JP7473133B2 - Information Providing Device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information providing device that provides information regarding the degree of risk of oral disease.

There is a known technology for diagnosing caries and tooth defects based on images of teeth (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-296249 A

Diagnosis based on oral cavity images, including images of teeth, etc., is a diagnosis based on the visually recognizable current condition, so the accuracy of the information provided based on the diagnosis was not sufficiently high. In addition, because conventional diagnoses are based on images that represent the current condition, they cannot provide information about the possibility of changes in the state of potential diseases in the future.

The present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide highly accurate information regarding the degree of risk of oral disease.

In order to solve the above problem, an information providing device according to one embodiment of the present invention is an information providing device that provides information regarding the degree of risk of a user's oral disease, and includes a risk level correction unit that corrects a risk level indicating the degree of a predetermined oral disease determined based on an image of the user's oral cavity based on a correction parameter that is pre-associated with characteristic information and pre-defined for each oral disease, the characteristic information indicating the presence or absence or degree of a user's characteristic or habit that affects the degree of the oral disease, and the correction parameter is a value indicating an amount by which the risk level of the user's oral disease is increased or decreased when the user has characteristic information associated with the correction parameter, and an output unit that outputs a corrected risk level, which is the corrected risk level.

According to the above embodiment, the risk level of oral disease determined based on the oral image is corrected based on the characteristic information. The characteristic information is information acquired separately from the oral image and indicates the user's characteristics or habits that affect the degree of oral disease, so that it is possible to improve the accuracy of the risk level based on the oral image.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, highly accurate information regarding the degree of risk of oral disease can be provided.

1 is a diagram showing a device configuration of an information providing system including an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a hardware block diagram of the information providing device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing examples of risk levels stored in a risk level storage unit. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of feature information stored in a feature information storage unit. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of correction parameters stored in a correction parameter storage unit. FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a corrected risk level. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of learning data including feature information and risk levels accumulated for updating correction parameters. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of updated correction parameters. 4 is a flowchart showing the process of an information providing method in the information providing device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information providing program.

An embodiment of an information providing device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Where possible, identical parts will be given the same reference numerals and duplicated explanations will be omitted.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing the device configuration of an information provision system including an information provision device according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the information provision system 1 includes an information provision device 10 and a terminal T that are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network N.

The information providing device 10 is a device that provides information regarding the degree of risk of oral disease to a user. Oral diseases include, for example, dental caries, periodontal disease, temporomandibular joint disorder, and oral cancer, but are not limited to, any disease that occurs in the oral cavity.

The terminal T is a terminal operated and referenced by a user, and transmits and receives information to and from the information providing device 10. Note that although three terminals T are shown in FIG. 1, the number of terminals T is not limited to the example shown.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the information providing device 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 2, the information providing device 10 functionally comprises an image acquisition unit 11, a risk level determination unit 12, a characteristic information acquisition unit 13, a risk level correction unit 14, a correction parameter update unit 15, and an output unit 16. Each of the functional units 11 to 16 of the information providing device 10 may be configured in a single device, as exemplified in Figure 2, or may be distributed across multiple devices.

Each of the functional units 11 to 16 of the information providing device 10 is configured to be able to access storage means such as the risk level storage unit 20, the characteristic information storage unit 30, and the correction parameter storage unit 40.

The risk level storage unit 20 is a storage means that stores the risk level for each user's oral disease determined by the risk level determination unit 12. Details of the risk levels will be described later.

The characteristic information storage unit 30 is a storage means for storing the characteristic information of each user acquired by the characteristic information acquisition unit 13. The characteristic information is information indicating the presence or absence or the degree of a user's characteristics or habits that affect the degree of oral disease, and details thereof will be described later.

The correction parameter storage unit 40 is a storage means that stores correction parameters that are pre-associated with the characteristic information. The correction parameters are values that indicate the amount of increase or decrease in the risk level of each oral disease, and will be described in detail later.

The risk level storage unit 20, the characteristic information storage unit 30, and the correction parameter storage unit 40 may be configured within the information providing device 10, or may be configured in another device that is configured to be accessible from the information providing device 10.

The block diagram shown in FIG. 2 shows functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using one device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more devices that are physically or logically separated and directly or indirectly connected (for example, using wires, wirelessly, etc.) and these multiple devices. The functional blocks may be realized by combining the one device or the multiple devices with software.

Functions include, but are not limited to, judgement, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, regard, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs the transmission function is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. As mentioned above, there are no particular limitations on the method of realization for either of these.

For example, the information providing device 10 in one embodiment of the present invention may function as a computer. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information providing device 10 according to this embodiment. The information providing device 10 may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc.

In the following description, the term "apparatus" may be interpreted as a circuit, device, unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the information providing apparatus 10 may be configured to include one or more of the devices shown in FIG. 3, or may be configured to exclude some of the devices.

Each function of the information providing device 10 is realized by loading a specific software (program) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, causing the processor 1001 to perform calculations and control communication via the communication device 1004 and the reading and/or writing of data in the memory 1002 and storage 1003.

The processor 1001, for example, runs an operating system to control the entire computer. The processor 1001 may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic unit, a register, etc. For example, each of the functional units 11 to 16 shown in FIG. 2 may be realized by the processor 1001.

The processor 1001 also reads out programs (program codes), software modules, and data from the storage 1003 and/or the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002, and executes various processes according to these. The programs used are those that cause a computer to execute at least some of the operations described in the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, the functional units 11 to 16 of the information providing device 10 may be realized by a control program stored in the memory 1002 and operated by the processor 1001. Although the above-mentioned various processes have been described as being executed by one processor 1001, they may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented in one or more chips. The programs may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunications line.

The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc. The memory 1002 may also be called a register, a cache, a main memory (primary storage device), etc. The memory 1002 can store executable programs (program codes), software modules, etc. for implementing an information providing method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be, for example, at least one of an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, and the like. Storage 1003 may also be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The above-mentioned storage medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other suitable medium including memory 1002 and/or storage 1003.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmitting/receiving device) for communicating between computers via a wired and/or wireless network, and is also referred to as, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, a communication module, etc.

The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that accepts input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that performs output to the outside. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one configuration (e.g., a touch panel).

In addition, each device, such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured as a single bus, or may be configured as different buses between the devices.

In addition, the information providing device 10 may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented by at least one of these pieces of hardware.

Next, each functional unit of the information providing device 10 will be described. The image acquisition unit 11 acquires an image of the user's oral cavity. Specifically, the image acquisition unit 11 acquires an image of the oral cavity captured by, for example, the user's terminal T and transmitted from the user's terminal T. The oral cavity image may be a still image or a video. For example, a still image may be used to determine the risk level of dental caries, periodontal disease, oral cancer, etc. For example, a video showing chewing movements and jaw opening movements may be used to determine the risk level of temporomandibular joint disorder.

The risk level determination unit 12 determines the risk level of each user's oral disease based on the oral image acquired by the image acquisition unit 11. The risk level determination unit 12 may determine the risk level using well-known techniques and analysis methods. Specifically, the risk level determination unit 12 may determine the risk level using a determination model including a neural network. That is, the risk level determination unit 12 can obtain the risk level by inputting the user's oral image into a determination model constructed by machine learning using learning data consisting of pairs of oral images and correct labels indicating the names of oral diseases and the severity (risk level) of the diseases. The types of oral diseases for which the risk level is determined include, for example, caries, periodontal disease, temporomandibular joint disorder, and oral cancer, but are not limited to these examples. In addition, the risk level determination unit 12 may determine the risk level of temporomandibular joint disorder using a well-known method based on a video showing the jaw movements of differences in chewing movements.

The risk level determination unit 12 may store the determined risk level in the risk level storage unit 20. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of risk levels stored in the risk level storage unit 20. As shown in FIG. 4, the risk level storage unit 20 stores the risk level for each type of oral disease of each user. In the example of this embodiment, the risk level is expressed in five stages. For example, the risk level of user u01 for periodontal disease is "3", the risk level for temporomandibular joint disorder is "2", and the risk level for oral cancer is "1".

The characteristic information acquisition unit 13 acquires characteristic information. The characteristic information is information that indicates the presence or absence or the degree of a user's characteristics or habits that affect the degree of oral disease.

The characteristic information acquisition unit 13 may acquire characteristic information based on either receiving information about a user's characteristics or habits from a device capable of detecting such information or based on input by the user.

Specifically, for example, in terminal T and other devices, when a user is prompted to input information about the user's characteristics or habits as a questionnaire, the characteristic information acquisition unit 13 can acquire the questionnaire information input by the user as characteristic information.

The characteristic information acquisition unit 13 may also acquire, as characteristic information, characteristics or habits of the user detected by a device owned and held by the user. Specifically, the characteristic information acquisition unit 13 can acquire, as characteristic information, detection information by a sensor mounted on a device owned and held by the user. For example, if the time when the user brushes his/her teeth is detected by a sensor built into an electric toothbrush capable of wireless or wired communication with a computer, the characteristic information acquisition unit 13 can acquire information on the time of brushing teeth from the electric toothbrush via communication via the network N. The sensor built into the electric toothbrush may be, for example, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, or other sensor.

The feature information acquisition unit 13 may also acquire, as feature information, information detected by a sensor (device) such as an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor. The sensor for detecting the feature information may be mounted on a wearable device worn by the user, or may be configured on the terminal T. More specifically, the user's toothbrushing action can be detected by a sensor in a wearable device worn on the user's wrist, and the feature information acquisition unit 13 can acquire the duration of the toothbrushing action as feature information.

In addition, the user's posture can be estimated using known technology using an acceleration sensor, gyro sensor, etc., attached to the user, so that by statistically analyzing posture information of many people who have developed temporomandibular joint disorder, information on postures that people who are prone to developing temporomandibular joint disorder tend to adopt as a habit can be obtained. The characteristic information acquisition unit 13 can acquire information on whether or not the user has a habit of adopting a posture that makes them prone to developing temporomandibular joint disorder from a device equipped with an acceleration sensor, gyro sensor, etc.

The feature information acquisition unit 13 may also acquire information obtained based on image information and location information as feature information. The camera that acquires image information and the GPS device that acquires location information may be mounted on a wearable device worn by the user, or may be configured in the terminal T.

For example, it is possible to detect whether a user has stayed in a smoking area by detecting objects such as cigarettes and ashtrays from image information acquired by a camera and by matching the image with pre-stored images of the smoking area. It is also possible to detect whether a user has stayed in a smoking area by comparing location information acquired by a GPS device or the like with pre-stored location information of the smoking area. The characteristic information acquisition unit 13 can acquire the user's stay in a smoking area as characteristic information indicating the user's smoking habits. Therefore, the characteristic information acquisition unit 13 can acquire the user's habits related to a specific place as characteristic information based on the image information and location information.

Examples of the characteristic information are listed below, but are not limited to these examples. The characteristic information may be acquired by any of sensors such as an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a biogas sensor, a pH sensor, a blood glucose sensor, a camera, and a GPS device. In addition, the characteristic information acquisition unit 13 may acquire information based on metagenomic analysis as the characteristic information.
- Habit of consuming foods with high viscosity, sugar content, or acidity - Habit of using mouthwash - Time to brush teeth - Time elapsed after a meal before brushing teeth - Smoking habits - Drinking habits - Habit of resting chin on hand - Habit of sleeping on stomach - Tendency to look down - Amount of biogenic methane gas (amount of gas released from exhaled air and skin, etc.)
- Presence or absence of diabetes - Presence or absence of biological acetone gas (gas emitted from exhaled breath and skin, etc.)
- Biogenic aldehyde concentration (concentration of gas emitted from breath and skin, etc.)
Meal time, saliva volume, type and amount of bacteria in the mouth (e.g., amount of Streptococcus bacteria in saliva)
・pH of saliva

The characteristic information acquisition unit 13 may store the acquired characteristic information in the characteristic information storage unit 30. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of characteristic information stored in the characteristic information storage unit 30. As shown in FIG. 5, the characteristic information storage unit 30 stores, for each user, values indicating the presence or absence of the user's habits and the user's characteristics, which are predefined as items of characteristic information.

For example, the characteristic information storage unit 30 stores characteristic information indicating that the user u01 has a "habit of consuming foods with high viscosity, sugar content, and acidity," a "habit of using mouthwash," and a "habit of resting one's chin on one's hand." The characteristic information storage unit 30 also stores characteristic information indicating that the "toothbrushing time" of the user u01 is "4 minutes." The toothbrushing time may be the average time for toothbrushing over a predetermined period (e.g., the week prior to the present).

The risk level correction unit 14 corrects the risk level based on a correction parameter that is previously associated with the characteristic information. The correction parameter is a value that indicates the amount by which the risk level of the oral disease of the user is increased or decreased when the user has characteristic information associated with the correction parameter.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of correction parameters stored in the correction parameter storage unit 40. As shown in Figure 6, the correction parameter storage unit 40 stores correction parameters indicating correction values associated with characteristic information for each type of oral disease.

For example, one of the correction parameters associated with periodontal disease indicates that if a user has the characteristic information "habit of ingesting foods that are highly viscous, sugary, and acidic," the risk level of the user's periodontal disease is increased by two levels (++). Also, one of the correction parameters associated with periodontal disease indicates that if a user has the characteristic information "habit of using mouthwash," the risk level of the user's periodontal disease is decreased by one level (-).

Furthermore, one of the correction parameters associated with periodontal disease indicates that if a user has the characteristic information "tooth brushing time (long)", the risk level of periodontal disease of that user is reduced by two levels (- -). The correction parameter storage unit 40 also stores a threshold value for determining whether or not a user has the characteristic information associated with the correction parameter. Specifically, when the risk level correction unit 14 acquires as characteristic information that a certain user's tooth brushing time is "5 minutes or more", it determines that the user has the characteristic information "tooth brushing time (long)".

As described below, the correction parameters can be updated and customized for each user, so the example shown in FIG. 6 is an example of correction parameters for one user.

Next, a specific example of risk level correction will be described with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a corrected risk level. As shown in FIG. 4, the risk level of user u01 for periodontal disease is determined to be "3" by the risk level determination unit 12. The risk level correction unit 14 refers to the characteristic information storage unit 30 (see FIG. 5) and acquires, as characteristic information related to the correction of the risk level of periodontal disease, that user u01 has a "habit of ingesting foods with high viscosity, sugar content, and acidity" and a "habit of using mouthwash", and that the tooth brushing time is "4 minutes".

The risk level correction unit 14 refers to the correction parameter storage unit 40 to obtain a correction value "++ (two-level increase)" associated with "habit of consuming foods with high viscosity, sugar content, and acidity" and a correction value "- (one-level decrease)" associated with "habit of using mouthwash." Note that the toothbrushing time of user u01 is "4 minutes," which does not satisfy the threshold value for toothbrushing time, so a correction value associated with toothbrushing time is not obtained.

The risk level correction unit 14 applies the two correction values obtained, "++ (increase by two levels)" and "- (decrease by one level)," to the pre-correction periodontal disease risk level of "3" to calculate a corrected risk level of "4," and stores the corrected risk level in the risk level memory unit 20, as shown in FIG. 7.

As shown in FIG. 4, the risk level of temporomandibular joint disorder of user u02 is determined to be "3" by the risk level determination unit 12. The risk level correction unit 14 refers to the characteristic information storage unit 30 (see FIG. 5) and acquires that user u02 has "resting chin on hand" and "sleeping on stomach" as characteristic information related to the correction of the risk level of temporomandibular joint disorder.

The risk level correction unit 14 refers to the correction parameter storage unit 40 to obtain the correction value "+ (increase by one level)" associated with "resting chin on hands" and the correction value "+ (increase by one level)" associated with "sleeping on stomach".

The risk level correction unit 14 applies the two correction values "+(increase by 1 step" and "+(increase by 1 step" obtained to the pre-correction risk level of temporomandibular joint disorder of "3" to calculate a post-correction risk level of "5", and stores the post-correction risk level in the risk level storage unit 20 as shown in FIG. 7.

Referring again to FIG. 2 along with FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the update of the correction parameters will be described. As described above, the characteristic information may be information indicating the degree of a user's characteristics or habits. In such a case, when the characteristic information exceeds a predetermined threshold set in advance, the risk level correction unit 14 may decrease or increase the risk level of the corresponding oral disease according to the correction parameters.

Regarding such correction parameters that stipulate that the risk level is corrected when the characteristic information exceeds a predetermined threshold, the correction parameter update unit 15 may change the predetermined threshold that is the standard for increasing or decreasing the risk level regarding the characteristic information based on the degree of the user's characteristics or habits indicated in the characteristic information during a predetermined period.

Specifically, when the risk level for one of a plurality of oral diseases during a predetermined period is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the correction parameter update unit 15 may change a predetermined threshold value that is the standard for reducing the risk level for the characteristic information based on the degree of the user's characteristics or habits indicated in the characteristic information during the predetermined period.

Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of learning data consisting of characteristic information and risk levels of user u01 for a specified period, accumulated for updating the correction parameters. That is, the learning data shown in Figure 8 is an excerpt of the characteristic information stored in the characteristic information storage unit 30 and the risk level stored in the risk level storage unit 20. As shown in Figure 8, the risk level of user u01 for periodontal disease is a specified value of 1 or less for a specified period of one month from January 1 to January 31. In addition, the tooth brushing time as characteristic information is about 3 minutes or less for all days in this month. In such a case, the correction parameter update unit 15 changes the threshold value "5 minutes or more" for the correction parameter (see Figure 6) that specifies that the risk level is reduced by two steps ("--") when the "tooth brushing time" is "5 minutes or more" to "3 minutes or more" based on the fact that the tooth brushing time for the specified period was about 3 minutes or less.

Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of updated correction parameters. As shown in Figure 9, the correction parameter update unit 15 changes the threshold value for the characteristic information "tooth brushing time (long)" in the correction parameters of user u01 to "3 minutes or more" and stores the changed threshold value in the correction parameter storage unit 40.

In addition to the examples described with reference to Figures 8 and 9, the correction parameter update unit 15 may change a predetermined threshold value that is the standard for increasing the risk level for the characteristic information when the risk level for one of multiple oral diseases in a predetermined period is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, based on the degree of the user's characteristics or habits indicated in the characteristic information in the predetermined period.

In other words, although the following example is not shown, in a specified period, such as one month, if the risk level of user u01 with respect to periodontal disease is a specified value of 4 or more, and the tooth brushing time as characteristic information is on the order of 4 minutes or more on all days in the specified period, the correction parameter update unit 15 may change the threshold value "less than 2 minutes" for the correction parameter that specifies that the risk level is to be increased by two levels ("++") when the "tooth brushing time" is "less than 2 minutes" to "less than 4 minutes" based on the fact that the tooth brushing time in the specified period was on the order of 4 minutes or more.

The correction parameter update unit 15 functioning in this manner makes it possible to appropriately change the threshold value for determining whether or not a risk level needs to be corrected using the correction parameters in accordance with the user's actual situation, such as the degree of the user's characteristics or habits and the transition of the risk level over a specified period of time.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the output unit 16 outputs a corrected risk level, which is the risk level corrected by the risk level correction unit 14. The manner of output is not limited, but the output unit 16 may display the corrected risk level on a display device of the terminal T, or may store the corrected risk level in a predetermined storage means.

Figure 10 is a flowchart showing the processing steps of the information provision method in the information provision device 10.

In step S1, the image acquisition unit 11 acquires an image of the user's oral cavity. For example, the image acquisition unit 11 may acquire an image of the oral cavity captured by the user's terminal T and transmitted from the user's terminal T.

In step S2, the risk level determination unit 12 determines the risk level of each user for each oral disease based on the oral cavity image acquired in step S1.

In step S3, the risk level correction unit 14 acquires characteristic information of the user to be judged, for example, by referring to the characteristic information storage unit 30.

In step S4, the risk level correction unit 14 determines whether the acquired characteristic information corresponds to characteristic information associated with a correction parameter as a condition for correcting the risk level. If it is determined that the acquired characteristic information corresponds to characteristic information associated with the correction parameter, the process proceeds to step S5. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the acquired characteristic information corresponds to characteristic information associated with the correction parameter, the process proceeds to step S6.

In step S5, the risk level correction unit 14 corrects the risk level of the oral disease. Specifically, the risk level correction unit 14 corrects the risk level of the corresponding oral disease based on the correction parameter that is determined to correspond to the characteristic information in step S4.

On the other hand, in step S6, the risk level correction unit 14 does not correct the risk level.

In step S7, the output unit 16 outputs the corrected risk level corrected by the risk level correction unit 14 or the uncorrected risk level.

Next, we will explain the information provision program for causing a computer to function as the information provision device 10 of this embodiment. Figure 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision program.

The information provision program P1 is configured to include a main module m10 that provides overall control over the information provision processing in the information provision device 10, an image acquisition module m11, a risk level determination module m12, a characteristic information acquisition module m13, a risk level correction module m14, a correction parameter update module m15, and an output module m16. The modules m11 to m16 realize the functions of the image acquisition unit 11, the risk level determination unit 12, the characteristic information acquisition unit 13, the risk level correction unit 14, the correction parameter update unit 15, and the output unit 16.

The information provision program P1 may be transmitted via a transmission medium such as a communication line, or may be stored in a recording medium M1 as shown in FIG. 11.

In the information provision device 10, information provision method, and information provision program P1 of the present embodiment described above, the risk level of oral disease determined based on the oral image is corrected based on the characteristic information. The characteristic information is information obtained separately from the oral image and indicates the user's characteristics or habits that affect the degree of oral disease, making it possible to improve the accuracy of the risk level based on the oral image.

In another embodiment, the information providing device may further include a feature information acquisition unit that acquires feature information based on at least one of receiving information about a user's characteristics or habits from a device capable of detecting the information, and input by the user.

According to the above embodiment, it is possible to obtain characteristic information that is useful for improving the accuracy of the risk level.

In another embodiment of the information providing device, the characteristic information acquisition unit may receive information about the user's characteristics or habits from at least one of an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a sensor built into an electric toothbrush capable of communicating information, a biogas sensor, a pH sensor, a blood glucose sensor, a camera, and a GPS device.

According to the above embodiment, feature information that is useful for improving accuracy can be easily obtained without the user's intention.

In another embodiment of the information providing device, the characteristic information may include at least one of the following: whether or not the subject has a habit of ingesting foods with high viscosity, sugar content, or acidity, whether or not the subject has a habit of using mouthwash, time spent brushing teeth, time elapsed until brushing teeth after a meal, whether or not the subject has a habit of smoking, whether or not the subject has a habit of drinking alcohol, whether or not the subject has a habit of resting his or her chin on his or her hand, whether or not the subject has a habit of sleeping on his or her stomach, whether or not the subject has a tendency to look down, the amount of biogenic methane gas, whether or not the subject has diabetes, whether or not the subject has biogenic acetone gas, the concentration of biogenic aldehydes, meal times, amount of saliva, type and amount of bacteria in the oral cavity, pH of saliva, and information based on metagenomic analysis.

According to the above embodiment, various information that may affect the risk level can be used to correct the risk level.

In another embodiment, the information providing device may further include a correction parameter update unit, and when the characteristic information is information indicating the degree of a user's characteristic or habit, the risk level correction unit may decrease or increase the corresponding risk level according to the correction parameter when the characteristic information exceeds a predetermined threshold value set in advance, and the correction parameter update unit may change the predetermined threshold value that is the standard for decreasing the risk level for the characteristic information when the risk level for one of the multiple oral diseases in a predetermined period is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, based on the degree of the user's characteristic or habit indicated in the characteristic information in the predetermined period, and may change the predetermined threshold value that is the standard for increasing the risk level for the characteristic information when the risk level for one oral disease in a predetermined period is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, based on the degree of the user's characteristic or habit indicated in the characteristic information in the predetermined period.

According to the above embodiment, it is possible to appropriately change the threshold value for determining whether or not the risk level needs to be corrected using the correction parameters in accordance with the actual situation of the user, such as the degree of the user's characteristics or habits and the transition of the risk level over a specified period of time.

Although the present embodiment has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present embodiment is not limited to the embodiment described in this specification. The present embodiment can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description in this specification is intended as an illustrative example and does not have any restrictive meaning with respect to the present embodiment.

Each aspect/embodiment described herein may be applied to systems utilizing LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G, 5G, FRA (Future Radio Access), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other suitable systems and/or next generation systems enhanced based thereon.

The steps, sequences, flow charts, etc. of each aspect/embodiment described herein may be reordered unless inconsistent. For example, the methods described herein present elements of various steps in an example order and are not limited to the particular order presented.

The input and output information may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or may be managed in a management table. The input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or added to. The output information may be deleted. The input information may be sent to another device.

The determination may be based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean (true or false) value, or a numerical comparison (e.g., with a predetermined value).

Each aspect/embodiment described in this specification may be used alone, in combination, or switched depending on the execution. In addition, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is the case") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may be done implicitly (e.g., not notifying the specific information).

Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended as an illustrative example and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure.

Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

Software, instructions, etc. may also be transmitted and received over a transmission medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired technologies, such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, and digital subscriber line (DSL), and/or wireless technologies, such as infrared, radio, and microwave, these wired and/or wireless technologies are included within the definition of a transmission medium.

The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

In addition, terms explained in this disclosure and/or terms necessary for understanding this specification may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings.

As used herein, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

In addition, the information, parameters, etc. described in this specification may be expressed as absolute values, as relative values from a predetermined value, or as corresponding other information.

As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiring (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like. Additionally, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc., to have been "judged" or "decided." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering some action to have been "judged" or "decided." Additionally, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

When designations such as "first," "second," and the like are used herein, any reference to that element is not intended to generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used herein as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed therein or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

To the extent that the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are used herein in the specification or claims, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Further, the term "or" as used herein is not intended to be an exclusive or.

In this specification, multiple devices are included unless the context or technical basis clearly indicates that only one device exists.

Throughout this disclosure, the plural is intended to be included unless the context clearly indicates the singular.

1...information provision system, 10...information provision device, 11...image acquisition unit, 12...risk level determination unit, 13...characteristic information acquisition unit, 14...risk level correction unit, 15...correction parameter update unit, 16...output unit, 20...risk level storage unit, 30...characteristic information storage unit, 40...correction parameter storage unit, M1...recording medium, m10...main module, m11...image acquisition module, m12...risk level determination module, m13...characteristic information acquisition module, m14...risk level correction module, m15...correction parameter update module, m16...output module, P1...information provision program, T...terminal.

Claims (5)

An information providing device that provides information regarding a degree of risk of oral disease of a user,
a risk level correction unit that corrects a risk level indicating the degree of a predetermined oral disease determined based on an image of the user's oral cavity based on a correction parameter that is preliminarily associated with feature information and defined for each oral disease, the feature information indicating the presence or absence or degree of a user's characteristic or habit that affects the degree of the oral disease, and the correction parameter is a value indicating an amount by which the risk level of the user's oral disease is increased or decreased when the user has the feature information associated with the correction parameter;
an output unit that outputs a corrected risk level, which is the corrected risk level;
An information providing device comprising: and a feature information acquisition unit that acquires the feature information based on at least one of receiving information about the user's characteristics or habits from a device capable of detecting the information and an input by the user.
2. The information providing device according to claim 1. The characteristic information acquisition unit receives information regarding the characteristics or habits of the user from at least one of an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a sensor built into an electric toothbrush capable of communicating information, a biogas sensor, a pH sensor, a blood glucose sensor, a camera, and a GPS device.
3. The information providing device according to claim 2. The characteristic information includes at least one of information indicating whether or not the subject has a habit of ingesting foods with high viscosity, sugar content, or acidity, whether or not the subject has a habit of using mouthwash, time spent brushing teeth, time elapsed until brushing teeth after a meal, whether or not the subject has a habit of smoking, whether or not the subject has a habit of drinking alcohol, whether or not the subject has a habit of resting his or her chin on his or her hand, whether or not the subject has a habit of sleeping on his or her stomach, whether or not the subject has a tendency to look down, the amount of biogenic methane gas, whether or not the subject has diabetes, whether or not the subject has biogenic acetone gas, the concentration of biogenic aldehydes, meal times, amount of saliva, type and amount of bacteria in the oral cavity, pH of saliva, and information based on metagenomic analysis.
4. The information providing device according to claim 1. A correction parameter update unit is further provided,
When the feature information is information indicating a degree of a characteristic or habit of a user, the risk level correction unit decreases or increases the corresponding risk level in accordance with the correction parameter when the feature information exceeds a predetermined threshold set in advance;
The correction parameter update unit
When the risk level for one oral disease among a plurality of oral diseases is equal to or lower than a predetermined value during a predetermined period, a predetermined threshold serving as a criterion for reducing the risk level for the characteristic information is changed based on a degree of a characteristic or habit of the user indicated in the characteristic information during the predetermined period;
When the risk level of the one oral disease during the predetermined period is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, a predetermined threshold serving as a criterion for increasing the risk level regarding the characteristic information is changed based on the degree of the user's characteristics or habits indicated in the characteristic information during the predetermined period.
The information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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