JP2018198799A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a low-cost and compact information processing device applicable to an application of estimation of a state of muscles and the like for guidance and advice in the health industry, the beauty field, and the sports industry. An image acquisition unit 51 transmits from the inside of an ultrasonic probe 11, rebounds from the inside of a predetermined part of the human body, and image data of a predetermined part generated based on the ultrasonic wave received by the ultrasonic probe 11. To get. The region recognition unit 52 recognizes the data of the subcutaneous fat region, the data of the fascia region, and the data of the muscle region from the image data of the predetermined region. The feature information acquisition unit 53 acquires feature information from the data of one or more determination target regions among the data of the subcutaneous fat region, the data of the fascia region, or the data of the muscle region. The state estimation unit (situation designation unit) 54 estimates the state of each of the one or more determination targets in the predetermined portion based on the characteristic information of each of the one or more determination targets. [Selection diagram] Fig. 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus that acquires a tomographic image of a living tissue using ultrasonic waves has been provided (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
This type of ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus includes a diagnostic apparatus main body and an ultrasonic probe, and the ultrasonic probe and the diagnostic apparatus main body are connected via a signal cable.

JP 2017-12427 A

However, the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus including the above-described Patent Document 1 is generally provided for medical use. Therefore, the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has a performance capable of clearly imaging even the internal organs, and is not only expensive but also large in size so that it cannot be carried.
For this reason, in applications that do not require imaging up to the internal organs, such as applications that estimate the state of muscles or the like for guidance or advice in the health industry, the beauty field, or the sports industry, the conventional superstructure including the above-mentioned Patent Document 1. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is unsuitable, and an appropriate apparatus for reducing cost and reducing the size has been demanded.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost and compact information processing apparatus that can be applied to the estimation of the state of muscles and the like for guidance and advice in the health industry, beauty field, and sports industry.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention provides:
Image acquisition means for acquiring, as image data of the predetermined part, image data generated from an ultrasonic sensor in the probe, rebounding from within the body of a predetermined part of the human body, and generated based on the ultrasonic wave received by the probe When,
Region recognition means for recognizing subcutaneous fat region data, fascia region data, and muscle region data from the image data of the predetermined portion;
Feature information acquisition means for acquiring feature information from data of one or more determination target regions of the subcutaneous fat region data, fascia region data, or muscle region data;
State estimating means for estimating the state of each of the one or more determination targets in the predetermined part based on the feature information of each of the one or more determination targets;
Is provided.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a low-cost and compact information processing apparatus that can be applied to the estimation of the state of muscles and the like for guidance and advice in the health industry, beauty field, and sports industry.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the information processing system to which this invention is applied. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of an ultrasonic image analysis apparatus among the information processing systems of FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of the functional structure for performing a state estimation process among the functional structures of the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the ultrasonic image of the analysis object of the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the recognition result of the area | region recognition part with respect to the ultrasonic image of the example of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the flow of the state estimation process performed by the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus of FIG.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system to which the present invention is applied.

The information processing system includes an ultrasonic image generation device 1 and an ultrasonic image analysis device 2.
The ultrasonic image generation apparatus 1 and the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2 are connected via a network N such as a LAN (Local Area Network).
The network N need not be a LAN, and may be the Internet. Further, the network N is not an essential component, and the ultrasonic image generation device 1 and the ultrasonic image analysis device 2 may directly communicate according to a predetermined communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark).

The ultrasonic image generation apparatus 1 includes an ultrasonic probe 11 and an ultrasonic transducer device 12.
The ultrasound probe 11 irradiates the inside B of the measurement site such as the abdomen, arm, leg, etc. of the living body A such as the user, and receives the ultrasound echo reflected from the inside B.
The ultrasonic transducer device 12 is connected to the ultrasonic probe 11 and generates image data (hereinafter referred to as “ultrasonic image data”) based on the ultrasonic echo received from the ultrasonic probe 11. It transmits to the image analysis apparatus 2.
The generation location of the ultrasonic image data is the ultrasonic transducer device 12 in the present embodiment, but is not particularly limited thereto, and may be, for example, the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2 described later.

The ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2 executes various processes for performing various analyzes on the ultrasonic image data transmitted from the ultrasonic image generation apparatus 1.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2 in the information processing system of FIG.

  The ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 23, a bus 24, an input / output interface 25, an output unit 26, An input unit 27, a storage unit 28, a communication unit 29, and a drive 30 are provided.

The CPU 21 executes various processes according to a program stored in the ROM 22 or a program loaded from the storage unit 28 to the RAM 23.
The RAM 23 appropriately stores data necessary for the CPU 21 to execute various processes.

  The CPU 21, ROM 22, and RAM 23 are connected to each other via a bus 24. An input / output interface 25 is also connected to the bus 24. An output unit 26, an input unit 27, a storage unit 28, a communication unit 29, and a drive 30 are connected to the input / output interface 25.

The output unit 26 includes a display, a printer, a speaker, and the like, and outputs various types of information as images, printed materials, and sounds.
The input unit 27 includes a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, and the like, and inputs various information.

The storage unit 28 includes a hard disk, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and the like, and stores various data.
The communication unit 29 communicates with the ultrasonic transducer device 12 of the ultrasonic image generating apparatus 1 via a network N (FIG. 1) including the Internet.

A removable medium 31 made of a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like is appropriately attached to the drive 30. The program read from the removable medium 31 by the drive 30 is installed in the storage unit 28 as necessary.
The removable medium 31 can also store various data stored in the storage unit 28 in the same manner as the storage unit 28.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration for executing the state estimation process among the functional configurations of the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2.
The state estimation process refers to a series of processes until the state of the predetermined part is estimated on the basis of ultrasonic image data of the predetermined part.
In the CPU 21 of the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2, an image acquisition unit 51, a region recognition unit 52, a feature information acquisition unit 53, a state estimation unit 54, and a display control unit 55 function.

  The image acquisition unit 51 acquires the ultrasonic image data transmitted from the ultrasonic image generation device 1 via the communication unit 29.

FIG. 4 shows an example of an ultrasonic image acquired as data in the image acquisition unit 51, that is, an ultrasonic image 301 to be analyzed by the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2.
The ultrasound image 301 in the example of FIG. 4 is an ultrasound image of the inside B corresponding to the measurement site of the ultrasound probe 11 in the living body A such as a user. Specifically, the ultrasound image (reflected wave) It is an image composed of each pixel having the luminance value when the amplitude (signal intensity) of the signal is converted into the luminance value.

  The region recognition unit 52 recognizes subcutaneous fat region data, fascia region data, and muscle region data from ultrasonic image data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recognition result of the region recognition unit 52 for the ultrasonic image 301 in the example of FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the subcutaneous fat region 401, the muscle region 402, and the fascia 403 are recognized from the ultrasonic image 301.
In FIG. 5, for convenience of explanation, the subcutaneous fat region 401 and the muscle region 402 are illustrated with hatching in different directions, but are actually displayed on the monitor (output unit 26) of the ultrasonic image analysis device 2. In such a case, it may be displayed in a different color.
In the example of FIG. 5, the bone region described as “bone” is recognized. However, it is not particularly essential to recognize the bone region and the deep internal organs behind it.

Returning to FIG. 3, the feature information acquisition unit 53 includes one or more determination target region data among the subcutaneous fat region data, the fascia region data, or the muscle region data in the ultrasonic image data. Get feature information. Here, the acquisition unit of the feature information is not particularly limited, and one feature information may be acquired in the region, the region may be divided into a plurality of blocks, and the feature information may be acquired for each block. Feature information may be acquired for each pixel.
The state estimation unit 54 estimates each state of one or more determination targets in a predetermined part based on the feature information of each of the one or more determination targets.

  The feature information only needs to be information used for estimating one or more predetermined states of the predetermined part, and the form is not particularly limited. For example, the following feature information can be used to estimate the following features of a predetermined part.

For example, the feature information acquisition unit 53 uses color information (such as a brightness value) from the subcutaneous fat region data as the feature information. The state estimation unit 54 can estimate the state of subcutaneous fat based on the feature information.
Specifically, for example, the feature information acquisition unit 53 acquires one of a first color (for example, black) and a second color (for example, white) as feature information from the subcutaneous fat region data.
When the first color is acquired as the feature information, the state estimation unit 54 estimates that the subcutaneous fat is in a fat state, and when the second color is acquired as the feature information, the subcutaneous fat is in a solid state. Presume that there is.
Alternatively, the state estimation unit 54 may estimate the degree of water fatness of the subcutaneous fat based on the ratio between the first color and the second color in the subcutaneous fat region.

Further, for example, the feature information acquisition unit 53 uses the line state from the fascia region data as the feature information. The state estimation unit 54 can estimate the condition of the fascia based on the feature information.
Specifically, for example, the feature information acquisition unit 53 acquires, from the fascia region data, one of “hazy” and “clear line” as feature information. More specifically, for example, the feature information acquisition unit 53 identifies a region that can be determined as a line in the fascia region, and if the same color (for example, white) exceeds a certain ratio in the region, the “clear line” If the same color (for example, white) is less than a certain ratio, it can be acquired as “faint”.
The state estimation unit 54 estimates that the fascia is not in use when the fascia is acquired as feature information, and the fascia is acquired when the clear line is acquired as feature information. Estimate that the muscles are often used.
Alternatively, the state estimation unit 54 may estimate the degree of muscle tightening based on the distribution degree of the “clear line”.

Further, for example, the feature information acquisition unit 53 uses color information (such as a luminance value) from the muscle region data as the feature information. The state estimation unit 54 can estimate a muscle state based on the feature information.
Specifically, for example, the feature information acquisition unit 53 acquires one of a first color (for example, black) and a second color (for example, white) from the muscle region data as the feature information.
When the state estimation unit 54 acquires the first color as feature information, the state estimation unit 54 estimates that the muscle is in a well-trained state, and when the second color is acquired as feature information, the muscle is in a marbling state. presume.
Alternatively, the state estimation unit 54 may estimate the degree of muscle frosting based on the ratio between the first color and the second color.

  The display control unit 55 performs control to display an image indicating the estimation result of the state estimation unit 54 on the display of the output unit 26. At that time, the display control unit 55 may execute control for displaying various images such as the ultrasonic image 301 of FIG. 5 together.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of state estimation processing executed by the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2 having such a functional configuration.

In step S <b> 1, the image acquisition unit 51 acquires the ultrasonic image data transmitted from the ultrasonic image generation device 1 via the communication unit 29.
In step S <b> 2, the region recognition unit 52 recognizes data of each region, that is, subcutaneous fat region data, fascia region data, and muscle region data from the ultrasonic image data.

In step S3, the feature information acquisition unit 53 sets a determination target from each region. That is, one of a subcutaneous fat region, a fascia region, or a muscle region is set as a determination target.
In step S4, the feature information acquisition unit 53 acquires feature information from the data of the determination target region.
In step S5, the state estimation unit 54 estimates the state of the determination target based on the feature information of the determination target.

In step S <b> 6, the state estimation unit 54 determines whether estimation of all determination targets has been completed.
If there is one or more regions that are not set as the determination target among the subcutaneous fat region, the fascia region, or the muscle region, it is determined as NO in step S6, and the process returns to step S3, and the subsequent processes Is repeated. That is, by repeating the loop process of steps S3 to S6 (NO), each of the subcutaneous fat region, the fascia region, and the muscle region is sequentially set as a determination target, and the feature information of the determination target is acquired, The state of the determination target is estimated based on the feature information.
When all the states of the subcutaneous fat region, the fascia region, and the muscle region are estimated, it is determined as YES in Step S6, and the process proceeds to Step S7.

In step S <b> 7, the CPU 21 determines whether there is an instruction to end the process. Here, an instruction to end the process is not particularly limited, but in this embodiment, an instruction to shift to a so-called sleep state or the like is adopted. That is, unless an instruction to shift to the sleep state or the like is issued in the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2, it is determined NO in step S7, the process returns to step S1, and the subsequent processes are repeated.
On the other hand, when an instruction to shift to the sleep state or the like is given in the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2, it is determined as YES in Step S7, and the state estimation process is ended.

Here, the estimation result of the state of each region is presented to the user by the output unit 26. As a result, the user can visually recognize the state of the real subcutaneous fat, fascia, and muscle.
Thereby, for example, guidance, such as the most effective exercise menu and diet plan, can be performed appropriately.
For example, when used in a sports club, the abdominal subcutaneous fat is fat, but it is estimated that the leg subcutaneous fat is fat. It is possible to give guidance that training is necessary.
In addition, for example, when used in the beauty industry, a leader or the like can provide nutritional guidance suitable for each state.
In addition, from a user, anyone can easily receive guidance and advice such as an exercise menu and a diet plan while staying at home by using a cloud service or the like.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and modifications, improvements, and the like within the scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention. It is.

For example, the hardware configuration of FIG. 2 is merely an example for achieving the object of the present invention, and is not particularly limited.
Further, the functional block diagram shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and is not particularly limited. That is, it is sufficient if the information processing system has a function capable of executing the above-described series of processing as a whole, and what functional block is used to realize this function is not particularly limited to the example of FIG. . Further, the location of the functional block is not limited to that shown in FIG.
One functional block may be configured by hardware, may be configured by software alone, or may be configured by a combination thereof.

When processing of each functional block is executed by software, a program constituting the software is installed on a computer or the like from a network or a recording medium.
The computer may be a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware. Further, the computer may be a computer capable of executing various functions by installing various programs, for example, a general-purpose smartphone or a personal computer in addition to the ultrasonic image analysis device 2.

  A recording medium including such a program is distributed separately from the apparatus main body in order to provide the program to each user. It is not only constituted by a removable medium, but also constituted by a recording medium provided to each user in a state of being incorporated in advance in the apparatus main body.

  Further, in the present specification, the term “system” means an overall apparatus composed of a plurality of devices, a plurality of means, and the like.

In summary, the information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied only needs to have the following configuration, and can take various embodiments.
That is, the information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied (for example, the ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 2 in FIG. 1)
Image data generated based on the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor in the probe (for example, the ultrasonic probe 11 in FIG. 1), rebounded from the body of a predetermined part of the human body, and received by the probe is used as the predetermined data. Image acquisition means (for example, the image acquisition unit 51 in FIG. 3) that acquires the image data of the part;
Region recognition means (for example, the region recognition unit 52 in FIG. 3) for recognizing subcutaneous fat region data, fascia region data, and muscle region data from the image data of the predetermined part;
Feature information acquisition means (for example, a feature information acquisition unit 53) that acquires feature information from data of one or more determination target regions of the subcutaneous fat region data, fascial region data, or muscle region data; ,
State estimation means (for example, a state estimation unit 54) for estimating each state of the one or more determination targets in the predetermined portion based on the feature information of each of the one or more determination targets;
It is enough to have

  The user can see the state of the real subcutaneous fat, fascia, and muscle visually. Thereby, for example, guidance of the most effective exercise menu and diet plan can be appropriately performed. From a user, anyone can easily receive guidance and advice while staying at home by using a cloud service or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ultrasonic image generation apparatus 2 ... Ultrasonic image analysis apparatus 11 ... Ultrasonic probe 12 ... Ultrasonic transducer device 21 ... CPU
22 ... ROM
23 ... RAM
24 ... Bus 25 ... Input / output interface 26 ... Output unit 27 ... Input unit 28 ... Storage unit 29 ... Communication unit 30 ... Drive 31 ... Removable media 51 ... -Image acquisition unit 52 ... Area recognition unit 53 ... Feature information acquisition unit 54 ... State estimation unit 55 ... Display control unit 301 ... Ultrasound image 302 ... Region data A ... Living body B ... Determination target

Claims (7)

Image acquisition means for acquiring, as image data of the predetermined part, image data generated from an ultrasonic sensor in the probe, rebounding from within the body of a predetermined part of the human body, and generated based on the ultrasonic wave received by the probe When,
Region recognition means for recognizing subcutaneous fat region data, fascia region data, and muscle region data from the image data of the predetermined portion;
Feature information acquisition means for acquiring feature information from data of one or more determination target regions of the subcutaneous fat region data, fascia region data, or muscle region data;
State estimating means for estimating the state of each of the one or more determination targets in the predetermined part based on the feature information of each of the one or more determination targets;
An information processing apparatus comprising: The feature information acquisition means acquires, as the feature information, one of a first color and a second color from the data of the subcutaneous fat region,
When the first color is acquired as the feature information, the state estimation means estimates that the subcutaneous fat is in a fat state, and when the second color is acquired as the feature information, the subcutaneous fat is Presuming that it is in a solid state,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The feature information acquisition means acquires a first color and a second color as the feature information from the data of the subcutaneous fat region,
The state estimating means estimates a fattening degree of subcutaneous fat based on a ratio between the first color and the second color;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The feature information acquisition means acquires, as the feature information, one of “faint” and “clear line” from the fascia region data,
When the state estimating means acquires the “faint” as the feature information, the fascia is estimated to be in a state where no muscle is used, and the “clear line” is acquired as the feature information. , Presuming that the fascia is often using muscle,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The feature information acquisition means acquires a “clear line” as the feature information from the fascia region data,
The state estimation means estimates the degree of muscle tightening based on the distribution degree of the “clear line”.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The feature information acquisition means acquires one of a first color and a second color as the feature information from the muscle region data,
When the first color is acquired as the feature information, the state estimation means estimates that the muscle is in a well-trained state, and when the second color is acquired as the feature information, the muscle is marbling. Presumed to be in a state,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The feature information acquisition means acquires a first color and a second color as the feature information from the muscle region data,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the state estimation unit estimates a degree of muscle frosting based on a ratio between the first color and the second color.