KR102408484B1 - Body temperature estimation system and method considering outer temperature - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature. The body temperature estimation system according to the present invention includes a temperature measuring unit, a temperature extracting unit, and a body temperature estimation unit. The temperature measuring unit is attached to the skin of the subject to measure the skin temperature and the external temperature a plurality of times for a predetermined time. The temperature extractor extracts the external temperature that affects the epidermal temperature according to the heat transfer characteristic of the temperature measuring unit based on the time the skin temperature is measured. In addition, the body temperature estimating unit estimates the body temperature of the subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature.

Description

{Body temperature estimation system and method considering outer temperature}

The present invention relates to a technology for providing body temperature, and more particularly, body temperature considering the external temperature for estimating the body temperature of a subject to be measured by correcting the skin temperature measured based on the measured external temperature in providing the body temperature over a long period of time It relates to an estimation system and method.

In general, methods and areas for measuring body temperature on a human body are very diverse. In order to know the most accurate body temperature, there is a method to measure the core body temperature. The core body temperature measurement method is a method of measuring body temperature in a blood vessel carpeter. The core body temperature measurement method is very invasive and is applied only to critically ill patients. In general, in daily life, body temperature is measured using axillary, rectal, tympanic, and forehead thermometers.

The axillary thermometer is a method used for infants and early children, and it may not be able to properly detect the heat of the hyperthermic group and the discomfort of having to keep the arm close to the chest for a certain period of time.

A rectal thermometer is only used when the subject is unconscious, has seizures, or cannot keep his mouth shut.

The eardrum thermometer is a convenient and minimally invasive method because it measures the heat of blood flowing around the eardrum using infrared technology. Although the eardrum thermometer is the most preferred method in hospital clinical sites, it has a disadvantage that errors may occur depending on the measurement method of the person and the body structure of the person to be measured.

Recently, in the case of a forehead thermometer based on infrared technology, the temperature measurement time is the shortest, convenient, and the risk of infection is low, so it is used as a useful method in hospitals and the like.

In addition, many wearable devices are being developed to support convenient body temperature measurement. Wearable devices for measuring body temperature are implemented in various forms such as watches, glasses, and necklace types. A wearable device for measuring body temperature has the advantage of being able to measure body temperature over a long period of time in an environment in which the subject to be measured while being attached to the skin. However, since the wearable device for measuring body temperature measures the skin temperature of the part contacted with body temperature, there may be a difference from the actual body temperature of the subject.

Although these various methods each have advantages and limitations, all methods have a common problem at the same time being affected by external environments such as heat or light. That is, when the body is exposed to the influence of external temperature, the skin of the body responds to this, and as a result of this reaction, the temperature for each measurement part changes. Such external temperature influence eventually acts as a factor causing a large error in body temperature measurement.

Moreover, when the wearable device for body temperature measurement is attached to the skin and the subject measures body temperature for a long time in the environment of daily life, the accuracy of the measured body temperature is inevitably reduced because the influence of external temperature is greatly affected. .

Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2020-0021711 (published on March 2, 2020)

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature, which can provide a more accurate body temperature by correcting body temperature measurement error due to the influence of external temperature.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a body temperature estimation system and method in consideration of the external temperature for estimating the body temperature of a subject by correcting the measured skin temperature based on the measured external temperature in providing the body temperature over a long period of time.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a temperature measuring unit attached to the skin of the subject to measure the skin temperature and the external temperature a plurality of times for a predetermined time; a temperature extracting unit for extracting an external temperature affecting the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics of the temperature measuring unit based on the time at which the skin temperature is measured; and a body temperature estimator for estimating the body temperature of a subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature.

The external temperature that affects the skin temperature is derived by Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient.

The extracted external temperature may be an external temperature measured at a previous time within 5 minutes based on the time at which the skin temperature was measured.

The correlation can be expressed by the following equation.

T_est : estimated body temperature

k : external influence proportional constant

T2: outside temperature

T3: skin temperature

t : measurement time (unit; minutes)

α : temperature transfer time (unit: minutes)

The external influence proportional constant (k) may be calculated using a data driven method for external temperature and skin temperature collected from a plurality of measurement subjects.

The temperature measuring unit may include: a flexible base film having a first base film and a second base film connected to the first base film and bent over the first base film; a skin temperature sensor mounted on the lower surface of the first base film, the skin temperature sensor being in contact with the skin to measure the skin temperature; and an external temperature sensor mounted on the upper surface of the second base film and measuring an external temperature.

The present invention also provides a flexible temperature sensor module for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature, comprising a first base film and a second base film connected to the first base film and bent over the first base film base film; a skin temperature sensor mounted on the lower surface of the first base film, the skin temperature sensor being in contact with the skin to measure body temperature; an external temperature sensor mounted on the upper surface of the second base film and measuring an external temperature; And it is mounted on the base film, receives the skin temperature measured from the skin temperature sensor, receives the external temperature measured from the external temperature sensor, based on the time measured the skin temperature of the flexible temperature sensor module Includes; extracting the external temperature that affects the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics, and estimating the body temperature of the subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature do.

The present invention also includes a flexible temperature sensor module attached to the skin of the subject to measure the skin temperature and the external temperature a plurality of times for a certain period of time; And receiving the skin temperature and external temperature from the flexible temperature sensor module, and extracting the external temperature affecting the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics of the flexible temperature sensor module based on the time the skin temperature is measured, the It provides a body temperature estimation system in consideration of external temperature, including a management terminal for estimating the body temperature of the subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature.

And the present invention, the temperature measuring unit is attached to the skin of the subject to measure the skin temperature and the external temperature a plurality of times for a predetermined time; extracting an external temperature affecting the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics of the temperature measuring unit based on the time at which the skin temperature is measured; and estimating the body temperature of the subject at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature.

According to the present invention, in providing body temperature over a long period of time, it is possible to estimate the body temperature of a subject to be measured by correcting the measured skin temperature based on the measured external temperature.

Since the flexible temperature sensor module according to the present invention can be implemented as a patch-type wearable device that can be attached to various parts of the body, it can be attached to the body part according to the situation of the person to be measured, and information about the skin temperature and external temperature for a long time. can be provided continuously. Accordingly, the body temperature estimation system according to the present invention can continuously provide the body temperature of the subject to be measured using the measured external temperature and skin temperature over a long period of time.

In addition, the present invention utilizes a flexible temperature sensor module that attaches to the skin of the subject to be measured and provides information on the external temperature and the skin temperature over a long period of time, so that it is possible to continuously estimate the body temperature of the subject in daily life. Due to this, it is possible to record the temperature of the subject for a long time during social chaos such as the recent corona epidemic, so it is expected that it can be used to determine the diagnosis while preventing the transmission of medical personnel.

1 is a block diagram showing a system for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature according to the present invention.
2 is a block diagram illustrating a system for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing the flexible temperature sensor module of FIG.
4 is a plan view showing a lower surface of the flexible temperature sensor module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a plan view showing the upper surface of the flexible temperature sensor module according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a cross-sectional view showing a flexible temperature sensor module according to an embodiment of the present invention, a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the second base film is bent on the first base film.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 and 9 are tables showing the temperatures measured by the flexible temperature sensor module according to the present embodiment for two measurement subjects.
10 is a table comparing body temperature estimated according to an embodiment of the present invention, skin temperature, external temperature, and body temperature measured with a forehead thermometer.
11 is a graph showing the table of FIG. 10 .

It should be noted that, in the following description, only parts necessary for understanding the embodiments of the present invention will be described, and descriptions of other parts will be omitted without departing from the gist of the present invention.

The terms or words used in the present specification and claims described below should not be construed as being limited to their ordinary or dictionary meanings, and the inventors have appropriate concepts of terms to describe their invention in the best way. It should be interpreted as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined in Accordingly, the embodiments described in this specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and do not represent all of the technical spirit of the present invention, so various equivalents that can be substituted for them at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be variations and variations.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Body temperature estimation system]

1 is a block diagram showing a system for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the body temperature estimation system 400 considering the external temperature according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as a 'body temperature estimation system') provides the body temperature of a subject to be measured over a long period of time based on the measured external temperature. It is a system that provides an estimate of the subject's body temperature by correcting the skin temperature.

The body temperature estimation system 400 according to the present invention includes a temperature measurement unit 93 , a temperature extraction unit 95 , and a body temperature estimation unit 97 . The temperature measuring unit 93 is attached to the skin of the measurement target and measures the skin temperature and the external temperature a plurality of times for a predetermined time. The temperature extractor 95 extracts an external temperature that affects the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristic of the temperature measurer 93 based on the time the skin temperature is measured. In addition, the body temperature estimation unit 97 estimates the body temperature of the subject at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature.

The temperature measuring unit 93 is attached to the skin to measure the skin temperature and the external temperature. The temperature measuring unit 93 may be implemented as a wearable device of a patch type that can be attached to the skin. The temperature measuring unit 93 measures the skin temperature through the surface attached to the skin, and measures the external temperature through the surface facing the outside opposite to the skin.

Here, the external temperature is an external heat influencing factor (T1) that heats the skin by the external environment, for example, sunlight, solar heat, outdoor temperature, temperature (T2) means In other words, the external temperature was not defined as the spatial representative temperature in any architectural aspect, but the spatial temperature between the skin and the clothes worn by the subject to be measured as the external temperature. The reason is that the representative temperature of the architectural space can be measured in real time and reflected in the body temperature estimation system, but there is no competitiveness in terms of cost and system configuration. This is because, at the same time, between the clothes and the skin reflecting the architectural external heat effect, the space temperature after being filtered by the clothes is a key part that affects the body temperature estimated in the present invention.

The skin temperature is the body temperature detected from the skin in which the external temperature by the external heat-affecting factor is reflected.

Therefore, it is preferable that the temperature measuring unit 93 measures the external temperature at the upper part of the part for measuring the skin temperature.

The external temperature that affects the skin temperature may be extracted based on the temperature transfer time derived from Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient. It is a Pearson correlation coefficient and is related to the heat transfer characteristics of the temperature measuring part. The external temperature passes through the temperature measuring unit and affects the skin temperature, and a temperature transfer time is required for the external temperature to be transmitted to the skin temperature. For example, the extracted external temperature may be the external temperature measured at a previous time (temperature transfer time) within 5 minutes based on the time at which the skin temperature is measured.

The correlation for estimating body temperature can be expressed by Equation 1 below.

T_est : estimated body temperature

k : external influence proportional constant

T2: outside temperature

T3: skin temperature

t : measurement time (unit; minutes)

α : temperature transfer time (unit: minutes)

Here, the external influence proportional constant (k) may be calculated using a data driven method for external temperature and skin temperature collected from a plurality of measurement subjects. As described above, the temperature transfer time α can be derived from the Pearson correlation coefficient.

The modeling of the correlation according to Equation 1 will be described later.

As described above, the body temperature estimation system 400 according to the present invention may be implemented in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 6 , but is not limited thereto.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a body temperature estimation system 400 taking an external temperature into account according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2 , the temperature estimation system 400 according to the present embodiment includes a flexible temperature sensor module 100 and a management terminal 200 . In addition, the temperature estimation system 400 according to the present embodiment may further include a body part thermometer 300 .

The body part thermometer 300 measures and outputs the body temperature of the subject to be measured. The body part thermometer 300 measures the body temperature of one of the chest, forehead, armpit, ear, and earlobe. The body part thermometer 300 may be a commercial thermometer.

The body part thermometer 300 is used to model the correlation for body temperature estimation according to the present embodiment, and to check the accuracy of the body temperature estimated from the modeled correlation with the body temperature measured with the body part thermometer 300 . . In order to model the correlation for body temperature estimation, it is preferable to use the body part thermometer 300 capable of accurately measuring body temperature. Although the present embodiment discloses an example of using a forehead thermometer as the body part thermometer 300, it is not limited thereto.

Therefore, the temperature estimation system 400 according to the present embodiment may not include the body part thermometer 300 .

The flexible temperature sensor module 100 is attached to the skin of the measurement subject and measures the skin temperature and the external temperature a plurality of times for a predetermined time. The flexible temperature sensor module 100 may time-synchronize the skin temperature and the external temperature and output it. The flexible temperature sensor module 100 may be a temperature sensor implemented in a flexible patch type. This flexible temperature sensor module 100 corresponds to the temperature measurement unit.

And the management terminal 200 estimates the body temperature of the subject to be measured based on the skin temperature and the external temperature received from the flexible temperature sensor module 100 . That is, the management terminal 200 receives the skin temperature and the external temperature from the flexible temperature sensor module 100 . The management terminal 200 extracts the external temperature that affects the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics of the flexible temperature sensor module 100 based on the time the skin temperature is measured. And the management terminal 200 estimates the body temperature of the subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature. The management terminal 200 is a communication terminal used by an administrator, and may be, for example, a PC, a smartphone, a notebook computer, a tablet PC, a dedicated terminal, a server, or the like. The management terminal 200 includes a temperature extractor and a body temperature estimator.

Here, communication between the body part thermometer 300 , the flexible temperature sensor module 100 and the management terminal 200 may be performed using a wireless communication method. As the wireless communication method, a short-range wireless communication method may be used. As a short-range wireless communication method, Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), WiFi, Zig bee, or Near Field Communication (NFC) may be used.

On the other hand, although the present embodiment discloses an example in which the management terminal 200 performs the functions of the temperature extractor and the body temperature estimator, it is not limited thereto.

For example, the flexible temperature sensor module 100 may include a temperature measurement unit and a temperature extractor, and the management terminal 200 may include a body temperature estimation unit. That is, after the flexible temperature sensor module 100 measures the external temperature and the skin temperature, the external temperature that affects the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics of the flexible temperature sensor module 100 based on the time the skin temperature is measured is measured. to extract. The flexible temperature sensor module 100 transmits the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature to the management terminal. And the management terminal 200 estimates the body temperature of the subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature.

Alternatively, the flexible temperature sensor module 100 may include a temperature measurement unit, a temperature extraction unit, and a temperature estimation unit. That is, the flexible temperature sensor module 100 measures the external temperature and the skin temperature, and then the external temperature that affects the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics of the flexible temperature sensor module 100 based on the time the skin temperature is measured. extract The flexible temperature sensor module 100 estimates the body temperature of the subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature. And the flexible temperature sensor module 100 may transmit the estimated body temperature to the management terminal 200 .

The flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6 as follows.

3 is a block diagram showing the flexible temperature sensor module 100 of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to this embodiment includes flexible base films 10 and 30 and a skin temperature sensor 50 . The base films 10 and 30 have a mounting region 15 in which the skin temperature sensor 50 is to be mounted, and heat conduction blocking slots 17 and 19 for blocking heat conduction to the mounting region 15 are formed. And the skin temperature sensor 50 is mounted on the mounting region 15 of the base films 10 and 30 and is in contact with the skin to measure the skin temperature. In addition, the flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to this embodiment may further include an external temperature sensor 60 , a ground layer 40 , and a heat-generating element 70 .

As such, the flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to this embodiment forms the heat conduction blocking slots 17 and 19 around the skin temperature sensor 50, so that the skin temperature sensor 50 riding on the base films 10 and 30. can block heat conduction. That is, it is possible to reduce the influence of internal heat-affecting factors with the heat conduction blocking slots 17 and 19 .

First, looking at the internal heat-affecting factors, the heat conduction effect in the printed circuit board including the base films 10 and 30 is the skin temperature sensor 50 through the ground layer 40 or the electrode layer in the printed circuit board and the skin around the Heat generated while the heat-generating element 70 is driven may be conducted to the skin temperature sensor 50 to affect the measured body temperature.

Therefore, in order to block the heat effect due to the internal heat-affecting factor, the heat conduction blocking slots 17 and 19 are formed in the present embodiment.

The heat conduction blocking slots 17 and 19 include a guard slot 17 formed in the base film 10 and 30 along the circumference of the skin temperature sensor 50, and a mounting region 15 in which the skin temperature sensor 50 is mounted, and At least one of the boundary slots 19 formed in the boundary portion of the region where the ground layer 40 is formed may be included. The boundary slot 19 includes at least one of a first boundary slot 21 formed in the base films 10 and 30 and a second boundary slot 23 formed in the ground layer 40 . In this embodiment, an example in which the guard slot 17 and the boundary slot 19 are formed together, and the first and second boundary slots 21 and 23 are formed together has been disclosed.

The base films 10 and 30 include a first base film 10 and a second base film 30 . The second base film 30 is connected to the first base film 10 and is bent over the first base film 10 .

Here, the skin temperature sensor 50 , the ground layer 40 , and the heat-generating element 70 are formed on the first base film 10 . And an external temperature sensor 60 is formed on the second base film 30 .

The skin temperature sensor 50 is mounted on one side of the first base film 10 .

The ground layer 40 is formed on the first base film 10 spaced apart from the mounting area 15 on which the skin temperature sensor 50 is mounted.

The heat-generating element 70 is formed on the first base film 10 spaced apart from the mounting region 15 on which the skin temperature sensor 50 is mounted. In this case, the heat-generating element 70 may be formed in a region where the ground layer 40 is formed.

Here, the heat-generating element 70 is an element included in the flexible temperature sensor module 100 , and refers to elements capable of affecting the skin temperature sensor 50 according to an internal heat-affecting factor. The heat-generating element 70 may include a communication unit 71 , a storage unit 73 , a control unit 75 , and a power supply unit 77 .

The communication unit 71 communicates with the management terminal 200 . The communication unit 71 may use a short-range wireless communication method as a communication method with the management terminal 200 .

The storage unit 73 stores the skin temperature measured by the skin temperature sensor 50 or the external temperature measured by the external temperature sensor 60 .

The control unit 75 is a microprocessor that controls the overall operation of the flexible temperature sensor module 100 . Here, the control unit 75 transmits the temperature measured by the skin temperature sensor 50 and the external temperature sensor 60 or the temperature stored in the storage unit 73 to the management terminal 200 through the communication unit 71 .

And the power supply unit 77 supplies power required for driving to the skin temperature sensor 50 , the communication unit 71 , the storage unit 73 , and the control unit 75 . The power supply unit 77 is an electrical energy storage device that can be charged and discharged multiple times, and may include, for example, at least one of a secondary battery and a supercapacitor. The power supply unit 77 may include an energy harvesting unit that collects energy around the flexible temperature sensor module 100, for example, body temperature, wireless signals, and the like to generate electrical energy.

4 is a plan view showing a lower surface of the flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a plan view showing the upper surface of the flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. And Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the second base film 30 is bent on the first base film 10 .

4 to 6, the flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to the present embodiment includes a flexible base film 10 and 30 and a skin temperature sensor 50, an external temperature sensor 60, a ground layer (40), it may further include a heat-generating element 70 and a protective layer (80).

The base films 10 and 30 are insulating films made of a flexible plastic material. Materials of the base films 10 and 30 include polyimide, polyethersulphone (PES), polyacrylate (PAR), polyetherimide (PEI), and polyethylene naphthalate (polyethyelenen). napthalate (PEN), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyallylate, polycarbonate (PC), cellulose triacetate (CTA) or cellulose acetate Propionate (cellulose acetate propinonate; CAP) may be used, but is not limited thereto.

The base films 10 and 30 include a first base film 10 and a second base film 30 . The first and second base films 10 and 30 have upper surfaces 13 and 33, respectively, and lower surfaces 11 and 31 opposite to the upper surfaces 13 and 33, respectively. Here, since the second base film 30 is bent and positioned on the upper surface 13 of the first base film 10 , in the plan views of FIGS. 4 and 5 , the lower surface 11 of the first base film 10 . ) and the upper surface 33 of the second base film 30 are located on the same surface, and the upper surface 13 of the first base film 10 and the lower surface 31 of the second base film 30 are the same will be located on the side.

The skin temperature sensor 50 and the ground layer 40 are formed on the lower surface 11 of the first base film 10 . The skin temperature sensor 50 and the ground layer 40 are formed to be spaced apart from each other. The first base film 10 has a smoke-capable element mounted on the upper surface 13 .

The second base film 30 has an external temperature sensor 60 formed on the upper surface 33 . The second base film 30 is formed to be narrower than the first base film 10 so that it can be easily bent with respect to the first base film 10 and positioned on the first base film 10 .

When bending the second base film 30 with respect to the first base film 10, the lower surface 11 of the first base film 10 on which the skin temperature sensor 50 is mounted faces the skin, and The temperature sensor 60 is bent to face the outside. That is, after positioning the lower surface 11 of the first base film 10 and the upper surface 33 of the second base film 30 to face downward, the upper surface 13 of the first base film 10 is above The lower surface 31 of the second base film 30 is bent so that it can be positioned.

The ground layer 40 is formed on the lower surface 11 of the first base film 10, but is not limited thereto. For example, the ground layer 40 may be formed inside the first base film 10 .

The skin temperature sensor 50 is a resistance film type temperature sensor based on a platinum material, and includes an internal sensor unit 51 and an internal electrode unit 53 . The internal sensor unit 51 measures the body temperature (skin temperature) of the contacted skin. The internal electrode unit 53 is connected to the internal sensor unit 51 and transmits the measured skin temperature to the storage unit 73 or the control unit 75 . The internal electrode unit 53 may be formed of a plurality of lines, one of the plurality of lines is connected to the ground layer 40 , and the other is a storage unit 73 or control unit 75 to transmit the measured skin temperature. can be connected to

The guard slot 17 is formed to penetrate the first base film 10 around the skin temperature sensor 50 . The guard slot 17 is formed to surround the skin temperature sensor 50, and is not formed in the portion where the internal electrode part is formed. That is, the guard slot 17 is formed in a shape surrounding the internal sensor unit 51 , and a portion to which the internal electrode unit 53 is connected and drawn out from the internal sensor unit 51 is open.

The border slot 19 includes a first border slot 21 and a second border slot 23 . The first boundary slots 21 may be formed on both sides with respect to the internal electrode part 53 . The second boundary slot 23 may be formed in the ground layer 40 in a form to cover the control unit 75 toward the skin temperature sensor 50 . The second boundary slot 23 is formed through the ground layer 40 and the first base film 10 .

As such, the flexible temperature sensor module 100 according to this embodiment forms a guard slot 17 or a boundary slot 19 around the skin temperature sensor 50, and rides the base films 10 and 30, and the skin temperature sensor It is possible to block the heat conduction with (50). That is, it is possible to reduce the influence of the internal heat-affecting factor with the guard slot 17 or the boundary slot 19 at the skin temperature measured by the skin temperature sensor 50 .

The heat generating element 70 is mounted on the upper surface 13 of the first base film 10 . The heat-generating element 70 is mounted on the upper surface 13 of the first base film 10 opposite to the lower surface 11 of the first base film 10 on which the ground layer 40 is formed.

The protective layer 80 protects the heat-generating element 70 to the external environment. The protective layer 80 may be formed by laminating a protective film of a plastic resin on the upper surface 13 of the first base film 10 on which the heat-generating element 70 is mounted. Alternatively, the protective layer 80 may be formed by coating or molding a liquid plastic resin. As a material of the protective layer 80 , a plastic material capable of providing flexibility to the first base film 10 may be used, for example, at least one of the materials of the base films 10 and 30 may be used.

The second base film 30 bent over the first base film 10 may be attached on the protective layer 80 .

And the external temperature sensor 60 is mounted on the upper surface 33 of the second base substrate. The external temperature sensor 60 is a platinum material-based resistance film type temperature sensor, and includes an external sensor unit 61 and an external electrode unit 63 . The external sensor unit 61 measures the external temperature applied to the flexible temperature sensor module 100 toward the opposite side to the skin. The external electrode unit 63 is connected to the external sensor unit 61 and transmits the measured external temperature to the storage unit 73 or the control unit 75 . The external electrode part 63 may be formed of a plurality of lines, and one of the plurality of lines is connected to the ground layer 40 , and the storage part 73 or the controller 75 to transmit the external temperature measured by the other one. can be connected to

As such, the external temperature sensor 60 measures the external temperature according to the external heat-affecting factor.

[How to estimate body temperature]

The body temperature estimation method using the body temperature estimation system according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 7 as follows. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, in step S10, the flexible temperature sensor module 100, which is a temperature measuring unit, is attached to the skin of the subject to be measured, and measures the skin temperature and the external temperature a plurality of times for a predetermined time. At this time, the flexible temperature sensor module 100 synchronizes the measured skin temperature and external temperature in time and outputs it to the management terminal 200 .

Next, in step S30, the management terminal 200 extracts the external temperature that affects the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics of the flexible temperature sensor module 100 based on the time the skin temperature is measured.

And in step S50, the management terminal 200 estimates the body temperature of the subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature.

[Correlation Modeling]

As described above, a method of modeling the correlation between external temperature and skin temperature for estimating body temperature according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11 .

In order to check the exact effect of external heat effect in measuring the body temperature of the subject over a long period of time, it was assumed that the heat effect occurs around the skin as follows. It would be very effective if the temperature measurement was made only for the heat effect from the skin.

Therefore, in order to understand the characteristics of external heat influence, when external thermal influence occurs, the relationship between external thermal influence and the skin temperature sensor of the flexible temperature sensor module attached to the skin through the flexible temperature sensor module was analyzed.

That is, the external heat effect (T1) generated from the outside passes through the clothes of the measurement target, and forms a variable external temperature (T2) in the space between the clothes and the skin. The external temperature (T2) affects the skin through the flexible temperature sensor module. Therefore, the skin temperature (T3) measured through the skin temperature sensor attached to the skin is affected by the external temperature (T2), which is the heat of the space between the clothes and the skin.

The external temperature (T2) acting on the upper surface of the flexible temperature sensor module according to the external heat effect (T1) is measured by the external temperature sensor, and the skin temperature (T3) reflecting the external temperature (T2) is measured at the lower part of the flexible temperature sensor module. It was measured with a skin temperature sensor placed on the side. The external temperature and skin temperature measured by the external temperature sensor and the skin temperature sensor were time-synchronized.

The flexible temperature sensor module measured the external temperature and the skin temperature in 1 minute units for 12 hours, and then time-synchronized it and stored it.

And as a body part thermometer, the forehead temperature was measured using a commercially available forehead thermometer, and the measured forehead temperature was used as the body temperature (T_body).

8 and 9 are tables showing the temperatures measured by the flexible temperature sensor module according to the present embodiment for two measurement subjects.

8 and 9 , Outer Temp is the external temperature measured/recorded by the external temperature sensor, and Skin Temp (Skin1) is the skin temperature measured/recorded by the skin temperature sensor. For skin temperature measured/recorded by the skin temperature sensor, skin2 is set with a time delay of 1 minute, skin3 is set to 2 minutes, and skin4 is set to 3 minutes.

The Pearson correlation coefficient between the outer temperature and the skin temperature (Skin1, skin2, skin3, skin4) was derived, and the Pearson correlation coefficient is displayed on the right side of the table. According to the Pearson correlation coefficient, it can be seen that the correlation between the external temperature measured by the external temperature sensor (Outer Temp) and the skin temperature measured by the internal temperature sensor is significantly increased when a time delay of 2 minutes is reflected (skin3). have. This means that the heat passing through the clothing due to the external heat effect is measured by the external temperature sensor, and it takes time for this heat to pass through the flexible temperature sensor module and transmit the effect to the skin temperature sensor. That is, it means that it takes about 2 minutes of temperature transfer time (α) for the external temperature to pass through the flexible temperature sensor module and affect the skin.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 , it can be confirmed that the time delay characteristic of such heat transfer occurs equally even when the measurement target is different. That is, it was confirmed that the external temperature measured 2 minutes before by the external temperature sensor of the flexible temperature sensor module had the highest correlation with the skin temperature measured by the skin temperature sensor.

Since the temperature transfer time (α) is related to the heat transfer characteristics of the flexible temperature sensor module, it may be changed according to the heat transfer characteristics of the flexible temperature sensor module.

The correlation for estimating the body temperature T_est can be expressed by Equation 1.

The external influence proportional constant (k) derived based on the measurement data according to FIGS. 8 and 9 may be 0.42209.

10 and 11 show the relationship between the body temperature (T_est) estimated by Equation 1 and the body temperature (T_body) measured with a forehead thermometer as data values. Here, FIG. 10 is a table comparing body temperature estimated according to an embodiment of the present invention, skin temperature, external temperature, and body temperature measured with a forehead thermometer. 11 is a graph showing the table of FIG. 10 .

10 and 11 , it can be seen that the skin temperature T3 is greatly affected by the external temperature T2.

And the error occurring when estimating the body temperature according to the present embodiment is as follows.

- Average Error: 0.06

- Mean Absolute Error (MAE): 0.55

- Mean Squared Error: 0.54

- Root Mean Squared Error: 0.73

As such, it can be seen that the estimated body temperature graph reflecting the influence of the external temperature proceeds continuously in a very similar manner to the measured body temperature graph. That is, it can be confirmed that the estimated body temperature is close to the measured body temperature.

On the other hand, the embodiments disclosed in the present specification and drawings are merely presented as specific examples to aid understanding, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It is apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains that other modifications based on the technical spirit of the present invention can be implemented in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

10: first base film 11, 31: lower surface
13, 33: upper surface 15: mounting area
17: guard slot 19: border slot
21: first boundary slot 23: second boundary slot
30: second base film 40: ground layer
50: skin temperature sensor 51: internal sensor unit
53: internal electrode part 60: external temperature sensor
61: external sensor unit 63: external electrode unit
70: heat-generating element 71: communication unit
73: storage unit 75: control unit
77: power supply 80: protective layer
93: temperature measuring unit 95: temperature extracting unit
97: body temperature estimation unit 100: flexible temperature sensor module
200: management terminal 300: body part thermometer
400: body temperature estimation system

Claims (8)

a temperature measuring unit attached to the skin of the subject to measure the skin temperature and the external temperature a plurality of times for a certain period of time;
a temperature extracting unit for extracting an external temperature that affects the skin temperature according to the heat transfer characteristics of the temperature measuring unit based on the time at which the skin temperature is measured; and
A body temperature estimator for estimating the body temperature of the subject at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature;
The temperature measuring unit,
a flexible base film having a first base film and a second base film connected to the first base film and bent over the first base film;
a skin temperature sensor mounted on the lower surface of the first base film, the skin temperature sensor being in contact with the skin to measure the skin temperature; and
and an external temperature sensor mounted on the upper surface of the second base film and measuring an external temperature;
The first base film,
A body temperature estimation system in consideration of external temperature, characterized in that the lower surface includes a mounting area in which the skin temperature sensor is mounted, and a heat conduction blocking slot for blocking heat conduction to the mounting area is formed. According to claim 1,
The system for estimating external temperature in consideration of external temperature, characterized in that the external temperature affecting the skin temperature is derived by Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient. 3. The method of claim 2,
The extracted external temperature is a body temperature estimation system considering external temperature, characterized in that it is an external temperature measured within 5 minutes prior to the time at which the skin temperature was measured. The body temperature estimation system in consideration of the external temperature according to claim 2, wherein the correlation is expressed by the following equation.
[Equation]

T_est : estimated body temperature
k : external influence proportional constant
T2: outside temperature
T3: skin temperature
t : measurement time (unit; minutes)
α : temperature transfer time (unit: minutes) 5. The method of claim 4,
The external influence proportional constant (k) is a body temperature estimation system considering external temperature, characterized in that it is calculated by a data driven method for external temperature and skin temperature collected from a plurality of measurement subjects. According to claim 1,
a ground layer formed on the first base film spaced apart from the mounting area in which the skin temperature sensor is mounted; and
Further comprising; a heat-generating element mounted on the first base film spaced apart from the mounting area where the skin temperature sensor is mounted,
The heat conduction blocking slot,
a guard slot formed in the first base film along the circumference of the skin temperature sensor; and
a boundary slot formed at a boundary between a mounting area in which the skin temperature sensor is mounted and an area in which the grounding layer is formed;
Body temperature estimation system in consideration of the external temperature, characterized in that it includes at least one of. A flexible temperature sensor module that estimates body temperature in consideration of external temperature, comprising:
a flexible base film having a first base film and a second base film connected to the first base film and bent over the first base film;
a skin temperature sensor mounted on the lower surface of the first base film, the skin temperature sensor being in contact with the skin to measure body temperature;
an external temperature sensor mounted on the upper surface of the second base film and measuring an external temperature; and
It is mounted on the base film, receives the skin temperature measured from the skin temperature sensor, receives the external temperature measured from the external temperature sensor, and heat transfer of the flexible temperature sensor module based on the time the skin temperature is measured A control unit for extracting an external temperature that affects the skin temperature according to characteristics, and estimating the body temperature of the subject to be measured at the time the skin temperature is measured from the correlation between the skin temperature and the extracted external temperature; and ,
The first base film,
A flexible temperature sensor module for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature, characterized in that a lower surface has a mounting area in which the skin temperature sensor is mounted, and a heat conduction blocking slot for blocking heat conduction to the mounting area is formed. The flexible temperature sensor module for estimating body temperature in consideration of external temperature according to claim 7, wherein the correlation is expressed by the following equation.
[Equation]

T_est : estimated body temperature
k : external influence proportional constant
T2: outside temperature
T3: skin temperature
t : measurement time (unit; minutes)
α: temperature transfer time (unit: minutes)

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