KR20140096760A

KR20140096760A - Easing nature and physiological signal monitoring device

Info

Publication number: KR20140096760A
Application number: KR1020130009753A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 공정식; 이동광; 이응혁; 김희섭
Original assignee: 인덕대학교 산학협력단
Priority date: 2013-01-29
Filing date: 2013-01-29
Publication date: 2014-08-06

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for monitoring excreta and biosignals. According to the present invention, the state of excreta is accurately judged even when a sensor part is not completely dried to inform a protector in a remote place; biosignals like temperature, heat rate, oxygen saturation, etc. in addition to excreta can be monitored at all times; and a proper follow-up action is possible by immediate warning when medical conditions worsen.

Description

[0001] DESCRIPTION [0002] Easing nature and physiological signal monitoring device [

More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for monitoring a toilet and a living body signal, and more particularly, to provide a sensor for a child or a patient so that measures can be taken by allowing the guardian of the remote place to immediately notify the guardian of the remote place when the toilet is confirmed or the bio- And a living body and a living body signal monitoring apparatus.

In the case of infants or patients with inadequate mobility or elderly persons (hereinafter referred to as "subjects"), diapers are often worn and used to be disposed of. However, when the subject is unable to express his / her wishes in a short period of time, the subject can not immediately check his / her use of the toilet. Therefore, it is often left untreated for a long time.

In order to solve this problem, a device has been developed for attaching a sensor to a diaper and informing the user of the condition of the toilet by sound or light when the toilet is used. However, since the conventional toilet alarm device is manufactured in an integrated form of the sensor and the main body, it is difficult to monitor the person who views the toilet several times a day. That is, there is a problem that the sensor and the main body can not be used during the drying time.

In addition, infants or patients are often in need of immediate treatment due to deterioration in health. As the caregiver can not always stay with the subject, the condition may continue to deteriorate and miss treatment.

On the other hand, Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2011-0039625 is known as a conventional technique for indicating whether or not a toilet is used.

The present invention has been conceived to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a sensor capable of detachably attaching the sensor to the main body, The present invention also provides a monitoring device for a living body and a living body which can improve the method of monitoring a living body using a living body,

The present invention also provides an indicator for verifying the health condition such as body temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation as well as the presence or absence of urine, so as to be able to immediately take measures when the condition of the infant or the patient becomes worse There is another purpose.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for monitoring a subject and a living body signal, comprising: a sensor unit for acquiring temperature and humidity information, A wearable alarm unit for wirelessly outputting temperature information acquired by the sensor unit, checking whether the temperature information is available through the humidity information, and outputting a useable signal; And a remote alarm unit for receiving and outputting the temperature information remotely from the wearable alarm unit and for receiving the used generation signal to generate an alarm, wherein the wearable alarm unit is configured to receive the humidity information Can be verified through the differential value of.

The wearable alarm unit may further include a pulse oximeter for acquiring pulsation and oxygen saturation information, which is worn on the subject, wherein the wearable alarm unit confirms whether or not the biological signal is normal through pulse and oxygen saturation information acquired by the pulse oximeter A warning signal can be output in case of abnormality.

The sensor unit is detachable from the wearable alarm unit through a connector.

The present invention has the following effects.

First, the sensor unit and the wearable alarm unit are worn on the diaper of the subject who is uncomfortable and unable to communicate, such as infants, patients, elderly people, etc. When the toilet is opened, it is notified by sound or light, As soon as notice is given, follow-up measures such as changing diapers are made immediately so that the subject can always maintain a pleasant condition.

In particular, since the sensor unit and the wearable alarm unit are not integrated, the sensor unit can be replaced by a detachable type, so that the sensor unit can be used while cleaning and drying the sensor unit after use, The problem is improved.

Further, when a certain level of humidity is generated, the state of use is judged not by the method of judging the state of use, but by the amount of humidity change, that is, by the differential value of humidity. For example, if the sensor unit is already contaminated to a certain level, it can not be determined whether or not the toilet has occurred since the humidity is already measured to be high. However, since the present invention utilizes not only the humidity information itself but also the differentiated information, it is judged that the toilet is judged to be in the useable state when the actual useable portion is generated even if the sensor portion is in a contaminated state and the amount of change in humidity is high.

In addition, information on body temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation is transmitted to a remote placeholder in real time in addition to the use of the toilet. Immediate treatment can be possible by giving a warning when the health signal is out of a predetermined range.

In addition, information on the hours of use, body temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation information is stored in the remote alarm unit of the caregiver and is linked with the PC, so that the systematic health state management of the subject is possible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a wearing state of a toilet and a living body signal monitoring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a configuration of the apparatus for monitoring a subject and a living body shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a graph for explaining a process of determining whether the control unit of the apparatus for monitoring a subject and a living body signal shown in FIG. 1 is usable.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, some configurations which are not related to the gist of the present invention may be omitted or compressed, but the configurations omitted are not necessarily those not necessary in the present invention, and they may be combined by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. .

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a wearing state and a living body signal monitoring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention and a wearing state of the living body and living body signal monitoring apparatus. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining each configuration of the living body and living body signal monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. Fig.

1, the apparatus for monitoring a living body and a living body signal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sensor unit 10, a pulse oximeter 20, a wearable alarm unit 30, and a remote alarm unit (not shown) 40).

The sensor unit 10 is installed inside the diaper 1 to be worn by an infant, elderly person, patient (hereinafter, referred to as 'subject') who is inconvenient in behavior and can not communicate, To the alarm unit (30). A detailed description of the sensor unit 10 will be described later.

Pulse oximeter (pulse oximeter) 20 is a device for measuring pulse and oxygen saturation of a subject in a non-invasive manner. It is normally used by putting it on fingers, toes and earlobe, but in Figure 1 (b) FIG.

The percentage of hemoglobin that is saturated with oxygen in total hemoglobin is called oxygen saturation. SaO2, SvO2, SpO2, SpaO2, etc. are indicated according to the measurement method and site. The oxygen saturation measured by the pulse oximeter 20 is referred to as SpO2.

The pulse oximetry (20) utilizes the fact that blood absorbs light of a specific wavelength, unlike when oxygen is lacking, when oxygen is contained. Generally, light of different wavelengths of 660 nm and 940 nm is emitted from one side of skin And the light transmitted through the opposite side is received to measure oxygen saturation. The pulsation and oxygen saturation information measured by the pulse oximeter 20 are transmitted to the wearable alarm unit 30.

The wearable alarm unit 30 receives the temperature, humidity, pulse, and oxygen saturation information from the sensor unit 10 and the pulse oximeter 20, converts the received temperature, humidity, pulse, and oxygen saturation information into a wireless signal and transmits the wireless signal to the remote alarm unit 40, Determines the presence or absence of the use of the living body and whether the bio-signal is normal or not, and outputs a use-side generation signal or transmits a warning signal to the remote alarm unit 40 side.

The remote alarm unit 40 outputs the temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation information transmitted from the wearable alarm unit 30 through the display 42. The wearable alarm unit 30 also detects the presence / When the result of judging the state is transmitted, it is outputted as an alarm so that the guardian can recognize immediately.

Each of the configurations of the used and bio-signal monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

The sensor unit 10 provided on the inner surface of the diaper 1 is realized by the sensor pad 11, the temperature sensor 12, the dew point sensor 13, the data cable 14 and the connector 15.

A temperature sensor 12 for measuring temperature (body temperature) and a dew-point sensor 13 for measuring humidity are provided on one surface of the sensor pad 11 and a temperature sensor 12 and a dew-point sensor 13 Is installed. The temperature information and the humidity information measured by the temperature sensor 12 and the dew point sensor 13 are transmitted to the wearable alarm unit 30 side via the data cable 14. [ A connector 15 is provided at the end of the data cable 14 so as to be coupled to the sensor connection part 31 of the wearable alarm part 30. [ Therefore, the sensor unit 10 is selectively removable from the wearable alarm unit 30.

A plurality of sensor units 10 may be provided at a plurality of positions inside the diaper 1. A plurality of sensor units 10 may be provided so that the sensors 12, It is possible to more precisely determine whether or not the toilet is used. Of course, when there are a plurality of sensor units 10, a plurality of sensor connection units 31 for connecting the connectors 15 of each sensor unit 10 are implemented in the wearable alarm unit 30. [

The pulse oximeter 20 measuring the subject's pulse and oxygen saturation similarly transmits the measured information to the wearable alarm unit 30 side via the data cable and the connector.

The wearable alarm unit 30 for collecting the information measured by the sensor unit 10 and the pulse oximeter 20 includes a sensor connection unit 31, a control unit 32, an alarm unit 33, and a data transmission unit 34 ).

The sensor connection unit 31 is a connection unit to which the connector 15 of the sensor unit 10 and the connector of the pulse oximeter 20 are connected as described above and detects the temperature, The oxygen saturation information is transmitted to the controller 32.

The control unit 32 transmits the input temperature, humidity, pulse and oxygen saturation information (biological signal) to the data transfer unit 34. The data transfer unit 34 transfers the biological signal transferred from the control unit 32 to the radio signal And transmits it to the remote alarm unit 40 side.

The control unit 32 judges whether the toilet is used or not through the input humidity information. When it is determined that the toilet has been used, the controller 32 outputs a toilet use signal, and an alarm is sounded in the alarm unit 33, 40 so as to transmit the use-occurrence signal.

Here, the control unit 32 uses a change amount of humidity, that is, a differential value, when it judges whether the humidity is used or not by using the humidity information. This will be described with reference to FIG.

3 (a) is a graph showing the humidity information (left side) and the differential value (right side) according to the time received from the sensor unit 10 when using the normal sensor unit 10, (Left side) and its differential value (right side) according to the time received from the sensor unit 10 when the sensor unit 10 in a contaminated state is used.

Referring first to the graph on the left side of FIG. 3 (a) and the graph on the left side of FIG. 3 (b), it can be intuitively confirmed that the use of the toilet starts at the time of 1.1 and the use of the toilet ends at the time of 1.8. However, if the control unit 32 determines whether the humidity value itself is used when judging whether or not it is used, another result is obtained.

For example, if the humidity is 400 or more, the state of the toilet is judged to be in the useable state. In FIG. 3 (a), the state before the time 1.3 is not in the useable state. have.

However, if the sensor unit 10 is not properly cleaned or is in a less dried state, as shown in FIG. 3 (b) (32) is in a state of being used.

To this end, the control unit 32 determines whether or not the user uses the differential value of the input humidity information. That is, when the differential value, which is the variation amount of the humidity value, is not more than the humidity value itself but is equal to or larger than a predetermined value, it is judged to be the useable state. For example, if the differential value is greater than or equal to 70, it is determined that the sensor is in the useable state. As shown in the right graph of FIG. 3A and the right graph of FIG. 3B, In the state, there is no mistake that the state of the toilet is judged to be the state of the toilet before the toilet starts, and it is possible to accurately judge the state of the toilet only when the actual use occurs.

If the control unit 32 judges the use of the toilet bowl through the humidity information and confirms that the toilet bowl has been used, the controller 32 operates the alarm unit 33 to notify the outside of the toilet bowl. The alarm means 33 mounted on the wearable alarm unit 30 can be a speaker (not shown) or a light emitting unit (not shown), and can inform the user of the use of the alarm by voice or light. Of course, because sudden voice generation may be surprised to the subject such as infants, the alarm can be made only by the light without the speaker.

In addition, the control unit 32 sends a toilet use signal to the data transfer unit 34 when the toilet is used, and the data transfer unit 34 processes the toilet use occurrence signal into a radio signal and transmits the radio signal to the remote alarm unit 40.

On the other hand, the controller 32 determines whether the biological signal is in a normal state through the input temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation information, and outputs an alarm signal when the body temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation are abnormal, And causes the data transfer unit 34 to transmit an alarm signal to the remote alarm unit 40. [

That is, when the body temperature measured by the temperature sensor 12 of the sensor unit 10, the pulse measured by the pulse oximeter 20 and the oxygen saturation exceed the predetermined range, a warning signal is output, Or transmits the alarm signal to the data transmitting unit 34 so that the warning signal is transmitted to the remote alarm unit 40 side.

The remote alarm unit 40 includes a data receiving unit 41, a display 42, an alarm output unit 43, and a memory 44.

The data receiving unit 41 is provided for receiving temperature information, humidity information, pulse information, and oxygen saturation information from the wearable alarm unit 30.

The temperature, humidity, pulse and oxygen saturation information (biometric signal) received by the data receiving unit 41 are output through the display 42. The guardian can monitor the subject's living condition by checking the display 42 at any time .

The biometric signal received by the data receiving unit 41 is stored in the memory 44. The biometric signal stored in the memory 44 can be verified by loading the biometric signal through a separate key (not shown) (Not shown) to the PC so that the health status of the subject can be systematically managed.

Further, the data receiving unit 41 receives a toilet-use signal indicating that a use-made alarm has occurred from the wearable alarm unit 30 or an alarm signal indicating that the body temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation are out of the normal state, The alarm output unit 43 processes the alarm immediately.

The alarm output unit 43 may be a speaker (not shown), a light emitting unit (not shown), or a vibrating element (not shown) to generate sound, light or vibration, You will immediately be able to recognize and take action.

Likewise, the use occurrence signal and the warning signal are also stored in the memory 44 so that they can be used for future health condition check.

Although it is not shown in the drawings, it is needless to say that the wearable alarm unit 30 and the remote alarm unit 40 are equipped with power supply means and low power control means for each function operation.

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the sensor unit 10 and the wearable alarm unit 30 are worn on the diaper 1 of the subject such as infants, patients, elderly people and the like, And notifies the guardian of a remote place that is not by the subject immediately, the follow-up action such as the diaper 1 exchange is immediately made and the subject can always maintain a comfortable state.

Particularly, since the sensor unit 10 and the wearable alarm unit 30 are not integrated with each other and the sensor unit 10 can be removably replaced, it is possible to use the device while cleaning and drying the sensor unit 10 after the use There is an advantage that monitoring can always be performed through the mounting of the new sensor unit 10. [

Further, when a certain level of humidity is generated, the state of use is judged not by the method of judging the state of use, but by the amount of humidity change, that is, by the differential value of humidity. For example, if the sensor unit 10 has already been contaminated to a certain level, it can not be determined whether the use of the toilet has occurred since the humidity is already measured to be high. However, since the present invention utilizes not only the humidity information itself but also the differentiated information thereof, even if the sensor unit 10 is in a contaminated state, will be. In particular, even if the sensor unit 10 without the extra sensor unit 10 is not cleaned and dried, the alarm can be sounded only when the actual use has occurred without any mistake.

In addition, the user can manage the health status of the subject by storing the usage time, body temperature, pulse, and oxygen saturation information in the remote alarm unit 40 possessed by the protector and interlocking with the PC.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible within the spirit and scope of the invention, And additions should be considered as falling within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

1: diaper
10: Sensor unit
11: Sensor pad
12: Temperature sensor
13: Dew point sensor
14: Data cable
15: Connector
20: Pulse Oximeter
30: Wearable alarm unit
31: Sensor connection
32:
33: Alarm means
34; The data transfer unit
40: remote alarm unit
41: Data receiving unit
42: Display
43: Alarm output section
44: Memory

Claims

A sensor unit for acquiring temperature and humidity information that is worn by a subject;
A wearable alarm unit for wirelessly outputting temperature information acquired by the sensor unit, checking whether the temperature information is available through the humidity information, and outputting a useable signal; And
And a remote alarm unit for receiving and outputting the temperature information remotely from the wearable alarm unit and for receiving the use-made alarm signal to generate an alarm,
Wherein the wearable alarm unit confirms whether the wearable and / or vital sign is usable through a differential value of humidity information acquired by the sensor unit.

The method according to claim 1,
And a pulse oximeter for acquiring pulse and oxygen saturation information, which is worn by the subject,
Wherein the wearable alarm unit checks the normal state of the living body signal through the pulse and oxygen saturation information acquired by the pulse oximeter and outputs a warning signal when the living body signal is abnormal.

The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the sensor unit is detachable from the wearable alarm unit through a connector.