JP6876464B2 - Biological signal measuring device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a biological signal measuring device, and more specifically, a biological signal measuring device (wearable biological sensor) used by being attached to a living body (human body) like a plaster and a power feeding device for charging the built-in battery thereof. It relates to a signal measuring device.

The wearable type biological signal measuring device includes, for example, a biological signal measurement processing unit that measures and processes an electrocardiographic signal, a myoelectric signal, an electroencephalogram signal, etc., as well as an internal power source that supplies power to the biological signal measurement processing unit. The battery is built-in.

Normally, a secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery is used as the battery, so an SD terminal for charging the secondary battery and a dedicated charging terminal are provided, and when charging the secondary battery, the power supply of the power supply is supplied. The terminal is connected to the charging terminal for charging (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

However, in order to provide a durable charging terminal on a small circuit board made for wearables, it is necessary to increase the strength of the circuit board, which hinders miniaturization, weight reduction, thinning, or flexibility. It has become.

In addition, the operating power supply (driving power supply) is supplied from the secondary battery to the biological signal measurement processing unit, etc., but when the biological signal measuring instrument is actually attached to the human body in order to reduce the consumption of the secondary battery as much as possible. It is preferable to supply an operating power source to the biological signal measurement processing unit or the like.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-163225

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to reduce the consumption of the battery built in the biological signal measuring instrument (wearable biological sensor) as much as possible. Another object of the present invention is to eliminate a mechanical power switch to improve waterproofness.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention includes a biological signal measuring instrument that is used by being attached to a living body.
The biological signal measuring instrument includes a battery as an internal power source and a charging circuit thereof, a pair of electrodes that come into contact with the skin surface of the living body when measuring the biological signal, and are connected to a predetermined power supply device when charging the battery, and the above. It is provided with a biological signal processing circuit that is supplied with power from a battery and processes a biological signal detected by the electrode in a predetermined manner, and a biological signal / power feeding power distribution means. The biological signal processing circuit and the charging of the electrode are provided. In the biological signal measuring device in which the circuit is switchably connected via the biological signal / power supply power distribution means.
A power start switch that turns on and off the power supplied from the battery to the biometric signal processing circuit, a control unit that controls the power start switch, and an AC signal generator and a signal that detect impedance existing between the pair of electrodes. It has an impedance detector consisting of a detector,
The control unit monitors the inter-electrode impedance which is detected by the impedance detector, when the value which the inter-electrode impedance exceeds a predetermined threshold value is set to off the power activation switch, the inter-electrode impedance is below the threshold value Occasionally, the power start switch is turned on to supply power to the biometric signal processing circuit from the battery.

According to the present invention, the power activation switch is turned on and power is supplied from the battery to the biological signal processing circuit only when the biological signal measuring device (wearable biological sensor) is attached to the human body, and the power is activated at other times. Since the switch is off, battery consumption can be reduced as much as possible. Further, since the power switch is composed of a comparator and a resistance element and does not have a mechanical power switch, waterproofness can be improved.

The schematic diagram which shows the 1st Embodiment of the biological signal measuring apparatus by this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the 1st Embodiment of the biological signal / power supply power distribution means provided in the said 1st Embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows the 2nd Example of the said biological signal / power supply power distribution means. The circuit diagram which shows two concrete examples of the nonlinear circuit in the said 2nd Example. The schematic diagram which shows the 3rd Example of the said biological signal / power supply power distribution means. The schematic diagram which shows the 4th Example of the said biological signal / power supply power distribution means. The circuit diagram which shows 3 specific examples of the switching circuit in the said 4th Example. The schematic diagram which shows the 5th Example of the said biological signal / power supply power distribution means. The circuit diagram which shows 3 specific examples of the switching circuit in the said 5th Example. The schematic diagram which shows the structure of the power feed device included in the biological signal measuring apparatus according to this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the 2nd Embodiment of the biological signal measuring apparatus by this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the 3rd Embodiment of the biological signal measuring apparatus by this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the procedure of the determination performed in the said 3rd Embodiment. The schematic diagram which shows the 4th Embodiment of the biological signal measuring apparatus by this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the 5th Embodiment of the biological signal measuring apparatus by this invention. The schematic diagram which shows an example of the data to be transferred in the said 5th Embodiment. (A) Front view of component mounting side, (b) Back view of electrode side, (c) Side view of biological signal measuring instrument. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the substrate connection structure of the said biological signal measuring instrument. (A) Front view of component mounting side, (b) Back view of electrode side, and (c) (b) AA line sectional view of the biological signal measuring instrument with a waterproof cover. (A) front view and (b) rear view showing another example of the waterproof cover. The schematic diagram which shows the relationship of the said biological signal measuring instrument, the adhesive tape for attachment, and a power feeder. The side view which shows the said biological signal measuring instrument and the said adhesive tape for attachment separately. The schematic diagram which shows an example of the use state of the biological signal measuring apparatus of this invention. The schematic diagram which shows the connection state through the communication line between the said biological signal measuring instrument and an external device such as a server.

Next, some embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

As shown in FIG. 1, the biological signal measuring device according to this embodiment (first embodiment) is built in the biological signal measuring device 1 as a wearable biological sensor (sensor chip) and the biological signal measuring device 1. A power supply (charger) 2 for supplying charging power to the secondary battery 210 is included.

The biological signal measuring instrument 1 has, as a basic configuration, a pair of electrodes 10a and 10b, a biological signal processing circuit 100, a secondary battery 210 as an internal power source, and a charging circuit 200 for charging the secondary battery 210. And the biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300. The biological signal processing circuit 100 and the charging circuit 200 are connected to the electrodes 10a and 10b so as to be switchable via the biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300.

The electrodes 10a and 10b come into contact with the living body (human body) H at the time of measuring the biological signal, and come into contact with the feeding terminals 20a and 20b of the feeding device 2 at the time of charging. That is, in the present invention, the electrodes 10a and 10b are used as both the biological signal detection terminal and the charging terminal, and do not have a terminal dedicated to charging.

When it is not necessary to distinguish the electrodes 10a and 10b, the electrodes 10a and 10b are collectively referred to as electrodes 10. Similarly, when it is not necessary to distinguish between the power supply terminals 20a and 20b, the power supply terminals 20 are collectively referred to as power supply terminals 20. The electrode 10 may have three or more electrodes.

The biological signal processing circuit 100 processes potentials and currents such as electrocardiographic potential, myoelectric potential, electroencephalogram, and skin resistance as biological data detected by the electrode 10. As the biological signal processing circuit 100, a differential amplifier, an A / D converter, an MCU, a memory, or the like can be used. A voltage generator or a current generator that passes a current through the electrode 10 to the living body H may be used for the purpose of measuring the skin resistance.

The charging circuit 200 charges a secondary battery 210 (sometimes simply referred to as a “battery”) such as a lithium ion battery mounted on the biological signal measuring instrument 1. The battery 210 supplies electric power to each part of the biological signal measuring instrument 1.

The biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300 guides the biological signal to the biological signal processing circuit 100 at the time of measuring the biological signal, and guides the power supplied from the power supply 2 to the charging circuit 200 at the time of charging. The biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300 has several configuration examples.

First, in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a signal transmission circuit 310 and a power transmission circuit 320 are used as the biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300.

The signal transmission circuit 310 is connected between the electrode 10 and the biological signal processing circuit 100, guides the biological signal to the biological signal processing circuit 100 when measuring the biological signal, and sends the power supply to the biological signal processing circuit when charging the battery. Stop the inflow.

The power transmission circuit 320 is connected between the electrode 10 and the charging circuit 200, guides the power supply to the charging circuit 200 when charging the battery, and prevents the biological signal from flowing into the charging circuit 200 when measuring the biological signal.

As a second embodiment of the biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300, in the case of DC power supply, a DC cut filter 311 is used in the signal transmission circuit 310 as shown in FIG. The DC cut filter 311 passes a biological signal (alternating current) and blocks the passage of DC power. The DC cut filter 311 may be a capacitor.

Further, in the case of DC power supply, as shown in FIG. 3, a non-linear circuit 321 is preferably adopted for the power transmission circuit 320. The non-linear circuit 321 has a low impedance when the feed voltage is high, and has a high impedance when the feed voltage is low such as a biovoltage, and functions as a power transmission circuit 320.

The non-linear circuit 321 includes a non-linear circuit 322 having a bridge connection of the four diodes D1 to D4 shown in FIG. 4A and a capacitor C, and transistors as four semiconductor switches shown in FIG. 4B (this example). Then, a non-linear circuit 323 having a bridge connection of FET) Tr1 to Tr4 and a capacitor C can be exemplified.

The non-linear circuits 322 and 323 may be composed of two non-linear elements, but by forming a bridge with four non-linear elements to form a full-wave rectifier circuit, for example, the feeding terminal 20a has a positive electrode and the feeding terminal 20b has a −. Assuming that it is a pole, the + feeding terminal 20a is connected to the electrode 10a, the-feeding terminal 20b is connected to the electrode 10b, and conversely, the-feeding terminal 20b is connected to the electrode 10a and the + feeding terminal is connected to the electrode 10b. Even if 20a is connected, it operates normally.

When the diode D is used as shown in FIG. 4A, since the rising voltage of the diode D is 0.5 to 0.7V, the diode D is not turned on by a normal biological signal. Therefore, the biological signal does not flow into the charging circuit 200.

Further, when a transistor (FET) Tr is used as shown in FIG. 4B, the transistor Tr can further increase the voltage to be turned on or reduce the leakage current depending on the threshold value.

Although it depends on the on-resistance of the diode D of the nonlinear element and the on-resistance of the transistor Tr and the current flowing through it, if the voltage used for DC feeding is, for example, 6 to 8 V, the output voltage of the nonlinear circuit 322, 323 is, for example, 4.5 to. It will be about 6.5V.

Next, as a third embodiment of the biometric signal / power supply power distribution means 300, in the case of AC power supply, as shown in FIG. 5, a low-pass filter 312 is used in the signal transmission circuit 310, and a high-pass filter is used in the power transmission circuit 320. A filter 324 and a rectifier circuit 325 are used.

The low-pass filter 312 passes the biological signal, but the AC power supply blocks the passage. On the other hand, the high-pass filter 324 passes the alternating current power supply, but the biological signal blocks the passage.

It is preferable to adopt a differential configuration (balanced drive) as AC power supply. The reason is that when a single-ended configuration (unbalanced drive) is used for two electrodes 10a and 10b having high impedance, the GND (ground) potential of the biological signal measuring instrument 1 becomes unstable, and when it touches GND, it becomes unstable. This is because the output voltage of the rectifier circuit 325 may change.

The frequency component of the biological signal exists around 0.01 Hz to several kHz. By setting the frequency used for AC power supply to, for example, 13.56 MHz (Industry-Science-Medical band), it is possible to separate from the biological signal by about 4 digits, and the low-pass filter 312 can be effectively used.

Further, by setting the cutoff frequency of the low-pass filter 312 to several kHz to several tens of kHz, the feed power can be attenuated by about -40 dB even in the primary filter, so that sufficient blocking performance of the feed power can be obtained.

The nonlinear circuits 322 and 323 shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b) may be used as the rectifier circuit 325.

As a fourth embodiment of the biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300, as shown in FIG. 6, a switching circuit 326 can be used for the power transmission circuit 320. The switching circuit 326 here is a switch circuit driven on and off by the switching control means 327, and examples of the switches shown in FIGS. 7A to 7C can be illustrated.

The switch of FIG. 7A is a reed switch 326a. In this case, a permanent magnet 327a is provided as a switching control means 327 on the power supply 2 side, and the reed switch 326a is turned on by the permanent magnet 327a during power supply (during charging), and the power supply 2 charges the charging circuit 200. The reed switch 326a is turned off by supplying power and separating the permanent magnets 327a from each other at the time of measuring the biological signal.

The switch of FIG. 7B is composed of a transistor (FET in this example) 326b as a semiconductor switch, and is turned on and off according to the voltage between the electrodes 10a and 10b. As the switching control means 327, an A / D converter (comparator) 327b that detects the voltage between the electrodes 10a and 10b is used.

According to this, the feeder 2 is connected to the electrodes 10a and 10b for charging, and for example, when the voltage between the electrodes 10a and 10b is 5V or more, the transistor 326b is turned on. Off during biometrics.

The switch of FIG. 7 (c) is also composed of a transistor (FET) 326c as a semiconductor switch like the switch of FIG. 7 (b), but in this case, it is turned on and off according to the impedance between the electrodes 10a and 10b.

The switching control means 327 includes a signal generator 327c that supplies a measurement signal of a predetermined frequency between the electrodes 10a and 10b, and an A / D converter (comparator) that detects the impedance between the electrodes 10a and 10b when the measurement signal is applied. 327d is used.

According to this, the feeder 2 is connected for charging, and the transistor 326c is turned on when the impedance between the electrodes 10a and 10b becomes, for example, 100Ω or less. Incidentally, at the time of measuring the biological signal, the impedance between the electrodes 10a and 10b shows a value of, for example, 10 kΩ or more.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the switching circuit 330 may be used as the fifth embodiment of the biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300. According to the switching circuit 330, the electrode 10 is selectively connected to either the biological signal processing circuit 100 or the charging circuit 200. Three examples are shown in FIGS. 9A to 9C.

In the example of FIG. 9A, two reed switches 330a and 330b are used. Both are two-contact switching types including a first contact a and a second contact b that are selectively connected to the common terminal c via a lead piece.

In the reed switches 330a and 330b, their common terminals c are connected to the electrodes 10a and 10b, the first contact a is connected to the biological signal processing circuit 100, and the second contact b is connected to the charging circuit 200. As the switching control means 327, a permanent magnet 327a provided on the feeder 2 side is used as described with reference to FIG. 7A.

According to this, at the time of power supply (during charging), the reed switches 330a and 330b are both switched to the second contact b side by the permanent magnet 327a, and the charging power is supplied from the power supply 2 to the charging circuit 200.

On the other hand, at the time of measuring the biological signal, the permanent magnets 327a are separated from each other by a distance, so that the reed switches 330a and 330b are both switched to the first contact a side, and the electrodes 10a and 10b are connected to the biological signal processing circuit 100. Will be done.

In the example of FIG. 9B, four transistors (FETs in this example) Tr1 to Tr4 are used as the semiconductor switch.

In the first transistor Tr1 and the second transistor Tr2, for example, their sources are both connected to one electrode 10a side, and the drain of the first transistor Tr1 is connected to the biological signal processing circuit 100, whereas the second transistor is connected to the biometric signal processing circuit 100. The drain of Tr2 is connected to the charging circuit 200.

In the third transistor Tr3 and the fourth transistor Tr4, for example, their sources are both connected to the other electrode 10b side, and the drain of the third transistor Tr3 is connected to the biological signal processing circuit 100, whereas the fourth transistor is connected. The drain of Tr4 is connected to the charging circuit 200.

As the switching control means 327, an A / D converter (comparator) 327b that detects the voltage between the electrodes 10a and 10b may be used as described in FIG. 7B above.

According to this, when the feeder 2 is connected for charging, for example, when the voltage between the electrodes 10a and 10b becomes 5V or more, the A / D converter 327b determines the gates of the second transistor Tr2 and the fourth transistor Tr4. A control voltage is applied, which makes the second transistor Tr2 and the fourth transistor Tr4 conductive (at this time, both the first transistor Tr2 and the third transistor Tr4 are non-conducting), and the charging circuit 200 is connected to the electrode 10. ..

On the other hand, at the time of biometric signal measurement, the voltage between the electrodes 10a and 10b is less than 5V, so that a predetermined control voltage is applied from the A / D converter 327b to the gates of the first transistor Tr2 and the third transistor Tr4. As a result, the first transistor Tr1 and the third transistor Tr3 become conductive (at this time, both the second transistor Tr2 and the fourth transistor Tr4 are non-conducting), and the biological signal processing circuit 100 is connected to the electrode 10.

In the example of FIG. 9C, four transistors (FETs) Tr1 to Tr4 are used as the semiconductor switch, as in the example of FIG. 9B. Further, the switching control means 327 has the same impedance between the signal generator 327c that supplies the measurement signal of a predetermined frequency between the electrodes 10a and 10b and the electrodes 10a and 10b, as in the case of the switching control means shown in FIG. 7C. An A / D converter (comparator) 327d for detecting the above is used.

According to this, when the feeder 2 is connected for charging and the impedance between the electrodes 10a and 10b becomes, for example, 100Ω or less, the A / D converter 327d determines the gates of the second transistor Tr2 and the fourth transistor Tr4. A control voltage is applied, which makes the second transistor Tr2 and the fourth transistor Tr4 conductive (at this time, both the first transistor Tr1 and the third transistor Tr3 are non-conducting), and the charging circuit 200 is connected to the electrode 10. ..

On the other hand, at the time of measuring the biological signal, the impedance between the electrodes 10a and 10b is, for example, 10 kΩ or more, so that a predetermined control voltage is applied to the gates of the first transistor Tr1 and the third transistor Tr3 from the A / D converter 327d. As a result, the first transistor Tr1 and the third transistor Tr3 become conductive (at this time, both the second transistor Tr2 and the fourth transistor Tr4 are non-conducting), and the biological signal processing circuit 100 is connected to the electrode 10. Become.

Next, the power feeder 2 will be described with reference to FIG. The power feeder 2 includes a voltage converter 21, a charge end determination circuit 22, an overcurrent protection circuit 23, a communication means 24, an MPU (microprocessor unit) 25 as a control unit, and a memory 26. ..

The voltage converter 21 may be a DC-DC converter or a DC-AC converter, and for example, converts a USB DC voltage (5V) into a DC or AC voltage. In the case of AC power supply, for example, a differential voltage of 13.56 MHz and about 7 to 10 Vp-p on one side is output. In the case of DC power supply, for example, a voltage of 6 to 8 V is output.

The charge end determination circuit 22 determines the end of charging from the attenuation state of the power supply power at the power supply terminals 20a and 20b. By determining the end of charging from the current flowing through the power supply terminals 20a and 20b, even if the determination current becomes small, it can be dealt with.

When, for example, a capacity of 10 mAh is used as the secondary battery 210 mounted on the biological signal measuring instrument 1, the charging current before the end of charging is about 1 mA. The current value used for determining the end of charging is smaller than this, but it can be detected by using a resistor or a current transformer.

The overcurrent protection circuit 23 operates, for example, when the power supply terminals 20a and 20b are short-circuited for some reason, and turns off a power supply switch (not shown) in the voltage converter 21.

Further, as will be described later, the communication means 24 has a function of transmitting the biological data and the like stored in the biological signal measuring instrument 1 to an external device (for example, a cloud server and the like), and a biological signal measurement of a command and the like from the external device. It has a function to transmit to the vessel 1.

The MPU 25 performs advanced processing that cannot be performed by the MCU 121 (see FIG. 14) in the biological signal measuring instrument 1 having restrictions on the power supply. For example, from the viewpoint of personal information protection, encryption processing or anonymization processing that cannot identify an individual is performed. The memory 26 temporarily stores the accumulation of past data, case data on the cloud, and the like.

Next, a second embodiment of the biological signal measuring device will be described with reference to FIG. In the second embodiment, the biological signal measuring instrument 1 includes an automatic power switch 110 in the biological signal processing circuit 100 that detects a living body and automatically turns on (starts up) the power.

The automatic power switch 110 has a two-input type comparator 111, and one end of the resistor R1 and the resistor R2 is connected in parallel to one input terminal In1 of the comparator 111. The other end of the resistor R1 is connected to the power supply V0 in the device, and the other end of the resistor R2 is connected to the ground.

The other input terminal In2 of the comparator 111 is connected to the signal line Lb of the electrode 10b, and the resistor R4 is connected between the other input terminal In2 and the ground. A resistor R3 is connected between the signal line La of the electrode 10a and the power supply V0 in the apparatus.

The resistance between the electrodes 10a and 10b is R5, the voltage applied to one input terminal In1 is V1, the voltage applied to the other input terminal In2 is V2, and V1 and V2 are
V1 = V0 x R2 / (R1 + R2)
V2 = V0 x R4 / (R3 + R4 + R5)
It is represented by.

The comparator 111 compares V1 and V2, and instructs the power supply start IC 112 to start when V2> V1. For example, if R2, R3, and R4 are set to 10 MΩ and R1 is set to 11 MΩ, V2> V1 when the resistance value of the resistor R5 is 1 MΩ or less, and the power start IC 112 is instructed to start automatically assuming that it is in contact with a living body. Turn on the power.

It is preferable that the automatic power switch 110 is disconnected from the power supply after the power is started. However, if R1 to R4 have high resistance as described above, the power consumption is consumed even if the automatic power switch 110 is not disconnected from the power supply after the power is started. Can be minimized.

In this example, as described above, R1 to R4 are set to high resistance, the current consumption flowing through the comparator 111 and each of the resistors R1 to R4 is set to 1 μA, and the distance between the electrodes is constantly monitored. As an example, a 10 mAh battery has a half-life of about 6 months with a current of 1 μA, which does not affect the use of biometric data for several days.

After the power is started, it is preferable to stop the function of this automatic power switch. The reason is that the DC current flowing through the electrodes 10a and 10b may cause noise for biological signal detection.

Next, a third embodiment of the biological signal measuring device will be described with reference to FIG. In the third embodiment, the biological signal measuring instrument 1 has a wearing state check function.

In the biological signal processing circuit 100 of the biological signal measuring instrument 1, in addition to the automatic power switch function described with reference to FIG. 11, skin resistance measuring / processing unit and electrocardiographic signal measuring / processing are provided as original measurement / processing functions. It is equipped with a unit, a myoelectric signal measurement / processing unit, a brain wave signal measurement / processing unit, an environmental physical quantity measurement / processing unit, etc. Check the status.

As the judgment method (algorithm), it is expected to perform judgment as to whether or not it is within the range of the expected signal level, matching comparison (matched filter) with the template of the expected waveform such as the electrocardiographic waveform, and frequency analysis. Quantitative comparison with frequency distribution, judgment by expected signal-to-noise ratio (S / N ratio), etc. can be used.

As an example, FIGS. 13 (a) and 13 (b) show a procedure for determining the wearing state by matching and comparing the electrocardiographic waveforms.

Taking an electrocardiographic waveform as an example, first, as shown in (b-1) of FIG. 13 (b), the threshold values r1, r2, for R wave, P wave, T wave, Q wave, and S wave. Set r3 (r3 <r2 <r1), r1 or more (r1 ≤ R wave) for R wave, r2 or more and less than r1 for P wave and T wave (r2 ≤ P wave, T wave <r1), Q wave. For the S wave, it is determined whether it is less than r3 (Q wave, S wave <r3).

In making a logical determination for this threshold with reference to FIG. 13 (a), an unnecessary signal component is removed from the raw signal by a bandpass filter. At that time, a differential signal may be used if necessary. The logic judgment can be made by a comparator (either digital or analog). FIG. 13B (b-2) shows the result of the logical determination for the threshold value, which may be normalized by the maximum peak (R wave in this example).

Next, with respect to the expected logic prepared in advance (see (b-3) in FIG. 13 (b) in the template as a judgment criterion) and the threshold value shown in (b-2) in FIG. 13 (b). Take the logical product with the logical judgment. An example of the result is shown in (b-4) of FIG. 13 (b).

Then, in order to avoid the influence of noise and the like, the logical product is integrated for a certain period of time, and the threshold value of the integration result is determined as a matching determination. As a result, as shown in (b-5) of FIG. 13 (b), for example, if the integration result at t0 exceeds the comprehensive judgment threshold value, it is determined that the expected electrocardiographic waveform has been detected, that is, the living body. It is determined that the signal measuring instrument 1 is correctly attached to the living body H. If this is not the case, the alarm means 113 such as an LED, a vibrator, or a buzzer is operated to notify the wearer that the wearing is abnormal.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the biological signal measuring device will be described with reference to FIG. In the fourth embodiment, the biological signal measuring instrument 1 has a communication function with the power feeding device 2.

In order to communicate with the power feeder 2, the biological signal processing circuit 100 of the biological signal measuring instrument 1 contains an MCU (microcontroller unit) 121, a memory 122, an I / O interface 123, and an ADC (analog-to-digital conversion circuit) 124. Etc. are provided.

The MCU 121 stores the result of processing the biological signal in the memory 122 and controls the communication with the power feeder 2. As an example of the processing of biological signals, it is possible to obtain the heartbeat fluctuation from the electrocardiographic waveform, and to obtain the movement distance and the amount of exercise from the acceleration.

The memory 122 includes a RAM (random access memory) and a ROM (read-only memory). The RAM stores biometric signal data and the like processed by the MCU 121, and the ROM stores a processing program and the like.

The I / O interface 123 generates a signal for sending data to the power supply 2. Further, the ADC 124 receives data, a measurement program, and the like from the power supply 2, and replaces the firmware.

As another embodiment of the communication function with the power feeder 2 (fifth embodiment of the present invention), as shown in FIG. 15, a wakeup circuit 131 as a connection detection means and a modulation switch (SW) 132. , ADC 133, error correction decoding circuit 134a, error correction coding circuit 134b, and communication control unit 135 are also included in the present invention.

By detecting the power supply power (charging power), the Wakeup circuit 131 determines that the instrument (biological signal measuring instrument 1) is set in the power supply device 2, and sets the communication function to the operating state.

The modulation switch 132 changes the impedance between the differentials in order to modulate the feed power. An external transistor with high withstand voltage can be placed.

The ADC (comparator is also possible) 133 converts the modulation of the feed power into binary or multi-value. Protection resistors and protection diodes can be placed as needed.

The error correction / decoding circuit 134a and the error correction coding circuit 134b reduce the influence of distortion of the transmission line by Reed-Solomon, Viterbi, turbo, LDPC and the like. The communication control unit 135 generates transmission / reception timing and controls each unit.

FIG. 16 shows an example of data transferred by the communication circuit between the biological signal measuring instrument 1 and the feeding device 2, and this will be described.

The heartbeat fluctuation is obtained from the electrocardiographic waveform by the Flotting Unit of the MCU 121 or a dedicated HW (hardware), and the heartbeat fluctuation is frequency-decomposed into, for example, 16 gradations through a variable band limiting filter. For this purpose, the band of the IIR band-limit filter (BPF) may be changed little by little for decomposition.

Recording is performed every time, for example, once every 10 seconds. The amount of information is 24 hours (86400 seconds), and 16 frequencies × 16 gradations (8 bits) × 8640 = about 8.6 kB.

Similarly, when the acceleration is frequency-decomposed, the 24-hour information amount is about 10 kB, and the 24-hour information amount of the travel distance obtained by integrating the acceleration is about 10 kB.

According to the present invention, the power supply device 2 is also called a docking station, and while the biological signal measuring device 1 is connected to the power supply device 2 and charged, information (biological data or the like) stored in the memory 122 is transmitted via the power supply device 2. For example, it can be sent to a cloud server or the like.

Next, an example of a product form (sensor chip) provided on the market of the biological signal measuring instrument 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

The sensor chip 1 includes two first and second substrates 30, 40, and a low bending rigidity portion 50 connecting these substrates 30, 40.

A hard substrate such as a copper-clad laminated substrate is used for the substrates 30 and 40, and a flexible wiring board is preferably adopted for the low flexural rigidity portion 50. Hereinafter, the low flexural rigidity portion 50 may be referred to as a flexible wiring board.

One surface (front surface) of the substrates 30 and 40 shown in FIG. 17A is the component mounting surface 30a and 40a. In this example, the biometric signal processing circuit 100 is mounted on the component mounting surface 30a of the first substrate 30. The charging circuit 200 is mounted on the component mounting surface 40a of the second board 40, and the secondary battery 210 as a power source is mounted. Since the secondary battery 210 is heavier than other parts, it is preferable to arrange it on the connecting portion side. The biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300 may be provided on either the first substrate 30 or the second substrate 40.

The other surfaces of the substrates 30 and 40 shown in FIG. 17B are the back surfaces 30b and 40b, and one electrode 10a is provided on the back surface 30b of the first substrate 30, whereas the second substrate 40 is provided. The other electrode 10b is provided on the back surface 40b of the above. As described above, the electrodes 10a and 10b are connected to the biological signal processing circuit 100 and the charging circuit 200 via the biological signal / power supply power distribution means 300.

The length L of the flexible wiring board 50 should be as long as possible in order to reduce the force with which the electrodes 10a and 10b tend to peel off from the skin. Each side of the substrates 30 and 40 is 30 mm or less, preferably 20 mm or less.

Further, referring to FIG. 17C, the thickness including the electrodes 10, the substrates 30, 40, the biological signal processing circuit 100, the charging circuit 200, the battery 210, and other members is 10 mm or less, preferably 5 mm or less. To do.

This is to lower the height from the skin and reduce the force (bending moment) to peel off. The substrates 30 and 40 do not necessarily have to be quadrangular, and may have a curved portion.

With reference to FIG. 18, the boards 30 and 40 are composed of a multi-layer build-up board including an inner layer circuit, and the flexible wiring board 50 is sandwiched between predetermined inner layers at the time of the build-up. It is preferable to form the penetrating via 51 near the opposite ends of the 30 and 40 on the connecting side. The penetrating via 51 may be filled with plating, resist, or the like.

Regarding the arrangement of the mounting components, as shown in FIG. 18B, the biometric signal processing circuit 100 and the battery 210 are arranged on one side of the first substrate 30, and the charging circuit 200 is arranged on the other side of the second substrate 40. However, preferably, as shown in FIG. 18A, the biological signal processing circuit 100 is arranged on one side of the first substrate 30, and the charging circuit 200 and the battery 210 are arranged on the other side of the second substrate 40. It is good to place it.

That is, according to the arrangement shown in FIG. 18A, the first substrate 30 side is grouped into the wiring related to biological signal processing, and the second board 40 side is grouped into the wiring of the power supply system. The pattern may be a minimum of power supply wiring and control wiring, and the flexible wiring board 50 can be made more flexible.

Further, since the biological signal processing circuit 100 usually has a larger circuit area than the charging circuit 200, the first substrate 30 and the second substrate 40 are substantially in area if the arrangement shown in FIG. 18A is adopted. Can be the same size.

As a result, the flexible wiring board 50 is arranged in the substantially central portion of the sensor chip 1 in the length direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 18), and the lengths of both the substrates 30 and 40 can be lengthened. It can be made difficult to peel off from the skin.

FIG. 19 shows the waterproof cover 60 of the sensor chip 1. FIG. 3A is a front view of the waterproof cover 60 covering the component mounting surfaces 30a and 40a of the sensor chip 1, and FIG. 3B is a rear view of the waterproof cover 60 covering the back surfaces 30b and 40b of the sensor chip 1. FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

The waterproof cover 60 is made of a low-rigidity material, preferably silicon rubber, and is formed inside in a bag shape for accommodating the sensor chip 1 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 19B, openings 61a and 61b for exposing the electrodes 10a and 10b are provided on the back surface side.

As another example of the waterproof cover 60, as shown in FIG. 20, the waterproof cover 60 is used as two members, a first waterproof cover 60a covering the first substrate 30 and a second waterproof cover 60b covering the second substrate 40. The 1st substrate 30 and the 2nd substrate 40 are individually waterproofed.

As shown in FIG. 20B, an opening 61a for exposing the electrode 10a is provided on the back side of the first waterproof cover 60a, and the electrode 10b is provided on the back side of the second waterproof cover 60b. An opening 61b is provided to expose the surface.

According to this, since the portion of the flexible wiring board 50 is not covered by the waterproof cover, the original flexibility of the flexible wiring board 50 is not impaired.

The sensor chip 1 may be directly attached to the skin of a living body, but the adhesive tape 70 for attachment shown in FIGS. 21 (a) and 21 (b) is preferably used. 21 (c) is a schematic view showing the electrode surface side of the sensor chip 1, and FIG. 21 (d) is a schematic view showing the power supply terminal side of the power supply device 2.

The adhesive tape 70 for attachment is provided with skin-side electrodes 71a and 71b made of a gel or the like having biocompatibility at two locations on the left and right sides of the skin-attached surface side (glue surface side) of FIG. 21 (a). Although not shown, the skin-side electrodes 71a and 71b are covered with release paper when not in use.

Connection electrodes 72a and 72b are provided on the front surface side (front surface side) of the mounting adhesive tape 70 as shown in FIG. 21 (b), corresponding to the skin side electrodes 71a and 71b. The connection electrodes 72a and 72b are made of a magnetic material such as iron, and are arranged at equal intervals with the electrodes 10a and 10b of the sensor chip 1. Further, the power feeding terminals 20a and 20b of the power feeding device 2 are also made of a magnetic material such as iron, and are arranged at equal intervals with the electrodes 10a and 10b of the sensor chip 1.

On the other hand, the electrodes 10a and 10b of the sensor chip 1 are made of a permanent magnet material, and the sensor chip 1 is selectively held by the mounting adhesive tape 70 and the power feeder 2 due to its magnetic attraction. FIG. 22 shows a state in which the sensor chip 1 is attached to the mounting adhesive tape 70.

Next, an example of the procedure for using the sensor chip 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 23 (a) to 23 (f). First, (a) the release paper is peeled off from the mounting adhesive tape 70 to expose the skin-side electrodes 71a and 71b, and (b) the mounting adhesive tape 70 is attached to a predetermined part of the living body (human body), for example, the chest.

Next, (c) the charged sensor chip 1 is attached to the mounting adhesive tape 70 as shown in FIG. At this time, the sensor chip 1 is held by the mounting adhesive tape 70 by magnetically attracting the electrodes 10a and 10b to the connection electrodes 72a and 72b. The sensor chip 1 may be attached to a plurality of places on the living body.

(D) For example, after acquiring biometric data for several hours to several days and accumulating it in the memory 122, the sensor chip 1 is removed from the mounting adhesive tape 70, and (e) the sensor chip 1 is set in the power supply device 2. Also at this time, the sensors 10a and 10b are magnetically attracted to the feeding terminals 20a and 20b, so that the sensor chip 1 is securely held by the feeding device 2.

When the sensor chip 1 is set in the power supply device 2, the battery 210 of the sensor chip 1 is charged from the power supply device 2, and in parallel with this, it is stored in the memory 122 of the biometric signal processing circuit 100. The biometric data is transferred to the memory 26 of the feeder 2.

This transfer of biometric data is performed according to the instructions of the MPU 25 of the feeder 2 and / or the MCU 121 of the sensor chip 1. In this embodiment, the power supply 2 has a charging lamp 2a and a communication lamp 2b, the charging lamp 2a lights up during charging, and the communication lamp 2b lights up during data transfer.

After the biometric data transfer from the sensor chip 1 to the power feeder 2 is completed, the biometric data is deleted from the memory 122 of the sensor chip 1. This data deletion is performed by the instruction of either the MCU 121 of the sensor chip 1 or the MPU 25 of the power feeder 2. (F) In this way, the sensor chip 1 from which the biometric data has been deleted and charged is sent to acquire the biometric data again.

As illustrated in FIG. 24, the power feeder 2 is preferably connected to a connection terminal 80 having a function of connecting to a public line, and biometric data acquired from the sensor chip 1 is used as a server as an external device via, for example, a public line. (Cloud server) Transfer to 81 etc.

The biometric data from the memory 122 of the sensor chip 1 may be deleted after confirming the data transfer to the server 81. Further, as the connection terminal 80, a personal computer, a mobile tablet, a board on which a microcomputer is mounted, or the like may be used.

On the server 81 side to which biometric data is transmitted from the power feeder 2, physical ability, stress state, possibility of illness, state immediately before illness, etc. are displayed from the amount of exercise, pulse change, heart rate fluctuation, respiratory rate, blood pressure change, etc. judge.

In addition, a biological signal measurement program suitable for the user (for example, a program for measuring biological signals related to menopause, orthostatic dysregulation, arrhythmia, etc., and monitoring and saving peculiar ST waves in detail) is provided as needed. Write to the sensor chip 1 via the electric appliance 2.

At this time as well, the communication lamp 2b of the power feeder 2 lights up, but it is not always necessary that the battery is being charged. That is, the transfer of biometric data from the sensor chip 1 to the power supply device 2, the transfer of biometric data from the power supply device 2 to the server 81, and the program writing from the server 81 to the sensor chip 1 via the power supply device 2 are performed by the sensor chip. It may be performed before or after charging 1.

As described above, according to the present invention, by using an electrode for detecting a biological signal as a charging terminal, it is not necessary to provide a dedicated charging terminal such as an SD terminal, and a configuration of a biological signal measuring instrument is provided. Is simplified, and it is possible to further reduce the size, weight, and thickness, and to take sufficient waterproof measures.

In addition, the power start switch is turned on and power is supplied to the biological signal processing circuit from the battery only when the biological signal measuring instrument (sensor chip) is attached to the human body, and the power start switch is turned off at other times. Therefore, the consumption of the battery can be reduced as much as possible.

1 Biological signal measuring instrument (sensor chip)
2 Feeder 10 (10a, 10b) Electrode 20 (20a, 20b) Feed terminal 30, 40 Board 50 Low flexural rigidity (flexible wiring board)
60 Waterproof cover 70 Adhesive tape for mounting 70a, 70b Skin side electrodes 71a, 71b Connection electrode 100 Biological signal processing circuit 200 Charging circuit 300 Biological signal / power supply power distribution means

Claims (1)

Including biological signal measuring instruments used by attaching to the living body
The biological signal measuring instrument includes a battery as an internal power source and a charging circuit thereof, a pair of electrodes that come into contact with the skin surface of the living body when measuring the biological signal, and are connected to a predetermined power supply device when charging the battery, and the battery. A biological signal processing circuit that is supplied with more power and processes a biological signal detected by the electrode in a predetermined manner, and a biological signal / power supply power distribution means are provided, and the biological signal processing circuit and the charging circuit are provided for the electrode. In the biological signal measuring device, which is connected so as to be switchable via the above-mentioned biological signal / power supply power distribution means.
A power start switch that turns on and off the power supplied from the battery to the biometric signal processing circuit, a control unit that controls the power start switch, and an AC signal generator and a signal that detect impedance existing between the pair of electrodes. It has an impedance detector consisting of a detector,
The control unit monitors the inter-electrode impedance detected by the impedance detector, turns off the power supply start switch when the inter-electrode impedance exceeds a predetermined threshold value, and the inter-electrode impedance is equal to or lower than the above threshold value. A biological signal measuring device characterized in that the power starting switch is sometimes turned on to supply power to the biological signal processing circuit from the battery.

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