WO2014035040A1

WO2014035040A1 - Multi-channel impedance measuring method and multi-channel impedance measuring instrument

Info

Publication number: WO2014035040A1
Application number: PCT/KR2013/005779
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김병철; 김철민; 이창형
Original assignee: 부산대학교 산학협력단
Priority date: 2012-08-31
Filing date: 2013-06-28
Publication date: 2014-03-06
Also published as: KR101324560B1

Abstract

The present invention provides a multi-channel impedance measuring method and multi-channel impedance measuring instrument for measuring an in-body impedance by passing a weak current through the human body. A multi-channel impedance measuring instrument (10), according to the present invention, comprises a computer unit (20), a measuring unit (30) and a pad unit (60) and measures an in-body impedance by passing a weak current through the human body. According to the present invention, the multi-channel impedance measuring method and the multi-channel impedance measuring instrument enables a user to measure an impedance with multiple channels instead of using the existing two-channel method such that an impedance of a muscle layer can be more accurately measured, and to enable various types of analysis to be carried out through the computer unit (20), thereby easily analyzing a contact resistance and a capacitive reactance.

Description

Multi-channel impedance measuring method and measuring instrument

The present invention relates to a multi-channel impedance measurement method and a measuring device, and more particularly, it is easy to analyze contact resistance and capacitive reactance when measuring the impedance in the body by passing a weak current through the human body and accurately measuring the impedance of the muscle layer. The present invention relates to a multi-channel impedance measurement method and a measuring device.

Bioimpedance measuring devices are widely used to measure body fat. The muscles in your body are high in water, while the fat is low in water. Accordingly, the bioimpedance value decreases with more muscle and increases with more fat. By measuring the impedance of the body, the body water, muscle mass, and fat mass of the subject can be obtained with a simple and high reproducibility.

The bioimpedance measuring apparatus attaches electrodes to body parts such as both hands or feet, selects a pair of the electrodes according to the measurement site, applies a current signal for measurement, and then selects an appropriate electrode pair according to the measurement site. The bioimpedance is measured by measuring the voltage at both ends thereof.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-0879787 "Bioelectric impedance measuring method and measuring device" is a pair of electrodes for measuring electricity so that the measuring electrode of a small area comes to a position that is recognized as the electrode equipotential for a small area of electricity. A pair of measuring electrodes are attached and arranged in a straight line on the surface of the living body. In a state in which a constant current flows from the high frequency current source between the current-carrying electrodes, the electrode between the electrodes for measurement is measured by a detector. Since the measuring electrode is almost equipotential to the attachment part of the electrode for energization, and the measuring electrode is almost equipotential to the deepest position of the longitudinal part in the living body, the detector can obtain the potential difference between the upper and lower ends of the longitudinal part. It is possible to propose a technique for calculating the bioelectrical impedance of the longitudinal region from the potential difference and the current value i.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2008-0088727 "Meridians Impedance Measurement and Analysis Device" measures a subject's bioimpedance, electrocardiogram and PPG using a measurement sensor, the bioimpedance is a two-channel method using a four-electrode method Measuring means for measuring the electrocardiogram and PPG simultaneously; And displaying the measurement state by integrating the two-channel bioimpedance measurement signal and the electrocardiogram and PPG measurement signal for each examinee inputted through the measurement means, or displaying the two-channel bioimpedance, electrocardiogram and PPG measurement data. It is proposed a technology including an analysis and storage means for calculating the integrated meridians impedance for each subject through the comparative analysis of clinical trial data and the stored data, and storing and outputting the results.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-0584114 "Skin Impedance Measurement Device" measures AC impedance measured with a black electrode and a reference electrode at a specific frequency and a specific skin region, and a similar frequency and the same region with a measuring electrode and a reference electrode. The difference between the measured impedances is used to determine the health of the viscera corresponding to the area of skin examined. Instead, the skin between the electrodes is exposed to a DC potential of a selected size to give a break-through effect. The resistance of the skin is measured between the measuring electrodes polarized with respect to the reference electrode and the DC resistance value of the same skin area is measured again but with the measuring electrode polarized with respect to the reference electrode. The ratio of these two values is used to determine the health of the viscera corresponding to the area of skin examined.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new type of multi-channel impedance measuring method and measuring device which can further improve the prior art to facilitate analysis of contact resistance and capacitive reactance.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a new type of multi-channel impedance measurement method and a measuring device capable of accurately measuring the impedance of the muscle layer.

According to a feature of the present invention for achieving the above object, the present invention is an impedance measurement method for measuring the impedance in the body by passing a weak current through the human body, for controlling the impedance under the control of the computer unit 20 On one side of the measurement target point on the skin of the measurer, a power transmission pad 62 receiving RF power from the measuring unit 30 for generating RF power and receiving and transmitting power loss to the computer unit 20. And a plurality of pads of the measurement pad 64 including a plurality of pads which are applied to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62 and receive RF power passing through a measurement target point at different positions, respectively. It is arranged on the other side of the power transmission pad 62 so that the RF power is applied to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62. Via a plurality of pads, each of the measurement pads 64 measuring the power loss generated in the measurement target point passes, and to obtain the impedance of the muscle via the computer unit (20).

In the multi-channel impedance measurement method according to the present invention, the RF power transmitted to the power transmission pad 62 may be transmitted to the plurality of pads of the measurement pad 64 with a time difference.

In the multi-channel impedance measurement method according to the present invention, the frequency of the RF power can be obtained by using a sine wave in the range of 1kHz to 2MHz through the DDFS (frequency FS).

According to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, the present invention is an impedance measuring device for measuring the impedance in the body by passing a weak current through the human body, computer unit 20 for calculating the impedance of the muscle layer 20 Wow; A measurement unit (30) for generating RF power for impedance measurement under the control of the computer unit (20), receiving and transmitting power loss amount to the computer unit (20); A pad unit 60 attached to the skin of the measurer; The pad unit 60 receives RF power from the measuring unit 30, and is attached to one side of the measurement target point on the skin of the measurer 62, and the other side of the power transmission pad 62. A measurement pad 64 is formed of a plurality of pads which are applied to the skin of the measurer through 62 and receive the RF power passing through the measurement target point at different positions, respectively.

In the multi-channel impedance measuring device according to the present invention, the measuring unit 30 receives the operation signal from the communication module 32 and the computer unit 20 for connection with the computer unit 20, A microprocessor 34 for performing a control for measuring a loss amount, a function generator 36 operated by the microprocessor 34 to generate RF power, and an RF power generated by the function generator 36. An amplifier 38 for amplifying and transmitting to the power transmission pad 62 of the pad unit 60, a switching logic 40 for controlling transmission and reception of RF power of the pad unit 60, and the pad. The log amplifier 50 for converting the RF power received by the measurement pad 64 of the unit 60 into an analog signal, and the analog signal passed through the log amplifier 50 It may have an A / D (A / D) converter 52 for transmission by converting a signal to the microprocessor 34.

In the multi-channel impedance measuring device according to the present invention, the function generator 36 may include a DDFS for generating a sine wave in the range of 1 kHz to 2 MHz.

According to the multi-channel impedance measuring method and measuring device according to the present invention, since it can be configured as a multi-channel with one port per channel (one pad per channel), software (program) installed on a computer unit (PC) by measuring the power loss amount Through the principle of converting the human body impedance, it is possible to measure the impedance of the muscle layer more accurately while obtaining all the power loss amount, the transmitted voltage and the current amount. In addition, the skin layer, which is a contact portion of the impedance measuring instrument, is represented by an equivalent circuit including a high DC contact resistance and a capacitive reactance. In the present invention, the frequency of the minute power applied to the human body uses a DDFS to generate a sinusoidal wave in the range of 1 kHz to 2 MHz. By applying to the human body impedance change by frequency in the form of an intuitive graph, the contact resistance and capacitive reactance can be easily analyzed, and the impedance of the muscle layer can be accurately measured.

1 is a block diagram for explaining a multi-channel impedance measuring method and measuring device according to the technical idea of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram for explaining a multi-channel impedance measurement method and a measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a block diagram illustrating a method for measuring between channels in a multi-channel impedance measuring method and measuring device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a graphical diagram showing an example of impedance measurement software installed in a computer unit in a multichannel impedance meter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a graphic diagram showing an example of measurement data analysis performed through a computer unit in a multi-channel impedance meter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, FIGS. 2 to 5, and the same reference numerals will be given for components that perform the same function in FIGS. 1 to 5. In the drawings, detailed descriptions of techniques that can be easily applied by those skilled in the art will be omitted from the general impedance measuring method and the technology related to the measuring device. In addition, although the size ratio between elements is somewhat different in the drawings of the drawings, or the size between the parts that are coupled to each other is expressed differently, the representation differences in such drawings are easily understood by those skilled in the art. The descriptions are omitted since they are possible parts.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a multi-channel impedance measuring method and measuring apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a multi-channel impedance measuring method and measuring method between each channel in the measuring apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention 4 is a graphic diagram showing an example of impedance measurement software installed in a computer unit in a multi-channel impedance meter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Graphical diagram showing an example of measurement data analysis performed by a computer unit in a multi-channel impedance meter according to the present invention. At this time, the multi-channel impedance measuring instrument 10 shown in FIGS. 2 to 5 shows an example of a four-channel method, so that the pad unit 60 uses the power transmission pad 62 as the pad A, and thus the pad B 70 and the pad C. The form provided with the measurement pad 64 which consists of 72 and the pad D74 is shown.

2 and 3, the multi-channel impedance measuring instrument 10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention basically includes a computer unit 20, a measuring unit 30, and a pad unit 60 attached to the skin of the measurer. Measure the impedance in the body by passing a weak current through the human body. Here, the computer unit 20 calculates the impedance of the muscle layer. The measurement unit 30 generates RF power for impedance measurement under the control of the computer unit 20, receives the power loss, and transmits the received power loss to the computer unit 20. The pad unit 60 is connected to the measuring unit 30 and is configured to be attached to the skin of the measurer.

At this time, in the present embodiment, the pad unit 60 is composed of one power transmission pad 62 and a plurality of measurement pads 64. The power transmission pad 62 receives RF power from the measuring unit 30 and is attached to one side of the measurement target point on the skin of the measuring person. In addition, the measurement pad 64 includes a plurality of pads that receive RF power applied from the other side of the power transmission pad 62 to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62 and passed through the measurement target point at different positions, respectively. .

On the other hand, in the multi-channel impedance measuring instrument 10 according to the present embodiment, the measuring unit 30 is a communication module 32, a microprocessor 34, a function generator 36 (funcion generator), an amplifier (38), switching And a logic 40 (Switching Logic, Multiplexer), a log amplifier 50 (Logarithmic AMP), and an A / D converter 52. Here, the communication module 32 is to be connected to the computer unit 20 to perform data communication, USB and RS-232 communication may be applied. The microprocessor 34 applies an 8-bit microprocessor to receive an operation signal from the computer unit 20 and to perform a control for measuring a loss amount of RF power. The function generator 36 is operated by the microprocessor 34 to generate RF power. The amplifier 38 amplifies the RF power generated by the function generator 36 to be transmitted to the power transmission pad 62 of the pad unit 60, and the switching logic 40 supplies the RF power of the pad unit 60. Control the transmission and reception of The log amplifier 50 converts the RF power received by the measurement pad 64 of the pad unit 60 into an analog signal, and the A / D converter 52 converts the analog signal passed through the log amplifier 50. The signal is converted into a digital signal and transmitted to the microprocessor 34.

In particular, the multi-channel impedance measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment may apply a Direct Digital Frequency Synthsizer (DDFS) for generating a sine wave in the range of 1 kHz to 2 MHz so as to obtain a human body impedance change amount by frequency.

As described above, the multi-channel impedance measuring device 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment consists of a non-invasive human body impedance measuring device, and applies a small amount of RF power of a wide range of frequencies to a human body using a PAD (electrode) at a specific interval, and then passes the target point. Measure the amount of power loss that occurs. The measured power loss amount is obtained by converting the human body impedance through the processing program 22 linked with the computer unit 20 to obtain both the power loss amount, the transmitted voltage, and the current amount.

In addition, in the multi-channel impedance measuring apparatus 10 according to the present exemplary embodiment, since the skin layer, which is a contact portion of the impedance measuring instrument, is represented by an equivalent circuit including a high DC contact resistance and a capacitive reactance, the frequency of the minute power applied to the human body is Using DDFS, sinusoidal wave in the range of 1kHz ~ 2MHz is applied to the human body so that the change in human body impedance by frequency can be obtained in an intuitive graph form so that contact resistance and capacitive reactance can be easily analyzed, and the impedance of muscle layer can be measured accurately. do.

2 and 3, the multi-channel impedance measuring method according to the present embodiment to measure the internal impedance by passing a weak current through the human body in a multi-channel method. That is, when the operation signal is received from the computer unit 20 by the microprocessor 34 of the measurement unit 30, the microprocessor 34 operates the function generator 34 and amplifies the generated frequency to form the electrode pad A. (62), pad B (70), pad C (72), and pad D (74). The transmitted signal is analyzed by the LOG amp 50 through the muscle and outputs each analog data signal. At this time, the output signal is converted into a digital signal through the A / D converter 52 and received by the microprocessor 34, and each received data is transmitted to the computer unit 20 and embedded in the processing program 22. The resistance value is interpreted according to the formula, and the resistance value is expressed as a constant value. In particular, as shown in Figure 3, the multi-channel impedance measurement according to the present embodiment is a switching logic {40; Pad A 62 is then connected to first switching logic 42 and pad B 70, pad C 72 and pad D 74 are connected to second switching logic 44, respectively. The

pads

62, 70, 72 and 74 can be measured all at once. In other words, when the RF signal is sent from the pad A 62, the pad B 62 is transmitted to the pad B 70, the pad C 72, the pad D 74, and so on. At this time, the time difference is in ms unit. The signal sent from pad A 62 causes data to be input through each other pad. The power loss between the pad A 62, which is the power transmission pad 62, and the pad B 70, the pad C 72, and the pad D 74, which are the measurement pads 64, is an analog signal through the LOG amp 50. The analog signal is converted into a digital value through the A / D converter 52 (ex: 0xFF) and transmitted to the computer unit 20 through a communication module 32 such as USB to process the program 22 Through the calculation process for the received signal through) will be expressed as a constant value and a graph.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 4, the processing program 22 installed in the computer unit 20 is operated in conjunction with the computer unit 20, the hardware of the measurement unit 30, the operation related to the operation of the hardware, the patient It is configured to enable information storage, analysis of measured data. In addition, in this embodiment, when the four-channel method is applied, the pad A 62 is located on the upper thigh, the pad B 70 is located on the knee below the thigh, and pad C ( 72 shows the outer side of the thigh and the pad D 74 is graphically shown through the processing program 22 to be attached to the inner side of the thigh so as to enhance the user's convenience. As shown in FIG. 5, the processing program 22 installed in the computer unit 20 separately forms a measured data analysis window in which measurement data is displayed in graphs and constant values, information of a measurer, a file name, a measurement time, and the like. Make analysis easier.

As described above, although the multi-channel impedance measuring method and the measuring device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention have been shown in accordance with the above description and the drawings, these are merely described as examples, and do not depart from the spirit of the present invention. Various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a multi-channel impedance measurement method and a measuring device according to the inventive concept.

Referring to FIG. 1, the multi-channel impedance measuring method and the measuring device according to the present invention can measure impedance by multi-channel by escaping the conventional two-channel method, so that the impedance of the muscle layer can be obtained more accurately, and the computer unit ( 20) enables more diverse analysis, making it easier to analyze contact resistance and capacitive reactance.

The multi-channel impedance measuring device 10 according to the present invention includes a computer unit 20, a measuring unit 30, and a pad unit 60 attached to the skin of a measurer to allow a weak current to pass through a human body to allow internal impedance. Measure At this time, the computer unit 20 is a configuration for calculating the impedance of the muscle layer, generally a computer system including a main body, a monitor, a printer, etc. will be applied. The measurement unit 30 generates RF power for impedance measurement under the control of the computer unit 20, receives the power loss, and transmits the received power loss to the computer unit 20. Such a measuring unit 30 is typically configured to be built with one circuit board so as to be connected to the computer unit 20 and the pad unit 60. In addition, the pad unit 60 is connected to the measurement unit 30 and is configured to be attached to the skin of the measurer. The pad applied to the pad unit 60 may be applied in various forms, but the electrode is directly applied to the skin. It is desirable to apply a shape configured to be in contact so as to reduce the measurement error.

At this time, in the present invention, the pad unit 60 is composed of one power transmission pad 62 and a plurality of measurement pads 64. The power transmission pad 62 receives RF power from the measuring unit 30 and is attached to one side of the measurement target point on the skin of the measuring person. In addition, the measurement pad 64 includes a plurality of pads that receive RF power applied from the other side of the power transmission pad 62 to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62 and passed through the measurement target point at different positions, respectively. .

The multi-channel impedance measuring device 10 having such a configuration allows the weak current to pass through the human body in the multi-channel method according to the present invention to measure the internal impedance. That is, in the multi-channel impedance measuring method according to the present invention, the power transmission pad 62, which is supplied with the RF power from the measuring unit 30, is attached to one side of the measurement target point on the skin of the measurer, and the plurality of measurement pads 64 The pad is arranged on the other side of the power transmission pad 62. Then, when the processing program already installed in the computer unit 20 is driven, the measurement unit 30 applies RF power to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62, and each of the plurality of pads of the measurement pad 64 is provided. Through this, the amount of power loss generated when passing the measurement target point is measured. In addition, the amount of power loss measured at each pad of the measurement pad 64 is transmitted to the computer unit 20 through the measurement unit 30, and the impedance of the muscle layer is computed through the computer unit 20. Have a variety of information displayed.

In this case, as described above, the measurement unit 30 generates RF power for impedance measurement under the control of the computer unit 20, receives the power loss, transmits the received power loss to the computer unit 20, and measures it. The pad 64 is composed of a plurality of pads, which are applied to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62 and receive the RF power passing through the measurement target point at different positions, respectively.

As described above, the multi-channel impedance measuring method and measuring device according to the present invention measures power loss through a multi-channel consisting of one port per channel, and converts human impedance through a processing program installed on the computer unit 20. It allows you to measure the impedance of the muscle layer more accurately while getting all the losses, the transmitted voltage and the current.

Claims

In the impedance measurement method for measuring the impedance in the body by passing a weak current through the human body,

A power transmission pad receiving RF power from the measurement unit 30 for generating RF power for impedance measurement under the control of the computer unit 20, receiving the power loss, and transmitting the received RF power to the computer unit 20. A plurality of pads for attaching 62 to one side of a measurement target point on the skin of the measurer, and receiving RF powers applied to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62 and passing through the measurement target point, respectively, at different positions. A plurality of pads of the measurement pads 64 formed on the other side of the power transmission pad 62 to apply RF power to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62, and then the plurality of pads of the measurement pad 64. Measuring the amount of power loss generated when passing the measurement target points through the respective pads, and obtaining the impedance of the muscle layer through the computer unit 20 Multi-channel impedance measurement method characterized in that.
The method of claim 1,

The RF power transmitted to the power transmission pad (62) is a multi-channel impedance measurement method characterized in that to be transmitted to each of the plurality of pads of the measurement pad (64) with a time difference.
The method according to claim 1 or 2,

The frequency of the RF power is a multi-channel impedance measurement method characterized in that to obtain a change in the human body impedance by frequency by using a sine wave in the range of 1kHz to 2MHz through DDFS.
Impedance measuring device for measuring the impedance in the body by passing a weak current through the human body,

A computer unit 20 for calculating the impedance of the muscle layer;

A measurement unit (30) for generating RF power for impedance measurement under the control of the computer unit (20), receiving and transmitting power loss amount to the computer unit (20);

A pad unit 60 attached to the skin of the measurer;

The pad unit 60 is supplied with RF power from the measuring unit 30, the power transmission pad 62 is attached to one side of the measurement target point on the skin of the measuring person,

A measurement pad 64 made up of a plurality of pads that receive RF powers applied from the other side of the power transmission pad 62 to the skin of the measurer through the power transmission pad 62 and passed through a measurement target point at different positions, respectively; Multi-channel impedance measuring instrument characterized in that it comprises.
The method of claim 4, wherein

The measuring unit 30 includes a communication module 32 for connecting with the computer unit 20,

A microprocessor 34 for receiving an operation signal from the computer unit 20 and performing control for measuring an amount of loss of RF power;

A function generator 36 operated by the microprocessor 34 to generate RF power,

An amplifier 38 for amplifying the RF power generated by the function generator 36 to be transmitted to the power transmission pad 62 of the pad unit 60;

Switching logic 40 for controlling transmission and reception of RF power of the pad unit 60;

A log amplifier 50 for converting RF power received by the measurement pad 64 of the pad unit 60 into an analog signal,

A / D converter 52 for converting an analog signal passing through the log amplifier 50 into a digital signal and transmitting the digital signal to the microprocessor 34. .
The method of claim 5,

The function generator (36) is characterized in that it comprises a DDFS (DDFS) for generating a sine wave in the range of 1kHz to 2MHz.