KR20170067161A - A Device for Measuring Obesity Personally and A Method for the Same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a personal obesity measuring apparatus and a method of measuring obesity by the same, and more particularly, to a personal obesity measuring apparatus for measuring obesity by verifying image data of a human body-specific region measured by an ultrasonic probe in a personal electronic apparatus, ≪ / RTI > The personal obesity measuring apparatus includes an ultrasound probe 10 capable of generating ultrasound image data for a predetermined region of a human body; And an obesity data generation module (OM) installed in a portable electronic device capable of communicating with the ultrasonic probe (10) and capable of measuring the degree of obesity of the predetermined region by processing the ultrasonic image data, wherein the obesity data generation module OM generates obesity data from the ultrasound image data transmitted from the ultrasound probe 10 by time band.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a personal obesity measuring apparatus and a method for measuring obesity by the same,

The present invention relates to a personal obesity measuring apparatus and a method of measuring obesity by the same, and more particularly, to a personal obesity measuring apparatus for measuring obesity by verifying image data of a human body-specific region measured by an ultrasonic probe in a personal electronic apparatus, ≪ / RTI >

Obesity, which is an excess of body fat, occurs when the amount of calories consumed by the food is greater than the calories consumed by the human body. Obesity can be determined from body mass index (BMI) calculated from height and weight, but can be measured accurately by body fat mass. Also, a method of measuring the waist circumference may be applied to measure obesity of the human body-specific region such as the abdomen. Various methods of measuring obesity are known in the art.

Patent Registration No. 10-0943295 can be worn as a portable terminal in the form of a portable terminal. When the user's exercise amount is inputted in real time while measuring the body fat and the body fat amount is calculated and information on the food consumed is inputted, And an obesity management function that allows a user to maintain a normal body fat percentage in real time by guiding the information along with the information when the abnormal body fat percentage or the abnormal body fat percentage is predicted at the same time, A body fat measurement device and a control method thereof are disclosed.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2014-0032214 discloses a medical diagnostic apparatus that receives basic information of a customer and clinical indicator information of a customer, transmits the information to the outside, and outputs a customer's obesity bio-age report information from the outside, And when the basic information of the head and the clinical indicator information of the customer are provided from the customer terminal, the obesity biological age of the customer is measured using the basic information of the customer and the clinical indicator information of the customer, and the obesity bio- Wherein the clinical indicator information includes at least one of a body weight, an elongation, a body mass index, a muscle amount, a body fat amount, a waist circumference, a hip circumference, and a waist and hip circumference ratio Obesity bio-age measuring system and terminal are disclosed.

Body fat or obesity needs to be managed constantly, and it is advantageous to measure obesity in certain parts of the body as well as the whole body. However, the prior art does not disclose a new method for measuring body fat and a method for enabling continuous body fat management.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art and has the following purpose.

Prior Art 1: Patent Registration No. 10-0943295 (Dongjin Medical Co., Ltd., Announcement of Feb. 23, 2010) Body fat measurement device equipped with obesity management function and control method thereof Prior Art 2: Patent Publication No. 10-2014-0032214 (published by Eiji Biomatics, Mar. 14, 2014) Obesity Biometric age measurement system and terminal

The object of the present invention is to provide a personal obesity measuring apparatus which can easily and continuously measure and manage obesity by transmitting ultrasound data measured by an ultrasonic probe to a portable electronic device and analyzing it by an obesity management application, Method.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an individual obesity measuring apparatus includes: an ultrasonic probe capable of generating ultrasonic image data for a predetermined region of a human body; And an obesity data generation module installed in a portable electronic device capable of communicating with the ultrasonic probe and capable of measuring the degree of obesity of the predetermined region by processing the ultrasonic image data, And generates obesity data from the transmitted ultrasonic image data.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the obesity data generation module has at least a part of a signal processing function for generating image data from ultrasound signal data.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the obesity data generation module is installed in a smart phone, and the ultrasonic probe and the smart phone are connected by near field wireless communication or wired communication.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method for managing personal obesity comprises the steps of determining a measurement site in a human body; Obtaining ultrasound data for the measurement site; Converting and processing the ultrasonic data into an image signal; The image signal is transmitted to a smartphone and an obesity application installed on the smartphone is activated; The data being verified in the obesity application to generate obesity data; Confirming whether obesity is present from the obesity data; And obesity management data is generated and stored.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the diagnosis data is generated according to the result of the checking whether the obesity is obesity.

The obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention enables accurate obesity measurement by a simple method and enables obesity measurement of a specific part of the human body. The obesity meter according to the present invention allows the measurement module to be wirelessly connected to a portable electronic device such as a smart phone, thereby simplifying the manufacture of the measurement probe. The obesity measuring method according to the present invention allows the portable electronic device to process, analyze and manage data transmitted from a measurement probe by installing an obesity management application. In this way, the functions of the smart phone can be utilized for obesity management, so that the management system installation and management cost is simplified.

1 shows an embodiment of an obesity meter according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a probe module applied to an obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a processing structure of ultrasonic image data applied to an obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a method for measuring and managing obesity according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the obesity meter according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the following description, components having the same reference numerals in different drawings have similar functions, so that they will not be described repeatedly unless necessary for an understanding of the invention, and the known components will be briefly described or omitted. However, It should not be understood as being excluded from the embodiment of Fig.

1 shows an embodiment of an obesity meter according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention includes an ultrasound probe 10 capable of generating ultrasound image data for a predetermined region of a human body; And an obesity data generation module (OM) installed in a portable electronic device capable of communicating with the ultrasonic probe (10) and capable of measuring the degree of obesity of the predetermined region by processing the ultrasonic image data, wherein the obesity data generation module OM generates obesity data from the ultrasound image data transmitted from the ultrasound probe 10 by time band.

The obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention generates obesity data from ultrasound image data of a human body-specific region measured from the ultrasound probe 10 to determine whether or not it is obese. The ultrasound probe 10 may be an imaging ultrasound device, for example, a portable device. The ultrasonic probe 10 may include a transducer 111 having an ultrasonic transducer, and may transmit ultrasound to a predetermined portion inside the human body. The ultrasonic wave reflected from the inside of the human body is received and converted into an electric signal and amplified to generate image data. The ultrasonic probe 10 according to the present invention needs to be made compact and can generate an ultrasonic image of a specific part of the human body, for example, the abdomen or the thigh. In particular, it is possible to measure the thickness of the fat layer of the abdomen or thigh, and ultrasound images of the entire abdomen need not be generated. Therefore, the body part where the ultrasound image is to be generated can be set in advance and can be set to an appropriate size capable of measuring the fat layer. Then, the set site is stored and can be confirmed in each ultrasound image generation process.

The ultrasonic probe 10 needs to be made small so that the transducer 111 needs to be made small. An electric signal for generating ultrasonic waves in the transducer 111 is produced in the signal generating unit 12. [ When the reflected wave is received and converted into an electric signal for generation of an ultrasonic image, the electric signal can be made a signal for generation of an ultrasonic image by the signal conditioning unit 13. The signal conditioning unit 13 may comprise, for example, a filter, an amplifier or an envelope detector. The received ultrasound SG can be converted into an electrical signal in the transducer 111 and transmitted to the signal conditioning unit 13. [ The signal conditioning unit 13 converts the transmitted signal into a signal for generating an ultrasonic image and can be transmitted to a portable electronic device such as a smart phone by wire or wirelessly. The ultrasonic probe 10 may include a control unit for transmitting ultrasonic waves into the human body, receiving reflected waves, controlling the operation of the transducer 111, and controlling the operation of the signal generating unit 12 and the signal conditioning unit 13 have. And an ultrasonic image generation signal can be transmitted to the portable electronic device by the control unit.

An obesity data generation module (OM) may be installed in a portable electronic device such as a smart phone.

The obesity data generation module (OM) can be installed in a smart phone in the form of an application, and can be made of software for operating chip-type hardware and hardware. When the obesity data generation module (OM) becomes an application form, it can be downloaded from a predetermined server and installed in the smart phone, and the operation of the application can be controlled by the smart phone.

The electronic device may have a signal processing unit and the ultrasonic data signal transmitted from the ultrasonic probe 10 may be processed by the signal processing unit SP and transmitted to the data generation unit DG of the obesity application. The data generation unit DG can generate an image that can be displayed on the electronic device from the ultrasound data signal, and can calculate the thickness of the fat layer and store it according to the measurement time. Then, comparison data can be generated and provided to the user, and diagnostic data can be generated. The obesity application can search various information related to obesity from the internet site by using the Internet search function of the electronic device. In addition, the ultrasound data signal can be processed using various data processing functions of the electronic device.

As described above, the personal obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention can acquire ultrasound signals in specific parts of the human body from the portable ultrasound probe 10 and transmit them to electronic devices such as a smart phone. The ultrasound data signal transmitted from the smartphone is processed, and the processed ultrasound data signal can be verified and analyzed in an obesity application. And obesity data may be generated and displayed and stored on the screen of the smartphone in the form of images or other appropriate data.

Each module will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a probe module applied to an obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention.

2, the ultrasonic probe includes a control switch 121 for controlling operation, a pulse unit 122 for generating an electric signal for generating an ultrasonic signal in the ultrasonic transducer, and a controller for controlling the size of the electric signal generated in the transducer 111 And a limiting unit 123 for limiting the output of the limiting unit 123. The ultrasonic transducer may comprise such as a piezo ceramic, a bonding layer and a sound-absorbing layer, and the pulse unit 122 may be part of a transducer. The limiting unit 123 may have a function of removing a signal of a predetermined magnitude or more from the electric signal input together with the reception ultrasound. A signal applied to the transducer 111 in the pulse unit 122 is converted into an ultrasonic signal, and the ultrasonic signal is reflected at a site having a different impedance in the human body, May occur. If such an external signal damages the reflected ultrasonic wave reflected from the inside of the human body, the ultrasonic signal for obtaining the image can be damaged. Therefore, the input voltage of a predetermined magnitude or more can be removed by the limiting unit 123. The ultrasonic signal converted into an electric signal by the transducer 111 can be transmitted to the signal conditioning unit 13. [ The signal conditioning unit 13 includes an amplifying unit 131 for amplifying an ultrasonic signal converted into an electric signal, a filter unit 132 such as a band-pass filter for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the signal amplified by the amplifying unit 131, A gain control unit 133 for compensation according to the depth or transmission position of the ultrasonic signal, and an AD converter 134 for converting an analog signal into a digital signal. The gain control unit 133 may include compensation according to the depth at which the ultrasonic signal is transmitted into the human body and compensation according to characteristics of the transmitted portion. Specifically, as the penetration depth increases, the attenuation level of the ultrasonic wave becomes larger and the reflected wave becomes weaker. In the region where the density of the medium is low, the propagation speed becomes small and the reflected wave becomes weak. The gain control unit 133 can compensate the ultrasonic signal according to the penetration depth and characteristics of the reflection region. The compensated ultrasonic signal can be converted into a digital signal by the AD converter 134 and transmitted to the connection unit 25.

The connection unit 25 includes a memory 251 for storing the converted ultrasonic signal, a detection unit 252 for confirming the connection state and transmission data with the electronic device, and a communication unit 253 for transmitting the data to the electronic device in a wired or wireless manner ). The memory 251 may store, for example, the recently obtained converted ultrasound signal and may transmit the most recently obtained converted ultrasound to the electronic device if the electronic unit is detected as being in an active state by the detection unit 252 . The memory 251 may store the converted ultrasonic waves obtained in the recent 2 to 5 recent time zones. The detection unit 252 has a function of detecting the operating state of the electronic device and verifying whether or not the time of transmitted data at the same time and the data to be transmitted have all been transmitted. The communication unit 253 may be a short-range communication such as a Bluetooth communication or a wired communication unit, for example. The converted ultrasound signals can be transmitted to the electronic device such as a smart phone by the connection unit 25 and can be processed into obesity analysis data by the operation of the obesity application installed in the smart phone.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of a processing structure of ultrasonic image data applied to an obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the ultrasonic probe 10 can be made in a detachable structure with respect to the signal conditioning unit 13. For example, the transducer and the signal restricting unit may be made of one module, and the signal conditioning unit 13 and the connecting unit 25 may be made of one module. And two modules can be coupled together for use. The connection module 25 may be connected to an electronic device such as a smart phone through a wireless or wired connection means TC.

The converted ultrasound signal described above can be processed into image data through a signal processing process such as focusing, apodization, decimation, anti-aliasing filtering, and envelope search, Can be made into image data that can be finally displayed by the scan converter. The color and contrast ratio can be adjusted so that it can be displayed on an electronic device and displayed on the screen of the electronic device as an image. The signal processing process may be performed by the function of an electronic device such as a smart phone or may be performed in an obesity application. The scan converter function may also be executed by hardware or software installed on the smart phone or by an obesity application. Alternatively, such a function may be performed in an ultrasonic probe, and the electronic device may receive image data that can be displayed on the screen. The converted ultrasound signal can be made in various ways, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

The obesity application includes a data confirmation unit (31) for confirming the acquisition time and completion of the received ultrasound signal; A data classification unit 32 for classifying the identified data; An obesity data unit 33 for analyzing the classified data to generate obesity data; A comparison data unit 34 for comparing the obesity data unit 33 with normal data or previous obesity data to calculate a comparison value; A data storage unit 35 for storing the generated obesity data and the data comparison value; A data extracting unit (36) for extracting a value necessary for confirming whether a normal state is obtained from obesity data and comparison data; And a verification database 37 for generating and storing verification data for comparison with obesity data generated in the future.

When the converted ultrasound signal is transmitted, the data confirmation unit 31 can confirm the data through the data information transmitted from the detection unit described above. The data verification can be performed by the data verification unit 311 in which the transmission time and the data type of the previous obesity data are stored. The converted ultrasonic signals identified by the data verification unit 311 can be classified by the data classification unit 32 according to the data acquisition time and the measurement site. And the obesity data can be generated from the classified data. The obesity data unit 33 analyzes the converted ultrasound unit to determine, for example, the thickness of the fat layer in the body-specific region, the characteristic of the fat layer, the signal transmission characteristic between the skin layer and the fat layer or the reflectance or reflection form of the ultrasonic signal in the muscle layer Can be detected. Then, obesity data can be generated by a predetermined parameter. The obesity data includes an obesity index, and the obesity index may include a change rate of the fat layer and a state change index with respect to a predetermined reference time.

When the obesity data is generated, the comparison data unit 34 can calculate the comparison value. The comparison value can be obtained from the comparison between the obesity data generated in the previous time zone and the newly generated obesity data. Therefore, the comparison value may or may not be generated and the previous time zone may include at least two time zones. The generated obesity data and the comparison value can be stored in the data storage unit 35 according to the time and the body part. If there is a factor to be continuously analyzed from the comparison value to be subsequently analyzed, it can be extracted by the data extraction unit 36. And stored in the verification database 37. The verification database 37 stores information provided as an external information providing source related to obesity and may store information about factors extracted by the extraction unit 36. [ The factor stored in the verification database 37 can be used in the process of generating obesity data, and the association factor can be analyzed in the process of generating obesity data.

A notification unit 38 may be installed in the obesity application. The final acquisition time of the ultrasonic signal and the acquisition time of the next predetermined ultrasonic signal may be stored in the notification unit 38. [ And to inform the user of the scheduled acquisition time at an appropriate time. In addition, the notification unit 38 may store food related to obesity that the user needs to ingest or should avoid eating. The user can confirm this by activating the notification unit 38 when necessary. A notification unit 38 having various functions can be installed in an obesity application, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a method for measuring and managing obesity according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a method for managing personal obesity by a portable ultrasonic probe and a smart phone includes the steps of: (P41) determining a measurement site in a human body; Obtaining (P42) ultrasound data for the measurement site; (P43) the ultrasound data is converted into an image signal and processed; The image signal is transmitted to a smartphone (P44), and an obesity application installed on the smartphone is activated (P45); (P46) the obesity data is verified in the obesity application to generate obesity data; (P461) whether obesity is confirmed from the obesity data; And obesity management data is generated and stored (P463). In addition, the personal obesity management method may further include a step (P462) in which diagnostic data is generated according to the result of the obesity check.

The measurement site may be, for example, a part such as the thigh, abdomen, waist or hip and may be predetermined (P41). At least one measurement site can be determined, and a confirmation ultrasound signal for confirmation of the measurement site can be stored in advance. For example, an ultrasonic probe may store a feature of a confirmation site in advance, and an alarm signal may be generated when the ultrasonic probe contacts another site. The ultrasound data for the measurement site can be obtained at time intervals (P42), and the obtained ultrasound data can be converted into an electric signal or an image signal that can be processed by the smart phone (P43). The converted signal may be transmitted to the smart phone through wired or wireless communication (P44). Conversion of the ultrasound data may be accomplished by an obesity application installed in an ultrasound probe, a smart phone or a smart phone, as described above.

When the ultrasound data is transmitted to the smartphone (P44), the obesity application installed on the smartphone may be activated (P45). The data is verified according to the operation of the obesity application, and obesity data can be generated according to a predetermined obesity factor (P46). Then, it can be determined whether or not it is normal or changed according to the generated obesity data (P461). If not (NO), diagnostic data may be generated (P462). Diagnostic data may include measures according to levels of obesity factor out of normal state. The diagnostic data may be delivered to an obesity application and an obesity application may be activated (P45) to retrieve food or lifestyle habits that affect obesity factors. And information related to food or lifestyle can be provided to the user and stored, for example, in the notification unit described above. If YES, the obesity management data may be generated and stored (P463), and the ultrasonic data may be acquired again after the elapse of the time (P42).

As described above, the method for managing individual obesity according to the present invention enables the obesity cause to be searched through the obesity application installed in the smart phone, and information corresponding thereto can be provided to the user. The information may be stored in an obesity application or in a server connected by an obesity application.

The personal obesity management method according to the present invention can be operated in various ways, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the obesity meter according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the ultrasonic probe 10 can be constructed as a portable independent module. Can be communicatively connected to the smartphone (M) by the connection unit (46). The ultrasonic probe 10 includes a housing 41; A transducer (42) for generating ultrasonic waves and transmitting the ultrasonic waves to the inside of the human body to convert the received ultrasonic waves into electric signals; An ultrasonic wave induction unit 421 for transmitting ultrasonic waves to the inside of the human body while connecting the transducer 42 to the control unit 44; And a position determination unit 43 for storing characteristics of a human body part to be measured. The ultrasonic probe 10 may be connected to the smartphone M via a connection unit 46 coupled to the connector 46 so as to be capable of data communication.

The position determination unit 43 may have data on the characteristics of the predetermined region, and for example, the time required for reception of the reflected wave by transmitting an ultrasonic pulse of a certain frequency band may be stored. In addition, the human body characteristics for the measurement site can be stored. The position determination unit 43 enables the ultrasonic probe 10 to acquire ultrasonic data for a predetermined site.

The connection unit 46 includes a connection jack 461 coupled to the connector 45 to enable data transmission, a communication port 462 and a connection jack 461 capable of wired or wireless communication with the smartphone M, And a transmission cable 463 connecting the port 462. The communication port 462 may be, for example, a USB port and may include a Bluetooth chip for wireless communication. It can also have memory functionality as described above.

An obesity data generation module OM may be installed in the smartphone M, for example, an obesity application may be installed. The smartphone M may be connected to the portable ultrasonic probe 10 by a connection unit 46 in a wired or wireless manner. The obesity data generation module OM can be operated by the smartphone M. The operation of the ultrasonic probe 10 can be controlled by the smartphone 10 in a state where the smartphone M is connected to the ultrasonic probe 10 by the connection unit 46 according to the design structure.

The ultrasonic probe 10 and the smartphone M can be connected to each other in various structures, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

The obesity measuring apparatus according to the present invention enables accurate obesity measurement by a simple method and enables obesity measurement of a specific part of the human body. The obesity meter according to the present invention allows the measurement module to be wirelessly connected to a portable electronic device such as a smart phone, thereby simplifying the manufacture of the measurement probe. The obesity measuring method according to the present invention allows the portable electronic device to process, analyze and manage data transmitted from a measurement probe by installing an obesity management application. In this way, the functions of the smart phone can be utilized for obesity management, so that the management system installation and management cost is simplified.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . The invention is not limited by these variations and modifications, but is limited only by the claims appended hereto.

10: ultrasonic probe 12: signal generating unit
13: Signal conditioning unit 25: Connection unit
31: Data checking unit 32: Data classification unit
33: obesity data unit 34: comparison data unit
35: Data storage unit 36: Data extraction unit
37: verification database 38: notification unit
41: housing 42: transducer
43: Positioning unit 44: Control unit
45: connector 46: connection unit
111: Transducer 121: Adjustment switch
122: Pulse unit 123: Limiting unit
131: amplification unit 132: filter unit
133: gain control unit 134: AD converter
251: memory 252: detection unit
253: communication unit 311: data verification unit
421: Ultrasonic wave guiding unit 461: Connection jack
462: communication port 463: transmission cable
DG: data generation unit M: smart phone
OM: Obesity data generation module SG: Received ultrasound
SP: Signal processing unit TC: Connection means

Claims (2)

An ultrasonic probe (10) including a position determination unit (43) having data on characteristics of a predetermined part of a human body and capable of generating ultrasonic image data for the predetermined part; And
And an obesity data generation module (OM) installed in a portable electronic device capable of communicating with the ultrasonic probe (10) and capable of measuring the degree of obesity of the predetermined region by processing the ultrasonic image data,
The obesity data generation module OM generates obesity data from the ultrasound image data transmitted from the ultrasound probe 10 for each time band, and the obesity data generation module OM generates a signal for generating image data from the ultrasound signal data And has at least a part of a processing function. A method for managing personal obesity by a portable ultrasonic probe and a smart phone,
Determining the measurement site based on a characteristic of a measurement site in the human body;
Obtaining ultrasound data for the measurement site;
Converting and processing the ultrasonic data into an image signal;
The image signal is transmitted to a smartphone and an obesity application installed on the smartphone is activated;
The data being verified in the obesity application to generate obesity data;
Confirming whether obesity is present from the obesity data; And
Wherein the obesity management data is generated and stored,
And diagnosis data is generated according to confirmation of the obesity.

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