JPH07171149A - Urination alarming device with automatically selecting function for radiation angle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically select an ultrasonic oscillator having the optimum radiation angle according to the individual difference of patients as users. CONSTITUTION:This device is formed of an ultrasonic probe 20 for detecting the urinary output of a patient, an ultrasonic transmitter-receiver 40 for driving the ultrasonic probe 20 to receive the ultrasonic reflected echo corresponding to the front wall and rear wall of the vesica, and also judging whether the stored urinary output reaches the urination level or not, and an alarm 50 for giving an alarm when it is judged that the stored urinal output exceeds the urination level. A plurality of oscillators 21a-21d differed in radiation angle are housed in the ultrasonic probe 20. Exciting pulses are successively time- divisionally supplied to the oscillators 21a-21d, the oscillator having the ultrasonic radiation angle where the receiving wave level near the urination level is the maximum is automatically selected, and this is used as the urination measuring oscillator.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a urination alarm device with a function of automatically selecting the irradiation angle of ultrasonic waves, which is suitable for a patient whose urinary system function is deteriorated.

[0002]

Water in the body is regulated to keep various functions clean, but excess water is stored in the bladder from the kidney via the ureter, and is not needed by the desire to urinate when the urination level is reached. It is excreted from the body as urine together with various metabolites.

The autonomic nerves that control the bladder of this discharge mechanism,
If the voluntary nerve or the urination mechanism is abnormal, or if the micturition function is deteriorated, the natural physiological reaction of urination is lost and urinary incontinence is likely to occur.

In recent years, the aging of population in Japan has been remarkably advanced, and the number of patients with deteriorated urinary system function tends to increase. The number of patients is estimated to be 5 million or 6 million at present. In addition to the elderly, the number of patients whose urinary function has deteriorated due to car accidents or pelvic surgery is increasing. Urinary incontinence is not a life-threatening disease, but it is difficult to maintain a comfortable daily life.

In the case of urinary incontinence, going out becomes timid,
Since it becomes difficult to work and participate in travel, sports, and other recreation, these factors often cause dissatisfaction and stress, and significantly hinder active daily life and social activities.

At present, barely existing as a means for actively preventing such urinary incontinence is to detect a urinary incontinence of a patient by using a moist sensor and notify the patient or a caregiver of urination, and a patient. There are urinary pacemakers that force urine to be urinated at regular intervals regardless of the intention.

[0007] These devices have many problems in terms of human dignity and natural physiological reactions, and it is not desirable to release them from diapers, actively participate in daily life, and participate in social activities.

An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for measuring the amount of urinary bladder may be installed in a facility such as a hospital, but it is expensive and large because it is made as a facility in the hospital. It is not intended to be easily portable for patients.

[0009]

Although the device for detecting the urinary incontinence state of the patient has been devised as described above, a device which can be attached to the patient and can freely operate indoors and outdoors without worrying about urinary incontinence is provided. It is still under development.

From the above, it is possible to stably and stably measure and detect that the urinary bladder volume has reached the micturition level by using a portable measuring means for preventing urinary incontinence.
The development of an alarm device for a urinary assistance device that assists and supports daily life and social activities similar to that of a healthy person with normal physiological functions is extremely important.

Although the bladder is a highly elastic organ, it does not expand or contract uniformly in all directions unlike a rubber balloon. The front and bottom of the bladder are adhered to the surroundings by the adventitia, and after being covered with the peritoneum, only the upper surface moves up and down and undergoes a unique shape change depending on the connection with surrounding tissues. Therefore, individual differences are significant. If this individual difference is not sufficiently taken into consideration when detecting the urination level, stable urination notification cannot be realized for all patients who wear the device.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and is capable of detecting the urination level in accordance with the individual difference of the patient in a small and lightweight, non-invasive and stable manner and notifying it. The present invention proposes a urination alarm device with an ultrasonic wave irradiation angle automatic selection function that can automatically select the optimum irradiation angle of ultrasonic waves according to individual differences of patients.

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, an ultrasonic probe to which ultrasonic waves are applied to detect the urine volume of a patient, and an ultrasonic probe that drives the ultrasonic probe and is placed in front of the bladder. An ultrasonic transmitter / receiver that receives ultrasonic echo waves corresponding to the walls and the posterior wall and determines whether the stored urine volume is at the urinary level, and when it is determined that the stored urine volume exceeds the urinary level, patient or care The ultrasonic probe contains a plurality of transducers with different irradiation angles, and the plurality of transducers are sequentially supplied with excitation pulses in a time-division manner. The transducer having the ultrasonic wave irradiation angle that maximizes the level of the ultrasonic wave reflection echo is used as the transducer for urination measurement.

[0014]

As shown in FIG. 1, ultrasonic waves are radiated to the bladder 3 in the living body by the ultrasonic probe 20 mounted on the skin surface 1 above the joint of the pubis 2 of the lower abdomen, and the reflected echo of the ultrasonic waves. (Received wave) is detected by the ultrasonic transceiver 40, and the bladder 3 is detected.
The distance W between the front wall surface and the rear wall surface is measured. The bladder urine volume can be estimated from this distance W, and when it reaches a preset urination level, the alarm device 50 is activated to notify the patient or caregiver. The alarm device 50 may be a buzzer, an indicator light, a stylus, or the like.

Under the condition that the patient's posture is standing, sitting, or lying down, the irradiation angle θ of the ultrasonic probe 20 attached to the skin surface 1 to the optimum reflection area in the bladder is the optimum position. Adjusted to. The optimum position is the position where the level of the reflected echo is maximum (angle θ from the reference line p having the reference angle 0 °).
Corresponding to.

As shown in FIG. 5, four ultrasonic transducers 21a-2a having different irradiation angles are provided in the ultrasonic probe 20.
1d is arranged, and the ultrasonic transducer selection process is performed to determine which transducer is used to detect the urination level before using the alarm device.

Therefore, the plurality of vibrators 21a-2
Excitation pulses are sequentially supplied to 1d in a time-divisional manner, and a transducer having an ultrasonic irradiation angle that maximizes the level of the ultrasonic reflection echo near the urination level is used as a transducer for urination measurement.

By providing the ultrasonic wave irradiation angle automatic selection means, the urination level can be detected accurately and stably regardless of the individual difference of the patient, so that an appropriate alarm can be issued.

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an example of a urine volume alarm device with an angle adjusting function according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the present invention, an ultrasonic probe is attached to the surface of the inferior abdomen (upper part of the pubic symphysis) by applying the property of ultrasonic waves that travels straight in the living body and is reflected from the boundary surface of the tissue, and the bladder is changed over time. The reflected echoes from the anterior wall and the posterior wall of the mouse are measured, and the bladder urine volume is estimated by the distance.

Thus, by automatically measuring the amount of urine stored in the bladder non-invasively, it is possible to automatically and non-invasively and continuously measure whether the amount of stored urine reaches the voiding level.

Therefore, the urination alarm device 10 according to the present invention
As shown in FIG. 1A, an ultrasonic probe 20 to which ultrasonic waves are emitted to detect the urine volume of a patient, and ultrasonic reflection echoes corresponding to the anterior wall and posterior wall of the bladder 3 driven by the ultrasonic probe 20. And an ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 40 that determines whether the stored urine volume is at the urination level and an alarm 50 that sounds to the patient or caregiver when the stored urine volume exceeds the urination level. It

The urine volume retention state in the bladder changes from FIG. 1A showing a state immediately after urination to FIG. 1C showing a state in which it seems that the urination level is reached, as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows an ultrasonic pulse (excitation pulse for a vibrator, the frequency of which is 3 to 4 MH) that is applied to the inside of a living body.
z) and the reflected echo (received wave) are shown. In FIG. 1, 4 is a ureter and 5 is a stored urine.

The irradiation direction of the ultrasonic waves is as shown by the broken line in FIG. 1, and the reflection echo at this irradiation angle θ is shown in FIG. FIG. 2B shows a reflection echo in the storage state close to FIG. 1B, and FIG. 2D shows a reflection echo in the storage state close to FIG. 1C.

Since most of these reflected echoes must be detected in the vicinity of the urination level at which the patient desires to urinate, in the case of FIG. 1, the ultrasonic reflected echoes shown in FIG. ) Must be detected most accurately. Since the amount of stored urine that causes urination varies from individual to individual, it is necessary to measure the urination level that urges urination for each patient in advance.

Since the shape of the bladder 3 has individual differences and also changes depending on the posture of the patient, in order to avoid the influence on the measurement accuracy due to these individual differences, as shown in FIG. The irradiation angle θ of the ultrasonic waves is adjusted for each patient who uses the alarm device 10 so as to be in the reflection area.

When the ultrasonic probe 20 is applied to the skin surface 1, the line p at which the ultrasonic wave irradiation angle of the ultrasonic transducer 21 into the living body is perpendicular to the skin surface 1 serves as a reference line.
The irradiation angle θ is taken from the direction toward the bladder 3.

When the easiness of detecting the reflection echo (the detection intensity of the reflection echo) was measured when the irradiation angle θ was changed in steps of 10 °, the results shown in FIG. 4 were obtained. This figure shows the detection result in the state of FIG. 1C.

As is clear from FIG. 4, the ultrasonic transducer 2
It is better to adjust the irradiation angle θ of 1 in the range of 10 ° to 30 °, preferably 10 ° to 20 °. However, it goes without saying that there are individual differences in this value.

Therefore, in order to always detect the urination level correctly even if there are individual differences, as shown in FIG. 5, the ultrasonic probe 20 has a plurality of ultrasonic transducers having different irradiation angles, for example, four ultrasonic transducers. 21a to 21d are housed in the probe body 31, and the actual urination level is measured by one ultrasonic transducer having an irradiation angle suitable for the patient to be attached.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which four ultrasonic transducers 21a to 21d are arranged in-line, and each of them is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the irradiation angle θ with respect to the target irradiation position is shifted by 10 °. In FIG. 6, q
Is the ultrasonic wave irradiation direction.

The irradiation angle θ is an example, and the irradiation angles are 10 °, 20 °, 3 with respect to the reference irradiation direction p as shown in FIG.
Instead of using the ultrasonic transducers 21a to 21d having the angles of 0 ° and 40 °, for example, the irradiation angle is 0 °, 10 °, 20
Ultrasonic transducers chosen such as ° and 30 ° may be used. The irradiation angle is not limited to the 10 ° step, and an ultrasonic transducer having an arbitrary irradiation angle may be used. The number of pieces used is also arbitrary.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view including the ultrasonic transducer 21a. The inside of the probe main body 31 is hollow, and the transducer housing 35 is fixed to the main body 31 therein. Then, the ultrasonic transducer 21a is attached in a state in which the irradiation angle θ is adjusted to 10 ° with respect to the reference line p. In this example, both the main body 31 and the housing 35 are ultrasonic degassing agents. In this example, the jelly 33 is filled, and the ultrasonic transducer 21 prevents the filled jelly 33 from leaking.
The a side is sealed with a film 32 such as rubber. 34 is an attachment means for attaching the membrane.

The housing 35 is a rectangular parallelepiped, and the other ultrasonic transducers 21b to 21d are attached and fixed to the ultrasonic transducers 21b to 21d at predetermined irradiation angles. At that time, the ultrasonic transducer 21
Between a and 21d, a partition plate or the like may be used to restrain each other. You may provide the housing which accommodates these for every ultrasonic vibrator.

FIG. 8 shows a case where two ultrasonic transducers 21a to 21d are arranged in two rows, and the arrangement positions of the ultrasonic transducers 21a to 21d in this case are arbitrary. In the example of FIG. It is not limited.

As shown in FIG. 1, since the bladder 3 is located in the pelvic cavity after the pubic bone 2 connection, the ultrasonic probe 20
Must be properly attached and fixed on the midline just above the pubic symphysis on the skin surface of the body.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, a small and flat ultrasonic probe 20 is mounted in a band-shaped fixing device 11 made of a stretchable material. In the figure, the ultrasonic probe 2
Since only the 0 is attached to the fixed orthosis 11, the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 40 and the alarm device 50 are attached to different positions of the fixed orthosis 11 or attached to a belt or the like of the patient. Ultrasonic probe 20 and ultrasonic transceiver 4
It is also possible to integrate 0 and the alarm device 50.

The fixed brace 11 is mounted on a predetermined skin surface of the body (upper part of the pubic symphysis). As the fixing device 11, a lumbar vertebra (corset) or the like can be used, a part of which is hollowed out, and the ultrasonic probe 20 is attached and fixed to the part. At the time of mounting, an ultrasonic measuring jelly as a degassing agent is applied to the surface of the ultrasonic probe 20.

Now, when actually using the ultrasonic probe 20 accommodating a plurality of ultrasonic transducers,
It is necessary to find the irradiation angle suitable for the patient used as the preparatory step and measure the urination level with the ultrasonic transducer having the irradiation angle. Therefore, the ultrasonic transmitter / receiver 40 used in the present invention is provided with such an irradiation angle automatic selection function.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the ultrasonic transceiver 40 used in the present invention. When a signal having a frequency of 3 MHz is applied to the ultrasonic transducer 21 from the transmitting unit 41, the ultrasonic transducer 21 is excited to generate an ultrasonic pulse with an irradiation power of 2.27 mV / square cm (average value) on the body surface skin surface 1. It is irradiated toward.

By the irradiation of this ultrasonic wave, a reflection echo (see FIG. 2; skin surface echo is omitted in FIG. 2) consisting of a body surface skin surface echo, an anterior wall echo of the bladder 3 and a posterior wall echo. . This is received and amplified by the reception amplification section 42, and then converted into a digital signal by the A / D converter 43. The reflected echo is converted into a digital signal for the purpose of enhancing the detection accuracy of the urination level described later.

With respect to the reflected echoes of these ultrasonic waves, the echo detector 44 accurately detects the front wall echo and the rear wall echo as shown in FIG. 2, and is then supplied to the urine volume measuring means 45.
The urine volume measuring means 45 is provided with a measuring means 46 for measuring the time interval of the reflection echo, and the distance W between the front and rear walls of the measuring means 46 is calculated based on the time interval obtained from this, and the urinary bladder urine is calculated. The quantity is estimated. Estimated amount (actually estimated value)
Is discriminated by the discriminating means 47 as the preset value of the urination level set in advance.

As a result, when it is determined that the urination level is exceeded, the alarm device 50 is activated to notify the patient or the caregiver that the urinary bladder volume has reached the urination level.

As the warning means, visual, audible and tactile warning means can be considered, and the combination of the warning means is not limited as long as it can notify the patient and the caregiver of the urination timing without fail. It is optional.

In FIG. 10, reference numeral 48 denotes a controller equipped with a microcomputer, which has the above-mentioned transmission timing, clock output for A / D conversion processing, echo detection processing work, calculation of distance W and reference value according to individual difference. Any setting or the like is performed by a command from the controller 48. Therefore, both the urine amount measuring means 45 and the echo detecting means 44 can be processed by software.

It is not necessary to constantly monitor the storage state in the bladder. This is because there is no particular need to observe with time from immediately after urination until immediately before the urination level that causes urination is approached. Therefore, it is possible to add a timer function that stops the irradiation of ultrasonic waves and suspends the measurement process immediately after urination until a certain time. This is because the life of the power source is extended and it is economical.

The depth of the back wall of the bladder 3 from the body surface may exceed about 11 cm when the urine is full. Therefore, the ultrasonic irradiation frequency and the irradiation power are designed to be sufficiently measurable even at such a depth. There is a need.

The controller 48 described above has a control program for realizing the function of automatically selecting the irradiation angle of ultrasonic waves. Therefore, during the irradiation angle automatic selection process, the process shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the transducer switching circuit 39 provided in the ultrasonic transceiver 40 operates, and the ultrasonic signals from the transmitter 41 are time-divisionally and sequentially ultrasonic transducers 21a to 21d in a predetermined order.
Be transmitted to. The oscillator switching circuit 39 is a controller 48
It is controlled by the command signal from. Since the reflected echo of the ultrasonic wave is supplied to the common reception and amplifier 42, the switching means is unnecessary.

FIG. 11 is an example of a processing flowchart for automatically determining the ultrasonic transducer used by the patient.

As a premise for this, the vibrator to be used is determined by observing when the patient to whom the alarm device 10 is to be attached is in a stored urine state close to the urination level. First, the vibrator to be excited is first selected (step 51). In this example, it is assumed that the order is selected from 21a. When the vibrator is selected, an excitation pulse is applied to the vibrator to excite it (step 52).

The echo reflected by the bladder 3 is converted into a digital signal after reception, and thereafter waveform processing such as smoothing processing is performed, and at the same time, the reception level of the reflection echo is stored (steps 53, 54, 55).

The ultrasonic transducer 21 is the last to undergo such processing.
d is excited until the last ultrasonic transducer 21
When the reflected echo of d is received and the level is stored in the memory (step 56), the process of determining the maximum reception level of the four reception levels is performed next, and the ultrasonic wave having the maximum reception level is obtained. Determine oscillator (Step 5)
7, 58). Since this ultrasonic transducer is used for actual measurement of urination, the switching position of the transducer switching circuit 39 is fixed so that ultrasonic pulses are always supplied to the ultrasonic transducer having the maximum reception level. It

After the ultrasonic transducer to be used is determined, the determination result is displayed on the display device 38 as needed (step 59), and this processing flow ends.

By performing the automatic selection processing as described above, it becomes possible to measure the urination level at the optimum irradiation angle suitable for the patient to whom the alarm device should be attached even if there are individual differences.
The automatic selection process may be performed every few months.

[0055]

As is clear from the above description, according to the urination alarm device of the present invention, by adopting a small, lightweight and portable measuring means, the amount of urine accumulated in the bladder is eliminated. Whether or not the level has been reached can be automatically measured non-invasively and simply, and the patient as well as the caregiver can be notified that the time to properly urinate has arrived.

Although there are individual differences in the shape of the bladder when it is filled with urine,
Since the irradiation angle of the ultrasonic transducer can be automatically adjusted to adapt to this individual difference, it becomes possible to accurately determine the urination level of any patient regardless of the patient. , You will be able to live a comfortable life without fear of urinary incontinence.

Since the optimum irradiation angle of ultrasonic waves is automatically selected and the ultrasonic transducer can also be automatically selected, good measurement and alarm processing can always be realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a urine volume alarm device having an irradiation angle automatic selection function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between an ultrasonic pulse and a reflection echo.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of irradiation angles.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between an irradiation angle and a reflection echo.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the outer shape of the ultrasonic probe used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining irradiation angles of a plurality of ultrasonic transducers used in the ultrasonic probe.

7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the outer shape of the ultrasonic probe.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between an ultrasonic probe and a lumbar vertebral band.

FIG. 10 is a system diagram showing an example of an ultrasonic transceiver.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a processing flow for determining a transducer to be used.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Skin Surface 3 Bladder 10 Alarm Device 20 Ultrasonic Probe 21 Ultrasonic Transducer 21a-21d Ultrasonic Transducer 39 Transducer Switching Circuit 40 Ultrasonic Transceiver 50 Alarm

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 9, 1992

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be corrected] 0023

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

The urine volume retention state in the bladder changes from FIG. 1A showing a state immediately after urination to FIG. 1C showing a state in which it seems that the urination level is reached, as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows an ultrasonic pulse (excitation pulse for a vibrator, the frequency of which is 3 to 4 MH) that is applied to the inside of a living body.
z) and the reflected echo (received wave) are shown. In FIG. 1, 4 is a urethra and 5 is a stored urine.

[Procedure Amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0042

[Correction method] Change

[Correction content]

With respect to the reflected echoes of these ultrasonic waves, a front wall echo and a rear wall echo as shown in FIG. 2 are accurately detected by the echo detector 44, and then supplied to the urine volume measuring means 45. The urine volume measuring means 45 is provided with a measuring means 46 for measuring the time interval of the reflection echo, and the distance W between the front and rear walls of the measuring means 46 is calculated based on the time interval obtained from this, and the urinary bladder urine is calculated. The quantity is estimated. The estimated amount (actually, the estimated value) is discriminated by the discriminating means 47 from the preset value of the urination level.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shigeru Sato 1-1-512 Azuma Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture 401-512 (72) Inventor Yasuo Kuchinomachi 3-2-15-1 Azuma Tsukuba, Ibaraki Inventor Ichiro Hieda Daikaku Bean, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture 2012-390 (72) Inventor Takeshi Hitoshi, 2-7-11 Arima, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Hayashi Electric Co., Ltd. No. 11 Hayashi Denki Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masuo Sugawara 2-7-11 Arima, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 11 Hayashi Denki Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroji Matsumoto 2 Arima, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture 7-11, Hayashi Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic probe to which ultrasonic waves are emitted to detect the urine volume of a patient, and an ultrasonic probe that drives the ultrasonic probe to receive ultrasonic echoes corresponding to the anterior wall and posterior wall of the bladder and store the ultrasonic waves. It consists of an ultrasonic transceiver that determines whether the urine volume is at the micturition level and an alarm that sounds to the patient or caregiver when the accumulated urine volume exceeds the micturition level. A plurality of transducers with different angles are housed, and excitation pulses are sequentially supplied to these transducers in a time-division manner, so that the ultrasonic irradiation angle vibration that maximizes the ultrasonic reflected echo level near the urination level. A urination alarm device with an irradiation angle automatic selection function, characterized in that the child is used as a vibrator for measuring urination. 2. The urination alarm device with an irradiation angle automatic selection function according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic wave irradiation angles are different by 10 ° steps. 3. The urination alarm with the irradiation angle automatic selection function according to claim 1, wherein the alarm is constituted by any one of visual, auditory and tactile alarm means or a combination thereof. apparatus.