KR20130110820A - Vehicle having device for diagnosing arrhythmia - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A vehicle with an arrhythmia diagnostic unit is provided to control a vehicle by diagnosing a driver's arrhythmia in advance, thereby improving safety. CONSTITUTION: A vehicle with an arrhythmia diagnostic unit includes an electrocardiogram electrode (110), a measuring device (130), an arrhythmia diagnosis unit (140), and an electronic control unit. The electrocardiogram electrode is mounted on a steering wheel (20). The measuring device is connected to the electrocardiogram electrode. The arrhythmia diagnosis unit is connected to the measuring device and database. The electronic control unit is connected to the arrhythmia diagnosis unit. [Reference numerals] (130) Measuring device; (140) Arrhythmia diagnosis unit; (160) Input device

Description

VEHICLE HAVING DEVICE FOR DIAGNOSING ARRHYTHMIA}

The present invention relates to a vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus, and more particularly, to a vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus capable of preventing an accident by diagnosing arrhythmias generated in a driver of a vehicle in real time.

The blood ejection activity of the heart is achieved by repetition of the contraction and expansion of the heart. The contraction of the heart is caused by electrical stimulation on the cardiac muscle (Cardiac muscle) and thereby electrical impulse (Impulse). When excitation of the cardiomyocytes occurs, calcium levels in the cardiomyocytes change, which triggers the heart's contraction mechanism, creating a contraction phenomenon. The heart has a stimulating tissue that produces electrical stimulation and a stimulating conducting tissue that delivers it to cardiomyocytes. Stimulating tissue regularly produces 60 to 100 electrical stimuli per minute. When this stimulus is normally delivered to the cardiomyocytes, the heart contracts and expands repeatedly, supplying enough blood to the tissues of the body.

If the electrical stimulation is not well established in the heart, or if the stimulus is not properly delivered, regular contractions may not continue, resulting in abnormally rapid heartbeats (tachycardia), slowness (circlecardia, Bradycardia), or irregular tremors This can happen (fibrillation), called arrhythmia or cardiac arrhythmias (Cardiac Arrhythmia or Cardiac dysrhythmia). Arrhythmias are not diagnosed, and most of them are discovered and treated after the onset, and heart disease patients are likely to have high arrhythmia.

The inventor Shim Eun-Bo of the present application has invented Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1109738, "Heart Arrhythmia Diagnosis Method and Diagnosis Apparatus". This patent calculates the frequency of the heart's electric wave using the heart's dimensions and the heart's electrocardiogram signal (ECG signal). In addition, it proposes a technique to determine whether arrhythmia is based on cardiac dimensions, ECG and frequency of electric waves. As such, by predicting and diagnosing the occurrence of tornado causing arrhythmia using non-dimensional parameters, screening for patients who are likely to die or die of arrhythmia can reduce their mortality.

On the other hand, there are many causes of arrhythmia, but seriously related to life is known to be due to the electric whirlwind (spiral wave) phenomenon of irregular spiral electrical stimulation throughout the unhealthy heart. In a healthy heart, electrical stimulation spreads to cells in a regular form. Arrhythmia symptoms vary from mild palpitation, chest pain to syncope and sudden death, depending on the type of arrhythmia and the type and severity of the heart disease the patient has. In particular, the electric whirlwind interferes with the normal rhythm of the heart, and when the electric whirlwind occurs throughout the heart, the heart loses its function, resulting in immediate brain death and death.

Recently, intelligent vehicles equipped with various safety devices that provide the driver with information necessary for driving by recognizing the surrounding environment based on mechanical, electronic, communication, and control technologies have been widely used for safety and convenience of vehicles. There is a trend. In particular, intelligent vehicles warn drivers of dangerous situations and prevent accidents by directly controlling driving and braking devices in case of emergency. In addition, inevitably, if a vehicle accident occurs, active safety is immediately pursued, such as immediately activating various safety devices to minimize the damage.

On the other hand, if the driver faints or causes brain death due to arrhythmia while driving the vehicle, the control of the vehicle becomes impossible, and there is a high possibility of causing a fatal traffic accident. If the driver's arrhythmia is mild, breathing difficulties, dizziness, chest pain, etc., will interfere with the vehicle's control.

The present invention is to solve various problems of the prior art as described above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle with a new arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus for early diagnosis of a driver's arrhythmias so that the driver can receive appropriate treatment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis device that can improve safety by controlling an output of an alarm, lighting of an emergency light, driving speed and stopping of a vehicle when arrhythmias appear to a driver.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus capable of performing an emergency rescue through a communication infrastructure network when arrhythmias appear to the driver.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a vehicle provided with an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus is provided. A vehicle equipped with an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention includes: an electrocardiogram electrode mounted to a steering wheel to detect an electrocardiogram signal by contact of a driver's hand; A measuring device connected to an electrocardiogram electrode and configured to receive an electrocardiogram signal and measure a frequency of a cardiac electric wave and a conduction speed of the cardiac electric wave; It is connected to a database that stores the cardiac dimensions of the operator and the operator, and calculates the dimensionless number based on the cardiac dimension, the frequency of the detected cardiac electric wave and the conduction velocity of the cardiac electric wave. Arrhythmia diagnosis unit for outputting a signal; It is connected to the arrhythmia diagnosis unit, and receives an arrhythmia signal and includes an electronic control unit that controls the vehicle to turn on the emergency light, decelerate the driving speed and make an emergency stop.

In addition, the electronic control unit is configured to output an alarm through the audio system and the display by the arrhythmia signal, and operate the vehicle communication network system to transmit the emergency rescue signal to the emergency rescue monitoring center.

The vehicle equipped with an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention, by processing the electrocardiogram signal input from the electrocardiogram electrode of the arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus mounted on the steering wheel, early diagnosis of the driver's arrhythmias, output of an alarm, lighting of emergency lights, vehicle It is possible to improve the safety of the vehicle by controlling the driving speed and stop of the car and to prevent traffic accidents caused by arrhythmia symptoms. In addition, since the emergency rescue of the driver can be promptly performed by the transmission of the emergency rescue signal, there is a very useful effect that can safely protect the life of the driver.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an example of a vehicle to which an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention is applied.
Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration in which the ECG electrode of the arrhythmia diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention is mounted on the steering wheel.
3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention.

Other objects, specific advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present specification includes Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1109738, "Heart Arrhythmia Diagnosis Method and Its Diagnosis Device."

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the vehicle 10 to which the arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention is applied may drive with a steering wheel 20 or a steering wheel for steering by a driver's manipulation. An electronic control unit (ECU) 30 for controlling is provided. In this embodiment, the ECU 30 is composed of a plurality of microcomputers for controlling each system of the vehicle 10.

Referring to FIG. 3, the vehicle 10 includes an emergency light 40, an emergency stop system ESS 50, and a vehicle communication network system VCNS 60 connected to an ECU 30. ). The emergency light 40 alerts the vehicle behind the emergency state by the control of the ECU 30. The ESS 40 switches the driving of the vehicle 10 to the emergency automatic stopping mode under the control of the ECU 30 to reduce the traveling speed of the vehicle 10 and then stops.

The emergency auto stop mode may be applied to, for example, an adaptive cruise control system (ACC) and an automatic parking system (APS). The ACC measures the distance, relative speed, and direction of the vehicle in front of the vehicle by using sensors installed in front of the vehicle, for example, ultrasonic sensors and infrared radar sensors. Control the distance and speed of the vehicle, and drive at constant speed when the lane ahead is empty. The ESS 40 decelerates the traveling speed based on a distance, a relative speed, a direction, and the like, from the front vehicle controlled by the ACC.

APS is configured using the Lane departure warning system (LDWS). The LDWS recognizes a driving lane using a front and rear monitoring system (FRMS) front camera, and uses lane recognition information and vehicle signal information to determine and alert a lane departure. When the parking space is designated through the information of the surrounding environment obtained through the camera and the sensor of the FRMS, the APS calculates a trajectory necessary for parking of the vehicle and controls the driving of the vehicle to park the vehicle. The ESS 40 may recognize the periphery of the vehicle 10 obtained by the FRMS of the APS when the vehicle 10 stops and guide the vehicle 10 to a safe area such as a shoulder to stop the vehicle 10.

The VCNS 60 is an in-vehicle networking system (IVN: 62) for communicating between the ECU 30 and various sensors, cameras, and terminals, and an inter-vehicle communication network system for communicating between vehicles ( Vehicle to vehicle communication network system (V2V: 64), vehicle to infrastructure communication network system (Vehicle to Infrastructure communication network system (V2I: 66)).

1 to 3, the vehicle 10 according to the present invention is connected to the ECU 30 and includes an arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus 100 for detecting an ECG signal of a driver and inputting the same to the ECU 30. . The arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus 100 includes a pair of ECG electrodes 110 and 112 exposed to both outer surfaces of the steering wheel 20 to be in contact with the driver's left and right hands holding the steering wheel 20. In the present embodiment, only one of the ECG electrodes 110 and 112 may be mounted on the outer surface of the steering wheel 20.

The arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus 100 is connected to the ECG electrodes 110 and 112 by the conducting wires 120 and 122 and the frequency f of the cardiac electric wave by the ECG signal input from the ECGs 110 and 112. It is provided with a measuring device 130 for measuring the conduction velocity (CV) of the heart electric wave. The meter 130 may be configured as a microcomputer. The frequency f of the heart electric wave can be obtained by Equation 1.

Here, RRinterval is a time interval between the R wave and the R wave included in the ECG signal.

The conduction velocity (CV) of the cardiac electric wave can be calculated by Equation 2 using the ECG signal and the heart dimensions in the ventricles.

Here, each of QRS and RS is an interval of QRS and an interval of RS included in an ECG signal.

In addition, the conduction velocity (CV) of the cardiac electric wave can be obtained by using Equation 3 in the atrium.

Where L is the heart dimension and P is the width of the P wave included in the ECG signal.

The arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus 100 includes an arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 connected to each of the ECU 30 and the measuring unit 130. The arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 calculates the dimensionless number based on the heart size, the frequency of the heart electric wave, and the conduction speed of the heart electric wave, and outputs an arrhythmic signal when the calculated dimensionless number is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. The arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 may be configured as a microcomputer.

The arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 includes a database 150. The database 150 includes an arrhythmia reference value database 152, a cardiac dimension database 154, a driver information database 156, an emergency rescue information database 158, and the like. The database 150 may be configured as a memory.

The arrhythmia reference value for determining whether the driver has arrhythmia is stored in the arrhythmia reference value database 152. Arrhythmia thresholds are used for large comparisons with dimensionless numbers. Arrhythmia reference value may be set variously depending on the driver. In the present embodiment, the arrhythmia reference value may be set in a range of 800 to 1200 or a specific value of 800 to 1200. The dimensionless number Sh is calculated by the following equation.

Where [Sh] is a dimensionless number, f is the frequency of the heart electric wave, L is the heart dimension, and CV is the conduction velocity of the heart electric wave.

The arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 determines that the arrhythmia is greater than the arrhythmia reference value and the arrhythmia, and if the dimensionless number Sh is smaller than the arrhythmia reference value, the arrhythmia diagnosis determines that it is not arrhythmia. The arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 outputs an arrhythmia signal to the ECU 30 when the driver is diagnosed as arrhythmia. Determination of the arrhythmia by the arrhythmia reference value and the dimensionless number is disclosed in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1109738 "Diagnostic arrhythmia and its diagnostic apparatus" in detail, a detailed description thereof will be omitted. On the other hand, the ECU 30 alerts the driver according to the arrhythmia signal and controls the running of the vehicle 10.

Cardiac dimensions for diagnosing and processing the driver's arrhythmias are measured in a medical institution by a known echocardiogram or similar device and then stored in the cardiac dimension database 154. By echocardiography, the heart size can be measured as it is, or can be obtained by measuring the volume of the heart. When the cardiac echocardiography measures the heart volume, the heart dimension (L) can be obtained by the cube root of the measured volume as in Equation 5.

Where l is heart length and V is heart volume.

On the other hand, the driver information may be set to a name, address, gender, the phone number of the driver family. Heart disease measured by the echocardiogram may be stored in the driver information database 156. The emergency rescue information may be set to a telephone number of an emergency rescue monitoring center 80 such as a traffic control center, a medical institution, or a 119 rescue team, a computer or a terminal connected to a network. The emergency response monitoring center 80 is networked to the V2I 66 through the infrastructure network 68 to receive an emergency rescue signal.

The input device 160 is connected to the arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140. The input device 160 includes a keypad, a touch screen panel, and the like. The driver may easily store a series of information required for diagnosing arrhythmia through the input device 160 in the database 150. The release switch 170 is connected to the ECU 30. By the operation of the release switch 170, the ECU 30 releases the emergency auto stop mode. The release switch 170 may be configured as a button on the input device 160.

 The operation of the vehicle with the arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus according to the present invention having the above configuration will now be described.

1 and 3, the cardiac dimensions of the driver are stored in the cardiac dimension database 154. When the driver drives the vehicle 10 by holding the steering wheel 20 with the right hand and the left hand, the right hand and the left hand are in contact with the ECG electrodes 110 and 112. When the driver's right and left hands are in contact with the ECG electrodes 110 and 112, an ECG signal is detected by the ECG electrodes 110 and 112, and the ECG signal is input to the measuring instrument 130.

The measuring unit 130 measures the frequency of the cardiac electric wave and the conduction speed of the cardiac electric wave by the input ECG signal and inputs the same to the arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140. The arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 obtains the dimensionless number based on the heart size, the frequency of the heart electric wave, and the conduction speed of the heart electric wave. If the dimensionless number is larger than the arrhythmia reference value, the arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 outputs an arrhythmic signal. The arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140 inputs an arrhythmia signal to the ECU 30.

The ECU 30 outputs an alarm signal, an emergency stop signal, and an emergency rescue signal according to the input of the arrhythmia signal from the arrhythmia diagnosis unit 140. The alarm signal may be, for example, an audio system 90, a display 92, a navigation terminal, a lamp of an instrument panel, etc. of the vehicle 10 connected to the ECU 30 through the IVN 62. Through the voice and visual can be output to the driver. The display 92 may include a liquid crystal display device installed on the instrument panel of the vehicle 10, a screen of a navigation terminal, and the like.

When the driver's health condition is temporarily worsened and diagnosed as arrhythmia, the driver may stop driving the vehicle 10 and take rest and stability after recognizing the alarm. Afterwards, the driver may visit a medical institution to accurately diagnose arrhythmias and receive appropriate treatment. In addition, when the passenger is riding in the vehicle 10, the passenger can easily recognize the driver's arrhythmia diagnosis according to the output of the alarm signal, it is possible to cooperate with the driver and the emergency rescue of the vehicle 10. In particular, the passenger may release the emergency auto stop mode by operating the release switch 170 and operate the vehicle 10 on behalf of the driver.

Subsequently, the ECU 30 turns on the emergency light 40 to visually display the emergency state in the back vehicle or the like. The ECU 30 controls the operation of the ESS 50, for example, operates an electromagnetic brake of the vehicle 10 to decelerate the traveling speed, and finally stops the vehicle 10. In this case, when the ESS 50 is implemented in the form of ACC, even when the driver causes arrhythmia symptoms, especially fainting or brain death, the distance and speed between the vehicle 10 and the vehicle in front of the vehicle are controlled, and the vehicle 10 is in constant speed. Driving can effectively prevent traffic accidents.

Meanwhile, in the vehicle 10 according to the present invention, the ESS 50 may further protect the driver when the driver status monitoring system (DSM) is applied to the vehicle 10. That is, when a change in the driving state is detected by the operation of the DSM in the state in which the arrhythmia of the driver is diagnosed, the driver may faint due to the arrhythmia symptoms or cause brain death. Therefore, the vehicle 10 may be operated by the operation of the ESS 50. ) Can be automatically and immediately stopped to prevent traffic accidents.

As described above, the vehicle 10 according to the present invention processes the ECG signal input from the arrhythmia diagnosis apparatus 100 in real time, and when the driver is diagnosed with arrhythmia, the output of an alarm, the emergency light 40 is turned on, the vehicle 10 It is possible to implement an active accident avoidance system of the vehicle 10 by implementing the driving speed and emergency automatic stop.

Subsequently, the ECU 30 outputs an emergency rescue signal to operate the VCNS 60. By the operation of the V2V (64), it is possible to avoid the accident by sending an alarm to the vehicle behind. The operation of the V2I 66 transmits the emergency rescue signal to the emergency rescue monitoring center 80 such as the driver's family, traffic control center, medical institution, or 119 rescue team through the communication infrastructure network 68. In response to the emergency rescue signal through the V2I 66, the medical institution, the 119 rescue team, etc., can accurately identify the driver's location in which the arrhythmia symptom appears through a navigation system, a location information service, and the like. In addition, the medical institution may perform telemedicine such as providing or supporting medical services to the driver through the V2I 66. Therefore, it is possible to quickly and safely protect the life of the driver having arrhythmia symptoms while driving the vehicle 10.

The embodiments described above are merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, those skilled in the art within the spirit and claims of the present invention It will be understood that various changes, modifications, or substitutions may be made thereto, and such embodiments are to be understood as being within the scope of the present invention.

10: vehicle 20: steering wheel
30: electronic control unit 40: emergency light
50: emergency stop system 60: vehicle communication network system
66: communication network system between vehicle and infrastructure
70: database 80: emergency rescue monitoring center
100: ECG sensor 110, 112: ECG electrode
130: measuring unit 140: arrhythmia diagnosis unit
150: database 170: release switch

Claims (6)

An electrocardiogram electrode mounted to the steering wheel to sense an electrocardiogram signal by contact of a driver's hand;
A measuring device connected to the electrocardiogram electrode and configured to receive the electrocardiogram signal and measure the frequency of the heart wave and the conduction speed of the heart wave;
The measurement device and the driver's cardiac dimensions are connected to a database storing the cardiac dimensions, the dimension of the detected cardiac electric wave and the conduction velocity of the cardiac electric wave, and calculating the dimensionless number. An arrhythmia diagnosis unit configured to output an arrhythmia signal when a value is greater than or equal to a predetermined value;
A vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis device connected to the arrhythmia diagnosis unit and including an electronic control unit which receives the arrhythmia signal, turns on an emergency light, and controls the vehicle to make an emergency stop after decelerating a traveling speed. The method of claim 1,
And the electronic control unit is configured to receive the arrhythmia signal and output an alarm through an audio system and a display. The method of claim 1,
The database stores data of an emergency rescue monitoring center capable of receiving an emergency rescue signal through a communication infrastructure network, and the electronic control unit receives the arrhythmia signal to operate a vehicle communication network system to operate the emergency rescue monitoring center. A vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis device configured to transmit an emergency rescue signal to the vehicle. The method of claim 1,
A vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis device further connected to the electronic control unit, the release switch releasing the emergency stop. 5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The dimensionless number Sh is

Satisfy the relationship
Wherein f is the frequency of the cardiac electric wave, L is the heart dimension, and CV is the cardiac electric wave conduction velocity. The method of claim 5,
The heart dimension (L) is

Satisfy the relationship
The frequency f of the heart pulse is

Satisfy the relationship of,
The conduction velocity (CV) of the cardiac electric wave is in the ventricles

Satisfies the relationship, and at the atrium

Satisfy the relationship of,
Where l is the heart length, V is the heart volume, RRinterval is the time interval between the R and R waves included in the ECG signal, and QRS and RS are each the QRS interval and the RS interval included in the ECG signal, and P Is a vehicle having an arrhythmia diagnosis device that is the width of the P wave included in the ECG signal.

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