 via the transmission / reception unit 5. The environment control device 4 is configured to control the surrounding environment (for example, ambient illuminance)
Based on the detected surrounding environment and information on the bioactivity, a transmitting / receiving unit 42 that wirelessly transmits information on the detected surrounding environment and wirelessly receives information on the bioactivity, The control device includes an environment control device control circuit 43 that generates control information for the environment control device 4 (for example, a high-luminance lighting device), and a control unit 44 that controls the environment control device 4 based on the control information. The environment control device 4 may be an air conditioner or the like other than the high-luminance lighting device.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram of the eleventh embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the bioactivity determination means 3
When the biological activity determined in step (1) is lower than a preset alarm level, an alarm is generated to draw the user's attention. In the future, offices are required to be not only places for work and intellectual production, but also places for living. It is thought of as a place where people pursue efficiency, rest and change their minds according to the physical needs of individuals, work in a concentrated manner, and place humans first to create a rhythm of tension and relaxation in their lives. I need to go. In order to meet such a need, the present embodiment is premised on use of notification of a time when a worker should take a rest.

Hereinafter, a specific configuration of this embodiment will be described. A first detecting means 1 for detecting a biological rhythm (circadian rhythm) having a long cycle of about one day as a unit of the user, and a change of a living body having a short cycle of several minutes to several hours of the user; The second detection means 2 for detecting
A sensor unit, a measurement circuit unit, a biological signal detection unit, and a biological signal recognition unit are provided. The detection results of the respective detecting means 1 and 2 are input to the biological activity determining means 3. Information on the biological activity determined by the biological activity determining means 3 is input to a comparison determining unit 7 and compared with an alarm level set in advance by an alarm level setting unit 8 so that the biological activity is lower than the alarm level. When it has decreased, an alarm is generated by the alarm generation unit 9. Here, it is preferable that the alarm generation unit 9 be a means for calling the user's attention by sound or light, such as a buzzer or a strobe lamp. Further, the voice synthesizing unit may be configured to give a voice message recommending exercise, face washing, caffeine intake, and the like to the user. Such a voice message may be configured to be output from, for example, an earphone-type eardrum temperature sensor 11a as shown in FIG. 7 or FIG.

By using the apparatus for preventing a decrease in biological activity as shown in FIG. 12 or the apparatus for lowering the biological activity as shown in FIG. 13, the work efficiency is improved by maintaining the biological activity, the working hours are shortened, and Work accidents can be prevented, and even people whose biological rhythms are shifted can be assured of comfortable and healthy daily life as normal people due to irregular work, shift work or travel jet lag, etc. .

[0043]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a biological activity monitoring system comprising: first detecting means for detecting a circadian rhythm , which is a biological rhythm having a long cycle of about one day; A second detecting means for detecting a change in a living body having a short cycle having a unit of several minutes to several hours, and a living body for determining a bioactivity of a user by superimposing detection results of the first and second detecting means. The biological rhythm detected by the first detecting means is integrated with the body arousal level or the autonomic nervous system activity detected by the second detecting means. As an index, there is an effect that the activity of a living body that accurately indicates the activity state of the human body can be monitored.

In the system according to claims 2 to 5, the first
Measurement of body temperature fluctuation of the user
Circadian by measuring the variation heart rate means or user to detect more circadian rhythm
A means for detecting a rhythm is employed, and as a second detecting means, a means for detecting a degree of activity of the autonomic nervous system by measuring a heartbeat fluctuation of the user or a change component of the speed / acceleration of the movement of the user's body. Since the means for detecting is adopted, there is an effect that invasion to the user can be reduced.

In the system according to the sixth to ninth aspects, the detection signal from the earphone type eardrum temperature sensor, the wristwatch type heart rate sensor or the wristwatch type physical activity sensor is wirelessly transmitted to the portable type monitor main body. Therefore, without imposing physical or mental burden on the user,
There is an effect that bioactivity can be monitored.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the heart rate signal pattern wirelessly transmitted from the heart rate sensor is provided with a heart rate signal pattern matching unit for pattern matching with a previously stored heart rate signal template. Even if an electrocardiographic waveform is not measured by attaching electrodes, the activity of the autonomic nervous system such as the sympathetic nerve and the parasympathetic nerve can be obtained only by measuring the heart rate.

In the system according to the eleventh aspect, since the environment control device is wirelessly controlled in accordance with the bioactivity and the bioactivity is feedback-controlled, the worker is not subject to extreme stress or fatigue. There is an effect that it can be prevented beforehand.

In the system according to the twelfth aspect, an alarm is issued when the biological activity decreases.
By issuing a warning when a worker is subjected to extreme stress or fatigue, it is possible to prevent human error from occurring and to prevent the mental and physical modulation of the worker.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a basic operation of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a claim correspondence block diagram showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of an eighth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a ninth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a tenth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an eleventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing three elements of a known body temperature rhythm.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing three elements of a known sleep / wake cycle type rhythm.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of a known alertness evaluation method.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram of a known activity evaluation method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st detection means 2 2nd detection means 3 Bioactivity determination means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-166493 (JP, A) JP-A-2-1218 (JP, A) JP-A-3-9724 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 293556 (JP, A) JP-A-2-302274 (JP, A) JP-A-1-110344 (JP, A) JP-A-63-176413 (JP, U) JP-A-3-5405 (JP, U) Actual opening 58-124838 (JP, U)

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first detecting means for detecting a circadian rhythm , which is a biological rhythm having a long cycle of about one day of a user, and a short cycle of several minutes to several hours of a user. A second detecting means for detecting a change in a living body, and a biological activity determining means for determining the biological activity of the user by superimposing the detection results of the first and second detecting means. A biological activity monitor system characterized by: 2. The first detecting means is means for detecting a circadian rhythm by measuring a change in body temperature of the user, and the second detecting means is configured to measure a fluctuation in heartbeat fluctuation of the user. 2. The bioactivity monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the bioactivity monitoring system detects the degree of activity of the autonomic nervous system. 3. The first detecting means is means for detecting a circadian rhythm by measuring a change in the body temperature of the user, and the second detecting means is a means for detecting the movement of the body of the user by speed / speed. 2. The bioactivity monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the means is a means for detecting a change component of acceleration. 4. The circadian rhythm is detected by measuring a change in the heart rate of the user .
That a means, second detecting means biological activity monitoring system according to claim 1 characterized in that the means for detecting the movement of the user's body as a change component of the velocity and acceleration. 5. The first detecting means detects a circadian rhythm by measuring a change in the heart rate of the user .
The bioactivity monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the second detecting means is means for measuring a fluctuation in heartbeat fluctuation of the user to detect a degree of activity of the autonomic nervous system. 6. An earphone-type eardrum temperature sensor, a wristwatch-type heart rate sensor, and a portable monitor main body that determines a user's bioactivity based on a detection signal wirelessly transmitted from each of the sensors. The bioactivity monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein the monitoring is performed. 7. An earphone-type eardrum temperature sensor, a wristwatch-type physical activity sensor, and a portable monitor main body that determines the bioactivity of a user based on a detection signal wirelessly transmitted from each of the sensors. The bioactivity monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein the system is configured. 8. A wristwatch-type heart rate sensor, a wristwatch-type physical activity sensor, and a portable monitor main body that determines a user's bioactivity based on a detection signal wirelessly transmitted from each of the sensors. The bioactivity monitoring system according to claim 4, wherein the monitoring is performed. 9. A wristwatch-type heart rate sensor, and a portable monitor main body which measures a heart rate fluctuation and a heart rate fluctuation fluctuation based on a detection signal wirelessly transmitted from the sensor to determine a user's bioactivity. The bioactivity monitoring system according to claim 5, comprising: 10. The heart rate signal pattern matching unit according to claim 6, wherein the monitor body includes a heart rate signal pattern matching unit for pattern matching the heart rate signal pattern wirelessly transmitted from the heart rate sensor with a previously stored heart rate signal template. Bioactivity monitor system. 11. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a unit that wirelessly transmits a control signal to an environment control device that controls a surrounding environment of the user based on the biological activity determined by the biological activity determining unit. Bioactivity monitor system. 12. The bioactivity monitoring system according to claim 1, further comprising an alarm generating means for generating an alarm when the bioactivity determined by the bioactivity determining means decreases.