JP3963145B2 - Biological information measuring device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a biological information measuring apparatus that calculates information related to a living body based on body impedance.
[0002]
[Prior art]
This type of conventional biometric information measuring device has the hand electrode 3 on the grip portion 4 that can be gripped with both hands of the main body 22 like the conventional biometric device shown in FIG. 8 (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The electrode 1 is provided in the foot electrode unit 21 connected by the cable 23, and the person to be measured inputs the person to be measured such as height, weight, and sex with the key group 5, and then holds the main body 22 with both hands. If the measurement is performed by taking a predetermined posture on the foot electrode part 21, the electrodes 1 and 3 provided on the grip part 4 and the foot electrode part 21 come into contact with the palm and the sole of the foot, thereby causing impedance between the limbs. It is possible to obtain information related to the living body by calculation based on the impedance and the input information of the person to be measured.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-59744
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional biological information measuring device has a problem in usability because it is necessary to input the body weight, which is one of the measurement subject information, at every measurement.
[0005]
Recently, many biological information measuring devices that are integrated with a weight scale are also commercially available, but the posture of the subject is stable when measuring in a standing position as the mounting part for measuring body weight becomes more compact. It was difficult to perform, and there was a problem that an error in weight measurement was likely to occur.
[0006]
In addition, when the device is not used, the cable connecting the device main body and the foot electrode portion may be disjoint unless separately assembled, and may become unsightly when not in use.
[0007]
In addition, since the cable is always exposed, when the device becomes dirty as the service period increases, the device itself can be easily wiped, but the flexible cable is generally removed. It was very troublesome to do.
[0008]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and by detecting the stability of the posture state at the time of measurement and starting the measurement, the error of the weight value and impedance measurement is reduced, and the cable is mounted on the human body when not in use. It is an object of the present invention to provide a biological information measuring device that is housed in a mounting portion and improves the appearance when the device is not used.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the biological information measuring device of the present invention includes a foot electrode in which four electrodes that are in contact with each of a heel and a toe of both feet of a measurement subject are separately disposed, and the foot A human body placement unit on which a measurement person rides and measures body weight at the time of measurement, a hand electrode composed of two separated electrodes that come into contact with one hand of the measurement person, and the hand electrode at the time of measurement An input for inputting measurement subject information representing the physical characteristics of the measurement subject, a gripping portion that the measurement subject grasps with a hand, impedance measurement means for measuring impedance between predetermined measurement sites by a so-called four-terminal method, and so on. Means, calculating means for calculating information related to the living body of the measured person from the measured impedance and measured person information, notifying means for displaying a calculation result by the calculating means, the gripping part and the human body placing part. Connect electrically Cable, a storage part provided in the human body placing part and storing the grip part and / or the cable, and foot electrodes contacting the toes and heels are short-circuited or opened, respectively. a switching means, after the impedance of the measurement of the measurement site as between both feet of the impedance measuring means at the start of measurement has detected that a predetermined impedance range, were weighed in the human body mounting portion, wherein the impedance measurement It has a control part which measures impedance by making the measurement site | part in a means into a hand-to-feet.
[0010]
As a result, the impedance of both feet is measured, and after entering the predetermined range, by starting the impedance measurement between the body weight and the hands and both feet, both feet are firmly in contact with the electrode on the mounting portion, that is, measurement of the subject. Since the measurement is performed after it has been confirmed that the posture is stable, the measurement error due to the posture that is likely to occur when standing in an unstable place or the wobbling of the posture of the subject during measurement is reduced.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foot electrode in which four electrodes that are in contact with each of a heel and a toe of both feet of the measurement subject are separately provided, and the measurement subject includes a foot electrode and the measurement subject at the time of measurement. A human body placement unit for measuring the ride weight, a hand electrode composed of two separated electrodes that come into contact with one hand of the person to be measured, and a gripping part that includes the hand electrode and is gripped by the subject during measurement Impedance measuring means for measuring the impedance between predetermined measurement parts by a so-called four-terminal method, input means for inputting measurement subject information representing the physical characteristics of the measurement subject, measured impedance and measurement target Calculation means for calculating information on the living body of the person to be measured from person information, notification means for displaying a calculation result by the calculation means, a cable for electrically connecting the gripping part and the human body placing part, In the human body placing part Only has the the grip portion and / or the housing part for housing the cable, switching means for short-circuiting or open respectively to each other foot electrode in contact with the foot electrodes of the heel in contact with the toes, the impedance at the start of measurement After detecting that the impedance measured with the measurement part in the measurement means between both feet is within a predetermined impedance range, the body weight is measured by the human body placing part, and the measurement part in the impedance measurement means is impedance between the hand and both feet. Measure the impedance of both feet by having a control unit that measures the weight, and after entering the predetermined range, start measuring the weight and the impedance between the hands and both feet so that both feet firmly touch the electrode on the placement unit In other words, because it is a measurement after confirming that the measurement posture of the subject is stable, It is possible to reduce the measurement error due to the prone posture when standing on the wobble and unstable place in the attitude of the time of the subject.
[0014]
【Example】
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0015]
In order to make the description concrete, in this embodiment, the biological information is described as the body fat percentage, but the biological information calculated from the biological impedance and the measured person information representing the physical characteristics of the measured person. For example, even if it is a bone density measuring device or a device that measures the amount of muscle or the degree of muscle fatigue, it does not depart from the gist of the present invention.
[0016]
Example 1
FIG. 1 is an external view of a biological information measuring apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
[0017]
The living body information measuring apparatus of the present embodiment uses the human body placing part 2 as the outer shell of the apparatus main body, and the foot electrodes 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d are separately attached thereto. The human body placement unit 2 is provided with a set key group 5 as input means for inputting measurement subject information and a liquid crystal display 6 as notification means for measuring human body impedance between the foot electrodes. The grip part 4 provided with the hand part electrodes 3a and 3b is connected by a cable 7. 8a is a storage part provided in the human body placing part 2 and has a volume capable of storing the grip part 4 or the cable 7 alone or simultaneously.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 2, the person under measurement 10 grips the grip part 4 and rides on the human body placing part 2 with bare feet during measurement. At this time, the hand electrodes 3a and 3b are in contact with the palm of the person 10 to be measured, and the foot electrodes 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d are in contact with the toes and heels of the sole of the person 10 to be measured. For the sake of simplicity, the foot electrodes 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d are collectively referred to as the foot electrode 1, and the hand electrodes 3a and 3b are collectively referred to as the hand electrode 3.
[0019]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the inside of the human body placing unit 2, and the sequence at the time of measurement will be described with reference to FIG.
[0020]
First, at the start of measurement, the control unit (microcomputer) 11 receives a signal with the switching unit 12 from the switching unit 12 and sends a signal to the switching unit 12, opens SW3 and SW4, and connects SW1 and SW2 to the F side. Then, using the impedance measuring means 9, the impedance between both feet is measured by the so-called four-terminal method.
[0021]
After confirming that the impedance measured here is within a predetermined range, that is, the subject 10 is in firm contact with the foot electrode 1 on the human body placement unit 2, the weight of the subject on the human body placement unit 2 is measured. Then, SW3 and SW4 are short-circuited, SW1 and SW2 are connected to the H side, and impedance measurement means 9 is used to measure the impedance between the hand and both feet by the so-called four-terminal method.
[0022]
The impedance measuring means 9 is configured to measure impedance by passing a constant current between the electrodes connected to the constant current power supply unit 9a and measuring the voltage between the electrodes connected to the human body resistance potential detecting unit 9b. ing. In this embodiment, a weak current that is not felt by a human body of about 50 kHz and 500 μA is used. The measured impedance is input to the microcomputer 11 as a calculation means having a function of a control unit. The key group 5 and the liquid crystal display 6 described above are connected to the microcomputer 11.
[0023]
When the measured impedance between the limbs of the person to be measured 10 is input to the microcomputer 11, the microcomputer 11 calculates the body fat percentage from the impedance and the person to be measured by a program and outputs the result to the liquid crystal display 6. To do. Various formulas for determining the body fat percentage are known. In this example, Brozec's formula (reported by Brozec et al., J. Brozec, F. Grande, JT Anderson and A. Key; An NY Ac ad. Sci 110 (1963) 113-40) This formula is for example a male body density = 1.1554-0841 × weight × impedance / height ²
Body fat percentage (%) = (4.95 / body density−4.5) × 100
It is requested from. Note that this equation is an equation for men, but it can also be applied to women by changing the coefficient of each part, so the equations are switched based on the gender included in the measured person information. In addition, many other formulas have been reported for obtaining the body fat percentage, but any formula can be used as long as it is a formula for obtaining the body fat percentage from the impedance, and departs from the spirit of the present invention. It is not a thing.
[0024]
In the present embodiment, the body fat percentage obtained from the impedance is displayed as it is, but the body fat weight, the slow fat weight, the slow fat percentage, etc. obtained from the body fat percentage may be displayed. Further, the key group 5 based on the combination of the up / down switch and the input switch is used as the input means. However, if the target person information can be inputted, for example, an input means using 10 keys, a rotary encoder, or the like is used. Even a rotary input means or the like that does not depart from the scope of the present invention.
[0025]
In addition, although a liquid crystal display is used as the notification means, other notification means, for example, a device using a light emitting diode, or a notification by voice is included in the scope. Moreover, the frequency and the magnitude of the current can be arbitrarily changed as long as the constant current is in a range that is not felt by the human body. Also, the gripping part is a cylindrical one that can be used with one hand, but there is no limitation on the shape, and the shape is arbitrary as long as it is easy to grip and the hand part electrode can reliably contact the hand .
[0026]
After measuring the body fat percentage by the above method, the person to be measured 10 puts the cable 7 electrically connected between the gripping part 4 used for the measurement and the human body placing part into the housing part 8a provided in the human body placing part 2. By pushing in or by bundling the cable 7 and inserting the cable 7 into the storage portion 8a, the storage state of the entire apparatus becomes orderly, and the apparatus does not appear uncomfortable in a non-measurement state.
[0027]
In the present embodiment, the storage portion 8a is provided in the human body placement portion 2, but a configuration in which the storage portion 8a is attached to the human body placement portion 2 as a separate part may be used. Moreover, although the accommodating part 8a is made into the recessed part shape, if it is a shape which can accommodate a holding part or a cable, it will not be limited to this.
[0028]
(Example 2)
FIG. 4 is an external view of a hand operating unit of the biological information measuring apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram in use. The difference from the first embodiment is that a liquid crystal display 6 as a notification means, a key group 5 as an input means, and a grip portion 4 are integrally provided to constitute a hand operation portion 13. This is because the hand operating unit 13 in which the liquid crystal display 6 and the key group 5 as input means are integrated with the gripping unit 4 in the first embodiment is connected to the human body placing unit 2 with the cable 7 and the usability is further improved. It is a thing. As shown in FIG. 5, the holding part 4 is held with one hand, and if necessary, it can be read closer to the eyes than shown in FIG. According to the present embodiment, it is not necessary to bend for reading, and an error in reading the measurement result does not occur, and an accurate measurement result can be known.
[0029]
In the hand operation unit 13 in the present embodiment, the key group 5 serving as input means is disposed below the liquid crystal display 6 serving as notification means. However, if the hand operation unit 13 is provided integrally, it is disposed. The location is not limited. After measuring the body fat percentage by the above method, the person to be measured 10 is provided in the concave portion 8b provided in the human body placing portion 2 with the cable 7 electrically connected between the hand operating portion 13 used for the measurement and the human body placing portion. By pushing in or by bundling the cable 7 and inserting it into the recess 8b, the storage state of the entire device becomes orderly, and the device does not look uncomfortable in a non-measurement state. .
[0030]
FIG. 6 is an external view when the hand operating unit 13 is stored in the human body placing unit 2. As shown in the figure, at the time of storage, the hand operating unit 13 is also used as a lid that covers the entire opening of the recess 8b provided in the human body placing unit 2. With this configuration, after measuring the body fat percentage as shown in FIG. 5, the cable 7 is pushed into the concave portion 8 b provided in the human body placing portion 2, or the cable 7 is folded and inserted into the concave portion 8 b, and then the hand operating portion 13. If the cable 7 is stored in accordance with the opening of the recess 8b, the entire recess 8b including the cable 7 can be replaced even if the cable 7 appears to be messy because the cable 7 is pushed in and stored in the recess 8b. Since it is hidden by the part 12 and cannot be seen, the storage state of the entire apparatus is more orderly visible than in the first embodiment, so that the appearance is good.
[0031]
(Example 3)
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the inside of the human body placing unit 2 when the switching unit 12 is not provided in the biological information measuring apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In the case of a device that has a large human body placement portion 2 and can take a shape that allows the person to be measured 10 to ride sufficiently stably, it is less necessary to check the stability of the posture. As a result, the overall cost of the apparatus can be reduced as compared with the presence of the switching means 12.
[0032]
At this time, by switching the measurement sequence of the microcomputer 11 as the control unit between when the switching means is present and when it is not present, most of the control circuit can be shared, and the mass production merit can be improved.
[0033]
The operation in that case will be described below.
[0034]
At the start of measurement, the microcomputer 11 first measures the body weight of the subject on the human body placement part 2 after the measurement is started, and then measures the impedance between the hand and both feet by the so-called four-terminal method using the impedance measuring means 9. To do. Since the processing of the measured impedance is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.
[0035]
In this way, by switching the measurement sequence with and without switching means, most of the control circuit can be shared, and for example, different models can be produced with the same microcomputer, improving the mass production merit. Can do.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, since the measurement operation after the measurement subject's stable measurement posture confirmation is entered, variations in body weight and human body impedance can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external view of a biological information measuring apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram at the time of measurement according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an external view of the gripping portion of the biological information measuring device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram when using the biological information measuring device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a biological information measuring apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is an external view of a conventional biological information measuring apparatus.
1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d Foot electrode 2 Human body placing part 3, 3a, 3b Hand part electrode 4 Gripping part 5 Key group (input means)
6 Liquid crystal display (notification means)
7 Cable 8a Storage part 8b Recess 9 Impedance measuring means 10 Measured person 11 Microcomputer (control part, calculating means)
12 Switching means 13 Hand control section

Claims (1)

A foot electrode in which four electrodes that are in contact with each of the heel and toe of each foot of the person to be measured are separately disposed, and a human body placement part that includes the foot electrode and that the person to be measured takes and measures the body weight at the time of measurement A hand electrode composed of two separated electrodes that come into contact with one hand of the person being measured, a gripping part that includes the hand electrode and is gripped by the hand during measurement, and an impedance between a predetermined measurement site An impedance measuring means for measuring the measurement by the so-called four-terminal method, an input means for inputting measurement subject information representing the physical characteristics of the measurement subject, and the living body of the measurement subject from the measured impedance and measurement subject information. A calculation means for calculating information; a notifying means for displaying a calculation result by the calculation means; a cable for electrically connecting the grip portion and the human body placement portion; and the grip provided on the human body placement portion. Department and / or Feet and accommodating portion for accommodating a serial cable, comprising a switching means for short-circuiting or open respectively to each other foot electrode in contact with the foot electrodes of the heel in contact with the toes, the measurement site in the impedance measuring means at the start of measurement After detecting that the impedance measured as a gap is within a predetermined impedance range, the human body placing unit measures the body weight, and includes a control unit that measures the impedance with the measurement site in the impedance measuring means between the hand and both feet. Biological information measuring device.

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