JP2923465B2 - Bone evaluation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bone evaluation device,
The present invention relates to a bone evaluation device for evaluating a bone using ultrasonic waves or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various types of bone evaluation apparatuses have been proposed as bone evaluation apparatuses for evaluating bones using ultrasonic waves. For example, in a bone evaluation device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,141, a heel of a foot is sandwiched between a pair of vibrators, and ultrasonic waves are radiated in that state to perform bone evaluation. However, in this apparatus, a mechanism for positioning and adjusting the measurement point is not provided, and it has been difficult to appropriately set the measurement point according to the size of the subject's foot.

[0003] On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-22960 discloses an apparatus having a scanning mechanism for positioning and adjusting a measurement point and performing a bone evaluation using ultrasonic waves and X-rays.
This document discloses that a measurement point of an ultrasonic wave is determined based on a two-dimensional image of an X-ray, but the determination was based on artificial judgment. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
-327669 proposes an apparatus for automatically determining measurement points from a bone contour image. However, in order to obtain a bone contour image, it is necessary to perform two-dimensional scanning of an X-ray beam.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-204205 discloses a bone evaluation device capable of positioning and adjusting a measurement point. However, the measurement point is positioned according to the size of a subject (eg, a foot). No configuration is disclosed.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, the measurement point cannot be adjusted according to the size of the subject, or a complicated mechanism or an artificial judgment is required to perform the adjustment. Was required.

[0006] Bone evaluation is carried out for various persons, and some persons (eg, feet) are large and some persons are small. In addition, bone evaluation is performed not only for adults but also for children. There is a request to want. In this case, if the bone evaluation is performed without adjusting the positioning of the measurement point in consideration of the size of the subject, the ultrasound (or X
Line) deviates, unexpected reflection or scattering occurs, and the reliability of the bone evaluation result decreases.

On the other hand, it is troublesome to perform two-dimensional scanning of X-rays or artificial judgment every time a measurement point is determined, which is contrary to a demand for quick bone evaluation. Also, such scanning mechanisms are relatively large and expensive,
There is a problem that the size of the apparatus is increased and the cost is increased.

[0008] The applicant of the present invention has disclosed Japanese Patent Application No. 7-83703.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-157, proposes a device that selects one of a plurality of adapters (footrests) having different shapes according to the size of a foot and adjusts a measurement point by using the adapter.
However, the choice of adapter is left to human judgment,
Selection mistakes are difficult to prevent, and in order to fine-tune the adjustment, a large number of various adapters must be prepared,
It was not practical to completely adjust the positioning of the measurement points using only the adapter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and has as its object the purpose of automatically positioning measurement points automatically in accordance with the size of a subject (eg, a foot) with a simple configuration. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bone evaluation device that can be adjusted and the reliability of a bone evaluation result is improved.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a bone evaluation apparatus for transmitting and receiving a measurement wave to and from a subject to evaluate the bone of the subject. A measurement unit that has a mounting table to perform, and transmits and receives measurement waves to and from the mounted object, and a size measurement unit that is provided in the measurement unit and measures the size of the outer shape of the object, A measurement control unit that determines measurement conditions based on the size of the subject measured by the size measurement unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bone evaluation apparatus for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from a heel of a foot to evaluate a bone of a calcaneus. A measuring unit that transmits and receives ultrasonic waves to and from the heel of a placed foot, a size measuring unit provided in the measuring unit, and that measures the size of the outer shape of the foot, and the size measurement A measurement control unit that determines measurement conditions based on the size of the foot measured by the means.

According to the above arrangement, the size measuring means measures the size of the foot, which is the subject, and the measurement control unit determines measurement conditions based on the measured size of the foot, for example, the transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves. Determination of measurement points to be performed is performed. Therefore,
According to the present invention, since the size of the foot can be automatically measured and an appropriate measurement point can be set, the reproducibility and reliability of the measurement can be improved. Of course, the present invention is also applicable to a bone evaluation device including an adapter as a footrest,
In that case, for example, in determining the measuring point, the used adapter is automatically identified and its shape (thickness etc.)
The measurement point may be obtained in consideration of the above.

[0013] In this onset bright, the size measuring means, second measuring a first measuring means for measuring the length of the sole between the end and the toe of the heel, the instep height of the foot And at least one, preferably both.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a bone evaluation apparatus according to the present invention. This bone evaluation apparatus evaluates bones inside a living body by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from the living body. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to a bone evaluation device that performs bone evaluation using X-rays.

The bone evaluation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is roughly divided into a measurement unit 10 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, and an analysis unit 12 for calculating a bone evaluation value based on the result obtained by transmitting and receiving the ultrasonic waves. , Is composed. The subject's foot 14
On both sides, a transmitter 16 composed of an ultrasonic vibrator and a receiver 18 also composed of an ultrasonic vibrator are arranged. The positions of the transmitter 16 and the receiver 18 can be adjusted three-dimensionally by the drive mechanism 20. The controller 22 controls the operation of the measurement unit 10. The transmission trigger output from the controller 22 is supplied to the transmission circuit 24, and the transmission signal is transmitted to the transmission circuit 2.
4 to the transmitter 16. Then, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the transmitter 16 to the foot 14, and the ultrasonic wave passing through the foot 14 is received by the receiver 18. Thereby, the receiver 1
8 from the controller 2 via the receiving circuit 26
Sent to 2. The receiving circuit 26 has, for example, an amplifier and a detector. The received signal input to the controller 22 is sent to the analysis unit 12 and the analysis unit 12
In, the calculation of the bone evaluation value is performed.

The controller 22 includes a measurement position calculation unit 28
Having. The measurement position calculation unit 28 calculates an appropriate measurement position based on the size of the foot, that is, the size of the foot,
The measurement position information (X coordinate, Y coordinate) as the result is output to the drive mechanism 20. Thereby, the driving mechanism 20 moves the transmitter 16 and the receiver 18 in the X direction or the Y direction,
Positioning is performed so that ultrasonic waves are transmitted and received at the measurement points.

The determination result output from the adapter determiner 30 is input to the measurement position calculator 28. This adapter discriminator 30 is used for measuring unit 10 as described later.
The type of the adapter as the footrest attached to the device is determined, and the result of the determination is used in the calculation of the measurement position.

The measurement position calculation unit 28 includes a first
The measurement signals from the measurement device 32 and the second measurement device 34 are input, and the measurement position calculation unit 28 calculates the above-described measurement position based on the measurement signals. This will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the measuring unit 10. On the upper surface 36A of the main body 36, an adapter 38 as a footrest is detachably set. The adult adapter 38 is formed with a relatively small thickness, and the child adapter 38 is formed with a relatively thick thickness. Of course, adapters 38 of various sizes can be used. The foot 14 is placed on the adapter 38. The transmitter 16 and the receiver 18 described above are movably provided on both sides of the adapter 38. When transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves,
, Ie, the transmitter 16 and the receiver 18 move toward each other, and as a result, the heel is pinched by the transmitter 16 and the receiver 18. Transmission and reception of ultrasonic waves are performed in such a state.

The measuring unit 10 of the present embodiment has a sole length detector as the first measuring device 32 shown in FIG. The sole length detector 32 is provided on the toe side of the foot 14 arranged on the adapter 38, and the length of the foot at the longest point is measured by scanning the laser beam in the Z-axis direction. ing. In this specification, the sole length detector 3 is used to distinguish it from the foot length in a general sense.
The length of the foot detected by 2 is referred to as “plantar length”. Although this sole length detector 32 is constituted by a laser displacement sensor, without using such an optical sensor,
Other sensors may be used. In addition, since the sole length has a significance as a parameter for calculating the measurement position,
For example, the distance from the end of the heel to the longest toe may be defined as the sole length, or the distance from the toe of a specific finger of the foot may be defined as the sole length. The laser displacement sensor of the present embodiment scans a laser beam in the Z-axis direction,
The distance to the toe is determined at each Z coordinate, and the sole length is determined based on the shortest distance among the distances.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface 36A of the main body 36
Is provided with an instep height detector 34 as a second measuring device for measuring the height of the instep of the foot 14. In particular,
The instep detector 34 is composed of a light emitting device 34A and a light receiving device 34B, and transmits and receives laser light between the light emitting device 34A and the light receiving device 34B. Determines the height of the instep. In the present embodiment, the instep height detector 34 is fixedly provided on the upper surface 36A. However, based on the measurement result of the first measuring device 32, for example, the light emitting device 34A and the light receiving device 34
A mechanism for shifting B in the toe direction or the heel direction may be provided. According to such a configuration, the height of the instep can be more objectively determined.

FIG. 3 shows the sole length L and the instep height H measured by the first measuring device 32 and the second measuring device 34.
That is, the sole length L is the length from the end of the heel to the toe,
The instep height H is defined as the height of the instep at the position where the second measuring device 34 is provided. The sole length L and the instep height H obtained in this manner are used as parameters for calculating the measurement coordinates X and Y, and the measurement position S is finally determined to be a position corresponding to the center of the calcaneus. In this embodiment, an adapter discriminator 30 is provided as shown in FIG. 3, and the type of the set adapter is automatically discriminated.

Next, the operation of the measuring unit will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in S101, the adapter discriminator 30
Adapter 38 set in measurement unit 10 by
Is determined. Next, in S102, the sole length L of the foot 14 placed on the adapter 38 is determined.
That is, the distance from the heel to the toe is optically measured by the operation of the first measuring device 32. Of course, when determining the sole length L, the determined thickness of the adapter and the like are taken into consideration.

In S103, the instep H is optically determined by the second measuring device 34. In this case, the instep height H is obtained based on the type of the adapter determined in the same manner as described above. In addition, S102 and S103 may be performed in advance, or two steps may be performed simultaneously.

Next, the sole length L obtained as described above
The measurement position calculator 28 calculates the X coordinate in S104, and calculates the Y coordinate in S105 based on the instep height H. In the present embodiment, as an example, the X coordinate of the measurement position is obtained based on an arithmetic expression of X = aL + b.
Here, a and b are predetermined coefficients, and the coefficients are determined based on the size of each component of the apparatus. Similarly, the measurement position calculation unit 28 calculates the Y coordinate of the measurement position based on the calculation formula of Y = cH + d. Here, c and d are predetermined coefficients, which are also appropriately determined based on the size of each component of the apparatus.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, X and Y are determined on the basis of a linear operation expression. However, it is needless to say that such an expression is not required. An appropriate operation formula may be selected based on this.

In S106, the coordinates (X, Y) indicating the measurement position determined as described above are output to the driving mechanism 20, and the transmitter 16 transmits the ultrasonic beam so that the coordinates (X, Y) coincide with the coordinates (X, Y). And the positioning of the receiver 18 is performed.
After that, various measurements are executed by transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves in S107.

In the above embodiment, the apparatus for evaluating a bone by ultrasonic waves has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to an apparatus for evaluating a bone using X-rays. In the above-described example, both the first measuring device 32 and the second measuring device 34 optically detect the sole length and the instep height. The detection may be performed by a simple sensor.

As described above, in the bone evaluation apparatus according to the present embodiment, the size of the foot, which is the subject, is measured and the measurement position is calculated based on the size. There is an advantage that the ultrasonic beam can be appropriately positioned at the center of the measurement, and measurement with high reproducibility and high reliability can be performed.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
With a simple configuration, the measurement points can be automatically positioned and adjusted in accordance with the size of a subject such as a foot, for example. As a result, there is an effect that the reliability of the bone evaluation result is enhanced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a bone evaluation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a measurement unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing measurement of a foot size.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the measuring unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 measuring units, 14 feet, 16 transmitters, 18
Receiver, 20 drive mechanism, 22 controller, 28
Measuring position calculator, 30 adapter discriminator, 32 first measuring device (foot sole length detector), 34 second measuring device (step height detector)

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] An ultrasonic wave is transmitted to and received from the heel of the foot,
In a bone evaluation device that performs bone evaluation, the device has a footrest on which the foot is placed, and
A measuring unit for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from the measuring unit, the size of the outer shape of the foot
Measuring the size of the foot based on the size measured by the size measuring means;
And a measurement controller for determining measurement conditions , wherein the size measuring means includes first measuring means for measuring a length of a sole between a heel end and a toe. apparatus. 2. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted to and received from the heel of the foot,
In a bone evaluation device that performs bone evaluation, the device has a footrest on which the foot is placed, and
A measuring unit for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from the measuring unit, the size of the outer shape of the foot
Measuring the size of the foot based on the size measured by the size measuring means;
And a measurement controller for determining measurement conditions , wherein the size measuring means includes second measuring means for measuring the height of the instep. 3. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted to and received from the heel of the foot,
In a bone evaluation device that performs bone evaluation, the device has a footrest on which the foot is placed, and
A measuring unit for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves to and from the measuring unit, the size of the outer shape of the foot
Measuring the size of the foot based on the size measured by the size measuring means;
And a measurement control unit for determining measurement conditions , wherein the size measuring means comprises: first measuring means for measuring the length of the sole between the end of the heel and the toe; and measuring the height of the instep of the foot. A second measuring means for measuring, wherein the measurement control unit calculates a measurement position based on a length of the sole and a height of the instep of the foot. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the size measurement means, the bone evaluation device, characterized in that is performed optically measured.