KR101706850B1 - bodyfat measuring device and bodyfat measuring method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting a change in optical characteristics generated when a light emitted from a near infrared (NIR) light source enters a tissue and passes through a human body through various paths, The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring fat thickness of subcutaneous fat using a light emitting unit having a first light source emitting lights of different wavelengths and a light emitting device outputting a second light source, And a light receiving unit including at least two receiving elements for receiving optical signals of the first light source and the second light source output from the light emitting unit, the light receiving unit being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a body fat measuring device and a body fat measuring method,

More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for measuring body fat, and more particularly, to a body fat measurement apparatus and method using the near-infrared (NIR) light source. The present invention relates to a device for measuring the fat thickness of subcutaneous fat using spatial decomposition spectroscopy and a method of applying the same.

Recently, as interest in obesity has increased, many body fat measurement devices for obesity determination have been developed.

The conventional body fat measurement devices which are relatively inexpensive and easily accessible to individuals include body fat measurement devices based on bioelectrical resistance analysis methods commonly used in hospitals, medical diagnosis centers, or various kinds of obesity clinic centers. FIG. 5 (a) shows the body fat measurement device based on the bioelectrical resistance analysis method. It is widely used because it has the advantage of being relatively inexpensive and easy to operate by using a principle that a constant resistance is generated according to a frequency when a low AC voltage is passed through the wrist and ankle standing on a measuring instrument.

However, bioelectrical resistance analysis does not measure fat directly, but rather estimates the amount of other components in the body, that is, the amount of body water, based on the amount of protein and minerals, and then uses the proportional relationship between water, protein, Indirectly estimating body fat mass, which does not reflect the body fat mass of the human body.

Recently, there has been an attempt to improve accuracy by measuring the body composition by dividing the body into five cylinders of arms, legs and trunk by improving the method of measuring the human body as a single cylinder in order to improve the inaccuracy. However, And has the limitation of the indirect measurement method of measuring the body water. In addition, there is a problem that a measurement error is seriously generated depending on the state of the subject, such as the measurement result of the person who drinks the water or goes to the toilet before and after the measurement.

In addition, there is a skin fold thickness measuring method of measuring the local area thickness using the skinfold calipers shown in FIG. 5 (b) as a universal method. This method is the simplest and cheapest way to measure body fat percentage because it is possible to predict body fat mass with simple tools. However, there is a disadvantage in that the measurement error is considerably large unless it is a well trained measurer. In other words, when measuring the thickness of the corrugated skin with a caliper, various parts of the body are measured to calculate the constitution index. In the case of multi-point measurement, the value changes according to the pressure applied by the measurer, have.

The relatively expensive and expensive methods that can compensate for the inaccurate estimation by these two methods are underwater weighing, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), total body moisture measurement , And CT imaging methods. However, these are expensive, and the equipment using the radiation can be harmful to the human body, and various facilities must be provided. Therefore, they are used at the research level because they are not universally used.

In contrast to this, a technique for measuring the body fat using a light source in the infrared band has been studied. Such a technique also has an error. Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-0012888 has a reference reflector for reducing measurement errors caused by infrared rays . However, there is a disadvantage in that the system complexity is very high in terms of the mechanical aspect and the algorithm for measuring the thickness.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-0020340 discloses a method in which a plurality of lasers or light emitting diodes are used for each wavelength as a light source and one light receiving element is used to measure the output power of the light source itself An output control circuit must be added to make the same, and even if it is added, an algorithm for compensating the change of the output power and the wavelength of the light occurs due to the characteristics of the light source, It is difficult to adjust the output of the star light source constantly and it is also difficult to store the reference data in accordance with the light amount of each light source. In addition, there is a problem that a measurement error may occur when the light source structurally fails to adhere to the human tissue with the same force every time the measurement is performed.

KR 2009-0012888 A KR 2008-0020340 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a light source and a light receiving unit, And an object of the present invention is to provide a possible apparatus and method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light emitting device comprising: a light emitting unit having a first light source having a different wavelength and a light emitting element outputting a second light source; And a light receiving unit including at least two receiving elements for receiving optical signals of the first light source and the second light source output from the light emitting unit, the light receiving unit being spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance.

The receiving intensities of the optical signals of the first light source and the second light source received from the receiving element closest to the light emitting unit among the receiving elements are set as a first reference light amount and a second reference light amount, respectively, , The first measurement light quantity which is the reception intensity of the first light source and the second measurement light quantity which is the reception intensity of the second light source which are received by the receiving elements other than the receiving element closest to the light emitting section are normalized .

It is preferable that the distance between the specific receiving element and the light source calculated using the ratio of the normalized first measured light amount to the second measured light amount is calculated and the thickness of the body fat is calculated from the calculated distance .

And an amplification stage for amplifying the optical signal received by the light receiving unit.

And a detector for detecting the amplitude of the optical signal received by the light receiving unit.

And a filter unit for removing noise of an optical signal received by the light receiving unit.

And a communication unit for receiving the calculated body fat thickness information and transmitting the received body fat thickness information.

And an output unit outputting body fat information of each of the body parts transmitted from the communication unit.

The output unit preferably outputs the body fat information of each body part as a fat distribution map according to a predetermined method.

(A) a first light source and a second light source having different wavelengths from each other in the light emitting unit are respectively output to a body part; (b) receiving the first light source and the second light source in a plurality of receiving elements arranged at predetermined intervals; (c) In the control unit, the reception intensities of the first light source and the second light source, which are received at the receiving element closest to the light emitting unit among the receiving elements, are set as a first reference light amount and a second reference light amount, respectively The first measured light quantity being the reception intensity of the first light source and the second measured light quantity being the reception intensity of the second light source, received by the receiving elements other than the receiving element closest to the light emitting unit, Each being normalized; (d) calculating, in the control unit, the distance between the normal light source and the specific receiving element calculated using the ratio of the normalized first measured light amount and the second measured light amount, and calculating a thickness of the body fat from the calculated distance And calculating the body fat saturation value.

And (e) after the step (d), the thickness information of the body fat calculated in the output unit is output.

The output of the thickness information of the body fat calculated is preferably output as a predetermined body fat distribution diagram.

As described above, according to the body fat measurement device and the measurement method of the present invention, an automatic measurement algorithm using a light source wavelength band that is harmless to the human body has few errors according to the measurer, and the platform itself is interlocked with a universal terminal, , It can be used conveniently by the user and can have a considerable ripple effect on the health screening market and the living sports field. In addition, simple and inexpensive measurement is possible. In addition, since the distribution map of fat is shown through Modal Analysis, it is possible to increase the efficiency of massage and skin care by recognizing the fat distribution of the face from the esthetic point of view.

1 is a schematic view of a body fat measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention
2 shows an embodiment of a body fat measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart of a body fat measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A is a graph of attenuation of the optical signal measured by the first light source and the second light source according to the distance between the light source and the receiving device according to fat thickness, and FIG. 4B is a graph of the measured attenuation by the signal ratio according to the wavelength.
FIG. 5 shows a conventional body fat measurement device, in which FIG. 5A shows a bioelectrical resistance analysis method, and FIG. 5B shows a body fat measurement method using a skin fold caliper.

Hereinafter, a body fat measurement device and a measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

These and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, the thicknesses of the lines and the sizes of the components shown in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation. In addition, the terms described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, which may vary depending on the intention or custom of the user, the operator. Therefore, the definitions of these terms should be described based on the contents throughout this specification.

In addition, the described embodiments are provided for illustrative purposes and do not limit the technical scope of the present invention.

The constituent elements of the body fat measurement apparatus of the present invention can be used integrally or separately. In addition, some components may be omitted depending on the usage pattern.

Hereinafter, a body fat measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 attached hereto.

A body fat measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a light emitting unit 100, a light receiving unit 200, a control unit 300, a communication unit 400, And a terminal unit 500. The above-mentioned configurations are connected as described below, and the term 'connection' refers to a connection in a form in which intangible information or the like between respective components can be transmitted and received, and includes both wired / wireless and direct / indirect concepts .

The light emitting unit 100 may include a light emitting device 110 for outputting the first light source and the second light source, which are lights having different wavelengths, and for generating the first light source and the second light source. The light emitting device 110 may be a means for generating light. Preferably, the light emitting device 110 may be a laser diode (LD), a light emitting diode (LED), or a light emitting diode Lt; / RTI >

In addition, the first light source and the second light source have different wavelengths. The first light source has a high absorption rate to fat, and the second light source has a relatively low absorption rate to fat compared to the first light source.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 1, the first light source and the second light source exhibit a difference in decay rate of the optical signal according to the skin layer, the fat layer, and the muscle layer in the body part. The wavelengths of the first light source and the second light source are within the wavelength range of 280 to 4000 nm, which is the wavelength range of the sunlight, although the first and second light sources are not particularly limited as long as they have different absorption rates with respect to fat as described above May be preferred. Thereby, there is no possibility of harming the human body, and the thickness of the fat layer can be measured safely.

LD and LED, which are one example of the light emitting device 110, have a wavelength range in the range of 650 to 1000 nm, so that the above-mentioned effect can be sufficiently obtained.

The light emitting unit 100 may include a light source driving unit 120 for driving the light emitting device 110.

The light receiving unit 200 includes at least two receiving elements 201 to 20n for receiving optical signals of the first light source and the second light source output from the light emitting element 110 of the light emitting unit 100, The photodiodes 201 to 20n may be photo diodes (APDs), avalanche photodiodes (Avalanche photodiodes), and the like. The elements 201 to 20n are arranged to be spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance, and will be described later in detail. The first and second light sources, which are received by the receiving element 201 closest to the light emitting part 100, The reception intensities of the optical signals are set as the first reference light amount P1 and the second reference light amount P2, respectively.

The light receiving unit 200 includes an amplification stage 210 for amplifying an optical signal received from the receiving elements 201 to 20n, a filter unit 220 for removing noise of the received optical signal, 1, the amplification stage 210, the filter unit 220, and the detection unit 230 may include receiving elements 201 to 20n and a detector unit 230, respectively. So that the received optical signal can be amplified and noise can be removed from the amplified optical signal to be detected more easily.

The control unit 300 calculates the thickness of the body fat using the optical signal received by the light receiving unit 200, which will be described later.

 The control unit 300 may further include an A / D conversion unit 310 for converting the analog optical signal received from the light receiving unit 200 into a digital signal.

The communication unit 400 transmits the calculated body fat thickness information to the terminal unit 500. 3, the light emitting unit 100, the light receiving unit 200, the control unit 300, and the communication unit 400 are worn on the user's body by transmitting wirelessly, So that the terminal unit 500 can be configured to be portable, which makes it possible to use a more convenient measuring apparatus.

The terminal unit 500 may include an output unit 510 and a controller 520. The terminal unit 500 receives the body fat thickness information calculated by the controller 300 and transmitted through the communication unit 400, Lt; / RTI >

The controller 520 transmits a signal for controlling each of the devices to the control unit 300 through the terminal unit 500 and controls the overall operation of the measurement device by controlling the respective components such as the light source driver 120 do.

Hereinafter, a body fat measurement method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

First, a first light source and a second light source, which are lights having different wavelengths from each other in the light emitting unit 100, are output to a body part (S100, S300).

The first light source and the second light source having wavelengths different from each other in the light emitting unit 100, preferably, as described above, with relatively low absorption rates with respect to fat are output to the body part where the thickness of the body fat is to be measured.

Next, in the receiving elements 201 to 20n, the output first light source and the second light source are received (S200, S400).

The optical signals of the first light source and the second light source outputted from the light emitting unit 100 pass through the body part and are respectively received by the plurality of receiving elements 201 to 20n arranged at predetermined intervals.

However, steps S100 to S200 and steps S300 to S400 may be performed simultaneously in parallel along the dashed line, although the steps S100 to S400 may be sequentially performed along the solid line shown in FIG.

In the next control unit 300, the reception intensities of the first light source and the second light source optical signal received by the receiving element 201 closest to the light emitting unit 100 among the receiving elements 201 through 20n, (1)) and the second reference light amount P2 (1) (refer to the bold arrow in Fig. 1) by using the reference light amounts P1 (1) and P2 (P1 (N)), which is the reception intensity of the first light source (P1 (N)) received from the receiving elements 202 to 20n other than the receiving element closest to the light emitting portion, and the second measured light amount (P2 (N)) are normalized (S500).

1, a first light source, which has been output from the light emitting unit 100 and has passed through the body part, is received by the receiving elements 201 to 20n. In the receiving elements 201 to 20n, (1), the reception intensity of the first light source received by the receiving element 201 located closest to the light source 100 is set as the first reference light amount P1 (1) ) Of the second light source received by the receiving element 201 located closest to the second reference light amount P2 (1).

The sum of the received intensities of the first light source optical signals received by the receiving elements 202 to 20n other than the receiving element closest to the light emitting unit 100 is referred to as a first measured light amount P1 (N) (Sum) of the reception intensities of the second light source optical signals received by the receiving elements 202 to 20n other than the receiving element closest to the light emitting unit 100 to the second measured light amount P2 (N) ) (See the thin arrows in Fig. 1).

The first and second measured light quantities P1 (N) and P2 (N) are normalized by using the first and second reference light quantities P1 and P2 as shown in the following equation (1).

Next, the control unit 300 calculates the distance between the position of the specific receiving element and the distance of the light source by using the ratio of the normalized first measured light amount P1 (N) to the second measured light amount P1 (N) (D), and the thickness of the body fat is calculated from the calculated distance D (S600).

를 사용할 수 있다.The graph is calculated by the ratio of the normalized first measured light quantity P1 (N) and the second measured light quantity P2 (N), as shown in the following equation (2). Referring to FIG. 4 (a), it can be seen that as the thickness of the fat layer becomes thicker, the attenuation of the wavelength of the normalized first light source becomes larger and the difference from the attenuation of the second light source increases. , It can be seen that the graph of the optical signal ratio of the first light source and the second light source shows an inflection point that varies according to the thickness of the fat layer. The distance D between the position of the specific receiving element at which the inflection point is generated and the light source is calculated and the thickness of the fat layer can be calculated by using the calculated distance D using the optical diffusion spectroscopy. As an example of the thickness calculating formula of the fat layer,

Can be used.

Next, in the output unit 510, the calculated thickness information of the body fat is output (S700).

The thickness information of the calculated body fat is transmitted to the terminal unit 500 through the communication unit 400 and is outputted through the output unit 510. [ The output of the body fat thickness information can be output using a variety of known methods, but can be output as a body fat distribution diagram using a modal analysis.

As described above, according to the body fat measurement device and measurement method of the present invention, an automatic measurement algorithm using a light source wavelength band that is harmless to the human body has few errors according to the measurer and the platform itself is interlocked with a universal terminal, Because it has the form of designed platform, it can be used easily for users not only for health checkup but also for sports, which can have a considerable ripple effect on the health screening market and the living sports field. MRI is used for fat thickness measurement in the past or incision method is non-invasive, but it is possible to measure easily and inexpensively using the results of the present invention. In addition, since the distribution map of fat is shown through Modal Analysis, it is possible to increase the efficiency of massage and skin care by recognizing the fat distribution of the face from the esthetic point of view.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the appended claims. And equivalents should also be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

100:
110: Light emitting element
120: Light source driver
200:
201 ~ 20n: receiving element
210: amplification stage
220:
230:
300:
310: A / D conversion section
400:
500:
510: Output section
520: controller

Claims (12)

A light emitting unit (100) having a first light source which is light of a predetermined first wavelength and a light emitting element (110) which outputs a second light source which is light of a predetermined second wavelength different from the first light source; And
And a light receiving unit 200 having at least two receiving elements 201 to 20n that receive optical signals of the first light source and the second light source output from the light emitting unit 100, ,
The reception intensities of the optical signals of the first light source and the second light source received by the receiving element 201 closest to the light emitting unit 100 among the receiving elements 201 to 20n are respectively referred to as a first reference light amount P1 (1) and the second reference light amount (P2 (1)), and using the reference light amounts P1 (1) and P2 (1) A first measured light quantity P1 (N), which is the reception intensity of the first light source and is received at the receiving elements 202 to 20n other than the receiving element closest to the light emitting unit 100, (P2 (N)), which is the reception intensity of the second light source,
The distance D between the specific receiving element and the light emitting element 110 calculated using the ratio of the normalized first measured light amount P1 (N) to the second measured light amount P2 (N) ), And calculating the thickness of the body fat from the calculated distance (D)
Body fat measurement device.
delete delete The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising an amplification stage (210) for amplifying the optical signal received by the light receiving section (200)
Body fat measurement device.
The method according to claim 1,
And a detector (230) for detecting an amplitude of an optical signal received by the light receiving unit (200)
Body fat measurement device.
The method according to claim 1,
And a filter unit (220) for removing noise of an optical signal received by the light receiving unit (200)
Body fat measurement device.
The method according to claim 1,
And a communication unit (400) for receiving the calculated body fat thickness information and transmitting the received body fat thickness information,
Body fat measurement device.
8. The method of claim 7,
And an output unit (510) for outputting body fat information of each body part transmitted from the communication unit (400)
Body fat measurement device.
9. The method of claim 8,
The output unit 510 outputs the body fat information of each body part as a fat distribution map according to a predetermined method.
Body fat measurement device.
(a) a first light source, which is light of a first wavelength set in the light emitting unit 100, and a second light source, which is light of a predetermined second wavelength different from the first light source, are output to a body part;
(b) receiving the first light source and the second light source from the plurality of receiving elements 201 to 20n arranged at predetermined intervals;
(c) In the control unit 300, the reception intensities of the first light source and the second light source, which are received from the receiving elements closest to the light emitting unit 100 among the receiving elements 201 to 20n, (1) and the second reference light amount (P2 (1)), using the respective reference light amounts, and using the absorption rates for different fats in the first and second wavelengths, (P1 (N)), which is the reception intensity of the first light source (P1 (N)) received at the receiving elements (202 to 20n) other than the receiving element closest to the receiving element 2 measurement light amount P2 (N) are respectively normalized;
(d) The specific receiving element calculated using the ratio of the normalized first measured light amount P1 (N) and the second measured light amount P2 (N) in the controller 300, Calculating the distance (D) of the light source, and calculating the thickness of the body fat from the calculated distance (D)
How to measure body fat.
11. The method of claim 10,
After the step (d)
(e) outputting the thickness information of the body fat calculated in the output unit (510).
How to measure body fat.
12. The method of claim 11,
The output of the thickness information of the body fat calculated is outputted as a predetermined body fat distribution diagram,
How to measure body fat.

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