KR20230024597A - Urine monitoring methods, devices and systems - Google Patents

Abstract

A urine monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises: a urine state measuring unit coupled to a urine pipe and measuring at least one of the color and turbidity of urine flowing through the urine pipe; a urine weight measuring unit coupled to a urine pack to measure the weight of urine collected in the urine pack; and a control unit that receives measurement results from the urine state measuring unit and the urine weight measuring unit, and monitors the state of the urine based on the measurement results. The urine state measuring unit comprises: a first light emitting unit that outputs first light having a red (R) wavelength band; a second light emitting unit that outputs second light having a green (G) wavelength band; a first light receiving unit that absorbs the first light and measures absorbance; and a second light receiving unit that absorbs the second light and measures absorbance.

Description

Urine monitoring methods, devices and systems

The present specification proposes a urine monitoring method, device and system.

The patient's urine condition is used as a major factor in determining the function and disease of the heart and kidneys in clinical practice. In addition, in the case of general anesthesia surgery, which greatly affects the amount of blood supplied to each organ of the patient's body, it is necessary to continuously monitor whether the kidney function is restored in order to determine whether the circulating blood volume is normal. Even in this case, the state of urine (in particular, urine output) is used as a major factor to determine whether or not renal function is restored.

Accordingly, the medical staff inserted a urinary tube through which urine flows into the urethra of surgical patients, critically ill patients, acute renal failure patients, unconscious patients, etc., and collected urine discharged through the urinary tube into a urine pack. In addition, the medical staff checked the amount of urine through the scale displayed on the urine pack, and recorded the confirmed amount of urine in a checklist to use for diagnosis and management of the patient.

However, such a conventional urine condition monitoring method has a problem that the test result may be inaccurate because the medical personnel must manually collect and monitor one by one, which leads to work overload, and also checks the amount of urine using the scale of the urine pack. .

In addition, since this conventional urine condition monitoring method simply collects urine in a collection pack, it is possible to check the approximate amount of urine, but it is impossible to collect detailed data such as the amount of urine per unit time, the number of discharges, urine color, and urine turbidity. There was a problem that made precise diagnosis or treatment impossible.

In the urine monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention, coupled to the urinary tract, the urine state measuring unit for measuring at least one of the color and turbidity of urine flowing through the urinary duct; A urine weight measuring unit coupled to the urine pack to measure the weight of urine collected in the urine pack; and a controller configured to receive measurement results from the urine state measurement unit and the urine weight measurement unit, and to monitor the state of the urine based on the measurement results. Including, wherein the urine state measuring unit, a first light emitting unit for outputting a first light having an R (Red) wavelength band; a second light emitting unit outputting second light having a green (G) wavelength band; a first light receiver configured to absorb the first light and measure absorbance; and a second light receiver configured to absorb the second light and measure absorbance. can include

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned problems of the conventional urine monitoring method are solved, and the effect of reducing the workload of medical staff while having high diagnostic accuracy occurs.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, since the external light blocking unit is provided to measure urine color and turbidity in a state in which external light is blocked as much as possible, an effect of improving accuracy occurs.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, since the light emitting unit is not operated when the urinary tract inlet groove is open and the measurement operation is activated only in the state where the urinary tract inlet groove is blocked, not only the accuracy of measuring the urine state is improved, but also power The effect of improving efficiency occurs.

In addition, according to one embodiment of the present invention, not only the inflow rate of urine, but also the level and weight of urine can be additionally measured, so that various conditions of urine can be comprehensively measured/monitored.

In addition, according to one embodiment of the present invention, by selectively activating/deactivating the light emitting unit/light receiving unit for measuring/sensing the urine condition according to the urine level in the urine pack, the effect of maximizing measurement accuracy and efficiency is achieved. there is.

In addition, various effects of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to each embodiment.

1 is a block diagram of a urine monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a diagram illustrating a urine state measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which a urinary tube is coupled to a urine condition measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating an external device outputting a urine monitoring state according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 and 6 are views illustrating a urine state measuring unit equipped with an external light blocking unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 and 8 illustrate a cross-sectional view of a urine condition measurement unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a mode setting method of a urine state measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 is a block diagram of a urine monitoring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a diagram illustrating a urine monitoring unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
12 is a flowchart illustrating a urine monitoring method according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
13 is a diagram illustrating a urine monitoring unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
14 is a flowchart illustrating a urine monitoring method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
15 is a diagram illustrating a use example of a urine monitoring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
16 is a diagram illustrating a urine monitoring unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Since the technology to be described below can have various changes and various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail. However, this is not intended to limit the technology described below to specific embodiments, and it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the technology described below.

Terms such as first, second, A, B, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements are not limited by the above terms, and are merely used to distinguish one element from another. used only as For example, without departing from the scope of the technology described below, a first element may be referred to as a second element, and similarly, the second element may be referred to as a first element. The terms and/or include any combination of a plurality of related recited items or any of a plurality of related recited items. For example, 'A and/or B' may be interpreted as meaning 'at least one of A or B'. Also, '/' can be interpreted as 'and' or 'or'.

In the terms used in this specification, singular expressions should be understood to include plural expressions unless clearly interpreted differently in context, and terms such as “comprising” refer to the described features, numbers, steps, operations, and components. , parts or combinations thereof, but it should be understood that it does not exclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features or numbers, step-action components, parts or combinations thereof.

Prior to a detailed description of the drawings, it is to be clarified that the classification of components in the present specification is merely a classification for each main function in charge of each component. That is, two or more components to be described below may be combined into one component, or one component may be divided into two or more for each more subdivided function. In addition, each component to be described below may additionally perform some or all of the functions of other components in addition to its main function, and some of the main functions of each component may be performed by other components. Of course, it may be dedicated and performed by .

In addition, in performing a method or method of operation, each process constituting the method may occur in a different order from the specified order unless a specific order is clearly described in context. That is, each process may occur in the same order as specified, may be performed substantially simultaneously, or may be performed in the reverse order.

1 is a block diagram of a urine monitoring system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the urine monitoring system may include a urinal tube, a urine condition measurement unit, a urine pack, a urine weight measurement unit, and/or a control unit.

The urinary tube is a tube directly connected to the patient's urethra and is connected to the urine pack to function as a passage for moving urine excreted from the urethra to the urine pack. Such a urinal tube may be made of a transparent material and may be combined with a urine condition measuring unit described later.

The urine state measurement unit may be coupled/fastened/connected to the urinary pipe to measure the urine state (particularly, color and/or turbidity of urine). In particular, the urine state measuring unit may measure the color and/or turbidity of urine by including at least one light emitting unit and a light receiving unit. The color and/or turbidity of the urine is used by the control unit to determine whether or not the patient's body parts, such as the kidneys and urethra, are infected with diseases and conditions.

The light emitting unit may include at least one light emitting device to emit light into the urinary tract. The light emitting unit may include at least one of a visible light emitting device, an infrared light emitting device, and an infrared light emitting device as a light emitting device. Depending on the embodiment, a plurality of light emitting units may be provided in the urine state measuring unit, and each light emitting unit may output only light having a different wavelength range (ie, a specific color). For example, the urine state measuring unit may include a first light emitting unit that outputs only first light having a R (Red) wavelength band and a second light emitting unit that outputs only second light having a G (Green) wavelength band. To this end, each light emitting unit may include a color filter that selectively passes light of different wavelength ranges (ie, light of different colors). There is no problem in measuring the urine state with only the first and second lights in the R and G wavelength bands, and in order to minimize the manufacturing cost of the urine state measurement unit, the urine state measurement unit proposed in this specification first and second light emitting units Urine status can be measured, including wealth.

The light receiving unit may include at least one optical sensor element to absorb/absorb/receive light irradiated/output from the light emitting unit to measure absorbance/light reception. Here, the absorbance/receipt refers to the degree of light/light absorption by the light receiver, and information on the measured absorbance/receipt may be transmitted to the control unit. Depending on the embodiment, a plurality of light receivers may also be provided, and each light receiver may receive only light of a different wavelength range (ie, a specific color). For example, the urine state measuring unit absorbs only the first light having the R (Red) wavelength band and measures the absorbance, and the second light receiving unit absorbs only the second light having the G (Green) wavelength band and measures the absorbance. A light receiver may be included. To this end, each light receiver may include a color filter that selectively passes light of different wavelength ranges (ie, light of different colors).

According to the proposed embodiment, the urine condition measuring unit measures the condition of urine only with 2 colors of RG instead of 3 colors such as RGB, because it is possible to measure the condition of urine with high accuracy only with 2 colors of RG, and the color to be measured This is to reduce the manufacturing cost of the light emitting unit/light receiving unit by reducing .

The light emitting unit and the light receiving unit may be provided on the urine state measuring unit in a structure facing each other with respect to the urinary tract. In particular, when the urine state measuring unit includes the first and second light emitting units, the first and second light receiving units may be provided at positions facing the first and second light emitting units in a one-to-one manner.

Since the urine state measuring unit detects color, turbidity, etc. of urine based on absorbance, it is necessary to minimize external light flowing into the light receiving unit from the outside. Therefore, the light receiving unit proposed in this specification is provided on the inner surface of the inlet groove separately provided in the urine state unit, so that the influence of external light can be minimized. A detailed description thereof will be described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 .

The urine weight measuring unit may separately include a zero point setting button for automatically setting a zero point. When the urine pack is set in the urine weight measurement unit in the power-on state and the zero point setting button is pressed, the urine weight measurement unit may automatically set a weight that does not change for a predetermined time (eg, several seconds) as the zero point weight. Through this zero point setting operation, the urine weighing unit compensates for the weight measurement error due to the shaking of the urine pack before weighing, and shortens the time for medical staff/users to directly manipulate the urine weighing unit to set/adjust the weight zero point. Usability/convenience can be improved.

The urine weight measurement unit may include at least one weight sensor (eg, a load cell, a gravity sensor, etc.) to measure the weight of urine collected in the urine pack. More precisely, the urine weight measurement unit may measure the weight of the urine pack, and the control unit may extract/acquire the weight of the urine by subtracting the weight of the urine pack itself from the received measured weight. The urine weight measurement unit may transmit the measurement result to the control unit in real time/periodically.

The control unit may include at least a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processor unit (MPU), a micro controller unit (MCU), an application processor (AP), an application processor (AP), or any type of processor well known in the art. It may consist of one. The control unit may control at least one component/unit included in the urine monitoring system to execute the method according to the embodiments of the present invention, and as a result, the control unit may be replaced with the urine monitoring system and described herein. .

In particular, in the present specification, the control unit may receive a measurement result from the urine state measurement unit and/or the urine weight measurement unit, and monitor the state of urine based on the measurement result. The state of urine may mean, for example, the presence or absence of urine, color/turbidity of urine, amount/weight of urine, urination pressure, urination rate, and the like. The control unit may record monitoring results for each patient and store and manage them in a database.

In addition, although not illustrated in this drawing, the urine monitoring system may further include a communication unit (not shown). The communication unit may perform communication using at least one wired/wireless communication protocol, and the control unit transmits the result of monitoring using the communication unit to an external device/server (eg, urine monitoring application server, medical device, medical staff). /patient/guardian/caregiver terminal, etc.).

Based on the urine monitoring result received from the control unit, the medical staff can remotely monitor/manage the patient's urine condition in real time, so that work burden and discomfort are significantly improved.

2 is a diagram illustrating a urine condition measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an embodiment in which a urinary tube is coupled to a urine condition measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In particular, FIG. 3(a) is a coupling diagram between the urine state measuring unit and the urinary pipe, and FIG. 3(b) is a partial enlarged view of a specific portion of the inlet groove of FIG. 3(a).

Referring to FIG. 2 , the urine condition measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an inlet groove formed by being drawn inward so that the urine tube is inserted into the main body of the urine condition measuring unit and coupled to each other. As shown in FIG. 3(a), the urinary tube may be combined with the urine condition measurement unit by being inserted/fitted into the inlet groove.

As an embodiment, the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit may be provided on an inner surface of the inlet groove to perform a urine condition measuring operation for a urinary tube inserted into the inlet groove. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit may be provided to face each other on both sides of the inlet groove on a one-to-one basis. In particular, the first and second light emitting units may be spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals on one inner surface of the inlet groove, and the first and second light receiving units may be provided on the other inner surface facing (one-to-one) the first and second light emitting units. They may be provided spaced apart at set intervals. In particular, the first light-receiving unit may be provided to face the first light-emitting unit and the second light-receiving unit to face the second light-emitting unit, respectively.

The first light emitting unit may emit/output the first light toward the first light receiving unit provided to face the first light receiving unit, measure the absorbance of the first light received through the urinary tract and the urine, and transmit the measurement result to the control unit. there is. The second light emitting unit may emit/output second light toward the second light receiving unit provided opposite to it, and the second light receiving unit may measure the absorbance of the second light received through the urinary tract and the urine and transmit the measurement result to the control unit. there is. The controller may monitor visual conditions of urine, such as color and turbidity of urine, based on the absorbance of the first and second lights received from the first and second light receivers.

According to the present embodiment, since the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are provided inside the inlet groove separately provided in the urine measuring device and perform a measurement operation with respect to the urine tube inserted/inserted into the inlet groove, external light is effectively blocked. This can improve measurement accuracy.

In order to further improve the external light blocking effect, the urine condition measurement unit may further include an external light blocking unit, which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 .

4 is a diagram illustrating an external device outputting a urine monitoring state according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As described above in FIG. 1 , the urine condition monitoring system may include an external device/server, and the control unit may transmit a urine condition monitoring result to the external device/server. In this case, the external device/server may correspond to a medical staff terminal, and this figure illustrates an embodiment in which a urine condition monitoring result is output to the medical staff terminal.

The control unit may transmit the urine monitoring status/result for each patient to the medical staff terminal in real time, and the medical staff terminal may transmit the urine status for each patient (eg, patient identification information, urine amount, urine time, urine cycle) as illustrated in this figure. , urine color/turbidity, urine pressure, urination rate, etc.) can be visualized and output. The medical staff can monitor the patient's urine status in real time through the output urine status information, and since they do not have to directly collect and measure urine, their work is greatly reduced.

5 and 6 are views illustrating a urine state measuring unit equipped with an external light blocking unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In particular, FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a state before sliding of the external light blocking unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state after sliding of the external light blocking unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 , the urine state measuring unit may further include an external light blocking unit for preventing external light from entering the inside of the inlet groove by covering a part of the inlet groove. The external light blocking unit may be provided to open and block the inlet groove in various ways according to embodiments. For example, the external light blocking unit may be provided with a sliding movement unit to slide in the direction of blocking or opening the inlet groove, or provided with a hinge on one side to open or close like a lid in the direction of blocking or opening the inlet groove. can These drawings exemplify an external light blocking unit provided with a sliding moving unit.

The sliding unit may be implemented in various physical structures in which the external light blocking unit can slide on the body of the urine condition measuring unit. For example, the sliding unit may protrude from the lower end of the external light blocking unit in a sliding direction, and the main body of the urine status measuring unit may be formed. A sliding groove may be provided in a sliding direction at a position corresponding thereto. After being inserted into the sliding groove, the sliding movement unit may open or block the inlet groove by moving in a sliding direction guided by the sliding groove.

Therefore, the medical staff inserts/inserts a portion of the urinary tube into the inlet groove of the urine state measuring unit, and then blocks the entrance of the inlet groove using the external light blocking unit to fix the urinary tube on the urine state measuring unit and to fix the urinary tube on the urine state measuring unit. Light can be blocked more efficiently.

As such, when the external light blocking unit is provided, the light emitting unit may be provided in the external light blocking unit, unlike the embodiment proposed in FIG. 3 , which will be described later with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 .

7 and 8 illustrate a cross-sectional view of a urine condition measurement unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In particular, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of part AA' of FIG. 5, and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of part BB' of FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8 , the first and second light emitting units may be provided at an inner lower end of the external light blocking unit, and may be provided in a state of being electrically connected to a first terminal separately provided inside the external light blocking unit. The first and second light receiving units may be provided at positions (ie, bottom surfaces) facing the first and second light emitting units when the external light blocking unit blocks the inlet groove.

The urine state measuring unit is at a position where the external light blocking unit is slid in the direction of blocking the inlet groove (ie, the state of FIG. 8 ) and is in contact with/connected to/connected to the first terminal (ie, a position facing the first terminal) A second terminal may be provided. The second terminal may be electrically connected to a power supply unit that supplies power to the urine state measurement unit, and as the external light blocking unit slides in a direction to block the inlet groove (ie, is converted to the state of FIG. 8), It can be electrically contacted/connected/connected with 1 terminal. As the external light blocking unit slides, the first terminal may be contacted/connected/connected to the second terminal to receive power from the power supply unit through the second terminal.

According to the present embodiment, the first and second light emitting units do not receive power in the state before sliding of the external light blocking unit and thus do not perform the light emitting operation, whereas in the state after sliding of the external light blocking unit, power is supplied and the light emitting operation is performed. will perform Therefore, since the light emitting unit of the urine state measuring unit according to the present embodiment does not always emit light and only emits light only in a state in which external light is blocked, the urine state measurement accuracy is high and power consumption can be saved. Furthermore, since the light emission time of the light emitting part is reduced, there is an effect of maintaining a long life of the light emitting part.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a mode setting method of a urine state measuring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The urine state measurement unit may operate in different modes based on whether the total absorbance measured through the light receiver is equal to or less than a predetermined level.

In more detail, referring to FIG. 9 , the urine state measurement unit may first determine whether the total absorbance measured through the first and second light receivers is equal to or less than a predetermined level.

If the total absorbance is measured below a predetermined level, the urine state measurement unit may operate the first and second light emitting units in a first mode (ie, a night mode). Conversely, when the total absorbance exceeds a predetermined level, the urine condition measuring unit may operate the first and second light emitting units in a second mode (ie, daytime mode).

The first mode is a night mode in which the first and second light emitting units simultaneously emit first and second lights, and the second mode is a night mode in which the first and second light emitting units emit first and second lights alternately/sequentially. It may correspond to a daytime mode in which

The fact that the total absorbance is below a predetermined level may mean a situation in which the lights inside the hospital room are turned off at night. In this case, since the influence of external light is minimized, even if the first and second lights are emitted simultaneously, the first and second lights are simultaneously emitted. 2 It does not significantly affect the absorbance measurement of light. In addition, when the first and second lights are alternately emitted in a situation where the lights are turned off in the hospital room, the light leaks out of the urine state measurement unit and may interfere with the patient's sleep. Accordingly, when the total absorbance is measured below a predetermined level, the first and second light emitting units may operate in a first mode (ie, a night mode) in which light is emitted simultaneously. Conversely, if the total absorbance exceeds a predetermined level, it may mean a situation in which the light inside the hospital room is turned on even if it is morning, daytime, or nighttime. In this case, since external light affects the absorbance measurement, in order to minimize the influence of other lights (or maximize the absorbance measurement accuracy for each light), the first and second light emitting units emit only one light at a time in the second mode. (i.e. daytime mode).

Through this embodiment, there is an effect of improving the accuracy of measuring the absorbance for each light and at the same time solving the inconvenience that may occur when using the urine state measuring unit.

In the urine monitoring system, a urine monitoring unit for monitoring a state of urine may be additionally provided in a urine pack that collects urine through a urinary pipe. A detailed description of the urine monitoring unit will be described below with reference to FIGS. 10 to 17 .

10 is a block diagram of a urine monitoring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10 , the urine monitoring unit 1000 may include a light emitting unit 1010, a light receiving unit 1020, and/or a coupling unit 1030.

The light emitting unit 1010 may include at least one light emitting device to emit light into the urine pack. For example, the light emitting unit 1010 may include at least one of a visible light emitting device, an infrared light emitting device, and an infrared light emitting device as a light emitting device. Unlike the light emitting units (ie, the first and second light emitting units) of the urine state measurement unit described above, the present light emitting unit 1010 can simultaneously emit light of three RGB colors. Depending on the embodiment, a plurality of light emitting units 1010 may be provided on the urine monitoring unit 1000, and a location may also be specified, which will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 11 to 17 .

The light receiving unit 1020 may include at least one optical sensor element to absorb/absorb/receive light irradiated/output from the light emitting unit 1010 to measure absorbance/light reception. Here, the absorbance/light reception intensity means the degree of light/light absorption by the light receiving unit 1020, and information on the measured absorbance/light reception intensity may be transmitted to the control unit. Unlike the light receivers (ie, the first and second light receivers) of the urine state measuring unit described above, the present light receiver 1020 can simultaneously receive/absorb light of three RGB colors. A plurality of light receiving units 1020 may also be provided on the urine monitoring unit 1000 according to embodiments, and a location may also be specified, which will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 11 to 17 .

The coupling unit 1030 may include at least one coupling means to perform a function of coupling the light emitting unit 1010 and the light receiving unit 1020 on the urine pack. For example, the coupling unit 1030 can be implemented in a structure that can be mounted/fastened/held to the urine pack, and the light emitting unit 1010 and the light receiving unit 1020 can be coupled on the coupling unit 1030. there is. In this case, as a result of the coupling unit 1030 being mounted/fastened/held to the urine pack, the light emitting unit 1010 and the light receiving unit 1020 coupled to the coupling unit 1030 are also coupled to the urine pack. Alternatively, as another embodiment, the coupling unit 1030 is implemented in various ways/structures according to embodiments, such as being implemented as a housing structure for accommodating a urine pack, so that the light emitting unit 1010 and the light receiving unit ( 1020) can be coupled to the urine pack, and is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

Although not shown/illustrated in this drawing, the coupling unit 1030 may additionally include an external light blocking unit (not shown) for blocking external light, which blocks external light and causes occurrence due to input of external light. possible urine monitoring errors can be prevented/minimized.

The light emitting unit 1010 and the light receiving unit 1020 may transmit measurement results to the controller, and the controller (not shown) may monitor the urine condition based on the received measurement results. A detailed description of the control unit is as described above with reference to FIG. 1 .

In particular, the controller according to an embodiment of the present invention may perform real-time/periodic monitoring of the state of urine injected into the urine pack based on the absorbance measured through the light receiver 1020. Here, examples of the state of urine may correspond to whether or not urine flows in, the rate of urine inflow, the amount of urine inflow, the turbidity of urine, and/or the level of urine in the urinary duct. The control unit may comprehensively monitor various conditions of urine by controlling the light emitting unit 1010 and the light receiving unit 1020, and may store the monitoring results.

11 is a diagram illustrating a urine monitoring unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating a urine monitoring method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 11, the urine monitoring unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of light emitting units 1120-1 to 1120-n and light receiving units 1130-1 to 1130-n having a one-to-one relationship with each other. can include The one-to-one corresponding light emitting units 1120-1 to 1120-n and light receiving units 1130-1 to 1130-n may be provided in the urine monitoring unit so as to be coupled to positions facing each other around the urine pack 1110. . The plurality of light emitting units 1120-1 to 1120-n and the light receiving units 1130-1 to 1130-n may be arranged in a vertical direction and at predetermined intervals to be combined with the urine pack 1110, and the plurality of light emitting units ( 1120-1 to 1120-n emits light to the light receiving units 1130-1 to 1130-n facing each other, and each of the plurality of light receiving units 1130-1 to 1130-n is the light emitting unit at the opposite position. Absorbance may be measured by absorbing/receiving light irradiated from (1120-1 to 1120-n).

The reason for introducing the plurality of light emitting units 1120-1 to 1120-n and light receiving units 1130-1 to 1130-n is that the size and structure of the urine pack 1110 are different for each manufacturer, so that one light emitting unit This is because it is very difficult to accurately monitor the state of urine in the urine pack 1110 using only the light receiver. In particular, when the level of urine gradually increases as the amount of urine collected in the urine pack 1110 increases, the light path is gradually blocked/obstructed by the urine, and the urine monitoring operation itself becomes impossible.

In order to solve this problem, the urine monitoring unit of the present invention includes a plurality of light emitting units 1120-1 to 1120-n and light receiving units 1130-1 to 1130-n, and monitors the drip level in the urine pack 1110. As a reference, only the light emitting part and the light receiving part located on the upper side are selectively activated, so that the urine monitoring operation is always possible regardless of the size, structure, and urine level of the urine pack.

In more detail, referring to FIG. 12 , the urine monitoring unit may first determine whether there is a light receiving unit that measures less than a predetermined level among absorbances measured by a plurality of light receiving units (S1201).

If there is at least one light-receiving unit measuring less than a predetermined level, the urine monitoring unit may selectively deactivate the corresponding light-receiving unit and a light emitting unit corresponding to the light-receiving unit one-to-one (S1202). Furthermore, the urine monitoring unit may measure absorbance in real time using the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit except for the deactivated light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, and when a change in absorbance is detected, urine is introduced into the urine pack at the time when the change is detected. can be recognized as Accordingly, the urine monitoring unit may derive an interval between times when a change in absorbance is detected as a urination cycle, and may derive a urination rate by dividing the amount/weight of urine by the urination cycle.

The urine monitoring unit may predict the current level of urine in the urine pack based on the number and positions of the inactivated light receivers. In addition, when the urine monitoring unit discovers a new light-receiving unit whose absorbance is measured to be less than a predetermined level during the monitoring operation, the corresponding light-receiving unit and a corresponding light-emitting unit may be deactivated additionally/in real time. This is because the level of urine in the urine pack increases due to the continuous inflow of urine, and thus a new light emitting unit/light receiving unit is generated in which the light path is blocked. As described above, since the light emitting unit/light receiving unit in which the light path is blocked cannot accurately monitor the surface, the urine monitoring unit can be selectively deactivated for the newly discovered light emitting unit/light receiving unit.

If all light emitting units and light receiving units are deactivated due to a high urine level, the urine monitoring unit may detect this as an abnormal condition so that the urine pack can be emptied and immediately notify the medical staff.

In step S1201, when there is no light receiving unit measuring absorbance below a predetermined level, the urine monitoring unit may activate all light receiving units and light emitting units to perform absorbance-based urine monitoring operation (S1203).

Meanwhile, although not shown in the flowchart, the urine monitoring unit may perform an additional deactivation operation for the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit for the purpose of minimizing power consumption. As long as the light path is not blocked, since the urine monitoring operation is possible with only one pair of light emitters and light receivers, the urine monitoring unit selectively selects some pairs of light emitters and light receivers only when there are a plurality of pairs of light emitters and light receivers currently activated. can be further disabled.

For example, the urine monitoring unit may activate only a lowermost (or uppermost) pair of light emitting units and light receiving units among a plurality of activated pairs of light emitting units and light receiving units and deactivate the others. When only the lowermost pair of light emitter and light receiver is activated, the urine monitoring unit may monitor whether absorbance is measured below a preset level, and if the absorbance is measured below a preset level, the light path is changed according to the rise in urine level. Considering that it is blocked, instead of inactivating the corresponding pair of light emitting part and light receiving part, a pair of light emitting part and light receiving part positioned above them may be activated.

13 is a diagram illustrating a urine monitoring unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a urine monitoring method according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13 , the urine monitoring unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention may include one third light emitting unit 1320 and a plurality of light receiving units 1330-1 to 1330-3, and the third light emitting unit 1320 may be included. A correspondence relationship of 1:N (N is a natural number) may be established between the unit 1320 and the light receiving units 1330-1 to 1330-3.

The third light emitting unit 1320 is one of the plurality of light receiving units 1330-1 to 1330-3 (in particular, the uppermost light receiving unit 1330-1) and the urine pack 1310 facing each other. It may be provided at a position, and a third light for measuring the inflow rate of urine may be irradiated. In particular, in this embodiment, the third light emitting unit 1320 may further include a rotation motor unit (not shown) connected to the light emitting element to adjust the light irradiation angle θ of the third light. As a result, the first embodiment As in, the same effect as having a plurality of light emitting units may occur.

The plurality of light receiving units 1330 - 1 to 1330 - 3 may be arranged at predetermined intervals and in a vertical direction, and absorb the third light emitted from the third light emitting unit 1320 to measure absorbance.

Referring to FIG. 14 , first, the urine monitoring unit sequentially irradiates the third light to the plurality of light receiving units 1330-1 to 1330-3 at an angle of light irradiation of the third light emitting unit (in particular, the third light emitting unit 1320). ) 420, and the absorbance of the third light sequentially received/absorbed by the plurality of light receivers 1330-1 to 1330-3 can be measured (S1401).

If, among the plurality of light receivers 1330-1 to 1330-3, the light receiver 1330-3 measuring the absorbance below a predetermined level is detected, the urine monitoring unit excluding the detected light receiver 1330-3, the rest of the light receivers Among 1330-1 and 1330-2, the lowermost light receiver 1330-2 may be selected as a third light receiver to be used/activated for urine monitoring.

When the third light receiving unit 1330-2 is selected, the urine monitoring unit may control the third light emitting unit 1320 so that the third light is emitted only to the activated third light receiving unit 1330-2 (the third light emitting unit ( 1320) adjusts the irradiation angle θ of the third light to an angle toward the third light receiver 1330-2 (θ1->θ2)), based on the absorbance measured using the third light receiver 1330-2. It is possible to monitor urine conditions such as urine inflow/rate.

More specifically, the urine monitoring unit may measure the absorbance of the third light in real time using the third light emitting unit 1320 and the third light receiving unit 1330-2, and when a change in absorbance is detected, urine It can be recognized as imported. Furthermore, the urine monitoring unit derives the interval between the times when a change in absorbance is detected (ie, the interval between the times when urine flows in) as a urine inflow cycle, and calculates the urine inflow rate by dividing the urine inflow amount by the urine inflow cycle once. can be derived.

15 is a diagram illustrating a use example of a urine monitoring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a urine monitoring unit according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 15 , a phenomenon in which urine droplets bounce at a certain height may occur due to a collision between incoming urine and urine accumulated in an existing urine pack. At this time, if the water droplet bounces up to the height of the third light receiver 1330-2, a change occurs in the absorbance measured by the third light receiver 1330-2, so the urine monitoring unit misrecognizes that urine has flowed in. may occur. In addition, even when the urine level in the urine pack 1310 fluctuates up to the third light receiver 1330-2 as the patient moves or moves with the urine line connected, a urine monitoring misrecognition problem may occur. That is, if the distance between the urine level and the third light receiver 1330-2 is too close, there is a high probability that urine will affect the monitoring operation of the third light receiver 1330-2. ) and the urine level need to be maintained at a certain interval or more.

Therefore, in the present specification, an additional light emitting unit (ie, a fourth light emitting unit) 1340 for measuring the level of urine is introduced to continuously observe the level of urine, and when the level of urine exceeds a certain level (or When the distance between the urine level and the third light receiving unit 1330-2 is within a preset distance), an embodiment in which the third light receiving unit 1330-2 is changed is proposed.

In more detail, referring to FIG. 16 , the urine monitoring unit according to the third embodiment of the present invention may further include a fourth light emitting unit 1340 in addition to the configuration described above in the second embodiment. The fourth light emitting unit 1340 may emit fourth light for measuring the level of urine and may include at least one rotary motor to control a light irradiation angle θ of the fourth light. The fourth light emitting unit 1340 is (substantially) the same as the third light emitting unit 1320 or is provided in the urine monitoring unit to be combined with the urine pack 1310 at a position/height lower than the third light emitting unit 1320. can This drawing illustrates a case where the fourth light emitting unit 1340 is provided at (substantially) the same position/height as the third light emitting unit 1320.

The third light emitting unit 1320 performs a function of measuring the inflow rate of urine, and the fourth light emitting unit 1340 measures the urine level (in particular, the interval/distance between the third light receiving unit 1330-2 and the urine level). ), the irradiation angle of the fourth light may always be set larger than that of the third light.

The urine monitoring unit may control the fourth light emitting unit 1340 to emit the fourth light toward the fourth light receiving unit 1330-3 located below the third light receiving unit 1330-2 or at a first irradiation angle. At this time, if the distance from the third light receiving unit 1330-2 becomes closer to within a predetermined distance as the urine level rises, a phenomenon in which the fourth light is reflected by the urine surface and directed toward the third light receiving unit 1330-2 occurs. can happen In this case, the absorbance absorbed/received by the third light receiver 1330-2 exceeds a preset level, and the urine monitoring unit determines the distance/interval between the urine level and the third light receiver 1330-2 based on this. It may be recognized that the distance is within a preset distance. Furthermore, since the urine monitoring unit knows the distance between the fourth light emitting unit 1340 and the third light receiving unit 1330-2 and the angle θ' formed by the third and fourth lights, the trigonometric function formula is used. An (approximate) (vertical) distance/interval (c) between the actual third light receiver 1330-2 and the urine level may be derived/predicted.

When recognizing that the absorbance measured by the third light receiver 1330-2 exceeds a preset level, the urine monitoring unit may deactivate the third and fourth light receivers 1330-2 and 1330-3. Furthermore, the urine monitoring unit reselects/changes/updates the light receiving unit 1330-1 located at the upper end of the third light receiving unit 1330-2 as a new third light receiving unit, and located at the upper end of the fourth light receiving unit 1330-3. The light receiver 1330-2 may be reselected/changed/updated as a new fourth light receiver. In addition, the urine monitoring unit controls the third light emitting unit 1320 (in particular, the irradiation angle of the third light) so that the third light can be irradiated toward the third light receiving unit 1330-1 where the third light has been reselected/changed/updated. may be controlled, and the fourth light emitting unit 1340 (in particular, the irradiation angle of the fourth light) is irradiated toward the reselected/changed/updated fourth light receiver 1330-2 or at a second irradiation angle. ) can be controlled.

Through this embodiment, since the distance between the urine level and the third light receiver 1330-1 is always maintained at a predetermined distance or more, an effect of preventing the urine monitoring accuracy from falling due to the urine level is prevented.

In the present specification, for convenience of description, the urine monitoring operation/function of the urine monitoring unit has been mainly described, but is not limited thereto, and may be utilized/applied to various liquid monitoring technologies. For example, the urine monitoring unit according to an embodiment of the present invention may be used/utilized to comprehensively monitor the state of various liquids such as fluid, blood, and drugs of a patient. In this case, in the present specification, 'urine' may be replaced with 'sap, blood, drug' and the like.

An embodiment according to the present invention may be implemented by various means, for example, hardware, firmware, software, or a combination thereof. In the case of hardware implementation, one embodiment of the present invention provides one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), FPGAs ( field programmable gate arrays), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, etc.

In addition, in the case of implementation by firmware or software, an embodiment of the present invention is implemented in the form of a module, procedure, function, etc. that performs the functions or operations described above, and is stored on a recording medium readable through various computer means. can be recorded. Here, the recording medium may include program commands, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the recording medium may be those specially designed and configured for the present invention, or those known and usable to those skilled in computer software. For example, recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks and magnetic tapes, optical media such as CD-ROMs (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) and DVDs (Digital Video Disks), floptical It includes hardware devices specially configured to store and execute program instructions, such as magneto-optical media, such as a floptical disk, and ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions may include high-level language codes that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like as well as machine language codes generated by a compiler. These hardware devices may be configured to act as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

In addition, an apparatus or terminal according to the present invention may be driven by a command that causes one or more processors to perform the functions and processes described above. For example, such instructions may include interpreted instructions, such as script instructions such as JavaScript or ECMAScript instructions, or executable code or other instructions stored on a computer readable medium. Furthermore, the device according to the present invention may be implemented in a distributed manner over a network, such as a server farm, or may be implemented in a single computer device.

In addition, a computer program (also known as a program, software, software application, script or code) loaded into a device according to the present invention and executing the method according to the present invention includes a compiled or interpreted language or a priori or procedural language. It can be written in any form of programming language, and can be deployed in any form, including stand-alone programs, modules, components, subroutines, or other units suitable for use in a computer environment. A computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in a file system. A program may be in a single file provided to the requested program, or in multiple interacting files (e.g., one or more modules, subprograms, or files that store portions of code), or parts of files that hold other programs or data. (eg, one or more scripts stored within a markup language document). A computer program may be deployed to be executed on a single computer or multiple computers located at one site or distributed across multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

For convenience of description, each drawing has been divided and described, but it is also possible to design to implement a new embodiment by merging the embodiments described in each drawing. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the configuration and method of the described embodiments as described above, but the above-described embodiments are configured by selectively combining all or part of each embodiment so that various modifications can be made. It could be.

In addition, although preferred embodiments have been shown and described above, this specification is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and those skilled in the art in the art to which the specification pertains without departing from the subject matter claimed in the claims Of course, various modifications are possible by the person, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or perspective of the present specification.

Claims (15)

In the urine monitoring system,
A urine condition measurement unit coupled to the urinary duct and measuring at least one of color and turbidity of urine flowing through the urinary duct;
A urine weight measuring unit coupled to the urine pack to measure the weight of urine collected in the urine pack; and
a controller that receives measurement results from the urine state measurement unit and the urine weight measurement unit, and monitors the state of the urine based on the measurement results; Including,
The urine state measuring unit,
a first light emitting unit outputting first light having an R (Red) wavelength band;
a second light emitting unit outputting second light having a green (G) wavelength band;
a first light receiver configured to absorb the first light and measure absorbance; and
a second light receiver configured to absorb the second light and measure absorbance; Containing, urine monitoring system. According to claim 1,
The urine state measuring unit,
The urine monitoring system, characterized in that the inlet groove leading inward is formed in the main body so that the urine tube can be inserted into the urine state measuring unit. According to claim 2,
Wherein the urinary tube and the urine state measuring unit are coupled to each other by inserting a portion of the urinary tube into the inlet groove. According to claim 3,
The first and second light emitting units are spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals on an inner surface of the inlet groove,
The first and second light-receiving units are spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals on the other inner surface facing the first and second light-emitting units,
The first light receiving unit is provided to face the first light emitting unit, and the second light receiving unit is provided to face the second light emitting unit. According to claim 3,
The urine state measuring unit,
The urine monitoring system further comprises an external light blocking unit for covering a part of the inlet groove to block external light from entering the inside of the inlet groove. According to claim 5,
The external light blocking unit has a sliding movement unit for sliding in a direction to block or open the inlet groove, urine monitoring system. According to claim 6,
The first and second light emitting units,
It is provided at the inner lower end of the external light blocking unit,
A urine monitoring system electrically connected to the first terminal provided at the inner lower end. According to claim 7,
The urine state measuring unit has a second terminal connected to a power supply unit supplying power to the urine state measuring unit at a position in contact with the first terminal in a state in which the external light blocking unit slides in a direction to block the inlet groove. are available,
The first terminal is in contact with the second terminal as the external light blocking part slides in a direction to block the inlet groove and receives power from the power supply unit through the second terminal. According to claim 8,
The first terminal supplies power supplied through the second terminal to the first and second light emitting units,
Wherein the first and second light emitting units output the first and second lights, respectively, as the power is supplied. According to claim 1,
The control unit,
When the total absorbance measured through the first and second light-receiving units is below a predetermined level, the first and second light-emitting units are operated in a first mode,
When the total absorbance exceeds the predetermined level, operating the first and second light emitting units in a second mode, urine monitoring system. According to claim 10,
The first mode is a night mode in which the first and second light emitting units simultaneously emit the first and second lights,
The second mode is a daytime mode in which the first and second light emitting units emit the first and second lights alternately, the urine monitoring system. According to claim 1,
Combined with the urine pack to monitor the condition of the urine, urine condition monitoring unit; Including more,
The urine state monitoring unit,
A light emitting unit for irradiating light into the urine pack;
a light receiving unit that absorbs the light irradiated from the light emitting unit, measures absorbance, and transmits a measurement result to the control unit; and
A coupling unit for coupling the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit on the urine pack; Including,
The control unit,
Based on the absorbance measured by the light receiver, the urine monitoring system for monitoring the state of the urine flowing into the urine pack. According to claim 12,
The state of the urine,
A urine monitoring system comprising at least one of the inflow of the urine, the inflow rate of the urine, and the level of the urine. According to claim 13,
The light emitting unit and the light receiving unit are provided in plurality and have a one-to-one correspondence relationship with each other,
The one-to-one corresponding light emitting unit and light receiving unit are coupled to positions facing each other around the urine pack, urine monitoring system. 15. The method of claim 14,
The control unit,
Selectively inactivate at least one light-receiving unit that measures less than a predetermined level among the absorbances measured by the plurality of light-receiving units,
A urine monitoring system for selectively inactivating at least one light emitting unit corresponding to the one-to-one correspondence with the at least one light receiving unit.

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