JP2003190168A - System for preventing incontinence of urine, sensor pad designing device and equipment for preventing incontinence of urine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a system for preventing incontinence of urine, a sensor pad designing device and an equipment for preventing incontinence of urine having a function for periodically and automatically measuring a quantity of urine in the bladder only by mounting the sensor pad on the surface of the abdomen and for reporting possibility of the incontinence of urine to a person himself/herself or to an attendant when the incontinence of urine is possible. <P>SOLUTION: The system is composed of the sensor pad designing device 1 for designing a sensor pad 51 having the optimal form and the location of ultrasonic vibrators 52 suited to the forms of a surface (a) of the abdomen and of the bladder (b) of an examinee, the sensor pad 51 being attached with a plurality of ultrasonic vibrators 52 for emitting ultrasonic waves and receiving reflected waves, and an equipment 5 for preventing the incontinence of urine for measuring the three-dimensional form of the bladder (b) and issuing an alarm when the incontinence of urine is near on the basis of signals from a plurality of ultrasonic vibrators 52 of the sensor pad 51. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention detects incontinence that is likely to occur in, for example, elderly people, infants, women, etc. in advance by measuring the shape of the bladder and estimating the amount of urine accumulated in the bladder. Urinary incontinence prevention technology, which was made known to and prevented incontinence.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, a moisture sensor type device which is worn in diapers of infants and the elderly has been commercially available. This moisture sensor type has a structure in which when an infant or an old person has incontinence and the diaper gets wet, this is sensed and a buzzer or the like informs the surroundings of the incontinence. Further, as an apparatus utilizing ultrasonic waves, an incontinence prevention device has been proposed which uses one ultrasonic transducer and estimates the urine volume from the time difference between the received signals from the inner wall of the bladder.

[0003]

However, the conventional humidity sensor system is merely for detecting incontinence, and cannot prevent incontinence and prevent incontinence. An incontinence prevention device that uses one ultrasonic transducer to calculate the urine volume from the time difference between the received signals from the inner wall of the bladder can obtain some degree of accuracy in the case of a fixed body position such as bedridden, but standing, sitting, There is a problem that the bladder shape changes when the body posture changes during exercise, and good accuracy cannot be obtained.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by simply mounting a sensor pad on the surface of the lower abdomen, the amount of accumulated urine in the bladder can be automatically measured periodically.
An object of the present invention is to provide a urinary incontinence preventive system, a sensor pad designing device and a urinary incontinence preventive device having a function of notifying the person and a caregiver when there is a possibility of incontinence.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The shape of the lower abdomen of the human body varies from person to person, and the shape of the bladder and its expansion process also differ from person to person. Therefore, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the urinary incontinence prevention system according to the invention of claim 1 has a sensor pad having an optimum shape and an ultrasonic transducer arrangement according to the lower abdominal surface and bladder shape of each person. Sensor pad designing device for designing a sensor pad, a sensor pad to which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers that emit ultrasonic waves and receive reflected waves thereof are attached, and the bladder 3 based on signals from the plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the sensor pad. It consists of a urinary incontinence prevention device that measures a dimensional shape and issues an alarm when incontinence is near.

The urinary incontinence prevention system according to the second aspect of the invention comprises a lower abdomen shape measuring device for three-dimensionally measuring the shape of the surface of the lower abdomen of a human body, and a three-dimensional measurement of the bladder shape by ultrasonic waves. A sensor pad including a bladder shape measuring device and an arithmetic device for designing a sensor pad having an optimum shape suitable for each person and an optimum number, arrangement and inclination of ultrasonic transducers by using the measured amounts Design equipment,
A sensor pad to which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers that emit ultrasonic waves and receive the reflected waves are attached, a transmission command circuit that sequentially transmits a transmission command to the plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the sensor pad, and a plurality of ultrasonic vibrations An image processing device that estimates the three-dimensional shape of the bladder by calculating the inner wall position of the bladder from the time difference between the reception signal obtained from the child and the transmission signal sent from the transmission command circuit, and the bladder accumulation amount from the obtained image information. A urinary incontinence preventive device composed of a urine volume determination circuit for calculating the above, and an alarm device that issues an alarm when incontinence is approaching based on a command from the urine volume determination circuit.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sensor pad designing apparatus for measuring a shape of a lower abdomen surface of a human body three-dimensionally, and a bladder shape by ultrasonic waves.
From a bladder shape measuring device that measures three-dimensionally, and a computing device that uses those measurement amounts to design a sensor pad having an optimum shape and an optimum number, arrangement, and inclination of ultrasonic transducers for each person Become.

In the urinary incontinence prevention device according to the invention of claim 4, a transmission command circuit for sequentially transmitting a transmission command to a plurality of ultrasonic transducers of the sensor pad, and a reception signal obtained from the plurality of ultrasonic transducers. The position of the inner wall of the bladder is calculated from the time difference between the transmission signals sent from the transmission command circuit, and the 3
From an image processing device that estimates the three-dimensional shape, a urine volume determination circuit that calculates the bladder urine accumulation volume from the obtained image information, and an alarm device that issues an alarm when incontinence is near based on a command from the urine volume determination circuit Become.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically based on the embodiments of the invention shown in the drawings.

The urinary incontinence prevention system measures the shape of the surface a of the lower abdomen of the human body using the sensor pad designing apparatus 1 and designs the optimum sensor pad 51 which constitutes a part of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 according to an individual.・ A plurality of ultrasonic transducers 52, which are manufactured and mounted on the surface a of the lower abdomen of each patient, are attached to the sensor pad 51 to form a part of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5. When the shape of the bladder b is measured, and the obtained urine storage amount is a certain amount or more,
The urinary incontinence preventive device 5, for example, a buzzer of an alarm device 59, informs the person or caregiver to prevent incontinence.

The shape of the surface a of the lower abdomen of the human body is determined by gender, physique,
Since it depends on the body shape and age, it is necessary to design and manufacture an optimum sensor pad 51 that constitutes a part of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 in order to accurately measure the urine volume. The sensor pad designing device 1 is a device for this purpose.

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of the sensor pad designing apparatus 1. The sensor pad designing device 1 includes a lower abdominal shape measuring device 2 that three-dimensionally measures the shape of the human lower abdominal surface a, a bladder shape measuring device 3 that measures the shape of the bladder b for different urine volumes, and these. The calculation device 4 outputs the optimum shape of the sensor pad 51 and the optimum arrangement and inclination of the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 52 of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 by using the measurement data of 1.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the lower abdominal shape measuring apparatus 2 using ultrasonic waves. The lower abdomen shape measuring device 2 is arranged so as to cover the lower abdomen surface a, and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 21 whose positions are measured in advance and ultrasonic waves of several kilohertz are transmitted from the ultrasonic transducers 21. Abdominal surface a
And a lower abdomen shape measuring instrument 22 that measures the distance to the lower abdomen by the reflected wave. The lower abdomen shape measuring apparatus 11 uses a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 21 and a lower abdomen shape measuring machine 22 to perform the operation on the entire lower abdomen to three-dimensionally measure the shape of the lower abdomen surface a. .

In the embodiment of the present invention, an example of the lower abdominal shape measuring device 2 using the ultrasonic transducer 21 is shown, but its purpose is to three-dimensionally measure the shape of the lower abdominal surface a. Of course, a method of directly measuring the shape of the lower abdomen using a scale and a method of optically measuring surface data using a 3D camera are also possible.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the bladder shape measuring apparatus 3. The bladder shape measuring device 3 has the same system configuration as the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 described later, that is, an ultrasonic transducer excluding an alarm device,
Although it has a multiplexer, an ultrasonic wave transmission amplifier, an ultrasonic wave reception amplifier, a transmission command circuit, an image processing device and a urine volume determination circuit, the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 31 are arranged densely in a probe shape with high accuracy. A plurality of ultrasonic transducers 31 and a bladder shape measuring instrument 32 mounted on the lower abdominal surface a
Shape is measured for different urine volumes. It is also possible to use a commercially available ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus as the bladder shape measuring apparatus 3.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the arithmetic unit 4. In the computing device 4, the lower abdomen shape measuring machine 22 and the bladder shape measuring machine 3
Using the measurement data of 2, the optimum shape of the sensor pad 51 and the optimum arrangement and inclination of the ultrasonic transducers 52 of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 arranged on the sensor pad 51 are output. The arithmetic unit 4 is composed of a shape parameter arithmetic circuit 41 and a transducer arrangement design circuit 42.

That is, the shape parameter calculation circuit 41 uses the measurement data of the bladder shape from the bladder shape measuring device 32 for different urine volumes, and uses, for example, an ellipsoidal approximation, to approximate the expression of the correlation between the urine volume and the shape parameter. Derive.

The oscillator layout design circuit 42 uses the obtained approximate expression, the data of the lower abdomen shape measuring instrument 22, the maximum urine storage amount and accuracy required for measurement, and the optimum ultrasonic oscillator 52.
, The arrangement, and the normal direction (tilt) of the transducer are determined, and the data necessary for manufacturing the sensor pad 51 to be worn by the patient is output.

A sensor pad 51 which constitutes a part of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 shown in FIG. 5 is attached to the surface a of the lower abdomen of the human body of each patient, and is designed and manufactured using the sensor pad designing apparatus 1. It The sensor pad 51 has a bladder b
A plurality of ultrasonic transducers 52 of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 for measuring the three-dimensional shape of are attached. Sensor pad 5
Ultrasonic transducer 52 of urinary incontinence prevention device 5 attached to 1
Has a function of emitting an ultrasonic wave in its normal direction and receiving a reflected wave from the inner wall of the bladder b, if any.

FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5. A plurality of ultrasonic transducers 52 in the figure
Is attached to the sensor pad 51, but is connected to the ultrasonic wave transmitting amplifier 54 and the ultrasonic wave receiving amplifier 55 via the multiplexer 53. The ultrasonic wave transmission amplifier 54 has a function of amplifying a signal from a transmission command circuit 56, which will be described later, and increasing the electric energy to a sufficient level for transmitting ultrasonic waves. In addition, the ultrasonic wave reception amplifier 55 includes the ultrasonic wave oscillator 5
It is a device that amplifies a weak electric signal received in 2.

The multiplexer 53 includes an ultrasonic transducer 52.
Between the ultrasonic wave transmitting amplifier 54 and the ultrasonic wave receiving amplifier 55.
55 has a function of sequentially connecting all of them and sequentially operating all the ultrasonic transducers 52 with one amplifier.

The reflected wave amplified by the ultrasonic receiving amplifier 55 is sent to the image processing device 57, which will be described later.

The transmission command circuit 56 includes an ultrasonic transmission amplifier 5
4, through the multiplexer 53 to the ultrasonic transducer 52,
At the same time, it is a device that issues a transmission command to the image processing device 57.

In the image processing device 57, the transmission command circuit 56
The front and rear inner wall positions of the bladder b are calculated from the time difference between the transmission signal of the ultrasonic transducer 52 and the reception signal from the ultrasonic receiving amplifier 55, and the spatial coordinates of the ultrasonic transducer 52 and the information of its normal vector are used together. , Mapping the bladder inner wall position. The inner wall shape of the bladder b is determined by performing the same operation for all the transmission signals and reception signals of the ultrasonic transducers 52.
Even when the urine volume is small and sufficient mapping information cannot be obtained, or when the shape of the bladder b is deformed during exercise, supplementation using past information or correlation between the urine volume and the shape parameter is performed. It is possible to estimate the shape of the bladder b that is close to the actual shape by a means such as the introduction of an approximate expression.

In the urine amount determination circuit 58, the image processing device 57 is used.
The bladder urine storage volume is calculated from the shape of the inner wall of the bladder obtained in. If the urine volume exceeds a predetermined dangerous value or if it exceeds the urine volume incontinence in the past, the alarm device 59 is activated.

The alarm device 59 issues an alarm based on a command from the urine amount determination circuit 58, for example, by sound, light, or vibration, and notifies the person or caregiver to prevent incontinence. is there.

Next, the operation based on the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention will be described below. First, the sensor pad designing apparatus 1 is used to measure the shape of the lower abdominal surface a of the human body, which differs depending on sex, physique, body shape, and age, and an optimum sensor pad 51 is designed and manufactured for each individual.

The shape of the lower abdominal surface a is measured by the lower abdominal shape measuring device 2 of the sensor pad designing device 1. Ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the ultrasonic transducer 21 of the lower abdomen shape measuring device 2 which is arranged so as to cover the lower abdomen surface a.
To the lower abdomen surface a by its reflection, and the lower abdomen shape measuring machine 22 measures the distance to the entire lower abdomen to measure the shape of the lower abdominal surface a three-dimensionally. .

The bladder shape measuring device 3 measures the shape of the bladder b for different urine volumes. The ultrasonic transducer 31 attached to the surface a of the lower abdomen emits ultrasonic waves toward the bladder b, and the bladder shape measuring device 32 calculates the inner wall positions of the front and rear of the bladder b from the time difference between the received signals, and the ultrasonic waves are calculated. The bladder inner wall position is mapped using the spatial coordinates of the oscillator 31 and the information of the normal vector thereof. The inner wall shape of the bladder b is determined by performing the same operation for all the transmission signals and reception signals of the ultrasonic transducers 31.

After that, the shape data of the lower abdominal surface a measured by the lower abdominal shape measuring apparatus 2 and the shape data of the bladder b measured by the bladder shape measuring apparatus 3 are calculated by the calculating unit 3 and the sensor pad 51 The shape and size thereof, the arrangement and inclination of the ultrasonic transducer 52 of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 are output.

Based on this output data, the shape of the sensor pad 51 that matches the shape of the lower abdominal surface a of each patient is manufactured, and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 52 are arranged in an optimal arrangement and inclination. Attach to. In this way, the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 is manufactured based on the data output from the sensor pad designing device 1.

A sensor pad 51, to which a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 52 of the urinary incontinence prevention device 5 are attached in an optimal arrangement and inclination, is attached to the lower abdominal surface a of each patient to prevent urinary incontinence. To use.

In the urinary incontinence prevention device 5, ultrasonic waves of several megahertz are sequentially transmitted from a plurality of ultrasonic transducers 52 arranged on a sensor pad 51 mounted on the lower abdominal surface a of each patient, and the ultrasonic waves of several megahertz are sequentially generated inside the bladder b. The ultrasonic wave 52 receives the reflected wave reflected by the inner wall on the outer side, and the image information of the position of the inner wall of the bladder b obtained from the time difference is processed by the image processing device 57 to obtain the three-dimensional shape of the bladder b.

In the urinary incontinence prevention device 5, the sensor pad 5
Since the shape of the bladder b can be measured as a three-dimensional shape from the plurality of ultrasonic transducers 52 arranged in one, when the size of the bladder b is measured using one ultrasonic transducer as in the conventional case The measurement error can be made as small as possible, and more accurate measurement of the size of the bladder b can be performed.

Then, in the urine volume determination circuit 58, the volume of the bladder b is calculated from the three-dimensional shape of the bladder b, and from this, the bladder b is calculated.
Calculate the amount of urine collected. When the obtained urine storage amount is a certain amount or more, an alarm is issued from the urine volume determination circuit 58 through the alarm device 59. For example, a buzzer or the like of the alarm device 59 notifies the person or caregiver. This reveals that the person or caregiver is close to incontinence, and incontinence can be prevented in advance by discharging the urine accumulated in the bladder b in the toilet or the like before incontinence.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments of the present invention described above, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In the above-described embodiment, the ultrasonic transducer has been described as having both functions as an ultrasonic oscillator and a receiver, but it is composed of separate ultrasonic wave transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. May be.

[0037]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the urinary incontinence prevention system according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the shape of the lower abdominal surface which is different for each person is measured, and it is suitable for each person. It is possible to manufacture a sensor pad with an optimum shape, and also to design a sensor pad with the optimum number, arrangement and inclination of ultrasonic transducers, and by mounting the sensor pad on the surface of the lower abdomen, The amount of urine collected in the bladder can be accurately measured even if
Incontinence can be prevented by detecting incontinence and notifying the person or caregiver.

According to the sensor pad designing apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention, the shape of the surface of the lower abdomen which is different for each person can be measured and a sensor pad having an optimum shape suitable for each person can be manufactured. Moreover, the optimal number of ultrasonic transducers,
Sensor pads can be designed with placement and tilt.

According to the urinary incontinence prevention device of the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to accurately measure the amount of urine accumulated in the bladder even if the body position changes, and to detect incontinence before Alternatively, by informing the caregiver, incontinence can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a sensor pad designing device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a lower abdomen shape measuring apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a bladder shape measuring apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an arithmetic circuit diagram of the sensor pad designing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram of a sensor pad showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a urinary incontinence prevention device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Sensor pad design device 2: Lower abdominal shape measuring device 21: Ultrasonic transducer 22: Lower abdominal shape measuring machine 3: Bladder shape measuring device 31: Ultrasonic transducer 32: Bladder shape measuring instrument 4: Computing device 41: Shape parameter calculation circuit 42: Transducer layout design circuit 5: Urinary incontinence prevention equipment 51: Sensor pad 52: Ultrasonic transducer 53: Multiplexer 54: Ultrasonic wave transmission amplifier 55: Ultrasonic wave reception amplifier 56: Transmission command circuit 57: Image processing device 58: Urine volume determination circuit 59: Alarm device a: Surface of lower abdomen b: bladder

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 3B029 BE01 BE05                 4C098 AA09 CD07 CD08 CD09 CD10                 4C301 AA01 DD06 DD21 EE14 EE20                       GA01 GB02 LL17                 4C601 DD01 EE30 GA01 GB01 GB03                       LL17

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A sensor pad designing device for designing a sensor pad having an optimum shape and arrangement of ultrasonic transducers according to the shape of the lower abdomen of each person and the shape of the bladder, and an ultrasonic wave emitting and reflected wave From a sensor pad with multiple ultrasonic transducers attached to it, and a urinary incontinence prevention device that measures the three-dimensional shape of the bladder based on the signals from the multiple ultrasonic transducers of the sensor pad and issues an alarm when incontinence is near Urinary incontinence prevention system characterized by becoming. 2. A lower abdomen shape measuring device for three-dimensionally measuring the shape of the surface of the lower abdomen of a human body, and a bladder shape of 3 by ultrasonic waves.
From a bladder shape measuring device that measures three-dimensionally, and a computing device that uses those measurement amounts to design a sensor pad having an optimum shape and an optimum number, arrangement, and inclination of ultrasonic transducers for each person A sensor pad designing device that is configured, a sensor pad that emits ultrasonic waves and is attached with a plurality of ultrasonic transducers that receive reflected waves, and a transmission that sequentially issues a transmission command to the ultrasonic transducers of the sensor pad A command circuit, and an image processing device that estimates the three-dimensional shape of the bladder by calculating the inner wall position of the bladder from the time difference between the reception signals obtained from the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and the transmission signal sent from the transmission command circuit. A urinary incontinence predictor including a urine volume determination circuit that calculates a bladder urine volume from the obtained image information and an alarm device that issues an alarm when incontinence is near based on a command from the urine volume determination circuit. Urinary incontinence prevention system characterized by comprising a device. 3. A lower abdomen shape measuring device for three-dimensionally measuring the shape of the surface of the lower abdomen of a human body, and a bladder shape of 3 by ultrasonic waves.
From a bladder shape measuring device that measures three-dimensionally, and a computing device that uses those measurement amounts to design a sensor pad having an optimum shape and an optimum number, arrangement, and inclination of ultrasonic transducers for each person A sensor pad designing device characterized by: 4. A transmission command circuit for sequentially transmitting a transmission command to a plurality of ultrasonic transducers of a sensor pad, and a time difference between a reception signal obtained from the plurality of ultrasonic transducers and a transmission signal sent from the transmission instruction circuit. An image processing device that estimates the three-dimensional shape of the bladder by calculating the inner wall position of the bladder, a urine volume determination circuit that calculates the bladder accumulation amount from the obtained image information, and incontinence based on a command from the urine volume determination circuit. A urinary incontinence preventive device, which comprises an alarm device that issues an alarm when a person is near. 5. The urinary incontinence preventive device according to claim 4, wherein the ultrasonic vibrator has both functions of an ultrasonic oscillator and a receiver. 6. The urinary incontinence prevention device according to claim 4, wherein the ultrasonic transducers are separate bodies dedicated to transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves.