JP7436013B2 - nurse call system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a nurse call system, and is particularly suitable for use in a nurse call system that utilizes a robot to make nurse calls.

Generally, a nurse call system is used in hospitals, nursing care facilities, and the like. The nurse call system is used to call patients and care recipients (hereinafter referred to as patients) when a patient at a hospital requires support from a nurse, or when a care recipient at a nursing care facility requires support from a caregiver. ) is a system that allows a person to call a nurse or care worker (hereinafter referred to as a medical worker) by pressing a call button.

Many nurse call systems are configured with a nurse call slave device installed near a bed, in a toilet, bathroom, etc. and having a call button, and a nurse call master device installed at a nurse station. In this type of nurse call system, when a patient presses a call button on a nurse call slave unit to make a call, the nurse call base unit notifies the patient of the call.

Nurse call handsets include not only those equipped with the above-mentioned call button, but also those equipped with a mat sensor that detects a load. A nurse call system is also known in which a mat sensor is installed on the floor near the bed and detects when a patient gets on the bed, thereby issuing a warning of the patient leaving the bed or falling/falling from the bed. A monitoring system using a robot in addition to a mat sensor is also known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

The monitoring system described in Patent Document 1 includes a bed-leaving detection unit that detects a sign of a patient leaving the bed based on output data from a bed-leaving sensor, and a voice output unit that detects a sign of the patient leaving the bed based on output data from a bed-leaving sensor. The robot includes an utterance control unit that causes the robot to utter a predetermined message to the patient, and an alarm unit that notifies a predetermined notification destination when a sign of the patient leaving the bed is detected.

There is also a known nursing care support system using a robot in which the robot plays a message asking a question at a specified time, and if there is no response from the patient, a notification is sent (for example, , see Patent Document 2). The nursing care support system described in Patent Document 2 includes, in a robot, a reproduction means for reproducing stored information and conveying it to the patient in voice or image, a reproduction control means for causing the reproduction means to perform reproduction at a specified time, and a reproduction control means for causing the reproduction means to perform reproduction at a specified time. response determination means for determining whether or not a response from the patient to the output is detected by the response sensor within a predetermined time; , the inquiry message is output again, and if a predetermined response is not input even after a certain period of time has elapsed since the reconfirmation reproduction output, an emergency call is made.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-126519 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-574

In recent years, with the progress of invasive treatments for the elderly, the number of elderly hospitalized patients has increased. In addition to providing recuperative care and medical treatment to these elderly hospitalized patients, medical personnel are required to speak to them and watch over them. However, as of now, there is no hope for an increase in the number of medical workers, and constant monitoring is almost impossible. Therefore, how to provide safe and secure care among the current staff has become an urgent issue. Utilizing robots is being considered as one means to solve this problem.

The systems described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 utilize robots to monitor patients. However, the system described in Patent Document 1 has a conventional nurse call function that notifies a predetermined notification destination when a sign of a patient leaving the bed is detected based on output data from a bed leaving sensor. The robot merely has the ability to utter a predetermined message to the patient. The problem is that healthcare workers are required to respond to nurse calls that are always made when signs of a patient leaving the bed are detected, and this is not sufficient in terms of reducing the burden on healthcare workers. there were.

On the other hand, according to the system described in Patent Document 2, an emergency call is made only when there is no response from the patient to the questions posed by the robot. In this respect, it is possible to reduce the burden on medical personnel, as they only need to perform the corresponding tasks. However, in the system described in Patent Document 2, an emergency call is made only in a limited situation where the patient does not respond to questions from the robot. There was a problem that it could not be said to be sufficient in terms of providing appropriate care.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and aims to reduce the burden on medical personnel while providing appropriate care to patients by utilizing robots. shall be.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a nurse call system including a robot and a nurse call base unit that receives calls from the robot, in which the robot can provide nursing care or nursing care to a patient. When a predetermined sexual situation is detected, an inquiry message is uttered to the patient, and then a reaction situation including the content of the patient's reaction to the utterance is detected. Then, it is determined whether or not to make a call based on whether or not the detected reaction situation satisfies a predetermined condition, and when it is determined that a call should be made, a call is made to the nurse call base unit.

According to the present invention configured as described above, when a predetermined situation related to a patient is detected, the nurse call base unit is not immediately called, but the robot first utters a message asking the patient, and then A call to the nurse call base unit is made only when the patient's reaction status satisfies predetermined conditions. Therefore, some of the conventional work of talking to patients by medical personnel can be eliminated by speech by the robot. Further, according to the present invention, the call is made not only when the patient does not respond to the robot's questions to the patient, but also when the patient's response status including the content of the response satisfies predetermined conditions. Therefore, depending on the patient's reaction status, medical personnel can be summoned to provide appropriate care. As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide appropriate care to patients while reducing the burden on medical personnel by utilizing robots.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a nurse call system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the robot according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a nurse call base unit according to a second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a robot according to a second embodiment.

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a nurse call system according to a first embodiment. Note that although a nurse call system installed in a hospital will be explained here as an example, the nurse call system of this embodiment is not limited to one installed in a hospital. For example, it is also applicable when installed in a nursing care facility or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the nurse call system according to the first embodiment includes a nurse call base unit 1, a controller 2, a hallway light 3, a wall-embedded slave unit 4, a distributor 5, a bed leaving sensor 7, an environment sensor. 8, a biosensor 9 and a robot 10. The nurse call base unit 1 may be a fixed type installed at a nurse station, or may be a portable type carried by each nurse. The wall-embedded slave device 4, the distributor 5, the bed exit sensor 7, the environmental sensor 8, the biosensor 9, and the robot 10 are installed in the patient's hospital room.

The nurse call base unit 1, the controller 2, the hallway light 3, the wall-embedded slave unit 4, the distributor 5, the bed leaving sensor 7, and the robot 10 are connected through a wired communication path. The bed leaving sensor 7 and the robot 10 are connected by wire via a distributor 5. On the other hand, the environmental sensor 8 and the biological sensor 9 and the robot 10 are connected wirelessly. Note that the connection method is not limited to this. For example, the distributor 5 and the robot 10 may be connected wirelessly. Further, the environment sensor 8 and the biological sensor 9 and the robot 10 may be connected by wire. Further, the robot 10 may be configured to include the environmental sensor 8.

The nurse call base device 1 is configured with an information processing terminal such as a personal computer, a tablet, or a smartphone, and is connected to the robot 10 via a controller 2, a hallway light 3, a wall-embedded slave device 4, and a distributor 5. to perform two-way communication and execute predetermined processing.

For example, the nurse call base device 1 receives a call from the robot 10 and performs a predetermined notification operation. The notification operation is performed by outputting a ringing tone from a speaker included in the nurse call base unit 1 and displaying patient information related to the call on a display included in the nurse call base unit 1. If the nurse performs a predetermined response operation during execution of this notification operation, the nurse call base device 1 stops the above-mentioned notification operation.

The nurse call base device 1 also executes processing for generating and transmitting message information to the robot 10 to cause the robot 10 to utter a synthesized voice according to the operation by the medical worker. Message information can be divided into two types: one for medical professionals to immediately utter any content they desire (hereinafter referred to as "immediate utterance message"), and one for medical personnel to utter repeatedly every day at a specified time (hereinafter referred to as "scheduled utterance message"). be. Immediate speech messages are mainly messages sent from medical personnel to patients to convey information. The scheduled utterance message is, for example, a message asking questions to confirm the patient's medication status. The message information includes flag information indicating whether the message is an immediate speech message or a scheduled speech message, text information indicating the message body, and designated time information in the case of a scheduled speech message.

Here, a configuration is described in which the nurse call base unit 1 has a function of receiving a call from the robot 10 and performing a notification operation, and a function of generating message information and registering it in the robot 10. Not limited. For example, the nurse call base unit 1 may be configured to have only the function of performing the notification operation out of the above two functions, and the function of generating and registering message information may be provided in another information processing terminal.

The controller 2 is disposed between the nurse call base unit 1 and the hallway light 3, and controls the transmission and reception of various data. The transmitted and received data includes a call signal sent from the robot 10 to the nurse call base unit 1, message information sent from the nurse call base unit 1 to the robot 10, and the like.

The hallway light 3 is arranged between the controller 2 and the wall-embedded slave device 4, and relays the various data described above. This hallway light 3 is installed outside near the entrance of each hospital room. The hallway light 3 is equipped with a display device, and is configured to display the names of patients in the hospital room and to display that a call from the robot 10 has been made. Note that the fact that a call has been made may be indicated by lighting or blinking an LED. The LED turns off when a predetermined recovery operation is performed.

The wall-embedded handset 4 is embedded in the wall of each bedside in the hospital room, is connected to the hallway light 3, and relays the above-mentioned various data. The wall-embedded slave device 4 includes a connection terminal for connecting the distributor 5.

The distributor 5 connects the wall-embedded child device 4, the bed leaving sensor 7, and the robot 10. The distributor 5 supplies message information sent from the nurse call base unit 1 to the robot 10. Further, the distributor 5 supplies the call signal issued from the robot 10 to the wall-embedded slave unit 4. Further, the distributor 5 supplies a bed-leaving detection signal to the robot 10 when the bed-leaving sensor 7 detects that the patient leaves the bed.

The bed leaving sensor 7 includes a mat and a weight sensor, and is used by laying a mat on the mattress of each bed in the hospital room. The bed leaving sensor 7 outputs a bed leaving detection signal when the weight sensor no longer detects the load due to the patient leaving the bed. In addition, when the mat of bed exit sensor 7 is spread on the floor near the bed and the weight sensor detects that a patient sleeping on the bed leaves the bed and gets on the mat, a bed exit detection signal is output. You may also do so. In addition, when a patient is lying on a mattress and a mat is placed at the position corresponding to the upper body of the patient, when the weight sensor no longer detects the load due to the patient getting up from the bed, a bed leaving detection signal is sent. It may also be possible to output .

The environmental sensor 8 detects information related to the environment within the hospital room, and is composed of, for example, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an odor sensor, a sound sensor, and the like. The environmental sensor 8 constantly detects the temperature, humidity, odor, sound, etc. in the hospital room, and repeatedly sends the detected environmental information (temperature information, humidity information, odor information, sound information, etc.) to the robot 10 at regular intervals. Send. Note that it is not essential to use all of the temperature sensors, humidity sensors, odor sensors, sound sensors, etc., and any one or two may be used.

The biosensor 9 detects biometric information of a patient. The biological information detected by the biological sensor 9 includes, for example, the amount of perspiration, complexion, coughing state, dehydration state, breathing state, and autonomic nervous state of the patient. The biosensor 9 constantly detects one or more of these biometric information, and repeatedly transmits the detected biometric information to the robot 10 at regular intervals.

The robot 10 is equipped with a microphone, a speaker, a camera, a timer, a light emitting element, a movement mechanism for moving a part of the body, a wired and wireless communication means, a storage device, an arithmetic unit that performs various processing and control, and the like. . The robot 10 performs two-way communication with the nurse call base unit 1 via the controller 2, hallway light 3, wall-embedded slave unit 4, and distributor 5, and executes processing related to dialogue with the patient. At the same time, a process related to a call to the nurse call base unit 1 is executed.

For example, the robot 10 receives message information from the nurse call base device 1, and based on the message information, utters an immediate utterance message or a scheduled utterance message (outputs the message from a speaker in synthetic voice). The robot 10 also sends a predetermined message (hereinafter referred to as utter a situation detection utterance message). This situation detection utterance message is a message of inquiry for confirming the safety of the patient or confirming the patient's situation. That is, in this embodiment, the scheduled speech message and the situation detection speech message are messages asking questions to the patient.

Further, after uttering a question message to the patient, the robot 10 analyzes the patient's reaction situation, and if the analysis result satisfies a predetermined condition, issues a call signal and sends a nurse call via the distributor 5. Send to base unit 1. In this embodiment, the presence or absence of a response based on the patient's uttered voice input from the microphone and the content of the response are analyzed as the patient's reaction status.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the robot 10 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the robot 10 according to the first embodiment includes a message information receiving section 11, a message information recording section 12, a patient situation detection section 13, an utterance section 14, a reaction situation detection section 15, a situation It includes a determination section 16 and a calling section 17. The robot 10 also includes a message information storage section 100 as a storage medium. The robot 10 also includes a speaker 101 and a microphone 102.

Each of the functional blocks 11 to 17 described above can be configured by hardware, DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or software. For example, when configured by software, each of the functional blocks 11 to 17 is actually configured with a computer's CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and programs stored in a recording medium such as RAM, ROM, hard disk, or semiconductor memory. This is realized by the operation of

The message information receiving unit 11 receives message information sent from the nurse call base unit 1. The message information recording unit 12 determines whether the message information received by the message information receiving unit 11 is an immediate utterance message or a scheduled utterance message, and if it is determined that it is a scheduled utterance message, the message information is recorded. The message information is stored in the message information storage unit 100. On the other hand, if it is determined that the received message is an immediate speech message, the message information recording section 12 supplies the message information to the speech section 14 .

The message information storage unit 100 stores message information of the scheduled utterance message stored by the message information storage unit 12. Additionally, the message information storage unit 100 stores in advance message information of a situation detection utterance message to be uttered when the situation regarding the patient detected by the bed exit sensor 7, the environment sensor 8, or the biosensor 9 satisfies a predetermined condition. do. The message information stored in the message information storage unit 100 is related to messages asking questions to patients.

The patient situation detection unit 13 detects a predetermined situation in which nursing or nursing care for a patient may be required. For example, the patient situation detection unit 13 may perform a task in which a medical worker rushes to the patient and waits in the bed based on a bed-leave detection signal supplied from the bed-leave sensor 7 via the distributor 5. A situation in which the patient leaves the bed is detected as a situation in which the patient leaves the bed.

Furthermore, the patient situation detection unit 13 detects, based on the environmental information supplied from the environmental sensor 8, a situation in which a medical worker rushes to the patient's room to improve the environment. Detects when the environment of the patient's room reaches a predetermined state. For example, the patient situation detection unit 13 detects a situation where the temperature of the hospital room is higher or lower than a predetermined value, a situation where the humidity of the hospital room is higher or lower than a predetermined value, a situation where the numerical odor value is larger than the predetermined value, a situation where the detected sound volume is detects a situation where the value is larger than a predetermined value.

In addition, the patient situation detection unit 13 detects a patient's condition based on the biological information supplied from the biological sensor 9 as a situation in which there is a possibility that a medical worker rushes to the patient and performs some kind of treatment. Detects situations where biometric information shows abnormal values. For example, the patient situation detection unit 13 detects a situation in which the amount of perspiration of the patient is higher than a predetermined value, a situation in which the patient's current complexion is poor compared to the complexion detected in normal times, a situation in which the patient has frequent coughs, a situation in which the patient is dehydrated, It detects the state of the patient, a situation in which the breathing rate is faster than normal by a predetermined value, a situation in which the autonomic nervous system is more excited than normal (for example, a situation in which the heart rate is higher than normal), etc.

In addition, the patient situation detection unit 13 stores message information as a situation in which a medical worker rushes to the patient and instructs the patient to take the medication if the patient has not taken the medication. A situation in which it is time to utter a scheduled utterance message stored in the section 100 is detected.

The utterance section 14 utters a message asking the patient based on message information stored in the message information storage section 100 when a predetermined situation is detected by the patient situation detection section 13 . That is, the speech unit 14 reads message information corresponding to a predetermined situation detected by the patient situation detection unit 13 from the message information storage unit 100, and generates synthetic speech from the text information of the message body included in the message information. , is output from the speaker 101.

For example, when the patient situation detection section 13 detects that the patient has left the bed, the speech section 14 utters a message asking "Where are you going?" using synthesized speech. Furthermore, when the patient situation detection unit 13 detects a situation in which the temperature of the hospital room is higher or lower than a predetermined value, a situation in which the odor value is larger than a predetermined value, or a situation in which the sound volume is larger than a predetermined value, the speech unit 14 says, “The environment is Are you okay?'' is uttered using synthesized voice. Note that messages such as "Isn't it hot?" "Isn't it cold?" "Isn't it smelly?" and "Isn't it noisy?" may be uttered depending on the individual detection situation.

Further, when the patient situation detection unit 13 detects a situation in which the patient's biological information shows an abnormal value, the speech unit 14 utters a message asking “Are you okay?” using synthesized voice. . Note that messages such as ``Aren't you hot?'' ``Aren't you in pain?'' and ``Is your cough okay?'' may be uttered depending on the individual detection situation. Further, when the patient situation detection unit 13 detects that it is time to utter the scheduled utterance message, the utterance unit 14 utters a message asking “Did you take your medicine?” using synthesized voice.

The reaction state detection section 15 detects the patient's reaction state to the speech made by the speech section 14. Here, the reaction status detection unit 15 detects whether or not the patient has responded to the utterance made by the utterance unit 14 and the content of the response as the patient's reaction status. That is, after the utterance unit 14 utters a question message to the patient, the reaction situation detection unit 15 recognizes the patient's utterance input from the microphone 102 and converts it into text information, and based on the text information, Analyze the reply content. Thereby, the reaction situation detection unit 15 detects whether or not there is a response from the patient to the utterance from the robot 10, and if there is a response, detects the content of the response.

The situation determination section 16 determines whether the reaction situation (presence or absence of a response from the patient and the content of the response) detected by the reaction situation detection section 15 satisfies predetermined conditions according to the usage scene of the robot 10. , it is determined whether or not to make a call to the nurse call base unit 1. Scenes in which the robot 10 is used include a scene in which it makes an utterance in response to detection of a patient leaving the bed, a scene in which it makes an utterance in response to detection of environmental information of the patient's room, and a scene in which it makes an utterance in response to detection of biological information of a patient. This is a scene in which a scheduled message is uttered to the patient to confirm that they have taken their medication.

The calling unit 17 calls the nurse call base unit 1 by issuing and transmitting a calling signal when the situation determining unit 16 determines that the call should be made. For example, in a scene in which the calling unit 17 makes an utterance in response to the detection of a patient leaving the bed, in response to a message asking "Where are you going?", a reply to the message that the patient is going to a place outside the hospital room is detected. In this case, a call is made to the nurse call base unit 1. Further, the call may be made even when there is no response from the patient to the message asking "Where are you going?"

In addition, in a scene in which utterances are made in response to the detection of environmental information of a patient's room, the calling unit 17 responds to a message asking "Is the environment okay?" with a message such as hot, cold, smelly, or noisy. When a response with the content is detected, a call is made to the nurse call base unit 1. On the other hand, if a response different from the above purpose is detected in response to the message asking "Is the environment okay?" or if there is no response from the patient, the nurse call master unit 1 is No calls are made.

In addition, in a scene where the calling unit 17 utters in response to the detection of the patient's biological information, in response to a message asking "Are you feeling okay?" When a response complaining of physical illness is detected, a call is made to the nurse call base unit 1. Further, the call may be made even when the patient does not respond to a message asking, "Are you feeling okay?"

Furthermore, in a scene in which a scheduled speech message confirming medication taking is uttered to the patient, the calling unit 17 detects a reply stating that the patient has not taken the medicine in response to a message asking, "Have you taken your medicine?" When the call is made, a call is made to the nurse call base unit 1. On the other hand, if a response to the message asking "Did you take your medicine?" is detected indicating that the patient has taken medicine, or if there is no response from the patient, the nurse call will not be called. Not performed.

As described in detail above, in the first embodiment, the robot 10 utters a message asking the patient when a predetermined situation is detected that may require nursing care or nursing care for the patient. After that, the patient's reaction status (presence or absence of a response and the content of the response) to the utterance is detected. Then, it is determined whether or not to make a call based on whether the detected reaction situation satisfies a predetermined condition, and when it is determined that a call should be made, a call is made to the nurse call base unit 1. .

According to the first embodiment configured in this manner, when a predetermined situation regarding a patient is detected, the nurse call base unit 1 is not immediately called, but the robot 10 first utters a message asking the patient. A call is made to the nurse call base unit 1 only when the patient's response to the call satisfies a predetermined condition. Therefore, some of the conventional work of calling out to patients by medical personnel can be eliminated by the robot 10's utterances.

Further, according to the first embodiment, not only when the patient does not respond to a question from the robot 10 to the patient, but also when the patient's response status including the content of the patient's response is determined in advance according to the usage scene of the robot 10. When the predetermined conditions are met, a call is made to the nurse call base unit 1, so that depending on the patient's response, a medical worker can be called to provide appropriate care. Thus, according to the first embodiment, the robot 10 can be used to provide appropriate care to the patient while reducing the burden on medical personnel.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The overall configuration of the nurse call system according to the second embodiment is the same as that in FIG. 1. However, instead of the nurse call master device 1 and the robot 10, a nurse call master device 1' and a robot 10' having different functional configurations are used.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the nurse call base unit 1' according to the second embodiment. Further, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the robot 10' according to the second embodiment. Note that in FIG. 4, components designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 2 have the same functions, and thus redundant explanation will be omitted here.

As shown in FIG. 3, the nurse call base unit 1' according to the second embodiment includes a call signal receiving section 31, a notification processing section 32, a response operation detecting section 33, a communication path forming section 34, and a voice data It includes a receiving section 35 and a synthesized speech output section 36. Further, the nurse call base unit 1' includes a speaker 37 and a display 38 as a hardware configuration.

Each of the functional blocks 31 to 36 included in the nurse call base unit 1' can be configured by hardware, DSP, or software. For example, when configured by software, each of the functional blocks 31 to 36 is actually configured with a computer's CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and is realized by operating a program stored in the RAM or ROM. Note that the program may be stored in other storage media such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory.

The calling signal receiving section 31 receives the calling signal transmitted from the calling section 17 of the robot 10'. The notification processing section 32 performs a predetermined notification operation in response to reception of the calling signal by the calling signal receiving section 31, and stops the notification operation in response to a predetermined response operation detected by the response operation detection section 33. That is, when the call signal receiving unit 31 receives a call signal, the notification processing unit 32 outputs a ring tone from the speaker 37 and performs a notification operation such as displaying patient information related to the call on the display 38. Execute. Thereafter, when the response operation detection section 33 detects a predetermined response operation, the notification processing section 32 stops the above-mentioned notification operation.

When the response operation detection unit 33 detects a response operation for the notification operation performed in response to receiving a call signal, the communication path formation unit 34 cooperates with the communication path formation unit 41 of the robot 10′ to perform a nurse call. A communication path is formed between the base unit 1' and the robot 10'.

The voice data receiving section 35 receives voice data sent from the robot 10' via the communication path formed by the communication path forming section 34. This voice indicates the condition of the patient when the robot 10' speaks to the patient. The synthesized voice output unit 36 outputs synthesized voice from the speaker 37 based on the voice data received by the voice data receiving unit 35. A medical worker can understand the patient's condition by listening to the synthesized voice output from the speaker 37.

As shown in FIG. 4, the robot 10' according to the second embodiment includes, in addition to the functional configuration shown in FIG. It also has the following. Furthermore, the robot 10' according to the second embodiment further includes an audio data storage section 40 as a storage medium.

The voice data storage unit 40 stores in advance voice data for notifying the patient's condition identified from the various situations in which nursing or nursing care may be required for the patient. There is. For example, the audio data storage unit 40 stores audio data for notifying that the patient is out of bed (for example, audio content such as "The patient is out of bed") in association with the situation in which the patient is out of bed. data) is memorized.

In addition, the audio data storage unit 40 can be stored in situations where the temperature of the hospital room is higher or lower than a predetermined value, the humidity of the hospital room is higher or lower than a predetermined value, the odor value is greater than a predetermined value, or the sound volume is greater than a predetermined value. Audio data to notify these situations (for example, "The patient feels the temperature in the hospital room is high," "The patient feels the temperature in the hospital room is low," "The patient feels the humidity in the hospital room is high.") "The patient feels the humidity in the hospital room is low," "The patient is concerned about the smell in the hospital room," and "There are abnormal sounds in the hospital room."

The audio data storage unit 40 also stores audio data (“the patient is sweating a lot "The patient doesn't look good." "The patient is coughing a lot." "The patient appears to be dehydrated." "The patient is breathing rapidly." "The patient is becoming agitated." It memorizes data such as voice content such as "It seems like there is."

Furthermore, the voice data storage unit 40 stores voice content data such as ``It appears that the patient is not taking medication'' in association with a situation in which medication is confirmed through a regularly scheduled spoken message.

The communication path forming section 41 cooperates with the communication path forming section 34 of the nurse call main device 1' to form a communication path between the nurse call main device 1' and the robot 10'. The audio data acquisition unit 42 generates audio data for notifying the patient's condition specified from the predetermined situation regarding the patient detected by the patient status detecting unit 13 when the situation determining unit 16 determines that a call is to be made. is acquired from the audio data storage section 40.

The voice data transmitting section 43 transmits the voice data acquired by the voice data acquisition section 42 via a communication path formed by the communication path forming section 41 between the nurse call base unit 1' and the nurse call base unit 1' upon a call by the calling section 17. Send to nurse call base unit 1'.

Note that the audio data acquisition unit 42 may generate audio data of synthesized speech using the audio data acquired from the audio data storage unit 40. In this case, synthesized speech may be generated by adding the content of information detected by the environmental sensor 8 or the biological sensor 9 to the speech data acquired from the speech data storage section 40.

For example, in a situation where the environmental information supplied from the environmental sensor 8 indicates that it is larger or smaller than a predetermined value, for example, "The patient feels that the temperature in the hospital room is high. The detected room temperature is 〇〇℃. '', synthesized speech may be generated with the value of environmental information added. In addition, in a situation where various biological information supplied from the biological sensor 9 shows an abnormal value, for example, "The patient's sweating amount is increasing. The detected sweating amount is 〇〇cc." Additionally, synthesized speech may be generated with biometric information added thereto.

As explained above, in the second embodiment, when the patient situation detection unit 13 detects a predetermined situation in which nursing or care for a patient may be required, the response to the utterance from the robot 10' is When the situation determining unit 16 determines that it is necessary to call a medical worker based on the patient's reaction status, the system not only simply calls the nurse call base unit 1' but also displays the patient's condition at that time by voice. I am trying to notify the nurse call base unit 1'. This allows medical personnel to understand the patient's condition at the time of the call and provide more appropriate care quickly and efficiently.

Note that in the first and second embodiments described above, when the patient situation detection unit 13 detects a predetermined situation in which nursing or nursing care is likely to be required for the patient, the speaking unit 14 responds to the patient by Although it has been described that the inquiry message is uttered once, there is no particular mention of how the robots 10, 10' respond after receiving a response from the patient. The robots 10, 10' may perform additional speech or predetermined actions toward the patient based on the patient's reaction situation detected by the reaction situation detection unit 15.

For example, in a scene where utterances are made in response to detection of a patient leaving the bed, if a message asking ``Where are you going?'' is detected as a response to the message ``Going to a place outside the hospital room?'', ``Nursing A message may be uttered to restrain the patient's behavior, such as "Please wait a moment while I call the doctor." In addition, after the robots 10 and 10' have uttered a message asking the patient or an additional message urging them to stop their behavior, the robots 10 and 10' analyze the patient's behavior based on the image taken by the camera, and When detecting that the user has moved back to bed, the user may say "Thank you," move the head up and down to nod, or blink the eyes. In this way, the patient can be made aware that if the patient behaves well in response to the questions asked by the robots 10, 10', the robots 10, 10' will respond favorably.

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments described above, after uttering a question message to the patient, the robots 10 and 10' record the presence or absence of a response from the patient and the content of the response inputted from the microphone 102 to determine the patient's reaction status. Although an example has been described in which detection is performed as follows, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the robots 10, 10' may analyze the patient's behavior based on images captured by a camera after uttering a message asking the patient, and detect the content of the behavior as the patient's reaction status. good. For example, in a scene where a patient speaks in response to detection of a patient leaving the bed, if the patient does not try to stop moving in response to a message asking "Where are you going?", the calling unit 17 It is also possible to make a call using

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments described above, an example in which the robots 10 and 10' are used in a hospital room has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it can also be used in shared areas such as toilets and bathrooms.

For example, when the robot 10, 10' is used in the toilet, the timer of the robot 10, 10' is started when the patient enters the toilet with the assistance of a medical worker. Then, when a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) has elapsed, the patient situation detection unit 13 detects that the patient is in a predetermined situation in which nursing or nursing care may be required. In response to this, the utterance unit 14 utters a message asking the patient, "Are you okay?" Further, the situation determining unit 16 determines whether or not to call the nurse call base unit 1, 1' depending on whether the patient's reaction situation to the utterance detected by the reaction situation detection unit 15 satisfies a predetermined condition. judge. For example, if the calling unit 17 detects a response voice that seems to be in poor physical condition (the volume is lower than normal, the voice is trembling, the voice is mixed with groans, etc.), If a response indicating that there is no response is detected, or if there is no response, a call is made to the nurse call base device 1, 1'.

Furthermore, when the robots 10, 10' are used in a bathroom, the timer of the robots 10, 10' is started when the patient enters the bathroom with the assistance of a medical worker. Then, when a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) has elapsed, the patient situation detection unit 13 detects that the patient is in a predetermined situation in which nursing or nursing care may be required. In response to this, the utterance unit 14 utters a message asking the patient, "Are you okay?" Further, the situation determining unit 16 determines whether or not to call the nurse call base unit 1, 1' depending on whether the patient's reaction situation to the utterance detected by the reaction situation detection unit 15 satisfies a predetermined condition. judge. For example, the calling unit 17 sends the nurse call main unit 1 , 1'.

Further, in the first and second embodiments described above, an example has been described in which a question message for confirming the patient's medication status is used as the scheduled utterance message, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be a message asking questions to confirm whether the patient has eaten or not, or a message asking questions to confirm whether the patient has taken other actions that should be taken. Alternatively, the message may be a question for periodically confirming the patient's safety.

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments described above, if the patient does not respond to a question from the robots 10, 10', a nurse call is made depending on the usage scene of the robots 10, 10'. Although it is fixed as described above, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if the patient does not respond to a question from the robots 10, 10', it may be set in advance whether or not a nurse call will be made depending on the usage scenario of the robots 10, 10'. Alternatively, whether or not to make a nurse call may be set in advance for each patient.

Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments described above, an example was explained in which a medical worker generates a scheduled utterance message using the nurse call base unit 1, 1' and sends it to the robot 10, 10' for registration. The present invention is not limited to this. For example, message information of scheduled utterance messages may be stored in the message information storage section 100 in advance.

Further, in the second embodiment, an example has been described in which voice data for notifying the patient's condition is transmitted from the robot 10' to the nurse call base unit 1', but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, after the speech unit 14 speaks, the robot 10' records the voice data of the patient's voice input through the microphone 102, and replaces this voice data with voice data for notifying the patient's condition. Alternatively, the robot 10' may also transmit the information to the nurse call base unit 1'.

In addition, the first and second embodiments described above are merely examples of implementation of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed to be limited by these. It is something that cannot happen. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from its gist or main features.

1, 1' Nurse call base unit 7 Bed leaving sensor 8 Environment sensor 9 Biological sensor 10, 10' Robot 11 Message information receiving section 12 Message information recording section 13 Patient situation detection section 14 Speech section 15 Reaction situation detection section 16 Situation judgment section 17 Calling unit 40 Voice data storage unit 41 Communication path forming unit 42 Voice data acquisition unit 43 Voice data transmission unit

Claims (9)

A nurse call system comprising a robot and a nurse call base unit that receives calls from the robot,
The above robot is
a patient situation detection unit that detects a predetermined situation that may require nursing or nursing care for a patient;
an utterance unit that utters an inquiry message to the patient when the predetermined situation is detected by the patient situation detection unit;
a reaction situation detection unit that detects a reaction situation including the content of the patient's reaction to the utterance made by the utterance unit;
a situation determining unit that determines whether or not to make a call to the nurse call base device based on whether the reaction situation detected by the reaction situation detection unit satisfies a predetermined condition;
A nurse call system comprising: a calling unit that makes a call to the nurse call base device when the situation determining unit determines that the call should be made. 2. The nurse call system according to claim 1, wherein the reaction situation detection section detects the presence or absence of a response from the patient to the utterance made by the utterance section and the content of the response as the patient's reaction situation. The above robot is
an audio data acquisition unit that acquires audio data for reporting a patient condition specified from a predetermined situation detected by the patient status detection unit when the situation determination unit determines that a call is to be made;
a voice data transmitting section that transmits the voice data acquired by the voice data acquisition section to the nurse call base unit via a communication path formed between the nurse call base unit and the nurse call base unit by a call made by the calling unit; The nurse call system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a nurse call system. According to any one of claims 1 to 3, the patient situation detection unit detects, as the predetermined situation, a situation in which the patient leaves the bed based on a bed exit detection signal supplied from a bed exit sensor. Nurse call system as described. The patient situation detection unit detects, as the predetermined situation, a situation in which the patient's environment is in a predetermined state based on environmental information supplied from an environmental sensor. The nurse call system according to any one of item 1. Claims 1 to 3, wherein the patient situation detection unit detects, as the predetermined situation, a situation in which the patient's biometric information shows an abnormal value based on biometric information supplied from a biosensor. The nurse call system according to any one of the above. Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the patient situation detection unit detects, as the predetermined situation, a situation in which a designated time for uttering a repeated message to confirm the patient's situation has arrived. The nurse call system according to item 1. The patient situation detection unit detects, as the predetermined situation, a situation in which the patient's environment is in a predetermined state based on environmental information supplied from the environmental sensor;
3. The voice data acquisition unit acquires voice data of a synthesized voice added with environmental information supplied from the environmental sensor as the voice data for notifying the patient's condition. The nurse call system described in The patient situation detection unit detects, as the predetermined situation, a situation where the patient's biological information shows an abnormal value based on the biological information supplied from the biological sensor,
3. The voice data acquisition unit acquires voice data of a synthesized voice to which biological information supplied from the biological sensor is added as the voice data for notifying the patient's condition. The nurse call system described in