JPH0698862A - Measuring apparatus for hardness of skin - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a hardness measuring apparatus of skin which is accurate and free from variations without causing pains and damages to a subject. CONSTITUTION:A hardness measuring apparatus of skin has a sucking cup 3 communicating with a suction pump, a sensor section 1 having a sensor 7 to detect the height of skin sucked with the suction cup and a body part 2 of the apparatus having display means 16 and 19 to display the height of the skin to be detected with the sensor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the hardness of skin, which is used for diagnosis of scleroderma.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As means for measuring the hardness of the skin, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52-98378, "Biohardness Measuring Device", and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-238224, "Device for Examining Surface Properties", "Elasticity measuring device" of Kaisho 61-218928
Are known. The measuring device of JP-A-52-98378 is a means for examining hardness by pressing an indenter against the skin,
Investigation device of JP-A-61-238224, JP-A-61-
The measuring devices of No. 218928 are means for inspecting elasticity by blowing compressed air on the skin. Also known are means for directly touching and palpating the skin by a measurer, means for measuring hardness from the force required to move an attachment fixed to the skin, and the like.

[0003]

However, the means for pressing the indenter against the skin or moving the attachment fixed to the skin may cause pain or damage to the person to be measured. In addition, sensitive areas may not be measured. Further, the means for blowing compressed air to the skin has a problem that accurate measurement cannot be performed due to the presence of muscles, subcutaneous fat and the like. Furthermore, in the palpation, the measurement varies depending on the subjectivity of the measurer.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above technical problems and to provide an accurate and uniform skin hardness measuring device which does not cause pain or damage to a person to be measured. It is what To achieve such an object, a suction cup communicating with a suction pump, a sensor unit having a sensor for detecting the height of the skin sucked by the suction cup, and a display unit for displaying the height of the skin detected by the sensor A device for measuring skin hardness including a device body having The sensor is composed of an infrared sensor, and the inner diameter of the suction port of the suction cup is set to 5 mm or more and 15 mm or less.

[0005]

[Function] The suction cup is pressed against the skin of the person to be measured, and the skin is suctioned by the suction pump. Then, the height of the skin is detected by the sensor, the value is displayed by the display means, and the hardness of the skin is measured from the value.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a sensor section, and 2 is an apparatus main body section. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sensor unit 1 has a suction cup 3 built-in, and the suction port 4 is provided in the sensor unit 1.
It has a shape that projects from the bottom surface of the. The suction cup 3 of the embodiment is made of glass. In addition, there is a switch 5 for operating the suction cup 3 on the side surface of the sensor unit 1. As shown in FIG. 4, a vacuum tube 6 connected to the apparatus main body 2 is attached to the suction cup 3. A sensor 7 is arranged above the suction cup 3, and a cable 9 connected to the apparatus main body 2 via a preamplifier PC plate 8 is attached to the sensor 7. An infrared sensor is used as the sensor 7. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, on the lower surface of the sensor 7, there is a light emitting lens 10 at the center.
A light receiving surface 11 is formed around the.

As shown in FIG. 1, a vacuum meter 15, a display 16, a lamp 17, a switch 18, etc. are provided on the front surface of the apparatus main body 2, and a printer 19 is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 2. . In the measuring device of the embodiment, the display unit 16 and the printer 19 constitute a display means. Further, next to the printer 19, a housing lid 20 for housing the sensor unit 1 when not in use is provided. When the housing lid 20 is opened as shown in the figure, the stand 2 is placed on the back side of the lid so that the sensor unit 1 can be supported.
0'is formed. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the apparatus main body 2. As shown, the vacuum tube 6 extending from the suction cup 3 is the vacuum meter 1
5. It is connected to the suction pump 22 inside the main body through the control valve 21. A microcomputer 23 for controlling the entire apparatus is provided inside the main body, and a switch 24 is turned on / off by a signal emitted from the microcomputer 23 to operate / stop the suction pump 22. A power supply 25 is connected to the switch 24. The cable 9 extending from the sensor 7 is an amplifier 26, A
It is connected to the microcomputer 23 via the / D converter 27.
Then, signals are exchanged between the microcomputer 23 and the interface 28, so that the display 16, the lamp 17, and the printer 19 connected to the interface 28 perform display, lighting, and printing, respectively. The switch 18 is also connected to the interface 28.

However, FIG. 7 shows a state in which the hardness of the skin of the arm is measured by the measuring device constructed as described above, and the switch 18 of the device body 2 is operated to input necessary data. And set to a measurable state. Then, while the measurer 30 holds the sensor unit 1 and presses the suction port 4 on the lower surface thereof against the arm 32 of the person to be measured 31, the switch 5 on the side surface of the sensor unit 1 is turned on to operate the suction pump 22. The suction cup 3 is operated and the inside of the suction cup 3 is depressurized. Thereby, the skin is sucked for a certain period of time. The suction pressure, suction time and the like are controlled by the microcomputer 23 inside the main body through the interface 28. Next, the sensor 7 measures the height of the portion where the skin is lifted by the suction as described above and the lower surface of the suction cup 3 is drawn into the cup. As a sensor capable of measuring the height of the skin as described above, there are a laser beam sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, and the like in addition to the infrared sensor. However, the laser beam sensor has a risk of damaging the skin, and the ultrasonic sensor is less than 0. When measuring on the order of 1 mm, there are problems such as large errors. However, if an infrared sensor is used as the sensor 7 as in the embodiment, it is possible to perform a safe and highly accurate measurement without the above-mentioned problems. In this way, the measurement signal measured by the sensor 7 is transmitted through the cable 9 and amplified by the amplifier 26 to be A /
The digital signal is converted by the D converter 27 and input to the microcomputer 23. The input signal is stored in the memory for a fixed time. Then, if necessary, switch ON / OFF
By turning it off, the measured value is output by the display 16 and the printer 19. In this way, the hardness of the skin of the subject is measured from the measured skin height. Thus, when the measurement is completed, the reset button is pressed to clear all memories, displays, etc. and return to the initial state.

Then, when the present applicants actually measured using the above measuring apparatus, the following was obtained.
Note that 41 healthy persons and 56 patients with systemic scleroderma were the measurement targets, and the inner diameter of the suction port 4 of the suction cup 3 used for the measurement was 8 mm. Also, suction was performed at a negative suction pressure of 20 cmHg for 4 seconds, and the height of the skin was measured. Then, as shown in FIG. 8, in the arm 30, the central part of the back of the hand (point A), 5 cm proximal to the wrist joint on the forearm extension side (point B), and 1/3 proximal to the elbow head on the forearm extension side. The measurement was carried out on both left and right arms at three points (point C). As a result, the heights of the skin uplift at points A, B, and C on the right arm of a healthy person were 1.99 ±, respectively.
0.37 mm, 1.70 ± 0.20 mm, 1.70 ±
0.25 mm, which is 1.94 ± 0.
30 mm, 1.67 ± 0.19 mm, 1.73 ± 0.1
It became 8 mm. Further, the height of skin bulge at each point A, B and C on the right arm of a patient with systemic sclerosis is 1.46.
± 0.48mm, 1.39 ± 0.31mm, 1.50 ±
0.39 mm, which is 1.52 ± 0.
41 mm, 1.43 ± 0.27 mm, 1.54 ± 0.3
It became 2 mm. Moreover, when the inner diameter of the suction port 4 of the suction cup 3 was set to 12 mm and the measurement was performed on 9 healthy people and 11 patients with systemic scleroderma, at each point A, B, C on the right arm of a healthy person. The height of skin uplift is 2.94 each
± 0.99mm, 2.13 ± 0.36mm, 1.83 ±
0.40 mm, which is 2.99 ± 1.
08mm, 2.28 ± 0.64mm, 1.87 ± 0.3
It became 7 mm. Further, the height of skin bulge at each point A, B, and C on the right arm of a patient with systemic sclerosis is 1.65.
± 0.49mm, 1.74 ± 0.34mm, 1.82 ±
0.36 mm, 2.03 ± 0.
56 mm, 1.88 ± 0.36 mm, 1.88 ± 0.5
It became 5 mm. From the comparison of the above measurement results, it can be said that when the inner diameter of the suction port 4 of the suction cup 3 is set to 8 mm rather than 12 mm, the difference between a healthy person and a generalized scleroderma patient is large and the determination is easy. I got a conclusion.
It was also found that if the inner diameter of the suction port 4 is in the range of 5 mm to 15 mm, the measurement can be normally performed without any trouble.

The measuring device described above is used for other than the diagnosis of scleroderma such as senile pigment spots, actinic keratosis,
For Bowen's disease, warts vulgaris, etc., a means to cause blistering by strongly sucking and to remove the lesion part,
It can also be widely used for skin and window method tests performed by artificially producing blisters, collection of blistering fluid, tissue examination of the epidermis, objectification of the Nikolsky phenomenon, etc.

[0011]

According to the measuring apparatus of the present invention, the hardness of the skin can be measured very easily without causing pain or damage to the person to be measured. In addition, suction is more reproducible than the method of blowing compressed air to the skin, and accurate and consistent measurement can be performed. In addition,
By using an infrared sensor as the sensor, safe and highly accurate measurement can be performed. Further, by setting the inner diameter of the suction port of the suction cup to 5 mm or more and 15 mm or less, good measurement results can be obtained and the accuracy of skin hardness measurement can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a measuring device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the sensor unit.

[Figure 3] Bottom view of the sensor section

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a sensor section.

[Figure 5] Bottom view of the sensor

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the internal structure of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the usage state of the measuring device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a drawing for explaining measurement points.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sensor Part 2 Device Main Part 3 Suction Cup 4 Suction Port 7 Sensor 16 Display 19 Printer 22 Suction Pump

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Shunji Mori 25-87 Gotsubocho, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture Corp. Tagami D-103 (72) Inventor Takeshi Tsutsui 7-27-8 Kitaichishiki, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture (72) Kawaguchi 2-16-4 Tai, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sensor unit having a suction cup communicating with a suction pump, a sensor for detecting the height of the skin sucked by the suction cup, and a display unit for displaying the height of the skin detected by the sensor. A device for measuring skin hardness, comprising: 2. The apparatus for measuring skin hardness according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is an infrared sensor. 3. The inner diameter of the suction port of the suction cup is set to 5 mm or more and 15 mm or less.
Skin hardness measuring device.