JP6576045B2 - Biologically wearable measuring device and measuring method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a living body wearing type measuring apparatus and a measuring method which are mounted on a living body and measure a predetermined motion.

  In recent years, attention has been paid to lifestyle-related disease prevention, obesity prevention, stress reduction, beauty, brain activation, etc., and devices for health management and health promotion have been developed. For example, chewing action, which is an action of digesting food, has attracted attention as an action of drawing out changes and vitality of the entire body via the brain.

  For example, a microphone is provided on an earphone-type or headphone-type attachment member, and the microphone is placed near the mouth with the device attached. Of the sounds detected by the microphone, the sound generated by the movement of the jaw joint, teeth and An apparatus for detecting the number of mastication times by detecting a sound generated when a tooth contacts is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-123185

  However, the user's height, weight, age, and the like vary from person to person, and when the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is worn, the detection result of the number of mastications varies from person to person. There is a problem that a predetermined operation such as the number of times cannot be measured.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a living body wearing type measuring apparatus and a measuring method capable of measuring a predetermined operation with high accuracy.

The living body wearing type measuring apparatus according to the present invention includes a conversion unit that converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of a living body into an electric signal at a predetermined sampling period, and a change based on the electric signal converted by the conversion unit. A peak detection unit for detecting the peak of the current, a measurement unit for measuring the number of times or time of a predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit, and before or after any time point when the peak is detected by the peak detection unit A variation average calculation unit that calculates a variation average based on a plurality of electrical signals converted by the conversion unit, and the peak detection unit is configured such that the peak detected at the time point is the variation average calculation unit. If the calculated variation smaller than average, and wherein the Citea Rukoto to detect a peak by excluding the peak of the time.

The living body wearing type measuring apparatus according to the present invention includes a conversion unit that converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of a living body into an electric signal at a predetermined sampling period, and a change based on the electric signal converted by the conversion unit. A peak detection unit for detecting a peak of the current, a measurement unit for measuring the number of times or time of a predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit, a peak detected by the peak detection unit at an arbitrary time point, and the time point Before or after the difference calculating unit that calculates the difference with the peak corresponding to the electrical signal converted by the conversion unit, and the presence or absence of a mouthful operation to take a mouthful of food based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit A determination unit configured to determine , when the difference calculated by the difference calculation unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the peak detection unit excludes the peak at the time point, and the determination unit detects the peak Inspection If not detected a peak in the peak detector during a predetermined time period prior to any at the time of detection of the peak part, upon later detected a plurality of times a peak from the point, so as to determine that there is bite operation It is characterized by that.

The living body wearing type measuring apparatus according to the present invention includes a conversion unit that converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of a living body into an electric signal at a predetermined sampling period, and a change based on the electric signal converted by the conversion unit. A peak detection unit for detecting a peak of the current, a measurement unit for measuring the number of times or time of a predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit, a peak detected by the peak detection unit at an arbitrary time point, and the time point Before or after the difference calculating unit that calculates the difference with the peak corresponding to the electrical signal converted by the conversion unit, and the presence or absence of a mouthful operation to take a mouthful of food based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit A determination unit for determining , when the difference calculated by the difference calculation unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the peak is detected by excluding the peak at the time point, and the determination unit performs a bite operation Yes Characterized in that it has to determine the bite intake based on the peak of the magnitude detected by the peak detector after the time when the determined.

The living body wearing type measuring apparatus according to the present invention includes a conversion unit that converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of a living body into an electric signal at a predetermined sampling period, and a change based on the electric signal converted by the conversion unit. The predetermined operation for causing a fluctuation in the distance between the peak detection unit for detecting the peak of the measurement, the measurement unit for measuring the number of times or time of the predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit, and the predetermined part A human body motion detection unit that detects a human body motion different from the above, and a determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a bite motion for taking a mouthful of food based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit, the determination unit including the peak When the human body motion detection unit detects a human body motion in the vicinity of the time point when the peak is detected multiple times by the peak detection unit after an arbitrary time point when the peak is detected by the detection unit, there is a bite motion. Characterized Citea Rukoto to constant.

A measuring method according to the present invention is a measuring method by a living body wearing type measuring device provided with a mounting part for mounting on a living body, and a change in distance to a predetermined part of the living body is converted into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period. A step in which the conversion unit converts, a step in which the peak detection unit detects a fluctuation peak based on the converted electrical signal, and a step in which the measurement unit measures the number of times or time of the predetermined operation based on the detected peak. And at least one of before and after an arbitrary time point when the peak is detected, calculating a fluctuation average based on the converted electric signal a plurality of times, and from the fluctuation average where the peak detected at the time point is calculated And if not, detecting a peak by excluding the peak at the time point .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately measure a predetermined operation.

It is an appearance perspective view showing an example of a living body wearing type measuring device of this embodiment. It is an exploded perspective view showing an example of composition of a living body wearing type measuring device of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of mounting | wearing to the biological body of the biological mounting type measuring device of this Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example which detects the motion of the predetermined | prescribed site | part of the biologically mounted measurement apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a block diagram showing an example of composition of a living body wearing type measuring device of this embodiment. It is a time chart which shows an example of the voltage which the ranging sensor of the living body wearing type measuring device of this embodiment outputs. It is a time chart which shows the 1st Example of the peak detection of the output voltage by the measurement part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 2nd Example of the peak detection of the output voltage by the measurement part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 2nd Example of the peak detection of the output voltage by the measurement part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 2nd Example of the peak detection of the output voltage by the measurement part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 3rd Example of the peak detection of the output voltage by the measurement part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 3rd Example of the peak detection of the output voltage by the measurement part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 4th Example of the peak detection of the output voltage by the measurement part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 1st Example of the mouthful movement determination by the determination part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 2nd Example of the bite movement determination by the determination part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 3rd Example of the bite movement determination by the determination part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows an example of the mouthful intake determination by the determination part of the living body wearing type measuring device of this embodiment. It is a time chart which shows an example of the partial mastication determination by the determination part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows an example of the hardness determination of the chewing thing by the determination part of the biological wearable measuring device of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 1st Example of a waveform with a good output voltage obtained with the living body wearing type measuring device of this embodiment. It is a time chart which shows the 2nd Example of the waveform with the favorable output voltage obtained with the biological mounting | wearing type measuring apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows an example of the waveform with a bad output voltage obtained with the biological mounting | wearing type measuring apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows an example of the waveform of the follow-up rice of the output voltage obtained with the living body wearing type measuring device of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process sequence of the production | generation of the mastication information of the biological mounting | wearing type measuring apparatus of this Embodiment. It is a time chart which shows an example of the result of the mixing experiment of mastication and speech by the living body wearing type measuring device of this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the 1st Example of the mastication information which the biological mounting | wearing type measuring apparatus of this Embodiment produces | generates to display on the display screen of an external device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the 2nd Example of the mastication information which the biological mounting | wearing type measuring apparatus of this Embodiment produces | generates to display on the display screen of an external device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the 3rd Example of the mastication information which the biological mounting | wearing type measuring apparatus of this Embodiment produces | generates to display on the display screen of an external apparatus.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings illustrating embodiments. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an example of the biological wearable measurement apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of the configuration of the biological wearable measurement apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of mounting the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment on a living body, and FIG. 4 is an example of detecting the movement of a predetermined part of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows. In the following embodiments, a human body will be described as an example of a living body. As shown in FIG. 1, the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 includes a mounting unit 10 for mounting on a human body, a housing unit 20 that can be attached to and detached from the mounting unit 10, and the like.

  The mounting portion 10 is sandwiched between the ear and the head and attached to the ear, and is curved along the shape of the back of the ear. The ear hook 12 is provided at one end of the ear hook 12 and the ear upper end 11. Provided at the other end (end portion) of the hanging portion 12 is provided with a cylindrical connecting portion 13 connected to the accommodating portion 20.

  A part or surface of the ear hook 12 is made of, for example, an elastic rubber or synthetic resin having elasticity, so that it can be sandwiched between the ear and the head as well as simply hanging on the ear. It has flexibility or stretchability. Thereby, when the user wears the wearing part 10 on the ear, the ear hooking part 12 is firmly fixed between the ear and the head, so that the user's human body movement (for example, speech, whisper, sneeze, swallow, Even if there is a head swing or the like, the mounting position of the mounting portion 10 can be made difficult to shift.

  The ear upper end portion 11 is made of a synthetic rubber or a synthetic resin that is more flexible than the ear hook portion 12. As a result, when the ear hook 12 is attached to the ear, the ear upper end 11 is flexibly deformed even if the ear upper end 11 hits the ear, so that the attachment 10 can be easily attached and the wearability is improved. In addition, since the mounting portion 10 is fixed to the back of the ear with the ear upper end base portion where the ear upper end portion 11 and the ear hooking portion 12 intersect as a fulcrum, for example, a device that fixes the ear hole in a closed state like an earphone Compared to the above, since the ear hole is not blocked, the external sound is not blocked and it is possible to prevent the conversation from being hindered.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the connecting portion 13 has a cylindrical opening on the accommodating portion 20 side, and a groove 14 is provided around the inner side wall. Further, a concave fitting portion 16 into which a projection 26 described later is fitted is formed on the inner wall of the connection portion 13.

  The accommodating portion 20 includes a case 21 and a case 22 that are fitted together to form a box, and a cylindrical shape that is rotatably fitted to the connecting portion 13 on the mounting portion 10 side of the cases 21 and 22. The fitting part 23 is provided. In the cases 21 and 22, a battery 30, a circuit board 50, a distance measuring sensor 35 as a detection unit, and the like are accommodated.

  A groove 24 is provided around the outer periphery of the fitting portion 23, and a protrusion 26 is provided at a position corresponding to the fitting portion 16 of the connection portion 13. A ring member 40 as an annular member having elasticity is fitted into an annular gap defined by the grooves 14 and 24 in a state where the fitting portion 23 is fitted to the connection portion 13. In addition, in the state which fitted the projection part 26 to the fitting part 16, the projection part 26 and the fitting part 16 can be slid relatively only to the required range in the circumferential direction.

  Further, a transmission portion 25 that transmits light emitted from the distance measuring sensor 35 and light incident on the distance measuring sensor 35 is provided at a required position of the case 22. The transmission part 25 may be provided on the case 21 side, or may be provided across the cases 21 and 22.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 can be attached to the ear so that the ear hook 12 is sandwiched between the back of the ear, that is, the ear and the head. Further, the mounting portion 10 can be attached to the ear so that the ear is sandwiched between the ear hook portion 12 and the ear upper end portion 11.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the distance measuring sensor 35 detects the movement of the lower part of the back of the ear as a predetermined part in a state where the ear hook 12 (the mounting part 10) is attached to the ear. As shown in FIG. 4, when the user chews, the distance between the distance measuring sensor 35 and the lower part of the back of the ear varies. In FIG. 4, the long arrow indicates the distance between the distance measuring sensor 35 and the lower back of the ear when the chin is open, and the short arrow indicates the distance sensor 35 and the lower back of the ear when the chin is closed. And the distance. FIG. 4 schematically shows the movement of the lower part of the back of the ear as a predetermined part according to the movement of the jaw.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when a person chews, the movement of the lower part of the back of the ear always changes from the beginning of the jaw opening to the end of the jaw, so that the jaw displacement accompanying the mastication (the distance measurement sensor 35 and the back of the ear) The displacement of the distance to the lower portion, the displacement of the light intensity detected by the distance measuring sensor 35, or the displacement of the voltage or current obtained by photoelectric conversion) can be accurately detected. In addition, compared with the jaw movement, there is not much individual difference in the movement of the lower back of the ear that is linked to the movement of the jaw. Therefore, it is possible to accurately measure a predetermined action (number of chewing times or time) as compared with a case where the predetermined part is a jaw.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the distance measurement sensor 35, the living-body-mounted measurement device 100 includes a control unit 51, an acceleration sensor 52, a measurement unit 53, a determination unit 54, a calculation unit 55, and a communication unit that control the entire apparatus. 56, a storage unit 57, and the like. These parts are mounted on the circuit board 50.

  The distance measuring sensor 35 has a function as a conversion unit. The distance measuring sensor 35 detects the movement of the predetermined part in a non-contact state with the predetermined part of the living body. That is, the distance measuring sensor 35 converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of the living body into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period. The predetermined part can be, for example, the lower part of the back of the ear. The predetermined sampling period is, for example, 0.1 seconds, but is not limited to this.

  The distance measuring sensor 35 includes a light emitting unit such as an infrared light emitting diode, a light receiving unit such as a phototransistor, and the like. The distance measuring sensor 35 emits light from the light emitting unit and detects reflected light reflected from a predetermined portion by the light receiving unit. An electrical signal (voltage or current) corresponding to the intensity of the reflected light is output at a predetermined sampling period (for example, 0.1 second). When the predetermined part is the lower part of the back of the ear, the distance between the distance measuring sensor 35 and the lower part of the back of the ear varies as the jaw moves in response to mastication. For example, when the distance from the lower part of the back of the ear is shortened, a voltage having a large peak value is output, and when the distance from the lower part of the back of the ear is increased, a voltage having a small peak value is output. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the movement of a predetermined portion detected by the distance measuring sensor 35 or the change in the distance to the lower part of the back of the ear includes the voltage output from the distance measuring sensor 35.

  The measurement unit 53 functions as a peak detection unit and a measurement unit. The measurement unit 53 includes an AD conversion unit, and detects a fluctuation peak based on a voltage fluctuation (electric signal) output from the distance measuring sensor 35. And the measurement part 53 measures the frequency | count or time (interval) of mastication as predetermined operation | movement based on the detected peak. When mastication is performed once, the timing at which the distance between the distance measuring sensor 35 and the lower part of the back of the ear (predetermined part) is minimized occurs once, so that the voltage peak output from the distance measuring sensor 35 appears once. Therefore, the number of mastications or the interval between mastications can be measured by detecting the peak of the electrical signal acquired at a predetermined sampling period.

  The lower part of the back of the ear as a predetermined part keeps changing from the beginning to the end of opening of the chin during mastication, and the peak of the electric signal corresponding to the distance between the conversion part and the lower part of the back of the ear when chewing is performed once Therefore, the number of mastications or the interval between mastications can be measured with high accuracy by detecting the time when the distance between the converter and the predetermined portion reaches the peak as the peak of the output voltage.

  The communication unit 56 communicates with an external device (display device) including a display screen such as an external smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet, or a personal computer.

  The control unit 51 outputs the waveform of the output voltage of the distance measuring sensor 35, the detection result of the measurement unit 53, and the determination result of the determination unit 54 to an external device via the communication unit 56.

  The storage unit 57 stores predetermined information.

  Next, details of a method of measuring the number of chewing times or time will be described. FIG. 6 is a time chart showing an example of a voltage output from the distance measuring sensor 35 of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis represents time (seconds), and the vertical axis represents voltage (V). The voltage (output voltage) output by the distance measuring sensor 35 changes according to the change in the distance between the distance measuring sensor 35 and the lower back of the ear as a predetermined portion, and the peak (crest value) of the output voltage as the distance decreases. Will grow. Note that when generating the output voltage, an inverting circuit may be provided so that the peak of the output voltage increases as the distance increases. In FIG. 6, the points indicated by circles indicate the output voltage at the time point detected at the sampling period. Points indicated by circles are also referred to as sampling points.

  FIG. 7 is a time chart showing a first example of output voltage peak detection by the measurement unit 53 of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. The first embodiment of peak detection of the output voltage can be performed as follows. That is, the measurement unit 53 detects the fluctuation peak based on the electrical signal converted by the distance measuring sensor 35. For example, the voltage (the movement of the predetermined part or the fluctuation of the distance to the predetermined part) output at a predetermined sampling cycle (for example, 0.1 second) is expressed by A (1), A (2), A ( 3),..., A (t-1), A (t), A (t + 1),... In time series (t is an integer and represents the time at the time of sampling).

  As shown in FIG. 7, the determination as to whether or not the output voltage A (t) is a peak may be A (t−1) ≦ A (t) and A (t)> A (t + 1). it can. That is, when the output voltage at an arbitrary time is larger than the previous output voltage and larger than the next output voltage, the output voltage A (t) can be determined to be a peak. As shown in FIG. 7, the peak detected based on the first embodiment is referred to as “first peak” for convenience.

  8, 9 and 10 are time charts showing a second example of output voltage peak detection by the measurement unit 53 of the living body wearable measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. The second embodiment performed after the first embodiment shown in FIG. 7 can be performed as follows. The change in output voltage shown in FIG. 8 is the same as that in FIG.

  The calculation unit 55 has a function as a variation average calculation unit, and is based on a plurality of electrical signals converted by the distance measurement sensor 35 at least before or after an arbitrary time point when a peak is detected by the measurement unit 53. To calculate the fluctuation average.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 8, an arbitrary point in time when the peak (first peak) is detected by the measurement unit 53 is t, and an output voltage detected as the peak (first peak) is A (t). For example, the time points before the arbitrary time point t are (t-2) and (t-1), and the output voltages at that time are A (t-2) and A (t-1). Further, the time point after the arbitrary time point t is, for example, (t + 1), (t + 2), and the output voltages at that time are A (t + 1), A (t + 2).

  The calculation unit 55 calculates the fluctuation average E (t) at time t as E (t) = {A (t−2) + A (t−1) + A (t) + A (t + 1) + A (t + 2)} / 5. Calculated by the formula Here, t is an integer and indicates the time point at which the fluctuation average is obtained. Note that the number of output voltages for obtaining the fluctuation average is not limited to five (that is, two points before and after the point at which the fluctuation average is obtained), and may be, for example, five points before and after, 10 points.

  When the peak A (t) detected at an arbitrary time point t is smaller than the fluctuation average E (t) calculated by the calculation unit 55, the measuring unit 53 detects the peak by excluding the peak A (t) at the arbitrary time point. To do. That is, when A (t) <E (t), the output voltage A (t) is not detected as a peak.

  In FIG. 9, the fluctuation average E (t) calculated by the above-described equation is shown by a solid line corresponding to each sampling point. It can be seen that the magnitude of the peak (first peak) indicated by the arrow in FIG. 9 is smaller than the fluctuation average E (t) at each time point.

  FIG. 10 shows a peak (referred to as “second peak” for convenience) obtained by excluding the peak (first peak) when it is smaller than the fluctuation average E (t). In the example of FIG. 10, the peak that satisfies A (t) <E (t) is excluded. Thereby, the error which arises by the movement of the predetermined part which does not correspond to one mastication can be reduced, and the frequency | count of mastication or the interval of mastication can be measured with high precision.

  11 and 12 are time charts showing a third example of output voltage peak detection by the measurement unit 53 of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. The third embodiment performed after the second embodiment shown in FIG. 10 can be performed as follows. The change in the output voltage shown in FIG. 11 is the same as that in FIG.

  The calculation unit 55 has a function as a difference calculation unit, and includes a peak detected by the measurement unit 53 at an arbitrary time point and a peak corresponding to the electrical signal converted by the distance measuring sensor 35 before or after the time point. Calculate the difference. For example, an arbitrary time point when the peak is detected by the measurement unit 53 is t, and an output voltage detected as the peak is A (t). A time point before an arbitrary time point t is, for example, (t−1), and the output voltage at that time is A (t−1). Further, a time point after an arbitrary time point t is, for example, (t + 1), and an output voltage at that time is A (t + 1). The difference can be obtained by | A (t) −A (t−1) | or | A (t + 1) −A (t) |.

  When the difference calculated by the calculation unit 55 is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the measurement unit 53 detects the peak by excluding the peak at that time. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, when | A (t) −A (t−1) | <predetermined threshold Ath, the output voltage A (t) is peaked as shown by the arrow in FIG. Does not detect as. That is, the peak detected as the second peak is excluded, and the remaining peak excluded is detected as the third peak. Each third peak can be determined as one chewing. The waveform of the output voltage showing a peak is also referred to as a mastication waveform. Thereby, the error which arises by the movement of the predetermined part which does not correspond to one mastication can be reduced, and the frequency | count of mastication or the interval of mastication can be measured with high precision.

  In the above example, the peak detection is performed in the order of the first embodiment, the second embodiment, and the third embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the second embodiment may be omitted. Three embodiments may be omitted.

  In addition, when the time difference between the mastication candidate and the count point of the most recent mastication count is shorter than a predetermined elapsed time (for example, 1.5 seconds), the measurement unit 53 does not determine that the mastication candidate is mastication. To remove.

  Moreover, the measurement part 53 can also determine and remove the peak detected within 100 ms after determining mastication, for example.

  As described above, since the distance measuring sensor 35 is in a non-contact state with the lower part of the back of the ear, even if the lower part of the back of the ear moves with the movement of the jaw (mastication), chewing is not hindered. Further, since the distance measuring sensor 35 is in a non-contact state on the lower part of the back of the ear, when the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 is worn, there is no sense of incongruity or discomfort. In addition, the distance measuring sensor 35 is relatively inexpensive, has a simple structure, does not require the use of a myoelectric meter, can reduce costs, and has a simple structure in which the mounting portion 10 is mounted on the ear. It is possible to measure the number of chewing times or the chewing time as an action.

  The acceleration sensor 52 detects a human motion that causes a change in the distance to a predetermined part. The human body motion can be, for example, speech, whisper, sneeze, swallow, swing, etc. That is, the acceleration sensor 52 detects at least one of speech, sneezing, sneezing, swallowing, and swinging as a human body motion.

  As the acceleration sensor 52, for example, a piezoresistive triaxial acceleration sensor, a capacitive triaxial acceleration sensor, a piezoelectric triaxial acceleration sensor, or the like can be used, and acceleration in three directions of the XYZ axes can be measured. . The acceleration sensor 52 is not limited to a triaxial acceleration sensor, and may be a biaxial acceleration sensor.

  Further, the acceleration sensor 52 detects the attitude of the distance measuring sensor 35 (or the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 itself) when the wearing unit 10 is worn on the ear. That is, by measuring the gravitational acceleration of the earth with the acceleration sensor 52, the attitude (tilt) of the distance measuring sensor 35 can be detected. For example, the relationship between the reference posture (reference direction) of the distance measuring sensor 35 and the gravity direction at the time of wearing is determined in advance, and the height and weight of the user are determined according to the deviation (shift angle) between the gravity direction and the reference direction. Individual differences at the time of wearing depending on age, etc. can be specified.

  The control part 51 determines threshold value Th at the time of counting the frequency | count of mastication based on a user's information. The user information can be, for example, sex, age, height, weight, and the like. The user information may be input from an external device (for example, a smartphone or a tablet) via the communication unit 56. The input information (personal information) is stored in the storage unit 57 separately for each user. In addition, the control part 51 can also determine threshold value Th at the time of counting the frequency | count of mastication according to the attitude | position detected with the acceleration sensor 52. FIG. By determining such a threshold Th, individual differences among users can be taken into account.

  When the measurement unit 53 detects a human body motion by the acceleration sensor 52 when a peak is detected at an arbitrary time, the measurement unit 53 detects the peak by excluding the peak at the time.

  FIG. 13 is a time chart showing a fourth example of output voltage peak detection by the measuring unit 53 of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 13, the upper solid line indicates a voltage output from the distance measuring sensor 35, and the lower three thin lines indicate voltages corresponding to accelerations in three directions of the XYZ axes output from the acceleration sensor 52.

  In the example of FIG. 13, three points (peaks) determined to be masticated in the range indicated by the broken line are shown. When the peak is detected, the voltage in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction of the acceleration sensor 52 varies greatly, so that it can be seen that the human body motion is detected in the vicinity of the large variation. In this case, the peak determined to be mastication within the broken line is excluded, and mastication is not determined.

  That is, when a peak is detected at an arbitrary time by the measurement unit 53 and a human body motion is detected by the acceleration sensor 52, the peak detected by the measurement unit 53 is a distance between a predetermined part and the human body motion. The peak at that time is excluded because it is a fluctuation. Thereby, it is possible to prevent erroneous measurement due to human body movements such as speech, whisper, sneeze, swallow, and swing, and to measure the number of mastications or the interval between mastications with high accuracy.

  Next, the bite operation will be described. The bite operation is, for example, an operation in which a desired amount of food is taken into the mouth and ingested.

  The determination part 54 determines the presence or absence of a mouthful action for taking a mouthful of food intake based on the peak detected by the measuring part 53 (that is, one chewing). For example, if nothing is chewed and if chewing is started by feeding only one mouthful of food, chewing is not performed before a certain point in time, so the measuring unit 53 does not detect a peak. . That is, there is a time (for example, about several seconds) during which the measurement unit 53 does not detect a peak. On the other hand, when food intake is put in the mouth and chewing is started, the measurement unit 53 continuously detects peaks. Thus, the presence or absence of a mouthful movement (including the start time of mouthful movement) can be determined based on the peak detection state in the measurement unit 53. Hereinafter, a method for determining a mouthful movement will be described.

  FIG. 14 is a time chart showing a first example of a mouthful movement determination by the determination unit 54 of the living body wearable measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. The determination unit 54 detects the peak in the measurement unit 53 for a predetermined time (for example, but not limited to 3 seconds) before an arbitrary time point when the measurement unit 53 detects the peak. If there is no peak and the peak is detected a plurality of times (for example, four times or more) after that time, it is determined that there is a mouthful operation.

  In the example of FIG. 14, it can be seen that the peak is detected a plurality of times in the period of “sip operation” with an arrow, and that no peak is detected in the period before the start of the mouth operation. As shown in FIG. 14, for example, when chewing is started by putting only one mouthful of food intake from a state where nothing is chewed, chewing is not performed before a certain point in time. The part 53 does not detect a peak. On the other hand, when food intake is put in the mouth and chewing is started, the measurement unit 53 continuously detects peaks. Thereby, it is possible to determine the start and the start time of the mouthful action for feeding food into the mouth for only one mouthful.

  FIG. 15 is a time chart showing a second example of the mouthful movement determination by the determination unit 54 of the living body wearable measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 15, the upper broken line indicates the voltage output from the distance measuring sensor 35, and the lower four broken lines indicate the voltage corresponding to the acceleration in three directions of the XYZ axes output from the acceleration sensor 52 and the combined XYZ direction. Indicates the voltage corresponding to the acceleration.

  When the measurement unit 53 detects the peak a plurality of times (for example, three times or more) after an arbitrary time point when the measurement unit 53 detects the peak, the determination unit 54 is in the vicinity where the acceleration sensor 52 includes the time point. When a human body motion is detected, it is determined that there is a bite motion.

  In the example of FIG. 15, when a relatively large peak is detected at an arbitrary time point during the peak detection by the measurement unit 53, the peak is continuously detected three or more times after the time point. In FIG. 15, for the sake of convenience, an arbitrary time point is indicated by “a bite candidate”, and a period in which a peak is detected three or more times in succession is surrounded by a square frame. When a voltage greater than or equal to a predetermined value is detected by the acceleration sensor 52 in the vicinity of the time point (including immediately before the time point) when the measurement unit 53 makes a mouthful of candidates (in FIG. 15, reference symbol A It is determined that there is a bite operation.

  For example, after repeating the chewing of the first mouth, if the mouthful of food for the second mouth is put into the mouth and the chewing is started, a peak corresponding to the mouthful of the first mouth is detected, and then the second mouth A peak is detected corresponding to mastication. In this case, when the second food intake is put into the mouth, a human body movement such as tilting the face to close the mouth toward the food intake or opening the mouth greatly is detected. If a peak is detected multiple times after a peak is detected at an arbitrary time point, by detecting human body movements in the vicinity including the time point, a portion of food intake may be put in the mouth while eating It is possible to determine the presence and time of a mouthful movement.

  FIG. 16 is a time chart showing a third example of the mouthful movement determination by the determination unit 54 of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. When the peak is detected by the measurement unit 53 at a predetermined number of times (for example, 30 times) or more from the time point when the presence / absence of the mouthful movement is determined (that is, the point of time when the mouthful mouth operation is started), Thus, it is determined that the point at which the peak is the largest is the start point of the next bite operation.

  In the example of FIG. 16, a mouthful movement (start of mouthful movement) is determined at the time indicated by the symbol B, and a peak of a predetermined number of times or more is detected after the time indicated by the symbol B. In this case, a time point after the time point indicated by the symbol B and having the largest peak (a time point indicated by the symbol C) is determined as the start point of the next bite operation. It is rare that the number of chewing cycles repeated in a single bite operation exceeds 30. Therefore, if the peak is 30 times or more, it is very likely that the next mouthful movement has been performed so far, so the time when the maximum peak is detected is the start time of the next mouthful action. By determining, one mouth can be correctly determined as two mouths, and the number of times of one mouth operation can be determined with high accuracy.

  In FIG. 16, when determining the start of the next mouthful movement indicated by the symbol C, a condition that the acceleration sensor 52 detects a voltage having a magnitude greater than or equal to a predetermined value in the vicinity indicated by the symbol C is added. You can also.

  When chewing gum or the like, a waveform (for example, a peak value or a cycle) having the same tendency that is continuous in a single bite operation is output. Therefore, when the user inputs that the food intake is, for example, gum, using an external device (for example, a smartphone, a tablet, etc.), or the waveform having the clearly continuous trend is, for example, 50 times. When the degree is detected, it is possible to prevent the mouthful detection.

  The total number of mouthfuls counted by the determination of mouthful movement can be the number of mouthfuls per meal. Moreover, the time from the start time of a bite operation to the end of mastication, or the time from the start time of a bite operation to the start time of the next bite operation can be determined as a bite time (eating speed). The time from the start of the first bite operation to the end of the last bite operation can be set as one meal time. However, when the time determined to be without chewing exceeds a predetermined time, the time may be excluded from the eating time. In addition, in one meal, the total time for the bite operation can be determined as the biting time (time for biting).

  Next, the mouthful intake (a mouthful amount) will be described. A mouthful intake means the amount of food that can be taken into the mouth with a mouthful.

  FIG. 17 is a time chart showing an example of a mouthful intake determination by the determination unit 54 of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. The determination unit 54 determines the mouthful intake based on the magnitude of the peak detected by the measurement unit 53 after the time when it is determined that there is a mouthful movement. As shown in FIG. 17, let the peak of the mouthful movement be P (1), P (2), P (3), P (4). The peak P (1) is a peak at the start time of the bite operation. Let ΔV be the voltage difference between the maximum peak P (2) voltage after the start of the mouthful operation and the minimum voltage just before it. When ΔV is less than 0.1 V, it is determined that the amount of the mouthful is small. Moreover, when ΔV is 0.1 V or more and less than 0.15 V, it is determined that the amount of a mouthful is a medium amount. When ΔV is 0.15 V or more, it is determined that the amount of a mouthful is large. In addition, the voltage for determining the amount of a mouthful is an example, and is not limited to the example of FIG.

  As described above, as the mouthful intake increases, the degree of jaw opening during mastication increases, and the variation distance between the distance measuring sensor 35 and the lower back of the ear also increases. Therefore, it is possible to determine the amount of the mouthful intake according to the magnitude of the peak detected after the time when it is determined that the mouthful action is present. Thus, the amount of food ingested can be determined based on the magnitude of the waveform of the output voltage near the time when the first mouth is determined.

  Next, a method for determining partial mastication will be described. FIG. 18 is a time chart illustrating an example of partial mastication determination by the determination unit 54 of the living body wearable measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 18, the upper time chart is an example when the biological wearable measuring device 100 is worn between the left ear and the head and chewed, and the lower time chart is the biological wearable measuring device 100. Is an example in which the mouth is worn between the right ear and the head and chewed. As shown in FIG. 18, by comparing the waveform of the output voltage when the biological wearable measuring apparatus 100 is worn on the left ear and the waveform of the output voltage when worn on the right ear, the left and right partial chewing Presence or absence and partial chewing can be determined. For example, when the peak (amplitude) of the output voltage differs greatly between the left and right, it can be determined that there is partial mastication. Further, when the time interval between adjacent peaks of the output voltage is greatly different on the left and right, it can be determined that there is partial chewing.

  Next, a method for determining the hardness of the chewing object will be described. FIG. 19 is a time chart showing an example of chewing object hardness determination by the determination unit 54 of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. When chewing hard or chewy foods, there is a tendency to chew as if chewing things, and many voltage detections caused by chewing are performed near the peak of the output voltage waveform. As shown in FIG. 19, multipoint measurement appears. Therefore, by measuring the waveform of the output voltage of the distance measuring sensor 35, the firmness of the chewing object can be determined. Then, when the contents of the meal are input to the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 in advance, for example, when chewing food is chewed, if multipoint measurement is not seen, it is determined that the food is not chewed well. Can be notified.

  Next, advice on how to eat to the user by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described. Based on the results obtained by the measurement unit 53 and the determination unit 54, the control unit 51 can output information related to advice to the user who takes food to an external device via the communication unit 56.

  FIG. 20 is a time chart showing a first example of a waveform having a good output voltage obtained by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 20, “switch detection” indicates a time point when the user (subject) reports mastication with a manual switch. As shown in FIG. 20, in the waveform of the output voltage of the distance measuring sensor 35, when the amplitude of a point (peak) determined to be mastication is relatively large, it can be determined that the waveform is good, and good mastication is possible. Can be diagnosed. In this case, for example, advice such as “You open your mouth well and bite!” Or “It is very good for your jaw development to open your mouth and chew” can be output in text or voice. .

  As shown in FIG. 20, in the waveform of the output voltage of the distance measuring sensor 35, when the interval between the points (peaks) determined to be mastication is relatively wide, it can be determined that the waveform is good. It can be diagnosed as a good chewing. In this case, for example, “You are chewing slowly”, “Slow chewing is good for digestion”, “Slow chewing will help the fullness center and lead to dieting” etc. Can be output by voice.

  FIG. 21 is a time chart showing a second example of a waveform having a good output voltage obtained by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 21, in the waveform of the output voltage of the distance measuring sensor 35, when the time from the end of one bite operation to the next bite operation is relatively long, it can be determined that the waveform is good. It can be diagnosed as chewing. In this case, for example, “You can enjoy your meal.” Or “You can understand the taste of the food by eating the next thing after the food in your mouth is gone.” Can be output.

  FIG. 22 is a time chart showing an example of a waveform with a bad output voltage obtained by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 22, in the waveform of the output voltage of the distance measuring sensor 35, when the amplitude of the point (peak) determined to be mastication is relatively small, it can be determined that the waveform is bad, and bad mastication. Can be diagnosed. In this case, for example, advice such as “Do you chew properly?” Or “If you move your mouth firmly, your chin will improve.”

  Also, as shown in FIG. 22, in the waveform of the output voltage of the distance measuring sensor 35, when the interval between the points (peaks) determined to be mastication is relatively narrow, it can be determined that the waveform is bad. Can be diagnosed as bad chewing. In this case, for example, “Eating fast is not good!”, “Slow chewing makes it easy to digest”, “Full chewing helps the full stomach work and leads to a diet”. Can be output as text or voice.

  As shown in FIG. 22, in the waveform of the output voltage of the distance measuring sensor 35, when the number of mastications is relatively small, it can be determined that the waveform is bad, and it can be diagnosed that the mastication is bad. it can. In this case, for example, advice such as “It seems that you do not chew too much” or “It is better for digestion to chew after chewing firmly” can be output in text or voice.

  FIG. 23 is a time chart showing an example of the waveform of the output voltage follower rice obtained by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. In the present embodiment, additional rice is used for convenience as a term indicating an operation of putting the next food in the mouth while chewing the food in the mouth. In FIG. 23, it can be determined that the additional rice has been served at the time indicated by the triangular symbol. That is, as shown in FIG. 23, the time when the waveform (amplitude) of the output voltage is increased and the interval between the waveforms is wide (the period is long) can be determined as the time of the additional meal. The time of additional rice does not occur continuously.

  Thus, how to eat can be determined from the mastication waveform.

  Next, details of generation of mastication information by the living body wearable measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure for generating mastication information of the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. In the following, for the sake of simplicity, the subject of processing will be described as the control unit 51.

  The control unit 51 sets an initial threshold Th based on user information (S11). The initial threshold value Th is a threshold value for determining whether or not chewing has been performed when the number of chewing times is measured. The user information can be, for example, sex, age, height, weight, and the like. Note that the threshold Th may be determined by wearing the living-body-mounted measurement device 100 on the ear and performing an actual mastication operation for a required time (for example, 10 seconds, 20 seconds, etc.).

  The control unit 51 sets the number of chewing times N = 0 (S12), and controls the distance measuring sensor 35 to detect a change in a predetermined part (lower back of the ear) (S13). In the following description, the voltage (the movement of the predetermined part or the fluctuation of the distance from the predetermined part) output by the distance measuring sensor 35 at a predetermined sampling period (for example, 0.1 second) is expressed as A (1), A (2), A (3),..., A (t-1), A (t), A (t + 1),..., Expressed in time series (t is an integer, time at sampling Represents).

  The controller 51 detects the peak of the output voltage fluctuation (S14). For example, the determination of whether or not the output voltage A (t) is a peak can be A (t−1) <A (t) and A (t)> A (t + 1). That is, when the output voltage at an arbitrary time is larger than the previous output voltage and larger than the next output voltage, the output voltage A (t) is determined to be a peak.

  The control unit 51 calculates the fluctuation average of the peak of the output voltage (S15), and excludes a peak smaller than the fluctuation average (S16). For example, when the peak of the output voltage at time t is P (t) and the moving average at time t is E (t), if P (t) <E (t), the peak P (t) is Exclude and detect peaks.

  The control unit 51 determines whether or not the voltage difference ΔV between the peak voltage detected at an arbitrary time and the voltage output before or after that time is larger than the threshold Th (S17), and the voltage difference ΔV. Is greater than the threshold Th (YES in S17), it is determined whether or not a human body motion has been detected (S18). The threshold value Th is the threshold value determined in step S11.

  When the human body motion is not detected (NO in S18), the control unit 51 determines whether or not the time difference from the most recent mastication count time is shorter than a predetermined elapsed time (for example, 1.5 seconds). (S19) When the time difference is not shorter than the predetermined elapsed time (NO in S19), a value obtained by adding 1 to the number of chewing times N is set as a new number of chewing times N (S20). That is, the control unit 51 increases the number of chewing times N by one.

  When the voltage difference ΔV is not larger than the threshold Th (NO in S17), when a human body motion is detected (YES in S18), or when the time difference is shorter than a predetermined elapsed time (YES in S19), the control unit 51 performs mastication. The process of step S21 described later is performed without increasing the number of times N by one.

  The control unit 51 determines whether or not to end the process (S21). If the process is not ended (NO in S21), the process after step S13 is continued. When the process ends (YES in S21), the control unit 51 generates mastication information and outputs the mastication information generated via the communication unit 56 to an external device (smart phone, mobile phone, tablet, personal computer, etc.). (S22), the process ends.

  The chewing information includes the number of chewing times, the chewing time, the number of chewing times in one bite movement, the number of bite movements in one meal, the bite time (eating speed), the meal time, the chewing waveform, and the chewing waveform. Includes information such as advice based.

  FIG. 25 is a time chart showing an example of a result of a mixing experiment of mastication and speech by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment. In FIG. 25, the horizontal axis represents time (seconds), and the vertical axis represents the voltage (variation) output from the distance measuring sensor 35. As shown in FIG. 25, according to the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, it is possible to clearly divide the period during which a peak is detected and the period during which a human body operation such as conversation is performed. Even when a human body movement such as speech is performed, the number of mastications can be accurately measured.

  Next, a display example of mastication information will be described. FIG. 26 is a schematic diagram showing a first example of mastication information generated by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment to be displayed on the display screen of the external device. In FIG. 26, for example, as the chewing information displayed when the meal is over, the number of chewing times, the meal time, the chewing waveform, and the like are shown.

  FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram showing a second example of mastication information generated by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment to be displayed on the display screen of the external device. In FIG. 27, for example, menus for each meal in the morning, noon, and night, the number of chewing times in one meal, the number of bite operations in one meal, and the like are shown.

  FIG. 28 is a schematic diagram showing a third example of mastication information generated by the living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment to be displayed on the display screen of the external device. In FIG. 28, for example, the number of chewing times per mouth, the time of one meal, the number of chewing times per meal, the average chewing speed, and the like are shown.

  By providing the mastication information illustrated in FIG. 26 to FIG. 28, the user can easily grasp whether he / she eats or eats slowly during meals, the strength of chewing, etc. It is possible to increase interest in meals and to aim for healthy eating.

  In the above-described embodiment, an operation unit (for example, a switch, a button, a touch panel, etc.) that can be easily operated by the user may be provided, and a display unit that displays the operation state of the biological wearable measuring apparatus 100 (For example, an LED, a liquid crystal panel, etc.) can also be provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the threshold Th is determined based on the user information, the user wears the biological wearable measurement device 100 on the ear instead of the configuration in which the user information is input from the external device. The threshold Th may be determined so as to absorb the individual difference by actually performing chewing or speaking a plurality of times.

  The living body wearing type measuring apparatus 100 of the present embodiment can be applied not only to the human body but also to the use of monitoring mastication of living bodies such as animals and livestock.

  The technical features described in the above embodiments of the present invention can be combined with each other to form a new technical solution.

  The living body wearing type measuring apparatus (100) of the present embodiment converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of a living body into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period, and the conversion unit converts it. A peak detection unit (53) for detecting a fluctuation peak based on the electrical signal; and a measurement unit (53) for measuring the number of times or time of a predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit. Features.

  The measurement method according to the present embodiment is a measurement method using a living-body-mounted measurement apparatus (100) including a mounting unit (10) for mounting on a living body, and a variation in distance from a predetermined part of the living body is determined in advance. The conversion unit (35) converts the electrical signal into an electrical signal at the sampling period, the peak detection unit (53) detects the fluctuation peak based on the converted electrical signal, and the detected peak. A measurement unit (53) measuring the number of times or time of the predetermined operation.

  In the present embodiment, the mounting portion (10) is mounted on a living body. The living body is, for example, a human ear, and specifically, the mounting portion can be mounted between the ear and the head. The conversion unit (35) converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of the living body into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period. The predetermined part can be, for example, the lower part of the back of the ear. For example, a distance measuring sensor can be used for the conversion unit. Light is emitted from the light emitting unit, and the reflected light reflected from the predetermined part is detected by the light receiving part to detect the distance (variation in distance) from the predetermined part. Then, the detected distance (distance variation) is converted into an electrical signal (voltage or current) at a predetermined sampling period. The predetermined sampling period can be, for example, 0.1 seconds, but is not limited thereto. When the predetermined part is the lower part of the back of the ear, the distance between the conversion part and the lower part of the back of the ear varies as the jaw moves by mastication.

  The peak detector (53) detects the fluctuation peak based on the electrical signal converted by the converter. For example, the voltage (the movement of the predetermined part or the fluctuation of the distance between the predetermined part) output by the conversion unit at a predetermined sampling period (for example, 0.1 second) is represented by A (1), A (2). , A (3),..., A (t-1), A (t), A (t + 1),... In time series (t is an integer and represents the time at the time of sampling). The determination of whether or not the output voltage A (t) is a peak can be A (t−1) ≦ A (t) and A (t)> A (t + 1). That is, when the output voltage at an arbitrary time is larger than the previous output voltage and larger than the next output voltage, the output voltage A (t) can be determined to be a peak.

  The measurement unit (53) measures the number of times or time (interval) of the predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit. The predetermined operation is, for example, mastication. When mastication is performed once, the peak of the electric signal corresponding to the distance between the conversion unit and the lower part of the back of the ear appears once. Therefore, by detecting the peak of the electric signal acquired at a predetermined sampling period, The number of times or the interval between chewing can be measured.

  The lower part of the back of the ear as a predetermined part keeps changing from the beginning to the end of opening of the chin during mastication, and the peak of the electric signal corresponding to the distance between the conversion part and the lower part of the back of the ear when chewing is performed once Therefore, the number of mastications or the interval between mastications can be measured with high accuracy by detecting the time when the distance between the converter and the predetermined portion reaches the peak as the peak of the output voltage.

  The biological wearable measurement device (100) of the present embodiment is configured to perform a plurality of times converted by the conversion unit (35) at least before or after an arbitrary time point when a peak is detected by the peak detection unit (53). A fluctuation average calculation unit (55) that calculates a fluctuation average based on an electrical signal, and the peak detection unit, when the peak detected at the time is smaller than the fluctuation average calculated by the fluctuation average calculation unit, It is characterized in that the peak is excluded and the peak is detected.

  In the present embodiment, the fluctuation average calculation unit (55) is converted into a plurality of times converted by the conversion unit (35) at least before or after an arbitrary time point when the peak is detected by the peak detection unit (53). The fluctuation average is calculated based on the electrical signal. For example, an arbitrary time point when a peak is detected by the peak detection unit is t, and an output voltage detected as a peak is A (t). For example, the time points before the arbitrary time point t are (t-2) and (t-1), and the output voltages at that time are A (t-2) and A (t-1). Further, the time point after the arbitrary time point t is, for example, (t + 1), (t + 2), and the output voltages at that time are A (t + 1), A (t + 2). The variation average E (t) at time t is obtained by the following equation: E (t) = {A (t−2) + A (t−1) + A (t) + A (t + 1) + A (t + 2)} / 5 Can do. Here, t is an integer and indicates the time point at which the fluctuation average is obtained. Note that the number of output voltages for obtaining the fluctuation average is not limited to five (that is, two points before and after the point at which the fluctuation average is obtained), and may be, for example, five points before and after, 10 points.

  When the peak A (t) detected at an arbitrary time point t is smaller than the fluctuation average E (t) calculated by the fluctuation average calculation unit, the peak detection unit excludes the peak A (t) at an arbitrary time point, To detect. That is, when A (t) <E (t), the output voltage A (t) is not detected as a peak. Thereby, the error which arises by the movement of the predetermined part which does not correspond to one mastication can be reduced, and the frequency | count of mastication or the interval of mastication can be measured with high precision.

  The biological wearable measuring apparatus (100) of the present embodiment includes a peak detected by the peak detection unit (53) at an arbitrary time point and an electric signal converted by the conversion unit (35) before or after the time point. A difference calculating unit (55) that calculates a difference from a peak corresponding to the peak, and the peak detecting unit excludes the peak at the time point when the difference calculated by the difference calculating unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold. Is detected.

  In the present embodiment, the difference calculation unit (55) includes the peak detected by the peak detection unit (53) at an arbitrary time point and the electric signal converted by the conversion unit (35) before or after the time point. The difference from the peak corresponding to is calculated. For example, an arbitrary time point when a peak is detected by the peak detection unit is t, and an output voltage detected as a peak is A (t). A time point before an arbitrary time point t is, for example, (t−1), and the output voltage at that time is A (t−1). Further, a time point after an arbitrary time point t is, for example, (t + 1), and an output voltage at that time is A (t + 1). The difference can be obtained by | A (t) −A (t−1) | or | A (t + 1) −A (t) |.

  When the difference calculated by the difference calculation unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the peak detection unit detects the peak by excluding the peak at that time. For example, when | A (t) −A (t−1) | <predetermined threshold value, the output voltage A (t) is not detected as a peak. Thereby, the error which arises by the movement of the predetermined part which does not correspond to one mastication can be reduced, and the frequency | count of mastication or the interval of mastication can be measured with high precision.

  The living body-worn measurement device (100) of the present embodiment includes a human body motion detection unit (52) that detects a human body motion that causes a change in the distance to the predetermined part, and the peak detection unit (53). When a human body motion is detected by the human body motion detection unit when a peak is detected at an arbitrary time point, the peak is detected by excluding the peak at the time point.

  In the present embodiment, the human body motion detection unit (52) detects a human body motion that causes a change in the distance to a predetermined part. The human body motion can be, for example, speech, whisper, sneeze, swallow, swing, etc. For example, an acceleration sensor can be used as the human body motion detection unit. When a human body motion is detected by the human body motion detector when a peak is detected at an arbitrary time point, the peak detector (53) detects the peak by excluding the peak at that time point. For example, when a human body motion is detected by the human body motion detection unit when a peak is detected at an arbitrary time by the peak detection unit, the peak detected by the peak detection unit is a distance between a predetermined part and the human body motion. The peak at that time point is excluded as if the fluctuation occurred. Thereby, it is possible to prevent erroneous measurement due to human body movements such as speech, whisper, sneeze, swallow, and swing, and to measure the number of mastications or the interval between mastications with high accuracy.

  The living body-worn measuring device (100) of the present embodiment includes a determination unit (54) that determines the presence or absence of a mouthful movement for taking a mouthful of food based on the peak detected by the peak detector (53). It is characterized by.

  In this Embodiment, a determination part (54) determines the presence or absence of the mouthful action which takes a mouthful of food intake based on the peak detected by the peak detection part (53). The bite operation is an operation of taking a desired amount of food in the mouth. For example, if you start chewing from a state where nothing is chewed and you start to chew with just one mouthful of food, the peak detector will not detect the peak because chewing is not performed before a certain point in time. . That is, there is a time during which the peak is not detected by the peak detector (for example, about several seconds). On the other hand, when food intake is put in the mouth and chewing is started, the peak detection unit continuously detects peaks. Thus, the presence or absence of a mouthful movement (including the start time of mouthful action) can be determined based on the peak detection state in the peak detector.

  In the living body wearable measuring apparatus (100) of the present embodiment, the determination unit (54) is the peak detection unit for a predetermined time before an arbitrary time point when the peak is detected by the peak detection unit (53). When no peak is detected, when a peak is detected a plurality of times after the time point, it is determined that there is a mouthful operation.

  In the present embodiment, the determination unit (54) can be set to a predetermined time (for example, 3 seconds) before an arbitrary time point when the peak is detected by the peak detection unit (53), but is not limited thereto. In the case where the peak is not detected by the peak detection unit during the period when the peak is detected a plurality of times after that time, it is determined that there is a bite operation. For example, if you start chewing from a state in which nothing is chewed and you start to chew with a single mouthful of food intake, the peak detector will not detect the peak because chewing is not performed before a certain point in time. . On the other hand, when food intake is put in the mouth and chewing is started, the peak detection unit continuously detects peaks. Thereby, it is possible to determine the start and the start time of the mouthful action for feeding food into the mouth for only one mouthful.

  The living body-worn measuring device (100) of the present embodiment includes a determination unit (54) that determines the presence or absence of a bite operation for taking a bite of food based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit (53), The determination unit, when the peak detection unit detects the peak a plurality of times after an arbitrary time point when the peak detection unit detects the peak, the human body motion detection unit (52) in the vicinity including the time point When a human body motion is detected, it is determined that there is a bite motion.

  In this Embodiment, a determination part (54) determines the presence or absence of the mouthful action which takes a mouthful of food intake based on the peak detected by the peak detection part (53). When the determination unit detects the peak a plurality of times after the arbitrary time when the peak is detected by the peak detection unit, the human body motion detection unit (52) detects the human body motion in the vicinity including the time. Is detected, it is determined that there is a mouthful movement. For example, after repeating the chewing of the first mouth, if the mouthful of food for the second mouth is put into the mouth and the chewing is started, a peak corresponding to the mouthful of the first mouth is detected, and then the second mouth A peak is detected corresponding to mastication. In this case, when the second food intake is put into the mouth, a human body movement such as tilting the face to close the mouth toward the food intake or opening the mouth greatly is detected. If a peak is detected multiple times after a peak is detected at an arbitrary time point, by detecting human body movements in the vicinity including the time point, a portion of food intake may be put in the mouth while eating It is possible to determine the presence and time of a mouthful movement.

  In the biological wearable measuring apparatus (100) of the present embodiment, the determination unit (54) takes a mouthful based on the magnitude of the peak detected by the peak detection unit (53) after the time point when it is determined that there is a mouthful movement. It is characterized by determining the amount.

  In this Embodiment, a determination part (54) determines a mouthful intake based on the magnitude of the peak detected by the peak detection part (53) after it determines with there being a mouthful movement. A mouthful intake means the amount of food that can be taken into the mouth with a mouthful. The greater the mouthful intake, the greater the degree of jaw opening during mastication, and the greater the variation distance between the conversion part and the lower back of the ear. Therefore, it is possible to determine the amount of the mouthful intake according to the magnitude of the peak detected after the time when it is determined that the mouthful action is present.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mounting part 20 Storage part 35 Distance sensor (conversion part)
51 Control Unit 52 Acceleration Sensor (Human Body Motion Detection Unit)
53 Measurement unit (peak detection unit, measurement unit)
54 determination unit 55 calculation unit (variation average calculation unit, difference calculation unit)
56 communication unit 57 storage unit

Claims (5)

A conversion unit that converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of the living body into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period;
A peak detector for detecting a peak of fluctuation based on the electrical signal converted by the converter;
A measurement unit that measures the number of times or time of a predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit;
A fluctuation average calculation unit that calculates a fluctuation average based on a plurality of electrical signals converted by the conversion unit at least before or after an arbitrary time point when the peak is detected by the peak detection unit, and
The peak detector is
The biological wearable measuring apparatus, wherein when a peak detected at the time point is smaller than a fluctuation average calculated by the fluctuation average calculation unit, the peak at the time point is excluded and the peak is detected. A conversion unit that converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of the living body into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period;
A peak detector for detecting a peak of fluctuation based on the electrical signal converted by the converter;
A measurement unit that measures the number of times or time of a predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit;
A difference calculation unit that calculates a difference between a peak detected by the peak detection unit at an arbitrary time point and a peak corresponding to the electrical signal converted by the conversion unit before or after the time point;
A determination unit for determining the presence or absence of a mouthful movement for taking a mouthful of food based on the peak detected by the peak detector;
The peak detector is
When the difference calculated by the difference calculation unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the peak is detected by excluding the peak at the time point,
The determination unit
When the peak is not detected by the peak detector for a predetermined time before an arbitrary time when the peak is detected by the peak detector, and when the peak is detected a plurality of times after the time, there is a bite operation. A living body wearing type measuring device characterized by being determined. A conversion unit that converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of the living body into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period;
A peak detector for detecting a peak of fluctuation based on the electrical signal converted by the converter;
A measurement unit that measures the number of times or time of a predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit;
A difference calculation unit that calculates a difference between a peak detected by the peak detection unit at an arbitrary time point and a peak corresponding to the electrical signal converted by the conversion unit before or after the time point;
A determination unit for determining the presence or absence of a mouthful movement for taking a mouthful of food based on the peak detected by the peak detector;
The peak detector is
When the difference calculated by the difference calculation unit is smaller than a predetermined threshold, the peak is detected by excluding the peak at the time point,
The determination unit
The living body wearable measuring apparatus, wherein a mouthful intake is determined based on the magnitude of a peak detected by the peak detector after a time when it is determined that a mouthful movement is present. A conversion unit that converts a change in distance to a predetermined part of the living body into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period;
A peak detector for detecting a peak of fluctuation based on the electrical signal converted by the converter;
A measurement unit that measures the number of times or time of a predetermined operation based on the peak detected by the peak detection unit;
A human body motion detection unit that detects a human body motion different from the predetermined motion that causes a variation in the distance between the predetermined portion;
A determination unit for determining the presence or absence of a mouthful movement for taking a mouthful of food based on the peak detected by the peak detector;
The determination unit
When the human body motion detection unit detects a human body motion in the vicinity of the time point when a peak is detected multiple times by the peak detection unit after an arbitrary time point when the peak is detected by the peak detection unit, there is a bite motion The living body wearing type measuring apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. A measurement method by a living body wearing type measuring device provided with a wearing part for wearing on a living body,
A step of converting a change in the distance between a predetermined part of the living body into an electrical signal at a predetermined sampling period;
A step of detecting a peak of fluctuation based on the converted electrical signal by a peak detector;
A step in which the measurement unit measures the number of times or time of the predetermined operation based on the detected peak;
Calculating a varying average based on the plurality of converted electrical signals at least before or after any point in time when the peak is detected;
And a step of detecting the peak by excluding the peak at the time when the peak detected at the time is smaller than the calculated variation average.

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