JPWO2018088059A1 - Electrode for measuring biological information and method of manufacturing electrode for measuring biological information - Google Patents

Abstract

  The living body information measurement which has an electrode leg (10) and a terminal portion (30) electrically connected to the electrode leg (10), and one end (10a) of the electrode leg (10) can contact with a living body A plurality of electrode legs (10) provided with an annular base portion (20) integrally formed with the plurality of electrode legs (10); And the other end (10b) of the electrode leg (10) are provided continuously, and one end (10a) of the electrode leg (10) is aligned in one direction, the electrode leg (10) And the base portion (20) is formed by binding a plurality of conductive carbon fibers by a binding member of a synthetic resin, and the plurality of carbon fibers are aligned and laid in one direction An electrode for biological information measurement characterized in that.

Description

  The present invention relates to a biological information measurement electrode and a method of manufacturing a biological information measurement electrode.

  In recent years, measurement of various biological information, for example, biological information such as pulse wave, electrocardiogram, myoelectric potential, body fat, and electroencephalogram has been performed. Unlike normal electrodes, this type of biological information requires electrodes for measuring biological information that can be stably brought into contact with the living body, so various electrodes for measuring biological information have been proposed. . In particular, with regard to electrodes for measuring biological information to be pressed against a living body (skin) having hair or body hair, it is required to make contact with the skin while avoiding hair grown from the skin, and stability of contact with the skin is required. It was being done.

  As one of such electrodes for measuring biological information, for example, a plurality of inverted U-shaped metal members are provided on a base plate, and a plurality of inverted U-shaped metal members are brought into contact with the skin to An electroencephalogram detection electrode that performs measurement is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP, 2006-94979, A

  However, the electrode for brain wave detection described in Patent Document 1 is heavy because metal is used, and a step of bending a metal rod to form an inverted U-shaped metal member, or cutting a metal rod Are manufactured through a plurality of time-consuming steps such as a step of forming an inverted U-shaped metal member and a step of fixing a plurality of inverted U-shaped metal members on a base plate; Become.

  For this reason, there is a demand for a light-weight, low-cost electrode for measuring biological information.

  According to one aspect of the present embodiment, an electrode for measuring biological information having an electrode leg and a terminal portion electrically connected to the electrode leg, wherein one end of the electrode leg can be in contact with a living body A plurality of the electrode legs provided, and having an annular base portion integrally formed with the plurality of the electrode legs, the base portion and the other end portion of the electrode leg The electrode legs are continuously provided, and the one end of the electrode leg is aligned in one direction, and the electrode leg and the base portion are binding members of a plurality of conductive carbon fibers made of a synthetic resin. The plurality of carbon fibers are aligned and laid in one direction.

  According to the disclosed biological information measurement electrode, it is possible to produce it at low cost and at low cost.

An explanatory view of a structure of a biological information measurement electrode in the present embodiment SEM image of one end of the electrode leg of the biological information measuring electrode in the present embodiment Explanatory drawing which showed the SEM image of FIG. 2 typically SEM image of carbon fiber Illustration of carbon fiber Process drawing of manufacturing method of electrode for biological information measurement in the present embodiment (1) Process drawing of manufacturing method of electrode for biological information measurement in the present embodiment (2) Process drawing of manufacturing method of electrode for biological information measurement in the present embodiment (3) Process drawing of manufacturing method of electrode for biological information measurement in the present embodiment (4) Process drawing of manufacturing method of electrode for biological information measurement in the present embodiment (5) Process drawing of manufacturing method of electrode for biological information measurement in the present embodiment (6)

  A mode for carrying out will be described below. In addition, about the same member etc., the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted. Further, in the following description, as an example, the case of measuring biological information by bringing the electrode for measuring biological information into contact with the skin having hair or body hair, which is a part of a living body, will be described. The measurement electrode may be in contact with skin other than the skin with hair or body hair (living body) as long as it is a part of the living body.

(Electrode for biological information measurement)
An electrode for measuring biological information in the present embodiment will be described based on FIG. Fig.1 (a) is a side view of the biological information measurement electrode in this Embodiment, and FIG.1 (b) is a bottom view.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the biological information measuring electrode according to the present embodiment has a circular and annular (annular shape) base portion 20, and a broken line arrow A (see FIG. 1A) from the base portion 20. A plurality of electrode legs 10 extending in one direction as shown, and a terminal portion 30 connected to the other side opposite to the one side of the base portion 20 There is. The biological information measuring electrode according to the present embodiment can be in contact with the living body at one end 10a of the electrode leg 10 on one side, and the biological information such as an electroencephalogram can be measured by contacting the living body with the living body. It can be used as an electrode.

  First, the electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20 of the electrode for measuring biological information in the present embodiment are made of a plurality of conductive carbon fibers bound by a binding member of a synthetic resin such as an epoxy resin. The electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20 are integrally formed. The binding member is obtained by curing an uncured or semi-cured synthetic resin material. Further, as the binding member, in addition to the epoxy resin, a relatively soft synthetic resin such as a urethane resin may be used, or an elastic synthetic resin such as rubber may be used.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20 are configured such that the outer surface of the electrode leg 10 and the outer ring surface (the outer surface of the ring shape) of the base portion 20 are flush. There is. A plurality of electrode legs 10 extend from the base portion 20, and one end 10a of the electrode leg 10 is aligned in one direction (the direction of the broken arrow A shown in FIG. 1). Further, as shown in FIG. 1B, the electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20 are configured to have the same thickness. The direction in which the carbon fibers forming the electrode legs 10 and the base portion 20 are aligned and laid (hereinafter referred to as the extending direction) is the one direction indicated by the broken line arrow A in which the electrode legs 10 are aligned. It matches with.

  Further, the plurality of electrode legs 10 extended from the base portion 20 are configured to have the other end portion 10 b continuously provided to the base portion 20 and the one end portion 10 a capable of contacting the living body. There is. Then, in the electrode leg 10, as shown in FIG. 1A, the width Wa of the one end portion 10a in contact with the living body is formed narrower than the width Wb of the other end portion 10b continuous with the base portion 20. There is. That is, the electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20 are continuous with the base portion 20 on the side of the base portion 20 in a side view (when the electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20 are viewed from the normal direction of the side surface of the base portion 20). The width Wa of the one end 10a in contact with the living body is narrower than the width Wb of the other end 10b. As described above, by narrowing the width of the one end 10a of the electrode leg 10, when the one end 10a of the electrode leg 10 is brought into contact with the skin, the hair is easily scraped, so the one end 10a of the electrode leg 10 and the skin This ensures contact with the human body and enables stable measurement of biological information. In addition, although the electrode leg 10 one end part 10a shown to Fig.1 (a) is formed in flat shape, an acute angle shape may be sufficient as the front-end | tip part (one end part 10a side), and curved surface shape may be sufficient. . Thereby, the hair can be further easily scraped away.

  Further, in the biological information measurement electrode according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1B, a plurality of electrode legs 10 are provided on the base portion 20 at equal intervals. Thus, by providing the electrode legs 10 at equal intervals, one end 10a of each electrode leg 10 can be brought into contact with the skin uniformly, and accurate measurement of biological information can be performed.

  Here, a more detailed description will be given based on the carbon fibers forming the electrode legs 10 and the base portion 20 and the characteristics thereof. FIG. 2 is a SEM image of one end 10 a of the electrode leg 10, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing the position of the carbon fiber corresponding to the SEM image of FIG. 2. Moreover, FIG. 4 is a SEM image of carbon fiber, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining carbon fiber. 2 to 5, the carbon wire is indicated by numbering CF, and in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the binding member is indicated by numbering BR.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the electrode leg 10 (one end 10a), an epoxy resin as a binding member (BR) enters and cures in a gap between a plurality of carbon fibers (CF). A plurality of carbon fibers (CF) are bound by a cured epoxy resin which is a member (BR). The carbon fiber (CF) in FIGS. 2 and 3 is an end face of the carbon fiber (CF).

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the carbon fiber (CF) has a circular cross-sectional shape, and the diameter thereof is about 10 μm as shown in FIG. 4 (about 9.68 μm in FIG. 4). )belongs to.

  The carbon fiber (CF) has a specific resistance in the fiber axial direction (broken line arrow B shown in FIG. 5) of carbon fiber (CF) and a specific resistance in the direction (broken line arrow C shown in FIG. 5) perpendicular to the fiber axial direction. Is very different from. Specifically, the specific resistance in the fiber axial direction of the carbon fiber (CF) is about 2 to 3 digits lower than the specific resistance in the direction perpendicular to the fiber axial direction. Therefore, since the electrode leg 10, which is laid with the carbon fiber fiber axis direction aligned, extends from the base portion 20 in the extending direction, between the one end 10a of the electrode leg 10 and the end 20a of the base portion 20 The resistance in (see FIG. 1 (a)) is low. Therefore, by bringing one end portion 10a of the electrode leg 10 into contact with a living body such as skin and interposing the electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20, information on the living body can be measured with low resistance. As a result, biological information can be measured with an accuracy equal to or higher than that of a biological information measurement electrode made of metal.

  Moreover, in the electrode for measuring biological information in the present embodiment, for example, the diameter D (shown in FIG. 1A) of the base portion 20 is preferably 15 mm to 25 mm. Further, the number of the electrode legs 10 is 3 to 8 provided at equal intervals, and the length L (shown in FIG. 1A) of the electrode legs 10 is 8 mm to 20 mm, and one end 10 a of the electrode legs 10 Preferably, the width Wa (shown in FIG. 1 (a)) is 1 mm to 3 mm, and the width Wb (shown in FIG. 1 (a)) at the other end 10b is 1 mm to 3 mm.

  Finally, the terminal portion 30 of the biological information measurement electrode in the present embodiment is formed of a conductive material such as a metal material, and as shown in FIG. 1, the disk-shaped base 30k and the base 30k And a convex portion 30t protruding from the central portion of the lens.

  In the terminal portion 30, the end portion 20a on the opposite side to the base 30k of the terminal portion 30 and the side on which the electrode leg 10 of the base portion 20 is continuous is, for example, a conductive adhesive or conductive property (not shown) It is fixed by paste etc. and connected. Thus, the terminal portion 30 is electrically connected to the base portion 20 integrally formed with the electrode leg 10. Therefore, from one end face of the carbon fiber (CF) exposed at one end 10a of the electrode leg 10 to the terminal portion 30 electrically through the other end face of the carbon fiber (CF) at the end 20a of the base portion 20 Will be connected to The terminal portion 30 and the end portion 20a of the base portion 20 may be electrically connected, though not directly connected. For example, the base portion 20 may be held by a holding member having conductivity, and the holding member and the terminal portion 30 may be connected via a lead wire or the like.

  In addition, the terminal unit 30 has a function of connecting to a measuring device (not shown), and transmits the electrical signal from the skin obtained through the electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20 to the measuring device. Specifically, the terminal unit 30 is connected to a lead (not shown) and a terminal (not shown), and the terminal and the measuring device are connected.

  Since the electrode for measuring biological information in the present embodiment configured as described above is formed of a binding member such as an epoxy resin that bonds a plurality of carbon fibers and a plurality of carbon fibers, the biological information is made of metal. It is lightweight compared with the case where the measurement electrode is formed. Therefore, for example, when a plurality of electrodes for measuring biological information are attached to the head to measure biological information, the electrodes for measuring biological information are lightweight, so the feeling of wearing is not bothered and discomfort is felt a lot. Measurement of biological information can be performed without That is, when a plurality of biological information measurement electrodes are attached to the head, if the biological information measurement electrodes are heavy, the head may feel heavy and feel discomfort while measuring biological information. . However, since the biological information measurement electrode in the present embodiment is light, the biological information measurement electrode can be measured without much feeling of discomfort or the like.

  Further, although the case where an epoxy resin or the like is used as the binding member has been described above, when the binding member is made of rubber or a relatively soft resin material, the electrode leg 10 has elasticity. As described above, when the electrode leg 10 has elasticity, contact with the skin can be ensured as compared with the case where the electrode leg 10 is formed of metal, and elastic deformation is caused when the electrode leg 10 contacts the skin. The pressure on the skin is relieved and pain can be relieved.

  In addition, although the biological information measurement electrode formed of metal can not be used for persons with metal allergy, as long as it is a biological information measurement electrode formed of carbon fiber as in this embodiment, It can also be used for people with metal allergies.

(Method of manufacturing electrode for measuring biological information)
Next, a method of manufacturing the biological information measuring electrode according to the present embodiment will be described based on FIGS. In FIGS. 6 to 11, the direction (extension direction) in which the carbon fibers are aligned and laid is indicated by a dashed arrow D.

  The manufacturing method of the biological information measuring electrode in the present embodiment mainly includes a winding step P2 of winding the sheet 110 around the core member 120 and a curing step of curing the synthetic resin material of the sheet 110 to form the annular band 111. It is configured to have P3 and a cutting process P5 for cutting the annular band 111. In addition, in the present embodiment, a preparation step P1 for preparing a sheet 110 or the like having carbon fibers, a removal step P4 for removing the annular band 111 from the core member 120, and a connection step P6 for mounting the terminal portion 30. And have.

  First, in the method of manufacturing a biological information measuring electrode according to the present embodiment, first, a sheet 110 (see FIG. 6A) in which carbon fibers are aligned in one direction and impregnated with a synthetic resin material; A core material 120 (see FIG. 6B) for winding 110 is prepared (preparation process P1).

  In the preparation process P1, as such a sheet 110, a base material called a so-called prepreg sheet, in which the synthetic resin material is uncured or semi-cured, is used. Specifically, in the present embodiment, for example, a prepreg sheet (UD prepreg, HyEJ28M80QD (manufactured by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.)) in which a carbon fiber of coal pitch type is impregnated with an epoxy resin may be used. The prepreg sheet contains 32 wt% of an uncured or semi-cured resin component. The thickness of the prepreg sheet is about several tens of μm to several hundreds of μm.

  Further, as the core material 120, although not shown in detail, a cylindrical or cylindrical one is used, and a heat resistant material that can withstand the curing conditions of the curing step P3 described later, for example, a metal material such as iron or A heat-resistant synthetic resin such as polyphenylene sulfide resin (PPS, Poly Phenylene Sulfide) is used. Further, the core material 120 whose surface is coated with fluorine may be used. Thereby, it is possible to easily remove the sheet 110 (the annular band 111 described later, see FIG. 8) from the core material 120 in the removal process P4 described later.

  Further, since the diameter of the outer periphery of the core member 120 is a factor that determines the size of the biological information measurement electrode, it is preferable to use a desired size. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, when the length (height) of the core material 120 is larger than the width (height) of the sheet 110, the sheet in the winding step P2 described later The core 110 can be easily wound around the core 120. In addition, although cylindrical shape or cylindrical shape was suitably used as the core material 120, it does not restrict to this shape. For example, the cross-sectional shape may be a polygonal shape.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7A to FIG. 7B, a winding process P2 of winding the sheet 110 around the core material 120 is performed. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the sheet 110 is being wound around the core 120, and FIG. 7B shows a state in which the sheet 110 is completely wound around the core 120. As shown in FIG. The sheet 110 shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A shows a part of the sheet 110 and has a size longer than the illustrated length.

  In the winding step P2, the sheet 110 is overlapped and wound around the core material 120. At that time, as shown in FIG. 7, winding is performed so that the generatrix of the cylindrical (cylindrical) core member 120 and the extending direction of the carbon fiber (broken line arrow D) in the sheet 110 become parallel. . That is, the sheet 110 is wound around the core material 120 so that the carbon fibers aligned in one direction are along one direction. The number of times of winding is determined in accordance with the desired thickness of the electrode leg 10 and the base portion 20.

  Next, in a state in which the sheet 110 is completely wound around the core material 120 (see FIG. 7B), a curing step P3 of curing the epoxy resin of the synthetic resin material impregnated in the sheet 110 is performed.

In the curing step P3, the sheet 110 and the core member 120 shown in FIG. 7B are put into a heating furnace, and heating is performed, for example, at 130 ° C. for one hour to thermally cure the epoxy resin (synthetic resin material). Is done. Thus, by thermally curing the epoxy resin in the sheet 110 wound around the core material 120, an annular band 111 as shown in FIG. 8 is formed. That is, the annular band 111 is formed of the cylindrically cured sheet 110 as shown in FIG. 8A, and a plurality of carbon fibers are bound by the cured synthetic resin material which is a binding member. . In addition, when this prepreg sheet is used, the specific resistance in the fiber axial direction after curing (also the extending direction by the dashed arrow D shown in FIG. 8B) is 2.7 × 10 ⁻³ Ω · cm. is there.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 8 to 9, a removal step P4 of removing the annular band 111 from the core material 120 is performed.

  In the removal step P4, the outer side of the annular band is fixed, and the core material 120 located inside the annular band 111 is gripped with a jig or the like to extract the core material 120. Thus, the annular band 111 shown in FIG. 9 is easily removed from the core member 120.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10, a cutting step P5 of cutting the annular band 111 is performed.

  In this cutting step P5, the annular band 111 formed of the cured sheet 110 shown in FIG. 9 is cut into a comb shape as shown in FIG. 10 (a), and along this cut line, FIG. Separating into two as shown in b) is performed. Thereby, two pieces having the plurality of electrode legs 10 and the base portion 20 can be manufactured.

  Moreover, the cutting | disconnection of the annular zone 111 in this cutting process P5 cut | disconnects by the laser processing or machining by irradiation of a laser beam. When laser light is used to cut the annular band 111, it can be cut in a short time, so that the biological information measurement electrode can be manufactured at lower cost. The laser light source used at this time may be an excimer laser or the like. In addition, the process of cutting and separating the annular band 111 by laser light irradiation may be performed before the epoxy resin is thermally cured.

  Further, in the cutting step P5, a cut is made to intersect at a slight angle with the extending direction of the carbon fiber. As a result, when being separated into two along the score line, the width Wa (see FIG. 1A) of one end 10a of the electrode leg 10 is the width Wb of the other end 10b of the electrode leg 10 (see FIG. 1). The electrode leg 10 formed narrower than (a) can be easily manufactured. In addition, by aligning the cutting angles of the respective electrode legs 10, the electrode legs 10 of the two biological information measurement electrodes to be obtained can be easily made the same shape.

  Further, in the cutting step P5, cuts are made so that the plurality of electrode legs 10 are equally spaced. In addition, when being separated into two along the score line, the number of electrode legs 10 of each of the (two) biological information measurement electrodes is the same. By these, the biological information measurement electrode of the same shape can be produced easily. In the present application, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), cutting the annular band 111 formed by the cured sheet 110 and separating as shown in FIG. 10 (b) is referred to as "separation cutting". May.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 11, a connection step P6 of mounting the terminal portion 30 is performed.

  In this connection step P6, as shown in FIG. 11, the terminal portions 30 are bonded to the end portions 20a of the respective base portions 20 by a conductive adhesive. Thus, in the connecting step P6, the terminal portions 30 are bonded and connected to each of the end portions corresponding to both ends of the annular band 111 before being cut in the cutting step P5. As a result, the terminal portion 30 and the plurality of electrode legs 10 are electrically connected to each other through the base portion 20.

  In addition, before the connecting step P6 in which the terminal portion 30 is bonded with a conductive adhesive, before forming the annular band 111 cured in a cylindrical or annular shape, before the cutting step P5 in which the annular band 111 is cut and separated. It is also possible to

  As described above, in the method of manufacturing the biological information measuring electrode according to the present embodiment, the sheet 110 (prepreg sheet) in which the carbon fiber is impregnated with the synthetic resin material is wound around the core material 120 (wrapping process P2) and cured ( The electrode for measuring biological information can be easily manufactured by simple and few steps such as curing step P3) and separation and cutting (cutting step P5). Therefore, the biological information measuring electrode can be manufactured with a small number of steps and at low cost.

  As mentioned above, although an embodiment was explained in full detail, it is not limited to a specific embodiment, and various modification and change are possible within the limits indicated in a claim.

  The present international application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2016-220053 filed on Nov. 10, 2016, and the entire contents of that application are incorporated into the present international application.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 electrode leg 10a one end 10b other end 20 base part 20a end 30 terminal part 110 sheet 111 annular belt 120 core material BR binding member CF carbon fiber

Claims (10)

An electrode leg and a terminal portion electrically connected to the electrode leg;
An electrode for measuring biological information, wherein one end of the electrode leg can be in contact with a living body,
A plurality of the electrode legs are provided,
An annular base portion integrally formed with the plurality of electrode legs;
The base portion and the other end of the electrode leg are provided continuously;
The one end of the electrode leg is aligned in one direction,
The electrode leg and the base portion are formed by binding a plurality of conductive carbon fibers with a synthetic resin binding member,
An electrode for measuring biological information, wherein the plurality of carbon fibers are aligned and laid toward the one direction.   The biological information measuring electrode according to claim 1, wherein the electrode leg has elasticity.   The biological information measurement according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the width of the one end of the electrode leg is narrower than the width of the other end of the electrode leg in a side view of the electrode leg. Electrode. The outer ring surface of the base portion and the outer surface of the electrode leg are flush with each other;
The biological information measuring electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plurality of electrode legs are provided on the one side of the base portion at equal intervals.   The biological information measuring electrode according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the terminal portion is connected to the other direction side opposite to the one direction side of the base portion. An electrode leg, and a terminal portion electrically connected to the electrode leg, wherein one end of the electrode leg can be in contact with a living body.
A winding step of winding a sheet in which a synthetic resin material is impregnated in carbon fibers aligned in one direction along a core in one direction;
A curing step of curing the wound synthetic resin material to form an annular band formed by binding the carbon fibers by the binding member of the cured synthetic resin material;
Cutting the annular band to form an annular base portion and a plurality of the electrode legs continuous with the base portion;
A method of manufacturing an electrode for measuring biological information, comprising:   The method according to claim 6, wherein in the cutting step, the annular band is irradiated with laser light to separate and cut the annular band into two.   In the cutting step, the annular band is cut such that the width of the one end portion of the electrode leg is narrower than the width on the base portion side in a side view of the electrode leg. Or the manufacturing method of the electrode for biometric information measurement of Claim 7.   The biological information measuring electrode according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein in the cutting step, the annular band is cut so that the plurality of electrode legs are equally spaced. Production method. And a connecting step of mounting the terminal portion for electrical connection with the electrode leg,
The method for manufacturing a biological information measuring electrode according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein in the connecting step, the terminal portion is connected to end portions corresponding to both ends of the annular band.