JP2691192B2 - Bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device for monitoring and measuring a bioelectric phenomenon of a subject in an unrestrained state using an optical telemeter.

[Summary of the Invention]

The present invention amplifies the bioelectric phenomenon of an unrestrained subject,
The stored data is sent to the light receiving unit by direct optical communication, and the light receiving unit monitors and measures the bioelectrical phenomenon of the subject in an unrestrained state to grasp the true bioelectrical phenomenon. It is intended to obtain a bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device capable of realizing efficient direct optical communication by storing data to be transmitted and transmitting light when the optical axes of the transmitting and receiving means are aligned.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, with the diversification of medical measurement, there is an increasing need to monitor and measure the electroencephalogram and electrocardiogram of a subject in an unrestrained state.

Continuous monitoring of electrocardiogram of heart disease patients, EEG measurement of epilepsy patients,
Measurements of EMG during exercise, chronic experiments on small animals, etc. become meaningful only after understanding bioelectric phenomena in a free environment.

However, in recent years, radio waves, which is a powerful means of telemetry, have become difficult to use because the regulations of the Radio Law have become severe and the usable frequency band is restricted in recent years.

Therefore, remote measurement using light as a medium instead of radio waves has come to be performed.

Light propagates in air or vacuum with little attenuation, has a wide modulation band, is not regulated by law, and has excellent characteristics as a communication medium, but has a strong directivity. Therefore, there is a drawback that communication cannot be performed unless the axes of the transmitting means and the receiving means are aligned.

In addition, communication using millimeter waves showing directivity similar to light is applied to ships and the like. For example, in the case of communication between a ship that is caught in waves on the sea and land, the communication may be disrupted due to a gap between the transmitting and receiving antennas due to the directivity of millimeter waves. Therefore, a search function is provided in the transmission / reception device
A system for transmitting the stored data only when the transmitting and receiving antennas face each other has been put into practical use.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the above-described conventional remote measurement of biological phenomena using light, indirect optical communication using diffused reflection on a wall or ceiling is always performed in order to secure a communication system. As a result, the efficiency is low and the weight of the battery that the subject must carry is inevitably increased, which limits the behavior. Further, since light cannot be divided into bands as easily as radio waves, communication in one room is naturally limited to one subject. However, in many cases, there is a demand to monitor biological information of a plurality of subjects at the same time, and some measure is required.

Also, in the case of the above-mentioned millimeter wave communication, since the emission axis of the transmitting antenna fluctuates up and down depending on the wave, it is possible to deal with a set of transmitting and receiving antennas, but in the medical remote system, the subject can freely Being active, it requires multiple transmit and receive antenna combinations.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to efficiently convey a bioelectric phenomenon of a subject moving with a transmitting means of optical communication to a receiving means without restraint. The purpose is to create a remote control system that monitors and measures the condition of the subject. Another object of the present invention is to realize a remote control system in which a single receiving means receives a signal from a transmitting means by using a time division method.

[Means for solving the problem]

An example of the bioelectric phenomenon monitoring apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, in which a first light emitting element group (8a) to (8n) for spatially transmitting biometric data and this first light emission. A first light receiving element that receives a search signal for confirming the arrival of an optical signal, which is arranged in pairs in each of the light emitting elements of the element groups (8a) to (8n) so that their optical axes are parallel to each other. Element group (18a) ~
A light transmitting unit having a (18n), and detecting means E ₁ to E _n for detecting a biological phenomenon, and storage means for storing the biometric data detected by the detecting means E ₁ ~E _n (5), receiving Readout means (9) to (17) for reading biometric data from the storage means (5) when the element group receives a search signal, and light transmission drive means for driving the first light emitting element groups (8a) to (8n). (7) and a transmitting means capable of connecting a light emitting section, second light emitting element groups (39a) to (39n) for transmitting a search signal, and first light emitting element groups (8a) to (8a). 8n) a plurality of second light-emitting element groups (21a) (21n) that receive biometric data transmitted from a plurality of second light-emitting elements arranged in pairs so that their optical axes are parallel to each other. The light receiving elements (21a) to (21n) and the second light receiving element groups (21a) to (21n) having a reproducing means for reproducing a plurality of data obtained, It is obtained by including a receiving means for performing transmission and reception to and from the stage.

[Action]

The bioelectrical phenomenon monitoring device of the present invention stores the bioelectrical phenomenon in the storage means in the transmission means which the subject always forms in an unconstrained state at all times, and when the optical axis can be aligned with the light receiving means, the storage means Since the data stored in the receiver is transmitted to the receiving means side by the optical communication method, the biological phenomenon of the unconstrained subject can be efficiently monitored and measured. It is also possible to monitor the biological phenomena of a plurality of subjects with one receiving means by using the time division method.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the bioelectric phenomenon monitoring apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8.

First, an embodiment of the transmitting apparatus worn by the subject at all times will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of the light transmitting device, in which the housing (60) of the light transmitting device is formed into a truncated pyramid shape, and the cutting face (60e) excluding the bottom face and the four side faces (60a) to Light emitting element (8a) on (60d)
To (8e), a light receiving element, and (18a) to (18e).
Light-shielding plates (61a) to (61e) are provided between the light emitting elements (8a) to (8e) and the light receiving elements (18a) to (18e) to provide the light emitting elements (8a) to
Light is not directly transmitted and received between (8e) and the light receiving elements (18a) to (18e), and the light emitting elements (8a) to (8e) and the light receiving elements (18a) to (18e) are mutually optical axes. Are arranged in parallel.

The transmission effect can be enhanced by mounting a plurality of the above-mentioned casings (60) on the shoulder or neck of the subject.

Electrode or transducer E ₁ to E _n for detecting a plurality of biological phenomena signals provided to the subject in flow diagram of Figure 1 is the transmitting apparatus is amplified by a plurality of biological amplifiers (2a) ~ (2n) It The amplified signal enters the multiplexer (3) together with the DC bias for producing the synchronizing signal (1) and is arranged in time series to be converted into a series of analog signals. This signal becomes a 10-bit digital signal in the A / D converter (4) and is stored in the dual port memory (5) in which each address for writing and reading can be individually set. Control circuit (10) for controlling the A / D converter (4) and the D / A converter (6) described later
Causes the write address counter (9) and the read counter (12) to count with the same pulse, and when the write address counter (9) finishes setting the address, A /
Command D conversion.

The bioelectric signal data temporarily stored in the dual port memory (5) is converted into an analog signal by the D / A converter (6). This D / A converter (6) is a position modulation type D / A
The converter is a converter that emits a narrow pulse at the start of sampling of each channel of the biological signal and outputs the following outputs. When the input is zero, a thin pulse is generated in the center between sampling pulses, when it is plus maximum, a thin pulse is generated immediately before the next sampling pulse, and when it is minus maximum, a thin pulse is immediately after the previous sampling pulse. Is generated.

The analog output of the D / A converter drives the light emitting device groups (8a) to (8n) such as LEDs to emit light through the light transmitter driving unit (7).

The light emitting elements (8a) to (8n) and the light receiving elements (18a) to (18n) that receive the search signal in the light transmitting device are respectively [for example (8
a) and (18a)] pair, for example, the light receiving element (18
When a) receives the search signal, the pair of light transmitting elements (8a) can transmit light. Light receiving elements (18a) to (1
8n) receives light from any of the inverters (17a) to (17n)
An OR circuit (16) outputs an output in response to a signal input via and sets an RS flip-flop (15). The set RS flip-flop (15) opens the gate circuit (13) to allow the pulse of the clock generator (14) to pass. The read address counter (11) counting this pulse sequentially specifies the addresses of the dual port memory (5) and outputs the data. The output signal is converted into a pulse position modulated analog signal by the D / A converter (6). Transmitter unit (7) that received the modulated pulse train
Causes the light emitting element (8a) paired with the light receiving element (18a) receiving the search signal to emit light.

The switches S _{1 to} S _n are used for the light emitting element (8a) to
It is provided to supply and cut off the voltage supplied from the resistor R to (8n).

In order to improve the efficiency, the light-transmitting device and the transmitting device that are always carried by the subject configured as described above have a constant light-emitting element (8a) to
Since the search signal light receiving function is provided to receive the light emission command without emitting the light of (8n) and light is emitted only when the command is received, the battery consumption is reduced.

Further, the transmission device is configured so that the housing (60) of the above-described light transmission device can be connected via a wire.

Next, the configuration and system diagram of the receiving device will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, as well as FIG. FIGS. 4 and 5 show a schematic view of the receiver and a side view with a part cut away. The receiver is installed in several places such as the ceiling and walls of the monitoring environment (here, one room). It has a search signal light emission function for setting and issuing a light emission command to the transmission device. That is, in FIG. 4, the monitoring environment, that is, the room (62) is the floor surface (63),
It is assumed that it is composed of a ceiling (64), walls (65a), (65b), (65c), (65d), and a door or the like is formed at a predetermined place although the entrance is not shown. Light receiving elements (21a) to (21h) and light emitting elements (39a) to (39h) are provided at the eight corners of this room (62).
Is provided. The light receiving element is a phototransistor, and the light emitting element is an LED or the like and has a function of emitting a search signal. In addition, the light receiving elements (21a) to (21h) and the light emitting elements (39a) to (39h) are paired with each other at the corner blocks (66a) to
It is mounted so that the optical axes are parallel to each other on the two surfaces of (66h). The number of sides of the corner stand may be increased or decreased as necessary. For example, they are set on one plane and mounted on the corner stands (66a) to (66h) so that the optical axes are common. The light receiving elements (21a) to (21h) each have a directivity of 45 °. , It is possible to install light-shielding plates (61a) to (61h) between the pair of light-receiving elements and light-emitting elements so that the light does not directly transmit and receive light to each other. By providing a light receiving element for obtaining the light and a light emitting element for transmitting a search signal, the entire space of the room (62) is set as a receivable (light) receiving area.

An electric circuit of such a receiving device will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, the light receiving elements (21
Lights a) to (21n) receive light having biometric information from the transmitter, and are supplied to the flip-flop circuit (23) via the OR gate circuit (22). Since the received pulse train is added with the sampling period pulse every other one, the pulse train is divided into two pulse groups every other one, and the group in which the period is not disturbed is regarded as the sampling period signal group.

Since the flip-flop (23) is set at the rising edge of the first pulse and reset at the rising edge of the next pulse, if the original pulse train is gated by its output, it will be output to the respective AND gate circuits (25), (26). Two pulse groups appear. Each of them is a phase-locked loop circuit (PL
L) (27), (28), an error signal appears when the fluctuation is large together with the average period.

The RS flip-flop circuit (29) is set or reset by this error signal, the outputs of the PLL circuits (27) and (28) are gated by the AND gate circuits (30) and (31), and the OR gate circuit (32) turns it on. For example, a sampling period signal can be obtained.

The counter (24) that counts the original pulse train reset by the sampling period signal is reproducing the biomedical signal of each channel digitally.
3) to obtain analog biometric information.
(34) The following circuits distribute the biometric information among the outputs of each channel. This distribution is performed by the synchronization signal added by the transmitter.

In the transmitter, when making a pulse train having biometric information of several channels, the following promise is made in consideration of convenience during reproduction. First, a sync signal is inserted every one cycle to indicate where the start of the data serialized by the multiplexer (3). Next, in order to easily identify the synchronization signal, for example, the DC bias for the synchronization signal is set to 1 volt and the maximum level of other biomedical signals is set to ± 0.7 volt or less.

Therefore, by setting the threshold value of the comparator (34) to +0.9 V, the synchronizing signal can be easily extracted from the output of the comparator (34). Counter (35) is comparator (34)
It is reset by the sync signal extracted from the device and is counting the sampling period signal, so the output is currently D /
Channel information such as the number of channels of the signal output to the A converter (33) appears. By decoding it by the decoder (36) and using it as the clock of the sampling circuit, the biometric information signal of each channel is separated and reproduced. Sampling circuit (37a) ~ (3
7n) output is appropriate low pass filter LPF (38a) ~ (38
In n), unnecessary high frequency noise is blocked.

One application in the case of using the bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device by the above transmitting device and receiving device is when there is a single subject, and light emitting elements (39a) to (39n) that emit a search signal of the receiving device. ), A predetermined voltage is supplied via a resistor R ₁ to issue a light emission command.

The transmitting device that receives the light emission command transmits at high speed the data that has been stored in the dual port memory (5) until then. The broadband property of light is utilized here.

A dual port memory (5) for temporarily storing the data of the subject is used, which is a weight that is more than the weight saving of the battery due to the improvement in efficiency in the present semiconductor technology. The light-receiving element on the receiving device side and the light-emitting element for emitting the search signal have optical axes parallel to each other and are located very close to each other, and the light-transmitting element on the transmitting device side and the light-receiving element having a search signal receiving function. Is also set.
Therefore, the fact that the transmitter receives the light emission command for the search signal means that the transmitter and the receiver have a common optical axis. Therefore, the communication is always performed by the direct light and the indirect light is used. If the same power is used, the signal-to-noise ratio (SN) will be improved, and if the same SN, power saving will be sufficient. Here, as a matter of course, the wavelength of the light for the original communication and the wavelength of the light for the search are set so that the difference can be identified.

When there is only one combination of the light transmitting element of the transmitter and the light receiving element for the search signal, the communication system is formed by direct light (the light emitting element and the light receiving element have the same optical axis), and the capacity is small. Since there is a high risk that data will be lost in a storage element, a plurality of combinations are used so that they are oriented in various directions.

A major difference between this example and the conventional millimeter wave communication system between a ship and a land is that there are a plurality of transmitters and a plurality of receivers.

Another application of this system is in the case of multiple subjects. Since light cannot be divided into bands as easily as radio waves, it is difficult to receive the data from almost the same transmitter even if a plurality of receivers are used. In this example, since the search function for confirming that the optical axes match, the biometric information of a plurality of subjects can be received by one receiving device by the coding.

6 and 7 show another embodiment of the bioelectric phenomenon monitoring apparatus of the present invention.

6 and 7 show examples of monitoring biological phenomena of a plurality of subjects.

In Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the search signal detection function and the search signal light emission function are configured with a 1: 1 correspondence of the communication path. Need to be converted.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the coded search signal light emitting function when there are three examinees, and FIG. 6 shows the search signal detecting function. In FIGS. 6 and 7, parts corresponding to those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

In Fig. 6, the light receiving elements (18a), (1
8b) and (18c) send signals to the OR gate circuit (16) and mono-multi vibrators (45a), (45b) and (45).
c) is triggered. Mono multivibrator (45a),
The output signals of (45b) and (45c) are the light emitting elements (8a) to (8c) that store the data stored by turning on the corresponding switches of the switches S ₁ , S ₂ , and S ₃ shown in FIG. To send light.

The output of the OR gate circuit (16) is input to the serial input / parallel output shift register (41) and arranged in order at its output terminal. In this example, the upper 3 bits of the 8-bit coded search signal are ANDed through the inverter (42) and the AND gate circuit (43) to generate the latch signal RT.
Is supplied to the latch circuit (44), and the next 2 bits are stored in the latch circuit (44) only when "101". The output of the latch circuit (44) is decoded by the next decoder (46) and outputs a signal to the set terminal of the RS flip-flop circuit (15). When there are three examinees, there are three transmitters shown in FIG. 1 having the coded search signal detection function of FIG. 6, but each of them has a different output from the decoder (46). There is. For example, one transmitter supplies the output "1" of the decoder (46) to the set terminal of the RS flip-flop circuit (15), the second unit outputs "2" and the third unit outputs "3". To do. When the search signal is "1", the decoder (46) outputs "1", so that the first transmitting device transmits the accumulated data.

FIG. 7 is a modification of the receiver shown in FIG. 2 for simultaneously receiving the transmission data from three transmitters. The ternary counter (52) for counting the output of the clock generator (51) is Address search signal generator (53). The search signal generator (53) is composed of ROM. A period in which the first transmitter is called when the counter output E, D of 2 bits of the upper address of the 5 bits of the counter (52) is “01” as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B and Table 1 below. To set “1
When it is "0", the second transmitter is called, and when it is "11", the third transmitter is called.

Considering the reading period of the first unit in FIG. 8, the counter outputs A, B and C of the lower 3 bits of the counter (52) which are repeated several times within this period are the search signals. Generator (53)
Is output, and "10101000" stored in the ROM in the search signal generator (53) is output.

In this case because the received signal is a data one second transmission device LPF (38a ₁₁₎ ~ decoder as to be output to the (38n _1n) (56) to enable a decoder (36a). Therefore, the output DE of the counter (52) is connected to the decoder (56). A search signal generator drive section (54) drives the light emitting elements (39a) to (39n) for emitting search signals to emit light.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

〔The invention's effect〕

The present invention stores the data to be communicated, and transmits the data only when the axis of the light transmitting / receiving device is provided and communication is enabled, whereby the living body of the subject moving with the optical communication transmitting device. It is possible to obtain a system in which an electric phenomenon is efficiently transmitted to a receiving device and the condition of the subject is monitored without restriction on the receiving side. In addition, there is an effect that a system in which signals from a plurality of transmitters are received by a single receiver by using a time division method can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a transmitting device showing one embodiment of the bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a system diagram of a light receiving device showing one embodiment of the bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a light transmitting device of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a receiving device of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a side view showing a part of FIG. 6 and 7 are system diagrams of a receiving device and a transmitting device showing another embodiment of the bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a waveform diagram for explaining the operation. (1) is a synchronizing signal, (2a) to (2n) are bio-amplifiers,
(3) is a multiplexer, (5) is a dual port memory, (8a) to (8n), (39a) to (39n) are light emitting elements,
(9) is a write counter, (11) is a read address counter, (12) is a read counter, and (18a) to (18)
n) and (21a) to (21n) are light receiving elements.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first light-emitting element group for spatially transmitting biometric data and a pair of light-emitting elements of the first light-emitting element group which are arranged so that their optical axes are parallel to each other. A light transmitting section having a first light receiving element group for receiving a search signal for confirming the arrival state of a signal, a detecting means for detecting a biological phenomenon, and a memory for storing biological data detected by the detecting means. Means, a reading means for reading biometric data from the storage means when the light receiving element group receives a search signal, and a light sending driving means for driving the first light emitting element group, and at least the light sending section. And a second light emitting element group for transmitting the search signal, and a second light emitting element group for receiving the biometric data transmitted from the first light emitting element group. So that the optical axes are parallel to each other A plurality of sets of second light receiving element groups arranged, a reproducing means for reproducing the biological data obtained in the second light receiving element group, and a receiving means for transmitting and receiving to and from the transmitting means are provided. A bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device characterized by the above. 2. A coded signal generating means for coding the search signal in the receiving means and sending out a code corresponding to each transmitting means in time series is provided and coded in the transmitting means. A bioelectric phenomenon monitoring device according to claim 1, further comprising: a coded search signal detecting means for detecting the generated search signal so that biometric data of a plurality of subjects can be transmitted and received. .