JPH07134020A - Skin oil thickness measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a skin fat thickness measuring device capable of surely notifying a measurer that an echo wave has been received. An ultrasonic transducer 10 that transmits an ultrasonic wave 101 to a human body 1 and receives an echo wave 102 of the ultrasonic wave 101 to generate a reception signal b, and a pulse signal a for generating an ultrasonic wave to the ultrasonic transducer 10. And the transmitting / receiving means 20 for generating an echo signal c corresponding to the echo wave 102 from the received signal b, and the echo signal c is detected within a preset echo observation time, the human body 1 is detected by the detected echo signal c. In a skin-fat thickness measuring device including a control unit 30 for measuring the skin-fat thickness and a display unit 40 for displaying the measurement result of the control unit 30, a piezoelectric buzzer 50 for generating an audible sound by an input drive signal is provided. Upon receiving the echo signal c, the control unit 30 generates a drive signal and sends it to the piezoelectric buzzer 50.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a skin fat thickness measuring device for measuring the skin fat thickness of an object to be measured using ultrasonic waves and displaying the measurement result.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, as a skin fat thickness measuring device of this type, a device disclosed in JP-A-61-220634 has been known.

In this skin fat thickness measuring device, ultrasonic waves are transmitted to the inside of the body, echo waves from the boundary surface between the fat layer and the muscle tissue are received by the same probe, and the skin fat thickness value is calculated. Is displayed on the display.

At this time, when the echo wave cannot be captured properly due to the improper mounting method of the probe, the measurer is informed that the display on the display is blank.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional skin-fat thickness measuring device, the measurer knows whether or not the probe is properly attached by the presence / absence of the display of the measurement result. There was a drawback that it took time to make corrections, and further, measurement took time.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a skin oil thickness measuring device which eliminates such drawbacks and which can surely inform a measurer that an echo wave has been received.

[0007]

In order to achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1 transmits an ultrasonic wave to an object to be measured and receives an echo wave of the ultrasonic wave to generate a reception signal. Ultrasonic transducer, transmitting signal for ultrasonic wave generation to ultrasonic transducer, transmitting / receiving means for generating echo signal corresponding to echo wave from received signal, and detecting echo signal within preset echo observation time Then, in the skin-fat thickness measuring device including a control unit that measures the skin-fat thickness of the measurement target by the detected echo signal, and a display unit that displays the measurement result of the control unit, an audible sound is generated by the input drive signal. Upon receipt of the echo signal, the control means has an audible sound generating means for generating a drive signal and sends it to the audible sound generating means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an ultrasonic transducer for transmitting an ultrasonic wave to an object to be measured and receiving an echo wave of the ultrasonic wave to generate a reception signal, and an ultrasonic transducer for generating the ultrasonic wave are provided. The transmitting and receiving means for transmitting an echo signal corresponding to the echo wave from the received signal, and when the echo signal is detected within a preset echo observation time, the sebum of the object to be measured is detected by the detected echo signal. In a skin-fat thickness measuring device comprising a control means for measuring the thickness and a display means for displaying the measurement result by the control means, an audible sound generating means for generating an audible sound by an input drive signal is provided, and the control means is , In order to perform a predetermined number of measurements, send a predetermined number of transmission signals to the ultrasonic transducer and detect a predetermined number of echo signals within the echo observation time. Based on these echo signals, the skin thickness of the object to be measured is measured, and each time an echo signal is detected within the echo time, a drive signal is sent to the audible sound generating means, and when the measurement of skin fat thickness is completed, Sends different drive signals to the audible sound generating means.

[0009]

According to the invention described in claim 1, when the ultrasonic transducer receives the transmission signal from the transmitting / receiving means, it radiates the ultrasonic wave to the object to be measured. After that, when the ultrasonic transducer receives the echo wave of the ultrasonic wave, it generates a reception signal and sends it to the control means. The control means measures the skin fat thickness of the measurement target based on the received echo signal. The display means displays the measurement result of the transmitting / receiving means.

On the other hand, the audible sound generating means generates an audible sound when the control means detects the echo signal, and notifies the measuring person of the reception of the echo wave.

According to the invention described in claim 2, the control means performs the measurement a plurality of times. At this time, the control means sends a drive signal to the audible sound generating means every time the echo wave is received, and causes the audible sound to be generated. When the measurement is completed, the control means sends a drive signal different from the previous drive signal to the audible sound generating means. Thereby, the measurer knows the end of the measurement because different audible sounds are generated.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
It is a block diagram showing. This skin fat thickness measuring device measures, for example, the skin fat thickness of the human body 1 as an object to be measured, and includes an ultrasonic transducer 10, a transmitting / receiving means 20,
A control unit 30 as a control unit, a display unit 40 as a display unit, and a piezoelectric buzzer 50 as an audible sound generating unit are provided. The transmitter / receiver 20 includes a transmitter 21 and a receiver 22. In this skin fat thickness measuring device, the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the display unit 40 are integrated.

The ultrasonic transducer 10 has an end face 11 for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves. Ultrasonic transducer 1
0 is used in a state where the end surface 11 is in close contact with the skin of the human body 1 when measuring the skin fat thickness of the human body 1. Then, the ultrasonic transducer 10 radiates the ultrasonic wave 101 from the end surface 11 by the pulse signal a from the transmitting unit 21. Further, when receiving the echo wave 102 of the ultrasonic wave 101 from the human body 1, the ultrasonic transducer 10 converts the echo wave 102 into an electric signal and sends the electric signal to the receiving unit 22 as a reception signal b.

The transmitting section 21 of the transmitting / receiving means 20 is a device such as a pulser for generating a pulse. Transmitter 21
Generates a pulse signal a for driving the ultrasonic transducer 10 under the control of the control unit 30 when measuring the skin fat thickness of the human body 1, and sends the pulse signal a to the ultrasonic transducer 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the receiver 22 includes an amplifier 22A, a detector 22B, and a comparator (comparator) 22.
C, and a voltage generator 22D. Amplifier 22A
Of the ultrasonic transducer 10 amplifies the received signal b from the ultrasonic transducer 10, and the detector 22B detects the amplified received signal b. On the other hand, the voltage generator 22D generates a voltage having a predetermined threshold value, and the comparator 22C compares the threshold voltage from the voltage generator 22D with the detection output from the detector 22B, The detection output having a value larger than this threshold is output to the control unit 30 as an echo signal c.

The control unit 30 includes a one-chip microcomputer and the like, and controls the transmission timing of the pulse signal a in the transmission unit 21 and the echo signal c from the reception unit 22.
The skin fat thickness of the human body 1 is measured. Then, the control unit 30 sends a signal indicating the measurement result to the display unit 40.

The control unit 30 has an echo observation time set in advance. When the echo signal c is received from the receiving unit 22 within the echo observation time from the output time point of the pulse signal a, the control unit 30 generates a drive signal for driving the piezoelectric buzzer 50 and outputs this signal to the piezoelectric buzzer 50. Send to.

The display unit 40 is an LCD (Liquid Crystal D).
isplay) and a control unit 30
Display the measurement results from.

When the piezoelectric buzzer 50 receives the drive signal from the control section 30, the piezoelectric buzzer 50 converts the drive signal into a buzzer sound which is audible to human.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment will be described.

When examining the thickness of the fat layer 2 of the human body 1, the measurer applies the end face 11 of the ultrasonic transducer 10 to the skin of the human body 1. After that, the transmission unit 21 controls the control unit 30.
Control of the pulse signal a to the ultrasonic transducer 10
Send to. The ultrasonic transducer 10 uses the pulse signal a
The ultrasonic wave 101 is radiated to the human body 1. Ultrasonic wave 101
Is reflected near the boundary between the fat layer 2 and the muscle layer 3 of the human body 1,
The echo wave 102 enters the ultrasonic transducer 10. The ultrasonic transducer 10 generates a reception signal b from the echo wave 102 and sends it to the reception unit 22.

The amplifier 22A of the receiver 22 receives the received signal b
When this signal is received, this signal b is amplified and the amplified signal shown in FIG. 3 is generated. In this signal, the waveform component m is the transmitted wave and reverberation from the transmitter 21, and the waveform component n is the echo at the end face 11 of the ultrasonic transducer 10. The waveform component p is an echo near the boundary between the fat layer 2 and the muscle layer 3. The detector 22B detects this amplified signal, and the comparator 22C compares the detected signal with the threshold value H and sends a signal having a level higher than the threshold value H to the control unit 30 as an echo signal c.

Upon receiving the echo signal c, the control unit 30 measures the thickness of the fat layer 2 by the waveform component p in this signal c indicating the echo in the muscle layer 3. Then, the control unit 30 sends a signal indicating the thickness of the fat layer 2, that is, a signal indicating the measurement result, to the display unit 40. Upon receiving this signal, the display unit 40 displays the thickness of the fat layer 2.

When the control section 30 receives the echo signal c, the control section 30 receives the echo signal c within a predetermined time, that is, within an echo observation time T as shown in FIG. , When a waveform component p indicating an echo in the muscle layer 3 is detected, a drive signal is generated. The piezoelectric buzzer 50
When receiving the drive signal from the control unit 30, this signal is converted into a buzzer sound.

From this sound, the measurer knows that the echo wave 102 from the human body 1 has been received, and looks at the display section 40 to obtain the skin fat thickness of the human body 1.

Thus, according to the first embodiment, the echo wave 1
When 02 is received, the piezoelectric buzzer 50 generates a buzzer sound. Therefore, the observer can concentrate his or her line of sight on maintaining a good contact state between the human body 1 and the ultrasonic transducer 10 until the buzzer sound is heard. The reliability of measurement can be improved.

Although the device is an integral type, the measurer
It is not always necessary to be in a position facing the display unit 40, and it is sufficient that the display unit 40 is in a position where the display of the display unit 40 can be confirmed when the buzzer sound is heard. As a result, the degree of freedom in handling the device can be increased.

In the first embodiment, the integrated device in which the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the display section 40 are integrated has been described, but the invention is not particularly limited to this. For example,
The present invention is also applied to a separation type device in which the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the display unit 40 are separated.

In the first embodiment, the echo observation time T
Is set in advance, but is not particularly limited to this. For example, a keyboard or a knob for changing the output may be attached to the control unit 30, and the echo observation time T may be changed by the output from the keyboard or the output from the knob.

[Second Embodiment] In the second embodiment, instead of the control unit 30 of the first embodiment, a control unit for performing the following control is used.

From this control unit, for example, measurement is continuously performed 50 times. At this time, the control unit sets the variable n = 0 as shown in FIG. 4 (step S1). Thereby, the control unit controls the transmission unit 21 to transmit the pulse signal a to the ultrasonic transducer 10 (step S2). After that, the control unit detects the waveform component p generated by the echo wave 102 within the echo observation time T of FIG. 3 (step S3).

If the waveform component p is not detected, the control section returns the processing to step S2. When the waveform component p is detected, the control unit measures the thickness of the fat layer 2 of the human body 1 based on the waveform component p, as in the first embodiment (step S4). After that, the control unit sets the value obtained by adding 1 to the variable n as the variable n (step S5). Then, the first drive signal for driving the piezoelectric buzzer 50 is generated (step S6).

The control unit checks whether the variable n exceeds 50 (step S7). When the variable n is 50 or less in step S7, the process is returned to step S2. When the variable n exceeds 50, the value measured in step S4 is 50
The average value of the measured values of the times is calculated (step S8). After that, the control unit drives the piezoelectric buzzer 50, and
A second drive signal different from the drive signal is generated (step S9). The piezoelectric buzzer 50 receives the first drive signal according to the second drive signal.
Generates a buzzer sound that is longer than the buzzer sound generated by the drive signal.
After that, the control unit causes the display unit 40 to display the average value of the measurement values calculated in step S8 (step S10).

By using such a control unit, the measurer can change the angle at which the ultrasonic transducer 10 comes into contact with the skin of the human body 1 depending on the presence or absence of a short buzzer sound to reliably capture the echo wave 102. In addition, a long buzzer sound can inform that the measurement is completed. As a result, the measurement accuracy of the skin fat thickness can be improved.

In the first embodiment, the length of the buzzer sound is used to distinguish the reception of the echo wave from the completion of the measurement, but the invention is not limited to this. For example, echo wave reception and measurement completion may be distinguished based on the strength of the sound, the difference in tone color, and the like.

[0037]

As described above, according to the invention described in claim 1, when the echo wave from the object to be measured is received, the audible sound generating means generates an audible sound. The reception of the echo wave can be notified audibly. As a result, the measurer can know the reception of the echo wave without paying attention to the display as in the conventional case, and thus can reliably measure the skin fat thickness of the measurement target.

Further, in the invention described in claim 2, since the measurement is repeated a plurality of times, accurate measurement is possible. At this time, the measurer can aurally know from a different audible sound whether the echo wave is being received or the measurement is completed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a receiving unit.

FIG. 3 is a waveform diagram at a receiving unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing control of a control unit according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ultrasonic transducer 20 transmitting / receiving means 30 control unit 40 display unit 50 piezoelectric buzzer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted to an object to be measured, and
An ultrasonic transducer that receives an echo wave of the ultrasonic wave and generates a reception signal, and sends a transmission signal for ultrasonic wave generation to the ultrasonic transducer, and generates an echo signal corresponding to the echo wave from the reception signal. Transmitting and receiving means, when detecting the echo signal within a preset echo observation time, control means for measuring the skin fat thickness of the object to be measured by the detected echo signal, and a measurement result by the control means is displayed. In the skin fat thickness measuring device including a display unit, an audible sound generation unit that generates an audible sound by an input drive signal is included, and the control unit generates a drive signal when the echo signal is received, and outputs the drive signal. An apparatus for measuring skin fat thickness, which is sent to a sound producing means. 2. An ultrasonic wave is transmitted to an object to be measured, and
An ultrasonic transducer that receives an echo wave of the ultrasonic wave and generates a reception signal, and sends a transmission signal for ultrasonic wave generation to the ultrasonic transducer, and generates an echo signal corresponding to the echo wave from the reception signal. Transmitting and receiving means, when detecting the echo signal within a preset echo observation time, control means for measuring the skin fat thickness of the object to be measured by the detected echo signal, and a measurement result by the control means is displayed. In the skin-fat thickness measuring device including a display unit, an audible sound generation unit that generates an audible sound with an input drive signal is included, and the control unit transmits a predetermined number of transmission signals in order to perform a predetermined number of measurements. When it is sent to the ultrasonic transducer and a predetermined number of echo signals are detected within the echo observation time, the measured object is detected based on these echo signals. When measuring the target skin fat thickness, every time an echo signal is detected within the echo time, a drive signal is sent to the audible sound generating means, and when the measurement of the skin fat thickness is completed, a drive signal different from the drive signal is output. A device for measuring skin fat thickness, which is sent to the audible sound generating means. 3. The skin oil thickness measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the echo observation time set in the control means is variable.