JP-2026075553-A - Vital sign monitoring technology for living organisms

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a vital signs monitoring method and apparatus that can non-invasively and easily measure vital signs including blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, and stress level. [Solution] This is a vital signs monitoring device for living organisms, comprising: a light irradiation unit 10 that irradiates visible light onto the eyeball or skin of a pet such as a dog or cat; a camera 20 that detects reflected light from the irradiated area of the eyeball or skin; a signal processing unit 30A that extracts the blood flow state from the detection signal of the light sensor 20 and calculates at least one of blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, and stress level; and a display unit 40 that displays at least one of the blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, and stress level calculated by the signal processing unit 30A. [Selection Diagram] Figure 5

Inventors

• 中田 裕一朗
• 矢野 正博
• 大和 敏彦

Assignees

• 有限会社矢野総合事務所
• アプライドロボット株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20241209

Priority Date

20241022

Claims (4)

1. A method for monitoring the vital signs of a living organism, comprising irradiating the eyeball or skin of the subject to measurement with visible light, detecting the reflected light from the irradiated area of the eyeball or skin, extracting the blood flow state contained in the reflected light from the irradiated area, and measuring at least one of the following: blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, and stress level.
2. A light irradiation means for irradiating the eyeball or skin of the object to be measured with visible light, A light sensor that detects reflected light from the irradiated area of the eyeball or skin, A signal processing means extracts blood flow status from the detection signal of the optical sensor, and calculates at least one of blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, and stress level from the blood flow status. A vital signs monitoring device for a living organism, comprising a display means for displaying at least one of blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, and stress level calculated by the signal processing means.
3. The vital sign monitoring device for a living organism according to claim 2, wherein the light sensor and the display means are arranged in a single housing, and the display means also serves as the light irradiation means.
4. A vital signs monitoring device for a living organism, comprising: a light irradiation means that irradiates visible light, primarily green light, and a signal processing means that extracts change signals based on green light from the detected signals.

Description

This invention relates to a technology for monitoring the vital signs of living organisms, and more particularly to a technology for non-invasively monitoring the vital signs of pets such as dogs and cats. Conventional methods for measuring pulse rate and other vital signs typically utilize electrocardiograms (ECGs) or optical techniques (e.g., photoplethysmography (PPG)). This is an external view of Embodiment 1 of the method and apparatus for monitoring vital signs of a living organism according to the present invention.This is a block diagram showing the device configuration of Embodiment 1.This is a block diagram illustrating the functions of the signal processing unit in Embodiment 1.This is an explanatory diagram illustrating specific irradiation areas on the object being measured.This is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vital sign monitoring device according to Embodiment 2.This is an explanatory diagram illustrating specific irradiation sites on pets such as dogs and cats that are to be measured in Embodiment 2. (Embodiment 1) Embodiment 1 of the vital sign monitoring technology for living organisms according to the present invention, that is, a vital sign monitoring method and apparatus, will be described using Figures 1 to 4. Embodiment 1 illustrates the pulse rate measuring device shown in Figures 1 and 2. This pulse rate measuring device comprises a light irradiation unit 10 as a light irradiation means for irradiating an irradiation area (a part of the skin that is exposed) of a living organism, the measurement target 70 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "pets such as dogs and cats 70"), with visible light including green light; a camera 20 as a light sensor for detecting reflected light from a specific irradiation area of the skin that has been irradiated with visible light; a signal processing unit 30 as a signal processing means for extracting change signals caused by the pulse contained in the detection signal of the camera 20 and calculating the pulse rate; a display unit 40 as a display means for displaying the pulse rate calculated by the signal processing unit 30; and a power supply unit 50 for supplying power to each component of the device. The power supply unit 50 is, for example, a battery or a power supply unit. The reason for irradiating with visible light including green light from the light irradiation unit 10 is that the absorption characteristics of oxygenated hemoglobin in the blood have a peak at a wavelength of approximately 540 nm for green light. Therefore, it is desirable that the light irradiation unit 10 be capable of irradiating with monochromatic green light, or, if using visible light, one whose main component is green. As shown in Figure 3, the signal processing unit 30 includes a temporary storage unit 31 that stores the detection signal (imaging signal) of the camera 20 for the time required for pulse rate measurement, a green detection signal extraction unit 32 that extracts the time-varying signal of the green component from the temporarily stored detection signal, a Fast Fourier Transform unit 33, and a pulse rate calculation unit 34. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the face of the object to be measured 70. As illustrated here, the area to which visible light, including green light, is irradiated onto the object to be measured 70 is preferably the area including the cheek where the skin is exposed (hereinafter referred to as the "specific irradiation area 71"). Although Figure 4 illustrates a human face, it can be replaced with that of a pet such as a dog or cat. In the external view of Figure 1, a flat display 45, which serves as both the light irradiation unit 10 and the display unit 40, is positioned on the front of a housing 60, for example, in the shape of a robot, along with a high-resolution camera 20. The signal processing unit 30, power supply unit 50, and other device components are housed inside the housing 60. In terms of operating principle, the shape of the housing 60 is arbitrary. The flat display 45, which serves as both the light irradiation unit 10 and the display unit 40, functions as the light irradiation unit 10 when the screen is set to green, irradiating the specific irradiation area 71 in Figure 4 with visible light, primarily green light. After a predetermined period of light irradiation necessary for detecting the pulse rate, it functions as a normal display unit 40 capable of displaying the pulse rate. When the flat display 45 operates as the light irradiation unit 10, it is desirable to set the backlight to maximum and the brightness to maximum. When the flat display 45 operates as the light irradiation unit 10, visible light is irradiated over a wide area other than the specific irradiation area 71, but it is sufficient that the specific irradiation area 71 is included in the irradiation range. When using the configuration shown in Figure 1, pulse rate measurement can be performed as follows: When a pet such