KR20080082294A - Infant wathcing system - Google Patents

Abstract

An infant watching system is provided to give stability to a protector by letting the protector hear imaginary breathing sound and cardiac impulse sound. A sensing device includes a sensor unit and a frequency modulation wireless transmission unit. The sensor unit measures an electrocardiogram, blood flow according to a cardiac impulse period, and a change of electric impedance according to respiration. The frequency modulation wireless transmission unit modulates a frequency of a signal measured by the sensor unit and transmits the signal wirelessly. A relay device includes a receiving unit, a signal processing unit, and a digital wireless transmission unit. The receiving unit receives the signal transmitted from the sensing device and modulates the signal to a baseband. The signal processing unit extracts a heart rate and blood oxygen saturation by converting the modulated signal into a digital signal and processing information of the electrocardiogram and the blood flow and extracts a respiration rate by processing information of the change of the electric impedance according to respiration. The digital wireless transmission unit transmits the extracted information by wireless. An output device includes a digital wireless receiving unit and a display unit. The digital wireless receiving unit receives a signal transmitted from the relay device. The display unit outputs the heart rate, the blood oxygen saturation, and the respiration rate based on the received signal.

Description

Neonatal Surveillance System {INFANT WATHCING SYSTEM}

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention,

2 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a state diagram used to describe the overall configuration of the system according to an embodiment of the present invention,

4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a wrist or ankle belt according to an embodiment of the present invention,

5 is a circuit diagram of a wrist or ankle belt according to an embodiment of the present invention,

6 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an abdominal belt according to an embodiment of the present invention,

7 is a circuit diagram of an abdominal belt according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a circuit diagram of a relay means according to an embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a circuit diagram of an output means according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a system for monitoring physical abnormalities of newborns in a space separated from the caregiver, and more particularly, electrocardiogram, blood flow, oxygen saturation, change in electrical impedance according to breathing, and the like. The present invention relates to a neonatal monitoring system that allows the guardian to continuously monitor whether or not the newborn is physically abnormal by simply measuring and informing the guardian of the measured information and the processed information.

In general, when a guardian is separated from a newborn baby due to sleep, housework or other activities, it is difficult to immediately identify an abnormal condition occurring in the newborn baby's body. Therefore, the caregiver of the newborn was inconvenient because he was always attached to the newborn baby, or had to carry a newborn baby when using various activities, or had to use a separate manpower to protect the newborn baby.

In order to solve such inconveniences, telecommunications such as crying by newborns who are separated from guardians are input and output from a separate device near the guardian. .

However, such a remote communication means simply notifies the guardian only when the newborn makes a specific sound, so there is a problem in that the health status of the newborn cannot be checked closely.

On the other hand, U.S. Patent No. 6,677,445 has proposed a device for generating a warning sound to a guardian located at a remote location by detecting a heart abnormality and respiratory abnormality of the newborn. It was difficult for a caregiver to check the newborn's health at a desired time. In addition, in general, even if the guardian is away from the newborn, there is a problem that does not meet these requirements despite the desire to find a sense of stability by continuously listening to the heart sound and breathing sound of the newborn.

The present invention devised to solve the above problems can be easily worn on the newborn, by measuring the various information to monitor the health status of the newborn to the guardian, the guardian should be separated from the newborn to perform various activities Even if it is, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a newborn baby monitoring system that allows the newborn baby to be immediately informed of the occurrence of health abnormalities to the guardian so that the guardian can comfortably fall away from the newborn baby.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a newborn baby monitoring system to process the various information measured from the newborn to generate a virtual newborn breathing sound and heart sounds to the guardian to be more stable to the guardian For the purpose of

The present invention for achieving the above object, the sensor unit for measuring the change in the electrical impedance according to the blood flow and respiration according to the electrocardiogram, heart rate cycle of the newborn, and modulates the frequency of the signal measured by the sensor unit Sensing means including a frequency modulated radio transmitter for transmitting by radio transmission method; Receiving unit for receiving the signal transmitted from the detection means to the baseband demodulation, converts the demodulated signal into a digital signal and processes the information on the ECG and blood flow to extract the heart rate and blood oxygen saturation degree, A relay means comprising a signal processor for processing the information on the change in electric impedance and extracting a respiratory rate, and a digital radio transmitter for wirelessly transmitting the information extracted from the signal processor; Output means including a digital wireless receiver for receiving a signal transmitted from the relay means, and a display unit for outputting a heart rate, blood oxygen saturation degree, and respiratory rate based on the received signal; It is configured to include a.

In addition, the output means is a memory unit for storing the information converting the heart sound and breathing sound of the newborn to a digital signal, the heart sound and respiration stored in the memory unit in accordance with the heart rate and respiration cycle according to the heart rate and respiratory rate The apparatus may further include an audio signal generation unit for converting the sound into an analog signal and transmitting the sound to the display unit. The display unit may further include an audio amplifier and a speaker to further output heart sounds and breath sounds.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in more detail the configuration and operation principle of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention, the newborn monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention is composed of a sensing means, a relay means and an output means, the sensing means is a sensor unit and frequency The modulated radio transmitter, the relay means is a schematic illustration of the state that includes a receiver, a signal processor and a digital radio transmitter, and the output means includes a digital radio receiver and a display, respectively.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration according to another embodiment of the present invention, a memory unit and an audio signal generation unit is additionally provided in the output means, and an audio amplifier and a speaker are additionally provided in the display unit of the output means is already calculated By using the heart rate and respiratory rate is shown schematically showing the configuration configured to output the heart sound and breathing sound.

3 is a diagram showing the actual use of the configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention, the detection means is worn in the form of a belt on the wrist, ankle and abdomen of the newborn, and through the relay means heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen The saturation degree and the like are illustrated.

The sensing means aims to derive the heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation by measuring the electrocardiogram of the newborn, the blood flow according to the heartbeat cycle, and the electrical impedance change according to the respiration change. Equipment for measuring heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation as described above is already widely used in the medical field in various forms and manners, in the present invention, any conventional sensor can be used, but should be easily used by the general public and to newborns. It is preferable that the blood flow in accordance with the electrocardiogram and the heartbeat cycle is worn by the sensing means of the wrist or ankle belt shape, and the change of the electrical impedance according to the breathing is preferably implemented by the sensing means of the abdominal belt shape.

In Figure 4 is made of a belt shape so as to be wound around the newborn's wrist or ankle, the inner surface of the belt is provided with an electrocardiogram electrode for electrocardiogram measurement and an LED window for blood flow measurement according to the heartbeat In addition, the electrode and the LED window to the wrist or the wrist is in close contact with the male and female fasteners are provided on both ends of the belt so as to be in close contact, the fastener can be configured in a variety of other ways.

Meanwhile, FIG. 5 illustrates a circuit configuration of the belt. Hereinafter, a process of transmitting a signal by measuring a blood flow according to an electrocardiogram and a heart rhythm cycle by a belt-type sensing means will be described with reference to the circuit diagram. do.

First, the electrical signal measured at the ECG electrode is processed in the ECG circuit, and the LED window emits the Infra Red and Red optical signals to receive the optical signals reflected from the blood vessels of the newborn baby. The optical signal is processed in the LED drive circuit.

Next, the signals processed by the ECG circuit and the LED drive circuit are outputted in a time division manner in multiple circuits, and the first frequency modulated radio transmitter modulates a frequency to wirelessly transmit the signal through an antenna.

In Figure 6 is made of a belt shape to be wound around the newborn's abdomen, the inner surface of the belt is provided with an impedance electrode for measuring the change in electrical impedance according to the change in breathing, so that the impedance electrode is in close contact with the abdomen It illustrates the appearance of the sensing means provided with male and female fasteners at both ends of the belt.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the impedance change according to the change in the respiration of the newborn measured by the impedance electrode is converted into an electrical signal in the impedance measuring circuit, and the frequency is modulated by the second frequency modulation radio transmitter and transmitted wirelessly through the antenna.

In this case, the electrocardiogram electrode, the electrocardiogram circuit, the LED window and the LED drive circuit, the multi-circuit and the impedance electrode and the impedance measuring circuit correspond to the sensor unit of the sensing means, and the first and second frequency modulation radio transmitters of the sensing means This corresponds to the frequency-modulated radio transmitter.

8 illustrates a circuit configuration of a relay means according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The first and second frequency demodulation radio receivers (corresponding to the receiver of the relay means) receive the signals transmitted from the first and second frequency modulated radio transmitters and demodulate them to baseband. The signal processing unit of the relay means) is converted into a digital signal and calculated to saturate heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen. Next, the digital radio transmitter (corresponding to the digital radio transmitter of the relay unit) wirelessly transmits the calculation result to the output unit.

At this time, the drawing illustrates a state in which a microphone and an audio receiver are additionally provided. The microphone receives the sound of a newborn baby, converts the sound of the newborn baby into an electrical signal in an audio receiver, and converts the heart rate and breathing in a signal processing circuit. It can be converted into a digital signal along with water and oxygen saturation and transmitted to the output means. This method is the same as the neonatal sound telecommunication means that has been conventionally used, and can be incorporated in the neonatal monitoring system according to the present invention.

9 illustrates a circuit configuration of an output means according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The signal transmitted from the relay means is received at the digital radio receiver (corresponding to the digital radio receiver of the output means) and the heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen saturation are output to the screen via the display circuit. In this case, the screen may be implemented as a liquid crystal screen, it may be composed of a plurality of LED bulbs to display the excess or deficiency based on the normal value. The output unit may further include a memory, an audio signal processing circuit, an audio amplifier, and a speaker, wherein the memory stores information obtained by converting the actual heart and breath sounds of the newborn into digital signals, and stores the audio signal. The processing circuit calculates the heart rate and respiration cycle according to the heart rate and respiration rate received from the digital wireless receiver, and matches the actual heart and respiration sounds of the newborn baby stored in the memory with the pre-calculated heart rate and respiration cycle. The heartbeat and breathing sound of the newborn can be output through the speaker. In this way, if the guardian hears the sound of the newborn's heart and breathing continuously, the guardian will be able to find a sense of stability even when separated from the newborn.

In addition, when recording various sounds made by a newborn baby such as crying sound by using a microphone of the relay means, converting the signal into a digital signal and transmitting the digital signal, the digital wireless receiver receives a digital signal for sound, and the audio signal processing circuit again outputs an analog signal. By converting it into an audio amplifier, the baby's sound can be heard by the guardian.

The various information output by the output means may be output all at the same time, it may be configured to allow the guardian to select and confirm the desired information, the latter has the advantage that the display device such as a screen can be simplified.

The drawings and specification are merely exemplary of the invention, which are used for the purpose of illustrating the invention only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims or claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible from this specification. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

The newborn monitoring system according to the present invention configured as described above provides a useful effect that the general public can easily check the medical indicators for informing the physical condition such as heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation level of the newborn baby even in a remote place.

In addition, by using the above indicators to generate a virtual heart sounds and breathing sounds to the guardian can minimize the anxiety that can be caused by the guardian is away from the newborn.

Claims (2)

Sensor unit for measuring the change in the electrical impedance according to the blood flow and respiration according to the electrocardiogram, heart rate cycle of the newborn, and a frequency modulated radio transmitter for modulating the frequency of the signal measured by the sensor unit and transmitting by radio transmission method Sensing means comprising; Receiving unit for receiving the signal transmitted from the detection means to the baseband demodulation, converts the demodulated signal into a digital signal and processes the information on the ECG and blood flow to extract the heart rate and blood oxygen saturation degree, A relay means comprising a signal processor for processing the information on the change in electric impedance and extracting a respiratory rate, and a digital radio transmitter for wirelessly transmitting the information extracted from the signal processor; Output means including a digital wireless receiver for receiving a signal transmitted from the relay means, and a display unit for outputting a heart rate, blood oxygen saturation degree, and respiratory rate based on the received signal; Neonatal monitoring system comprising a. The method of claim 1, The output means includes a memory unit for storing the information converting the heart sound and breathing sound of the newborn to a digital signal, the heart sound and breathing sound stored in the memory unit in accordance with the heart rate and respiratory cycle according to the heart rate and respiratory rate An audio signal processing unit for converting an analog signal and transmitting the signal to a display unit is further provided, and the display unit further includes an audio amplifier and a speaker, and further outputs a heart sound and a breathing sound. .

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