JPH03249527A - Bodily temperature measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To speed up temperature measurement and to obtain high sensitivity by receiving secondary infrared rays, radiated again by an ear contact member which balances thermally and speedily with the surface bodily temperature, by an infrared temperature measuring sensor while the infrared rays in the external auditory miatus are sensed by the infrared temperature measuring sensor. CONSTITUTION:A user inserts the ear contact member 16 into the external auditory miatus with a heat defective conductor 14. Consequently, the infrared rays radiated from the skin and eardrum pass through the annular hollow part 20 of the member 16 and reach the infrared temperature measuring sensor 12 immediately. At the same time, the member 16 receives heat conducted from surface bodily temperature by contacting the external auditory miatus and enters a balanced state in a short time since its heat conductivity is good. While the infrared rays penetrate the member 16, the secondary infrared rays from the member 16 are superposed and the sensor 12 generates a temperature measurement output. Thus, the sensor 12 has two functions, i.d. the infrared ray penetrating function of the member 16 and the infrared radiating function by heat conduction to measure the bodily temperature with high sensitivity in a short time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a body temperature measuring device used for measuring various body temperatures in a short period of time, including a woman's basal body temperature and body temperature during surgery.

[Conventional technology]

It is known that infrared temperature measurement is excellent for measuring various temperatures in a short period of time. The infrared temperature measuring section is located away from the object to be measured, captures infrared rays emitted from the object, and measures the temperature without contact.

However, when the object to be measured is a human body with a surface temperature distribution, it is difficult to determine the measurement point to measure the temperature (body temperature) using the principle of infrared thermometry. In addition, conventional electronic thermometers that use a mercury column or a thermistor have the disadvantage that they take a long time to measure temperature because they bring the temperature measuring part into direct contact with the human body and wait for the temperature measuring part to reach thermal equilibrium. .

(Problem to be solved by the invention) In order to avoid this drawback, the present applicant first inserted the ear canal into the ear canal ostium, which is close to the body temperature deep within the human body and has high reproducibility, to receive infrared rays emitted from the membrane of the ear canal. discloses a device for measuring body temperature using the principle of infrared thermometry (see Japanese Patent Application No. 1-144.998).

This body temperature measuring device is installed in a thermally insulating case that is inserted into the opening of the external auditory canal, is away from the membrane of the external auditory canal that is the object to be measured, and measures the temperature in a non-contact manner by capturing infrared rays emitted from the membrane of the external auditory canal. It is equipped with a temperature measuring section.

However, the previously disclosed body temperature measuring device is held in an infrared thermometer or a thermally insulating case, and either measures the temperature using infrared rays emitted from the membrane of the external auditory canal, or measures heat transmitted through the thermally insulating case. Also, due to the influence of infrared rays, it takes some time for the infrared thermometer to reach thermal equilibrium, and this has the disadvantage that measurements cannot be carried out in an extremely short period of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to avoid the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a body temperature measuring device that can sense body temperature using an infrared thermometer in a shorter time.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a thermally poor conductor case with a built-in infrared temperature sensor and a thermally poor conductor case that is attached to the tip of the thermally poor conductor case so as to be placed close to the infrared temperature sensor. Body temperature measurement, comprising: an earpiece that contacts the opening of the external auditory canal; the earpiece is made of a metal cylindrical body with a small heat capacity and has an annular hollow part through which infrared radiation penetrates. It provides equipment.

[Effect]

In this way, if a metal earpiece with a small heat capacity is provided at the tip of the infrared temperature sensor or the built-in thermally poor conductor case so as to be placed close to the infrared temperature sensor, the infrared rays in the ear canal can be At the same time, the metal ear piece quickly becomes thermally balanced with the surface body temperature around the external ear opening, and this ear piece immediately reaches the infrared temperature sensor through the annular hollow part that penetrates through it and is sensed. The secondary infrared rays re-radiated from the component reach the infrared temperature sensor in an amount proportional to the body temperature, and the measurement is proportional to the body temperature as the sum of the direct (secondary) infrared rays from the ear canal. Can be done quickly. In addition, since the infrared rays introduced into the earpiece are reflected into the annular hollow part that is the infrared penetrating part inside the ear piece, the same effect can be obtained as if the angle of incidence of the infrared rays entering the infrared temperature sensor was wide. This effect is further superimposed to allow the infrared temperature sensor to operate with high sensitivity.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a body temperature measuring device 10 according to the present invention, and this body temperature measuring device 10 has a built-in infrared temperature sensor 12. and an earpiece 16 that is attached to the tip of the thermally poor conductor case 14 so as to be placed close to the infrared temperature sensor 2 and comes into contact with the external auditory canal opening when measuring body temperature. The thermally poor conductor case 14 is made of a thermal insulator such as plastic.The infrared temperature sensor 12 can be a thermo-sensing element such as a thermocouple, and this temperature-sensing element is sort line 13
is connected to an electronic circuit (not shown), which receives the temperature measurement output from the infrared temperature sensor 12 and displays the measured temperature on a temperature display (also not shown).

The ear member 16 is a cylindrical body 1 made of a metal with good thermal conductivity, small thickness, and low heat capacity, such as aluminum.
It consists of 8. This cylindrical body 18 has an annular hollow part 2 through which infrared rays emitted from the membrane of the external auditory canal penetrate.
0, and the opening at the tip has a rimmed portion 18a that is bent inward to widen the contact surface so as not to cause pain to the ear when inserted into the ear canal opening.

The annular hollow portion 20 has a polished inner surface to enhance the reflection of infrared rays on the inner surface and increase the amount of infrared rays incident on the infrared temperature sensor 12.

In the illustrated embodiment, an environmental temperature correction sensor 22 is provided within the thermally poor conductor case 14 . This environmental temperature correction sensor 22 usually consists of a temperature sensing element such as a thermistor,
This temperature sensing element is connected to the electronic circuit mentioned above via the beam wire 13. This environmental temperature correction sensor 22 is
The temperature measurement speed is slower than that of the infrared temperature sensor 12, and the temperature measurement reference level received by the infrared temperature sensor 12 through the heat-poor conductor case 14 changes gradually depending on the room temperature or the temperature of the hand holding the heat-poor conductor case 14. to correct.

The body temperature measuring device io of the present invention is used when a user holds the thermally poor conductor case 14 and inserts the earpiece 16 into the external auditory canal orifice when measuring the body temperature. When the earpiece 16 is brought into contact with the opening of the ear canal in this manner, infrared rays emitted from the skin of the ear canal and the eardrum pass through the annular hollow part 20 of the earpiece 16 while being reflected, and reach the infrared temperature sensor 12. Reach immediately. At the same time, the ear contact member 16 receives heat conduction from the surface body temperature of the external auditory canal opening when it comes into contact with the external auditory canal, but this ear contact member 16 receives heat from the surface body temperature of the external auditory canal orifice. A state of equilibrium is reached. Therefore, the earpiece 16 can measure the infrared rays by superimposing the infrared rays radiated from the earpiece I6, which is in a state close to the surface temperature of the ear canal opening due to thermal equilibrium, with the penetration of the infrared rays from the skin of the ear canal and the eardrum mentioned above. The temperature sensor 12 outputs the temperature measurement. In this way, the infrared temperature sensor 12 can measure the body temperature in an extremely short period of time by using the two functions of the infrared radiation function of the earpiece 16 and the infrared radiation function by heat conduction.

FIG. 2 shows a temperature measurement characteristic curve of the body temperature measuring device according to the present invention shown in FIG. The output voltage after amplifying the output of the infrared temperature sensor 12 corresponding to the measured temperature by a certain percentage is shown. The curved portion of this temperature measurement characteristic curve at point A is located between the infrared temperature measurement sensor 12, the skin of the external auditory canal,
It shows the output that rises rapidly in response to direct infrared radiation from the eardrum, and the curved portion passing through point B shows the output that rises as it is superimposed on the infrared rays secondarily radiated by the earpiece 16 or the infrared rays directly radiated. . The curved portion passing through this point B is the ear contact member 16
The maximum output value is reached when the temperature rises or thermal equilibrium is reached. The thermally poor conductor case 14 also receives heat from the user's hand holding it and the heat from the earpiece 16, and its temperature gradually rises, causing the temperature of the envelope of the infrared temperature sensor 12 to increase. Rise.

When the infrared temperature sensor 12 is a thermomobile type temperature sensing element, when the temperature of the envelope that connects the cold junction of the thermocouple increases, the output of the infrared temperature sensor 12 decreases. Therefore, the temperature measurement characteristic curve decreases after passing the maximum output point, as shown by curve C in FIG. The environmental temperature correction sensor 22 either senses the environmental temperature and corrects the measured temperature, or its operation is slow, so it does not appear in the temperature measurement characteristic curve of FIG. 2. Therefore, the highest output point in FIG. 2 can be adopted as a value proportional to the body temperature of the person to be measured. As can be seen from Figure 2, this maximum output point is approximately 1 minute after setting the device.
Obtained in 5 seconds. When the earpiece 16 is removed from the ear canal orifice, the temperature will drop as heat is radiated from the thermally poor conductor case 14 and the earpiece I6, or the temperature will drop quickly because the heat radiated from the earpiece 16 is rapid. It is done.

In order to compare the characteristics of the body temperature measuring device MIO of the present invention with other devices, a thermally poor conductor case 1 which has thermal conductivity but does not have an ear contact member with a small heat capacity as shown in FIG.
A body temperature measuring device 20 having a homogeneous ear insertion part 14a extending integrally from the tip of the body temperature measuring device fi
The temperature measurement characteristic curve obtained by No. 20 is shown in FIG. The curve part of this temperature measurement characteristic curve up to the 0 point is the second
As with the curved portion up to point A in the figure, the output rises rapidly due to the infrared rays directly received by the infrared temperature sensor 12 from the ear canal through the hollow part of the ear insertion part 14a. Thereafter, the ear insertion part 14a receives the surface body temperature from the external auditory canal [1] that it comes into contact with, and the temperature gradually rises, and secondary radiation of infrared rays starts from the ear insertion part 14a, and the infrared temperature sensor 12 detects the infrared rays. Either the output increases as shown by E in Fig. 4 by receiving both the primary radiation and the secondary radiation, or the output increases gradually because the ear insertion part 14a is a poor thermal conductor, and the maximum output increases. It takes about 4 to reach the point
It took 0 seconds. Furthermore, when the ear insertion part 14a of the thermally poor conductor case 14 is removed from the external auditory canal opening, the temperature may drop due to heat radiation from the thermally poor conductor case 14 and its ear insertion part 14a, or the ear insertion part 14a may be a thermally poor conductor. Because of this, the heat dissipation from this ear insertion part 14a is slow, and the temperature decreases slowly, causing trouble in repeatedly measuring body temperature.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, as described above, a metal earpiece with a small heat capacity is attached to the tip of the thermally poor conductor case in which the infrared temperature sensor is built, so as to be placed close to the infrared temperature sensor. Therefore, the infrared rays in the ear canal immediately reach and are sensed by the infrared temperature sensor, and at the same time, the earpiece quickly reaches a state of thermal equilibrium with the surface body temperature around the external ear opening. The re-radiated secondary infrared rays reach the infrared temperature sensor in an amount proportional to the body temperature, and are therefore proportional to the body temperature as the sum of the direct infrared rays from the ear canal and the secondary infrared rays from the earpiece. In addition, since the infrared rays introduced into the infrared penetrating part inside the ear piece enter the infrared rays while reflecting them, the angle of incidence of the infrared rays entering the infrared temperature sensor is wide, and this effect is due to this effect. Furthermore, there is a practical benefit in that the infrared measuring temperature sensor can be operated with high sensitivity by superimposing it.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the main parts of the body temperature measuring device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a line showing the temperature measurement characteristics of the body temperature measuring device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of body temperature for comparison with the present invention. FIG. 4, which is a sectional view of the main part of the measuring device, is a diagram showing the temperature measurement characteristics of the device shown in FIG. 3. 10---- One body temperature measuring device, 12--- Infrared temperature measuring sensor, 14--- One heat defective conductor case, 16----
- Earpiece member, 20 --- Annular hollow part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A thermally poor conductor case with a built-in infrared temperature sensor; and an ear contact member attached to the tip of the thermally poor conductor case so as to be disposed close to the infrared temperature sensor and abutting against the external auditory canal opening when measuring body temperature. A body temperature measuring device, characterized in that the earpiece member is made of a metal cylindrical body having a small heat capacity and having an annular hollow part through which infrared rays penetrate.