JPS5933363Y2 - artificial soft palate - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention provides an artificial soft palate to be used in a dynamic paratogelapse for the purpose of vocal speech training.

This vocal production training using dynamic paratogelaph is mainly performed for people with language disabilities caused by palatal pouches, hearing impairment, paralytic dysarthria, functional dysarthria, oral region diseases, etc., but is limited to these. Even non-diseased people can benefit from learning standard Japanese and learning foreign languages.

By the way, many language disorders are seen in which there is an abnormality in the contact relationship between the hard or soft palate and the tongue.

Therefore, training becomes possible by dynamically understanding the contact relationship between the palate and the tongue.

However, in the past, only the contact relationship between the hard palate and the tongue was known, and it was difficult to provide an effective means for knowing the contact relationship between the soft palate and the tongue.

In other words, conventionally, a large number of electrodes were placed on the artificial palate, which was made to be attached to the maxillary hard palate, and the contact relationship between the electrodes on the artificial palate and the tongue was dynamically determined when the subject was speaking. Well,
It was displayed electrically on a display device and used for training.

Now, there is no problem when attaching the artificial palate to the maxillary hard palate, but if the hard artificial palate made of synthetic resin such as acrylic is extended to the maxillary soft palate, or if it is attached only to the maxillary soft palate. If it is made to be
The wearer may experience a vomiting reaction, causing inconvenience.

In addition, the soft palate moves more during vocalization than the hard palate, so testing was impossible with the hard artificial palate because it could not follow that movement.

In contrast, the present invention makes it possible to grasp the dynamic situation between the soft palate and the tongue, which could not be detected with conventional artificial palates.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be explained according to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a support configured to support a soft palate detection section 2, which will be described later. However, it is not necessarily limited to this shape, and may be half the size, as long as it can function as a support.

Note that a transmitting electrode (not shown) is provided on the back surface of the support 1, which contacts the roof of the mouth when worn to establish electrical continuity.

A very small voltage that is safe for the human body is supplied to this transmitting electrode in advance from an external power source (not shown).

Reference numeral 3 denotes a locking member made of a rigid body such as metal for locking onto teeth to fix the support body 1.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a lead wire bundle made up of a lead wire connected to a sensing electrode disposed on the surface of the soft palate detection unit 2, which will be described later, and a lead wire connected to a transmitting electrode of the support 1, and the transmitting electrode is connected to an external power source. for supplying voltage from the sensing electrode and guiding electrical signals from the sensing electrode to a display device (not shown).

The soft palate detection unit 2 is made of a flexible material such as rubber that can follow the movement of the soft palate, and has a large number of sensing electrodes 5 arranged therein to detect contact with the tongue.

A lead wire bundle 6 is a bundle of lead wires connected to each sensing electrode 5, and is connected to the lead wire bundle 4.

The soft palate detection unit 2 is used by being attached to the soft palate using an adhesive such as an ointment thickener.

The material of the soft palate detection section 2 is desired to be as thin as possible in order to avoid the feeling of a foreign body or to improve followability.

Note that if an artificial palate, which has been conventionally used to detect the dynamic situation between the hard palate and the tongue and has many sensing electrodes arranged on its surface, is used as the support 1, it is possible to detect not only the soft palate but also the hard palate and the tongue. It is convenient because it is possible to know the contact relationships between the two at the same time.

Next, the operation of the present invention will be explained.

As described above, a very small voltage that is safe for the human body is supplied to the transmitting electrode provided on the support body 1 from an external power source.

Moreover, when the artificial soft palate is worn in the oral cavity, the support 1 comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the hard palate, and therefore the transmitting electrode provided on the back surface of the support 1 also comes into contact with the inner wall surface of the hard palate.

When a subject wearing an artificial soft palate vocalizes speech, the tongue comes into contact with the sensing electrode 5 provided on the surface of the soft palate detection section 2.

Therefore, a minute current flows from the transmitting electrode in contact with the inner wall surface of the hard palate to the sensing electrode 5 via the hard palate, soft palate, and tongue.

Since current flows only through the sensing electrodes 5 that are in contact with the tongue, the outputs from these sensing electrodes 5 are led to a display device via lead wires, and the contact state of the tongue against the soft palate is displayed in a pattern, for example.

Note that the transmitting electrode has the function of sending current supplied from an external power source to the sensing electrode, and the sensing electrode has the function of receiving the current sent from the transmitting electrode through the tongue. have.

In other words, the transmitting electrode and sensing electrode function as a switch via the tongue.

As mentioned above, the present invention makes it possible to understand the dynamic situation between the soft palate and the tongue, so it is possible to
It is possible to detect so-called soft palate sounds such as ka line and zero-force labial sound, thereby expanding the function of vocalization training.

Therefore, it is of great significance especially for language disorders.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention. 1: Support body, 2: Soft palate detection section, 5: Sensing electrode.

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] (1) An artificial soft palate consisting of a flexible soft palate detection section 2 having a large number of sensing electrodes 5 on its front surface, and a support 1 that supports the soft palate detection section 2 and having a transmitting electrode on its back surface. (2) The artificial soft palate according to claim (1), which uses an artificial palate having a large number of sensing electrodes on the front surface and transmitting electrodes on the back surface as the support 1.