JPH05228117A - Medical treatment communication equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the medical treatment communication equipment by which transmission of biological information and bidirectional transmission of a voice can be executed simultaneously through a single communication circuit. CONSTITUTION:A sound signal SV1 of a patient side and an electrocardiogram signal SH are mixed by a mixer 62 and a mixed signal SVH is transmitted through a telephone circuit 16, etc., from a speech network 72, the mixed signal SVH received by a speech network 76 of a doctor side is separated into the sound signal SV1 and the electrocardiogram signal SH by a demultiplexer 78 and a voice shown by the sound signal SV1 is outputted from a loudspeaker 44, and simultaneously, an electrocardiogram shown by the electrocardiogram signal SH is displayed on a host monitor device 46. Subsequently, a sound signal SV2 of the doctor is transmitted through the telephone circuit 16, etc., from the speech network 76, and a voice shown by the sound signal SV2 received by the speech network 72 of the patient side is outputted from a microphone 32.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the transmission of biometric information to a medical staff at a remote place and the conversation between the living body or a caregiver of the living body and the medical staff in a single communication. The present invention relates to a medical communication device that can be simultaneously performed via a line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Medical information is collected from a living body by collecting biological information such as an electrocardiogram, body temperature, blood pressure, and pulse rate and transmitting the information to a medical staff at a place distant from the living body through a telephone line or a wireless line. There has been proposed a medical communication device that allows a person to grasp the condition of a living body and make a medical treatment decision. Such medical communication device,
It plays an extremely important role in the field of emergency medical care that requires urgency and the field of home medical care that monitors many living bodies at home.

[0003]

By the way, in the case of accurately grasping the condition of the living body or requesting the caregiver for a temporary medical treatment in order to urgently need the care of the living body or the living body. It is desirable to enable a conversation between a person and a healthcare professional. However, according to the above-mentioned conventional medical communication device, since it is not possible to simultaneously transmit audio signals,
In order to simultaneously realize the transmission of biometric information and the transmission of voice, it is necessary to independently provide a communication device for bidirectional transmission of voice.

On the other hand, even with a single communication line,
If the transmission of voice is interrupted to transmit biometric information or the transmission of biometric information is interrupted to transmit voice,
It is considered that the transmission of biometric information and the bidirectional transmission of voice can be performed by a single communication line, but in this case, there is a possibility that the condition of the living body and the provisional medical treatment may be delayed in an emergency. Of.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to simultaneously perform transmission of biometric information and bidirectional transmission of voice through a single communication line. It is to provide a medical communication device that can be used.

[0006]

The gist of the present invention for achieving the above object is to provide a medical device of a type in which biological information detected by a biological information sensor mounted on a living body is transmitted to a medical staff. A communication device comprising: (a) a first voice detection device that detects voice from the living body or a caregiver of the living body, a voice signal from the first voice detection device, and a biological signal from the biological information sensor. A signal mixing means for mixing, a first transmitting device for transmitting a mixed signal from the signal mixing means, a first receiving device, and a first transmitting device for transmitting a voice from the medical worker to the living body or a caregiver. A first audio output device for converting an audio signal received by the first receiving device into a sound and outputting the converted audio signal; a first transmitting / receiving device installed on the living body side thereof; and (b) a first receiving device for receiving the mixed signal. 2 receivers, Signal separating means for separating the mixed signal received by the second receiving device into the biological signal and the voice signal, and the biological signal from the signal separating means for transmitting the biological information to the medical staff. A biometric information display device for displaying biometric information, and a second method for converting a voice signal from the signal separating means into a voice and outputting the voice to transmit the voice from the living body or a caregiver to the medical staff.
A voice output device, a second voice detection device for detecting voice from the medical staff, and a voice signal from the second voice detection device via a communication line from the first transmission device to the second reception device. And a second transmitter / receiver for transmitting to the first receiver, and a second transmitter / receiver installed on the side of the medical staff.

[0007]

In the medical communication device having such a configuration, the first
When the voice signal from the voice detecting device and the biological signal from the biological information sensor are mixed by the signal mixing means and the mixed signal from the signal mixing means is transmitted by the first transmitting device, the second receiving device causes The received mixed signal is separated into a biological signal and a voice signal by the signal separating means, and the biological information represented by the biological signal from the signal separating means is displayed on the biological information display device in order to transmit the biological information to the medical staff. At the same time, the voice signal from the signal separation means is output as voice from the second voice output device to transmit the voice from the living body or its caregiver to the medical staff. On the contrary, when the voice signal from the second voice detecting device is transmitted by the second transmitting device, the voice signal is received by the first receiving device via the communication line from the first transmitting device to the second receiving device. In the first voice output device, the received voice signal is converted into voice and output in order to transmit voice from the medical staff to the living body or its caregiver.

[0008]

As a result, the transmission of biometric information and the bidirectional transmission of voice can be performed simultaneously via a single communication line. Therefore, despite the fact that the living body or its caregiver and the medical staff are separated from each other, the medical staff can see the biological information and at the same time have a conversation with each other. It is possible to accurately grasp and to ask the caregiver for temporary medical treatment in an emergency, and it is possible to appropriately prevent the delay of temporary medical treatment by the caregiver while grasping the condition of the living body in an emergency. it can.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a system to which the medical communication device of this embodiment is applied. In the figure, each home 10 and hospital 12 are connected by a telephone line 16 centered on a telephone station 14.

Although not shown, the patient 18 as a living body in the home 10 is equipped with a plurality of electrocardiographic electrodes, and the electrocardiographic monitor device 2 to which the electrocardiographic electrodes are connected.
0 and a recording device 22 for recording an electrocardiogram as biometric information monitored by the electrocardiographic monitoring device 20 are at home 1
It is located within 0. Also, there is a telephone 2 in the house 10.
4 and the transmission / reception device 26 are arranged in the so-called NCU.
Either the telephone set 24 or the transmission / reception device 26 is connected to the telephone line 16 depending on the switching state of the switching device 28 known as. The switching device 28 is always located at a switching position for connecting the telephone set 24 to the telephone line 16, but when a signal from the transmission / reception device 26 or the transmission / reception device 38 is input to the switching device 28, the switching device 28 is turned on. Is disconnected from the telephone line 16 and the transmitting / receiving device 26 is automatically switched to the switching position for connecting to the telephone line 16. The transmitter / receiver 26 includes a microphone 30 and a speaker 3.
2 and is connected to the electrocardiographic monitor device 20.

On the other hand, a telephone 36 and a transmitter / receiver 38 are arranged in the hospital 12, and either the telephone 36 or the transmitter / receiver 38 is connected to the telephone line 16 according to the switching state of the switching device 40. It The switching device 40 is always located in the switching position for connecting the telephone 36 to the telephone line 16, but the transmitting / receiving device 38 or the transmitting / receiving device 26.
When a signal from the telephone is input to the switching device 40, the telephone 36
Is disconnected from the telephone line 16 and the transmitting / receiving device 38 is automatically switched to the switching position for connecting to the telephone line 16. The transceiver 38 is the microphone 4
2 and a speaker 44, and is connected to the host monitor device 46. In FIG. 2, 48 is a caregiver and 50 is a doctor as a medical staff.

Next, the construction of the transmission / reception devices 26 and 38 and the operation of the medical communication device including them will be described with reference to FIG. Note that, in FIG. 1, a portion surrounded by a one-dot chain line shows a configuration of the transmitting / receiving device 26, and a portion surrounded by a two-dot chain line shows a configuration of the transmitting / receiving device 38.

The microphone 30 detects the voice from the caregiver 48 or the patient 18, and outputs the voice signal SV1 representing the voice through the limiter amplifier 56 to the band-pass filter 5.
Supply to 8. This band-pass filter 58 is, for example, 0.
It has a pass frequency band of 3 kHz to 2.1 kHz, and the passed audio signal SV1 is supplied to the mixer 62 via the amplifier 60.

On the other hand, from an electrocardiographic sensor (not shown) as a biological information sensor in the electrocardiographic monitor device 20, an electrocardiographic signal SH representing an electrocardiographic waveform is supplied to the VF converter 66 via the amplifier 64. It The VF converter 66 modulates the electrocardiographic signal SH at a frequency higher than the frequency band of the audio signal SV1, and the modulated electrocardiographic signal SH is band-pass filter 68.
Supply to. The bandpass filter 68 has, for example, 2.5
It has a pass frequency band of kHz to 3.0 kHz, and the passed electrocardiographic signal SH is supplied to the mixer 62 via the amplifier 70.

The mixer 62 mixes the voice signal SV1 and the electrocardiographic signal SH having different frequencies and supplies the mixed signal SVH to the speech network 72. A switching device 28 is connected to the speech network 72 via the telephone line 16 and an amplifier 74
The speaker 32 is connected via the voice network 72, and the caregiver 48 or the patient 18 is connected by the speech network 72.
The voice spoken to the doctor 50 and the voice heard from the doctor 50 are separated so that the voice of the caregiver 48 or the patient 18 is transmitted to the doctor 50 side and the voice of the doctor 50 is transmitted to the patient 18 side. There is.

The mixed signal SVH supplied to the speech network 72 is sent to the hospital 12 side via the switching device 28, the telephone line 16 and the telephone station 14, and is supplied to the speech network 76 via the switching device 40. It
This speech network 76 separates the voice that the doctor 50 hears from the caregiver 48 or patient 18 and the voice that speaks to the caregiver 48 or patient 18, and the voice of the patient 18 is transmitted to the doctor 50 side and the voice of the doctor 50. Is transmitted to the patient 18 side. Speech network 76
The mixed signal SVH is supplied to the demultiplexer 78. The demultiplexer 78 is for separating the mixed signal SVH into a signal including the voice signal SV1 and a signal including the electrocardiographic signal SH at a predetermined frequency as a boundary, and includes the separated voice signal SV1. A signal is provided to bandpass filter 80 and a signal including electrocardiographic signal SH is provided to bandpass filter 82.

The bandpass filter 80 has a pass frequency band similar to that of the bandpass filter 58 (for example, 0.3 kHz to
The audio signal SV1 having a frequency of 2.1 kHz) is supplied to the speaker 44 via the amplifier 84.
As a result, the voice signal SV1 is converted into voice in the speaker 44, and the voice from the patient 18 is output. The bandpass filter 82 has a pass frequency band similar to that of the bandpass filter 68 (for example, 2.5 kHz to 3.0 kHz).
Hz), and supplies the passed electrocardiographic signal SH to the FV converter 88 via the amplifier 86. This F-V converter 88 has the modulated electrocardiographic signal S.
H is demodulated, and the demodulated electrocardiographic signal SH is supplied to the host monitor device 46 via the DC amplifier 90. This allows
The electrocardiographic waveform represented by the electrocardiographic signal SH is displayed on the display screen of the host monitor device 46.

The microphone 42 detects the voice from the doctor 50 and supplies the voice signal SV2 representing the voice to the bandpass filter 94 via the limiter amplifier 92. The bandpass filter 94 has, for example, 0.3 kHz to 3.0 kHz.
The audio signal SV2 that has passed through is supplied to the speech network 76 via the amplifier 96. As a result, the voice signal SV2 from the speech network 76 is supplied to the speaker 32 of the home 10 via the switching device 40, the telephone line 16, the telephone station 14, the switching device 28, the speech network 72, and the amplifier 74, The speaker 32 converts the audio signal SV2 into audio and outputs audio from the doctor 50.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the transmitting / receiving device 26 corresponds to the first transmitting / receiving device, the microphone 30 is the first voice detecting device, the mixer 62 is the signal mixing means, and the speech network 72 is the speech network 72. The speaker 32 is the first transmitter and the first receiver.
Each of the audio output devices is configured. Further, the transmitter / receiver 38 and the host monitor 46 correspond to a second transmitter / receiver, the speech network 76 serves as a second receiver and a second transmitter, the demultiplexer 78 serves as a signal separating means, and the host monitor. The device 46 constitutes a biological information display device, the speaker 44 constitutes a second voice output device, and the microphone 42 constitutes a second voice detection device. The telephone line 16 constitutes a communication line.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the sound signal SV1 from the microphone 30 on the patient 18 side and the electrocardiographic signal SH from the electrocardiographic monitor device 20 are mixed by the mixer 62, and the mixer 62 outputs the mixed signal. When the mixed signal SVH is transmitted by the speech network 72 via the telephone line 16 or the like, the mixed signal SVH received by the speech network 76 on the hospital 12 side is divided by the demultiplexer 78 into a signal including the voice signal SV1 and the ECG. When the voice signal SV1 separated into the signal including the signal SH and passed through the bandpass filter 80 is converted into the voice from the speaker 44 and is output, the voice of the caregiver 48 or the patient 18 is transmitted to the doctor 50. At the same time, the electrocardiographic signal SH that has passed through the bandpass filter 82 is output from the host monitor device 46 so that the electrocardiographic monitor device ECG patient 18 detected by 20 is transferred to the original doctor 50. On the contrary, when the voice signal SV2 from the microphone 42 on the doctor 50 side is transmitted by the speech network 76 via the telephone line 16 or the like, the voice signal SV2 received by the speech network 72 on the patient 18 side is output from the speaker 32. The voice from the doctor 50 is transmitted to the caregiver 48 or the patient 18 by being converted into and output. This allows
Transmission of an electrocardiogram as biometric information and bidirectional transmission of voice between the caregiver 48 or the patient 18 and the doctor 50 can be performed simultaneously via the single telephone line 16. Therefore, although the caregiver 48 or the patient 18 and the doctor 50 are separated from each other, the doctor 50 can see the electrocardiogram of the patient 18 and can talk to each other at the same time. The condition can be accurately grasped, and the caregiver 48 can be requested to perform a temporary medical treatment in an emergency, and the patient 18 in an emergency can be requested.
It is possible to preferably prevent the delay in grasping the condition of the patient and provisional medical treatment.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the drawings, the present invention can be applied to other modes.

For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the electrocardiogram is detected and transmitted as the biometric information, but in addition to or in addition to this, the biometric information such as blood pressure, pulse rate, body temperature, blood oxygen saturation, and blood glucose level is obtained. At least one of the information may be detected and transmitted.

In the above embodiment, the case where the medical communication device of the present invention is used between the home 10 and the hospital 12 in the field of home medical care has been described. In addition, it can be used between the office and the hospital in a regular health checkup performed at the office or the like, or can be used between the ambulance and the hospital via a wireless line. When used between the latter ambulance and a hospital, the paramedic of the ambulance corresponds to the caregiver.

In the above embodiment, the first transmitting device and the first receiving device are both configured by the speech network 72, and the second receiving device and the second transmitting device are both configured by the speech network 76. However, when a wireless line is used as the communication line, the first transmitting device and the first receiving device are provided separately, and the second receiving device and the second transmitting device are provided separately.

Further, in the above embodiment, it is also possible to omit the demultiplexer 78 and configure the signal separating means by the bandpass filters 80 and 82.

In the above embodiment, the signal mixing means is composed of the mixer 62 which simply mixes the voice signal SVI and the electrocardiographic signal SH having different frequencies, and the signal separating means separates the predetermined frequency from each other. Although it is configured by the demultiplexer 78 that separates the audio signal SVI and the electrocardiographic signal SH from each other, it is not always necessary. For example, the signal mixing means may separate the audio signal SVI and the electrocardiographic signal SH from each other. The time-compressed audio signal SVI and the electrocardiographic signal SH may be extracted from the multiplexed signal by mixing the signals by time-compressing and time-division multiplexing. The audio signal SVI and the electrocardiographic signal SH may be returned to the original audio signal SVI by time extension.

Further, in the above embodiment, in response to the emergency call operation of the patient 18 or the caregiver 48, the electrocardiogram may be transmitted to the doctor 50 together with the emergency call.

Further, in the above embodiment, the biometric information is transmitted to the doctor 50, but it may be transmitted to other medical staff other than the doctor, such as a nurse.

The above description is merely one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the spirit thereof.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of the medical communication device in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a system to which a medical communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of sign]

16 telephone line (communication line) 18 patient (living body) 20 electrocardiographic monitor device 26 transceiver device (first transceiver device) 30 microphone (first voice detection device) 32 speaker (first voice output device) {38 transceiver device, 46 Host monitor device (biological information display device)} Second transmission / reception device 42 Microphone (second sound detection device) 44 Speaker (second sound output device) 48 Caregiver 50 Doctor (medical worker) 62 Mixer (signal mixing means) 72 speech network (first transmitting device, first receiving device) 76 speech network (second receiving device, second transmitting device) 78 demultiplexer (signal separating means)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A medical communication device of a type for transmitting biometric information detected by a biometric sensor attached to a living body to a medical staff, which detects voice from the living body or a caregiver of the living body. A first voice detection device, a signal mixing means for mixing a voice signal from the first voice detection device and a biological signal from the biological information sensor, and a first transmitting device for transmitting the mixed signal from the signal mixing means. A first receiving device, and a first voice output device for converting a voice signal received by the first receiving device into a voice and outputting the voice to transmit the voice from the medical staff to the living body or a caregiver. A first transmitting / receiving device installed on the living body side, a second receiving device for receiving the mixed signal, and a mixed signal received by the second receiving device separated into the biological signal and the audio signal. Signal separation hand to And a biometric information display device for displaying biometric information represented by a biometric signal from the signal separating means for transmitting the biometric information to the medical staff, and a voice from the biometric or caregiver to the medical staff. A second voice output device for converting the voice signal from the signal separating means into a voice for output and outputting the voice, a second voice detecting device for detecting the voice from the medical staff, and the second voice detecting device. A second transmitting device for transmitting a voice signal from the first transmitting device to the first receiving device via a communication line from the first transmitting device to the second receiving device.
A medical communication device, comprising: a transceiver device.