JPH06181920A - Sound collection section for stethoscope - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a sound collection section of a stethoscope capable of simply turning a microphone circuit on or off and switching the bell type sound and membrane type sound with the sound collection section used by a tester for auscultation. CONSTITUTION:A sound collection section A is provided with a microphone 11 converting the in vivo sound collected by a chest piece 2 put on a testee into the electric signal to obtain the signal having the frequency characteristic required by a tester at the signal processing section of a stethoscope and a switching means turning a microphone circuit 12 on or off and switching the frequency characteristics. The switching means is provided with a variable resistor 13 connected to a grip section rotatably supported on the chest piece 2 and switched in multiple steps according to the rotation quantity.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sound collecting section of a stethoscope which collects the body sound of a subject by utilizing a microphone only during auscultation, and particularly, the frequency characteristic of one collected sound is adjusted by a signal processing section. The present invention relates to a sound collecting unit of a stethoscope, which has a switching unit that switches among signals obtained by the examiner to a signal required by an examiner to enable diagnosis by the sound collecting unit during auscultation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, a set of stethoscopes having a microphone for collecting body sound and electrically converting it into a signal required by an examiner, and using the microphone only for diagnosis, is used. The sound section has a switch for opening and closing the microphone circuit as switching means.

[0003]

The examiner may make a diagnosis by listening to the bell-type sound and the membrane-type sound by listening to the internal sound by using the stethoscope, especially in the sound related to the heart sound. Then, it was possible to adjust one comprehensive sound sampled by the microphone provided in the sound collecting section to the bell-type acoustic characteristic and the film-type acoustic characteristic by the signal processing section. However, in this conventional sound collecting unit, the switching at the time of auscultation by switching to either the bell-type acoustic characteristic or the membrane-type acoustic characteristic is
There is a problem that the operation part is complicated and the handling is inconvenient, and it is difficult to switch without disturbing careful auscultation.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to open and close a microphone circuit on the side of the sound collecting section used by the examiner for auscultation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sound collecting unit of a stethoscope that can easily switch between bell-type sound and membrane-type sound.

[0005]

As means for achieving the above object, in the sound collecting unit of the stethoscope according to claim 1 of the present invention, the frequency characteristic required by the examiner in the signal processing unit of the stethoscope is set. A sound collecting unit having a microphone for converting an in-vivo sound sampled by a chest piece applied to a subject into an electric signal for conversion into a signal, and a switching means for opening and closing a signal circuit and switching frequency characteristics. , The switching means,
A configuration is provided in which a rotation switching unit that is connected to a gripping unit that is rotatably supported on the chest piece and that switches in multiple stages depending on the amount of rotation is provided. In the sound collecting unit of the stethoscope according to claim 2 of the present invention, the sound collecting unit of the stethoscope according to claim 1,
Instead of the switching means provided with the rotation switching portion that is connected to the grip portion and switches according to the amount of rotation, the switching means covers a plurality of conductors provided around the opening of the chest piece and covers the conductors. The flexible body is pressed by the chest piece to change the conduction range, and a pressing switching unit for switching a plurality of stages is provided.

[0006]

In the sound collecting part of the stethoscope according to claim 1, the sound collecting part is pressed against the body of the subject to rotate the gripping part while auscultating, whereby the rotation switching of the switching means connected thereto. The part rotates to switch the auscultation signal sound. in this case,
It is possible to utilize a microphone only when it is used, and switch one in-vivo sound sampled by the microphone to a bell-type sound or a film-type sound obtained by adjusting the frequency characteristics in the signal processing unit for auscultation.

In the sound collecting part of the stethoscope according to claim 2, the pressure-sensitive conductive flexible body comes into contact with a plurality of conductors depending on the amount of pressing the sound collecting part against the body of the subject, and the conduction range thereof. To change the auscultatory sound. Also in this case, it is possible to utilize the microphone only when it is used, and switch the aural sound sampled by the microphone to the bell-type sound or the film-type sound obtained by adjusting the frequency characteristics in the signal processing unit for auscultation.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, the sound collector of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 correspond to the invention described in claim 1, and in the drawings, 1 is a chest piece of the sound collecting part A, which is provided on the cup part 2 and the bottom part 3 side of the cup part 2 so as to project. The boss portion 4 and a hollow grip portion 5 rotatably supported by the boss portion 4 and having a tip portion inserted up to the tip of the boss portion 4. Reference numeral 6 in the drawing denotes a cap that opens and closes during internal disinfection. Reference numeral 7 denotes a mounting lid for the microphone 11. Reference numeral 4a is an O-ring that seals the contact surface between the boss portion 4 and the grip portion 5, 6a is an O-ring that seals the joint surface of the cap 6, and 7a is an O-ring that seals the contact surface of the mounting lid 7.

Numeral 8 is a ball for a click stop, and a spring 9 in a state of slightly protruding from the inner surface of the boss portion.
It is provided so as to be click-stopped by the substantially hemispherical recessed portions 10 which are pressed inwardly by and are provided on the outer surface of the grip portion 5 at three positions at equal intervals of 30 degrees. In this embodiment, the central recessed position is set to the OFF position of the microphone. In this case, the grip portion 5 may be biased by a spring in the direction of returning the grip portion 5 from the central concave portion to one side or the other side and click-stopping to return to the central concave portion side.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a microphone, which is the cup portion 2
The microphone circuit 12 is fixed to the protruding portion of the lid body 7 inside, and the microphone circuit 12 is inserted into the grip portion 5.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a variable resistor, which is the grip portion 5
In addition to being fixed inside, the intermediate tap rotation shaft portion 14 is fixed to a vertical rib 15 provided at the tip of the boss portion 4.

Reference numeral 16 is a variable resistance detection circuit provided in the stethoscope B. The variable resistance detection circuit 16 is electrically connected to the variable resistance 13 and the variable resistance 13 of the variable resistance 13 when the grip portion 5 is located at the intermediate position of the recess 10 is shown. When the resistance value is detected, the microphone circuit 1
2 is output, and when the resistance value when the grip portion 5 is rotated to one side and click-stopped is detected, a signal for switching the microphone circuit 12 to the bell-type acoustic processing side is output, and the grip portion 5 When the resistance value is detected when the click is stopped by rotating the from the OFF position to the other side,
It outputs a signal for switching the microphone circuit 12 to the film-type acoustic processing side. In addition, each acoustic processing circuit 1 described later
The switching operation of 8 and 19 is also performed.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a switching circuit, which receives the signals of the variable resistance detection circuit 16 from the microphone circuit 12
ON / OFF, and the in-vivo sound sampled by the microphone is switched and output to the bell-type sound processing side or the membrane-type sound processing side.

Reference numeral 18 denotes a bell-type sound processing circuit, which modulates the in-vivo sound sampled by the microphone 11 into a low tone acoustic characteristic.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a film-type acoustic processing circuit, which modulates the in-vivo sound sampled by the microphone 11 to a harmonic acoustic characteristic.

Reference numeral 20 is an earphone for converting the output signal of the bell-type sound processing circuit 18 or the film-type sound processing circuit 19 into sound, and 21 is a protective film.

Next, the operation will be described. First, turn the grip 5
When turned 30 degrees from the FF position to the one side, the resistance value of the variable resistor 13 changes, the variable resistance detection circuit 16 detects the resistance value and outputs a signal, and the bell-type acoustic processing circuit 18 is activated. The switching circuit 17 turns on the signal circuit 12 in response to the signal, and outputs the in-vivo sound sampled by the microphone 11 to the bell-type sound processing circuit 18 as an electric signal. In the bell-type sound processing circuit 18, the microphone 1
The electrical signal of No. 1 is modulated into a low acoustic characteristic through an equalizer or a filter circuit and output to the earphone 20.

Next, the grip portion 5 is returned to the OFF position and further 3
When turned to the other side by 0 degrees, the resistance value of the variable resistor 13 shows a resistance value different from any of the previous values, and the variable resistance detection circuit 16 which has detected this resistance value outputs a signal and also outputs the film-type acoustic processing circuit 19. Operate. The switching circuit 17 turns on the signal circuit 12 in response to the signal, and outputs the in-vivo sound sampled by the microphone 11 as an electric signal to the film-type sound processing circuit 19. In the film-type sound processing circuit 19,
The electric signal of the microphone 11 is modulated into a harmonic acoustic characteristic through an equalizer or a filter circuit and output to the earphone 20.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the internal sound collected by the earphone is turned on by switching the rotation of the grip portion 5 as necessary, and the bell-type sound and the film-type sound are generated during auscultation. I can tell.

Although the embodiment according to claim 1 has been described above, the specific configuration of the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and there are design changes and the like within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention. Also included in the present invention. For example, although the rotation switching unit uses a variable resistor and the variable resistance detection circuit detects the switching state, a trimmer may be used in the rotation switching unit and the trimmer rotation detection circuit may detect the switching state. In addition, a plurality of fixed-side electrodes and a rotating-side electrode may be provided at appropriate positions in the rotation switching unit so that the rotating-side electrode comes into contact with a specific fixed-side electrode depending on the rotation angle to be in a conductive state. In this case, for example, the fixed-side electrode may have a protrusion shape and the rotating-side electrode may have a brush shape. A rotary switch may be provided in the rotation switching unit.

The shape of the sound collecting portion is arbitrary, and the number of microphones and the configuration of the processing circuit are also arbitrary. Sound processing circuit 18, 1
9 is analog type, analog multiplexer, A / D
Converter, interface circuit such as equalizer, CP
It can also be processed digitally by a U, RAM, ROM, D / A converter. In this case, the same switching operation is used in, for example, the drive circuit of the CPU or RO
It can be used to set the timing for inviting M.

When the internal sound collected by the sound collecting unit contains external noise, the external noise is collected from the internal sound collected by the sound collecting unit by collecting the external noise with a microphone provided separately in the digital processing. It is also possible to auscultate with only pure body acoustics by reducing

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The same components as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. FIG. 3 corresponds to the invention described in claim 2, and in the figure, reference numeral 21 indicates a pressing switching portion as switching means. The pressing switching portion 21 is the cup portion 2
22 is a sensing electrode for the bell-type acoustic processing circuit, and 23 is a sensing electrode for the membrane-type acoustic processing circuit. Reference numeral 24 denotes a convexly curved insulator that fixes the detection electrode 22 and the detection electrode 23, and the detection electrode 22 is arranged at a position higher than the detection electrode 23 by one step.

The pressure-sensitive conductive rubber 25 is made of a pressure-sensitive conductive rubber having a high resistance as a pressure-sensitive conductive flexible body, and is formed in a concave shape and arranged on both the detection electrodes 22 and 23. Two
An insulating rubber 6 covers the pressure-sensitive conductive rubber 25. The pressure-sensitive conductive rubber 25, the insulating rubber 26, and the cup portion 2 side may be provided with an air vent hole penetrating to the outside.
Reference numeral 27 is a ring-shaped stopper for fixing the insulating rubber 26 to the open end of the cup portion 2 over the entire circumference. The first detection circuit for resistance value fluctuations due to pressing force is
The same variable resistance detection circuit as in the embodiment is used.
Further, since the switching circuit, the bell-type sound processing circuit, the film-type sound processing circuit and the connection thereof are the same, the description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation will be described. The sound collecting unit A changes the resistance value by the pressing force applied to the subject at the time of auscultation of the examiner to turn the microphone ON / OFF and switch the acoustic processing circuit. That is, when the hand-held sound collecting portion A is lightly pressed against the subject, the pressure-sensitive conductive rubber 25 is lightly bent and first contacts the detection electrode 22. The resistance value detection circuit detects a certain resistance value R at this time and outputs a signal. The switching circuit closes the microphone circuit by this signal and activates the bell-type sound processing circuit,
Modulates the internal sound to a low acoustic characteristic and outputs it. Next, when the examiner presses the sound collecting portion more strongly during auscultation, not only the detection electrode 22 but also the detection electrode 23 comes into contact with the pressure-sensitive conductive rubber 25. The resistance value detection circuit detects a resistance value r lower than the certain resistance value R, outputs a signal, and activates the film-type acoustic processing circuit to modulate the in-vivo sound to a higher harmonic acoustic characteristic and output it.

As described above, the sound collecting unit of this embodiment can be arbitrarily set in correspondence with the shape of the sound collecting unit, the number of microphones, and the processing circuit, and external noise can be removed by the digital processing circuit. In addition, the shape of the pressure-sensitive conductive rubber and the arrangement shape of the detection electrode are arbitrary. For example, the pressure-sensitive conductive rubber may be flat and the detection electrode side may be arranged in a convex shape, or the detection electrode side may be flat. The pressure-sensitive conductive rubber side may be arranged to have a convex shape.

[0027]

As described above, since the sound collecting portion of the stethoscope according to the first aspect of the present invention has the above-described structure, the internal sound during auscultation can be increased by simply rotating the gripping portion. It is possible to obtain the effect of being able to hear the signal modulated by switching to a predetermined frequency characteristic. Since the sound collecting unit of the stethoscope according to claim 2 is configured as described above, the internal sound during auscultation is switched to a plurality of frequencies by modulating the pressing force of the sound collecting unit to be modulated to a predetermined frequency characteristic. The effect of being able to distinguish the signals is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a sound collecting unit of a stethoscope according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the stethoscope of the above.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a sound collecting unit of the stethoscope of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A sound collection section B stethoscope 1 chest piece 2 cup section 5 gripping section 11 microphone 12 microphone circuit 13 variable resistor (switching means) 14 rotating shaft section (rotation switching section) 16 variable resistance detection circuit 17 switching circuit 18 bell-type sound Processing circuit 19 Membrane-type acoustic processing circuit 20 Earphone 21 Press switch 22 Detection electrode for bell-type acoustic processing circuit 23 Detection electrode for membrane-type acoustic processing circuit 25 Pressure-sensitive conductive rubber (pressure-sensitive conductive flexible body)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] March 24, 1993

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0016

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

Reference numeral 20 is an earphone for converting an output signal of the bell-type sound processing circuit 18 or the film-type sound processing circuit 19 into a sound, and 2a is a protective film.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be corrected] Drawing

[Correction target item name] All drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

[Figure 1]

[Fig. 2]

[Figure 3]

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A microphone for converting a body sound sampled by a chest piece applied to a subject into an electric signal for converting into a signal having a frequency characteristic required by the examiner in a signal processing unit of a stethoscope, and a signal circuit. And a switching unit for switching the frequency characteristic and switching the frequency characteristic, wherein the switching unit is connected to a gripping unit that is rotatably supported by the chest piece, and performs a plurality of stages of switching depending on the rotation amount. A sound collection unit of a stethoscope, which is equipped with a rotation switching unit. 2. The sound collecting section of the stethoscope according to claim 1, wherein the switching means is provided around the opening of the chest piece instead of the switching means provided with the rotation switching section that is connected to the gripping section and switches according to the rotation amount. A plurality of pressure conductors provided with a pressure-sensitive conductive flexible body covering the conductors are pressed against the chest piece to change the conduction range, thereby performing a plurality of steps of switching. The sound collection part of the stethoscope.