KR102171385B1 - Method, system and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for monitoring body tissues - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an aspect of the present invention, as a method for monitoring a body tissue, a position of an m-th light emitting unit among a plurality of light emitting units generating an optical signal for a body tissue to be monitored, and an optical signal from the body tissue With reference to the position of the n-th light-receiving part among the plurality of light-receiving parts to be sensed and the distance between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part, a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part of the body tissue Determining a corresponding area and depth, and a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part, based on an optical signal generated by the m-th light-emitting part and detected by the n-th light-receiving part Measuring hemodynamics of the body tissue in an area and depth corresponding to, and based on hemodynamics in at least one area and depth of the body tissue, by area and depth of the body tissue A method is provided that includes estimating activity.

Description

METHOD, SYSTEM AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM FOR MONITORING BODY TISSUES}

The present invention relates to a method, system and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for monitoring body tissue.

Conventionally, techniques for measuring biological activity occurring in body tissues such as muscles based on direct biological signals such as EEG or ECG have been widely used, but in the above biological signals, the noise generated by the movement of the subject is severe. It was not suitable as a signal to constantly monitor the biological activity of body tissues during self-contained daily life.

Near InfraRed Spectroscopy (NIRS), which is being used in recent years, is a hemodynamics (for example, hemodynamics) that occurs in human body tissues (e.g., brain, muscle, other body tissues, etc.) By measuring the degree of attenuation of near-infrared rays (due to the scattering and absorption of optical signals by oxidized hemoglobin or non-oxidized hemoglobin), which varies depending on the concentration of oxidized hemoglobin and non-oxidized hemoglobin), the biological activity occurring in the body tissue is indirectly This is how to analyze. As an example, when monitoring changes in hemodynamics due to neural activity occurring in the brain will be described in detail, near-infrared spectrum having a wavelength range of about 630 nm to 1300 nm penetrates the human skull. Thus, it can reach a depth of about 1 cm to 3 cm from the skull. By irradiating such near-infrared rays to the brain tissue of the human head and detecting the reflected, scattered, or transmitted near-infrared rays therefrom, hemoglobin occurring in the cerebral cortex of the person Dynamics (e.g., the concentration of oxygen in the blood (i.e., oxidized hemoglobin)) can be monitored. According to the near-infrared spectroscopy, a near-infrared irradiation module (i.e., a light-emitting unit) and a near-infrared ray detection module (i.e., a light-receiving unit) are arranged at various points on a person's head at predetermined intervals. By analyzing a signal related to the hemodynamics specified from the signal (for example, an optical density (OD) signal based on near-infrared spectroscopy), it is possible to quantify the neural activity occurring in the human brain (especially the cortex).

Since the near-infrared spectroscopy uses a signal related to the near-infrared optical density with very little noise due to the movement of the subject, it can be used as a technology that can constantly monitor the biological activity of the body tissue during the daily life of the subject. It has the advantage of being.

Accordingly, the present inventors measure the hemodynamics of body tissues (muscles, etc.) by area and by depth, thereby estimating the biological activity occurring in the body tissue by area and by depth, and furthermore, the functional We propose a technique to evaluate the characteristics.

An object of the present invention is to solve all of the above-described problems.

In addition, the present invention provides a position of the m-th light-emitting unit among a plurality of light-emitting units that generate an optical signal for a body tissue to be monitored, a position of the n-th light-receiving unit among a plurality of light-receiving units that detect an optical signal from a body tissue, and With reference to the distance between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part, a region and a depth corresponding to a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part of the body tissue are determined, and generated by the m-th light-emitting part. Based on the optical signal detected by the n-th light-receiving unit, the hemodynamics of the body tissue at the region and depth corresponding to the pair between the m-th light-emitting unit and the n-th light-receiving unit are measured, and Based on the hemodynamics in at least one area and depth, by estimating the activity of each area and depth of the body tissue, the biological activity occurring in the body tissue is estimated for each area and depth, and furthermore, the body tissue of the subject Another purpose is to evaluate functional properties.

A typical configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object is as follows.

According to an aspect of the present invention, as a method for monitoring a body tissue, a position of an m-th light emitting unit among a plurality of light emitting units generating an optical signal for a body tissue to be monitored, and an optical signal from the body tissue With reference to the position of the n-th light-receiving part among the plurality of light-receiving parts to be sensed and the distance between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part, a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part of the body tissue Determining a corresponding area and depth, and a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part, based on an optical signal generated by the m-th light-emitting part and detected by the n-th light-receiving part Measuring hemodynamics of the body tissue in an area and depth corresponding to, and based on hemodynamics in at least one area and depth of the body tissue, by area and depth of the body tissue A method is provided that includes estimating activity.

According to another aspect of the present invention, as a system for monitoring a body tissue, a position of an m-th light emitting part among a plurality of light emitting parts generating an optical signal for a body tissue to be monitored, and an optical signal from the body tissue With reference to the position of the n-th light-receiving part among the plurality of light-receiving parts to be sensed and the distance between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part, a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part of the body tissue Determine a corresponding area and depth, and correspond to a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part based on an optical signal generated by the m-th light-emitting part and sensed by the n-th light-receiving part Measuring hemodynamics of the body tissue in a region and depth, and estimating the activity of each region and depth of the body tissue based on the hemodynamics in at least one region and depth of the body tissue There is provided a system including an NIRS measurement management unit and a monitoring management unit that provides information on the activity of each area and depth of the body tissue.

In addition to this, another method, a system for implementing the present invention, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium for recording a computer program for executing the method are further provided.

According to the present invention, since hemodynamics of body tissues (muscles, etc.) can be measured for each area and for each depth, it is possible to estimate the biological activity occurring in the body tissues by area and by depth, and further, the body tissue of the subject The effect of being able to evaluate the functional characteristics (eg, exercise efficiency of muscles, etc.) is achieved.

Further, according to the present invention, since the muscle activity of the subject can be expressed by region and by depth, the effect of providing customized muscle strength training, muscle endurance training, rehabilitation training, and the like to the subject is achieved.

Further, according to the present invention, the effect of being able to evaluate the exercise efficiency of the muscle of the subject is achieved by referring to both information on the muscle activity of the subject and the information on the amount of exercise of the subject.

1 is a diagram illustrating an external configuration of a monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of a plurality of light emitting units and a plurality of light receiving units according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 and 5 are views exemplarily showing a configuration in which the depth to be measured of a body tissue is changed according to a distance between a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit forming a pair defining a measurement channel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of measuring activity for each area of a muscle based on an optical signal measured from a muscle exercising according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of measuring activity by depth of a muscle based on an optical signal measured from a muscle exercising according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The detailed description of the present invention to be described later refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in detail sufficient to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the present invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different from each other but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, specific shapes, structures, and characteristics described herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention in relation to one embodiment. In addition, it is to be understood that the location or arrangement of individual components within each disclosed embodiment may be changed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the detailed description to be described below is not intended to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention, if properly described, is limited only by the appended claims, along with all scopes equivalent to those claimed by the claims. Like reference numerals in the drawings refer to the same or similar functions over several aspects.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in order to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to easily implement the present invention.

In the present specification, the hemodynamics to be monitored performed by the monitoring device and the monitoring system include components in the blood (eg, oxidized hemoglobin concentration, non-oxidized hemoglobin concentration, blood oxygen saturation, etc.), blood flow. , Blood volume, hemodynamics by muscle depth, etc. may be included.

Configuration of the monitoring system

Hereinafter, the internal configuration of the monitoring device 100 and the monitoring system 200, which perform important functions for the implementation of the present invention, and functions of each component will be described.

The monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be worn (or attached) to a body part (eg, head, leg, other body part, etc.) of a subject, and measures a predetermined signal from the subject. Activities that occur in body tissues located in the subject's body part (e.g., nerve activity occurring in the brain, hemodynamics occurring in muscles) by processing or analyzing the measured signal as described below. Changes, etc.) can be monitored.

Specifically, the monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of light emitting units (source) for irradiating near-infrared rays to a body tissue located in a body part of a subject and the body tissue (more specifically, venous blood). It may include a plurality of light-receiving units (detectors) that perform a function of detecting the near-infrared rays reflected, scattered or transmitted therefrom. For example, the signals measured by the plurality of light-emitting units and the plurality of light-receiving units included in the monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be an optical density (OD) signal based on near-infrared spectroscopy.

For example, the monitoring device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be configured in the form of a patch that can be attached to the thigh of the subject as shown in FIG. 1.

2 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, a monitoring system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an NIRS measurement management unit 210, a motion measurement management unit 220, a monitoring management unit 230, a communication unit 240, and a control unit 250. It may include. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210, the motion measurement management unit 220, the monitoring management unit 230, the communication unit 240, and the control unit 250 include at least some of which are external systems (not shown). ) May be program modules that communicate with. These program modules may be included in the monitoring system 200 in the form of an operating system, an application program module, and other program modules, and may be physically stored on various known storage devices. Further, these program modules may be stored in a remote storage device capable of communicating with the monitoring system 200. Meanwhile, these program modules include routines, subroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or execute specific abstract data types according to the present invention, but are not limited thereto.

On the other hand, the monitoring system 200 has been described as above, but this description is exemplary, and at least some of the components or functions of the monitoring system 200 are worn (or attached) to the body part of the subject as necessary. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that it may be realized in a monitoring device that is a portable device or may be included in a monitoring device. In some cases, all functions and all components of the monitoring system 200 may be fully executed in the monitoring device or may be all included in the monitoring device.

First, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 performs a function of causing a plurality of light emitting units included in the monitoring device to generate an optical signal for a body tissue located in a body part of a subject. can do. Specifically, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 may allow a plurality of light emitting units to independently generate optical signals according to a time division method or a frequency division method.

Next, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 allows a plurality of light-receiving units included in the monitoring device to detect an optical signal generated by the plurality of light-emitting units by dividing each light-emitting unit. Function can be performed. The NIRS measurement management unit 210 according to an embodiment of the present invention dynamically controls the measurement circuit gains of the plurality of light receiving units according to a time interval set based on a time division method applied to the plurality of light emitting units, or By modulating the optical signals detected by the plurality of light-receiving units based on the frequency division method applied to the light-emitting unit, the plurality of light-receiving units performs a function of dividing and detecting the optical signals generated by the plurality of light-emitting units for each light-emitting unit. can do.

For example, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 according to an embodiment of the present invention refers to the distance between the m-th light-emitting part of the plurality of light-emitting parts and the n-th light-receiving part of the plurality of light-receiving parts, and It is possible to perform a function of dynamically controlling the gain of the measurement circuit used to detect the optical signal generated from the negative.

In addition, since the measurement result may vary depending on which body part (or body tissue) the subject attaches to the monitoring device, and the measurement result may vary depending on whether the measurement environment is wireless or wired, an embodiment of the present invention The NIRS measurement management unit 210 may dynamically control the gain of the measurement circuit of the monitoring device according to where the body part to be monitored is or the environment in which the biological signal is measured.

Meanwhile, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 includes a location of the m-th light-emitting unit among a plurality of light-emitting units that generate an optical signal for a body tissue to be monitored, and an optical signal from the body tissue. A region corresponding to a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part of the body tissue by referring to the position of the n-th light-receiving part among the plurality of light-receiving parts that detects and the distance between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part ( That is, a function of determining the measurement target area) and the depth (that is, the measurement target depth) may be performed. Here, according to an embodiment of the present invention, as the distance between the m-th light-emitting unit and the n-th light-receiving unit increases, the body tissue generated by the m-th light-emitting unit and detected by the n-th light-receiving unit The depth can be deepened.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210, based on the optical signal generated by the m-th light-emitting unit and sensed by the n-th light-receiving unit, between the m-th light-emitting unit and the n-th light-receiving unit A function of measuring hemodynamics of a body tissue in a region and a depth corresponding to a pair may be performed.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 performs a function of estimating the activity of each region and depth of the body tissue based on hemodynamics in at least one region and depth of the body tissue. Can be done.

Next, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the motion measurement management unit 220 has a function of estimating the amount of exercise of the subject based on information on the posture or movement of a body part associated with a body tissue to be monitored. Can be done. For example, the motion measurement management unit 220 according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the body tissue to be monitored is a thigh muscle, based on the information on the posture or movement of the leg portion Can be estimated.

For example, the motion measurement management unit 220 according to an embodiment of the present invention may calculate velocity values in the x-axis, y-axis and z-axis directions by integrating the acceleration values of the body parts measured from a predetermined sensing module. And the amount of momentum of the subject can be estimated based on the calculated speed value. In this case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the acceleration direction or the moving direction of the monitoring device may appear differently depending on what type of exercise the subject performs or according to which body part the subject attaches the monitoring device to. Therefore, characteristic values applied to information about the posture and movement of the monitoring device may be adaptively set according to the type of exercise or body part.

To this end, the monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a technical means capable of acquiring physical information about a posture or movement of a monitoring device worn on a body part (eg, a leg, etc.) of a subject. At least one of these may be included. As examples of such technical means, known components such as motion sensor, acceleration sensor, gyroscope, magnetic sensor, positioning module (GPS module, beacon-based positioning (confirmation) module, etc.), barometer, distance sensor, camera And other sensing modules.

Next, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the monitoring management unit 230 is based on the information measured (or estimated) by the NIRS measurement management unit 210 or the motion measurement management unit 220 It can perform a function of providing various monitoring information about activity.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the monitoring management unit 230 refers to the information on the hemodynamics measured by the NIRS measurement management unit 210 and the information on the amount of exercise estimated by the motion measurement management unit 220 Thus, it is possible to perform a function of evaluating the exercise efficiency of the body tissue of the subject and providing information on the evaluation result.

Specifically, the monitoring management unit 230 according to an embodiment of the present invention may calculate the amount of oxygen consumed per unit exercise amount (ie, Mom/dTSI), and the greater the calculated value, the greater the exercise efficiency of the subject's muscle. It can be judged that the (or athletic ability) is low or that the muscle fatigue is high. In addition, the monitoring management unit 230 according to an embodiment of the present invention may provide information on whether the exercise ability of the subject is improving by periodically performing the above evaluation, and further, the exercise ability of the subject Various recommendations for improvement can also be provided.

Meanwhile, the communication unit 240 according to an embodiment of the present invention performs a function of allowing the monitoring system 200 to communicate with an external device.

Finally, the control unit 250 according to an embodiment of the present invention performs a function of controlling the flow of data between the NIRS measurement management unit 210, the motion measurement management unit 220, the monitoring management unit 230, and the communication unit 240. do. That is, the control unit 250 controls the flow of data from the outside or between each component of the monitoring system 200, so that the NIRS measurement management unit 210, the motion measurement management unit 220, the monitoring management unit 230, and the communication unit ( 240), each is controlled to perform its own function.

Example

3 is a diagram illustrating an arrangement of a plurality of light emitting units and a plurality of light receiving units according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 3, two light-emitting units 311 and 312 and four light-receiving units 321 to 324 included in the monitoring device may be arranged according to a predetermined pattern. For example, the distance between the first light-emitting part 311 and the first light-receiving part 321 may be set to 2.5 cm, and the distance between the first light-emitting part 311 and the second light-receiving part 322 is 2 cm The distance between the first light-emitting unit 311 and the third light-receiving unit 323 may be set to 3.35 cm, and the distance between the first light-emitting unit 311 and the fourth light-receiving unit 324 is It can be set to 3 cm. However, it should be noted that the arrangement of the light-emitting unit and the light-receiving unit according to the present invention is not necessarily limited to those illustrated above, and can be changed as much as possible within the range capable of achieving the object of the present invention.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 3, the two light emitting units 311 and 312 are mutually exclusive and sequentially generate optical signals according to a time division method. As a result, a near-far problem that may occur when two or more light emitting units generate optical signals at the same time (i.e., optical signals with high signal strength) that occur in relatively close places can cause relatively distant It is possible to prevent the problem of not being able to measure an optical signal (that is, an optical signal having a small signal strength) generated at a location.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in FIG. 3, a distance (eg, 2.5 cm, 2 cm, 3.35) from the target light emitting unit 311 and 312 generating an optical signal to be measured cm, 3 cm, etc.), the measurement circuit gain of the four light receiving units 321 to 324 can be dynamically controlled. For example, as the distance between the target light-emitting part and the light-receiving part increases, the intensity of the optical signal measured by the light-receiving part may be weakened, and thus the gain of the measurement circuit of the light-receiving part may be determined to be high. For example, as the distance between the target light-emitting unit and the light-receiving unit decreases, the intensity of the optical signal measured by the light-receiving unit may be increased, and thus the gain of the measurement circuit of the light-receiving unit may be determined to be low.

Next, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 includes a measurement channel defined corresponding to a pair between any one of the plurality of light-emitting units and any one of the plurality of light-receiving units. Can perform the function of managing. According to an embodiment of the present invention, an optical signal generated by a specific light emitting unit disposed at a unique position in the monitoring device passes through (specifically, reflection, scattering, or transmission) the body tissue of the subject to be monitored. It can be detected by a specific light-receiving unit disposed at a unique position within, and a channel (path or area) through which an optical signal is transmitted (propagated or transmitted) may be defined as a measurement channel.

Specifically, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 according to an embodiment of the present invention may define a measurement channel corresponding to a pair between a specific light-emitting unit and a specific light-receiving unit existing within a preset distance between each other. In addition, the NIRS measurement management unit 210 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of measurement channels defined in correspondence with a plurality of pairs, respectively, as described above, by distance between the corresponding light emitting unit and the corresponding light receiving unit (ie, the corresponding light emitting unit). By signal intensity of the optical signal generated by the corresponding light receiving unit) and managed.

4 and 5 are views exemplarily showing a configuration in which the depth to be measured of a body tissue is changed according to a distance between a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit forming a pair defining a measurement channel according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5, a body tissue to be monitored is modeled as a three-dimensional space using a voxel having a size of 0.4 cm x 0.4 cm x 0.4 cm as a unit space. In addition, in the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5, information on which voxels of the three-dimensional space corresponding to the body tissue pass through the optical signal generated by the specific light emitting unit and detected by the specific light receiving unit is visually expressed. , If a high value corresponding to the ROI appears in a voxel, it may mean that the probability that the optical signal passes through the voxel (or the intensity of the optical signal passing through the voxel) is high. In addition, in the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5, the possibility that the optical signal received by the light receiving unit passes through a certain voxel is high, the possibility that the optical signal passes through the voxel and is scattered, scattered, or transmitted by the voxel. Since is high, it may mean that the optical signal has a lot of information about the biological activity occurring in the voxel.

First, referring to FIG. 4, a measurement channel having a relatively short distance between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit (for example, a pair between the first light emitting unit 311 and the second light receiving unit 322 having a distance of 2 cm It has been shown that the optical signal received through the measurement channel (defined by the measurement channel) is likely to pass through only shallow portions of body tissue (eg, the first layer and the second layer).

Next, referring to FIG. 5, a measurement channel having a relatively long distance between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit (eg, between the first light emitting unit 311 and the fourth light receiving unit 324 having a distance of 3 cm It has been shown that the optical signal received through the measurement channel defined by the pair) is likely to penetrate deeper parts of the body tissue (eg, the third layer).

Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the NIRS measurement management unit 210, the longer the distance between the m-th light-emitting unit and the n-th light-receiving unit, the longer the light signal generated by the m-th light-emitting unit and sensed by the n-th light-receiving unit. It can be determined that the depth of body tissue that can be measured is deepened.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of measuring activity by region of a muscle based on an optical signal measured from a muscle exercising according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration for measuring activity by depth of a muscle based on an optical signal measured from a muscle exercising according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7, the subject performs an action of contracting the muscle at the time point of 30 seconds and the operation of relaxing the muscle at the time point of 60 seconds, and two light emitting units arranged according to the embodiment of FIG. 3 The optical signal from the muscle of the subject was measured using and four light receiving units.

First, referring to (a) of FIG. 6, the oxidized hemoglobin (HbO ₂ ) concentration and the non-oxidized hemoglobin (HbR) concentration measured in eight measurement channels defined according to a combination of two light-emitting units and four light-receiving units are time You can check the recorded graph according to the flow of. Although the degree and pattern of the change appear differently depending on the measurement channel, it can be seen that the oxidized hemoglobin concentration and the non-oxidized hemoglobin concentration significantly change at the time point of 30 and 60 seconds in all eight measurement channels (Fig. 6(a)). See 8 graphs).

Next, referring to (b) of FIG. 6, at a time point of 20 seconds when the subject is not performing any other movement, the concentration of hemoglobin oxidized uniformly appears in the entire area of the body tissue, and the subject performs an action of contracting the muscle. At 50 seconds, not long after, the concentration of oxidized hemoglobin appears low in a specific area of the body where oxygen is consumed, and at 80 seconds, a relatively long time has elapsed after the subject performs a muscle contraction motion. In certain regions where the oxidized hemoglobin concentration was low, the oxidized hemoglobin concentration may be high.

Next, referring to FIG. 7, in both the part 710 and the relatively shallow part 720 having a relatively deep depth from the skin of the body tissue, 30 seconds after the subject performs the action of contracting the muscle. It can be seen that the concentration of oxidized hemoglobin rapidly decreases, and as a period of tens of seconds elapses, the oxidized hemoglobin concentration is higher than the level before muscle contraction, and then returns to the level before muscle contraction.

In the above, the case where the biometric information measured by the NIRS measurement management unit 210 is an oxidized hemoglobin concentration or a non-oxidized hemoglobin concentration is mainly described, but the biometric information that can be measured is not necessarily limited thereto, and is described in the present specification. It should be noted that any number of different types of biometric information can be conceived within the scope of achieving the purpose or effect of the method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium.

In addition, in the above, the case where the body tissue to be monitored is a muscle has been mainly described, but the body tissue to be monitored according to the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and can be monitored based on hemodynamics. It should be noted that any other body tissue can be conceived as an object of monitoring according to the present invention.

On the other hand, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a body tissue to be monitored is a heterogeneous space consisting of a plurality of three-dimensional unit spaces (ie, voxels) that can have various different light absorption characteristics. In other words, it may be modeled as a heterogeneous diffusion model. Subsequently, according to an embodiment of the present invention, light irradiated from the light emitting unit of the monitoring device may be incident on all voxels constituting a body tissue included in the measurement object, and may be transmitted through or reflected from a voxel. The light detected by the light receiving unit may include information on a corresponding voxel. Accordingly, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the optical signal detected by the light receiving unit may be configured as a sum of a plurality of unit optical signals reflecting the influence (or contribution) from each of the plurality of voxels, and included in the monitoring device. Diffuse Optical Tomography, which reconstructs the light absorption characteristics of each of the voxels constituting the body tissue (defined as a heterogeneous diffusion model) to be measured from a plurality of actual measurement signal values respectively measured by a plurality of light receiving units. ; By using DOT) technique, it is possible to find out the light absorption characteristics for each voxel (or depth) of the body tissue to be measured.

In order to improve the reliability of the above diffusion optical tomography technique, a measurement channel defined by a plurality of light emitting units and a light receiving unit is required.According to the present invention, a plurality of light emitting units and a light receiving unit arranged at a predetermined interval are required. Since measurement channels of various distance combinations can be implemented, there is a peculiar effect of improving accuracy and reliability in estimating (or calculating) light absorption characteristics for each voxel (or for each depth) using a diffuse optical tomography technique. Is achieved.

The embodiments according to the present invention described above may be implemented in the form of program instructions that can be executed through various computer components and recorded in a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The program instructions recorded in the non-transitory computer-readable recording medium may be specially designed and configured for the present invention or may be known and usable to those skilled in the computer software field. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, and magnetic-optical media such as floptical disks ( magneto-optical media), and hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of the program instructions include not only machine language codes such as those produced by a compiler, but also high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform processing according to the present invention, and vice versa.

In the above, the present invention has been described by specific matters such as specific elements and limited embodiments and drawings, but this is provided only to help a more general understanding of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. , Anyone with ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications and variations from these descriptions.

Therefore, the spirit of the present invention is limited to the above-described embodiments and should not be defined, and all modifications that are equally or equivalent to the claims as well as the claims to be described later fall within the scope of the spirit of the present invention. I would say.

100: a monitoring device that can be worn on the leg
200: monitoring system
210: NIRS measurement management unit
220: motion measurement management unit
230: monitoring management unit
240: communication department
250: control unit

Claims (8)

As a method for monitoring body tissue,
The position of the m-th light-emitting unit among a plurality of light-emitting units that generate an optical signal for a body tissue to be monitored, the position of the n-th light-receiving unit among a plurality of light-receiving units that detect an optical signal from the body tissue, and the m-th light-emitting unit And determining a region corresponding to a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part of the body tissue by referring to the distance between the and the n-th light receiving part, and
Blood flow of the body tissue in a region corresponding to a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part based on an optical signal generated by the m-th light-emitting part and sensed by the n-th light-receiving part Measuring hemodynamics, and
Including the step of estimating the activity of each region of the body tissue based on the hemodynamics in at least one region of the body tissue,
A measurement channel is defined in correspondence with a pair between a specific light-emitting unit and a specific light-receiving unit existing within a preset distance from each other, and the measurement channel includes the optical signal generated by the specific light-emitting unit in the body tissue. pair), defined as a path transmitted to the specific light receiving unit
Way. The method of claim 1,
The optical signals generated by the plurality of light emitting units include a near infrared (Near InfraRed) signal.
Way. delete The method of claim 1,
As the distance between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part is longer, the depth of a region of the body tissue where hemodynamics can be measured by an optical signal generated by the m-th light-emitting part and sensed by the n-th light-receiving part Deepening
Way. The method of claim 1,
The hemodynamics includes at least one of oxidized hemoglobin concentration, non-oxidized hemoglobin concentration, oxygen saturation, and blood flow change amount.
Way. The method of claim 1,
Estimating an amount of exercise of a subject based on information on a posture or movement of a body part associated with the body tissue, and
The step of evaluating the exercise efficiency of the body tissue by referring to the information on the measured hemodynamics and the information on the estimated amount of exercise further comprising
Way. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a computer program for executing the method according to claim 1. As a system for monitoring body tissue,
The position of the m-th light-emitting unit among a plurality of light-emitting units that generate an optical signal for a body tissue to be monitored, the position of the n-th light-receiving unit among a plurality of light-receiving units that detect an optical signal from the body tissue, and the m-th light-emitting unit With reference to the distance between the and the n-th light-receiving part, a region of the body tissue corresponding to a pair between the m-th light-emitting part and the n-th light-receiving part is determined, and is generated by the m-th light-emitting part. Based on the optical signal sensed by the n-th light-receiving unit, the hemodynamics of the body tissue in a region corresponding to a pair between the m-th light-emitting unit and the n-th light-receiving unit are measured, and the body NIRS measurement management unit for estimating the activity of each area of the body tissue based on hemodynamics in at least one area of the tissue, and
Including a monitoring management unit that provides information on the activity of the body tissue area,
The NIRS measurement management unit allows a measurement channel to be defined corresponding to a pair between a specific light-emitting unit and a specific light-receiving unit existing within a preset distance from each other, and the measurement channel includes an optical signal generated by the specific light-emitting unit. Defined as a path transmitted to the specific light-receiving unit through an area corresponding to the pair of the body tissue
system.

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