WO2019187530A1 - Gas component measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

An exhalation gas component measuring device 100 of the present invention is provided with: a cell for trapping a first gas to be measured; gas sensors 1a to 1c that react to one or more types of component gases inside the cell 2; a humidifier 6 and a pump 4 that adjust the humidity inside the cell 2; a humidity sensor 1d that detects the humidity inside the cell 2; and an integrated circuit. Before the first gas is trapped inside the cell 2 or after the first gas is discharged from the cell 2, the integrated circuit controls the humidifier 6 and the pump 4 so that the humidity inside the cell 2 is within a predetermined range, acquires first response values of the gas sensors 1a to 1c when the humidity has been adjusted, acquires second response values of the gas sensors 1a to 1c when the first gas has been trapped inside the cell 2, and determines the concentration of one or more types of component gases included in the first gas from the first response values and the second response values.

Description

Gas component measuring device

The present disclosure relates to a gas component measurement device that measures the concentration of a component gas contained in a gas to be measured using a gas sensor.

Exhaled air and skin gas contain abundant metabolic information and can be collected in a minimally invasive manner. Devices that measure the concentration of component gas contained in these gases are expected to be widely used in hospitals, workplaces, homes, etc., in usage scenes that meet health demands. The concentration of the component gas contained in these gases can be measured, for example, by separating the component gas from exhaled breath or skin gas by gas chromatography.

JP 2005-257373 A

K. Nakamura, T. Hosokawa, Y. Morita, M. Nishitani, and Y. Sadaoka, Determination of Low Concentration of Multi-Target Gas Species Exhaled with the Breath, ECS Transactions, 2016, 75 (16) 83-90 K. Suematsu, M. Sasaki, N. Ma, M. Yuasa, and K. Shimanoe, "Antimony-Doped Tin Dioxide Gas Sensors Exhibiting High Stability in the Sensitivity to Humidity Changes", ACS Sens. (7), , 913-920

Embodiment of this indication provides the gas component measuring device which can measure the density | concentration of the component gas contained in the gas which is a measuring object simply and with high precision.

A gas component measurement device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a cell for taking in a first gas that is a measurement target, a gas sensor that reacts with one or more types of component gases present in the cell, and the inside of the cell And a humidity sensor for detecting humidity in the cell, and an integrated circuit, the integrated circuit before the first gas is taken into the cell, or the first After the one gas is exhausted from the cell, the regulator is controlled based on the detection result of the humidity sensor so that the humidity in the cell is within a predetermined range, and the control for the regulator is performed. The first response value of the gas sensor with respect to the inside of the cell whose humidity has been adjusted by the method is acquired, and after the first gas is taken into the cell, the gas with respect to the first gas taken into the cell is obtained. To obtain a second response value of the sensor to determine the concentration of the said first response value and a second response value, the one or more kinds of gas components contained in the first gas.

According to the gas component measuring device according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, a gas component measuring device that can easily and highly accurately measure the concentration of the component gas contained in the gas to be measured is realized.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the breath component measuring apparatus according to the first embodiment. The block diagram which shows an example of a functional structure of the humidity controller which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. The flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of the expiration component measuring apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. The figure explaining an example of an artificial breath generation apparatus The flowchart which shows an example of the humidity adjustment process which concerns on Embodiment 1. The sequence chart which shows an example of the operation condition of the pump which concerns on Embodiment 1 Graph showing an example of response value of gas sensor to artificial breath Graph showing an example of response value of gas sensor to artificial breath The graph which shows an example of the response value of the gas sensor with respect to the introduction time of artificial expiration The figure which shows an example of the operation guide screen which concerns on Embodiment 1. The figure which shows an example of the measurement result screen which concerns on Embodiment 1. Graph showing an example of repeated reproducibility of the response value of the gas sensor according to the presence or absence of humidity adjustment Graph showing an example of repeated reproducibility of the response value of the gas sensor according to the presence or absence of humidity adjustment Graph showing an example of repeated reproducibility of the response value of the gas sensor according to the presence or absence of humidity adjustment Graph showing an example of repeated reproducibility of response value of gas sensor according to presence / absence of humidity adjustment (graph showing enlarged variation of reproducibility in case of sample numbers 1 and 2 which are low concentration conditions in FIG. 12B) FIG. 12C is a graph showing an example of repeated reproducibility of the response value of the gas sensor according to the presence / absence of humidity adjustment (a graph in which variation of reproducibility in the case of sample numbers 1 and 2 which are low concentration conditions in FIG. 12C is enlarged). Schematic diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the breath component measuring apparatus according to the second embodiment The figure which shows an example of a response | compatibility with the gas concentration and the response value of a gas sensor

(Knowledge that became the basis of this disclosure)
As described above, an apparatus for gas chromatography is expensive and complicated in configuration and handling in order to be widely used as a gas component measuring apparatus in homes and individuals. On the other hand, the semiconductor gas sensor is inexpensive and simple in configuration and handling, but the gas concentration measurement accuracy may not always be sufficient.

Semiconductor gas sensors are gas sensors mainly composed of metal oxides, and have recently been produced in large quantities at low cost and are used for driver alcohol detectors, indoor environment monitors, city gas leak alarms, and the like.

The component gas in the breath, which is assumed to be measured by the semiconductor gas sensor in the gas component measurement device, is acetone, which is a product of fat metabolism in the body, alcohols due to drinking, volatile sulfide compounds that cause bad breath, intestines There are various types such as hydrogen derived from anaerobic bacteria.

The response value of the semiconductor gas sensor is dependent on humidity, and it is necessary to consider this humidity dependency in order to measure the concentration of component gases with high accuracy.

The response value of the semiconductor gas sensor will be described in more detail.

Semiconductor gas sensors (also referred to simply as gas sensors) generally react with a plurality of types of gases with sensitivity for each type of gas. That is, the response value (for example, output voltage) of the gas sensor with respect to the mixed gas of the plurality of component gases is expressed as a function of the concentration of each of the plurality of component gases. Here, the humidity dependence of the response value of the gas sensor means that the response value of the gas sensor is a function that depends not only on the concentration of the component gas to be measured but also on the concentration of water vapor.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of the correspondence between the gas concentration and the response value of the gas sensor. In the example of FIG. 14, the concentrations of the component gases X, Y, and Z are expressed as x, y, and z, respectively, and the response values S _A , S _B , and S _C of the gas sensors A, B, and _C are respectively expressed by the function f1 (x , Y, z), f2 (x, y, z), and f3 (x, y, z).

For example, the functions f ₁ , f ₂ , and f ₃ measure a plurality of sample gases with known concentrations x, y, and z using the gas sensors A, B, and C, and the response values S _A and S of the gas sensors A, B, and C are used. _B, S _C and the known concentration x, y, are identified by solving the simultaneous equations using a z. Furthermore, the function _{f 1, f 2, f 3} , the inverse function ^{_{f 1 -1, f 2 -1,}} f 3 -1 is specified.

Component gas X contained in the breath as a measurement target, Y, concentration of Z x, y, z is the gas sensor A for that breath, B, response value _S A of _C, S B, the value f of the inverse function in _{S C 1} ⁻¹ (S _A , S _B , S _C ), f ₂ ⁻¹ (S _A , S _B , S _C ), and f ₃ ⁻¹ (S _A , S _B , S _C ).

In addition, the expression format of the function and the inverse function is not particularly limited. The function and the inverse function may be expressed in any format such as a mathematical formula, a numerical table, and a neural network.

From the understanding in FIG. 14, it is assumed that water vapor is one of the component gases to be measured, and a variable representing the concentration of water vapor (that is, the humidity of exhalation) is processed to accurately determine the concentration of a plurality of component gases including water vapor. It can be judged.

As described above, there are a wide variety of component gases in exhaled breath that are assumed to be measured by the gas component measuring apparatus. By measuring the concentration of more component gases and determining the health status of the user from various measurement results, a determination result with higher added value can be obtained.

However, measuring the concentration of more component gases based on the concept described in FIG. 14 is to increase the function variable. Increasing the function variable increases the number of samples required to identify the function and increases the time required to measure the sample gas. In addition, the amount of calculation for specifying the function and the inverse function also increases. Therefore, in order to obtain a gas component measuring apparatus that is inexpensive and has a simple configuration and handling while suppressing time and computational costs, it is better that the number of function variables is small.

Therefore, as a result of intensive studies, the present inventor has come up with a gas component measuring apparatus capable of measuring the concentration of component gas contained in the gas to be measured with high accuracy while using a gas sensor not based on gas chromatography.

A gas component measurement device according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a cell for taking in a first gas that is a measurement target, a gas sensor that reacts with one or more types of component gases present in the cell, and the inside of the cell And a humidity sensor for detecting humidity in the cell, and an integrated circuit, the integrated circuit before the first gas is taken into the cell, or the first After the one gas is exhausted from the cell, the regulator is controlled based on the detection result of the humidity sensor so that the humidity in the cell is within a predetermined range, and the control for the regulator is performed. The first response value of the gas sensor with respect to the inside of the cell whose humidity has been adjusted by the method is acquired, and after the first gas is taken into the cell, the gas with respect to the first gas taken into the cell is obtained. To obtain a second response value of the sensor to determine the concentration of the said first response value and a second response value, the one or more kinds of gas components contained in the first gas.

Thus, from the first response value in a state where the humidity in the cell is within a predetermined range and the second response value in the state where the first gas to be measured is introduced into the cell, the first response value is obtained. The concentration of the component gas contained in one gas is determined. Since the concentration of the component gas contained in the first gas can be determined using the first response value in a state where the concentration of water vapor is constant as a reference, even when the gas sensor reacts to water vapor, The influence is constant, and a determination result with small humidity dependency is obtained. As a result, a gas component measuring apparatus that can easily and accurately measure the concentration of the component gas contained in the first gas while using a gas sensor that does not rely on gas chromatography is realized.

Further, for example, the adjuster includes at least one of a humidifier or a dehumidifier, and a pump that introduces the second gas humidified or dehumidified by the humidifier or the dehumidifier into the cell, The integrated circuit may control the introduction of the second gas into the cell so that the humidity in the cell is within the predetermined range.

Thereby, by using the humidified or dehumidified second gas, the humidity in the cell can be efficiently controlled within a predetermined range.

Further, for example, the humidifier or the dehumidifier may take in air outside the gas component measuring device and humidify or dehumidify the taken-in air as the second gas.

Thereby, the second gas can be easily generated from outside air.

Further, for example, the regulator may further include a switch that opens and closes the flow of the second gas introduced into the cell.

In addition, for example, the cell has a plurality of openings including a first opening and a second opening different from the first opening, and the first gas is discharged from the first opening. The second gas may be introduced into the cell and introduced into the cell through the second opening.

This makes it possible to separate the first gas introduction path and the second gas introduction path and prevent mutual mixing, so that the concentration of the component gas contained in the first gas can be measured with higher accuracy.

In addition, for example, the gas component measuring device further includes a first presentation unit, and the integrated circuit is configured such that the humidity in the cell reaches a value within the predetermined range by the control with respect to the regulator. The predetermined presentation to the user may be performed by the first presentation unit.

Thereby, since the user can start taking in the first gas based on the presentation by the first presentation unit, the operability of the gas component measuring device is improved.

In addition, for example, the gas component measurement device further includes a flow rate detector that detects a flow rate of the first gas taken into the cell, and a second presentation unit, and the integrated circuit includes the first The second presentation unit may present the user with the detection result of the flow rate detector so that the gas is taken into the cell at a predetermined flow rate at a predetermined time.

Thereby, since the user can adjust the intake of the first gas based on the presentation by the second presentation unit, the concentration of the component gas contained in the first gas can be measured with higher accuracy.

In addition, for example, the gas component measuring device further includes a recording medium, and the integrated circuit is loaded into the cell when a learning gas having a known concentration of the one or more component gases is taken into the cell. A third response value of the gas sensor with respect to the taken-in learning gas is acquired, and the humidity before the learning gas is taken into the cell or after the learning gas is exhausted from the cell. Based on the detection result of the sensor, the adjuster is controlled so that the humidity in the cell falls within a predetermined range, and the fourth response of the gas sensor in the cell whose humidity is adjusted by the control on the adjuster Information on the correspondence between the third response value, the fourth response value, and the known density is recorded on the recording medium, and the first response value and the second response value are recorded. Values, and on the basis of the information for the judging.

Thus, since the information for determining the concentration of the component gas of the first gas is obtained by measuring the learning gas with the same gas sensor as the gas sensor that measures the first gas, the components included in the first gas Gas concentration can be measured with higher accuracy.

These general or specific aspects may be realized by a system, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium such as a computer-readable CD-ROM. The system, method, integrated circuit, computer program Alternatively, it may be realized by any combination of recording media.

Hereinafter, a gas component measurement device according to an aspect of the present disclosure will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

Note that each of the embodiments described below shows a specific example of the present disclosure. Numerical values, shapes, materials, components, arrangement positions and connection forms of components, steps, order of steps, and the like shown in the following embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. In addition, among the constituent elements in the following embodiments, constituent elements that are not described in the independent claims indicating the highest concept are described as optional constituent elements.

(Embodiment 1)
The gas component measurement device according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to an example of the breath component measurement device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the exhalation component measuring apparatus according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the breath component measuring apparatus 100 includes a sensor unit 1, a cell 2, air supply / exhaust ports 3 a and 3 b, a pump 4, valves 5 a and 5 b, a humidity controller 6, a gas inlet 7, and a control unit 10. A display unit 20, a data recording unit 30, and a data analysis unit 40. The sensor unit 1 includes gas sensors 1a, 1b, 1c, a humidity sensor 1d, and a flow rate detector 1e.

Gas sensors 1a, 1b, and 1c are gas sensors that react to each of gas A, gas B, and gas C contained in exhaled breath. Gas A, Gas B, Gas C are, for example, acetone, which is a product of fat metabolism in the body, alcohols from drinking, volatile sulfur compounds causing bad breath, hydrogen derived from anaerobic bacteria in the intestines, asthma markers Such as carbon monoxide.

The gas sensor 1a not only reacts with the gas A but also reacts with the gas B and the gas C, and is further affected by humidity (water vapor concentration). Similarly, the gas sensors 1b and 1c not only react to the gases B and C, respectively, but also react to other gases and are further affected by humidity (water vapor concentration).

The cell 2 is a container that takes in and holds exhaled air, and is shown in a cylindrical shape in the example of FIG. Air supply / exhaust ports 3 a and 3 b are provided at the end of the cell 2. The air supply / exhaust ports 3 a and 3 b are openings for exchanging gas between the inside and the outside of the cell 2. The position where the opening is disposed in the cell is not limited, but for the purpose of efficiently ventilating the cell, the opening is disposed at both ends of the cylindrical cell as shown in FIG. On the other hand, if the gas sensor placed in the cell reacts slowly with the supply gas, and the aim is to obtain an average concentration that is not affected by short-term concentration unevenness of the intake gas as sensor output, The mouth may not be arranged on the straight line of the gas flow. For example, one side may be arranged on the side surface of the cylindrical cell, and a gas reservoir that is difficult to ventilate may be provided in the cell, and the gas sensor may be arranged in the gas reservoir. .

The pump 4 and the valve 5a are connected to the air supply / exhaust port 3a. The humidity controller 6 and the valve 5b are connected to the air supply / exhaust port 3b.

The humidity controller 6 adjusts the humidity of the external air introduced into the cell before taking in exhaled air. The pump 4, valves 5 a and 5 b, and the humidity controller 6 are examples of regulators that adjust the humidity in the cell 2.

Note that the humidity controller 6 is not limited to a form arranged outside the cell 2. The miniaturized humidity controller 6 and a pump that discharges the gas conditioned by the humidity controller 6 to the outside of the humidity controller 6 may be included in the cell 2. Further, a valve for opening and closing the intake port and / or the exhaust port of the humidity controller 6 in the cell 2 may be provided. That is, the external air conditioned by the humidity controller 6 is not introduced into the cell, but the external air that is not conditioned is introduced into the cell 2 and then the humidity controller 6 included in the cell 2 is used. The humidity in the cell may be adjusted. In this case, the humidity controller 6, the pump, and the valve in the cell 2 correspond to a regulator that adjusts the humidity in the cell 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the humidity controller 6. As shown in FIG. 2, the humidity controller 6 includes a dehumidifier 61, a humidifier 62, and valves 63a and 63b.

The dehumidifier 61 is a cylinder containing a desiccant such as silica gel or molecular sieve.

The humidifier 62 is a water storage container that performs bubbling for humidification.

The valve 63a is, for example, a three-way valve, and selectively communicates external air with one of the dehumidifier 61 and the humidifier 62.

The valve 63b is, for example, a three-way valve, and selectively communicates one of the dehumidifier 61 and the humidifier 62 with the valve 5b.

According to the humidity controller 6, the external air can be dehumidified or humidified using one of the dehumidifier 61 and the humidifier 62 selected by the valves 63a and 63b. The humidity controller 6 may have only one function of dehumidification and humidification.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, the explanation of the breath component measuring device will be continued.

The connection part between the air supply / exhaust ports 3a and 3b and the cell 2 is not limited to the stepped shape as shown in FIG. For example, both ends of the cylinder of the cell 2 may be tapered so that the inner diameter of the cylinder gradually decreases toward the air supply / exhaust ports 3a and 3b. With such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the gas from staying in the corner of the cylinder of the cell 2 and to shorten the ventilation time of the gas that tends to remain in the corner of the cylinder.

Valves 5a and 5b are switches for controlling supply and exhaust at the air supply and exhaust ports 3a and 3b, respectively. The valve 5a is, for example, a three-way valve, and selectively communicates one of the gas introduction port 7 and the pump 4 for introducing exhalation with the supply / exhaust port 3a. The valve 5b is, for example, a three-way valve, and selectively communicates external air and one end of the humidity controller 6 with the air supply / exhaust port 3b. The other end of the humidity controller 6 is open to external air.

In addition to the gas sensors 1a, 1b and 1c, a humidity sensor 1d and a flow rate detector 1e are provided inside the cell 2. The flow rate detector 1e may be a flow meter as an example. The humidity sensor 1 d detects the humidity in the cell 2, and the flow rate detector 1 e detects the flow rate of exhaled air taken into the cell 2.

Control unit 10 controls driving of various sensors, acquisition of measured values, and gas flow by valves and pumps. That is, the control unit 10 governs a series of sequences from gas introduction to component gas concentration determination. The control unit 10 may be configured with a personal computer, for example.

The display unit 20 functions as a first presenting unit, displays humidity information in the cell 2, and functions as a second presenting unit, and displays flow rate information in the cell 2. The display unit 20 may be configured with a display connected to a personal computer, for example.

The data recording unit 30 has a database that stores responses of the gas sensor 1 when a mixed gas having a known concentration that simulates exhalation (hereinafter referred to as artificial exhalation) is introduced into the cell 2. Further, the known concentration and the response of the gas sensor are associated with each other by a mathematical expression, and a coefficient describing the mathematical expression is recorded. The data recording unit 30 may be configured by a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory, for example.

The data analysis unit 40 determines the unknown concentrations of the gases A, B, and C included in the expiration from the response of the gas sensor 1 to the user's expiration and the mathematical formula stored in the data recording unit 30. The data analysis unit 40 is an example of a determination unit.

(Operation of the breath component measuring device)
The operation of the breath component measuring apparatus 100 configured as described above will be described.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the breath component measuring apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 3, the operation of the breath component measuring apparatus 100 is roughly composed of a learning step (S10) and an actual measurement step (S20).

In the learning step (S10), artificial breath having a known component gas concentration is generated (S11), a response value of the gas sensor to the artificial breath is acquired (S12 to S16), and the response value of the gas sensor and the concentration of the component gas are calculated. Correspondence information representing the association is obtained and recorded (S17). Here, artificial expiration is an example of a learning gas.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of the artificial breath generation apparatus 300. The artificial exhalation generation device 300 generates artificial exhalation by adjusting the flow rates of gases A, B, and C having a known concentration and dry air using the mass flow controller 301, respectively. The dry air is branched into two, and one is bubbled through the water in the humidifier 302 to become humidified air. The humidified air, the other dry air, and the gases A, B, and C are adjusted in flow rate and mixed into one, and supplied to the cell 2 of FIG. 1 as artificial exhalation that simulates the humidity of exhalation. As a result of adjustment by the mass flow controller 301, a plurality of types of artificial breaths are generated with different combinations of concentrations of a plurality of component gases to which the gas sensors 1a, 1b, 1c react.

Referring again to FIG. 3, before supplying artificial breath to cell 2, the humidity in cell 2 is adjusted (S12).

In step S12, the control unit 10 drives the pump 4, and controls the opening direction of the valve 5a so that the pump 4 can suck the gas in the cell 2. Further, the control unit 10 controls the opening direction of the valve 5 b so that external air can be taken into the cell 2 without going through the humidity controller 6. Thereby, the inside of the cell 2 is ventilated with external air. This is because the constituent gas and water vapor of the exhaled breath remaining in the cell are discharged.

Next, the opening direction of the valve 5b is controlled so that external air can be taken into the cell via the humidity controller 6. As a result, the component gas of the breath remaining in the cell 2 is further discharged to promote dehumidification. It is also possible to omit ventilation without using the humidity controller 6. However, dehumidification time can be reduced by performing ventilation without using the humidity controller 6. Thereby, the load to a desiccant can be reduced and the replacement frequency of a desiccant can be reduced.

In step S12, the humidity in the cell 2 can be controlled to a certain humidity. This constant humidity may be relative humidity or absolute humidity. Further, the constant humidity may be a humidity within a predetermined range.

In step S12, a detailed procedure for adjusting the humidity in the cell 2 by dehumidification will be described.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of humidity adjustment processing by dehumidification.

In the humidity adjustment by dehumidification, the control unit 10 first sets the target humidity H0 and its allowable error ε (> 0) (S31). For example, if the target humidity H0 is 10% RH and the allowable error ε is 0.5% RH, the humidity in the cell 2 is adjusted to a range of 10 ± 0.5% RH.

The humidity H in the cell 2 is measured by the humidity sensor 1d (S32).

If the difference H−H0 between the measured humidity H and the target humidity H is smaller than the allowable error ε (YES in S33) and larger than the negative value −ε of the allowable error (YES in S34), the control unit 10 End humidity adjustment.

Since it is necessary to dehumidify when H−H0 ≧ ε (NO in S33), the control unit 10 sets the operation time Ton of the pump 4 (S35) and operates the pump 4 for the set time Ton. (S36). At this time, the opening direction of the valves 5b and 63b is controlled so that the air supply / exhaust port 3b and the dehumidifier 61 are connected. Further, the opening direction of the valve 5 a is controlled so that the air supply / exhaust port 3 a is connected to the pump 4. Thereby, the external air dehumidified via the dehumidifier 61 is introduced into the cell 2 for the time Ton, and the humidity in the cell 2 decreases.

The control unit 10 stops the pump 4 after the elapse of the time Ton and allows the gas in the cell 2 to stand for a predetermined time Toff (S37). Thereafter, the control unit 10 obtains the humidity H again, and compares H−H0 with the allowable value ε.

If the dehumidification is still insufficient, the same routine from step S32 to step S37 is repeated. At this time, the control unit 10 determines the pump drive time Ton based on the value of H−H0. For simplicity, Ton may be a value obtained by multiplying the value of H−H0 by a proportional coefficient.

FIG. 6 is a sequence chart showing an example of the operating state of the pump 4. As the humidity H approaches the target humidity H0, the driving time of the pump 4 is shortened, and eventually, | H−H0 | <ε, and the humidity adjustment is completed.

In the above process, the pump 4 is driven within the time Ton. However, if the air inside the cell 2 is connected to the dehumidifier 61 without driving the pump 4, the humidity inside the cell 2 decreases. I will do it. Although it takes time to adjust to the target humidity H0 by the process of not driving the pump 4, the humidity can be adjusted silently.

When the humidity in the cell is lower than the target humidity due to excessive dehumidification (NO in step S34), humidification may be performed when the humidity controller 6 having a humidifying function is used. When a humidity controller without a humidifying function is used, if the direction of the valve 5b is controlled and the air supply / exhaust port 3b is connected to external air, water vapor from the external air gradually enters the cell, The humidity increases. The measurement of the humidity H is repeated and eventually H−H0> −ε is satisfied, and the humidity adjustment is finished.

Referring to FIG. 3 again, the explanation of the learning process will be continued.

The control unit 10 acquires the response value of the gas sensor when the humidity adjustment is completed as the third response value (S13).

The controller 10 controls the opening direction of the valve 5a so as to connect the air supply / exhaust port 3a to the gas introduction port 7, and controls the opening direction of the valve 5b so that the air supply / exhaust port 3b is connected to the external air side. Artificial expiration is introduced into the cell 2 from the gas inlet 7 and discharged to the outside through the air supply / exhaust port 3b and the valve 5b. Thus, artificial expiration is introduced into the cell 2 for a predetermined time at a predetermined flow rate (S14).

The control unit 10 allows the gas in the cell 2 to stand for a certain period of time after the introduction of artificial exhalation, and uses the maximum value of the response value of the gas sensor acquired during the introduction and standing of the artificial exhalation as the fourth response value. Obtain (S15).

The control unit 10 sets the third response value and the fourth response value acquired in this way as the base value and the peak value, respectively, and the difference between the base value and the peak value (for example, the base value and the peak value). Is set as an effective response value of the gas sensor. Thereby, if there is a drift in the characteristics of the gas sensor element itself or a drift in an analog circuit that converts a response value of the gas sensor (for example, an element resistance value in a semiconductor gas sensor) into a voltage, this can be canceled as much as possible. .

The control unit 10 obtains a base value and a peak value for all artificial breaths, obtains an effective response value of the gas sensor, and then indicates correspondence information indicating a relationship between the gas concentration and the effective response value of the gas sensor. And the corresponding information is recorded in the data recording unit 30 (S17). The correspondence information may be, for example, mathematical expressions or numerical tables representing the inverse functions f ₁ ⁻¹ , f ₂ ⁻¹ , and f ₃ ⁻¹ described in FIG. 14, and the inverse functions f ₁ ⁻¹ , f ₂ ^-1 and f ₃ ^-1 may be the configuration information of the neural network that executes. The data recording unit 30 may further record the base value, peak value, and effective response value of the response value of the gas sensor.

Here, the effect of adjusting the humidity in the cell 2 to a constant target humidity before acquiring the third response value in step S12 will be described.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing an example of a response value of the gas sensor with respect to artificial breath. In FIG. 7, the vertical axis represents the gas sensor output voltage with respect to artificial breath of the semiconductor gas sensor (hydrogen sensor SB-19 manufactured by NISSHA FIS), and the horizontal axis represents time.

FIG. 7 shows that the humidity in the cell 2 is adjusted by ventilation with external air and dehumidification (period P1), artificial breath is introduced at a constant flow rate for a certain period of time (period P2), and the gas in the cell 2 is kept quiet for a certain period of time. The result of repeating the setting (period P3) six times is shown. The artificial breath is air having a relative humidity of about 70% mixed with 1.0 ppm of acetone, 1.2 ppm of ethanol, 24.8 ppm of hydrogen, 6.2 ppm of carbon monoxide, and 25.4% of carbon dioxide.

Each time the process was repeated, the target humidity in the humidity adjustment was intentionally lowered from 63% RH to 12% RH. This humidity range includes the annual humidity change range of the Japanese season. That is, the result of FIG. 7 imitates the response value of the gas sensor seen when the response value of the gas sensor is acquired without performing humidity adjustment throughout the year.

As is clear from FIG. 7, the base value of the response voltage of the gas sensor differs depending on the humidity. That is, the gas sensor has humidity dependency. For this reason, when the difference between the base value and the peak value acquired without adjusting the humidity is used as the effective value of the response value of the gas sensor, the effective value of the response value also depends on humidity. Such temperature dependence is reduced by adjusting the humidity in the cell 2 to a certain humidity before obtaining the base value of the response value of the gas sensor.

For example, if the target humidity in the humidity adjustment is set to 10% RH, the environmental humidity exceeds this value throughout the year, so that the inside of the cell 2 can be adjusted to 10% RH only by dehumidification. If the time required for humidity adjustment is shortened, the target humidity may be 20% RH. When the humidity controller 6 having a humidifying function is used, it may be adjusted to the high humidity side by humidification. However, the humidification function is not essential, and by omitting the humidification function, the configuration of the apparatus can be prevented from becoming complicated.

Furthermore, the humidity controller 6 itself may be omitted, and an inert gas such as air or nitrogen whose humidity has been made constant in advance may be introduced by a cylinder or a spray can. However, assuming that the device is widely used in the home or carried outside, it is difficult to keep a cylinder or spray can, so a method of obtaining dry air with a humidity controller that has only a dehumidifying function is more practical. .

Note that the inventor has also confirmed that it is not necessary to adjust the humidity of the exhalation itself when obtaining the peak value in measuring the exhalation component.

FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the relative humidity and the response value of a gas sensor whose main detection target is acetone to a mixed gas containing acetone and water vapor. As can be seen from FIG. 8, in the high humidity region where the relative humidity is assumed to be 80% or more, the response of the gas sensor is constant, and the difference between 1.0 ppm and 1.7 ppm of acetone can be discriminated.

In other words, in a high humidity region such as exhalation, the humidity dependence of the response value of the gas sensor to acetone is small, so the humidity dependence of the peak value of the response value obtained without adjusting the humidity of the exhalation itself is small. Such a characteristic is also seen in a gas sensor whose main object is a gas other than acetone.

Therefore, a great effect can be obtained by adjusting the humidity in the cell when acquiring the base value among the base value and the peak value of the response value of the gas sensor. That is, the humidity dependence of the gas sensor can be effectively reduced by acquiring the base value while the humidity is adjusted to be constant.

Also, the effect of introducing artificial breath into the cell 2 for a predetermined time at a predetermined flow rate in step S14 will be described.

FIG. 9 is a graph showing an example of a response value of the gas sensor with respect to the artificial breath introduction time. In FIG. 9, the vertical axis represents the effective response value (difference between the base value and the peak value) of the gas sensor, and the horizontal axis represents the artificial breath introduction time. FIG. 9 shows two types of artificial exhalation (high concentration artificial exhalation and low concentration artificial exhalation) having different component gas concentrations at a flow rate of 2.3 L / min for 40 seconds, 20 seconds, 10 seconds, and 5 seconds. The effective response value when introduced for 1 second is shown.

FIG. 9 shows that the response value of the gas sensor fluctuates when the insufflation time is different for any artificial breath having different concentrations of component gases. The total amount of gas introduced is the product of the flow rate and the introduction time. Therefore, effective correspondence information can be obtained in step S17 by standardizing both the gas flow rate and the gas introduction time.

As described above, in the learning step S <b> 10, it has been explained that the response value of the gas sensor whose humidity dependency is reduced by adjusting the humidity in the cell is obtained, and the correspondence information between the gas concentration and the effective response value of the gas sensor is obtained. . Further, it has been explained that the response value of the gas sensor depends on the gas introduction flow rate and the introduction time.

Hereinafter, the measurement process S20 will be described based on the fact that the gas sensor has humidity dependency and dependency on the gas introduction flow rate and the introduction time.

Most of the actual measurement step S20 is configured by replacing the artificial exhalation in the learning step S10 with the actual measurement target exhalation. Here, expiration of measurement is an example of the first gas.

Referring to FIG. 3 again, in step S21, the control unit 10 drives the pump 4 and controls the opening direction of the valve 5a so that the pump 4 can suck the gas in the cell 2. Further, the control unit 10 controls the opening direction of the valve 5 b so that external air can be taken into the cell 2 without going through the humidity controller 6. As a result, the inside of the cell 2 is ventilated with external air, and the component gas and water vapor of the breath remaining in the cell are discharged.

Next, the control unit 10 controls the opening direction of the valve 5 b so that external air can be taken into the cell 2 through the humidity controller 6. As a result, the component gas of the breath remaining in the cell 2 is further discharged to promote dehumidification. Here, the external air taken into the cell 2 after being humidified or dehumidified in the humidity controller 6 is an example of the second gas.

In step S21, the measurement accuracy can be increased by controlling the humidity in the cell 2 to the same target humidity as that in the humidity adjustment in step S12 of the learning step S10. Here, the target humidity may be a relative humidity or an absolute humidity. The target humidity may be a humidity within a predetermined range. Similar to the learning step S10, the procedure of FIG. 5 is used for the humidity adjustment. When the inside of the cell 2 reaches the target humidity range, the control unit 10 ends the humidity adjustment and reaches the target humidity range. This is notified to the user via the display unit 20 as a humidity display unit.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation guide screen displayed on the display unit 20. In the operation guide screen shown in FIG. 10, the icon under humidity adjustment is displayed with high luminance while humidity adjustment is performed.

The control unit 10 acquires the response value of the gas sensor when the humidity adjustment is completed as the first response value, similarly to the third response value in the learning step S10 (S22). When the acquisition of the first response value is completed, on the operation guide screen of the display unit 20, the humidity-adjusting icon is displayed with low luminance, and the start icon is displayed with high luminance (S23). As a result, the user recognizes that exhalation can be blown.

In step S24, the control unit 10 controls the opening direction of the valve 5a so as to connect the air supply / exhaust port 3a to the gas introduction port 7. The air supply / exhaust port 3b controls the opening direction of the valve 5b so as to be connected to the external air side. The user blows exhaled air into the cell 2 from the gas inlet 7 and the gas blown into the cell 2 is discharged to the outside through the air supply / exhaust port 3b and the valve 5b.

When the user starts breathing, the value of the flow rate detector 1e arranged in the cell 2 is presented in real time on the operation guide screen of the display unit 20, as shown in FIG. On the operation guide screen, for example, a flow rate range of ± 10% of the introduction flow rate in step S14 of the learning step S10 is indicated by diagonal lines, and the user can make the flow rate of exhaled breath fall within the range indicated by the diagonal lines. Guided. For example, icons such as “weak”, “as is”, and “strong” may be arranged on the right side of the screen, and any of the icons may be displayed with high luminance as the flow rate of exhaled breath increases or decreases.

The user can adjust the blowing flow rate according to the presented guide and can blow the breath at a constant flow rate. The control unit 10 detects the rise of the value of the flow rate detector 1e associated with the inhalation of exhalation, measures the time from the detected timing, and when the time equal to the introduction time in step S14 has elapsed, the valve 2a causes the exhalation cell 2 to flow. Control is performed so as to block the blow-in to (S25).

In this way, the expiratory flow rate and the expelling time in step S24 are controlled to be as similar as possible to the introduction flow rate and introduction time when artificial expiratory gas is introduced in step S14 of the learning step S10. Thereby, the dependence of the response value of the gas sensor on the gas introduction flow rate and the gas introduction time can be reduced.

The control unit 10 allows the gas in the cell 2 to stand for a certain period of time after the introduction of exhalation, and obtains the maximum value of the response value of the gas sensor obtained during the inhalation and standing of the exhalation as the second response value. (S26).

The control unit 10 uses the first response value and the second response value acquired in this way as the base value and the peak value, respectively, and the difference between the base value and the peak value (for example, the base value and the peak value). Is set as an effective response value of the gas sensor.

The control unit 10 calculates the concentration of the component gas contained in the exhalation using the effective response value of the gas sensor and the correspondence information stored in the data recording unit 30 (S27). The calculated concentration is presented to the user on the measurement result screen displayed on the display unit 20 (S28).

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a measurement result screen displayed on the display unit 20. Specifically, the results of FIG. 11 show that the gas sensor 1a is an acetone sensor (SB-AQ8, manufactured by NISSHA FIS), the gas sensor 1b is a hydrogen sensor (SB-19, manufactured by NISSHA FIS), and the gas sensor 1c is a carbon monoxide sensor (FIGARO). TGS5042) and the results of determining the concentrations of the three component gases using these three gas sensors are shown.

As described above, in the measurement step S20, the response value of the gas sensor with reduced humidity dependency is obtained by adjusting the humidity in the cell, and the gas concentration is obtained with high accuracy from the effective response value of the gas sensor and the corresponding information. it can. In addition, by making the exhalation flow rate and the inhalation time of the user the same as the introduction flow rate and the introduction time of the artificial exhalation in the learning step S10 as much as possible, the dependence of the gas sensor response value on the gas introduction flow rate and the introduction time Can also be reduced.

Here, regarding the effect of performing the humidity adjustment in step S21 of the actual measurement step S20, the effect of the gas sensor obtained when the humidity adjustment is not performed, when only the ventilation is performed, and when the humidity adjustment by dehumidification is performed. The response value will be described.

FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, and FIG. 12C are graphs showing an example of repeated reproducibility of the response value of the gas sensor according to the presence or absence of humidity adjustment. 12A, 12B, and 12C, the vertical axis represents the response value (peak value) of the gas sensor, and the horizontal axis represents the sample number of artificial breath. The sample of artificial breath contains a higher concentration of component gas as the sample number increases.

In FIG. 12A, FIG. 12B, and FIG. 12C, artificial expiration samples are sampled in the order of sample numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, that is, the concentration of component gas increases and decreases. In the order, the response value (peak value) of the gas sensor when the process introduced into the cell 2 is repeated three times is shown. For comparison, in FIG. 12A, the humidity adjustment in step S21 is omitted, in FIG. 12B, only the ventilation with external air is performed instead of the humidity adjustment in step S21, and in FIG. 12C, the humidity adjustment by dehumidification is performed in step S21. The result is shown.

In FIG. 12A, the response values differed greatly between different loops and within the same loop when the concentration increased and decreased, and it was not possible to obtain repeated reproducibility of the response values. In FIG. 12B, the repeatability of the response value is improved as compared with FIG. 12A, but it is not sufficient. In FIG. 12C, almost the same response value was reproduced between different loops and when the concentration was increased and decreased within the same loop, and practical repeatability was obtained.

More specifically, FIG. 12D shows the sensor response value variation (that is, the difference from the average value) in the low concentration region (ie, sample numbers 1 and 2) in FIG. 12B, and FIG. 12C also shows the sensor response value in the low concentration region. The variation of the difference is shown in FIG. 12E. When the humidity adjustment is performed, the variation in FIG. 12E is reduced as compared with FIG. 12D in which only the ventilation is performed. Therefore, higher repeatability was obtained by performing the humidity adjustment.

From these results, practical repeatability can be obtained in the actual measurement step S20 by adjusting the humidity in the cell 2 to a constant value in step S21.

In the example described above, the gas to be measured is an exhaled gas, but the gas component measuring device according to the present embodiment can also be applied to skin gas. Also in this case, the gas component measurement device has the same configuration as the above-described exhalation component measurement device and operates in the same manner except for the points described below. That is, since the skin gas does not have a pressure source such as the lung unlike the breath gas, the gas component measuring device is configured to receive, for example, a minute amount of gas diffusing from the skin surface in a minute capacity cell over time. The diffusion of the skin gas becomes a flow rate that is equal to or lower than the detection lower limit of the flow rate sensor that constitutes the flow rate detector 1e of FIG. In this case, in order to make the flow rate to the cell constant, for example, the skin is exposed to the gas inlet 7 and the valve 5a is driven so that the gas inlet 7 and the air supply / exhaust port 3a communicate with each other. Measure and block communication. That is, the function of the flow rate detector 1e in this case may be only the function of measuring the certain time.

Therefore, S14 of the learning step S10 in FIG. 3 may start and end the process only by time management without using the flow rate. Similarly, in S23 of the actual measurement step S20, instead of presenting the blowing flow rate to the user, the skin is exposed to the gas inlet 7 and the valve 5a is driven so as to connect the gas inlet 7 and the air supply / exhaust port 3a. Then, the elapsed time up to the same fixed time as the learning step may be presented to the user. Further, in step S11 of generating artificial skin gas in the learning step S10, the pressure of the gas mixed in the artificial breath generation device of FIG. 4 is not directly guided to the gas inlet 7, but once collected in a gas bag or the like. The artificial skin gas in the gas bag equivalent to the atmospheric pressure may be connected to the introduction port 7.

(Embodiment 2)
The gas component measuring device according to Embodiment 2 will be described with reference to an example of a breath component measuring device formed on a toothbrush and its cradle.

The breath component measuring apparatus according to the second embodiment is an application example in which the breath component measuring apparatus described in the first embodiment is formed on a toothbrush and its cradle. The reason why the exhalation component measuring device is formed on the toothbrush is that the toothbrush is a daily necessities in the mouth and has a high affinity for the operation of inhaling exhalation.

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the breath component measuring apparatus according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 13, the breath component measuring apparatus 200 is formed on the toothbrush 8 and the cradle 9 that holds the toothbrush 8. In the following description, the constituent elements of the breath component measuring apparatus 200 are referred to by the same reference numerals as the constituent elements functionally corresponding to the breath component measuring apparatus 100. In addition, the description of items common to those described in the expiratory component measuring apparatus 100 is omitted as appropriate.

The toothbrush 8 is provided with gas sensors 1a, 1b, 1c, a humidity sensor 1d, a flow rate detector 1e, a cell 2, air supply / exhaust ports 3a, 3b, a gas inlet port 7, and a control unit 10a.

The cell 2 is constituted by an internal space of the gripping part of the toothbrush 8, and the gas sensors 1a, 1b, 1c, the humidity sensor 1d, the flow rate detector 1e, and the control unit 10a are arranged in the internal space.

The flow rate detector 1e is composed of a pressure sensor that detects the pressure in the cell 2. From the detected pressure and the design value of the flow path resistance with respect to exhalation in the toothbrush 8, the exhalation flow rate is calculated. In general, a diaphragm type pressure sensor is inexpensive and simple in configuration as compared with a flow rate detector that detects a gas flow rate by a hot-wire method or an ultrasonic method, and can be easily contained in a small volume such as a toothbrush.

The gas introduction port 7 is provided in the vicinity of the brush of the toothbrush 8 and is formed of an aggregate of fine holes having water repellency so that water does not enter the toothbrush during brushing. Exhaled air blown from the gas inlet 7 is introduced into the cell 2 and discharged from the air supply / exhaust port 3b.

The control unit 10a is composed of, for example, a one-chip microcomputer, and controls driving of various sensors and acquisition of measured values in a state where the toothbrush 8 is detached from the cradle 9.

The cradle 9 is provided with a pump 4, a valve 5b, a humidity controller 6, a control unit 10b, a display unit 20, a data recording unit 30, a data analysis unit 40, and an O-ring 91.

The humidity controller 6 is a cylinder containing a desiccant such as silica gel or molecular sieve and has only a dehumidifying function.

The O-ring 91 maintains an airtightness between the toothbrush 8 and the cradle 9.

The control unit 10b, the data recording unit 30, and the data analysis unit 40 are composed of, for example, a one-chip microcomputer. The display unit 20 includes, for example, a sound generating element such as a piezoelectric buzzer and a light emitting element such as a light emitting diode.

The control unit 10a provided on the toothbrush 8 and the control unit 10b provided on the cradle 9 are linked via, for example, wireless communication. In the exhalation component measuring apparatus 200, the control unit 10a and the control unit 10b work together to function as the control unit 10 in the exhalation component measuring apparatus 100.

Next, an example of the operation of the breath component measuring apparatus 200 will be described.

Here, instead of adjusting the humidity before measuring artificial expiration and before measuring user's expiration, the humidity may be adjusted after measuring artificial expiration and after measuring user's expiration. That is, the response value of the gas sensor is acquired in the order of the peak value and the base value in both the learning step and the actual measurement step so that the humidity adjustment is performed after measuring artificial expiration and user expiration. Thereby, the convenience for the user can be improved without causing the user to wait in the usage scene in which the breath component is detected when brushing teeth.

First, the learning process by the breath component measuring apparatus 200 will be described.

In the learning process by the breath component measuring apparatus 200, steps S14 and S15 of the learning process S10 in FIG. 3 are performed before steps S12 and S13. As a result, the peak value of the response value of the gas sensor for artificial expiration is acquired first, and the base value is acquired after humidity adjustment. In step S17, the difference between the acquired base value and the peak value is used as an effective response value of the gas sensor, and correspondence information representing the relationship between the gas concentration and the effective response value of the gas sensor is recorded in the data recording unit 30. .

By performing steps S14 and S15 before steps S12 and S13, the user can measure artificial expiration without having to wait for humidity adjustment.

Next, the measurement process by the breath component measuring apparatus 200 will be described.

The actual measurement process by the breath component measuring apparatus 200 is performed by performing steps S23 to S26 of the actual measurement process S20 in FIG. 3 before steps S21 and S22.

In the actual measurement process by the exhalation component measuring apparatus 200, first, after finishing the tooth brushing, the user includes the gas introduction port 7 in the mouth and blows in exhalation. The component gas of the exhaled breath introduced from the gas inlet 7 is detected by the gas sensors 1a, 1b and 1c in the cell 2. The start of exhalation is detected by the response of the pressure sensor that is the flow rate detector 1e.

The microprocessor which is the control unit 10a detects that the blowing has started with the flow rate detector 1e, and whether or not the pressure value is within a predetermined range during blowing and whether the blowing has been performed for a predetermined time Is notified to the user via the display unit 20.

♦ After expiration, leave exhaled breath in the cell 2 for a certain period of time. The maximum value of the response values of the gas sensors 1a, 1b, and 1c acquired during the exhalation and standing is set as the second response value.

In the expiratory component measuring apparatus 200, instead of providing a valve 5a or a shutter at the air supply / exhaust port 3a and shutting off the cell 2 from the outside after blowing in, the diameter of the air supply / exhaust port 3a is made sufficiently small. The response values of the gas sensors 1a, 1b, and 1c are acquired without being affected by the above.

The above processing corresponds to steps S23 to S26 in FIG. By performing steps S23 to S26 before steps S21 and S22, the user can measure the expiration of the user without having to wait for humidity adjustment.

Next, the user returns the toothbrush 8 to the cradle 9 and connects the base air supply / exhaust port 3b of the toothbrush 8 to the inside of the cradle 9. The pump 4 is started, external air is taken into the cradle from the air supply / exhaust port of the cradle 9 and sent to the toothbrush 8 to ventilate the cell 2 for a certain period of time.

At this time, the humidity in the cell 2 is monitored by the humidity sensor 4d. When the specified humidity is not reached by ventilation alone, the direction of the valve 5b is switched, external air is taken into the cradle 9 through the humidity controller 6 and sent to the toothbrush 8, and the humidity inside the cell 2 is adjusted to a predetermined humidity. To do.

Use the procedure shown in Fig. 5 to adjust the humidity. When the inside of the cell 2 reaches the target humidity range, the humidity adjustment is terminated, and the base value of the response value of the gas sensor is acquired as the first response value. By acquiring the first response value, an effective response value of the gas sensor is obtained due to the difference between the first response value and the second response value.

The above processing corresponds to steps S21 and S22 in FIG.

Finally, the concentration of the component gas of exhalation is determined corresponding to steps S27 and S28 in FIG. In the expiratory component measuring apparatus 200, the first response value as the base value and the second response value as the peak value are sent to the data analysis unit 40 by wireless communication means between the toothbrush 8 and the cradle 9. Then, based on the correspondence information recorded in the data recording unit 30, the concentration of the component gas of expiration is determined.

As a modification of the second embodiment, in FIG. 13, the data recording unit 30, the data analysis unit 40, the control unit 10b, the pump 4, the valve 5b, and the humidity controller 6 provided in the cradle 9 are all downsized. And may be stored in the toothbrush 8.

In the present disclosure, all or part of the unit, or all or part of the functional blocks in the block diagrams illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 13 include a semiconductor device, a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC), or an LSI (large scale integration). It may be performed by one or more electronic circuits. The LSI or IC may be integrated on a single chip, or may be configured by combining a plurality of chips. Here, it is called LSI or IC, but the name changes depending on the degree of integration, and may be called system LSI, VLSI (very large scale integration), or ULSI (ultra large scale integration). Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), which is programmed after manufacturing LSI, or reconfigurable logic device that can reconfigure the connection relationship inside LSI or set up circuit partition inside LSI can be used for the same purpose.

Furthermore, all or part of the functions or operations of the units can be executed by software processing. In this case, the software is recorded on a non-transitory recording medium such as one or more semiconductor memories, optical disks, hard disk drives, etc., and is specified by the software when the software is executed by a processor. Functions are performed by the processor and peripheral devices. The apparatus of the present disclosure may include one or more non-transitory recording media in which software is recorded, a processor, and required hardware devices, such as an interface.

The gas component measuring device of the present disclosure can be widely used, for example, in the healthcare field as an expiratory component measuring device that is inexpensive and simple in configuration and handling.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sensor unit 1a, 1b, 1c Gas sensor 1d Humidity sensor 1e Flow rate detector 2 Cell 3a, 3b Supply / exhaust port 4 Pump 5a, 5b, 63a, 63b Valve 6 Humidifier 7 Gas inlet 8 Toothbrush 9 Cradle 10, 10a, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10b Control part 20 Display part 30 Data recording part 40 Data analysis part 61 Dehumidifier 62,302 Humidifier 91 O ring 100,200 Exhalation component measuring device (gas component measuring device)
300 Artificial breath generator

Claims (8)

A cell for taking in the first gas to be measured;
A gas sensor that reacts with one or more kinds of component gases present in the cell;
An adjuster for adjusting the humidity in the cell;
A humidity sensor for detecting the humidity in the cell;
An integrated circuit;
With
The integrated circuit comprises:
Before the first gas is taken into the cell or after the first gas is discharged from the cell, the humidity in the cell is within a predetermined range based on the detection result of the humidity sensor. Control the regulator so that
Obtaining a first response value of the gas sensor for the inside of the cell, the humidity of which is adjusted by the control of the regulator;
After the first gas is taken into the cell, a second response value of the gas sensor with respect to the first gas taken into the cell is obtained,
From the first response value and the second response value, the concentration of the one or more kinds of component gases contained in the first gas is determined.
Gas component measuring device. The regulator is
At least either a humidifier or a dehumidifier,
A pump for introducing the second gas humidified or dehumidified by the humidifier or the dehumidifier into the cell;
With
The gas component measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the integrated circuit controls the introduction of the second gas into the cell so that the humidity in the cell falls within the predetermined range. The gas component measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the humidifier or the dehumidifier takes in air outside the gas component measuring device and humidifies or dehumidifies the taken-in air as the second gas. The gas component measuring device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the adjuster further includes a switch for opening and closing the flow of the second gas introduced into the cell. The cell has a plurality of openings including a first opening and a second opening different from the first opening;
The first gas is taken into the cell from the first opening;
The gas component measuring device according to claim 2, wherein the second gas is introduced into the cell from the second opening. A first presentation unit;
The integrated circuit causes the first presentation unit to perform a predetermined presentation to a user when the humidity in the cell reaches a value within the predetermined range by the control of the regulator. To 5. The gas component measuring device according to any one of 5 to 5. A flow rate detector for detecting a flow rate of the first gas taken into the cell;
A second presentation unit;
The integrated circuit provides the second presentation unit with a presentation of the detection result of the flow rate detector to the user so that the first gas is taken into the cell at a predetermined flow rate at a predetermined time. The gas component measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A recording medium,
The integrated circuit comprises:
When a learning gas having a known concentration of the one or more component gases is taken into the cell, a third response value of the gas sensor for the learning gas taken into the cell is acquired,
Before the learning gas is taken into the cell or after the learning gas is exhausted from the cell, the humidity in the cell is within a predetermined range based on the detection result of the humidity sensor. Control the regulator so that
Obtaining a fourth response value of the gas sensor for the inside of the cell, the humidity of which is adjusted by the control of the regulator;
Information on correspondence between the third response value, the fourth response value, and the known density is recorded on the recording medium,
The gas component measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the determination is performed based on the first response value, the second response value, and the information.

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