JPH02172455A - Method and device of detecting pain sensation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable automatic detection of a pain sensation at an deceased part by a method wherein through detection of acceleration of movement of an electromuscle and a body due to uncomfortable feeling, only when the timings of both an electromuscle and an acceleration output coincide with each other, a pain sensation detecting signal is outputted. CONSTITUTION:An electromuscle signal detected as the one input is fed to an electromuscle comparator 130, and an electromuscle reference voltage is fed as the other input thereto. When the electromuscle signal is higher than the electromuscle reference voltage, an electromuscle output is outputted because of an electromuscle being detected. An acceleration signal detected as the one input is fed to an acceleration comparator 230 and an acceleration reference voltage as the other input is fed thereto. When the acceleration signal is higher than the acceleration reference voltage, an acceleration output is outputted because of acceleration being detected. An electromuscle output from the electromuscle comparator 130 and an acceleration output from the acceleration comparator 230 are fed to a logic computing circuit 300. Only when the timings of both the electromuscle output and the acceleration output coincide with each other, it is decided that movement of electromuscle and a body due to pain is produced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method of detecting pain sensation for treatment by applying electrical or mechanical stimulation to a living body, and an apparatus for carrying out the method. .

(Prior Art) Conventionally, there have been treatment devices that provide electrical stimulation to a living body to relieve and treat pain, stiff shoulders, and other discomfort, or mechanical stimulation that is applied to a living body using rollers or the like. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Treatment devices that alleviate or treat pain, stiff shoulders, and other discomforts are in practical use. All of these treatment devices are equipped with a control unit configured with a computer or the like to apply electrical or mechanical stimulation to the affected area of the patient, and this control unit applies appropriate electrical stimulation signals to the affected area from the electrodes, or , a method is adopted in which a control unit drives a roller at an appropriate intensity to apply mechanical stimulation to the affected area.

In this way, even with conventional techniques, it is possible to appropriately apply electrical or mechanical stimulation to the affected area, adjusting the intensity as the case may be.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in the conventional method, when a patient feels pain or other discomfort, it is difficult to appropriately apply a stimulation signal to the location where the pain or discomfort occurs, that is, the affected area. The patient himself/herself selects the affected area using the stimulus selection button or dial and gives a command to the control unit to specify the affected area. Because it was necessary to give a large stimulus, it was difficult for the patient.
Correctly selecting and specifying the affected area is a very troublesome operation.

Therefore, the inventor of this application conducted various studies and focused on the fact that when pain or the like occurs, action potentials, or myoelectricity, are generated in the nerve muscles, and the body also moves in response to this pain. have discovered that by detecting pain sensation, it is possible to automatically detect areas experiencing pain, stiffness, and/or other discomfort.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pain detection method and drawing that allow automatic selection of the location where discomfort such as pain occurs instead of manual selection by the patient. There is a particular thing.

(Means for Solving the Problem) In order to achieve this objective, according to the pain detection method according to the present invention, a myoelectric signal and an acceleration signal due to the movement of a living body are detected,
The present invention is characterized in that when the timing of these detected power saving and acceleration signals is met, a pain sensation is detected and a pain detection signal for applying electrical or mechanical stimulation is generated.

Furthermore, according to the pain detection device according to the present invention, the myoelectric detection section includes a myoelectric detection electrode, a myoelectric detection circuit, and a myoelectric comparator, an acceleration sensor, an acceleration detection circuit, and an acceleration comparator. and an AND signal of the myoelectric output from the myoelectric comparator and the acceleration output from the acceleration comparator as a pain detection signal for giving an electrical or mechanical stimulation signal, It is characterized by comprising a logical operation circuit that outputs.

(Operation) According to the method and device of the present invention, myoelectricity is generated when pain occurs in a living body, so a myoelectricity detection section is provided to detect the generated myoelectricity and obtain a myoelectricity detection signal. . On the other hand, when pain occurs, the body usually moves and acceleration is generated, so an acceleration detection section is provided to detect the acceleration of the body movement and obtain an acceleration signal. Since the configuration is such that a logical operation circuit detects when the timings of both signals match, it can be confirmed with certainty that pain sensation has occurred in the affected area.
It is possible to detect this. By installing myoelectricity detection electrodes and acceleration sensors at required locations on the body, it is possible to specify the affected area II where the sensation of pain is detected.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the pain detection method and device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the pain detection device of the present invention for detecting pain.

First, in this invention, a myoelectricity detection section 100 for detecting the occurrence of myoelectricity, an acceleration detection section 200 for detecting body movement, and a logic for outputting a pain detection signal based on coincidence with a rain detection signal. An arithmetic circuit 300 is provided.

In this embodiment, the myoelectric detection section 100 is replaced by the myoelectric detection electrode 11.
0. It is composed of a myoelectric detection circuit 120 and a myoelectric comparator 130. The myoelectricity detection electrode 110 is attached to a predetermined affected area and detects myoelectricity, that is, neuromuscular action potential, as a voltage signal. In this embodiment, the myoelectrical detection circuit 120 includes:
Pre-amplifier 122 amplifies the myoelectric signal from electrode 110
and a filter 124 for removing mainly commercial 50 and 60 Hz signals and signals of 100 Hz or more as noise from the signal from this preamplifier 122, and the absolute value of the myoelectric signal obtained through this filter 124. The absolute value amplifier 126 amplifies and outputs the amplified signal to the myoelectric comparator 130. The myoelectric comparator +30 is supplied with the detected myoelectric signal as one input, and is supplied with the myoelectric reference voltage as the other input, so that the myoelectric signal is larger than the myoelectric reference voltage. It is assumed that myoelectricity is detected when , and a myoelectricity output is output.

This myoelectric reference voltage can be determined in advance through experience,
It is possible to store this in advance in an appropriate reference voltage setting means E1 or in a memory (not shown) provided in the control unit of the treatment apparatus, and to read and provide the same.

Myoelectric detection electrode 110 and preamplifier 122 described here
, filter 124, absolute amplifier 126, myoelectric comparator 13
0 and each component of the reference voltage setting means E1 can be constructed easily and simply using conventional techniques, and the circuit configuration can be any suitable configuration depending on the design. .

Incidentally, this myoelectric signal may be generated not only when a person is feeling neuromuscular pain, but also when the person is not feeling neuromuscular pain, that is, even when the person is unconscious. It is necessary to remove such myoelectric signals generated during unconsciousness.

Therefore, in this invention, we focus on the fact that movement occurs in the body when we feel pain, and detect the acceleration caused by this movement of the body. For example, it can be concluded that this is pain sensation based on action potentials caused by discomfort such as neuromuscular pain.

Therefore, in this invention, an acceleration detection section 200 is provided. In this embodiment, the acceleration detection section 200 includes an acceleration sensor 210, an acceleration detection circuit 220, and an acceleration comparator 2.
30.

The acceleration sensor 210 is attached to a predetermined affected area, preferably between or near the myoelectric detection electrodes 110, and detects the main body movements caused by neuromuscular pain, stiff shoulders, or other discomfort. is detected and outputs an acceleration signal as a voltage signal.

Acceleration detection circuit 220, in this example, connects electrode 210
a preamplifier 222 for amplifying the acceleration signal from the preamplifier 222; a filter 224 for removing mainly commercial 50 and 60Hz signals and signals of 100Hz or more as noise from the amplified acceleration signal from the preamplifier 222; an absolute value amplifier 2 that amplifies the absolute value of the acceleration signal obtained through the filter 224 and outputs it to the acceleration comparator 230;
26. The acceleration comparator 230 is supplied with this detected acceleration signal as one input thereof, and is supplied with an acceleration reference voltage as its other input, and when the acceleration signal is greater than this acceleration reference voltage, Outputs acceleration output as if acceleration has been detected. This acceleration reference voltage can be determined in advance by experience,
It is possible to store this in advance in an appropriate reference voltage setting means E2 or in a memory (not shown) provided in the control unit of the treatment apparatus, and to read it out and provide it.

Acceleration detection electrode 210 and preamplifier 22 described here
2. The filter 224, the absolute value amplifier 226, the acceleration comparator 230, and the reference voltage setting means E2 can be easily and simply constructed using conventional techniques, and the circuit configuration thereof is as follows. Any suitable configuration can be used depending on the design.

Further, in this embodiment, the myoelectric output from the myoelectric comparator 130 of the myoelectric detection unit 100 and the acceleration output from the acceleration comparator 230 of the acceleration detection unit 200 are input to the logic operation circuit 30.
0, and the logic operation circuit 300 outputs an AND signal of these two signals as a pain detection signal for providing an electrical or mechanical stimulation signal. Therefore, only when the timings of both myoelectric output and acceleration output signals match, it is determined that power saving and body movement due to pain are occurring, and the pain detection signal is transmitted to the control unit of the treatment device ( (not shown)
sent to. This logic operation circuit 300 can be constructed simply and easily using conventional techniques, and its circuit configuration can be any suitable configuration depending on the design.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, the pain detection method and pain detection signal of the present invention can reduce power consumption and reduce body movement caused by neuromuscular pain, stiff shoulders, and other discomforts. Since it is configured to detect acceleration and output a pain detection signal only when the timings of both myoelectric output and acceleration output match, it is possible to reliably and automatically detect pain in the affected area. Therefore, according to the present invention, this pain detection signal can be sent to the control unit of the treatment device and used to control the stimulation signal, so that unlike conventional treatment devices, the patient can manually select the location where the pain sensation occurs. This has the advantage that it is possible to automatically select the location where a pain sensation is generated using the pain detection signal, and also to control the size of the stimulus as required, without having to perform any operations.

It is.

00...Myoelectric detection unit, +10...Myoelectric detection electrode 20...Myoelectric detection circuit, +22.222...Preamplifier 24.224...Filter 26.226-...Absolute value Amplifier 30... myoelectric comparator, 210... acceleration sensor 220... acceleration detection circuit, 230... acceleration comparator 300... logical operation circuit E,, E2... reference voltage setting means.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) When performing treatment by applying electrical or mechanical stimulation to a living body, detect myoelectric signals and acceleration signals due to the movement of the living body,
A pain detection method characterized by generating a pain detection signal for applying electrical or mechanical stimulation when a pain sensation is detected at the timing of these detected power saving and acceleration signals. (2) A power saving detecting section comprising a power saving detecting electrode, a power saving detecting circuit, and a power saving comparator; an acceleration detecting section comprising an acceleration sensor, an acceleration detecting circuit, and an acceleration comparator; and the power saving comparator. Pain detection characterized by comprising a logic operation circuit that outputs an AND signal of the power saving output of the power saving output and the acceleration output from the acceleration comparator as a pain detection signal for giving an electrical or mechanical stimulation signal. Device.