KR102615408B1 - ECG measurement and fall management device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device that can be worn on the wrist in the form of a band to measure biometric information and manage the wearer's health by linking with a smartphone via Bluetooth. The disclosed electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device includes a wearable measurement terminal worn on the user's wrist to measure the wearer's electrocardiogram and detect falls, and a user who is connected to the wearable measurement terminal through wireless communication and runs a measurement app. An electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device comprised of a portable terminal, wherein the wearable measurement terminal includes a battery power unit, a band electrode, an electrocardiogram measurement unit for receiving an electrocardiogram signal of the wearer from the band electrode, and a fall for detecting a fall of the wearer. A detection unit, a wireless communication unit for wirelessly communicating with the user's mobile terminal, a user interface, and when the power is turned on through manipulation of the user interface, it is connected to the measurement app of the user's mobile terminal through the wireless communication unit, and is connected to the measurement app from the measurement app. When measurement is required, measurement data is retrieved through the ECG measurement unit and transmitted to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit. When a fall event is detected through the fall detection unit, the event occurrence is transmitted to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit, and the battery It includes a control unit that transmits the status of the power unit to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit.

Description

ECG measurement and fall management device {ECG measurement and fall management device}

The present invention relates to an electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device, and more specifically, to an electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device that is worn on the wrist in the form of a band to measure biometric information and is linked to a smartphone via Bluetooth to manage the wearer's health. It's about devices.

Recently, due to the entry of an aging society and the increase in human life expectancy due to low birth and death rates, the number of people interested in health care in order to maintain a richer and higher quality of life in the twilight of life is increasing. As the quality of life of the elderly (hereinafter referred to as 'seniors') in an aging society is largely determined by their health, various wearable senior health care products are being developed to monitor the health status of the elderly. there is.

For example, the 'electrical biosignal measurement clothing made of conductive fabric containing long-fiber graphene yarn' (hereinafter referred to as 'patent document 1'), which was previously applied for by the present applicant and announced as Patent No. 10-2451706, is composed of a conductive fabric and It includes a sensing unit that is in close contact with the wearer's body and an electrical biosignal meter that receives and analyzes electrical biosignals acquired through the sensing unit, and the conductive fabric consists of long fiber graphene yarn corresponding to the warp yarn and synthetic polymer yarn corresponding to the weft yarn. It is formed by weaving.

In addition, 'Method and device for providing a senior health care platform to evaluate the health status of seniors in real time and inform seniors and their caregivers of senior health care matters' (hereinafter referred to as 'method and device for providing a senior health care platform' announced in the Registered Patent Gazette under registration number 10-2483932) (Referred to as 'Patent Document 2') evaluates the health status of the senior in real time and informs the senior and the caregiver of the senior's health management information, thereby enabling more efficient care of the senior's health.

Meanwhile, heart muscle cells contract and relax in response to electric current, and these activities are controlled by the electric current flowing from the heart's conduction system. Therefore, heart diseases such as atrial fibrillation can be diagnosed through an electrocardiogram (ECG) test that analyzes the electrical activity of the heart. Additionally, a fall is an injury caused by falling or falling and includes falling from a high place, tripping, or slipping. These falls have a particularly high incidence among seniors, and are a major threat to seniors' health.

Therefore, in order to monitor the health status of seniors to maintain their quality of life and manage dementia patients, it is necessary to at least measure electrocardiograms and systematically manage falls.

For the healthy lives of seniors, it is necessary to measure electrocardiograms and manage falls. However, the form of clothing in Patent Document 1 has the problem of being cumbersome to wear, and Patent Document 2 provides information on the management subject's health based on data acquired through the management subject's smartphone. Since the health status of the person is monitored, there is a problem in that the biometric information of the person being managed cannot be accurately measured.

The problem that the present invention aims to solve is to measure biometric information by wearing it on the wrist in the form of a band and link it with a smartphone through Bluetooth to systematically manage the wearer's health by measuring electrocardiogram and preventing falls in order to solve the above problems. It provides a management device.

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a wearable electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device.

The disclosed electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device includes a wearable measurement terminal worn on the user's wrist to measure the wearer's electrocardiogram and detect falls, and a user who is connected to the wearable measurement terminal through wireless communication and runs a measurement app. An electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device comprised of a portable terminal, wherein the wearable measurement terminal includes a battery power unit, a band electrode, an electrocardiogram measurement unit for receiving an electrocardiogram signal of the wearer from the band electrode, and a fall for detecting a fall of the wearer. A detection unit, a wireless communication unit for wirelessly communicating with the user's mobile terminal, a user interface, and when the power is turned on through manipulation of the user interface, it is connected to the measurement app of the user's mobile terminal through the wireless communication unit, and is connected to the measurement app from the measurement app. When measurement is required, measurement data is retrieved through the ECG measurement unit and transmitted to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit. When a fall event is detected through the fall detection unit, the event occurrence is transmitted to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit, and the battery It includes a control unit that transmits the status of the power unit to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit.

The ECG measurement unit includes a measurement amplifier that amplifies the ECG signal of the band electrode, an analog-to-digital converter that converts the analog output of the measurement amplifier into digital, and stores ECG measurement data converted to digital by the analog-to-digital converter. Includes registers that

The fall detection unit may be implemented with a 3G acceleration and 3G gyro sensor, and the measurement app attempts to connect wirelessly with the wearable measurement terminal when the app is executed, and when connected, checks the battery voltage and whether the device is worn; When worn, requesting electrocardiogram measurement and fall measurement from the wearable measurement terminal, receiving the electrocardiogram measurement data to calculate heart rate, receiving fall data, and displaying the heart rate and number of falls on the main screen; When the settings icon is selected, steps can be taken to set the guardian's contact information and contact conditions for sending a text message, and when the contact conditions are met, to transmit the heart rate and number of falls to the registered guardian's contact information.

In addition, the measurement app may further include the step of transmitting the user's measured heart rate and number of falls to the hospital server and receiving a diagnosis result from the hospital server.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to determine the heart condition of the wearer through a measuring terminal worn on the wrist without visiting the hospital for seniors or dementia patients in need of protection and to take prompt action through a warning in the event of an abnormality. , seniors' health can be systematically managed by promptly notifying guardians in the event of a fall or cardiac abnormality.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, by collecting collected measurement data to build big data, artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to enable more accurate analysis, and in particular, personalized health management service through convergence with ICT technology. can be provided.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a health care service system using an electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a flowchart schematically showing the overall operation of the senior health care service system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a block diagram of the configuration of an electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a graphene electrode and wearing state diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention;
5 is a flowchart of the operation of a smartphone app according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figures 6a and 6b are examples of operation screens of a smartphone app according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The technical problems achieved by the present invention and its implementation will become clearer through preferred embodiments of the present invention described below. The following examples are merely illustrative for illustrating the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a senior health care service system using an electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a flow chart schematically showing the overall operation of the senior health care service system. .

As shown in FIG. 1, the electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a wearable measurement terminal ( 10), and a user portable terminal 20 that is connected to the terminal 10 through Bluetooth communication and runs the measurement app 22, and can be connected to the guardian smartphone 30 or the hospital through the LTE and 5G mobile communication network 50. It can also be connected to the server 40 to form a senior health care service system. In an embodiment of the present invention, the user portable terminal 20 is a smartphone equipped with a measurement app, and is hereinafter simply referred to as a user smartphone.

Referring to FIG. 1, the wearable measurement terminal 10 is worn on the user's wrist in conjunction with a measurement app (App) 22 mounted on the user's smartphone 20 to measure the electrocardiogram and detect a fall event. , the user smartphone 20 and the guardian smartphone 30 are the same as ordinary mobile phones with a unique phone number, and the user smartphone 20 measures the wearer's electrocardiogram and manages falls according to an embodiment of the present invention. A measurement app (App; 22) is installed to do this.

The hospital server 40 is a component required when providing senior health care services at a hospital. It receives electrocardiogram measurement data and fall data from service subscribers, diagnoses the senior's health status by an expert, and provides necessary measures. It is for.

The mobile communication network 50 is a typical public mobile communication network such as 3G, 4G, LTE, 5G, etc., and includes a communication path for transmitting text between the user smartphone 20 and the guardian smartphone 30 and the user smartphone 20. ) and provides a communication path for transmitting data between the hospital server 40.

Referring to FIG. 2, when the measurement app according to an embodiment of the present invention is executed, the user smartphone 20 sets various parameters during the setup process and communicates with the wearable measurement terminal 10 via Bluetooth to set the battery (BAT). ) Request a check (S101, S102).

The wearable measurement terminal 10 checks the battery voltage and provides the battery voltage through a response (ACK), and the user smartphone 20 analyzes the battery voltage and displays the remaining power (S103, S104).

Then, the user smartphone 20 requests the wearable measurement terminal 10 to check the electrocardiogram (ECG), and accordingly, the wearable measurement terminal 10 sends the measured value to the user smartphone 20 through a response (ACK). Transfer to (S105, S106).

After analyzing the measurement values, the user smartphone 20 displays the results on the screen and, if necessary, transmits the measurement data to the guardian smartphone 30 or the hospital server 40 (S107 to S110).

Next, the user smartphone 20 requests the wearable measurement terminal 10 to check for a fall, and accordingly, the wearable measurement terminal 10 transmits the measured value to the user smartphone 20 through a response (ACK). (S111~S112).

After analyzing the measurement values, the user smartphone 20 displays the results on the screen and, if necessary, transmits the measurement data to the guardian smartphone 30 or the hospital server 40 (S113 to S116).

When necessary, the hospital server 40 analyzes the transmitted measurement data to diagnose the user's condition and then transmits the diagnosis result to the guardian or the user's smartphone 20 or 30 (S117, S118). Accordingly, the diagnosis result is displayed on the corresponding smartphone (20, 30) (S119).

Meanwhile, fall information can be immediately detected by the wearable measurement terminal 10 and transmitted to the user's smartphone 20 when a fall event occurs even without a separate fall check request.

In this way, when the electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is used for a senior health care service operated by an institution such as a hospital or welfare center, the measurement data may be transmitted to the server of the service institution.

Figure 3 is a block diagram of the configuration of an electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 4 is a graphene electrode and wearing state diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wearable measurement terminal 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a band electrode 110, an electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement unit 120, a fall detection unit 130, and a microcontroller (MCU; 140), a Bluetooth module (BLE; 150), a power supply unit 160, and a user interface 170, and the band electrode 110 includes + electrode patterns 114 and - of graphene fabric, as shown in FIG. 4. The electrode pattern 116 is high-frequency bonded to the band 112 so that it can be worn on the wrist 104.

Electrocardiography (ECG) is the detection of potentials related to heartbeat with electrodes attached to the skin. Reflecting the electrical stages of the heart, it is divided into atrial depolarization, ventricular depolarization, and ventricular repolarization, with characteristic points at P, QRS, and T. It appears clearly. To measure an electrocardiogram, a reference electrode (-electrode) as a standard and an active electrode (+ electrode) at the location to be measured are required. In order to measure ECG, electrodes must be installed in several places for standard limb guidance, etc., but in the embodiment of the present invention, since it is worn on one wrist, atrial fibrillation is mainly determined by heart rate and heart rate variation (HRV). Measure your back.

Referring to FIG. 3, the band electrode 110 is divided into a -electrode pattern 114 and a +electrode pattern 116, and a conductive fabric or graphene fabric is attached to the band 112 by high-frequency adhesive or printed with graphene or It is a structure manufactured by coating. Here, graphene is a two-dimensional (2D) plane carbon material in which carbon atoms form a hexagonal structure through sp ² bonds. In graphene, among the four outermost electrons in a carbon atom, three electrons form a σ-bond to form a hexagonal structure, and the remaining one electron forms a π-conjugation, forming a valence band. and conduction bands meet at the vertices of the hexagon, the band gap becomes 0 (zero), and a shape called a Dirac cone appears. Therefore, graphene has excellent electrical properties and is also chemically and physically very stable. In other words, graphene is more than 200 times stronger than steel, and its thermal conductivity is more than twice that of diamond. Electrical conductivity is more than 100 times higher than that of copper, and the electron transfer speed is more than 100 times faster in graphene than in silicon. It also has excellent elasticity, so it has the advantage of not losing its electrical properties even when stretched or bent. The thickness of graphene is about 0.35 nm, and the distance between carbon is 0.142 nm, making it very thin and transparent, so it is used in many fields such as semiconductors, displays, and transparent electrodes.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ECG measuring unit 120 includes a band pass filter (BPF) 121, an instrumentation amplifier (IA) 122 that amplifies the ECG signal of the band electrode 110, and an analog of the instrumentation amplifier 122. An analog-to-digital converter (ADC; 123) that converts the output to digital, a FIFO register (124) to store ECG measurement data converted to digital in the analog-to-digital converter (123), an MCU (140) and an I ² C bus ( It consists of a bus interface 125 for connection to 102). The instrumentation amplifier 122 is used to amplify the difference between the band electrode input signals and has high impedance and common mode rejection ratio (CMRR). At this time, the bandpass filter 121 may be located at the rear of the measurement amplifier 122 and filter the analog ECG signal amplified by the measurement amplifier 122. The ECG measurement data converted to digital by the analog-to-digital converter 123 is stored in the FIFO register 124, and the MCU 140 stores the measurement data stored in the FIFO register 124 through the I ² C bus 102. take it

The fall detection unit 130 is implemented with a 3-axis acceleration and 3-axis gyro sensor, and is connected to a microcontroller (MCU) 140 through the I ² C bus 102.

The Bluetooth module 150 communicates with the user smartphone 20 according to the Bluetooth protocol, transmits a request message from the user smartphone to the MCU 140, and receives a response message containing measurement data from the MCU 140 to provide a user smart phone 20. Send to phone (20).

The power unit 160 includes a battery (BAT) and supplies stable direct current power to the band electrode and internal circuit, and the user interface 170 is used to input user operations and is implemented as a touch screen or power on/off button. It can be.

When the power is turned on, the MCU 140 initializes the sensors of the ECG measurement unit 120 and the fall detection unit 130, determines whether the wrist is worn through electrode signals, and checks the battery voltage of the power supply unit to determine low battery, etc. . Afterwards, when connected to the app 22 on the user's smartphone through the Bluetooth module 150, battery voltage, electrocardiogram measurement data, fall event occurrence, etc. are transmitted to the measurement app 22 at the request of the measurement app 22.

Figure 5 is a flow chart of the operation of the smartphone measurement app according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 6 is an example of an operation screen of the smartphone measurement app according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, when the measurement app 22 is executed on the user's smartphone 20, a running screen notifying the execution of the app is displayed and a Bluetooth connection is attempted with the wearable measurement terminal 10. If the connection is successful, the battery voltage Check and check whether it is worn (S201~S204). If you try to connect, a connection failure will be displayed on the screen, and if you are not wearing it, you will be informed that you are not wearing it.

Afterwards, when the measurement app 22 is worn, it requests electrocardiogram measurement and fall check in the packet format shown in Table 1 through the Bluetooth communication network, and when measurement data is received through a response message from the wearable measurement terminal 10, the heart rate is calculated. After calculation, as shown in FIG. 6A, heart rate, atrial fibrillation, number of falls, etc. are displayed on the main screen (S205 to S208).

division packet example Start of heart rate fibrillation detection Cardiac fibrillation detection ended Fall check detection begins Fall check detection complete

Referring to FIG. 6A, the main screen may display heart rate or atrial fibrillation measured by comparing measurement data received from the wearable measurement terminal 10 with a reference value, and display the number of falls detected. Additionally, the battery voltage status and Bluetooth communication status of the wearable measurement terminal may be displayed at the top or bottom of the screen, and settings icons, monitoring icons, etc. may be displayed.

When the 'Settings icon' is touched on the main screen, icons for device connection, user or guardian name management, and sending text messages to the user or guardian on/off are displayed. When user or guardian name management is selected, the user or guardian name and phone number are displayed. can be registered (S209~S211). Additionally, during the setup stage, you can set contact conditions such as contact time (e.g., 9 a.m. every morning, etc.) and when heart abnormalities or falls are detected.

Additionally, when the 'monitor icon' is touched on the main screen, daily/weekly/monthly measured values can be displayed in numbers, letters, or graphs for cumulative management as shown in FIG. 6b (S212, S213).

Meanwhile, the measured heart rate or fall event can be automatically sent as a text message to the registered guardian's phone number when the contact period or condition is met (S214, S215).

Then, the connection status with the wearable measurement terminal 10 is monitored, and if the reception strength (RSSI) falls below a certain level, it is judged as a deviation and an alarm is displayed on the app. When the measurement app 22 is requested to be terminated, the measurement app is notified after termination. (22) ends (S216~S219).

In the above, the present invention has been described with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings, but those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and other equivalent embodiments are possible therefrom.

10: Wearable measurement terminal 20: User smartphone
30: Guardian smartphone 40: Hospital server
50: Mobile communication network 100: Electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device
110: band electrode 120: electrocardiogram measuring unit
130: Fall detection unit 140: MCU
150: Bluetooth module 160: Power unit
170: User interface

Claims (5)

An electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device consisting of a wearable measurement terminal worn on the user's wrist to measure the wearer's electrocardiogram and detect falls, and a smartphone that is connected to the wearable measurement terminal through wireless communication and runs a measurement app. In
The wearable measurement terminal
Battery power unit;
A band electrode made of conductive fabric bonded at high frequency or printed with graphene and worn on one wrist of the user so that both electrodes are in direct contact with one wrist.
An electrocardiogram measuring unit for measuring the wearer's electrocardiogram signal from the band electrode;
a fall detection unit for detecting a fall of the wearer;
a wireless communication unit for communicating with the smartphone via Bluetooth;
user interface; and
When the power is turned on through manipulation of the user interface, it is connected to the measurement app of the smartphone through the wireless communication unit, and when measurement is requested from the measurement app, measurement data is retrieved through the ECG measurement unit and sent to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit. transmitting, and when a fall event is detected through the fall detection unit, transmitting the occurrence of the event to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit, and a control unit transmitting the status of the battery power unit to the measurement app through the wireless communication unit,
The electrocardiogram measuring unit
A measurement amplifier that amplifies the difference between the band electrode input signal and outputs it as an electrocardiogram signal,
An analog-to-digital converter that converts the analog electrocardiogram signal output of the instrumentation amplifier into digital;
Includes a register for storing electrocardiogram measurement data converted to digital by the analog-to-digital converter,
The measurement app is
When the app is run, it attempts to connect wirelessly with the wearable measurement terminal, and when connected, checks the battery voltage and whether it is worn;
When worn, an ECG measurement is requested by transmitting a heart rate fibrillation detection start signal and a heart rate fibrillation detection end signal in the format of STX, Command, LENGTH, Check Sum, and EXT to the wearable measurement terminal, and then ECG measurement data is received, and a start signal and end signal are sent to the wearable measurement terminal. Calculating the heart rate between signals, requesting fall measurement, receiving fall data, and displaying the calculated heart rate and measured number of falls on the main screen;
When the settings icon is selected on the main screen, setting the guardian contact information and contact conditions for sending a text message;
If the contact conditions are met, steps are taken to transmit heart rate and number of falls to the registered guardian contact information.
An electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device that is worn on the wrist in the form of a band to measure biometric information and is linked to a smartphone via Bluetooth to systematically manage the wearer's health. delete The method of claim 1, wherein the fall detection unit
An electrocardiogram measurement and fall management device implemented with 3G acceleration and 3G gyro sensors. delete The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement app
An electrocardiogram measurement and falls management device further comprising transmitting the measured user's heart rate and number of falls to a hospital server and receiving a diagnosis result from the hospital server.

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