KR20220151366A - Sitting toilet type uroflowmeter apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sitting toilet type uroflowmeter. The sitting toilet type uroflowmeter according to the present invention comprises: a toilet main body (100) equipped with a water collecting tank; a rotatable seat part (110) located on an upper side of the toilet main body (100); and a uroflow sensor (120) located on a bottom surface of the water collecting tank to measure a flow rate over time. Therefore, the present invention is capable of minimizing a static noise.

Description

Toilet seat type flow measuring device {SITTING TOILET TYPE UROFLOWMETER APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a toilet seat-type flow measuring device, and more particularly, to a toilet seat equipped with a sensor for measuring a urinary flow.

Urination is a physiological activity that discharges biological metabolic by-products out of the body in liquid form. Abnormal symptoms of urination function are observed in patients with various urination diseases such as prostatic hyperplasia, neurogenic bladder, overactive bladder, urinary incontinence, cystitis, urethral stricture, and acquired urination disorder. Symptoms of abnormal urinary function include weak urine stream (slow stream), interruption of stream (interruption), need for moxibustion (hesitancy), and dripping at the end of urine stream (terminal drip). , terminal dribbling), having to strain the stomach to urinate (straining), urinating frequently (increased daytime frequency), waking up several times during the night to urinate (nocturia), urinating Inability to tolerate urine (urgency) and leakage of urine (urinary incontinence). For the diagnosis of abnormal voiding function, medical examination, physical examination, residual urine volume test, imaging test, endoscopy test, urodynamic test, and uroflow test are performed.

A urodynamic study is a collective name for tests that consist of several detailed items, such as uroflowmetry, filling period cystometry, urinary pressure uroflowmetry, urethral pressure test, and sphincter electromyography. In patients with dysuria and urinary incontinence, subtests are optionally performed. Urodynamic testing provides the most important information in determining the diagnosis and treatment plan for patients with dysuria and urinary incontinence. In particular, since it is possible to objectively understand the physiological function of the lower urinary tract, which cannot be known through medical examination, physical examination, radiological examination, endoscopy, etc., it is an essential test for patients with various abnormal urination functions.

However, this urodynamic test has a complicated test process and test technique, and a large number of test modules are installed in the test equipment that performs this test and they are connected to each other, so the device is bulky and heavy. In addition, since the urodynamics test belongs to a precision test, the test takes a long time and requires a procedure of inserting a urinary catheter through the patient's urethra to the bladder, so there is a risk of infection. Therefore, since urodynamics cannot be performed in all patients with abnormal voiding function, it is selectively performed for patients who need it.

A uroflow test is the most non-invasive detailed test among urodynamic tests. The patient urinates into a funnel-shaped urinalysis collecting device. The urinary flow discharged by the patient is calculated by weight according to several principles and continuously entered into a personal computer, and is finally expressed in a graph form in units of unit volume/time. That is, the urinary flow test can be represented by objectively schematizing the patient's subjective urination pattern.

In addition, urinalysis is the earliest and most widely used screening test for diagnosis of patients with dysuria because it can be performed quickly, is noninvasive, and is cost-effective. In other words, if abnormalities are found in the urinary flow test, an additional detailed test is required. In addition, it is widely used to determine the treatment effect before and after drug or surgical treatment in patients with dysuria. After uroflowmetry, the result is interpreted along with the amount of residual urine measured by ultrasound to determine the efficiency of urination.

The standard urinary flow test method measures the weight of urine with a load cell during the voiding process, accumulates the urinary flow signal, and then measures the maximum flow rate, average flow rate, voiding time, Clinically important diagnostic parameters such as voided volume are calculated. It is also important to check the pattern of the voiding curve pattern, and the presence of symptoms such as thin urine, interrupted urine, terminal dripping, delayed urine, etc. can be confirmed as objective findings by matching with the urinary flow test.

As the principle of measuring the flow, various methods such as gravimetric and rotating disk are used, but this gravimetric method is the most widely used. A gravimetric flow inspection device is configured in such a way that a load cell is placed on the floor and a collection container made of plastic is placed thereon. The subject urinates into the funnel-shaped collection container from the top of the collection container and measures the weight change of the urine. However, a problem in the measurement is caused by the addition of shock and vibration noise applied to the container.

The patient's urination pattern varies depending on various factors such as the amount of urination, the patient's tension before the test, and the general physical condition, so the use of test results is often limited. Therefore, usually, the best urination pattern is selected through two or more tests and used for diagnosis. In some cases, in order to obtain reliable representative test results, even one patient may need two or more uroflow tests.

Since the urine test device is placed on the floor, there are several important operational problems in reality. First, after the patient has completed the urinalysis, the discharged urine must be directly cleaned by the medical personnel each time. That is, since the urine test is a screening test, many patients are tested every day, and a sanitary problem arises in that it must be emptied quickly and cleanly before the next patient is tested. In other words, this requires the consumption of medical personnel. Second, most of the disposable transparent plastic cups are used as urine collection containers, and urinary flow testing is used as a screening test in many patients, which causes environmental problems. Third, there is a problem that patients unintentionally kick the device by their feet in order to approach the uroflowmetry device installed on the floor. In particular, in the case of patients with weak urinary flow, they come close to the test equipment in order not to spill urine outside the container. A weight sensor is attached to the urine test device, so when a patient touches it, an artifact occurs, resulting in an error in the test result. Fourth, since patients are instructed to urinate in front of an artificial device, it is difficult to accurately reflect the urination patterns of patients under natural conditions. Urinary behavior is a basic physiological activity of individuals with strong privacy, so it is greatly influenced psychologically. Due to the specificity of this test, the patient cannot but feel psychological contraction and tension in the artificial environment of the hospital, such as the urinary flow test space.

Among the diagnostic procedures for patients with urinary dysfunction, the utilization of urinalysis is very high. However, it is necessary to solve the above-mentioned various practical problems according to the urine flow test. It requires a device in the shape closest to the existing toilet type in the actual toilet, and even if it touches the patient's foot, there is no error in the recording signal. Device design is practically necessary.

Korean Intellectual Property Office Publication No. 10-2021-0025297

An object of the present invention to solve the above problems is to provide a sitting toilet type uroflowmeter that is not affected by a patient's movement during the examination and can be easily cleaned after the examination.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toilet seat type uroflowmetry device capable of minimizing noise due to shock and shaking applied to a measuring container during urination.

A toilet seat type flow measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object includes a toilet body 100 having a water collecting tank; a rotatable seat 110 located on the upper side of the toilet body 100; and a flow sensor 120 located on the bottom surface of the water collecting tank to measure the flow rate over time.

Preferably, the toilet seat type flow measurement device further includes a drain pipe 130 through which the water stored in the sump is drained, and one end of the drain pipe 130 communicates with one lower end of the sump and the other end communicates with a sewage pipe, An outlet valve 140 may be formed at one end of the drain pipe 130 to open and close a passage between the drain pipe 130 and the water collecting tank.

Preferably, the seat portion 110 is provided with a pressure sensor 110s for detecting the pressure applied to the seat portion 110, and the outlet valve 140 can be closed when the pressure sensor 110s detects the pressure. have.

Preferably, the flow sensor 120 is composed of a plurality of load cells 121, and the plurality of load cells 121 are located on the vertices of a regular polygon to form a structure symmetrical to each other, calculated by the plurality of load cells 121. A plurality of signals may be summed to measure the flow rate over time.

Preferably, an elastic body 122 and a housing 123 supporting the elastic body 122 may be provided above the plurality of load cells 121 .

The present invention can provide a toilet seat type uroflowmetry device that is not affected by a patient's movement during the examination and can be easily cleaned after the examination.

The present invention can provide a toilet seat type uroflowmetry device capable of minimizing noise due to impact and shaking applied to the measuring container during urination.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a toilet seat type flow measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a view showing the configuration of a toilet seat type flow measurement device having a plurality of load cells according to another embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a flow sensor having an elastic body according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a control unit of a toilet seat type flow measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail through exemplary drawings. In adding reference numerals to components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same components have the same numerals as much as possible, even if they are displayed on different drawings.

And, in describing the embodiments of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known configuration or function hinders understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

Also, terms such as first, second, A, B, (a), and (b) may be used to describe components of an embodiment of the present invention. These terms are only used to distinguish the component from other components, and the nature, order, or order of the corresponding component is not limited by the term.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 , the configuration and operation of the toilet seat type flow measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a toilet seat type flow measurement device (hereinafter, referred to as “the present flow measurement device”) according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the present flow measurement device is provided with a toilet body 100 having a water collecting tank, a rotatable seat 110 positioned above the toilet body 100, and/or positioned on the bottom surface of the water collecting tank to time It may include a flow sensor 120 for measuring the flow rate according to.

The flow sensor 120 measures the weight of the fluid initially stored in the water collection tank and then measures the weight of the fluid increased by urination of the subject over time. The flow sensor 120 measures the weight of the fluid over time, and the controller 200 calculates the volume (volume) of the fluid over time based on the weight signal measured by the flow sensor 120 .

Specifically, when urine flows into the collection tank due to urination of the subject, the weight of the fluid stored in the collection tank increases according to the volume of the urine flowing in. At this time, the weight (W) of the fluid is the product of the mass (m) of the fluid and the acceleration of gravity (g), and the mass of the fluid can be obtained by multiplying the volume (V) and the density (p) of the fluid (Equation (1) ). Furthermore, the volume change of the fluid introduced over time is referred to as the flow rate (F), and the volume change of the urine introduced when the subject urinates becomes the urinary velocity (flow rate per hour).

Therefore, the urinary velocity is defined as the time derivative of the urinary volume as in Equation (2) and can be obtained by mathematically differentiating V in Equation (1). This indicates that the urine velocity signal can be calculated by continuously measuring the weight of urine filled in the water collection tank. However, in this specification, it is assumed that the mass and density of water and urine are the same.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the flow measurement device further includes a drain pipe 130 through which water stored in the water collecting tank is drained and/or an outlet valve 140 that opens and closes a passage between the drain pipe 130 and the water collecting tank. can do.

One end of the drain pipe 130 communicates with one lower end of the water collecting tank and the other end communicates with a sewage pipe (not shown), and at one end of the drain pipe 130 there is an outflow valve 140 for opening and closing the passage between the drain pipe 130 and the water collecting tank. is formed

The drain pipe 130 is formed in an inverted U-shape by a trap method, whereby a certain amount of fluid stored in the water collection tank is maintained. That is, when the subject urinates in the collecting tank, the fluid increased in the collecting tank is drained to the sewage pipe through the drain pipe 130 by a siphon principle, so that the amount of fluid stored in the collecting tank is always kept constant.

Because of this siphon principle, there is a problem in that the change in urine volume due to the subject's urination cannot be measured in the existing toilet seat.

According to the present invention, the outlet valve 140 is closed before the subject urinates, and the fluid stored in the water collection tank does not flow to the drain pipe 130 and continues to be stored in the water collection tank. Thus, the flow rate over time of the fluid increased by the subject's urination may be measured by the urinary flow sensor 120 . Then, when the subject's urination is finished, the outlet valve 140 is opened, and the fluid stored in the water collection tank is drained to the sewage pipe through the drain pipe 130. At this time, as the water stored in the water tank 150 flows into the water collection tank through the water supply pipe 160, it is drained to the sewage pipe through the drain pipe 130 together with the fluid previously stored at a higher pressure, and this drainage process is a conventional general draining process. It is similar to the action of a toilet bowl.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a pressure sensor 110s for detecting pressure applied to the seat portion 110 is provided in the seat portion 110 provided in the flow measurement device, and the outlet valve 140 is provided with a pressure It closes when the sensor 110s detects pressure.

That is, when pressure is detected by the pressure sensor 110s, it may be recognized that the subject urinates sooner or later, and when an electrical signal is received from the pressure sensor 110s, the control unit 200 closes the outlet valve 140 and flows the urine. The operation of the sensor 120 is started.

In addition, when a male subject urinates after turning the seat part 110 or when a female subject urinates while leaving his buttocks away from the seat part 110, the pressure sensor 110s is used to urinate the seat part 110. ) can be detected. Any method of detecting the rotation may be used, but the pressure sensor 110s detects the pressure on the rotation axis (not shown) of the seat portion 110, or the seat portion 110 is connected to the water tank 150. Pressure can be sensed during contact.

That is, the control unit 200 may perform a preparation process for storing urine by detecting the pressure on the rotation axis detected by the pressure sensor 110s, the pressure in contact with the water tank 150, and/or the weight pressure of the subject. can

Alternatively, together with or separately from the pressure sensor 110s, the subject may manually use the retention switch 170 to cause the control unit 200 to perform a preparation process for storing urine. That is, when the subject turns on the storage switch 170, the outlet valve 150 is closed by the controller 200, and when turned off, the outlet valve 150 is opened. This storage switch 170 may have a form of a button, lever, or the like.

Alternatively, the present uroflow measurement device may further include a flushing switch 180, and when the subject finishes urination and operates the flushing switch 180, the outlet valve 150 is opened by the control unit 200, and at the same time the water tank As the water stored in 150 flows into the water collection tank through the water supply pipe 160, it is drained to the sewer pipe through the drain pipe 130 together with the fluid previously stored. This flushing switch 180 may have a form of a button, lever, or the like.

2 is a view showing the configuration of a toilet seat type flow measurement device having a plurality of load cells according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the flow sensor 120 provided on the bottom of the water tank is composed of a plurality of load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C, and the plurality of load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C are located on the vertices of a regular polygon, form symmetrical structures. Then, the control unit 200 measures the flow rate over time by adding up a plurality of signals calculated by the plurality of load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C. Specifically, the weight signal for the weight detected by the plurality of load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C is transmitted to the controller 200, and the controller 200 transmits the weight signal transmitted from each of the load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C. It is summed up and converted into a volume signal to measure the flow rate over time. A detailed description of the control unit 200 will be described later.

In the course of urination, urine injected into the collecting tank may flow through the wall of the collecting tank or may be introduced while directly impacting the surface of the fluid stored in the collecting tank. In this process, since the flow sensor 120 measures the weight of the fluid per hour, the moment the shock is applied to the stored fluid, the weight is greatly measured, so there is a problem in that the weight of the fluid per hour cannot be accurately measured.

In order to solve this problem, the present invention is provided with a plurality of load cells (121A, 121B, 121C) for detecting the weight of the fluid on the bottom surface of the water collection tank, and the plurality of load cells (121A, 121B, 121C) on the vertex of a regular polygon placed to form a symmetrical structure. When the load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C are configured as described above, each load cell 121A, 121B, and 121C detects a weight equal to the weight (W) of the total fluid stored in the sump divided by the number of load cells, At this time, the weight sensed by each of the load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C is intervened with noise due to impact. At this time, each intervening noise corresponds to random noise with an average value of 0, so the sum of these noises approaches zero. Therefore, noise due to impact can be minimized by summing the plurality of weight signals sensed by each of the load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C. That is, by summing and averaging weight signals measured from a plurality of symmetric positions, a flow rate signal from which noise is removed can be obtained.

For example, when three load cells (121A, 121B, 121C) are located on the three vertices (A, B, C) of an equilateral triangle to form a symmetrical structure on the bottom surface of the water tank, each load cell senses the weight ( W _A , W _B , W _C ) are as shown in Equation (3) below, and the weight of the entire fluid obtained by summing and averaging each weight signal (W _MEAN ) is as shown in Equation (4). Equation (5) is obtained by converting Equation (4) into a volume unit of urine volume signal. In the equation below, e _A , e _B , and e _C represent noise intervening in each load cell.

As a result of comparing the flow rate signal measured by the individual load cells 121A or 121B or 121C with the sum average signal of the flow rate signals measured by the three load cells 121A, 121B, and 121C according to the embodiment of the present invention, the individual load cells 121A or 121B or 121C), large noise is intervened at 30 seconds and 50 seconds after urination starts, whereas according to an embodiment of the present invention, three load cells (121A, 121B, 121C ), there was little noise intervening at 30 seconds and 50 seconds after the start of urination, but there was no significant registration.

As a result, it was found that the amount of urination decreases after 30 seconds and 50 seconds from the start of urination, and accordingly, noise intervenes in the urine flow signal by applying an impact to the fluid stored in the droplet without forming a stem. It was found through experimentation that the noise caused by such an impact can be significantly canceled by the summation average method according to the invention.

3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a flow sensor having an elastic body according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the flow sensor 120 provided on the bottom surface of the water collecting tank in the toilet body 100 of the present flow measurement device includes a load cell 121 that detects weight and an elastic body provided on top of the load cell 121 ( 122) and/or housings 123a and 123b supporting the elastic body 122.

The structure of the flow sensor 120 is to attenuate the noise caused by the shock by buffering the shock applied to the fluid stored in the water collecting tank during the urination process, and accordingly, to accurately detect the weight of the fluid itself.

Specifically, a groove G1 for inserting and fixing the flow sensor 120 is formed on the bottom surface of the water collection tank, and the flow sensor 120 is inserted and installed in the formed groove G1. A load cell 121 for detecting the weight of the fluid is inserted into the groove G1 and installed, and a support housing 123a is inserted and installed on top of the load cell 121. The outer periphery of the insertion portion of the support housing 123a has a wedge shape A stumbling block is formed. Then, the elastic body 122 is inserted into the central groove G2 of the support housing 123a, and a soft cover housing 123b having a convex circular shape is formed at the opening of the groove G2.

The elastic body 122 as a shock absorbing means in the groove G1 may be formed on the back surface of the soft cover housing 123b to have a diameter at which a predetermined distance from the inner periphery of the groove G2 is maintained. Thus, the cover housing 123b and the elastic body 122 absorb and cancel the impact force generated by the urine being urinated. That is, since the aperture of the elastic body 122 is smaller than the inner diameter of the groove G2, when an impact force is transmitted, the elastic body 122 easily contracts and can effectively offset the impact force.

However, the aperture of the elastic body 122 does not make the entire length smaller than the inner diameter of the groove G2, and the lower aperture of the elastic body 122 has a thickness that can be tightly fitted into the groove G2, and the middle or upper aperture Only if it is smaller than the inner diameter of the groove (G2), it does not come off before pulling it by applying artificial force, so that the cover housing (123b) and the support housing (123a) can maintain a coupled state without a separate fixing means, and when impacted The elastic body 122 is easily contracted, and the effect of canceling the impact force can be doubled. At this time, the elastic body 122 may be a rod-shaped object made of a material having elasticity, or may be a spring.

Alternatively, as another embodiment, as a buffering means in the groove G1 of the support housing 123a, instead of protruding the elastic body 122 from the cover housing 123b, pressurized air is introduced into the groove G1 and the cover housing 123b ) and the inside of the groove G1 are sealed, the housing 123 absorbs and cancels the impact force as much as possible due to the compressed air when the impact force is transmitted, so that noise caused by the temporary impact force can be reduced.

4 is a diagram for explaining the operation of a control unit of a toilet seat type flow measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the flow measurement device may be implemented as a system including a controller 200 and/or a user terminal 300 .

The control unit 200 receives electrical signals from the pressure sensor 110s, the storage switch 170 and/or the flushing switch 180, and operates the flow sensor 120 and/or the outlet valve 140 according to the received signals. can control. Furthermore, the control unit 200 converts the weight signal detected and transmitted by the flow sensor 120 into a volume (volume) signal, or sums and averages the weight signals received from a plurality of load cells, and then sums and averages the weight of the fluid. The signal can be converted into a volume signal. The volume signal according to the time converted in this way may correspond to a flow rate signal, and the flow rate signal may be transmitted to the user terminal 300 .

The user terminal 300 may correspond to a memory device, a PC, a smart phone, a wearable device, a display device, and the like, and the control unit 200 and the user terminal 300 may be connected through various wired/wireless communication networks.

The embodiments described in this specification belong to the same technical field, and components constituting one embodiment may be combined with components constituting another embodiment to form a new embodiment.

The protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the description and expression of the embodiments explicitly described above. In addition, it is added once again that the scope of protection of the present invention cannot be limited due to obvious changes or substitutions in the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

100: toilet body 110: seat portion 110s: pressure sensor
120: flow sensor 121: load cell 122: elastic body
123: housing 130: drain pipe 140: valve
150: water tank 160: water supply pipe 170: water storage switch
180: flushing switch 200: control unit 300: user terminal

Claims (5)

A toilet body 100 having a water collecting tank;
a rotatable seat 110 located on the upper side of the toilet body 100; and
A toilet seat type flow measurement device including a flow sensor 120 located on the bottom surface of the water collecting tank to measure the flow rate over time. The method of claim 1,
The toilet seat type flow measurement device further includes a drain pipe 130 through which water stored in the water collecting tank is drained,
One end of the drain pipe 130 communicates with one lower end of the collecting tank and the other end communicates with the sewage pipe, and an outlet valve 140 is formed at one end of the drain pipe 130 to open and close the passage between the drain pipe 130 and the collecting tank. Toilet seat type flow measurement device. The method of claim 2,
The seat portion 110 is provided with a pressure sensor 110s for detecting pressure applied to the seat portion 110, and the outlet valve 140 is closed when the pressure sensor 110s detects the pressure. . The method of claim 1,
The flow sensor 120 is composed of a plurality of load cells 121, and the plurality of load cells 121 are located on the vertices of a regular polygon to form a structure symmetrical to each other, and a plurality of signals calculated by the plurality of load cells 121 A toilet seat type flow measurement device in which the flow rate is measured over time by summing The method of claim 4,
A toilet seat type flow measurement device in which an elastic body 122 and a housing 123 supporting the elastic body 122 are provided above the plurality of load cells 121.

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