JP4676540B2 - Pulse measuring device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a pulse measuring device that grasps the state of a pulse from blood circulation and measures the pulse rate and pulse waveform, and is attached to a wrist or the like with a band to evaluate the load on the heart during sports, the evaluation of health, etc. It relates to the technology to be performed.

Information such as the pulse rate of a living body serves as an index of the physiological load of the body with respect to exercise, and is therefore used for management of exercise intensity and health of the measurement subject. In order to obtain a pulse from the blood circulation of a living body, a pulse sensor is brought into close contact with an artery close to the body surface. The attachment is performed by a band, and air pressure is used as a method for adjusting the tightening force, and a pulse signal is obtained in response to a shift in the detection position due to movement or the like. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-149326 (page 2-3, FIG. 1)

However, the above technique has the following problems. Even if the pulse sensor and the skin are sufficiently adhered and fixed, a living body composed of elastic body tissue around the skeleton will not be able to operate when the impact due to body movement or movement is applied to the device or the attachment site. Inertia due to weight is affected, and the pulse detection unit in contact with the skin is united with the body tissue temporarily. For this reason, the pulse signal from the arterial blood vessel which is the detection site is disturbed, which causes a large noise. The noise component generated here overlaps with the pulse detection signal and cannot be electrically separated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and its object is to
An object of the present invention is to provide a pulse measuring device capable of detecting a pulse even when a strong impact is applied.

A pulse measuring device according to the present invention includes a pulse detecting unit for detecting fluctuations in a pulse, a band configured to be wound around the body surface so as to bring the pulse detecting unit into close contact with the body surface, and the pulse detecting unit. And the band is loosely supported, and has an impact relieving part that relieves an impact on the pulse detecting part due to body movement.

Next, in the pulse measuring device according to the present invention, the pulse detecting unit includes a pulse sensor region and an adhesive region. In addition, the pulse measuring device of the present invention has a floating structure in which the pulse detecting unit and the band are loosely supported.

Next, in the pulse measuring device of the present invention, the floating structure holds the back surface of the pulse detecting unit and the band by a frictional force. In addition, the floating structure has a two-dimensional degree of freedom with respect to the friction reduction unit in which the pulse detection unit is fixed to the band.

  In the pulse measurement device of the present invention, the pulse detection unit is an ultrasonic sensor.

Since the pulse measuring device of the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. By loosely supporting the band and the pulse detector, the impact due to body movement is reduced,
SNR can be improved by suppressing noise transmission. By providing an adhesive area that comes into contact with the skin, the range of tightening force by the band can be expanded, so that attachment is facilitated. Furthermore, even when the skin moves through the pulse detection unit, there is an effect of improving followability. The loose support of the pulse detector has a two-dimensional degree of freedom, so that there is an effect that can deal with multidirectional impact forces. By detecting the stable arterial flow using ultrasonic waves for detecting the biological information, there is an effect that a pulse measuring device that is resistant to body motion noise can be obtained.

It is sectional drawing of the pulse measuring device when the 1st Example of this invention is shown and it mounts | wears with a wrist. It is the figure which displayed the impact relaxation part and its periphery shown in FIG. Specifically, FIG. 2A is a front view of the pulse detection unit, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 2A, and FIG. 2C is a diagram. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′, and FIG. 2D is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in FIG. . It is sectional drawing of the pulse measuring device when the 2nd Example of this invention is shown and it equips with a wrist. It is the figure which displayed the impact relaxation part shown in FIG. 3, and its periphery. Specifically, FIG. 4A is a front view of the pulse detection unit, FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 4A, and FIG. 4C is FIG. FIG. 4A is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′ in FIG. 4A, and FIG. 4D is a side view of the pulse detection unit mounting member. It is sectional drawing of the pulse measuring device when the 3rd Example of this invention is shown and it equips with a wrist. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an impact mitigating portion and its periphery shown in FIG. 5. Specifically, FIG. 6A is a front view of the pulse detection unit, FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 6A, and FIG. 6C is FIG. The figure which shows a neutral state in BB 'sectional drawing of (b), FIG.6 (d) is the figure which shows the state slid linearly with the impact force in BB' sectional drawing of FIG.6 (b), 6 (e) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 6 (b), and shows a state of sliding linearly by an impact force, and FIG. 6 (f) is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 6 (b). It is a figure which shows the state rotated with the impact force in the figure. It is a block diagram of a typical example which shows the control part of the pulse measuring device of this invention. It is a graph which shows experimental data. It is a graph which shows experimental data.

In order to achieve the above object, the pulse measuring device of the present invention is configured to be wound around the body surface in order to bring the pulse detecting unit into close contact with the body surface, and to detect the fluctuation of the pulse. And a signal processing unit and a display unit mounted on the band, and is portable. In this pulse measuring device, the pulse detecting unit has a surface composed of a sensor region and an adhesive region, detects a pulse signal in the sensor region, and the adhesive region allows the pulse detecting unit and the skin to adhere closely to each other. is there. The shock mitigating unit is a mechanism that loosens the pulse detecting unit mechanically from heavy objects such as the band, the signal processing unit mounted thereon, and the display unit, and softens strong motion such as impact, and adheres to the skin. In this state, planar movement is allowed.

The impact mitigating unit has an LPF function, and is intended to alleviate the peak of impact force including a high frequency spectrum when a steep impact is input from the outside. From the band and the mounted object, the pulse detecting unit comes into contact with the loose and has a floating structure. For example, a film having a low friction coefficient is attached to a part or the entire area of the inside of the belt, and similarly, a portion of the pulse detecting unit that is in contact with the belt is made of a film or material having a low friction coefficient. When the components are attached to the wrist, etc., the belt and the pulse detector instantaneously slide against the impact and have a degree of freedom in two-dimensional freedom by sliding on the low friction film surface. It is intended to alleviate the peak.

The pulse detection unit requires a frictional force higher than the static frictional force of the floating structure of the impact mitigation unit in order to securely hold the surface in contact with the living body. This is because when a steep impact is input from the outside, not only the tightening force by the band but also an adhesive region is provided around the pulse sensor region to prevent deviation from the skin, and the tightening force of the band changes. However, it has sufficient holding power to prevent misalignment. For example, an adhesive pad is provided as wide as the band width around the ultrasonic sensor for detecting the arterial blood flow velocity of biological information, and the shift is sufficiently prevented even by lightly pressing with the band. From this, noise can be reduced without strongly tightening the band, so that the pulse rate can be counted during exercise without squeezing the band too much and hindering blood flow.

The impact relaxation portion and the pulse detection portion cannot be completely fixed because they need to slide when an impact is applied. Therefore, a method is used in which a magnet or the like is attached to the center of the impact mitigating unit and the pulse detecting unit, and a weak support method using magnetic force is taken to mitigate the impact. Further, a method of loosely supporting with rubber or the like so that it can be freely moved by 1 mm or more in a planar range may be used. This makes it easy to stop the band at a predetermined site such as the surface of the skin located above the radial artery or ulnar artery of the wrist, and to easily align the pulse detecting unit. it can. A hook-and-loop fastener or the like is used for the fastening part or the fastening part of the band. Note that other means for fastening the band, such as a combination of a hole in the band and a pin-like portion, may be used. In some cases, the band itself may be a ring-shaped object made of a material or structure that can be elastically expanded and contracted.

The fluctuation of the pulse detected by the pulse detector is typically a pulsating fluctuation of the pulse accompanying the pulsation of the heart, the pulsation on the one hand as a fluctuation in blood flow velocity and on the other hand a pulse of pulse pressure. It is regarded as a state fluctuation. Therefore, the pulse detecting unit may detect a pulse pressure variation, a blood flow velocity variation, or another characteristic variation associated with a pulsating pulse variation. The pulse measuring device of the present invention is
For example, it is possible to detect the pulsation fluctuation of the blood flow rate by continuously detecting or monitoring the blood flow rate in practice to determine the time interval between pulsations and the number of pulsations per unit time. Here, the number of times per unit time that the blood flow rate pulsates is
Since the number of pressure pulsations coincides with the number of times per unit time, the number of pulses per unit time can be detected by detecting, for example, fluctuations in blood flow velocity.

The band is further provided with a display unit. This display part is normally provided in the place away from the band part which attached the pulse detection part. Thus, when the display unit moves due to inertia due to the mass of the display unit, the movement is not directly transmitted to the pulse detection unit, and the movement is suppressed to the minimum. In addition, when detecting pulse fluctuations in the radial artery or ulnar artery with the pulse detection unit, the display unit is located outside the wrist (on the back of the hand) even if the pulse detection unit is located inside the wrist (the palm side). ). The display unit is integrally provided with a control unit or a calculation control unit for obtaining a pulse rate per unit time based on a detection signal from the pulse detection unit.

Next, a pulse measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a portable pulse wave measuring apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In this drawing, 11 is a main body of a pulse measuring device, 12 is a band, 17 is a wrist cross section, 18 is a radial artery, 14 is a pulse sensor for detecting changes in blood, and 13 is an adhesive pad disposed around the pulse sensor. It is. The pulse wave sensor 14 and the adhesive pad 13 are attached to a predetermined position of the band 12 and face the wrist 17 side of the band 12. Then, by disposing the adhesive pad 13, a deviation between the pulse wave sensor 14 and the skin of the wrist 17 is prevented. The integrated pulse detector 15 is applied to a pulse detection site, for example, the radial artery 18 of the wrist 17, and changes in blood flow velocity are measured. The measurement is performed by obtaining an apparent flow velocity by applying ultrasonic waves to the bloodstream and detecting a Doppler signal that is a reflected signal. The pulse wave sensor 14 transmits and receives an ultrasonic wave and converts an ultrasonic signal including a Doppler signal into an electric signal. This electrical signal is connected to the pulse wave sensor 14 and connected to an arithmetic processing means provided in the main body 11 through an electrical cable 16 embedded in the longitudinal direction of the band 12, and the result is displayed.

The impact relaxation unit 105 is disposed so that the surfaces of the low friction material A101 and the low friction material B102 face each other. The magnetic poles of the magnet A103 and the magnet B104 disposed in the center of the low friction material A101 and the low friction material B102 are loosely supported in the direction in which they are attracted to each other (for example, S pole / N pole, N pole / S pole). At this time, one may be a magnetic body such as iron and the other may be a magnet. The magnet A103 and the magnet B104 are provided with an impact relaxation portion 10.
The low friction material A101 and the low friction material B102 of No. 5 are kept in a neutral position to facilitate mounting. In addition, it has a role of shock damper. A plurality of magnets may be used.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the impact reducing portion 105 and its periphery in FIG. FIG. 2 (a)
The pulse sensor 1 includes a low friction material B102 attached to the band 12 and a pulse detection unit 15.
It is the figure seen from the 4th page. The pulse sensor 14 is disposed so that the ultrasonic transmission element 19 and the ultrasonic reception element 20 are adjacent to each other, and the adhesive pad 13 surrounds the pulse sensor 14.

FIG. 2B shows the attachment of the magnet A103 and the magnet B104 of the impact relaxation portion 105. FIG. The impact relaxation unit 105 is loosely supported by the magnetic forces 103 and 104.

FIG. 2C shows a state where the low friction material A101 and the low friction material B102 of the impact relaxation portion 105 are in the neutral position Y.

FIG. 2D shows an impact force F from the lateral direction on the pulse sensor 14 in the state of FIG.
Indicates the state with added. When the impact force F is applied, the magnet A103 moves from the neutral position Y by the distance S. Thus, the impact force can be reduced by sliding the pulse sensor 14. Although not shown in the figure, even if an impact that generates a rotational force is applied, the pulse sensor 14 can be mitigated by sliding.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a typical example showing a control unit of the pulse measuring device of the present invention. The oscillation unit 401 oscillates a reference signal. The driving unit (transmission) 402 vibrates the ultrasonic element 19 and transmits a driving voltage for irradiating the ultrasonic wave toward the blood vessel 18. The ultrasonic element 20 receives the ultrasonic wave reflected from the blood vessel 18. At this time, the ultrasonic element 19 and the ultrasonic element 20 may be the same.

The received signal is subjected to electrical conversion, and the amplification unit (reception) 403 amplifies the received signal. The amplified signal is processed by the signal calculation unit 404. The signal calculation unit 404 also has functions for performing various signal processing such as amplification, level conversion (A / D conversion, etc.), comparison, addition / subtraction, normalization, averaging, quantization, storage, etc. And
It is appropriately selected and executed depending on what kind of signal processing is required.

The result of the arithmetic processing is displayed on the display unit 405 provided in the main body 11. Examples of display contents include direct numerical values such as pulse rate and blood flow velocity, or determination information based on these numerical values and history information.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a portable pulse wave measuring device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
In this drawing, 11 is a main body of a pulse measuring device, 12 is a band, 17 is a wrist cross section, 18 is a radial artery, 14 is a pulse sensor for detecting changes in blood, and 13 is an adhesive pad disposed around the pulse sensor. It is. This pulse wave sensor 14 and adhesive pad 13
Is attached to a predetermined position of the band 12 and faces the wrist 17 of the band 12. And the adhesive pad 13 is arrange | positioned, and the shift | offset | difference with the pulse wave sensor 14 and the skin of a wrist is prevented. The pulse detection unit 15 in which these are integrated is applied to a pulse detection site, for example, the radial artery 18 of the wrist, and the change in blood flow rate is measured. The measurement is performed by obtaining an apparent flow velocity by applying ultrasonic waves to the bloodstream and detecting a Doppler signal that is a reflected signal.

The pulse wave sensor 14 transmits and receives an ultrasonic wave, and converts an ultrasonic signal including a Doppler signal into an electric signal. This electric signal is connected to the arithmetic processing means provided in the main body 11 through the electric cable 16 embedded in the longitudinal direction of the band 12, and the process and the result are displayed.

The attachment portion 205 (FIG. 4D) protruding from the elastic material 203 is connected to the pulse detection portion 1.
Used to loosely attach 5 to band 12. The attachment portion 205 is
It penetrates through the low friction material C201 and the low friction material D202 of the impact relaxation portion 207. At this time, the ball-shaped tip portion passes by being elastically deformed into the hole of the fixing hole 204, and after passing, it returns to its original shape and is fixed. The tip portion may be a wedge shape. Furthermore, the mounting position can be adjusted by arranging a plurality of fixing holes 204 in the longitudinal direction of the band 12.

The low-friction material C201 and the low-friction material D202 are arranged so that their surfaces face each other so that they can slide. The low friction material C201 and the low friction material D202 are maintained in a neutral position by supporting the attachment portion 205 (FIG. 4D) protruding from the elastic material 203 disposed on the back surface of the pulse detection portion 15. It is also easy to put on the wrist. Further, the attachment portion 205 (FIG. 4D) protruding from the elastic member 203 also serves as a shock damper. Further, the elastic member 203 mounting portion 205 (FIG. 4D) is 2
There may be more than books.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the impact relaxation portion 207 of FIG. 3 and its surroundings. FIG. 4 (a)
The pulse sensor 1 includes a low friction material D202 attached to the band 12 and a pulse detector 15.
It is the figure seen from the 4th page. The pulse sensor 14 is disposed so that the ultrasonic transmission element 19 and the ultrasonic reception element 20 are adjacent to each other, and the adhesive pad 13 surrounds the pulse sensor 14.

FIG. 4B shows the attachment of the elastic member 201 of the impact relaxation portion 207. The state where the low friction material C201 and the low friction material D202 of the impact relaxation portion 207 are in the neutral position Y is shown.

FIG. 4C shows an impact force F from the lateral direction on the pulse sensor 14 in the state of FIG.
Indicates the state with added. When the impact force F is applied, the low friction material C201 moves from the neutral position Y by the distance S. Thus, the impact force can be reduced by sliding the pulse sensor 14. Although not shown in the figure, even if an impact that generates a rotational force is applied, the pulse sensor 14 can be mitigated by sliding.

FIG. 4D shows a side view of the elastic member 203. The elastic member 203 is fixed or elastically deformed with the pulse detecting unit 15 and an adhesive and fixed by fitting. The mounting knob 205 is pulled to pass the ball-shaped mounting portion 205 through the fixing hole 204.

Note that the pulse measurement method of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a portable pulse wave measuring device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
In this drawing, 11 is a body of a pulse measuring device, 12 is a band, 17 is a wrist cross section, 18 is a radial artery, 14 is a pulse sensor for detecting blood changes, and 13 is an adhesive disposed around the pulse sensor 14. It is a pad. The pulse wave sensor 14 and the adhesive pad 13 are attached to a predetermined position of the band 12 and face the wrist 17 side of the band 12. Then, the pulse wave sensor 14 and the wrist 17 are arranged by arranging the adhesive pad 13.
The pulse detection unit 15 integrated with these components is applied to the pulse detection site, for example, the radial artery 18 of the wrist 17 to measure the change in blood flow velocity. The measurement is performed by obtaining an apparent flow velocity by applying ultrasonic waves to the bloodstream and detecting a Doppler signal that is a reflected signal.

The pulse wave sensor 14 transmits and receives an ultrasonic wave, and converts an ultrasonic signal including a Doppler signal into an electric signal. This electrical signal is connected to the pulse wave sensor 14 and connected to arithmetic processing means provided in the main body 11 through an electrical cable 16 embedded in the longitudinal direction of the band, and the result is displayed.

The impact relaxation portion 305 is disposed so that the surfaces of the low friction material E301 and the guided low friction material F302 face each other. The magnetic poles of the magnet C303 and the magnet D304 disposed in the center of the low friction material E301 and the guided low friction material F302 are in the direction in which they are attracted to each other (
For example, S pole / N pole, N pole / S pole). At this time, one of them may be a magnetic material such as iron. The magnet C303 and the magnet D304 are composed of the low friction material E of the impact relaxation portion 305.
301 and the low friction material F302 with a guide are supported in a neutral position to facilitate mounting. In addition, it has a role of shock damper. Further, a plurality of magnets may be used.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the impact relaxation portion 305 and its surroundings in FIG. FIG. 6 (a)
These are the figures which looked at the low friction material F302 with a guide attached to the band 12, and the pulse detection part 15 from the pulse sensor 14 surface. The pulse sensor 14 is disposed so that the ultrasonic transmission element 19 and the ultrasonic reception element 20 are adjacent to each other, and the adhesive pad 13 is the pulse sensor 14.
Surrounding.

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. Magnet C of impact relaxation part 305
The attachment of 303 and magnet D304 is shown. By providing the guide to the low friction material with guide F302 attached to the band side, even if the pulse detection unit 15 is pulled with a strong force, it does not come off.

6C to 6F show the BB ′ cross section of FIG. FIG. 6C shows a position where the low friction material E301 of the impact relaxation portion 305 is neutral. When an impact force is applied here, the impact force can be reduced by sliding as shown in FIGS. 6 (d) and 6 (e). Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6 (f), an impact that generates a rotational force can be reduced by the slide.

Note that the pulse measurement method of the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 8 shows experimental data of a Doppler signal and a noise signal when the attachment method to the wrist 17 is changed. The experimental conditions are as follows.

Model 01 indicates data in a state where the pulse detection unit is fixed to the band. Model 02 indicates data in a state where the pulse sensor is fixed to the band. Model 03 indicates data in a state where the pulse detection unit is fixed to the band and an adhesion layer is added to the pulse sensor. Model 04 shows data in a state where a pulse sensor is fixed to the band and an adhesion layer is added to the pulse sensor. Model05 is
A band and a pulse detection part show the data in the state which added the adhesion layer to the floating structure and the pulse sensor.

Each model described above is attached to the wrist 17, and a vibration of 9 Hz and a shock of 1 G are applied by a vibration exciter. The data represents three beats.

As Model05 shows, the noise signal is suppressed by adopting a floating structure,
Obviously you can see the pulse.

FIG. 9 shows data obtained by performing a moving average process. From this data, Model
By using a floating structure like 05, it was found that the SN ratio could be greatly improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Body of pulse measuring device 12 Band 13 Adhesive pad 14 Pulse sensor 15 Pulse detection part 16 Electric cable 17 Wrist 18 Radial artery 19 Ultrasonic transmitting element 20 Ultrasonic element 101 Low friction material A
102 Low friction material B
103 Magnet A
104 Magnet B
105, 207, 305 Impact relaxation part 201 Low friction material C
202 Low friction material D
203 Elastic material 204 Fixing hole 205 Mounting portion 301 Low friction material E
302 Low friction material with guide F
303 Magnet C
304 Magnet D
401 Oscillator 402 Drive unit (transmission)
403 Amplifier (Reception)
404 Signal calculation unit 405 Display unit

Claims (4)

A pulse detector for detecting fluctuations in the pulse;
A band configured to be wrapped around the body surface to bring the pulse detector into close contact with the body surface;
A friction reducing unit that reduces friction generated between the pulse detecting unit and the band;
Have
The pulse detector is
A sensor region for detecting a pulse signal;
An adhesive surface that closely contacts the sensor region and the body surface;
A mounting portion disposed on the side opposite to the side on which the adhesive surface is disposed;
It said band has a plurality of holes to be able to hold the mounting portion moving longitudinally in a direction in which the mounting portion along the surface,
The pulse measuring device is characterized in that the pulse detecting unit is loosely supported so as to have a two-dimensional degree of freedom along the body surface by holding the attachment portion in the hole. A pulse detector for detecting fluctuations in the pulse;
A band configured to be wrapped around the body surface to bring the pulse detector into close contact with the body surface;
A friction reducing unit that reduces friction generated between the pulse detecting unit and the band;
Have
The pulse detector is
A sensor region for detecting a pulse signal;
An adhesive surface that closely contacts the sensor region and the body surface;
Have
The friction reducing part is
A first friction reducing portion whose end disposed on the side opposite to the body surface is wider than a portion other than the end; and
Facing the first friction reduction section, it has a smaller opening than said end portion, and a second friction portion provided in said band,
The pulse detection unit is housed in the second friction reduction unit so that the end portion can move in a direction along the body surface, thereby allowing two-dimensional freedom along the body surface. A pulse measuring device that is loosely supported to have a degree. The pulse according to claim 2, wherein the end portion has a structure that is loosely supported with respect to the second friction reduction portion by being attracted to the second friction reduction portion by a magnetic force. measuring device.   The pulse measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pulse detecting unit includes an ultrasonic sensor.

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