KR101603764B1 - Measuring device human body impedance - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring an impedance in a human body, and more particularly, to an apparatus for measuring an impedance in a human body, comprising: a base plate having a predetermined length; A plurality of electrodes arranged on one surface of the base plate; A plurality of first and second power lines connected to the plurality of electrodes, respectively; And a display unit, which is provided along the longitudinal direction of the base plate, and displays a use state of the corresponding one of the electrodes.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The implantability measuring apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a bending portion of a human body by using electrodes arranged in the longitudinal direction and can be used variably according to the total length of a measurement site such as a waist or an upper arm, It is possible to detect the number of used electrodes and the application range so that different algorithms can be applied depending on the shape and number of electrodes. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to display the electrodes of the usable range sensed by providing the display unit.

Description

[MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] Measuring device human body impedance [

The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring impedance in a human body, and more particularly, to an apparatus for measuring an impedance in a human body using a range of electrodes capable of recognizing an electrode used according to a measurement region of a human body .

In recent years, electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has been spotlighted. EIT has a nondestructive characteristic with respect to an object to be measured. Although EIT has a lower spatial resolution than reconstructed images compared to X-ray and MRI, it has excellent temporal resolution and is used as an auxiliary device in biomedical field because it is safe for human body.

The EIT is a method of measuring the resistance of the body tissue after flowing a current of several millivolt volts of 10 to 100 KHz to the human body. In order to understand the electrical characteristics of the body section, several electrodes are attached to the body part, And the resistance is measured, and the corresponding resistance is imaged.

However, the EIT has to contact the electrodes directly to the human body in order to flow the current to the human body. Therefore, it is difficult to manufacture the board considering the shape of the human body part to which the EIT is applied, and the impedance of each body part is measured There is a difficulty in manufacturing different shapes and different sizes.

Korean Patent No. 10-0598146

The present invention provides an impedance measuring device in a human body which is easy to apply to a bending portion of a human body and which can be variably used according to a total length of a measurement region such as a waist or an upper arm.

Also, the present invention provides an in-body impedance measuring device capable of detecting the number of used electrodes and the application range so that different algorithms can be applied depending on the shape and number of electrodes selected.

In addition, the present invention provides an in-body impedance measuring device capable of recognizing electrodes in a sensed use range.

An apparatus for measuring an in-body impedance according to the present invention includes: a base plate; A plurality of electrodes arranged on one surface of the base plate; A plurality of first and second power lines connected to the plurality of electrodes, respectively; And a display unit, which is provided in plurality, and displays a use state of the corresponding one of the electrodes.

The base plate is formed to have a predetermined length, and the display unit is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the base plate.

The display unit may be an LED light emitting device.

The display unit may correspond to the number of rows of the electrodes arranged in the longitudinal direction of the base plate.

And a sensing unit sensing a use range of the plurality of electrodes in a longitudinal direction of the base plate.

The display units corresponding to the electrodes within the use range, which are displayed so that the display units corresponding to the electrodes within the use range sensed by the sensing unit can be distinguished from other display units, can be turned on or off.

And an image acquiring unit for acquiring an image of a specific part of the human body from an impedance of a specific part of the human body measured through the electrodes within the use range sensed by the sensing unit.

The other side of the base plate may be provided with a stress sensor for detecting a degree of bending of the base plate.

And a shape calculating unit for calculating a three-dimensional shape of the human body to which the base plate is applied, from data on the degree of bending of the base plate transmitted from the stress sensor, The three-dimensional shape of the human body calculated by the shape calculating unit in the acquisition process can be reflected.

The base plates may be formed of a flexible material.

The distance between the electrodes may be 5 mm to 20 mm.

The first power line and the second power line may be an input electrode and an output electrode, respectively.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The implantability measuring apparatus according to the present invention can be applied to a bent portion of a human body by using electrodes arranged in the longitudinal direction and can be variably used according to the total length of a measurement site such as a waist or an upper arm.

Also, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect the number of used electrodes and the application range so that different algorithms can be applied depending on the shape and number of electrodes selected.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to display the electrodes of the usable range sensed by providing the display unit.

1 is a plan view showing an in-body impedance measuring apparatus having a stress sensor according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing an in-body impedance measuring apparatus having the stress sensor of FIG. 1. FIG.
3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an electrode included in an in-body impedance measuring apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation of an electrode included in an in-body impedance measuring apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
5 to 8 are schematic views for explaining a process of imaging the impedance inside the human body by using the impedance values measured by the electrical impedance tomography.
9 is a block diagram showing an in-body impedance measuring apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing the use state of the in-body impedance measuring apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG.
Fig. 11 is a schematic view showing a state in which the impedance of the waist of the human body is measured using the in-body impedance measuring apparatus of Fig. 1; Fig.
FIG. 12 is a schematic view showing a state in which the impedance of the upper arm of the human body is measured by using the impedance measurement device in the human body of FIG. 1;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the absence of special definitions or references, the terms used in this description are based on the conditions indicated in the drawings. The same reference numerals denote the same members throughout the embodiments. For the sake of convenience, the thicknesses and dimensions of the structures shown in the drawings may be exaggerated, and they do not mean that the dimensions and the proportions of the structures should be actually set.

1 and 2, an apparatus for measuring an in-vivo impedance according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an in-body impedance measuring apparatus having a stress sensor according to an embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing an in-body impedance measuring apparatus having a stress sensor of FIG.

The in-vivo impedance measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a base plate 100 having a predetermined length. That is, the base plate 100 has a predetermined length so as to measure the impedance in a state where the base plate 100 covers a specific region including the waist of the human body. Further, the base plate 100 is made of a flexible material so as to be able to bend at a portion where a bend is formed, such as an arm or a waist of a human body.

Referring to the drawing, a plurality of stress sensors 110 are arranged on the upper surface of the base plate 100. The stress sensors 110 are arranged in rows and columns on the base plate 100. Each of the stress sensors 110 detects a degree of bending at one point of the base plate having the corresponding stress sensor. That is, the stress sensors 110 can detect the intensity and the direction of the stress due to the warping at each point when the base plate 100 is applied to the bent portion. Therefore, by integrating the sensing signals of the stress sensors 110 arranged along the base plates 100, the three-dimensional shape of the human body to which the in-body impedance measuring apparatus 10 is applied can be calculated.

A plurality of display units 140 are provided along the longitudinal direction on one side of the upper surface of the base plate 100 as viewed in the drawing. The display unit 140 may be implemented using an LED light emitting device or the like, and each device displays whether the electrodes in the longitudinal direction to which the electrodes are used is recognized by the user. For example, when the display unit 140 is in the on state from the display unit at the left end to the display unit at the center, it can be interpreted as indicating that the electrodes provided in the region from the left end to the center are used .

As shown in FIG. 2, the electrodes 120 are arranged on the bottom surface of the base plate 100. Each of the electrodes 120 has an input electrode and an output electrode, and the impedance can be measured using the current flowing between the other electrodes 120. The distance between the electrodes 120 is preferably about 5 mm to 20 mm. As the number of the electrodes 120 increases, the resolution of the image through the final impedance increases, but the amount of calculation for calculating the image increases greatly. Hereinafter, the electrode 120 will be described in detail.

The display unit 140 is provided to correspond to the number of rows of the electrodes 120 arranged in the longitudinal direction of the base plate 100 so that each display unit 140 corresponds to the column of one of the electrodes 120, However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible that the display units 140 indicate the usage state of the electrodes 120 in a certain area.

The electrodes according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an electrode included in an in-body impedance measuring apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation of an electrode included in an in-body impedance measuring apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment.

Conventional electrodes can be used for the electrodes included in the in-body impedance measuring apparatus. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the electrode 120 includes a housing member 121, a guide rod 123, a hollow electrode member 127, and an elastic member 125.

A guide rod 123 is extended from one open side of the housing member 121 and the hollow electrode member 127 can reciprocate with the guide rod 123 inserted therein. At this time, the hollow electrode member 127 is elastically urged outward by the elastic member 125.

The hollow electrode member 127 is formed of an electrode coated with a conductive material or a conductive material. The conductive material is preferably made of a material harmless to the human body. For example, a gold electrode or a gold-coated electrode may be used .

The housing member 121 including the guide rod 125 is formed of an electrode coated with a conductive material or a conductive material. Such a conductive material is not particularly limited as long as it is a material having excellent conductivity. However, as in the case of the hollow electrode member 127, a gold electrode or gold-coated electrode may be used, or copper wire or wire may be used. The open end end peripheral face of the housing member 121 is formed to have an engagement protrusion 129 inward to prevent the hollow electrode member 127 from escaping to the outside.

The elastic member 125 may also be made of a conductive material, for example, a metal spring.

A process of imaging the impedance inside the human body by the electrical impedance tomography will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8. FIG. 5 to 8 are schematic views for explaining a process of imaging the impedance inside the human body by using the impedance values measured by the electrical impedance tomography.

EIT is a technique that can show the electrical characteristics of body cross section. Several electrodes are attached to the body parts, and electricity is flowed sequentially, and the resistance is measured to image the internal resistance of the body. For this purpose, it is assumed that the input electrode (S, s) and the receiving electrode (R, r) are attached to the human tissue by 2 * 2 and then the resistance is measured by flowing the current.

At this time, the horizontal input electrode S1 S2, the horizontal output electrodes R1 and R2, the vertical input electrodes s1 and s2, and the vertical output electrode r1 r2 are arranged as shown in FIG. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6, a current is supplied from the horizontal input electrode S1 S2 to the horizontal output electrodes R1 and R2 to measure the impedance in the horizontal direction. Next, as shown in FIG. 7, a current is supplied from the vertical input electrodes s1 and s2 to the vertical output electrode r1 r2 to measure the impedance in the vertical direction.

By performing the inverse nonlinear data processing using the measured impedance values, it is possible to estimate the distribution of the impedance values in the corresponding body parts as shown in FIG.

Such an EIT device is constituted by a cylindrical annular shape, and the resistance is measured by wrapping the entire body or by attaching it to the human body in the form of attaching to the wrist or ankle, and then sequentially passing current. For example, each of the resistances measured horizontally and vertically corresponds to the sum of the total resistances of the human tissues, so that the distribution of the resistance values of tissues penetrating the cross section can be detected. Alternatively, the distribution of the resistance value may be calculated by calculating the voltage distribution of the human body according to the intensity of the electric current, and the position of the equipotential line may be indicated.

Referring to FIG. 9, an in-vivo impedance measuring apparatus according to an embodiment will be described. 9 is a block diagram showing an apparatus for measuring an in-body impedance of the present invention.

When the electrodes 120 are in contact with the human body, the electrodes 120 serve as input / output terminals for the human body so that current can flow through the human body. Therefore, the electrodes 120 that are not in contact with the human body can not sense current or voltage at the output electrode side connected to the electrode 120 because the current can not flow.

The sensing unit 210 senses a current or a voltage from the output electrode of each electrode 120 to determine the state of use of each electrode 120. For example, when a current flows from the output electrode of a specific terminal or the voltage of the output electrode and the input electrode falls below the open-circuit voltage, the electrode 120 can be judged to be in contact with the human body and in use.

At this time, the sensing unit 210 may determine the use state of the electrodes 120 to calculate the range of the all electrodes 120 in use.

The area display unit 220 may distinguish the display units corresponding to the corresponding area of the display units 140 from other display units to display an area of the electrodes 120 sensed as being in use by the sensing unit 210 On / off. For example, when the number of display units 140 is equal to the number of the columns of the electrodes, the area display unit 220 may display the usage state of the display unit 140 from the display unit of the first row among the n rows of the electrodes 120, To the display portion corresponding to the electrode of the last column determined as " ON ". At this time, the user can recognize the state in which the display unit 140 is turned on and determine to which range of the electrode array the electrode string is used.

The image acquisition unit 230 acquires an image of a specific portion of the human body from an impedance of a specific portion of the human body measured through the electrodes within the use range sensed by the sensing unit. At this time, as described above, the image obtaining unit 230 images the impedance inside the human body by the electrical impedance tomography method described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

The shape calculating unit 240 receives data on the degree of warpage of the base plate transmitted from the stress sensor, and calculates the three-dimensional shape of the human body to which the base plate is applied. It is difficult to estimate the applied shape of the human body only by the impedance itself measured by the electrodes 120. Therefore, a more accurate result can be obtained by estimating the three-dimensional shape including the bending of the human body and using it for the calculation of the impedance. In this case, the image obtaining unit 230 may reflect the three-dimensional shape of the human body calculated by the shape calculating unit 240 in the process of acquiring an image of a specific part of the human body.

The components of the sensing unit 210, the display unit 220, the image acquiring unit 230, and the shape calculating unit 240 are integrated with the in-body impedance measuring apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 It is also possible to have a separate physical configuration from that of the in-body impedance measuring device of Figs. 1 and 2 and to electrically connect them.

A method of using the in-vivo impedance measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 10 to 11. Fig. Fig. 10 is a schematic view showing the state of use of the in-vivo impedance measuring apparatus of Fig. 1, Fig. 11 is a schematic view showing a state of measuring the impedance of the waist of the human body by using the in-vivo impedance measuring apparatus of Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a state in which the impedance of the upper arm of the human body is measured by using the impedance measurement device in the human body of Fig.

Referring to FIG. 10, the in-body impedance measuring apparatus 10 can measure an impedance after wrapping a specific part of the human body. At this time, only the electrodes in the region R1 surrounding the human body among all the electrodes 120 are in use state.

Whether or not the electrodes 120 are used is useful for determining whether the values measured from the stress sensor 110 are valid.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the in-vivo impedance measuring apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment can be worn on the waist Bd1 of the human body. In this case, a relatively large number of electrodes contact with the human body and can be judged to be in the use state. Further, the three-dimensional shape of the human body can be calculated more accurately by using the stress sensors 110 included in the use state region, It can be used for imaging.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 12, the in-body impedance measuring apparatus 10 according to the same embodiment can be worn on the upper arm Bd2 of the human body. In this case, a relatively small number of electrodes contact the human body and can be judged to be in the use state. Regardless of the bending state of the stress sensor 110 not included in the use state region, the stress sensor 110 ) Can be used to calculate a more accurate three-dimensional shape of the human body and to use it to image the impedance of the human body.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. have.

10: Impedance measuring device in human body
100: Base plate
110: Stress sensor
120: Electrode
140:
210:
220: Area display means
230:
240: shape calculating section

Claims (12)

A base plate;
A plurality of electrodes arranged on one surface of the base plate;
A plurality of first and second power lines connected to the plurality of electrodes, respectively; And
And a display unit, which is provided in a plurality of units and displays a use state of the corresponding one of the electrodes,
Wherein the base plate is formed to have a predetermined length, the display portions are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the base plate,
And a sensing unit sensing a use range of the plurality of electrodes in the longitudinal direction of the base plate. delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the display unit is an LED light emitting element. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the display unit is provided to correspond to the number of rows of the electrodes arranged in the longitudinal direction of the base plate. delete The method according to claim 1,
And an area display means for switching the display portions corresponding to the electrodes within the use range to be displayed so that the display portions corresponding to the electrodes within the use range sensed by the sensing portion can be distinguished from the other display portions, Impedance measuring device in the human body. The method according to claim 1,
And an image acquiring unit for acquiring an image of a specific part of the human body from an impedance of a specific part of the human body measured through the electrodes within the use range sensed by the sensing unit. 8. The method of claim 7,
And a stress sensor for sensing a degree of bending of the base plate is provided on the other side of the base plate. 9. The method of claim 8,
Further comprising a shape calculating unit for calculating a three-dimensional shape of a human body to which the base plate is applied, from data on a degree of bending of the base plate transmitted from the stress sensor,
Wherein the image obtaining unit reflects a three-dimensional shape of a human body calculated by the shape calculating unit in the process of acquiring an image of a specific part of the human body. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the base plates are formed of a flexible material. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the distance between the electrodes is 5 mm to 20 mm. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first power line and the second power line are input electrodes and output electrodes, respectively.

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