KR20230142059A - The guiding system for location of the acupuncture point and the method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An acupoint location guiding system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sensor pad disposed on the upper surface of a bed to sense the patient's biometric information; Imaging means for acquiring body heat images before and after stimulation of acupuncture points of the patient located on the bed; a guiding means for loading the imaging means so that it is mounted and positioned to correspond to imaging of a patient's body part; a control unit that detects the location of the patient's acupoints by combining the sensed biometric information of the patient and the photographed body heat information before and after stimulation of the acupoints of the patient; And it is characterized in that it includes a pointing probe that points and displays the affected area of the patient to correspond to the detected location of the patient's acupuncture point.

Description

Acupoint location guiding system and method {THE GUIDING SYSTEM FOR LOCATION OF THE ACUPUNCTURE POINT AND THE METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to an acupoint location guiding system and method, and in particular, collects biometric data before and after acupuncture stimulation of the patient and provides guidance to the acupuncture point stimulation location tailored to the patient, thereby improving the accuracy of patient treatment. It relates to an acupoint location guiding system and method.

In general, in oriental medicine clinics that provide acupuncture treatment, the practitioner uses a method of manually entering the needle point in the patient's chart.

However, when this method uses a large number of needles on a patient, it takes a lot of time to input acupuncture points and the accuracy may also decrease as the number of patients increases.

In addition, since it is not possible to monitor whether acupuncture treatment precautions discovered during clinical research are reflected in actual acupuncture treatment or whether acupuncture treatment performed at individual oriental medicine clinics is not possible, it is difficult to determine the exact cause if side effects from acupuncture treatment occur in a patient. There may be difficulties.

Accordingly, there is a demand for technology that accurately recognizes the acupuncture point where the needle is placed based on the image, taking into account the posture of the patient undergoing acupuncture treatment, and allows the acupuncture point to be easily and accurately navigated.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2021-0142042

In order to solve the problems mentioned above, an acupoint location guiding system that can further improve the accuracy of patient treatment by collecting biometric data before and after acupoint stimulation and providing guidance to the acupoint stimulation location tailored to the patient, and its Provides a method.

An acupoint location guiding system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sensor pad disposed on the upper surface of a bed to sense the patient's biometric information; Imaging means for acquiring body heat images before and after stimulation of acupuncture points of the patient located on the bed; a guiding means for loading the imaging means so that it is mounted and positioned to correspond to imaging of a patient's body part; a control unit that detects the location of the patient's acupoints by combining the sensed biometric information of the patient and the photographed body heat information before and after stimulation of the acupoints of the patient; And it is characterized in that it includes a pointing probe that points and displays the affected area of the patient to correspond to the detected location of the patient's acupuncture point.

Here, in particular, a display unit that displays on the screen the body heat image of the patient before and after stimulation of the acupuncture points obtained by the imaging means and the location of the patient's acupuncture points detected by the control unit; and a database that stores the patient's biometric information sensed by the sensing pad, the body thermal image data before and after stimulation of the patient's acupuncture points acquired by the imaging means, and the patient's acupoint location data detected by the control unit. There is.

Here, in particular, the sensor pad is an electrocardiogram measurement sensor that measures the patient's electrocardiogram, a pulse measurement sensor, an oxygen saturation measurement sensor, a body fat measurement sensor, a body temperature measurement sensor, a weight measurement sensor, an electromyography sensor that measures muscle fatigue, and a skin conductance sensor. Its unique feature is that it includes a measurement sensor and a respiration measurement sensor.

Here, the photographing means is particularly characterized in that it includes at least one infrared thermal imaging camera.

Here, in particular, the guiding means is characterized in that it includes a motor drive unit to drive the photographing means in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions on a support part having a predetermined height.

Here, in particular, the control unit calculates an error regarding the disparity between images captured by at least one camera of the imaging means, and detects the position of the patient's acupoint by reflecting the calculated error. there is.

Here, in particular, the control unit is characterized in that it predicts the patient's disease/disease by comparing and analyzing the image data taken before and after acupoint stimulation of the patient and the disease/disease information stored in the database.

In addition, the acupoint location guiding method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of sensing the patient's biometric information on a sensing pad disposed on the upper surface of the bed; Taking and obtaining thermal images of the patient located on the bed before and after stimulating acupuncture points; detecting the location of the patient's acupuncture points by combining the sensed biometric information of the patient and the acquired body heat information before and after stimulation of the acupoints of the patient; and a step of pointing and displaying the affected area of the patient to correspond to the detected location of the acupuncture point of the patient.

Here, in particular, before the step of photographing and acquiring the body heat image, the step of controlling the imaging distance by driving the imaging means in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions to photograph the affected part of the patient located in the bed It has that feature.

Here, in particular, in the step of detecting the position of the patient's acupoint, an error in the disparity between images captured by at least one camera of the imaging means is calculated, and the calculated error is reflected to determine the patient's acupoint location. Its characteristic lies in the point of detection.

Here, in particular, after the step of detecting the location of the acupuncture point of the patient, it further includes the step of predicting the patient's disease/disease by comparing and analyzing the image data before and after stimulation of the acupoint of the patient and the disease/disease information stored in the database. That characteristic lies in the point.

Here, especially in the step of sensing the biometric information, the sensed biometric information includes measuring the patient's electrocardiogram, pulse measurement, oxygen saturation measurement, body fat measurement, body temperature measurement, weight measurement, electromyography measurement, skin conductance measurement, and respiration measurement. Its characteristic is that it includes .

According to an embodiment disclosed in the present invention, the accuracy of patient treatment can be further improved by collecting biometric data before and after acupuncture stimulation of the patient and providing guidance on the stimulation location of acupuncture points tailored to the patient.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the overall structure of an acupuncture point position guiding system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the acupuncture point position guiding system of Figure 1.
3A and 3B are diagrams schematically showing explanations for correcting distance errors in images captured by the photographing means of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a diagram schematically showing the locations of acupuncture points in a typical person.
Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of guiding a patient by pointing to an acupoint location in the acupoint location guiding system of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a diagram schematically showing the sequence of the acupuncture point position guiding method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since the present invention can make various changes and have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all changes, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention. While describing each drawing, similar reference numerals are used for similar components.

Terms such as first, second, A, and B may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, a first component may be named a second component without departing from the scope of the present invention, and similarly, the second component may also be named a first component. The term and/or includes any of a plurality of related description items or a combination of a plurality of related description items.

The terms used in this application are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in the specification, but are not intended to indicate the presence of one or more other features. It should be understood that this does not exclude in advance the possibility of the existence or addition of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Throughout the specification and claims, when it is said that a part includes a certain component, this does not mean that other components are excluded, but that other components may be further included, unless specifically stated to the contrary.

Figure 1 is a diagram schematically showing the overall structure of an acupuncture point position guiding system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the acupuncture point position guiding system of Figure 1. 3a and 3b are diagrams schematically showing an explanation for correcting the distance error of the image captured by the imaging means of the present invention, Figure 4 is a diagram schematically showing the location of acupoints of a typical person, and Figure 5 is a diagram schematically showing the location of acupuncture points of a typical person. This diagram shows an example of guiding a patient by pointing to an acupoint location in an acupoint location guiding system.

As shown in FIG. 1, the acupuncture point position guiding system 100 includes a bed 110, a sensor pad 120, an imaging unit 130, a guiding unit 140, a control unit 150, and a display unit 160. ), a pointing investigation unit 170, and a database 180.

The sensor pad 120 is placed on the upper surface of the bed 110 and senses biometric information when the patient lies down to obtain biometric data of the patient.

More specifically, the sensor pad 120 includes a body fat measurement sensor, a body temperature measurement sensor, a weight measurement sensor, an electrocardiogram measurement sensor, a pulse measurement sensor, an oxygen saturation measurement sensor, an electromyography measurement sensor, a skin conductance measurement sensor, and a respiration measurement sensor. It may be configured to include, but is not limited to, this. Here, the electrocardiogram sensor is a device that measures the patient's electrocardiogram and amplifies and records small potential changes resulting from heart activity by inducing small potential changes from the activity of the heart in a certain manner at an appropriate part of the body surface, and the pulse measurement sensor is a device that amplifies and records small potential changes resulting from heart activity. It is a device that measures the pulse of the body, the electromyography sensor is a device that measures muscle fatigue, and the oxygen saturation sensor is a device that measures oxygen saturation of the skin. If there is an abnormality in the skin or body tissues, the oxygen supply is reduced and oxygen saturation decreases. It is a device that utilizes the lowering point. Additionally, a skin conductance measurement sensor is a device that allows accurate determination of the affected area by measuring skin conductivity near the patient's affected area.

And, the sensor pad 120 transmits the sensed biometric information data of the patient to the control unit 150.

The imaging means 130 captures body heat images of the patient located on the bed 110 before and after stimulating acupuncture points.

More specifically, the photographing means 130 may include at least one infrared thermal camera, and the thermal camera includes numerous temperature sensor elements called detectors that detect infrared rays. In other words, a thermal camera is a device that images infrared rays that exist in nature in the 1㎛ to 14㎛ band, which has a much longer wavelength than the visible light band. This device displays thermal images, so it expresses images in the black and white colors we know and gray levels depending on the high or low level of thermal energy, and derives thermal images by indicating information about thermal energy, such as the presence or absence of the subject and movement. Or, go a little further and measure temperature or heat distribution.

In other words, the location of the acupuncture points is identified through the distribution of heat, which is a change in body heat, by comparing the images taken before stimulating the patient's acupuncture points and the images taken after stimulating the acupuncture points using a thermal imaging camera.

In addition, the imaging means 130 captures an object in images obtained from different positions in the three-dimensional space of stereo vision through at least two thermal cameras, with the optical axes (f, f') of the two cameras being parallel. A non-convergence camera model that obtains multi-angle images can be applied. In other words, since two images are obtained parallel to the The location of a patient's acupuncture points can be accurately detected.

The guiding means 140 is loaded with the imaging means 130 so that it matches the position corresponding to the imaging of the patient's body part.

More specifically, the guiding means 140 may be configured so that fixed rails are disposed on both sides of the bed, and a support portion having a predetermined height is moved on both fixed rails. In addition, the fixing bar to which the support parts on both sides are connected may be configured to be placed at a higher position than the bed. Here, the photographing means 130 is mounted on the fixed bar.

That is, the photographing means 130 can be moved to the do. In other words, the guiding means 140 can be freely adjusted to the At this time, the guiding means 140 includes a motor drive unit for movement in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis and can be moved. Here, the guiding means 140 can be driven through the control unit and can also be manually adjusted by the user.

The control unit 150 detects the location of the patient's acupuncture points by combining the patient's biometric information sensed by the sensing pad 120 and the patient's body heat information before and after stimulation of the acupoints imaged by the imaging means 130.

More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the control unit 150 calculates an error regarding the disparity between images captured by at least one thermal camera of the photographing means 130, The patient's acupoint location is detected by reflecting the calculated error. For example, since the captured image is expressed in 2D, it is desirable to recognize and detect the stereoscopic image in 3D in order to determine the exact location of the acupuncture point for the three-dimensional patient.

Therefore, the control unit 150 calculates the distance difference (d = x_left - x_right) of corresponding points in the stereo image obtained through the non-convergent model to obtain a disparity value indicating depth, which is 3D information. In other words, the y value is the same at the two corresponding points (x_left, y_left) and (x_right, y_right), so the disparity value is calculated using the difference in x value (d = x_left - x_right).

In other words, the disparity value is obtained by calculating the distance difference (d = x_left - x_right) between the two corresponding points.

In addition, the control unit 150 includes the patient's biometric information sensed from the sensor pad 120, the acupoint location of the patient's acupoint stimulation image data before and after acupoint stimulation captured by the imaging means 130, and the patient's disease stored in the database. /Disease information can be transmitted and analyzed comprehensively to predict the patient's disease/disease. At this time, the control unit 150 can transmit and receive data with each component using wireless communication.

Specifically, the control unit 150 reflects information that can identify the user's health status, such as the patient's health status information, status of disease/disease, information on the progress of the disease/disease, etc., and the patient's health status information is This can be reflected when generating acupuncture point location coordinates.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the display unit 160 displays on the screen the body heat image of the patient before and after stimulation of the acupoint obtained by the imaging means 130 and the location of the patient's acupoint detected by the control unit 150. do. Here, the display unit 160 displays thermal images captured by the thermal camera, which is the photographing means, and therefore displays images in black, white, and gray levels as we know them, depending on the high or low level of thermal energy. Thermal images are derived to represent information about the subject, indicating the presence or absence and movement of the subject, or furthermore, temperature measurement or heat distribution.

In other words, the image taken before stimulating the patient's acupuncture points and the image taken after stimulating the acupuncture points are compared through the thermal camera to display the location of the acupuncture points corresponding to the distribution of heat, which is a change in body heat. At this time, the location of acupuncture points can be displayed on the image, taking the patient's health status into consideration.

The pointing probe unit 170 points and displays the patient's affected area to correspond to the location of the patient's acupuncture point detected by the control unit 150. Here, the pointing irradiation unit 170 may be composed of an LED light source, and it is desirable to use a light source that is harmless to the human body.

For example, as shown in Figure 5, by displaying the location of acupoints on the patient's face, the locations of acupuncture points corresponding to facial diseases such as facial paralysis, ptosis, and conjunctivitis can be displayed.

In addition, as shown in Figure 5, acupuncture point locations that are effective for a patient's disease/disease may be displayed in a separate color (e.g., orange) from acupoint locations unrelated to the disease/disease, or may be displayed in a separate color (e.g., orange). Not only can only acupuncture points that are effective be displayed to blink, but acupuncture points that should not be stimulated considering the user's disease/illness can be displayed in a different color (e.g. gray) than the acupuncture points that have the effect. ) can be displayed. That is, as described above, the location of acupuncture points can be displayed taking into account the user's health condition.

Therefore, in performing repeated acupuncture procedures by identifying the exact location of an acupuncture point suitable for a patient, the location of the acupuncture point is provided as an auxiliary pointer, thereby providing guidance to more accurately and quickly determine the location of the acupuncture point for each individual patient.

The database 180 includes the patient's biometric information sensed by the sensing pad 120, the patient's health status information, the body heat image data before and after stimulation of the patient's acupoints acquired by the imaging means, and the patient's acupoints detected by the control unit. Location data is stored. Additionally, the database 180 stores information on the coordinates of the entire standard acupuncture point location of the person.

Here, the health status information may include all information that can determine the user's health status, such as the user's disease/disease status and information on the progress of the disease/disease, and the user's health status stored in the database of the present invention. The information may be reflected when creating acupoint locations.

In addition, Figure 6 is a diagram schematically showing the sequence of the acupuncture point position guiding method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, detailed description with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5 will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the acupoint location guiding method according to an embodiment of the present invention first involves sensing the patient's biometric information on a sensing pad placed on the upper surface of the bed (S610).

Here, the sensed biometric information may include measuring the patient's electrocardiogram, pulse measurement, oxygen saturation measurement, body fat measurement, body temperature measurement, weight measurement, electromyography measurement, skin conductance measurement, and respiration measurement.

Then, a step of capturing and acquiring body heat images before and after stimulation of acupuncture points of the patient located in the bed is performed (S620).

First, before the step of capturing and acquiring the body heat image, the imaging means is driven in the

In addition, the location of the acupuncture points is identified through the distribution of heat, which is a change in body heat, by comparing the images taken before stimulating the patient's acupuncture points and the images taken after stimulating the acupuncture points using a thermal imaging camera.

In addition, from images acquired from different positions in the three-dimensional space of stereo vision through at least two thermal cameras, a multi-angle image of an object is obtained with the optical axes (f, f') of the two cameras being parallel. A non-convergence camera model can be applied. In other words, since two images are obtained parallel to the The location of a patient's acupuncture points can be accurately detected.

Then, a step of detecting the location of the patient's acupoints is performed by combining the sensed biometric information of the patient and the obtained body heat information before and after stimulation of the acupoints of the patient (S620).

More specifically, an error regarding the disparity between images captured by the at least one thermal camera is calculated, and the position of the patient's acupoint is detected by reflecting the calculated error. For example, since the captured image is expressed in 2D, it is desirable to recognize and detect the stereoscopic image in 3D in order to determine the exact location of the acupuncture point for the three-dimensional patient.

In addition, the patient's disease/disease information is predicted and provided by comprehensively comparing and analyzing the sensed patient's biometric information, the acupuncture point location of the image data before and after the imaged patient's acupuncture point stimulation, and the patient's disease/disease information stored in the database. can do.

For example, the patient's health status information will be reflected when generating acupuncture point location coordinates by reflecting information that can identify the user's health status, such as the status of the patient's health status and information on the progress of the disease/disease. You can.

Next, a step of pointing and displaying the patient's affected area to correspond to the detected location of the patient's acupuncture point is performed (S640). Here, the patient's acupoint location can be displayed by pointing with an LED light source, and the acupuncture point location that is effective for the patient's disease/disease has a separate color (e.g., orange) from the acupuncture point location unrelated to the disease/disease. It can be displayed as, or only the acupoints that are effective for the disease/disease can be displayed to blink, and acupuncture points that should not be stimulated considering the disease/disease that the user has are the acupuncture points that have the effect. It can be displayed in a different color (e.g. gray) from the position.

One embodiment of the present invention may also be implemented in the form of a recording medium containing instructions executable by a computer, such as program modules executed by a computer. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer and includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. Additionally, computer-readable media may include both computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Communication media typically includes computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave, or other transmission mechanism, and includes any information delivery medium.

Although the methods and systems of the present invention have been described with respect to specific embodiments, some or all of their components or operations may be implemented using a computer system having a general-purpose hardware architecture.

The description of the present invention described above is for illustrative purposes, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention can be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical idea or essential features of the present invention. will be. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. For example, each component described as unitary may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims described below rather than the detailed description above, and all changes or modified forms derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. do.

110: bed
120: sensor pad
130: Photography means
140: Guiding means
150: control unit
160: Display unit
170: Pointing Investigation Department
180: database

Claims (12)

A sensor pad placed on the upper surface of the bed to sense the patient's biometric information;
Imaging means for acquiring body heat images before and after stimulation of acupuncture points of the patient located on the bed;
a guiding means for loading the imaging means so that it is mounted and positioned to correspond to imaging of a patient's body part;
a control unit that detects the location of the patient's acupoints by combining the sensed biometric information of the patient and the photographed body heat information before and after stimulation of the acupoints of the patient; and
An acupoint location guiding system including a pointing probe that points and displays the affected area of the patient to correspond to the detected location of the acupuncture point of the patient.
According to paragraph 1,
a display unit that displays on a screen the body heat image of the patient before and after stimulating acupuncture points obtained by the imaging means and the location of the patient's acupuncture points detected by the control unit; and
An acupoint location guiding system further comprising a database that stores the patient's biometric information sensed by the sensing pad, the patient's thermal image data before and after stimulation of the acupuncture point acquired by the imaging means, and the patient's acupoint location data detected by the control unit. .
According to paragraph 1,
The sensor pad includes an electrocardiogram sensor that measures the patient's electrocardiogram, a pulse sensor, an oxygen saturation sensor, a body fat sensor, a body temperature sensor, a weight sensor, an electromyogram sensor, a skin conductance sensor, and a respiration sensor. An acupoint location guiding system characterized in that:
According to paragraph 1,
An acupoint location guiding system, wherein the imaging means includes at least one infrared thermal imaging camera.
According to paragraph 1,
The acupuncture point position guiding system, wherein the guiding means includes a motor drive unit to drive the imaging means in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions on a support part having a predetermined height.
According to paragraph 1,
The control unit calculates an error in disparity between images captured by at least one camera of the photographing means, and detects the position of the patient's acupuncture point by reflecting the calculated error. system.
According to paragraph 1,
The control unit predicts the patient's disease/disease by comparing and analyzing the image data taken before and after stimulation of the acupuncture point and the disease/disease information stored in the database.
Sensing the patient's biometric information on a sensing pad placed on the upper surface of the bed;
Taking and obtaining thermal images of the patient located on the bed before and after stimulating acupuncture points;
detecting the location of the patient's acupuncture points by combining the sensed biometric information of the patient and the acquired body heat information before and after stimulation of the acupoints of the patient; and
An acupoint location guiding method comprising: pointing and displaying the affected area of the patient to correspond to the detected location of the acupuncture point of the patient.
According to clause 8,
Before the step of capturing and acquiring the body heat image, the step of controlling the imaging distance by driving the imaging means in the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions to photograph the affected part of the patient located in the bed. Acupoint location guidance method.
According to clause 8,
In the step of detecting the location of the patient's acupuncture points,
An acupuncture point position guiding method characterized by calculating an error in the disparity between images captured by at least one camera of an imaging means and detecting the position of the patient's acupuncture point by reflecting the calculated error.
According to clause 8,
After detecting the location of the patient's acupuncture points,
An acupuncture point location guiding method further comprising the step of predicting the patient's disease/disease by comparing and analyzing the image data before and after acupuncture stimulation of the patient and disease/disease information stored in a database.
According to clause 8,
In the step of sensing the biometric information,
The sensed biometric information includes measuring the patient's electrocardiogram, pulse measurement, oxygen saturation measurement, body fat measurement, body temperature measurement, weight measurement, electromyography measurement, skin conductance measurement, and respiration measurement. .