JPS6057346B2 - Articulation sound collection and display device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in an occlusal sound display device that displays occlusal sounds as a visible waveform for suitable use in dental diagnosis. The present invention relates to an occlusal sound collection and display device having a novel configuration in which occlusal sound sample data of two channels, left and right, are extracted from each channel and can be selectively displayed as visible waveforms on a display unit.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1973 (1972) proposed a method for easily diagnosing the quality of occlusion by extracting occlusal sound as an electrical signal, displaying it as a visible vibration waveform on a CRT display, and recording it. 76882, and a device that applies this principle to display waveforms on the CRT display section of a CRT oscilloscope has come into use.

A conventional method of collecting occlusal sounds for this purpose is to place a pickup in close contact with the forehead or cheek surface, and extract the occlusal sounds caused by bone conduction as electrical signals. However, although this method can sufficiently absorb the first collision sound that occurs during occlusion, the subsequent sliding sound caused by the movement of the tooth surfaces back and forth and from side to side (so-called bruxism) is generated in a direction perpendicular to the tooth axis. Because of the vibrations, it is difficult to transmit the sound to the jawbone, and the sound cannot be collected sufficiently. For this reason, there is a problem in that the obtained visible waveform tends to lack the sliding sound part, which is one of the important elements for diagnosing the quality of occlusion. In addition, the occlusal condition is often different between the left and right sides, and it is necessary to detect each condition individually and compare the two to make a comprehensive diagnosis. Since the occlusal sounds are collected, the resulting occlusal sounds are a composite of the left and right occlusal sounds, resulting in insufficient information for diagnosis. The present invention has been made with the aim of improving these problems, and when an intraoral pickup having a sound pickup section that is mounted in the oral cavity close to the dental arch is used, it is possible to reduce the amount of tooth damage that occurs during occlusion. We discovered that it is possible to clearly pick up sliding sounds from front to back and from side to side, and we have developed an intra-oral pickup that is inserted into the ear canal or an extra-oral pickup that is attached closely to the cheeks of the face. By using these pickups together, not only collision sounds during occlusion but also sliding sounds can be reliably collected, and by collecting sound from each of these pickups on two channels separately for the left and right, it is possible to increase the value of diagnostic information. The present invention provides an occlusal sound collection and display device that can obtain visible waveforms of high occlusal sounds.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows the use of the device of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram showing the state,
1 is a subject (patient), A shows a state in which an ear canal-shaped extra-oral pickup 2a is used as the extra-oral pickup 2, and it is inserted into the left and right ear canals of the patient 1 to collect sound, and B shows a state in which sound is collected. An extraoral pickup 2b that is pressed tightly against the left = right cheek surface of the patient 1 as an extraoral pickup 2
C shows a state in which sound is collected using an intraoral pickup 3 having a sound collection section inserted into the oral cavity of the patient 1 and mounted close to the dental arch. Indicates the condition. In the diagram, the pickups 2a, 2b, and 3 are shown divided into three sections, A, B, and C, for the sake of clarity, but in principle, there is only one patient 1, and the pickups 2a, 2b, and 3 are used simultaneously for the same person. . However, two types of extraoral pickup 2a,
2b does not necessarily have to be used at the same time; either one
It suffices to use a variety of types, and there is no difference in the operation and effectiveness of the device of the present invention even in such a case. Here, each of the pickups 2a, 2b, and 3 is a two-channel type having separate right and left microphone units, and is connected to the device main body 5, respectively. Earhole-shaped extraoral pickup 2
As a, for example, an ear hole microphone is used in which a small piezoelectric bimorph element is housed in an earplug and one or both ends j of the element are fixed to the earplug. Further, the mounting position of the extraoral pickup 2b is selected, for example, near the upper part of the maxilla on the left and right sides of the buccal surface. The ear canal-shaped extraoral pickup 2a is used to pick up occlusal sounds that travel through the upper and lower jaw bones and reach the ear canal, but the ear canal is suitable for collecting sound because it has no physically moving parts like the cheek surface. In particular, it can catch even the occlusal sounds that occur in the temporomandibular joints during occlusion. Occlusal abnormalities are not caused only by the teeth, but are often caused by abnormalities in the temporomandibular joints, so the occlusal sounds generated at the temporomandibular joints provide useful information for occlusal diagnosis. Further, the extraoral pickup 2b for the jaw surface can pick up sound stably with little individual difference, and can particularly clearly catch the impact sound of early contact. 6 is a CRT display section provided on the front panel 5a of the device main body 5, and each pickup 2a, 2b,
The occlusal sound collected in step 3 is displayed as a visible waveform 6a.

The front panel 5a is provided with switches and knobs necessary for various operations, and to give an example, 7 is the CR
T brightness adjustment knob, 8 is CRT focus adjustment knob, 9
1 is a power switch, 10 is an enlargement ratio adjuster when displaying the visible waveform 6a, and 11, 12, and 13 are each pickup 2a.
, 2b, 3 input terminals, 14 is each pickup 2a, 2
b, 3 is an input and display changeover switch, 15 is an auto trigger switch, 16 is a single trigger switch,
When the switch 15 is pressed, it is triggered every time a bite occurs, and when the switch 16 is pressed, it is triggered only once. Reference numeral 19 is a pair of left and right memory content change switches, which are in the normal state when pressed, and new data is memorized for both the left and right sides.

Similarly, when a pair of left and right switches 18 is pressed, the old data of the left and right channels is recalled. Similarly, a pair of left and right switches 17 are data memory switches that allow data to be stored into two channels. 20 is a plot out command button, and by pressing this button, the visible waveform is plotted out from the output 22a of the plotter 22.

21 is a vapor feed button, which is operated when only vapor feeding is performed without plotting out.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the structure of the intraoral pickup 3, which includes a pair of left and right sound collection sections 27, 27 each consisting of a vibrator with an opening 25 at the tip and a curved section 26 that when combined forms an approximately horseshoe shape. and microphone units 28, 28 connected to the ends of the sound collecting sections 27, 27, respectively.

A plurality of sound collection windows 29 are provided on the inner periphery of the front side of the sound collection part 27, and the sound collection windows 29 are made of elongated holes as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. It corresponds to a range up to. The curved part 26 of the sound collection part 27 as a whole forms a horseshoe shape along the dental arch 30, and is inserted between the dental arch 30 and the inner surface of the cheek 31 from the left and right lips, and is inserted into the dental arch 30.
The sound of occlusion is collected through the opening 25 and the sound collection window 29 and transmitted to the microphone unit 28. The microphone unit 28 is housed within a cover 32 made of a sound absorbing material that blocks external noise, and the sound collection section 27 is detachably attached to the microphone unit 28. 33 is a code.

Note that the sound collection window 29 can also be formed of a large number of round holes arranged in parallel or a long and narrow slot. Further, the sound collecting section 27 is a thin tube made of flexible synthetic resin, but the scissors rod of an articulating paper guide used in diagnosis based on the occlusal pattern using articulating paper can also be used as the sound collecting section 27. In this case, diagnosis based on the articulating paper pattern can also be performed. Although the illustrated example shows an intraoral pick-up shaped like a horseshoe, it goes without saying that the intraoral pick-up can be implemented in various other forms. As mentioned above, the intraoral pickup 3 is located close to the teeth and picks up occlusal sounds using air as a medium, so it records all occlusal sounds from the start to the end of occlusion. It can clearly pick up sound, especially the sliding sound that accompanies the movement of teeth back and forth and left and right, making it possible to obtain highly accurate diagnostic information.

Next, the circuit configuration and operation of this device will be explained with reference to FIG.

In the figure, double-lined arrows indicate the flow of electrical signals for occlusal sounds, and single-lined arrows indicate the flow of control signals. As seen in the figure, the device of the present invention is equipped with an intraoral pickup 3 and extraoral pickups 2a, 2b as pickups for extracting occlusal sounds. It is converted into two separate channels of electrical signals, and the converted electrical signals are further converted into digital signals via an analog-to-digital converter 37 and stored in a storage device 41 as articulation sound sample data.

The control means is configured to arbitrarily and selectively read out the occlusal sound sample data stored in the storage device 41 and display it as a visible waveform on the subsequent display section. Here, in the following embodiment, the control means is constructed by combining a write tanning control section 33 and a read tanning control section 42, and the display section is a CR.
This is embodied by the T display section 6 and the plotter output section 22a.

First, the occlusal sound is converted into an electric signal by the pickups 2 and 3 as described above, amplified by the preamplifier 36, and further inputted to the analog-to-digital converter 37 to be converted into a multi-bit digital signal. converted.

The part surrounded by the imaginary line in Fig. 3 is used when applying a trigger using myoelectric potential, and 39 is a myoelectric potential that detects the start of occlusion by the myoelectric potential associated with the movement of the jaw active muscles just before the teeth collide. A trigger sensor whose trigger signal is amplified by a preamplifier 40 and sent to a write timing control section 38.
sent to. The trigger method is not limited to this method, but the control section 38 can also be operated by an internal trigger using the output of the preamplifier 36, and in this case, the trigger sensor 39 and the preamplifier 40 are not required. In response to this trigger output, the electric signal of the occlusal sound is converted into a digital signal by the analog-to-digital converter 37, and is stored in the storage device 41 as occlusal sound sample data. Next, when a readout command is issued from the readout tanning control unit 42, the signal stored in the storage device 41 as occlusal sound sample data is read out, and this readout signal is converted to the original by the digital-to-analog converter 43. is converted back to an analog signal. 44 is a CRT drive section which displays the electric signal sent as an analog signal on the CRT display section 6 as a visible waveform 6a.

As a result, occlusal sounds are displayed as vibration waveforms that can be visually observed, and various information useful for occlusal diagnosis can be obtained. On the other hand, if you want to record this waveform, the plotter control section 45 issues a read command and at the same time drives the plotter drive section 46 to drive the plotter 22.
, a hard copy that can be stored as a patient's medical record can be obtained on the output unit 22a. Here, the write tamming control section 38, the read tamming control section 42, etc. are controlled as desired by various operating mechanisms provided on the front panel 5a of the apparatus main body 5 as shown in FIG. It is set to perform an action. To give an example of the control operation, the outputs of the pickups 2a, 2b, and 3 are sampled, for example, for four occlusions, and are stored in the storage device 41 as occlusion sound sample data for each left and right channel.

In this case, the total number of occlusal sound sample data stored is 2.
There is type B, and each of these data is selectively read out as needed and displayed on the CRT display unit 6. In this case, display methods include, for example, displaying images of occlusal sound sample data from the same time on the left and right sides of the same pickup side by side, or displaying occlusal sound sample data from the same pickup in order to see occlusal changes over time. They can be displayed side by side at the same time, or the articulation sound samples of each pickup can be displayed simultaneously as images.

These display contents are selected as appropriate to perform a comprehensive diagnosis while displaying the necessary images, and if necessary, the image is printed out on paper using the plotter output section 22. Further, in order to arbitrarily read out the signals stored as described above as needed, it is desirable to use a random access memory (RAM) as the storage device 41.

Note that when displaying the visible waveform 6a on the CRT display section 6, it is desirable to display the visible waveform 6a with the time axis vertical. This is because when the left and right occlusal sounds are displayed side by side, arranging them side by side is more natural when compared to the patient and easier to observe than arranging them one above the other. As is clear from the description of the above embodiments, the device of the present invention extracts the occlusal sound from the intra-oral pickup and the extra-oral pickup as sample data of two separate left and right channels and displays it as a visible waveform. Intraoral pickups have the advantage of being able to clearly pick up the sliding sounds associated with the back and forth and left and right movements of the teeth, which could not be adequately captured by extraoral pickups alone. Along with the occlusal sound output from the
Since it can be displayed as a visible waveform on the display, it is possible to comprehensively and accurately diagnose conditions such as early contact, bruxism, and temporomandibular joint abnormalities that were difficult to diagnose with a single pickup by comparing both waveforms, improving diagnostic accuracy. It has the distinct advantage of being able to

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing how an embodiment of the present invention is used, Fig. 2a is a plan view of the intraoral pick-up in use according to the same embodiment, and Fig. 2b is an enlarged perspective view of the main parts of the pick-up. 3 are block diagrams of the same embodiment. Explanation of symbols, 2, 2a, 2b...Extraoral pickup, 3...Intraoral pickup, 6...CRT
Display section, 22a... Plotter output section, 27.
... Sound collection section, 30 ... Dental arch, 41 ...
···Storage device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An intraoral pickup that has a sound pickup section and is mounted in the oral cavity close to the dental arch, and an intraoral pickup that is inserted into both ear canals or closely attached to both cheeks of the face. an extra-oral pickup that is installed in a storage means for storing the occlusal sound sample data as data; a control means for controlling writing and reading of the occlusal sound sample data in the storage means; A display unit for displaying visible waveforms of two channels. 2 A CR in which the display section displays an image corresponding to the occlusal sound.
The occlusal sound collection and display device according to claim 1, comprising a T display section. 3. The occlusal sound collection and display device according to claim 1, wherein the display section is constituted by a plotter output section that displays an image corresponding to the occlusal sound on paper.