JPH07327994A - Ultrasonic sebum thickness measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent intervening of air between the ultrasonic signal transmission surface of an ultrasonic transducer and the skin by alarming abnormal measurement when the end face echoes exceeding a set level are detected and alarming normal measurement when the boundary echoes are detected without detection of the end face echoes exceeding the set level. CONSTITUTION:Measurement is started by pressing the ultrasonic transducer (a) to the section of the human body or animal where the sebum thickness is to be measured. At this time, the level of the end face echoes increases and, therefore, the end face echoes exceeding the set level are detected by an end face echo detecting means (e) and an alarming control means (g) alarms the abnormal measurement by an alarming means (f) when the air is interposed between the ultrasonic transducer (a) and the skin and the transducer is not in tight contact with the skin. The boundary echoes are obtd. by a boundary echo detecting means (c) and the alarming control means (g) alarms the normal measurement when the ultrasonic transducer (a) is brought into correct contact with the skin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring device for measuring the skin fat thickness of a subject such as a human body or an animal using ultrasonic waves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ultrasonic wave is transmitted to the inside of a human body or an animal body, and the ultrasonic wave detects the boundary surface echo reflected at the boundary surface between fat and muscle to detect the skin fat thickness. A device for measuring skin oil thickness is known (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 57-500900). That is, this device transmits the ultrasonic wave generated by the pulse generator toward the human body, converts the boundary surface echo into an electric signal and amplifies the signal with an amplifier, and the signal has a predetermined threshold value. If it exceeds, it is assumed that the boundary surface echo is detected, and the thickness of the subcutaneous fat is measured based on the time from the pulse generation to the detection of the boundary surface echo. In addition, until the boundary surface echo is detected, the gain of the amplifier and the threshold value of the threshold value detector are increased stepwise every time the pulse generator generates an ultrasonic wave to ensure that the boundary surface is It is configured to detect echo.

[0003]

By the way, in the device for measuring the skin fat thickness by transmitting and receiving the ultrasonic wave as described above, the ultrasonic wave transmitting surface (end surface) of the ultrasonic transducer is brought into close contact with the skin and the air is blown between them. If you do not let
No boundary echo is detected. That is, when air is interposed, almost no ultrasonic wave is transmitted between the ultrasonic transducer and the subject, so that the boundary surface echo does not occur, or even if it occurs, it cannot be detected.

Therefore, in order to prevent this, conventionally, a jelly-like material is applied to the measurement site so that air is not present between the ultrasonic wave transmitting surface of the ultrasonic transducer and the skin. However, even with this,
It was not possible to completely prevent air from intervening between the two.

Further, even if the measurement is performed only once, there are variations in the measurement, and it is not possible to perform highly accurate detection.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and completely prevents air from intervening between the ultrasonic wave transmitting surface of the ultrasonic transducer and the skin. The object is to improve the accuracy of detecting the skin fat thickness, improve the operability, and further improve the usability.

[0007]

Therefore, in the present invention, when the ultrasonic wave transmitting surface of the ultrasonic wave transducer and the skin are not in the correct contact state, they are detected and notified, and when measuring the skin fat thickness. The measurement is performed a plurality of times and the measurement state is also notified, and the number of times of measurement can be arbitrarily selected to achieve the above object.

That is, in the present invention, as shown in the claim correspondence diagram of FIG. 1, a transducer a ₁ for performing mutual conversion between an electric signal and an ultrasonic wave and a delay member a ₂ for transmitting the ultrasonic wave are provided. Ultrasonic transducer a for transmitting and receiving sound waves
And a transmission control means b for controlling the transmission of ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer a, and a test signal from the signal received by the ultrasonic transducer a after the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer a to the subject. Boundary surface echo detecting means c for detecting a boundary surface echo reflected on the boundary surface between the body oil and the muscle, and a sebum for obtaining the oil thickness based on the time from the transmission of the ultrasonic wave to the detection of the boundary surface echo. In the skin oil thickness measuring device including the thickness calculating means d,
An end-face echo detecting means e for detecting an end-face echo reflected by the end face of the delay member a ₂ from the signal received by the ultrasonic transducer a, a notifying means f for notifying a measuring person of a detection state, and a skin fat thickness measurement time. When the end surface echo detecting means e detects an end surface echo exceeding the set level, the notifying means f notifies the abnormal measurement, and the boundary surface echo detecting means c detects the boundary without detecting the end surface echo exceeding the set level. When the surface echo is detected, the notification control means g for notifying the normal measurement by the notification means f is provided.

The transmission control means b is configured to control the ultrasonic waves to be transmitted a predetermined number of times at the time of measuring the skin oil thickness, and the skin fat thickness calculating means d is used to detect the skin oil thickness from a plurality of data. The notification control means g, which is configured to obtain the thickness, and which is performed each time a boundary surface echo is detected in response to each of a plurality of ultrasonic wave transmissions, in order to notify the normal measurement, The measurement end notification may be performed when the measurement of the boundary surface echoes has been performed a plurality of times. Also, the transmission control means b
Transmission frequency setting means h for arbitrarily setting the ultrasonic transmission frequency of
May be provided.

[0010]

The procedure of measurement by the ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring apparatus of the present invention will be described. First, the ultrasonic transducer a is pressed against the skin of the human body or animal where the skin fat thickness is measured,
Start the measurement. At this time, when air is not present in close contact with the skin due to the presence of air between the ultrasonic transducer a and the skin, the level of the end-face echo increases, so that the end-face echo detecting means e produces end-face echoes exceeding the set level. As a result, the notification control means g notifies the abnormality measurement by the notification means f.

Therefore, the measurer can know that the ultrasonic transducer a is not properly in contact with the skin, and the ultrasonic transducer a is pressed against the skin while the abnormality measurement is informed. Change the settings so that the correct contact state is obtained.

When the ultrasonic transducer a is properly brought into contact with the skin in this way, the boundary surface echo detection means c can obtain the boundary surface echo, and the notification control means g accordingly notifies the normal measurement. Therefore, the measurer can know that the normal measurement is performed.
Also, during this measurement, if the ultrasonic transducer a is not properly contacted, the notification means f notifies the abnormality and the measurer can know it, and the measurement will be redone.

Further, in the apparatus according to the second aspect, at the time of measurement, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer a a plurality of times, and the boundary surface echo detecting means e detects a plurality of boundary surface echoes. The means d obtains the skin fat thickness from a plurality of skin fat thickness data obtained from each boundary surface echo. When the ultrasonic transducer a is correctly contacted during the ultrasonic wave transmission from the ultrasonic transducer a a plurality of times in performing the measurement, the notification means f makes the detection notification by the measuring person. The state can be known, and further, when the detection of the boundary surface echo of the number of times corresponding to the number of times of transmitting the ultrasonic wave is completed, the notification means f notifies the end of measurement that the measurer can know it. In the apparatus according to the third aspect, the transmission number setting means h can be operated to set the number of ultrasonic transmissions to an arbitrary number. When the number of transmissions is increased, the skin fat thickness data increases, which is detected. On the other hand, if the number of times is reduced, the number of ultrasonic wave transmissions is reduced and the measurement time can be shortened, and the measurer can arbitrarily select whether importance is attached to accuracy or time.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing the configuration of an ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is an ultrasonic transducer. This ultrasonic transducer 1 transmits ultrasonic waves to a subject such as a person or an animal, and
A vibrator 1a for receiving the echo, which vibrates when receiving an electric signal, and has a function of converting the vibration into an electric signal, and a polyethylene for delaying the time for detecting the echo as described later. And a delay member 1b formed of silicon or the like in a substantially columnar shape. By the way, at the time of measurement, the end face 1c of the delay member 1b
Is brought into contact with the subject.

The vibrator 1a is connected to the transmitting circuit 2 and the receiving circuit 3. The transmission circuit 2 is configured to be driven by a drive signal from the CPU 4 to vibrate the vibrator 1a.

Further, the receiving circuit 3 performs processing such as amplification, waveform shaping, and comparison on the signal indicating the echo received by the transducer 1a to determine the detection of the boundary surface echo and the detection of the end surface echo. Is performed, and the boundary surface echo detection signal s1 and the end surface echo detection signal s2 are subjected to CP according to the determination result.
It is configured to output to U4. That is, when the end surface 1c of the ultrasonic transducer 1 is brought into close contact with the skin of the subject and ultrasonic waves are transmitted, the receiving circuit 3
As shown in FIG. 3, first, the transmission reverberation p1 is received, and after a lapse of the delay time which is the time for transmitting the delay member 1b, the end face echo p2 which is the echo reflected by the end face 1c of the delay member 1b is received. Then, after a lapse of time corresponding to the thickness of sebum, the boundary surface echo p3 reflected at the boundary between sebum and muscle is input. The end face echo p2
Is an extremely small value when the end face 1c and the skin are in close contact, as shown in FIG. 3, but when both are not in close contact and air is present between them. Has a characteristic that its value becomes large. Therefore, in the present embodiment, when the end surface echo p2 exceeds the first threshold value V _TH1 , the end surface echo detection signal s2 (this indicates the non-contact state of the end surface 1c) is output. . In addition, the boundary surface echo p3 is detected without detecting the end surface echo p2.
When it exceeds the second threshold value V _TH2 , the boundary surface echo detection signal s1 is output. Incidentally, in the receiving circuit 3, as shown in the figure, the end surface echo p2 is within the range of the end surface echo observation time t1 which is a time zone in the vicinity of the delay time by the delay member 1b from the transmission of ultrasonic waves.
Is detected, and the boundary surface echo p3 is detected during the echo observation time t2 after the lapse of the time t1.

In the CPU 4, a display 5 for displaying a measurement result (skin thickness), a piezoelectric buzzer 6 as an informing means for informing various states related to the measurement, and the number of ultrasonic wave transmissions are set. A setting circuit 7 is connected as a transmission number setting means. In addition, the apparatus of the present embodiment is shown in FIG.
It is housed in a diaper-shaped case 8 as shown in FIG. 1, and this case 8 is formed in a size that a person can hold with one hand, and one outer surface has one end surface 1 of the delay member 1b.
c is exposed and the display surface of the display 5 is exposed, and a start switch 9 for starting the CPU 4 and a setting dial 10 for setting the setting circuit 7 are provided on the other outer surface. Is provided. The number of times that can be set by the setting dial 10 is, for example, 10 to 10.
The range is 150.

The CPU 4 controls the transmission control for driving the transmission circuit 2, the skin fat thickness measurement control for measuring the skin fat thickness based on the signal from the reception circuit 3, and the measurement state based on the signal from the reception circuit 3. The determination is performed and the notification control for operating the piezoelectric buzzer 6 is performed. These controls will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

These controls are started when the start switch 9 shown in FIG. 4 is pressed and a measurement start signal is input to the CPU 4.

In step S1, the number of transmission times N set by the setting circuit 7 is read. In step S2, the transmission circuit 2 is activated to transmit ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer 1. In step S3, it is determined whether or not the end surface echo p2 is detected. If YES, the process proceeds to step S4, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S5. In step S4, the end surface 1c of the ultrasonic transducer 1 is moved by the piezoelectric buzzer 6.
Performs a process of sounding a non-contact buzzer indicating that the is not in contact with the skin (notification of abnormality measurement in the claims). As shown in FIG. 6, this non-contact buzzer is configured to emit a buzzer sound twice at equal intervals per unit time t3 (for example, 200 msec). Here, other buzzer sounds will be described. As will be described later, a detection buzzer (a notification of the detection of the claims) that emits a buzzer sound once per unit time to indicate that the boundary surface echo p3 has been detected, and a measurement end as described later. In order to show, a measurement end buzzer (notification of measurement end) in which a buzzer sound is emitted twice at short intervals at the beginning of the unit time is set.

In step S5, it is determined whether or not the boundary surface echo p3 is detected. If YES, the process proceeds to step S6, and if NO, the process proceeds to step S7.

In step S6, a detection buzzer sounds, and in step S8, data relating to the boundary surface echo p3 detected at that time is stored in memory. In step S9, a process of adding 1 to the number of times of measurement n is performed. . In addition, at the time of the first measurement, n is set to 0 based on the process of step S11 described later. In step S7, after waiting for 200 msec, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, it is determined whether or not the number of times of measurement n has reached the set number of times N, the process proceeds to step S10 if YES, and returns to step S1 if NO.

In step S11, a process of clearing the number of times of measurement n is performed, in subsequent step S12, a process of ringing a measurement end buzzer by the piezoelectric buzzer 6 is performed, and in subsequent step S13, data regarding a plurality of stored boundary surface echoes p3 is stored. Perform the process to calculate the skin fat thickness based on
In the next step S14, processing for displaying the calculation result on the display 5 is performed. By the way, when calculating the skin fat thickness from the stored data regarding the plurality of boundary surface echoes p3, the mean value of the skin fat thickness may be simply calculated, or the data distribution may be calculated using a recurrence formula. After obtaining the value, the value with the largest distribution may be treated as the skin fat thickness.

As described above, since the transmission circuit 2 controls the transmission of the ultrasonic transducer 1, it corresponds to the transmission control means b in the claims, and the reception circuit 3 outputs the end surface echo p2 and the boundary surface echo p3. Since the detection is equivalent to the boundary surface echo detection means c and the end surface echo detection means e in the claims, the CPU 4 controls the operation of the transmission circuit 2, calculates the skin fat thickness, and controls the operation of the piezoelectric buzzer 6. Corresponding to the part of the transmission control means, the skin fat thickness calculating means d, and the notification control means g, and the piezoelectric buzzer 6 corresponds to the notification means f in the scope of claims because it makes each notification. Since the dial 10 sets the number of transmissions of ultrasonic waves, it corresponds to the transmission number setting means in the claims.

Next, the procedure for measuring the skin fat thickness will be described. First, after pressing the start-up switch 9, the end surface 1c of the ultrasonic transducer 1 is pressed against the skin of a human body or an animal where the skin fat thickness is measured. At this time, when the end face 1c is pressed against the skin and air is not in close contact with the skin, the end face echo p2 is detected,
The non-contact buzzer sounds. Thereby, the measurer can see the end face 1c.
It is possible to know that is not in close contact with the skin, and until the non-contact buzzer stops ringing, the action of contacting with the skin is performed. By the way, at this time, if jelly or water is applied to the skin of the measurement site, the end surface 1c can be easily adhered. Jelly is preferable in terms of adhesion, but the non-contact buzzer sounds like this. Since it is possible to accurately grasp the degree of the jelly, it is possible to obtain sufficient adhesion even with water, and it is difficult for the general public to obtain jelly, but water is easy for anyone to use and excellent in versatility. .

When the end face 1c is brought into close contact with the skin by the above-described operation, the boundary surface echo p3 can be obtained by transmitting the ultrasonic wave, and the detection buzzer sounds each time the boundary surface echo p3 is obtained. This allows the measurer to know that the measurement is being performed accurately.

After that, when a predetermined number of data are obtained,
The device sounds a measurement end buzzer, calculates the skin fat thickness based on the obtained data, and displays the calculation result on the display unit 5. When the measurement end buzzer sounds, the operator finishes the measurement and Remove from the skin and look at the display on the display 5.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when air is present between the end face 1c of the ultrasonic transducer 1 and the skin, the state is detected by the end face echo p2 and the non-contact buzzer is activated. Since the sound is emitted, the measurer can accurately grasp the non-state, and the end face 1c
It is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of measurement failure due to the presence of air between the skin and the skin.

Further, in this embodiment, when measuring the skin fat thickness, a plurality of skin fat thickness data are measured and the skin fat thickness is calculated based on the data, so that the accuracy of detecting the skin fat thickness is improved. Is obtained.

Moreover, in measuring a plurality of skin fat thickness data in this manner, the detection buzzer and the end buzzer are also sounded, and the skin fat thickness is smoothly measured.
In addition, since the fact that the measurement is completed is also notified, the effect of excellent operability can be obtained.

In addition, in the embodiment, the number of transmissions of ultrasonic waves can be set to an arbitrary number by operating the setting dial 10, that is, an arbitrary number of measurement data of skin fat thickness can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to arbitrarily set increasing the number of times to improve the detection accuracy, or decreasing the number of times to shorten the time required for the detection, and it is possible to obtain the effect of good usability.

Although the embodiments have been described above, the configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, although the buzzer 10 is shown as the notification means in the embodiments, the display 9 is used. The level of detection sensitivity may be displayed, or may be displayed by blinking a lamp or the like, or a means for notifying by a tactile sensation such as vibration may be used, or these May be combined.

In the embodiment, each circuit configuration 2, 3, 4, 7,
Although the display 5 and the piezoelectric buzzer 6 and the ultrasonic transducer 1 are integrally provided in the case 8, the ultrasonic transducer 1 may be provided separately from the apparatus main body.

In the embodiment, the number of transmissions of ultrasonic waves is set by the setting dial 10, but the CPU 4
The invention according to claim 2 also includes a device which is automatically set according to the capacity of the memory.

[0035]

As described above, in the ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring apparatus of the present invention, the end face echo detecting means for detecting the end face echo and the notifying means for notifying the measuring state to the measuring person are further provided, and If an end-face echo exceeding the set level is detected during measurement of skin fat thickness, it is judged that the contact state of the ultrasonic transducer is not correct and the annunciator informs the abnormal measurement, without detecting the end-face echo exceeding the set level. When the boundary surface echo is detected, since the notification control means for notifying the normal measurement is provided by the notification means that the normal measurement is being performed, the ultrasonic transmission surface of the ultrasonic transducer and the skin If there is a contact state in which air is present, the notification means notifies the abnormal measurement so that the measurer can know the state. Effect that the measurement error due to contact failure of Sudeyusa can be completely prevented.

Further, in the apparatus according to the second aspect, the transmission control means controls the ultrasonic wave to be transmitted a plurality of times when measuring the skin fat thickness, and the skin fat thickness calculating means is obtained from a plurality of boundary surface echoes. Obtaining skin fat thickness from a plurality of data, the notification control means performs detection and notification each time a boundary surface echo is detected corresponding to each transmission of a plurality of ultrasonic wave transmissions, and a plurality of boundary surface echoes. Since it is configured to notify the end of measurement when all the measurements have been made, the effect of improving the detection accuracy can be obtained because the skin fat thickness is obtained from a plurality of data. In outputting the sound wave and detecting the boundary surface echo, the notification of the detection and the notification of the end of the measurement allow the user to know the measurement state one by one, which is convenient.

Further, in the apparatus according to the third aspect, when the transmission control means controls the transmission of ultrasonic waves a plurality of times, the transmission frequency setting means sets the ultrasonic transmission frequency to any value. , The measurer can arbitrarily select whether to increase the detection accuracy by increasing the number of transmissions and obtain more skin fat data, or to reduce the number of transmissions and shorten the measurement time, which improves usability. The effect is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims showing an ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram showing a configuration of an ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a time chart showing signals received by a receiving circuit.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a control flow of the embodiment apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing types of buzzers emitted by the apparatus of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols] a ₁ transducer a ₂ delay member a ultrasonic transducer b transmission control means c boundary surface echo detection means d skin oil thickness calculation means e end surface echo detection means f notification means g notification control means h number of transmissions setting means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic transducer for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves, comprising an oscillator for performing mutual conversion between electric signals and ultrasonic waves, and a delay member for transmitting ultrasonic waves, and the ultrasonic wave transmission of the ultrasonic transducer. And a transmission control means for controlling, after transmitting ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic transducer toward the subject, from the signal received by the ultrasonic transducer, the boundary reflected at the interface between the sebum and muscles of the subject Boundary surface echo detection means for detecting the surface echo, and a skin fat thickness calculating means for obtaining the skin fat thickness based on the time from the transmission of the ultrasonic wave until the detection of the boundary surface echo, in the skin fat thickness measuring device, An end face echo detecting means for detecting an end face echo reflected from the end face of the delay member from the signal received by the acoustic wave transducer, and notifying the measuring person of the detection state If the end surface echo detection means detects an end surface echo that exceeds the set level during measurement of skin fat thickness, the notification means notifies the abnormal measurement and without detecting the end surface echo that exceeds the set level. An ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring apparatus comprising: a notification control unit that notifies normal measurement by the notification unit when the boundary echo detection unit detects the boundary echo. 2. The transmission control means is configured to perform control of transmitting ultrasonic waves a predetermined number of times at the time of measuring the skin fat thickness, and the skin fat thickness calculating means obtains the skin fat thickness from a plurality of data relating to the skin fat thickness. The notification control means, in notifying the normal measurement, detection notification performed each time a boundary surface echo is detected corresponding to each transmission of a plurality of ultrasonic transmissions, and a predetermined plurality of boundary surfaces. The ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic skin thickness measuring apparatus is configured to perform a measurement end notification that is performed when all the echoes have been measured. 3. The ultrasonic skin fat thickness measuring apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a transmission number setting means for arbitrarily setting the number of ultrasonic transmissions under the control of the transmission control means.