WO2019045593A1

WO2019045593A1 - Device and method for measuring activity of the fingertip sweat glands

Info

Publication number: WO2019045593A1
Application number: PCT/RU2017/000804
Authority: WO
Inventors: Дмитрий Игоревич РОСТКОВСКИЙ; Андрей Евгеньевич ТРУШИН
Original assignee: Дмитрий Игоревич РОСТКОВСКИЙ
Priority date: 2017-09-04
Filing date: 2017-10-31
Publication date: 2019-03-07
Also published as: RU2656558C1

Abstract

The group of inventions relates to a device and method for measuring activity of the fingertip sweat glands. The device comprises glass plates arranged in parallel to each other with a gap therebetween which is filled with a dielectric gas, a camera with an objective being directed at the plates, and a control unit with an energy source. A plate in contact with the fingertip is non-transparent. A plate located between the non-transparent plate and the camera is transparent and has an electrically conductive coating and is connected to the control unit. The method comprises applying a voltage to the transparent plate, pressing the fingertip against the external non-transparent plate of the device and recording the image with the camera. The group of inventions makes it possible to increase the accuracy of readings from the device and of the fingertip sweat gland activity measurement results.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR MEASURING THE ACTIVITY OF WORK OF THE CELLULAR IRON ON A FINGER CUSHION

The group of inventions relates to the field of physics and can be used in physiology and medicine to determine the psychophysical state of a person on the basis of measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the fingertip, in particular to a stress tester.

A person in a modern metropolis is almost always in a state of stress, which extremely negatively affects his physiology and leads to many diseases. At the same time, the reaction of sweat glands to stress is well known. Sweating is an integral part of the body's response to fever and other, external and internal, including psychological, factors and stimuli. Each sweat gland has muscle and nerve fibers, ensuring its operation and controlling activity. The work and activity of the sweat gland is controlled by the nervous and endocrine systems. A certain zone of the hypothalamus controls the temperature of the body, regulating the sweating. This center responds not only to changes in temperature, but also to a person’s physical and emotional activity. Thus, perspiration is caused not only by an increase in body temperature, but also by other factors, among which the emotional state plays the main role. The sweat glands on the hands and feet mainly respond to emotional stimuli. There is a specific center in the hypothalamus that controls these glands. It is believed that this center, distinct from the centers that regulate perspiration in other parts of the body, is controlled by the cerebral cortex and does not respond to changes in temperature. Emotional stress, stress, almost instantly changes the nature of the work of the sweat glands, especially on the feet, palms and armpits, leading to increased sweating. Uncontrolled sweating is a symptom of anxiety, tension, emotional overload, and fear. Most city dwellers know what stress is and its negative impact on daily life, but they don’t know how to measure it. In this regard, there is a need for methods and devices for measuring stress.

Thus, in the prior art, a device is known for determining the state of a biological object in a pulsed electric field of high intensity, including an electric pulse generator, a transparent plate equipped with an electrode made in the form of an optically transparent conductive material applied onto it, a lens, an optoelectronic digital converter, a computer and an information display unit, the generator output connected to the electrode, and the computer output connected to the input of the information presentation unit (Russia NS99947, А61 В5 / 05, 10.12.2010)

Also, in the prior art, a method for measuring the electrical conductivity of an object's surface for diagnosing the physical state of an object is known, based on taking a glow of a gas discharge around an object in a high-frequency field and including a step-by-step increase in voltage applied to the electrode (France Ns2803661, A61 B5 / 05, 13.07.2001).

As the closest analogue, a device and method for studying biological structures for the purpose of diagnosis has been adopted. The device contains two transparent plates between which a dielectric is placed, electrically conductive sputtering is applied on the plates, a chamber connected to a computer is placed opposite the plates, and the plates are connected to a high-frequency generator. According to the method, a biological object is applied to the outer plate, voltage is applied to the plates, the resulting glow is recorded by the camera and recorded in the computer's memory, where the image is processed and analyzed (Germany N23707338, A61 B5 / 05, 10/15/1987).

The disadvantage of the closest analogue is the lack of reliability of the device. The object under study (fingertip) is pressed directly onto a glass plate with electrically conductive spraying and as a result of the shooting, an image of the gas discharge is obtained only in a narrow space on the border where the finger touches the glass. Further, only the resulting annular luminescence is subjected to analysis, the shape and topography of which depends on many factors: the force of pressure, the angle of pressing and rotation of the finger. Taking into account the fact that these factors are normalized with great difficulty, and the scatter of readings is large, the results of the readings are not accurate. Also for the measurement a prerequisite is to completely darken the space in which there is a fingertip when shooting. In the case of the penetration of external light into the place where the discharge occurs, due to the weakness (dimness) of the gas discharge within the permissible current values, external light is a serious obstacle to obtaining reliable images.

In addition, the well-known solution does not take into account the influence of external factors on the readings of the device, in particular, temperature and humidity, which have a great influence on the resulting image. When conducting an experiment and interpreting the results, an expert is usually needed who understands the operation of the device.

The task of the group of inventions is to eliminate these drawbacks, to create an autonomous, easy-to-use device for everyday use that does not require any special knowledge or prior training, to quickly obtain measurement results, to increase the reliability of readings due to the fact that they receive an image of the entire finger pad, and not just contours, take into account the influence of humidity and air temperature, increasing the functional capabilities of the device and expanding Arsenal of technical means. In addition, the method allows you to take pictures in normal daylight or room lighting without darkening your fingers.

The technical result of the patented solution is to improve the accuracy of the device readings and the measurement results of the activity of the sweat glands on the fingertip, the ability to measure without the use of light shields and the absence of a “human factor” as an operator or expert.

The claimed technical result is achieved in a device for measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the finger pad, which contains glass plates parallel to each other with a gap filled with a gas dielectric, a camera whose lens is directed onto the plates, and a control unit with an energy source, while the plate in contact with the pad of the finger, made opaque, and the plate located between the opaque plate and the camera, made transparent with conductive coating and connected to the control unit.

Thanks to the device with two glass plates arranged parallel to each other with a gap filled with a gas dielectric, where the plate in contact with the pad of the finger is made opaque and without conductive layers, and the plate between the opaque plate and the camera is made transparent with conductive spraying surface gas discharge occurs between two glass plates, and not between the glass plate and the fingertip. Thus, the fixation and analysis of the glow of the entire fingertip is provided, and the measurement results are not affected by the force of pressure, the angle of pressing and rotation of the finger. Filling the gap with a gas dielectric enables the formation of a gas discharge between a transparent plate with conductive spraying and an opaque plate in contact with the pad of the finger.

In addition, the use of an opaque glass plate in contact with the pad of the finger eliminates the penetration of external light where the discharge takes place - between the two glass plates, therefore, the influence of external light on the measurement results is eliminated and the accuracy of the measurement results is improved.

In particular, conductive sputtering is performed on the surface of the transparent plate opposite to the side facing the opaque plate, or conductive sputtering is performed on the surface of the transparent plate facing the opaque plate.

In particular, the camera is connected to the control unit, and the control unit is made with temperature and humidity sensors, which allows to take into account the influence of external factors on the measurement results and further improve the measurement accuracy of the activity of the sweat glands on the fingertip.

In particular, the control unit is made with a USB port for connecting to a computer or information output means, for example, a display for displaying measurement results.

The control unit is configured to generate high-voltage pulses and adjust the amount of voltage applied to the transparent plate. In particular, air, inert or active gases, for example, air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, gas, helium, argon, neon, are used as gas dielectric.

The technical result is also achieved due to the method of measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the finger pad using a device for measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the finger pad, which includes applying voltage to a transparent plate with conductive spraying, pressing the finger pad to the opaque plate of the device and fixing the image with a camera.

By applying voltage to the transparent plate with conductive spraying of the device, pressing the finger pad against the opaque plate of the device and fixing the image with the camera improves the accuracy of the measurement results and eliminates the need to darken the shooting area.

In the particular case of the implementation, the steps of the method are repeated with increasing voltage, by increasing the key opening time of the high-voltage pulse generation circuit in the control unit with a step of 2-5 μs, a series of images are obtained, which reflect the activity levels of the sweat glands with high accuracy. In this case, the voltage value is regulated by opening-closing the key in the high-voltage pulse formation circuit.

The fixed image can be processed taking into account the readings of the temperature and humidity sensor, which leads to an additional increase in the measurement accuracy of the activity of the sweat glands on the pad of the finger.

The essence of the group of inventions is illustrated by drawings.

Figure 1 shows a photograph of a fingertip pad with drops of sweat under a microscope.

In figure 2 is a structural diagram of the device.

In figure 3 - the image of the glow of the gas discharge, obtained by the claimed method using the claimed device.

In figure 4 - the image of the glow of the gas discharge, obtained in a known manner using a known device. In figure 5 - fragments of images of the glow of the gas discharge, obtained by increasing the voltage according to the claimed method.

It is known that on the surface of human skin there is a large number of pores - openings of the excretory ducts of the sweat glands on the surface of the skin (see Fig. 1). The number of sweat glands in the skin of the face, palms - 400 - 500 glands per 1 cm ² . The sweat gland consists of the secretory glomerulus (end section) and the narrower excretory duct, which connect the secretory glomeruli to the surface of the skin. Excretory ducts are filled with liquid - then, conducting an electric current. Sweating glands is carried out constantly. The amount of sweat in the ducts and on the surface of the skin depends on the activity of the sweat glands.

The main factor determining the electrical properties of the skin is perspiration. The outer layer of the skin - the epidermis - is a good neutral dielectric, while sweat is a good electrolytic conductor with low ohmic resistance, electrically connecting the surface of the skin to the inside of the body. The total electrical resistance of the skin as a whole is determined by the intensity of perspiration, as a result of which the measurement of the electrical properties of the skin is a method for evaluating the activity of sweat glands.

In a person in a calm state, the sweat ducts are filled to a certain average level, which provides normal skin hydration and cooling of the body. In a state of anxiety, excitement, stress, additional volumes of sweat fluid are produced and thrown onto the skin surface, changing the electrical properties and topology of the latter.

The relationship between the activity of the sweat glands and the psychophysiology of a person, on the one hand, and the electrical properties of the skin, on the other, makes it possible to measure (measure) the psychophysiological state of a person by measuring the electrical characteristics of the skin: when the emotional state of a person changes, the electrical properties of the skin change.

Such changes in skin conductivity do not occur on the entire surface, but mainly on the skin of the face, palms, feet, and armpits, where there are special glands with a certain innervation that are sensitive to changes in the psychological state. With the onset of emotional states (fear, anxiety, anxiety, excitement, confusion, agitation, nervousness, irritability, etc.) at first changes, most often, increases, sweating on the palms and soles of the feet, and especially on the fingertips. Sweat zones correspond to sensitive receptors tightly located on the fingertips.

For measuring the activity of sweat glands using a gas discharge.

Gas discharge — a set of processes that occur when an electric current flows through a substance that is in a gaseous state. The discharge occurs in the gaseous substance between the electrodes at large (more than 30 kV / cm at atmospheric pressure) potential differences (voltages). A gas discharge in a gaseous substance emits visible light. The electrodes, between which the discharge occurs, can serve any, conductive, objects.

To obtain and fix the gas discharge, a device is used to measure the activity of the sweat glands on the fingertip, which in the particular case of implementation according to FIG. 2 comprises a housing 1 with an annular rim 2. The housing can be made of plastic or conical or cylindrical. In an annular mandrel 2, parallel to each other, are mounted one above the other glass plates 3 and 4, separated by a gap filled with a dielectric gaseous substance, for example, air, any active or inert gas. On the outer side of the mandrel 2 is fixed opaque, not transmitting light, the glass plate 3, in contact with the pad of the finger. Due to this, the discharge takes place in a volume that is completely darkened by opaque, for example, black glass, and the finger pad and the place of its contact with the glass do not require additional external darkening. On the inner side of the mandrel 2 is fixed transparent glass plate 4, connected to the control unit. The control unit (not shown in the figures) can be connected to an external power source or contain a battery. One of the surfaces of the transparent plate 4, opposite to the side facing the opaque plate, 3 or facing the opaque plate, has a conductive coating with a resistance of 10 - 100 Ohm / cm. Glass plates can be made of glass brand VK7. Transparent plate 4 with a conductive coating connected to the secondary winding a high-voltage transformer, the primary winding of which is powered by the high-voltage impulse generation circuit of the control unit.

A camera 5 (digital) is installed in the housing, the lens of which is aimed at the glass plates 3 and 4.

The control unit contains a board with a high-voltage pulse shaping circuit and a transformer, the primary winding of which is powered by a high-voltage pulse shaping circuit.

In particular, the camera is connected to the control unit, and the control unit is made with temperature and humidity sensors (not shown in the figures), which allows to take into account the influence of external factors on the measurement results and further improve the accuracy of measurements of the activity of the sweat glands on the fingertip.

Camera 5 can be digital and / or for black and white shooting.

The method in the particular case of its implementation is as follows.

1. A pulsed current (voltage) is supplied to the conductive layer of the glass plate, the current value is regulated by the key opening time.

The key opens for a time of 15 µs - 40 µs with a frequency of 1 kHz, the duration of each series is 30-60 ms.

2. The finger pad is pressed against the surface of the opaque glass of the device for measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the finger pad.

Since the surface of the fingertip is a dielectric, on which the “contact pads” are located — pores filled with conducting fluid with ducts extending to the surface of the skin, it is on them that a gas discharge forms and a glow caused by it occurs.

The more activity of the sweat glands, the more sweat accumulates in the ducts and on the surface of the skin - the more conductive is the area of skin in question. The greater the surface area that conducts electricity, the brighter the glow of the gas discharge, forming on it. All that has been said above means that there is a luminescence, directly caused by the activity of individual, or small, connected groups of sweat glands.

3. Fix a two-dimensional image of the glow of the gas discharge on the pad of a finger, taking a picture using a digital camera.

4. Save the snapshot.

5. Repeat the measurement steps 3-10 times, depending on the required accuracy and the time allotted for the measurement, with changing the key opening time, thus adjusting the voltage on the plate, in steps of 2-5 μs from the initial (15 μs), depending on the number of steps, which further increases the reliability of testimony. Voltage variation range from 3 to 5 kV. In each measurement, a series of images (see Fig. 5a) are taken, made with different lengths of key opening (thus, at different voltages on the plate), which reflect the activity levels of the sweat glands with high accuracy. In Figure 5, it can be seen that the most active areas begin to glow first and, as the voltage rises, less active areas are attached to them. At the same time, the operation of the high-voltage pulse generation circuit, which is next and adjustable during the measurement process, is controlled by the control unit.

6. Analyze the resulting images according to the fact that the psycho-physiological state of a person is reflected in the work of the sweat glands. Since the work of the sweat glands leads to an increase in the conductivity of the skin, and the discharges are concentrated in areas with higher conductivity, a connection appears between the brightness of the area and the intensity of the glands on it.

In particular, after taking a snapshot of a digital camera, the resulting optical image can be transmitted to a control unit, such as a microcontroller based on the STM32F446 MC, which also receives information from temperature and humidity sensors. The control unit processes the information according to the programmed algorithms and transfers the image as an array of data to the processing computer, for example, under the control of the general-purpose Windows or Linux operating systems, the USB bus is used for transmission.

Further, the invention is explained using examples. Example 1. Used the claimed device. When pressing the fingertip to the glass opaque plate 3, a gas discharge occurs between two glass plates 3 and 4, located one above the other and separated by an air gap, in the area directly below the entire fingertip pad. At the same time, the force of pressure, the angle of pressing and rotation of the finger do not affect the gas discharge and, consequently, the analyzed image. The image obtained from the digital camera 5 is shown in FIG. 3. According to the invention, the area of the fingertip is analyzed, highlighted by a frame, which is completely pressed against the glass.

The structure of the resulting image reflects the activity of the sweat glands. This information is the input data for further analysis. As discussed above, the image displays the psycho-physiological state of a person at the time of shooting. Topographic image analysis is performed using software.

Example 2. Used a device in which the voltage is applied to a glass plate with a conductive layer in contact with the pad of the finger. The gas discharge is formed along the border, where the finger pad stops contacting the glass surface in a narrow border gap between the finger and the glass and is fixed to the camera, the lens of which is directed to the plates. The figure 4 presents the image obtained from the camera and analyzed when using the specified device.

From figures 3 and 4 it is seen that in the claimed method using the claimed device it is possible to obtain an image of the entire finger pad, and not just a ring-shaped glow at the border, where the finger is in contact with the glass. Consequently, the entire finger pad area is analyzed, which improves the accuracy of the device readings and the results of measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the finger pad.

Thus, the claimed device and method for measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the finger pad can improve the accuracy of the device readings and the results of measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the finger pad.

Claims

Formula utility model

1. A device for measuring the activity of the sweat glands on a finger pad, containing glass plates arranged parallel to each other with a gap filled with a gas dielectric, one of the plates being made with conductive spraying, a camera whose lens is directed onto the plates, and a control unit with a source energy, characterized in that the plate in contact with the fingertip is made opaque, and the plate located between the opaque plate and the camera is made transparent with conductive sprayed and connected to the control unit.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the conductive sputtering is performed on the surface of the transparent plate opposite to the side facing the opaque plate.

3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the conductive sputtering is performed on the surface of the transparent plate facing the opaque plate.

4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit is configured to generate high-voltage pulses and adjust the amount of voltage supplied to the transparent plate.

5. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit is made with temperature and humidity sensors.

6. The device according to claim 5, characterized in that the camera is connected to the control unit.

7. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the control unit is made with a USB port for connecting to a computer or information output means.

8. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that an inert or active gas is used as the gas dielectric.

9. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that air, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, gas, helium, argon, neon are used as the gas dielectric.

10. A method of measuring the activity of the sweat glands on the fingertip using a device according to claim 1, comprising applying a voltage on a transparent plate, pressing the fingertip against the outer opaque plate of the device and fixing the image with the camera.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the captured image is processed taking into account the readings of temperature and humidity sensors.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that regulate the magnitude of the voltage supplied to the transparent plate.

13. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that the steps of the method are repeated with increasing voltage.