JP3178061B2 - Toilet with monitoring 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 toilet with a monitoring device for observing an anus that cannot be seen by oneself and discharged feces.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional toilets are designed for healthy persons, and there was no particular problem if they could excrete them.
In recent years, the aging is progressing, and it is predicted that the elderly population will increase rapidly in the 21st century. Also, even now, after middle age, many people suffer from hemorrhoids, and it is important to observe the affected area. At home, it is common to observe these affected areas in a closed space such as a toilet so that others cannot see them. In such a case, there is a method of observing the affected area with a mirror It was generally done. Recently, a method has been proposed in which a camera is attached to a toilet, the vicinity of the affected part is photographed on a display device, and the affected part is observed.

On the other hand, not only around the affected area of the anus,
In the case of hemorrhoids and other diseases, it was necessary to observe the excrement to determine whether bloody stool was formed.

[0004]

However, in the conventional case described above, when the user tries to see the toilet in a household toilet, the toilet is usually narrow and cannot take an unreasonable posture. In recent years, Western-style toilets have increased, and in these Western-style toilets, it was not possible to see excreted stool and the like, as well as near the anus. In addition, it was extremely difficult for non-healthy persons to observe because their physical freedom was ineffective.

On the other hand, when observing an affected part with a mirror due to hemorrhoids or the like, there is a problem in a place where the mirror is placed in order to observe in a narrow toilet space. That is, when the mirror was placed at the foot, the affected part appeared small because the mirror was away from the position of the eyes, and sufficient observation was not possible.

Therefore, a method of observing an affected part with a camera and displaying the affected part on a display means has been proposed. In addition to the case where the affected part is viewed by oneself, it is possible to hide the display means and allow another person to see it without knowing the person. There was a risk of misuse. Also, even if the display means is fixedly installed in the toilet, the signal from the camera is a normal video signal, and this video signal is simply connected by a cable, and can be easily cut and cut. From there it was possible to extend the cable and connect to another TV to watch. Therefore, similarly, there is a problem that another person can see the information in a place unknown to the person, and that the person is abused.

[0007] By the way, when a person who treats an affected part, that is, a doctor, looks at the patient, the patient and the doctor have to take an unreasonable posture in order to look at the affected part by bending the leg with the patient sideways. .

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is a first object of the present invention to be able to observe only an affected part such as hemorrhoids and the excrement without abusing the patient without abuse. It is intended. A second object is to observe the affected part from various angles. Third, stay at home and have a doctor examine the affected area.
The purpose of.

[0009]

The present invention SUMMARY OF] To achieve the above object, illumination means imaging means and the imaging means for imaging an object portion or the toilet bowl of the user gives an illuminance required for imaging And a storage room for storing
Processing means for mounting and processing the image signal from the imaging means into another signal state, restoration means for returning the signal processed by the processing means to the original image signal, and display means for displaying by the signal from the restoration means And a configuration including:

Further, in order to achieve the second object, in addition to the above-mentioned structure, the image forming apparatus further includes a movable portion for moving the image pickup means, and a position control means for determining the position of the image pickup means on the movable portion.

Further, in order to achieve the third object, in addition to the above-mentioned configuration, an output from the processing means is transmitted to the communication means,
The configuration is such that the signal from the communication means is restored by the restoration means.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the image of the state of the affected part or excrement obtained by the imaging unit is compressed or scrambled, and then restored to obtain the state of the affected part or excrement. Is displayed.

Further, the position of the imaging means is controlled by the position control means via the movable part, thereby observing and diagnosing the affected part and excrement of the patient.

Further, the processed signal is transmitted to the restoring means at a distant hospital by the communication means, and the restored signal is displayed by the display means.

[0015]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a toilet bowl, 2 denotes a toilet seat on which a user 3 sits, and 4 denotes a target part 5 of the user 3 and a storage 6 at an end of the toilet seat 2 for monitoring the inside of the toilet 1. An imaging means 7 which is movable and provided so as to be able to be stored in the storage 6, a cover 7 which can be opened and closed to prevent the imaging means 4 from being stained with water or dirt when the imaging means 4 is stored, and 8 Position control means for controlling the position of the imaging means 4 via the movable part 9; illumination means for indirectly illuminating the target part 5;
Is a processing means composed of an A / D conversion unit 12 for A / D converting a signal from the imaging means 4 and an image compression unit 13 for compressing the A / D converted digital signal.
An image expansion unit 16 expands and restores an image signal processed by the processing unit 11 from 1 via a cable 15 and a D / A conversion unit 17 that performs D / A conversion of an image expanded and returned to its original state. The restoring means 18 is a display means installed at a position where the user 3 in front of the toilet bowl is easy to see, and is integrated with the restoring means 14. Reference numeral 19 denotes a control unit including a use switch 20 for enabling the imaging unit 4 to take an image in conjunction with opening and closing of the cover 7 during use, an illumination switch 21 for turning on the illumination unit 10, and the position control unit 8. 22 is a toilet lid, 23
Is a water tank.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. When the user 3 sits on the toilet seat 2 and turns on the switch 21, the illuminating means 10 is turned on, the cover 7 is opened, and the stored imaging means 4 is moved from the storage 6 to the standard by the movable unit 9 from the storage 6. To the position (here, the movable part 9
Although it is described that it can be moved to a standard position, it may be dropped from the storage 6 to a predetermined position by gravity and lifted by the cover 7 during storage. ).

In this state, since the user 3 is sitting on the toilet seat 2, the interior of the toilet 1 is a closed space, and the imaging unit 4 captures an image of the target portion 5 of the user 3 under a predetermined illumination condition under a constant illumination. I do. The captured image signal is A / D converted by an A / D converter 12 in the processing means 11. After that, the A / D-converted image signal is image-compressed by the image compression unit 13. Since the purpose of image compression is to prevent the image from being extracted without being processed as it is, any compression method may be used here. For example, if the image data of the neighbors is the same, the number of the data is counted, and the counted number of data is stored. That is, assuming that the luminance level data of a certain pixel is the first data, and that the value of the data is, for example, 10, if the luminance level data of the second address is the same 10, the data is the same. Address data is stored as * 2 with an identifier *. Further, if the luminance level data of the next third address is the same data as 10, * 2 stored in the second address is replaced with * 3 and stored. By doing so, the third address portion is compressed into two pieces of three data and one piece of identifier data. Similarly, if the fourth data is the same data, by inserting * 4 at the second address, the fourth data is compressed, so that four data are two and one identifier data, for a total of three. If the subsequent data is the same up to, for example, the tenth data, the data becomes three data until the eleventh different data comes.

The data thus compressed is transmitted to the cable 1
5 is transmitted. Therefore, the transmitted cable 1
Numeral 5 is not a normal video signal (NTSC signal) but a signal unique to the device. The transmitted signal is input to the image expansion unit 16 of the restoration unit 14. The image expansion unit 16 sequentially expands the transmitted signal.

At the time of expansion, as shown in the above example, the first data is taken out as it is. Next, since the second data has the identifier *, it is understood that the second data is the same as the first data. Therefore, the same data as the first data is output from the second data to the tenth data. By doing so, the image data compressed by the processing means 11 returns to the original data by the image expansion unit 16. Restoration means 1
4, the returned data is further converted by the D / A converter 17 into D
/ A conversion to completely return to the signal from the imaging means. The image signal restored by the restoration means is input to the display means and displayed.

Here, A / D is used as the processing means 11 here.
Although the description has been given of the case where the conversion unit 12 and the image compression unit 13 are used, it is sufficient if the captured image is not taken out to the outside as it is, so that scrambling may be performed instead of image compression. good. In this case, the restoring means 14 uses a scramble restoring unit for restoring scramble instead of the image expanding unit 16. As another simple method, the processing means 11 may be provided only with an A / D converter, and the restoration means 18 may be provided only with a D / A converter, since the processing means 11 need not be an analog video signal.

Next, a case of freely picking up an image instead of displaying a standard image pickup position will be described with reference to FIG.

For example, when the displayed image deviates from a desired position, the position to be viewed is instructed by a position control means 8 such as a joystick, which can indicate any angle. The movable unit 9 moves so that the value becomes the value input to the position control unit 8, and moves the imaging unit 4. This allows you to project the place you want to see.
By giving an instruction in the direction opposite to the human body to the position control means 8, the imaging means 4 is directed not only to the place where the human body is damaged but also to the place of excretion to observe the excrement.

The position input by the position control means 8 may be performed by voice. With voice, a person with a physical disability can easily indicate the position.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 shows a communication unit 24 comprising a transmitting unit 25 and a receiving unit 26. In this case, the transmitting unit 25 is connected to the telephone line 27, and the telephone line 2
7 to the receiving telephone 29.

Next, the operation will be described. As shown in the first configuration, data obtained by processing the image signal of the target section 5 of the user 3 imaged by the imaging means 4 by the processing means 11 is transmitted from the transmission section 25 to the transmission section 25. The doctor communicates with the receiving telephone 29 at the doctor's office in the hospital via the calling telephone 28 and is transferred from the receiving telephone 29 to the receiving unit 26. Thereafter, the doctor observes the image restored by the restoring unit 14 on the display unit 18. To see you.

Although the description has been made using a telephone line as the communication means, it is needless to say that wireless communication as another communication means may be used. Further, in order to perform image communication, communication is performed using a TV telephone line or a similar high-speed transmission line.

[0027]

As described above, the present invention has the following effects by processing the image signal from the imaging unit, and then restoring and displaying the processed image signal.

(1) The affected part is not observed in an unreasonable posture in order to project the affected part by the imaging means. Therefore, even when the doctor observes the patient, both the patient and the doctor do not have to take an unreasonable posture.

(2) Since a signal from the image pickup means is processed, a cable transmitted from the image pickup means to the display means does not output a normal video signal, so that it cannot be connected to another display means and viewed. . Therefore, there is no danger of misuse because another person cannot see it on other display means without his knowledge.

Further, since the position of the imaging means can be changed by the position control means, (1) the affected part or excrement can be freely observed. Therefore, even if the illuminating means is poorly installed and a shadow is formed, it is possible to observe in detail by viewing from a different angle.

(2) When converting the state of the affected part into data, the doctor can take images from various angles and convert it into data.

Further, since the signal processed by the processing means is transmitted by the communication means, (1) the affected part of the patient such as hemorrhoids can be examined at a distant doctor. Thus, the patient does not have to go to the doctor for pain in consultation.

(2) Since the communication is a processed signal, it is not possible to branch the signal halfway and display it on another television, so that the signal can be sent with confidence.

By providing the position control means at the doctor's place and operating the communication means, the doctor can direct the imaging means to the place where he / she wants to examine the affected part, so that an appropriate medical examination can be made.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a toilet with a monitoring device in one embodiment of the configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a toilet with a monitoring device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 4 imaging means 8 position control means 6 storage 9 movable part 10 lighting means 11 processing means 14 restoration means 18 display means

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-1-152364 (JP, A) JP-A-63-103138 (JP, A) JP-A-3-218727 (JP, A) Jpn. , U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61G 9/00 E03D 9/00

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A a repository of the imaging means and imaging means for imaging an object portion or the toilet bowl of the user accommodates a lighting means for providing illumination required for imaging on the toilet top
Processing means for placing the image signal from the imaging means into another signal state, restoring means for returning the signal processed by the processing means to the original image signal, and displaying by the signal from the restoring means And a monitor equipped with a monitoring device. 2. The toilet with a monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising: a movable portion for moving the imaging means; and a position control means for determining a position of the imaging means in the movable portion. 3. The toilet with a monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising communication means for transmitting a signal processed by the processing means to the restoration means.