JP2600744Y2 - Multi sensor - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-sensor for detecting a plurality of types of biological information by being attached to the skin of a living body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, measurement of a pressure pulse wave and respiration of blood in a blood vessel of a living body has been performed by various methods. For example, in order to analyze a pressure pulse wave obtained non-invasively from the body surface, it must be measured simultaneously with an electrocardiogram. In this case, an electrocardiogram electrode is attached to a living body, and in order to record a biological pressure phenomenon such as a pressure pulse wave, a piezoelectric element for converting a pressure change into an electric signal, or an artery for a pressure transducer such as a gauge. Must be worn over blood vessels.
At this time, the pressure transducer is often mounted on the left or right common carotid or radial artery. In addition, when detecting a pressure pulse wave on the common carotid artery, a device for externally pressing the pressure transducer onto the artery is required.

On the other hand, when measuring respiratory movement which is important for monitoring the function of a living body with an ICU or the like, a two-electrode method or a four-electrode method is used.
Impedance method such as electrode method, belt-type respiratory pickup that detects resistance change of electrolyte in tube that expands and contracts due to chest movement, and temperature change due to air flow during breathing attached to nose and measurement A thermistor-type respiratory pickup is used.

[0004]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, when a pressure transducer is mounted on an arterial blood vessel and a pressure pulse wave is measured, it is necessary to always press the pressure transducer at a constant appropriate pressure in order to obtain a stable waveform. The subject must be lying on a bed at rest. When detecting a pressure pulse wave on the radial artery, for example, when mounting a pressure transducer using a piezoelectric element, it is necessary to wrap it around the wrist with a belt so that a certain pressure is applied on the measurement site. There is. In addition, when using such a transducer, it is necessary to find an appropriate mounting site, and training is required for the mounting. If the wrist is further moved, the position of the sensor shifts or the pressure applied to the sensor changes, so that the pressure pulse wave cannot be detected. Therefore, even in this method, the measurement must be performed at rest, and it is very difficult to perform the measurement during daily activities. Furthermore, such transducers are large and expensive and cannot be disposable.

On the other hand, when an impedance pickup is used to measure respiratory movement, two or four electrodes are attached to the body surface, and the change in the resistance value of the living tissue between the electrodes due to the chest movement. Is detected as a change in respiratory movement, and the distance between the two electrodes must be increased in order to detect a slight change between the electrodes as an impedance change.

When a belt-type pickup is used, a belt is wound around the chest, and a tubular sensor is mounted thereon. Therefore, there is a sense of restriction that a part of the body is occupied and tightened by the belt. For this reason, it is not widely used at present. In addition, since the belt tightening force has an appropriate range and the position easily shifts due to body movement or the like, it is necessary to keep quiet even when performing measurement using this method. It is expensive and not suitable for disposable use.

When a thermistor type pickup is used, the subject is discomforted because it is worn on the nose.
Also, because of its large power consumption, it is not suitable for a battery-driven wireless telemeter or the like.

Further, when simultaneously measuring the electrocardiogram and the pressure pulse wave or the electrocardiogram and the respiratory rate, at least two electrocardiogram electrodes must be attached to the pressure pulse wave or the respiratory transducer. As a result, there were drawbacks such as restraining the subject and causing discomfort and pain.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and a multi-sensor capable of simultaneously measuring bioelectric phenomena and pressure phenomena with one element, and being small, lightweight, and inexpensive disposable. The purpose is to provide.

[0010]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-sensor for detecting a plurality of types of biological information of a living body, which is mounted on the skin surface of the living body. An element formed in a flat column shape by conductive fibers, a cylindrical holder surrounding the outer periphery of the element, and a conductive connection plate connecting one end face of each of the holder and the element. A bottomed cylindrical housing for housing the holding body movably in the axial direction, an elastic member mounted between the inside of the bottom surface of the housing and the connection plate, and at both end faces of the element, respectively. And a connected terminal.
The terminal on the open end of the housing is
Contacting the skin surface of the living body to derive the electrical signal of the living body
It is characterized by having a contact surface .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when the elastic member is not compressed, the element projects from an opening end of the housing.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the element is formed of laminated conductive fibers, and the fibers are intricately entangled with each other. Increase. As a result, when a predetermined current is passed through the sensor, the DC resistance value decreases and appears as a voltage change at both ends. By measuring this voltage change, it is possible to know the change in the force received from the outside, and it is possible to detect a pressure pulse wave or respiratory fluctuation. The terminal on the skin surface side of the pair of terminals can be used as a terminal electrode for detecting a bioelectric signal such as an electrocardiogram.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the element and the holder constituting the multi-sensor protrude from the opening end of the housing when the elastic member is not attached to the skin surface and the elastic member is not compressed. ing. However, when the container is attached to the skin surface of the subject with an adhesive tape or the like, the open end of the container, the element, and the holder come into close contact with the skin surface and become substantially flush. As a result, the elastic member is compressed, and the element is strongly pressed against the skin surface by the urging force of the elastic member. Therefore, pressure pulse waves and respiratory fluctuations can be clearly detected.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the multi-sensor according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. In these figures, a cylindrically formed holding body 2 made of foam tape or the like is provided at predetermined intervals on the outer periphery of a columnar felt element 1 formed by coarsely laminating carbon fibers. Element 1
Both end surfaces of the holder 2 and the holder 2 are located substantially on the same plane. A connection plate 3 made of a conductive material and formed in a disc shape is attached to one end surface of the element 1 and the holder 2.

Element 1 integrally connected via connection plate 3
The holder 2 is housed in a case 4 as a housing formed of a hard plastic or the like and having a bottomed cylindrical shape so as to be movable in the axial direction. A coil spring 5 as an elastic member is provided between the bottom inner surface of the case 4 and the connection plate 3, and both ends of the coil spring 5 are fixed to the bottom inner surface of the case 4 and the connection plate 3, respectively. When no external pressure is applied to the coil spring 5, the end faces of the element 1 and the holding body 2 opposite to the connection plate 3 slightly protrude from the open end face of the case 4.

A terminal 6 is diametrically attached to the outer end face of the element 1.
Are connected to each other, and the terminal 6 penetrates through the outer periphery of the connection plate 3 and the case 4 and is led out. Further, one end of a terminal 7 is connected to the coil spring 5, and the terminal 7 penetrates the outer periphery of the case 4 and is led out.
Further, a flange 4a is provided on the outer periphery of the open end surface of the case 4, and an annular adhesive tape 9 for attaching the multi-sensor 8 to the skin surface of the subject is attached to the flange 4a. . When the multi-sensor 8 is used to detect a biological pressure phenomenon such as a pressure pulse wave or respiratory fluctuation, a film 10 is adhered to the end surfaces of the element 1 and the holder 2 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. You may.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The element 1 is made of felt-like carbon fibers having conductive properties and coarsely and intricately entangled with each other. Therefore, when a force is applied from the outside, the number of contact points of the fibers increases. As a result, terminals 6 and 7
When a predetermined current is passed through the element 1 through the element 1, the DC resistance value of the element 1 decreases and appears as a voltage change between the terminals 6 and 7. For example, when the element 1 has a thickness of 5 mm and a diameter of 10 mm, the DC resistance is 300Ω when no external force is applied. However, the DC resistance becomes 100Ω when the thickness is reduced by 0.5mm due to external force. Becomes Although the resistance value of the carbon fiber varies depending on the firing temperature, the element 1 of the present example
The higher the resistance of the carbon fiber used, the easier it is to use.
As a material whose DC resistance value changes due to deformation due to external pressure, there is a conductive rubber or the like, but in order to cause the above-described voltage change, a large external force is required, It is unsuitable for detecting pressure pulse waves and respiratory fluctuations.

In the case of detecting a pressure pulse wave using the multi-sensor 8 configured as described above, the multi-sensor 8 is attached to the skin of the subject at the position of the artery such as the wrist or neck by the adhesive tape 9. It is mounted, a constant current is passed through the element 1 and detected as voltage fluctuation. When detecting respiratory fluctuations, the multi-sensor 8 is attached to the chest as shown in FIG. At this time, the element 1 is pushed into the case 4 against the urging force of the coil spring 5, so that the element 1 is strongly pressed against the skin surface, and pressure pulse waves and respiratory fluctuations can be clearly detected.

On the other hand, when detecting a bioelectric signal such as an electrocardiogram, as shown by a double circle in FIG. 3, the multi-sensor 8 is attached to a predetermined position on the skin surface in the same manner as a normal terminal electrode. Detection is performed using the terminal 6 . In this case, element 1
Then, the film 10 adhered to the end face of the holder 2 is peeled off. When respiratory fluctuations are detected, terminals 6, 7
It was connected to the amplifier circuit 12 via the bridge circuit 11, increasing
A respiratory waveform is detected from the output of the width circuit 12. When detecting an electrocardiogram, the terminal electrode 8 'and the multi-sensor 8
Is connected to the amplifier circuit 13 to detect an electrocardiogram waveform. FIG. 4 shows an example of the measurement result.

According to the present embodiment, one multi-sensor 8
Accordingly, the bioelectric signal and the pressure signal can be simultaneously detected, and these measurements can be easily performed, and the sensor can be made small, lightweight, inexpensive and disposable. Particularly, since the element 1 is strongly pressed against the skin surface by the coil spring 5, the measurement can be clearly performed.

In the above embodiment, the case where the fibers constituting the element are carbon fibers has been described, but other conductive fibers such as stainless steel fibers may be used. The elastic member is not limited to the coil spring 5, but may be another elastic member such as a sponge.

[0023]

As described above, according to the multi-sensor of the present invention, the columnar element formed by the laminated conductive fibers is mounted on the skin surface and pressed by the elastic member. A bioelectric signal and a pressure signal can be simultaneously detected by a small, lightweight, inexpensive and disposable sensor. Further, when the multi-sensor is mounted on the skin surface of the subject, the element is pressed against the skin surface by the elastic member, so that the biological information can be clearly detected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of an embodiment of a multi-sensor of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a wiring diagram for signal detection according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a measurement result according to FIG. 3;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 element 2 holder 3 connection plate 4 case (housing) 5 coil spring (elastic member) 6, 7 terminal 8 multi-sensor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-28635 (JP, A) JP-A-57-132033 (JP, A) JP-A-2-295544 (JP, A) 57493 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 1983-67405 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A61B 5/00 A61B 5/0245 A61B 5/0408 A61B 5/08

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A multi-sensor mounted on a skin surface of a living body to detect a plurality of types of biological information of the living body,
An element formed of a conductive fiber in a flat columnar shape, a cylindrical holder surrounding the outer periphery of the element, a conductive connection plate connecting one end face of each of the holder and the element, and the holder A cylindrical housing with a bottom for housing the body movably in the axial direction, an elastic member mounted between the inside of the bottom surface of the housing and the connection plate, and connected to both end faces of the element, respectively. And an opening of the housing of the pair of terminals.
The terminal on the end side is the skin surface of the living body when this multi-sensor is attached.
A multi-sensor having an abutting surface which abuts on the surface and derives an electric signal of a living body . 2. The multi-sensor according to claim 1, wherein the element protrudes from an opening end of the housing when the elastic member is not compressed.