JP5599839B2 - Method for acquiring physiological state information relating to physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, program and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for diagnosing a disease or the like using a physiological state generated when content is loaded.

In recent years, the influence of digital content on brain waves and the like has been examined (Non-patent Document 1). A method for diagnosing diseases such as Alzheimer's disease using an electroencephalogram has also been studied (Patent Documents 1 and 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-161652 Special table 2004-535231 gazette

  Although it is known that Alzheimer's patients show abnormalities in the electroencephalogram, the details of abnormalities in physiological states other than the electroencephalogram are not yet clear. In addition, a characteristic physiological state that occurs when content such as digital content is loaded on a patient with a certain disease has not been studied. In addition, Alzheimer and the like currently use PET and MRI in addition to neurological observation, neurophysiological examination, and neuropsychological examination, but they are difficult to diagnose.

  Thus, the present invention provides a method for diagnosing a subject's disease using such information by measuring characteristic physiological states that occur when content is loaded on a patient with a specific disease and acquiring information on the physiological state. An object of the present invention is to provide a diagnosis program and a diagnosis apparatus for a disease using information.

  The present inventor has found that a disease can be diagnosed by using physiological state information relating to a physiological state obtained when content is loaded, and has completed the present invention. That is, according to the present invention, the following means are provided.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a disease diagnosis method, in which content is provided to a patient with a disease to be diagnosed, and the disease-physiological state acquired with respect to a characteristic physiological state expressed in the patient when the content is loaded A step of preparing information, a step of providing the subject with the content and obtaining subject physiological state information relating to a physiological state expressed in the subject when the content is loaded, the disease-physiological state information, and the subject physiological state information And determining whether the subject has the disease based on the above.

  In the diagnosis method of the present invention, the content may be digital content. This is because providing the digital content makes it easier to provide typical content. The disease may be a neurodegenerative disease.

  Further, the physiological state is one selected from electroencephalogram, heartbeat, electrocardiogram, pulse wave, breathing, blink, blood pressure, blood flow, myoelectric potential, arterial blood saturation, eye movement, body movement, posture and fatigue. Or it can be set as the physiological state made into 2 or more types of parameter | index. Preferably, it is 2 or more types. Moreover, it is also preferable to set it as physiological states other than an electroencephalogram.

  In the diagnostic method of the present invention, a process of providing content to a subject and acquiring information on a physiological state expressed in the subject when the content is loaded, and analyzing the acquired information on the physiological state to determine the disease Obtaining a characterized disease-physiological condition information.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a program for diagnosing a disease, which causes one or more computers to execute one or more steps for processing a process in the diagnostic method described in any of the above .

  According to the present invention, a disease diagnosis apparatus, which provides a content to a patient with a disease to be diagnosed and is acquired with respect to a characteristic physiological state expressed in the patient when the content is loaded. Based on storage means for storing information, means for acquiring subject physiological state information relating to a physiological state expressed at the time of loading the content from a subject provided with the content, the disease-physiological state information, and the subject physiological state information And a disease determination means for determining whether or not the subject has the disease. In this device, the disease can be a neurodegenerative disease, preferably Alzheimer's disease.

(First embodiment)
Next, several embodiments of the present invention will be described. The first embodiment provides digital content to a group of patients having a certain disease in humans, measures the physiological state when the digital content is loaded, and acquires disease-physiological state information relating to a physiological state characteristic of the disease. And apparatus for processing. In the present embodiment, the disease is preferably a neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, polyglutamine disease, or prion disease. This is because a neurodegenerative disease patient is predicted that the physiological state that occurs when content such as digital content is loaded is significantly different from that of a healthy person other than the electroencephalogram. In addition, the disease is preferably a brain function disease such as epilepsy, a mental illness or the like. This is because even in these diseases, the physiological state that occurs when the content is loaded is significantly different from that of a healthy person.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a diagnostic system including a physiological state measuring device 10 that measures a plurality of types of physiological states including brain waves (states regarding physiological indices) and a PC terminal 40. As shown in FIG. 1, the physiological state measuring apparatus 10 has a plurality of measurement terminals, and by attaching the measurement terminals from outside the body of the subject, information on various physiological states of the subject can be acquired. Yes.

The physiological indices that can be measured by the physiological state measuring apparatus 10 are brain wave, heart rate, cardiac potential, pulse wave, respiration, blink, blood pressure, blood flow, skin electrical reflex, myoelectric potential, arterial blood saturation (SpO ₂ ), eye movement. Body movement,
Position. The physiological index measurement apparatus 10 includes measurement terminals 11 to 24 that are worn by a subject in order to acquire data that is the basis of these indices. For example, the electroencephalogram measurement terminal 11 includes 10 plate electrodes based on the international 10-20 method. The electroencephalogram measurement terminal 11 arranges these ten plate electrodes at predetermined positions defined as Fp1, Fp2, F3, F4, T3, T4, P3, P4, O1, O2 based on the international 10-20 electrode method. It is configured to be possible. In the electroencephalogram measurement, based on the above electrode method, the reference electrode is the right earlobe A1 and / or A2, the sampling frequency is about 100 [Hz], the electroencephalogram signal is θ wave (5 to 8 Hz), α wave by Fourier transform (8 to 13 Hz) and β wave (13 to 20 Hz) are measured separately. Other physiological indices are measured by known methods. Note that the physiological index may be measured in the form of a spectrum depending on the type. The pulse wave is a waveform generated by a blood vessel vibration phenomenon caused by blood pumped from the heart.

Among the above physiological indices, in particular, eye movement, body position, respiration, and skin electrical reflex are good indices of concentration. In addition, electrocardiogram, systolic diastolic blood pressure fluctuation, blood pressure, heart rate fluctuation and catecholamine are good indicators of mental workload. Further, the α wave appearance rate of the electroencephalogram, the LF / HF ratio and the HF / total ratio of the heart rate fluctuation spectrum obtained from the heart beat are good indicators of the degree of relaxation. In addition, physiological indices for the degree of stress, enjoyment, discouragement, reduced motivation, and increased motivation can be selected as appropriate.

  In the present embodiment, the fatigue level is measured separately. The degree of fatigue shall be measured by measuring the amount of oral amylase, the amount of oral cortisol or the amount of serotonin in the blood, and shall be measured by collecting saliva or blood after a predetermined time or at a predetermined time interval after providing the content.

  The PC terminal 40 is a means for providing the subject with a digital content load, and at the same time, collects and analyzes various measurement data from the physiological state measurement apparatus 10 when the non-digital content is loaded and when the digital content is loaded. The PC terminal 40 includes a controller 60 that controls the processing in the terminal 40 and the physiological state measuring apparatus 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the controller 60 is configured as a microprocessor including a CPU 61, a RAM 62, a ROM 63, a hard disk 64, and the like. When various input signals (for example, an input signal from a keyboard or the like by the subject or data from the physiological condition measuring apparatus 10) are input via an interface (not shown), the controller 60 is based on these input signals. It is configured to execute processing in the PC terminal 40 and to output a control signal to the physiological state measuring device 10.

  The RAM 62 includes an area for temporarily storing data of the physiological state measuring apparatus 10. The ROM 63 has an area in which a program for building a database is stored. The hard disk 64 is an external storage device and has an area for storing various information such as disease-physiological state related information and subject physiological state information.

  Next, a description will be given of a process of acquiring a physiological state obtained in a patient with a specific disease at the time of loading digital contents and acquiring a physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease as an example of the disease using this diagnostic system. FIG. 2 shows an example of a flowchart of a disease-physiological state information acquisition routine. In the following process, digital content is passive content, and landscape video images that have a relaxing effect on the mind and body, and interactive content that has a relaxing effect on mind and body memory, attention, language, visuospatial recognition, and thinking. It is assumed that the program for playing is provided by displaying from the PC terminal 40.

  First, the CPU 61 acquires physiological state information about various physiological indices when a specific digital content is loaded from n Alzheimer's disease patients (step S1). That is, individually or sequentially, the measurement terminals 11 to 24 are attached to a patient, various physiological indices can be measured, and digital content is loaded on the display of the PC terminal. At the same time, under predetermined measurement conditions, the CPU 61 acquires physiological state information about various physiological indexes when the digital content is loaded from the patient via the measurement terminals 11 to 24 and the physiological state measuring device 10. Specifically, the above-described landscape moving image is displayed as digital content on the display for a certain period of time, and the physiological state information of the patient is measured continuously or intermittently during that time. Further, in measuring the fatigue level, the saliva and blood are collected under a predetermined condition, amylase and the like are quantified, and by inputting such data from an input device such as a keyboard of the PC terminal 40, the CPU 61 relates to the fatigue level. Also get data.

  Next, the CPU 61 aggregates and analyzes the obtained physiological index data of n patients, and provides individual landscape states characteristically obtained for various physiological indices when the landscape moving image is provided and loaded. Extract (acquisition of disease-physiological state information) (step S2). Extraction of a physiological state characteristic of a disease is possible in various modes. A characteristic physiological state may be extracted for each physiological index such as an electroencephalogram or a pulse group when a landscape moving image is provided. Moreover, you may extract combining the characteristic physiological state about two or more types of physiological indices. Further, a characteristic physiological state for an integrated physiological index such as a degree of concentration obtained from a physiological state for one type or two or more types of physiological indexes, a fatigue level, or the like may be extracted. The characteristic physiological state is preferably extracted by comparing the physiological state with respect to a predetermined physiological index obtained when, for example, the same digital content is provided to a healthy person and loaded. A known analysis method can be used to extract a characteristic physiological state.

  After extracting the physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, the CPU 61 stores this information as disease-physiological state information (step S3). In this way, it is possible to acquire disease-physiological state information relating to a physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease using the specific content as a medium. This disease-physiological state information can be used for diagnosis as to whether the disease is the specific disease.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, as a second embodiment of the present invention, a process for diagnosing a human subject using the disease-physiological state information acquired in the first embodiment will be described. Also in the second embodiment, since the same apparatus is used, description will be made using the same reference numerals. In this embodiment, the same content as the content from which the disease-physiological state information is acquired is provided to the subject to acquire physiological state information at the time of loading the same content, and the subject suffers from a specific disease based on these information It relates to a method of diagnosing whether or not. FIG. 3 shows an example of a flowchart of this diagnosis process.

  First, physiological state information about a physiological index when digital content is loaded is obtained from a subject (step S10). That is, the measurement terminals 11 to 24 of the physiological state measuring device 10 are attached to the subject, and various physiological indices can be measured, and then the subject is provided with the same digital content as in the first embodiment and loaded. Physiological state information is acquired under the same conditions as in the first embodiment. Specifically, the same landscape moving image image provided in the first embodiment is provided to the subject on the display of the PC terminal 40 for a certain period of time, and the physiological index is measured continuously or intermittently during that time. Further, the CPU 61 acquires the fatigue level in the same manner as described above. Note that the physiological state acquired from the subject can be only the physiological state determined to be disease-specific in the already acquired disease-physiological state information.

  The CPU 61 further calculates and analyzes physiological state information on the obtained physiological index of the subject, and includes a physiological state that is the same as or similar to the physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease specified by the disease-physiological state information. It is searched whether or not it is (step S20).

  The CPU 61 determines whether or not the subject suffers from Alzheimer's disease from the presence or absence of the disease-specific physiological state extracted from the physiological state information of the subject through the search (step S30). When the subject has a physiological characteristic characteristic of the disease, it is determined that the subject has Alzheimer's disease (step S40), and this process ends. If the subject does not have a physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, it is determined that the subject is not Alzheimer's disease (step S50), and this process is terminated. Furthermore, when it is unclear whether the subject has a physiological condition characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, it is determined that the subject is unclear whether or not the subject has Alzheimer's disease (step S60), and this process is terminated. For such determination, a known test method based on probability theory can be used.

  According to the second embodiment described above, it is possible to diagnose whether the subject suffers from a specific disease such as Alzheimer's disease by using the disease-physiological state information. According to the diagnostic method of the present invention, physiological state information related to a disease can be obtained without imposing a heavy load on a patient and a subject, and diagnosis is possible. Furthermore, according to the diagnostic method of the present invention, various physiological states corresponding to the contents can be obtained by variously changing or combining the provided contents. As a result, it is possible to obtain a great deal of diverse information about one disease, and improve the diagnostic accuracy.

  According to the second embodiment, since it is possible to grasp the state of the subject from a multifaceted and multi-stage, this embodiment is able to determine the state of the disease progress, the stage before the progress, and the degree of recovery. It is also useful as a diagnostic method. Therefore, this embodiment is also useful as a method for diagnosing the effectiveness of preventive / therapeutic agents and various treatments (including preventive measures).

  The first embodiment and the second embodiment described above can be modified in various forms. In the first embodiment, disease-physiological state information is acquired for one type of content, but disease-physiological state information may be acquired for a single disease using a plurality of types of content as a medium. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although disease-physiological state information was acquired about one disease, you may make it acquire disease-physiological state information about two or more types of diseases, In this case, about two or more types of diseases. One type of content may be used as a medium, two or more types of content that are the same for each disease may be used as a medium, and one or two or more types of content that are different for each disease may be used as a medium. May be obtained.

  For example, content that gives relaxation and content that gives stress may be provided in combination. Even if the same kind of stress intensity is different, content of different degrees may be provided in combination.

  In the first embodiment, a landscape moving image, which is digital content, is provided as content. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Examples of the content include digital content provided by a PC, a game machine, etc., and non-digital content provided by a board game, a book, or the like. The content includes passive content, active content, interactive content, and the like. The interactive content includes classic content such as Othello, chess, Go, shogi, and playing cards, and role-playing game content. Furthermore, the active content includes intelligent content such as 100-mass calculation and Kraepelin inspection, as well as content such as intelligent content, work, and drawing. Passive content includes watching movies, listening to music, and watching paintings. Such content may be provided by the PC terminal 40 or may be provided in other forms. In addition, when an animal other than a human is targeted, as described later, content relating to feeding (for example, an image of a diet), danger (an image of a natural enemy species), and the like can be provided.

  In the first embodiment, disease-physiological state information is acquired using a plurality of types of content as a medium for one disease, and the disease-physiological state information using the content that is most distinct from a healthy person as a medium. It can also be made to select.

  In the first embodiment, all the physiological states described above are detected, and the characteristic physiological state is extracted thereon. However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the disease-physiological state information to be acquired in the present embodiment can be one type or two or more types of physiological states. For example, information may be acquired only for a specific physiological state selected in advance. Although the physiological state acquired about a patient can contain an electroencephalogram, it does not need to contain an electroencephalogram and may be only the physiological state of indices other than an electroencephalogram. Moreover, when acquiring 2 or more types of physiological states, it is good also as a combination of an electroencephalogram and another physiological state, and you may combine physiological states other than an electroencephalogram.

  In the first embodiment, it is assumed that disease-physiological state information about humans is acquired. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and diseases about diseases such as non-human primates such as apes other than humans and mammals- Physiological state information can also be acquired. In addition, it is not limited to diseases, but by obtaining physiological states for animals belonging to different biologically, medically or socially different groups in humans and non-human mammals, biological and medical in animals Alternatively, classification-physiological state information that can be characterized by social classification can be acquired. The biological classification includes classifications related to the types of organisms and sex differences, and the medical classification includes classifications related to diseases, pre-stage conditions that do not lead to diseases, genetic mutations, constitutions, ages, etc. Social classification includes classification related to social status, occupation, religion, residential area and degree of education.

  Such an aspect of the first embodiment is directly applied to the second embodiment. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the diagnosis method and classification of various aspects (type of disease, degree of progression, degree of recovery, effectiveness of medication and treatment, etc.) using the above-described various aspects of disease-physiological state information- It can be implemented as a classification method using physiological state information.

  In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the present invention has been described as an apparatus, a system, and a process related to acquisition and diagnosis of disease-physiological state information. It can also be implemented as a diagnostic program and a diagnostic method.

  Although the embodiments and various modifications of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention.

The figure which shows an example of the acquisition system of disease-physiological state information. The figure which shows an example of the flowchart of the disease-physiological state information acquisition process in 1st Embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flowchart of a diagnosis process in the first embodiment.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Physiological state measuring device, 11-24 Measurement terminal, 40 PC terminal, 60 Controller, 61 CPU, 62 RAM, 63 ROM, 64 Hard disk.

Claims (4)

A method for obtaining physiological state information relating to a physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease,
Provide digital content with a relaxing effect to Alzheimer's disease patients, and information on physiological states expressed in Alzheimer's disease patients when the content is loaded, at least one selected from concentration, mental workload, and relaxation Obtaining information on the physiological state related to the state information and the degree of fatigue;
Analyzing the acquired information about the physiological state to acquire physiological information about the physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease;
A method comprising: The state information regarding the degree of concentration is selected from the group consisting of eye movement, body position, respiration, and skin electrical reflection,
The state information about the mental workload is selected from the group consisting of an electrocardiogram, systolic diastolic blood pressure fluctuation, blood pressure, heart rate fluctuation and catecholamine,
The state information regarding the degree of relaxation is selected from the group consisting of LF / HF and HF / total of an α wave appearance rate, a heart rate variability spectrum obtained from a heart rate,
The method according to claim 1, wherein the state information related to the degree of fatigue is selected from the group consisting of an oral amylase amount, an oral cortisol amount, and a blood serotonin amount. A program for acquiring physiological state information relating to a physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease,
The program which makes a 1 or 2 or more computer perform the process in the acquisition method of Claim 1 or 2. An apparatus for acquiring physiological state information relating to a physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease,
Information relating to a physiological state expressed in Alzheimer's disease patients provided with a digital content exhibiting a relaxing effect, wherein the physiological state relates to at least one state information selected from a degree of concentration, a mental workload, and a degree of relaxation and a degree of fatigue. A terminal that measures the condition;
Means for storing information relating to the measured physiological condition;
Means for analyzing the acquired information regarding the physiological state and acquiring physiological information regarding the physiological state characteristic of Alzheimer's disease;
An apparatus comprising:

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