KR20130136573A - Electric stimulus signal generating device and muscular movement metabolism stimulating device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to miniaturize an electric stimulus signal generating apparatus provided with a circuit capable of outputting electric stimulation signals to a plurality of electrodes while suppressing a decrease in strength of electric stimulation. A plurality of voltage generation circuits for outputting a first signal based on a power source, a boosting circuit, a capacitor, a controller, and a signal output from the controller; and a plurality of voltage generation circuits for outputting a second signal A plurality of pulse synthesis circuits provided corresponding to the voltage generation circuit and adapted to convert the first signal into a pulse signal and to amplify and output the first signal based on the second signal; And outputting the electric stimulation signal as an electric stimulation signal, characterized in that the condenser supplies operating power to a plurality of pulse synthesis circuits.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an electric stimulation signal generating device and a muscular movement metabolism stimulating device,

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an electric stimulation signal generating apparatus and the like for generating an electric stimulation signal given to a human body.

As a method for improving and preventing lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, improvement of lifestyle by putting appropriate exercise into daily life has been proposed.

Among the exercises, especially aerobic exercise, various kinds of physiological changes such as anti-diabetic effect due to energy consumption, improvement of blood sugar level or serum lipid, improvement of insulin sensitivity, depression effect, improvement of respiratory circulation , Along with the prevention and improvement of lifestyle-related diseases, constitute the core of health promotion programs for middle-aged people.

However, due to lack of chronic exercise, excessive obesity, and orthopedic disorders, there are many people who can not exercise enough aerobic exercise. Furthermore, many patients with limited exercise due to long-term disability such as diabetic complications and cardiovascular complications are recognized.

(Hereinafter referred to as "EMS"), which causes skeletal muscle contraction, has been known in the fields of medicine, sports, and the like for the management of muscle buildup, incontinence (incontinence), management of spinal deformity, have.

Patent Literature 1 discloses an electrode assembly that includes an electrode group for imparting an electric stimulus by transmitting an electric signal outputted from an electric signal output device to a human body and an electrode assembly having an electrode mounting member of a garment shape attached to the lower body of the human body, Wherein the electrode assembly includes a front surface side electrode unit disposed on a front surface side of a human body and a rear surface side electrode unit disposed on a back surface side electrode unit disposed on a back surface side of the human body, Wherein the front electrode unit includes a first front electrode disposed at a position corresponding to a start portion of a quadriceps muscle and a second front electrode disposed at a position corresponding to a stop portion of the quadriceps muscle, And the rear surface side electrode unit includes a first front electrode disposed at a position corresponding to a boundary between the large electric field and the hamstring when viewed in the longitudinal direction of the human body, A second backside which is disposed at a position corresponding to a portion of the hammerring which is located below the large electric potential and whose polarity is different from that of the first backside electrode and a second backside which is disposed at a position corresponding to the beginning of the electric current And a third backside electrode which has a polarity different from that of the first backside electrode.

In order to obtain an appropriate effect according to the health state of the user, it is necessary to provide electrical stimulation to a plurality of stimulation regions as described in Patent Document 1, and it is necessary to provide the electrode pad in accordance with the number of stimulation regions.

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 4480797 Specification

Patent Document 2: JP-A-2000-237331

Here, the electric stimulus signal generating device for outputting an electric signal to the electrode pad (electrode body) is provided with a transformer for outputting a pulse signal, and such a transformer is mounted corresponding to each electrode pad.

However, if a capacitor is provided for each transformer, a capacitor corresponding to the number of transformers is required, which increases the size of the electric stimulus signal generating device and increases the cost. Further, since the capacitor is disposed on the secondary side of the transformer, the voltage after the voltage increase is added to the capacitor, so that it is necessary to increase the capacitor in order to give pressure resistance. As a result, the size of the electric stimulus signal generating device becomes larger.

On the other hand, since the size of the electric stimulus signal generating device is reduced, there is a fear that electric stimulation with sufficient strength can not be given.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the strength of the electric stimulation while reducing the size of the electric stimulus signal generating device provided with a circuit capable of outputting the electric stimulation signals to a plurality of electrode bodies.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electric stimulation signal generating apparatus comprising: a power source; a booster circuit that boosts a voltage of the power source; a capacitor that is charged by electric power supplied through the booster circuit; A plurality of voltage generation circuits for outputting a first signal related to a magnitude of a voltage value based on a signal outputted from the controller, A pulse generating circuit for generating a second signal for converting a first signal to be output into a pulse signal; and a second signal generating circuit for generating, based on the second signal outputted from the pulse generating circuit, A plurality of pulse synthesis circuits for converting the first signal output from the voltage generation circuit into a pulse signal and for amplifying and outputting the pulse signal, And a plurality of transformers provided corresponding to the pulse synthesizing circuit and amplifying a signal output from the pulse synthesizing circuit and outputting the amplified signal as an electric stimulation signal, .

(2) In the configuration of (1), a discharge circuit for discharging the electric charge stored in the capacitor may be provided based on a signal output from the controller. According to the configuration of (2), it is possible to prevent the operation from being given to the plurality of pulse synthesizing circuits from the capacitor after the electric power of the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus is turned off.

(3) In the configuration of (1) or (2), the capacitor may be provided in a connection circuit connecting the booster circuit and the plurality of pulse synthesis circuits.

(4) In the configurations of (1) to (3) above, the controller may output a different signal to each of the voltage generating circuits, It is possible to output the first signal regarding the magnitude of the value.

(5) An electric-stimulation-signal generating apparatus according to any one of (1) to (4), further comprising: a plurality of electric-stimulating-signal generating apparatuses each provided in correspondence with each of the transformers, A device for promoting muscular exercise metabolism having an electrode body.

According to the present invention, it is possible to control the decrease in the strength of the electric stimulation while miniaturizing the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus provided with the circuit capable of outputting the electric stimulation signals to the plurality of electrode bodies.

1 is a block diagram of an electric stimulus generator.
2 is a block diagram of a portion of an electric stimulus generator.
3 schematically shows a signal output from the voltage generating circuit.
4 schematically shows a signal output from the pulse generating circuit.
5 schematically shows a signal output from the pulse synthesizing circuit.
6 is an explanatory view of the operation of the discharge circuit.

1 is a block diagram of an electric stimulus signal generating apparatus. 1, an electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 includes a power source 1, a boosting circuit 2, a controller 3, first to third voltage generating circuits 4a to 4c, The first to third pulse generating circuits 5a to 5c, the first to third pulse combining circuits 6a to 6c, the first to third transformers 7a to 7c, the condenser 8, And a circuit (9). Hereinafter, the configuration of each part will be described in detail.

The power source 1 may be a primary battery, a secondary battery, a capacitor, or a fuel cell. The secondary battery may be charged by a charger provided outside the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100. [ When the power source 1 is a secondary battery, the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 has a charger and an inlet connected to the charger, and can charge the inlet by connecting a connector of a charging cable extending from the external power source to the inlet . In this case, the external power source may be a commercial power source of 5V DC. The secondary battery may be charged by a so-called noncontact charging method in which the connector of the charging cable is made unnecessary. The shape of the power source may be a cylindrical shape, a horn shape, or a coin shape. The power supply 1 may be configured by connecting a plurality of power supply elements in series or in parallel. The electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 is provided with a switch (not shown), and the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 is activated by operating this switch.

The boosting circuit 2 boosts the voltage of the power supply 1 to a target voltage value. Here, the target voltage value refers to a voltage value according to the output voltages of the first to third pulse combining circuits 6a to 6c. The controller 3 controls the intensity of an output signal output from the electric stimulus signal generator 100 and the like. Here, the controller 3 may be a CPU or an MPU, and may include an ASIC circuit for executing at least a part of processing performed in these CPUs and MPU in a circuit.

2 is a block diagram of a portion of an electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 including a first voltage generating circuit 4a, a first pulse generating circuit 5a and a first pulse combining circuit 6a. In order to simplify the drawing, the second to third voltage generation circuits 4b to 4c, the second to third pulse generation circuits 5b to 5c, and the second to third pulse synthesis circuits 6b to 6c Are omitted.

Referring to Fig. 2, the first voltage generating circuit 4a includes a resistor 41a and an in-circuit capacitor 42a. As shown in Fig. 3, the first voltage generating circuit 4a converts the PWM signal output from the controller 3 into a voltage signal (first signal relating to the magnitude of the voltage value) in accordance with the pulse width. In the illustrated example, as the pulse width of the PWM signal output from the controller 3 increases during the output, the level of the voltage signal rises substantially in a stepped shape. The circuit configuration of the second voltage generating circuit 4b and the third voltage generating circuit 4c is the same as that of the first voltage generating circuit 4a, and a description thereof will be omitted. The PWM signals output from the controller 3 to the first to third voltage generation circuits 4a to 4c are independent of each other. Therefore, the value of each voltage signal generated in each of the first to third voltage generation circuits 4a to 4c can be independently controlled by the controller 3. On the other hand, the signal output from the controller 3 may be a D / A conversion signal that directly outputs the voltage signal instead of the PWM signal. In this case, the in-circuit resistance 41a may be omitted.

2, the first pulse generating circuit 5a is composed of an NPN transistor for amplifying a pulse signal output from the controller 3 and separating the controller 3 and the first pulse combining circuit 6a . NPN transistors have three different terminals: base, collector, and emitter. The first pulse generation circuit 5a converts the pulse signal output from the controller 3 into a pulse waveform for the first pulse synthesis circuit 6a and outputs it as shown in Fig. On the other hand, this output signal corresponds to the second signal. The first pulse generating circuit 5a determines the pulse width and the frequency of the output signal shown in Fig. 4 based on the pulse signal outputted from the controller 3. Fig. The circuit configuration of the second pulse generation circuit 5b and the third pulse generation circuit 5c is the same as that of the first pulse generation circuit 5a, and therefore the description thereof will be omitted. As shown in Fig. 1, the same pulse signal is output to the first to third pulse generation circuits 5a to 5c.

However, the controller 3 may output different pulse signals to the first to third pulse generation circuits 5a to 5c. In this case, pulse signals of different pulse widths and frequencies are output from the first to third pulse generation circuits 5a to 5c. Further, the first to third pulse generating circuits 5a to 5c may be constituted by one transistor.

The output signals of the first voltage generating circuit 4a and the first pulse generating circuit 5a can be controlled through the controller 3 by operating an unillustrated operating unit provided in the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 . The operation unit may be a selection unit for selecting a stimulation mode (for example, 'kneading', 'releasing', etc.) and an adjustment unit for adjusting the strength of the stimulus. The selection unit may be a slide type switch. The adjustment unit may be a stepless adjustment volume.

The first pulse synthesizing circuit 6a includes an upstream side operational amplifier 61a, a resistor 62a, an inverting amplifier circuit 63a and an NPN transistor 64a. The positive terminal of the upstream-side operational amplifier 61a is connected to the first voltage generating circuit 4a. The output voltage of the upstream-side operational amplifier 61a is fed back to the minus terminal of the upstream-side operational amplifier 61a.

The resistor 62a is located between the upstream-side operational amplifier 61a and the inverting amplifier circuit 63a. The inverting amplifier circuit 63a has a downstream-side operational amplifier 631a, a resistor 632a, and a resistor 632b. The plus terminal of the downstream-side operational amplifier 631a is connected to the resistor 62a. The resistor 632a is provided in the feedback circuit of the inverting amplifier circuit 63a. The inverting amplifier circuit 63a outputs an amplified signal in accordance with the resistance ratio of the resistor 632a and the resistor 632b.

5, the first pulse synthesizing circuit 6a synthesizes the voltage signal output from the first voltage generating circuit 4a and the pulse signal output from the first pulse generating circuit 5a, And outputs the amplified signal. The amplified signal output from the first pulse combining circuit 6a is input to the primary side of the first transformer 7a. The circuit configurations of the second pulse combining circuit 6b and the third pulse combining circuit 6c are the same as those of the first pulse combining circuit 6a, and a description thereof will be omitted.

The first to third pulse combining circuits 6a to 6c operate by being supplied with electric power from the condenser 8. [ Here, when the condenser 8 is omitted, the strengths of the signals output from the first to third transformers 7a to 7c are lowered, and desired electric stimulation can not be given. Here, as a method for suppressing a decrease in the intensity of signals output from the first to third transformers 7a to 7c, a method of arranging a capacitor on each secondary side of each of the first to third transformers 7a to 7c .

However, in this method, a plurality of capacitors corresponding to the number of transformers are required, which increases the cost. Further, since the secondary side of the transformer becomes a high voltage by the step-up operation, it is necessary to increase the capacity (i.e., size) of each capacitor, and the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 becomes large.

Thus, the above-described problem can be solved by providing the first to third pulse synthesis circuits 6a to 6c with the capacitor 8 for supplying operating power. In other words, since there is only one capacitor 8 for supplying the operating power to the first to third pulse combining circuits 6a to 6c, it is possible to reduce the cost by reducing the number of capacitors. Further, since the condenser 8 is disposed on the primary sides of the first to third transformers 7a to 7c, the size of the condenser 8 can be made smaller than that in the case of being disposed on the secondary side. Thus, the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 can be downsized.

On the secondary side of the first transformer 7a, a plus terminal and a minus terminal are provided. The positive terminal and the negative terminal are connected to the positive electrode pad and the negative electrode pad, respectively, through a conductor not shown. Since the second transformer 7b and the third transformer 7c have the same configuration as the first transformer 7a, their description is omitted.

As described above, in order to give a desired effect to the human body, it is necessary to give electrical stimulation to a plurality of stimulation regions. The number of electrode pads that adhere to the stimulation region increases due to the increase of the stimulation region, and the circuit configuration becomes complicated. Therefore, the electric stimulus signal generation apparatus 100 is generally increased in size. According to the above-described embodiment, electric stimulation can be given to a plurality of stimulation regions while suppressing the enlargement of the electric stimulation signal generation apparatus 100. [

Furthermore, since the intensity of the amplified signal output from each of the first to third transformers 7a to 7c can be individually controlled by the controller 3, a unique electric stimulation can be given to each stimulation region.

The discharge circuit 9 is constituted by transistors as shown in Fig. The discharge circuit 9 starts discharging based on the signal (high signal or low signal) output from the controller 3. Here, when the discharging circuit 9 is omitted, even if the electric power of the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 is turned off, since the electric charge is charged in the capacitor 8, the electric stimulation can not be immediately stopped. The controller 3 controls the discharging circuit 9 so that the electric charge charged in the condenser 8 is discharged immediately after the power supply of the electric stimulus signal generating apparatus 100 is turned off. On the other hand, instead of the discharging circuit 9, a relay may be provided between the condenser 8 and the first to third pulse combining circuits 6a to 6c. The relay may be a contact relay. The controller 3 turns off the relay when the power supply of the electric stimulus signal generator 100 is turned off. This makes it possible to prevent the operating power from being supplied from the condenser 8 to the first to third pulse combining circuits 6a to 6c after the electrical stimulation signal generating apparatus 100 is turned off.

Conventionally, for example, when the electric stimulation signal generating apparatus 100 executes the operation of 'kneading', the voltage of the output waveform is gradually amplified to obtain the stimulation feeling. This voltage was amplified by controlling the time constant of the CR circuit in which a resistor and a capacitor were combined. Therefore, only the output voltage can be linearly amplified.

In this embodiment, since the output waveform can be controlled in the controller 3, an output waveform imparted with a curve characteristic can be obtained instead of being linear. Thus, it is possible to impart a unique electrical stimulation that could not be realized in the past.

When the above-described electric stimulation signal generating apparatus 100 is used in combination with an electrode pad as a muscle exercise metabolic stimulation device, for example, a plurality of electrode pads can be arranged as follows. The plurality of electrode pads include front electrode units disposed on the front side of the human body and rear electrode units disposed on the back side of the human body and the front electrode units are disposed at positions corresponding to the beginning of the quadriceps And a second front surface side electrode pad disposed at a position corresponding to the stop portion of the quadriceps and having a polarity different from that of the first front surface side electrode, Side electrode pad disposed at a position corresponding to the boundary between the charging frame and the hamstring when viewed in the front-back direction of the hamstring, and a second backside electrode pad disposed at a position corresponding to a portion below the charging center in the hamstring, A second back side electrode pad having a polarity different from that of the side electrode, and a third back side electrode pad disposed at a position corresponding to the beginning of the opposed electrode and having a polarity different from that of the first back side electrode. Thus, metabolism promotion by muscle exercise can be expected.

1: Power supply
2: Booster circuit
3: Controller
4a to 4c: first to third voltage generating circuits
5a to 5c: first to third pulse generation circuits
6a to 6c: first to third pulse synthesis circuits
7a to 7c: First to third transistors
8: Capacitor
9: Discharge circuit
100: electric stimulus signal generating device

Claims (5)

Power supply,
A step-up circuit for stepping up the voltage of the power supply,
A capacitor that is charged by the electric power supplied through the booster circuit,
A controller,
A plurality of voltage generation circuits each outputting a first signal relating to the magnitude of a voltage value based on a signal output from the controller,
A pulse generation circuit for outputting a second signal for converting a first signal output from each of the voltage generation circuits into a pulse signal based on a signal output from the controller;
Each of which is provided corresponding to each of the voltage generation circuits and which is based on a second signal outputted from the pulse generation circuit and which converts the first signal outputted from the voltage generation circuit into a pulse signal, A pulse synthesizing circuit,
Each having a plurality of transformers provided corresponding to the respective pulse synthesizing circuits, for amplifying the signals output from the pulse synthesizing circuit and outputting them as electrical stimulation signals,
And said capacitor supplies operating power to said plurality of pulse combining circuits. The method according to claim 1,
And a discharge circuit for discharging the electric charge stored in the capacitor based on a signal output from the controller. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein said capacitor is provided in a connection circuit connecting said booster circuit and said plurality of pulse synthesis circuits. 4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Characterized in that the controller is capable of outputting different signals to the respective voltage generating circuits and each of the voltage generating circuits is capable of outputting a first signal relating to the magnitude of the voltage value according to the signal outputted from the controller Generating device. An electric stimulation signal generating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
And a plurality of electrode bodies provided corresponding to the respective transformers and disposed at different magnetic pole portions of the human body to give electrical stimulation.

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