JP5075966B2 - Excretion detection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an excretion detection device that detects the presence or absence of excretion in absorbent articles such as diapers and urine collection pads.

  In nursing homes and the like, bedridden urinary incontinence patients (hereinafter abbreviated as “caregivers”) are hospitalized. Currently, for example, 50 diapers of caregivers are used at a rate of 6 to 8 times a day. The caregiver periodically changes the diaper of the care recipient such as changing at a predetermined time.

  However, when the care recipient's diaper is exchanged at a predetermined time, the diaper is not urinating, and there is a case where the diaper does not need to be exchanged. Even in that case, the cared person being cared for regularly receives a replacement check, which is a mental burden. Moreover, if the diaper is not changed properly after urinary incontinence, it is uncomfortable and unsanitary for the care recipient.

  Furthermore, the cared person who excreted immediately after changing the diaper had to wait for the diaper to be changed with excrement until the diaper was changed. If the leaving time after excretion becomes longer, local wetting with urine, feces, etc. continues, the tissue is macerated, and tissue damage is promoted. Particularly in elderly people, since the permeability of the skin is poor, tissue damage is more likely to occur, and rough skin is likely to occur. Moreover, it is easy to cause skin infection and dermatitis by being left unsanitary. In a diaper containing a water-absorbing polymer, it has been known that the polymer becomes water-absorbed and hardens, causing local pressure and causing wrinkles, which is not preferable.

  In order to solve such a situation, a conventional excretion sensor has been proposed which detects excretion immediately after excretion and informs a caregiver. However, when performing training such as urinary recovery, it is important to accurately know when and how much excretion occurred.

  On the other hand, as this type of conventional technology, “development of disposable diapers with urinary incontinence sensors” described in Medical Electronics and Biotechnology (32 2.97 / 105 (1994)) is known. This technology measures the amount of urination from the spread of urine and issues an alarm when 100 ml or more of urine is urinated. The current flowing between the electrodes is sandwiched between the excretion side and the outer two electrodes. The amount of excretion is measured.

  Further, as a device using a plurality of excretion sensors, for example, a urinary incontinence disease state recording device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-245169 is known. This urinary incontinence state recording device has a plurality of temperature sensors distributed in a plane on the urination site and detects excretion based on the temperature signal from each temperature sensor. Even if this occurs, excretion can be detected accurately without removing the excretion site.

  Further, an excretion monitoring device, a diaper with a notification device, and an excretion monitoring system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-185067 are known. This excretion monitoring system measures the presence / absence of excretion and the amount of excretion based on the change in capacitance between conductors and the change in resistance value of the resistor.

JP-A-5-245169 JP 2000-185067 A

  However, the technique of “development of a paper diaper with a urinary incontinence sensor” described above prevents malfunction due to sweating and the like, and does not accurately measure the amount of excretion.

  Moreover, in the urinary incontinence disease state recording apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-245169, excretion is not measured only by detecting excretion accurately without removing the excretion site.

  Moreover, in the excretion monitoring system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-185067, the capacitance changes due to the movement of the person being measured, so the change due to the movement of the person being measured is canceled by the resistance change. doing. However, a capacitance error occurs due to a change in the excretion position of the measurement subject, and the excretion amount cannot be measured accurately. Moreover, since the resin film which has a conductor and a resistor is arrange | positioned in a part of diaper, the amount of excretion could not be measured correctly.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an excretion detection device that can reduce the influence of movement of a human body and the like and accurately measure the excretion amount.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the excretion detection device of the present invention detects excretion by detecting the total amount of impedance change of the sensor element disposed on the outer surface of the absorbent article that absorbs excrement and over a wide range of the absorbent article. a sensor 1a, a acceleration sensor 1b for detecting the posture of the care-receiver, and determines the posture determination unit 92 to the posture of the care-receiver based on the sensor output from the acceleration sensor, a care obtained in the posture determining unit Urine volume calculation that selects a calibration curve of the corresponding posture from a plurality of calibration curves indicating the relationship between the output of the excretion sensor and the urine volume based on the posture of the person, and calculates the urine volume based on the calibration curve of the selected posture Part 93.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the excretion detection apparatus which can reduce the influence of a human body motion etc. and can measure an excretion amount accurately can be provided.

It is a block diagram which shows the sensor part of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the excretion detection apparatus of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the frequency conversion circuit provided in the excretion detection apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows 1st Example of a display of each LED when the sensor output from a 15 division | segmentation capacity | capacitance excretion sensor exceeds a threshold value when water is poured into the vicinity of the urine portion by a certain amount. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the injection | pouring amount of the water in 1st Example shown in FIG. 4, and the operation | movement score of LED. It is a figure which shows 2nd Example of a display of each LED when the sensor output from a 15 division | segmentation capacity | capacitance excretion sensor exceeds a threshold value when water is inject | poured into the vicinity of a urination part by a fixed amount. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the injection | pouring amount of the water in 2nd Example shown in FIG. 6, and the operation | movement score of LED. It is a block diagram which shows the sensor part of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the attachment to the diaper of a sensor part. It is a block diagram which shows the excretion detection apparatus of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the impedance change detection part provided in the excretion detection apparatus of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows attachment to the urine picking pad of a sensor part. It is a figure which shows an example of a contact | adherence member. It is a figure which shows the usage example of a contact | adherence member. It is a figure which shows 1st Example of the usage example of a contact | adherence member and a spacer. It is a figure which shows 2nd Example of the usage example of a contact | adherence member and a spacer. It is a figure which shows the rate of change of the impedance at the time of attaching a contact | adherence member or a spacer when a care receiver is in a standing state, a sitting state, or a supine state. It is a figure which shows the variation | change_quantity with the standing state of the impedance change rate shown in FIG. 17, and a seating state. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the amount of water and an impedance change rate. It is a block diagram which shows the excretion detection apparatus of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the relationship in the case of a person close to bedridden, a sensor output, and urine volume. It is a figure which shows the attachment to the diaper of a posture sensor. It is a figure which shows the output of the attitude | position sensor in a care receiver's right direction and left direction. It is a figure which shows the output of the attitude | position sensor in a care receiver's sitting state. It is a figure which shows an excretion determination table. It is a figure which shows the sensor output of the sensor part and attitude | position sensor in each state of a care receiver. It is a flowchart which shows the urine volume calculation process by the excretion detection apparatus of 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the excretion number count process by the excretion detection apparatus of 3rd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the excretion detection apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a sensor unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the excretion detection device of the first embodiment of the present invention. The excretion detection device according to the first embodiment is characterized in that a large number of the same sensors are arranged in the entire diaper and the excretion amount is detected based on the number of sensors that detect excretion.

  A sensor unit (corresponding to the excretion sensor of the present invention) 1 shown in FIG. 1 detects the presence or absence of excretion in an absorbent article such as a diaper that absorbs excrement such as urine or feces, and a urine collecting pad. The outer surface of the absorbent article and the entire absorbent article are distributed in a planar shape.

As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 1A, the sensor unit 1 includes a film 11, a plurality of positive electrodes 12 (12 _{1 to} 12 ₂₅ ) formed on one surface of the film 11, and the other of the film 11. has a negative electrode 13 _{(131-134 5)} a plurality formed in the face of, corresponding to a plurality of positive electrodes ₁₂ (12 1 _{to 12 25)} and the plurality of positive electrodes ₁₂ (12 1 _{to 12 25)} A plurality of sensor elements are constituted by the plurality of negative electrodes 13 (13 _{1 to} 13 ₅ ). Each sensor element detects an impedance change between the positive electrode and the negative electrode. Note that the number of sensor elements corresponds to the number of positive electrodes.

As shown in the top view of FIG. 1C, each of the plurality of positive electrodes 12 (12 _{1 to} 12 ₂₅ ) is two-dimensionally arranged in 5 rows × 5 columns, and each electrode has a rectangular shape. The electrode patterns 14 (14 _{1 to} 14 ₂₅ ) are connected to the electrodes 12 (12 _{1 to} 12 ₂₅ ), and a positive potential is applied to the electrodes 12 from the outside through the electrode patterns 14.

The plurality of negative electrodes 13 (13 _{1 to} 13 ₅ ) are arranged outside the plurality of positive electrodes 12 as shown in the top view of FIG. 1B, and each electrode is substantially U-shaped, and is grounded. Has been. By disposing the negative electrode 13 outside the positive electrode 12, external noise can be reduced, thereby improving the measurement accuracy of the excretion amount.

  1D is an enlarged top view of a part of the sensor unit 1, FIG. 1E is a sectional view thereof, and FIG. 1F is a bottom view thereof.

  The excretion detection device of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2 includes a sensor unit 1 in which a plurality of sensor elements are distributed and arranged in a planar shape, and each sensor element detects an impedance change, and an impedance change detected by the sensor unit 1. A frequency conversion circuit 2 for converting to a frequency change, a voltage output generation unit 3 for converting the frequency change data converted by the frequency conversion circuit 2 into voltage change data corresponding to the frequency change data (corresponding to the voltage conversion unit of the present invention), An excretion determining unit that determines whether or not the voltage change value exceeds a predetermined threshold based on the voltage change data and outputs a lighting signal indicating that excretion occurs when the voltage change value exceeds the threshold 4. A display unit 5 such as a light emitting diode (LED) that is turned on when a lighting signal is input is provided. The display unit 5 includes the data processing unit of the present invention (not shown), and the data processing unit calculates the excretion time and the excretion amount based on the number of sensor elements whose voltage exceeds the threshold value. .

  In addition, the frequency conversion circuit 2, the voltage output generation | occurrence | production part 3, the excretion determination part 4, and the display part 5 are provided corresponding to the number of several sensor elements. For example, if there are 25 sensor elements, 25 frequency conversion circuits 2, voltage output generation units 3, excretion determination units 4, display units 5, etc. are provided.

As shown in FIG. 3, the frequency conversion circuit 2 is connected to the sensor unit 1, the inverter 21, the resistor R <b> 2 connected to the input terminal of the inverter 21 and the sensor unit 1, and the output terminal of the inverter 21 to the sensor unit 1. It has a feedback resistor R _R and, from the output terminal of the inverter 21, and an RC oscillator circuit for outputting a frequency corresponding to the impedance of the sensor unit 1.

  Next, the operation of the excretion detection device of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, the sensor unit 1 having a plurality of sensor elements distributed in a planar shape is arranged so that the negative electrode is in contact with the outside of the diaper.

  And if there is urination or excretion due to defecation in the diaper, the impedance of the sensor element corresponding to the portion where urination occurred in the sensor unit 1 will change significantly. That is, when there is a large amount of urination and it spreads over a relatively wide range, the impedance of a considerable number of sensor elements changes significantly.

  Next, each frequency conversion circuit 2 converts the frequency change according to the impedance change detected by the sensor unit 1. Each voltage output generation unit 3 converts the frequency change data converted by the frequency conversion circuit 2 into voltage change data corresponding to the frequency change data. In this embodiment, the frequency when there is no excretion is 20 kHz.

  Each excretion determining unit 4 determines whether or not the voltage change value exceeds a predetermined threshold based on the voltage change data, and indicates that there is excretion when the voltage change value exceeds the threshold. Output a signal. Each display unit 5 is turned on when a lighting signal is input. That is, the impedance of the sensor element corresponding to the site where urination has occurred is significantly changed, and only the display unit corresponding to the sensor element is lit accordingly. As a result, the amount of urination can be accurately measured according to the number of lighting of the display unit.

  The present applicant measured the amount of excretion using the excretion detection device described above. The experimental results will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a first example of display of each LED when the sensor output from the 15-division capacity type excretion sensor exceeds a threshold value when water is poured into the vicinity of the urine portion by a certain amount. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, 15 LEDs are used as the display unit 5, and 15 LEDs 51 _{1 to} 51 ₁₅ are arranged in three rows (characters A to C in FIG. 4) × 5 columns (numbers 1 to 5). Divided into 5). It is assumed that the positive electrode of the sensor unit 1 is arranged in 15 rows and 3 rows x 5 columns corresponding to the divided LED arrangement (corresponding to a 15-division capacity excretion sensor). That is, it is assumed that there are 15 sensor elements.

  In this case, the cared person opens his legs on his / her shoulders on his / her back, and arranges the sensor unit 1 in a planar distribution over the entire diaper. The LED with number 1 was placed on the front side, and the LED with number 5 was placed on the buttocks side. Then, a tube having an inner diameter of 4 mm is inserted in the vicinity of the urination portion, and 50 cc of water is injected by an injector. The injection speed is low enough to allow the syringe piston to drop naturally.

  In addition, the threshold value to be compared with the voltage change value is 0.7 V for the LEDs in the first column to the third column among the 15 LEDs. In addition, since the LEDs in the 4th to 5th rows operate with the lead wires from the sensor unit 1, the sensitivity is adjusted by a comparator (corresponding to the excretion determining unit 4), and the threshold value is 0.9V. did.

  In 1st Example shown in FIG. 4, the process which inject | pours water 50cc by 50cc 6 times was performed 3 times from 50-300cc. Among the 15 LEDs, the ● mark indicates that the voltage change value exceeded the threshold value and the LED was turned on. In addition, the slip in FIG. 4 indicates that the pad slip state was checked and displayed after the experiment.

  As can be seen from FIG. 4, as the amount of water injected increases, the water spreads over the entire diaper, and it can be seen that more LEDs are lit.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of water injected and the number of LED operating points (corresponding to the number of lighting) in the first embodiment shown in FIG. From FIG. 5, it can be seen that the amount of water injected and the number of operating points of the LED are in a proportional relationship.

  In 2nd Example shown in FIG. 6, the process which inject | pours water 150 cc by 150 cc by 2 times was performed 3 times. As can be seen from FIG. 6, as the amount of water injected increases, the water spreads over the entire diaper, and more LEDs are lit.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the relationship between the amount of water injected and the number of LED operating points in the second embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows that the amount of water injected and the number of operating points of the LED are in a proportional relationship.

  Therefore, the amount of excretion such as the amount of urine can be accurately measured by the number of operating points of the LED. Moreover, since the sensor part 1 of 1st Embodiment is arrange | positioned planarly over the whole diaper, even if a cared person's body moves, the influence of the movement can be reduced, and thereby the excretion amount can be reduced. It can measure with high accuracy.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, an excretion sensor and an excretion detection device according to a second embodiment will be described. The excretion detection device according to the second embodiment detects the excretion amount based on the sum of the changes in the sensor output of the sensor unit that has detected excretion. In addition, the excretion detection device of the second embodiment is characterized in that the measurement accuracy of the excretion amount is improved by suppressing the impedance change amount of the excretion sensor when the cared person stands or sits down.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a sensor unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an excretion detection device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

  The sensor unit 1a shown in FIG. 8 detects the presence or absence of excretion in the absorbent article, and is disposed on the outer surface of the absorbent article and at a plurality of locations on the absorbent article.

  As shown in FIG. 8 (b), the sensor unit 1a has a strip-like and loop-shaped film 11a having a horizontal size L0, a vertical size (2L1 + L3), and a width L1, as shown in FIG. 8 (a). As shown in the cross-sectional view, the positive electrode 12a and the negative electrode 13a are alternately arranged on the one surface of the film 11a along the longitudinal direction of the film 11 with a predetermined distance L2 apart (in this example, three times). ing.

  Further, as shown in the top view of FIG. 8B, the positive electrode 12a and the negative electrode 13a are spaced apart by a fixed distance L3 along a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. Each of the positive electrode 12a and the negative electrode 13a has a square shape and one side is L1. For example, L0 is 400 mm, L1 is 25 mm, L2 is 50 mm, and L3 is preferably 20 mm.

  A positive potential is applied to the positive electrode 12a, and the negative electrode 13a is grounded. In this example, the total number of positive electrodes 12a and negative electrodes 13a is 12, and a pair of positive and negative electrodes constitutes one sensor element. In this example, the sensor unit 1a is provided with six sensor elements.

  The total number of electrodes is not limited to twelve, and the total number of electrodes may be any number. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a sensor unit 1a having two positive electrodes 12a and two negative electrodes 13a is attached to the outside of the diaper 18 and over a wide range of excretion sites.

  As shown in FIG. 8C, an electric field is generated between each positive electrode 12a and each negative electrode 13a, and when there is excretion, the positive electrode 12a and the negative electrode 13a corresponding to the excretion site, The impedance between the two changes. Therefore, the sensor unit 1a is an impedance sensor that detects the total amount of this impedance change.

  The excretion detection device of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 10 includes a sensor unit 1a that detects a change in impedance, an oscillator 6 that oscillates a predetermined frequency signal, and the impedance of the sensor unit 1a using the frequency signal from the oscillator 6. An impedance change detection unit 2a that detects the total amount of change, an impedance change voltage conversion unit 7 that converts the total amount of impedance change detected by the impedance change detection unit 2a into voltage change data, a data storage unit 8 that stores voltage change data, A data processing unit 9 that calculates the amount of excretion based on the voltage change data stored in the data storage unit 8 is provided.

  The impedance change detection unit 2a is configured by a circuit as shown in FIG. This circuit is provided between the terminal bc, the resistor R4 provided between the terminals ad, the sensor unit 1a and the resistor R5 provided between the terminals bd, the capacitor C4 and the resistor R6 provided between the terminals ac, and the terminal bc. Resistor R7, resistor R8 provided between terminals cd, and oscillator 6 for applying a predetermined frequency signal (rectangular wave of 3 kHz, for example, 500 kHz) between terminals ab. The voltage rectification unit 24 is an example of the impedance change voltage conversion unit 7 and rectifies the voltage at both ends of the resistor R8 provided between the terminals cd, that is, the voltage due to circuit unbalance.

  According to the excretion detection device of the second embodiment configured as described above, if there is urination or excretion due to defecation in the diaper, the impedance of the sensor element corresponding to the portion where urination occurred in the sensor unit 1a. It changes a lot. And since the sensor part 1a outputs the total amount of the change of the impedance of a some sensor element (for example, six sensor elements), the excretion detection apparatus can measure the amount of excretion accurately based on the total amount of the change of impedance. .

  Further, since the sensor unit 1a is used, even if the cared person moves (such as standing or sitting) and the sensor unit 1a is kinked to bring the electrodes close to each other, current leakage occurs between the positive electrodes or the negative electrodes, for example. Is small. For this reason, since the error of the impedance change is very small even if the cared person moves, the measurement accuracy of the excretion amount can be improved.

  In the excretion detection device according to the second embodiment, the sensor unit 1a is attached to the outside of the diaper 18. For example, instead of the diaper 18, as shown in FIG. The sensor unit 1a is preferably attached to the waterproof sheet 19b side of the urine absorbing pad 19. Further, the diaper 18 outside the urine collection pad 19 may be omitted.

  Moreover, in the excretion detection apparatus of 2nd Embodiment, the contact | adherence member for absorptive articles, such as a diaper, closely_contact | adhere to the caregiver's buttocks is used. As the shape of the contact member, for example, a tape diaper 31 to which a magic tape 31b as shown in FIG. 13 (a) is attached, a girdle (short bread) 32 as shown in FIG. 13 (b), or FIG. 13 (c). A girdle (pants) 33 as shown in FIG. Further, as the close contact member, for example, rubber, a honeycomb structured sheet or the like may be used.

  As an example of use of the contact member, as shown in FIG. 14, the sensor unit 1a is disposed outside the urine collection pad 19, and the contact member 31 is disposed outside the sensor unit 1a so that the contact member 31 is disposed from the outside of the sensor unit 1a. The sensor unit 1a and the urine picking pad 19 are pressed to bring the urine picking pad 19 into close contact with the butt of the care recipient.

  Thereby, even if a cared person stands or sits down, the amount of change in impedance can be further suppressed, and thereby the measurement accuracy of excretion can be further improved.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 15, a spacer 35 may be added to the configuration shown in FIG. 14 so that the urine collecting pad 19 and the care receiver's butt are at a constant distance. By providing the spacer 35 in this way, the effect is greater than the effect of the configuration shown in FIG.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 16, an air inlet 36 is provided in the close contact member 31 and the like, this air inlet 36 is connected to an external air pump through a pipe 37, and air is supplied from this air pump through the pipe 37 to the air. The urine collection pad 19 may be brought into close contact with the care receiver's butt by flowing into the inlet 36 and inflating the contact member 31. By doing in this way, the effect becomes larger than the effect by the structure shown in FIG.

  In addition, this applicant measured the rate of change of the impedance when a close contact member or a spacer was attached. The experimental results will be described.

  FIG. 17 shows the rate of change in impedance when a close contact member or a spacer is attached when the cared person is in a standing state, a sitting state, or a supine state. In FIG. 17, “♦” represents a standing state, “■” represents a supine state, and “▲” represents a sitting state. “A” represents no spacer or contact member, “B” represents the presence of a spacer, “C” represents the presence of a girdle (short bread), “D” represents the presence of a supporter for swimming, and “E” represents the girdle ( "F" represents girdle (short bread + pants) present, "G" represents girdle (short bread + pants) + spacer present, and "H" represents cover present.

  FIG. 18 shows the amount of change between the standing state and the sitting state of the impedance change rate shown in FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 18, the amount of fluctuation in impedance is large when there is no contact member or spacer, but the amount of fluctuation in impedance is considerably reduced by using the contact member or spacer. It can also be seen that the impedance variation is further reduced by using both the contact member and the spacer. That is, by using the contact member and the spacer, the amount of fluctuation in impedance when the cared person stands or sits down, so that the excretion amount measurement accuracy can be further improved.

  FIG. 19 shows the relationship between the amount of water and the impedance change rate. In FIG. 19, “♦” represents a sitting state, and “■” represents a standing state.

(Third embodiment)
Next, an excretion detection apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The excretion detection device of the third embodiment further includes a posture sensor in addition to the sensor unit 1a, detects the care receiver's posture with the posture sensor, and excretes based on the sensor output from the impedance sensor without an auxiliary tool. It is characterized by improving the excretion detection accuracy of the cared person by making it possible to measure the amount, excretion time, and excretion frequency.

  The excretion detection device of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 20 includes a sensor unit 1a, an impedance change detection unit 2a, an oscillator 6, a sensor body 10 connected to the impedance change detection unit 2a, and the sensor body 10 connected to the sensor body 10. The data processing unit 9a is included. The sensor body 10 includes an impedance change voltage conversion unit 7, an attitude sensor 1b, and a data storage unit 8a.

  The posture sensor 1b detects the posture of the care recipient and is, for example, an acceleration sensor. As shown in the top view of FIG. 22A and the side view of FIG. 22B, it is preferable to attach the sensor body 10 including the posture sensor 1b at the boundary portion on the diaper 18 side of the care receiver 17. Note that a part that may not move with the body, for example, a part such as a hand or a foot, is not preferable, and may be any part as long as it is a part other than this.

  FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the output of the posture sensor when the care recipient is facing right and left. In FIG. 23, when determining the coordinates of the posture sensor, the body axis direction of the care recipient 17 is the Y direction, and the direction orthogonal to the body axis direction is the X direction. Assuming that the sensor output at the position of the top view of FIG. 23B is a standard output, the posture sensor 1b increases the voltage that is the X-axis output in the left-facing state (the state in which X increases) in FIG. In the rightward state (the state in which X decreases) in FIG. 23C, the voltage that is the X-axis output decreases.

  FIG. 24 is a diagram showing the output of the posture sensor in the care recipient's sitting state. In FIG. 24 (a), the care receiver 17 is sleeping and the sensor output is the standard output, and in FIG. 24 (b), the care receiver 17 is in the sitting state (in a state where Y decreases) and is the Y-axis output of the sensor. The voltage is decreasing.

  The data storage unit 8a stores the voltage change data from the impedance change voltage conversion unit 7, that is, the excretion sensor output, and stores the posture sensor output from the posture sensor 1b.

  The data processing unit 9a performs data analysis based on the excretion sensor output and the posture sensor output from the data storage unit 8a. The posture determination table 91, posture determination unit 92, urine volume calculation unit 93, excretion sensor output change determination unit 95, a posture sensor output change determination unit 96, and an excretion number counter 97.

  The posture determination table 91 is a table for determining the care receiver's posture, and stores the X-axis output and Y-axis output of the sensor from the posture sensor 1b in association with the care receiver's posture. For example, as shown in FIG. The posture determination unit 92 refers to the posture determination table 91 based on the posture sensor output from the data storage unit 8a and determines the posture of the care recipient.

  The urine volume calculation unit 93 selects a sensor output and a urine volume calibration curve based on the posture of the cared person obtained by the posture determination unit 92, and the urine volume based on the selected urine volume calibration curve. Is calculated. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing the relationship among posture, sensor output, and urine volume for a person who is almost bedridden. In FIG. 21, the horizontal axis represents the amount of water (corresponding to the amount of urine), and the vertical axis represents the sensor output. “♦” represents a sideways state, “x” represents a supine state, and “*” represents a seated state.

  The excretion sensor output change determination unit 95 determines whether the change amount of the excretion sensor output is larger than a predetermined change amount based on the excretion sensor output from the data storage unit 8a, and the change amount is larger than the predetermined change amount. Is larger, the current time is extracted, and the time signal is output to the attitude sensor output change determination unit 96.

  The posture sensor output change determination unit 96, when the time signal is input from the posture sensor output change determination unit 96, based on the posture sensor output from the data storage unit 8a, whether the change amount of the posture sensor output has exceeded a predetermined value. When the amount of change exceeds a predetermined value, it is determined as a change due to posture, and when the amount of change does not exceed the predetermined value, it is determined as excretion.

  The number of excretion counter 97 increments the number of excretions by 1 and counts the number of excretions every time the posture sensor output change determination unit 96 determines that the excretion occurs.

  In the excretion detection device of the third embodiment shown in FIG. 20, the same parts as those of the excretion detection device of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted. .

  Next, the operation of the excretion detection device of the third embodiment configured as described above will be described. First, since each process of the sensor unit 1a, the impedance change detection unit 2a, the oscillator 6, and the impedance change voltage conversion unit 7 has already been described in the excretion detection device of the second embodiment, description of these processes is omitted. .

  Next, in the sensor body 10, the voltage change value from the impedance change voltage conversion unit 7 is stored in the data storage unit 8a as an excretion sensor output. When the posture sensor 1b detects the care receiver's posture, the X-axis and Y-axis outputs of the posture sensor from the posture sensor 1b are stored in the data storage unit 8a.

  Next, urine volume calculation processing and excretion count processing by the data processing unit 9a will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  First, the urine volume calculation process will be described with reference to FIG. First, the posture determination unit 92 reads the excretion sensor output and the posture sensor output stored in the data storage unit 8a (step S11).

  Next, the posture of the care recipient is determined by referring to the posture determination table 91 based on the read posture sensor output (step S13). For example, when the read X-axis output of the attitude sensor 1b is “standard” and the Y-axis output of the attitude sensor 1b is “decrease from standard”, refer to the attitude determination table 91. Thus, the posture of the care recipient can be determined to be “sit”.

  Next, the urine volume calculation unit 93 is based on the posture of the cared person, and the sensor output based on the posture (expressed as a percentage when the sensor output when there is no urine volume is 100%) and the calibration curve of the urine volume. Is selected (step S15), and the urine volume is calculated based on the calibration curve of the selected urine volume (step S17). For example, when it is determined that the posture of the cared person is “sit”, the urine volume can be calculated from the calibration curve “*” representing the sitting state in FIG. 21 and the sensor output. That is, since the urine volume is calculated in consideration of the posture information of the cared person, the excretion volume can be measured with high accuracy.

  FIG. 26 shows sensor outputs of the sensor unit and the posture sensor in each state of the cared person. In FIG. 26, the sensor output of the posture sensor 1b is about −0.13 in the right-facing state (X axis) and about +0.05 in the standing state (Y axis). Moreover, it turns out that the amount of urine is measured by the sensor part 1a.

  Next, the excretion count processing will be described with reference to FIG. First, the excretion sensor output and the posture sensor output are read from the data storage unit 8a (step S31). The excretion sensor output change determination unit 95 determines whether the change amount of the excretion sensor output is larger than a predetermined change amount, and extracts the time at that time when the change amount is larger than the predetermined change amount. (Step S33). For example, a time with a large differential value is extracted. In the example shown in FIG. 26, when the urination occurs, the sensor output of the sensor unit decreases with respect to the initial value. Therefore, the time when the differential value takes a large negative value is extracted, for example, 12:11, 15:14. This time is extracted, and this time is obtained as the excretion time. A time signal indicating the excretion time is output to the posture sensor output change determination unit 96.

  Next, when the time signal is input from the posture sensor output change determination unit 96, the posture sensor output change determination unit 96 sets the change amount of the posture sensor output to a predetermined value based on the posture sensor output from the data storage unit 8a. It is determined whether it has been exceeded (step S35). For example, it is determined whether or not a sleeping-> sitting operation is performed. If a sleeping-> sitting operation is performed (YES in step S35), it is determined that the change is caused by a posture (step S37). Return to processing.

  On the other hand, when the operation of sleeping → sitting is not performed (NO in step S35), it is determined to be excretion (step S39). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 26, since there is no change in the posture sensor output before and after the excretion time (12:11), it can be determined as excretion.

  If the posture sensor output change determination unit 96 determines that the excretion is to be excreted, the excretion count counter 97 increments the excretion count by 1 and counts the excretion count (step S41).

  As described above, according to the excretion detection device of the third embodiment, the excretion amount, the excretion time, and the number of excretion can be accurately determined using the excretion sensor output from the sensor unit 1a and the attitude sensor output from the attitude sensor 1b. Can be measured.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a ... Sensor part, 1b ... Attitude sensor, 2 ... Frequency conversion circuit, 2a ... Impedance change detection part, 3 ... Voltage output generation part, 4 ... Excretion judgment part, 5 ... Display part, 6,23 ... Oscillator, 7 ... Impedance Change voltage conversion unit, 8, 8a ... Data storage unit, 9, 9a ... Data processing unit, 10 ... Sensor body, 11, 11a ... Film, 12, 12a ... Positive electrode, 13, 13a ... Negative electrode, 14 ... Electrode pattern , 17 ... Human body, 18 ... Diaper, 19 ... Urine collecting pad, 19a ... Urine collecting pad non-woven fabric surface, 19b ... Waterproof sheet surface, 21 ... Inverter, 24 ... Voltage rectifier, 31, 32, 33 ... Adhesive member, 35 ... Spacer, 51 _{1 to} 51 ₁₅ ... LED, 91 ... Posture determination table, 92 ... Posture determination unit, 93 ... Urine volume calculation unit, 95 ... Excretion sensor output change determination unit, 96 ... Posture sensor output change Judgment part, 97 ... excretion number counter.

Claims (1)

An excretion sensor that detects the total amount of impedance change of the sensor element disposed on the outer surface of the absorbent article that absorbs excrement and over a wide range of the absorbent article;
An acceleration sensor for detecting the posture of the care-receiver, and determines the posture determining unit a posture of the human subject on the basis of the sensor output from the acceleration sensor,
Based on the posture of the cared person obtained by the posture determination unit, a calibration curve of the corresponding posture is selected from a plurality of calibration curves indicating the relationship between the output of the excretion sensor and urine volume, and the selected posture A urine volume calculator for calculating urine volume based on a calibration curve;
An excretion detection device comprising:

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