Body composition measuring apparatus

• US 20060206271A1
• Filed: 03/09/2006
• Published: 09/14/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Omron Healthcare Company Limited (Omron Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Omron Healthcare Company Limited (Omron Corporation)
• Inventors: Sato, Tetsuya, Shiga, Toshikazu, Oshima, Yoshitake
• Granted Patent: US 7,966,063 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/19
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0468 Built-in electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0537 Measuring body composition by impedance, e.g. tissue hydration or fat content
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4872 Body fat

Abstract

There are provided a hold portion that can be held in a hand of a subject, a cable having one end connected to the hold portion, and a rest portion on which a foot of the subject can be rested. The rest portion includes a reel portion connected to the other end of the cable for winding the cable, a first detection unit for detecting a draw-out extent to which the cable is drawn out from the reel portion, and a second detection unit for detecting an angle formed by the rest portion and the cable. Based on the detected draw-out extent and angle, the part length of a body part of the subject is calculated.

Claims

1. A body composition measuring apparatus comprising:

a plurality of electrodes to be in contact with a plurality of predetermined parts, associated respectively with said electrodes, of the body of a subject;

a hold portion that can be held in a hand of said subject;

a cable having one end connected to said hold portion;

a rest portion on which a foot of said subject can be rested,

said rest portion including

a reel portion connected to the other end of said cable for winding said cable,

a first detection unit for detecting a draw-out extent to which said cable is drawn out from said reel portion, and

a second detection unit for detecting an angle formed by said rest portion and said cable;

said body composition measuring apparatus further comprising

a first part-length calculation unit for calculating the part length of a body part of said subject based on said draw-out extent detected by said first detection unit and said angle detected by said second detection unit;

a first measurement unit for measuring impedance of said body part by using said plurality of electrodes; and

a first body composition calculation unit for calculating body composition of said body part based on said calculated part length and said measured impedance.

2. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

an operation unit operated by the subject; and

a sense unit for sensing an instruction signal from said operation unit, wherein

said first part-length calculation unit calculates said part length of the body part when said sense unit senses the instruction signal for instructing to start calculation of the part length.

3. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said plurality of electrodes include

electrodes for hand provided to said hold portion and including at least a pair of an electrode for current and an electrode for voltage, and

electrodes for foot provided to said rest portion and including at least a pair of said electrode for current and said electrode for voltage.

4. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein

said body part is arm portion, and

said first part-length calculation unit calculates the part length of said arm portion by using a predetermined expression based on said draw-out extent and said angle.

5. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:

a second part-length calculation unit for calculating the part length of a leg portion of said subject based on said draw-out extent detected by said first detection unit;

a second measurement unit for measuring the impedance of said leg portion by using said electrodes for foot and said electrodes for hand; and

a second body composition calculation unit for calculating the body composition of said leg portion based on said calculated part length of the leg portion and said measured impedance of the leg portion.

6. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

an operation unit operated by the subject; and

a sense unit for sensing an instruction signal from said operation unit, wherein

said second part-length calculation unit calculates said part length of the leg portion when said sense unit senses the instruction signal for instructing to start calculation of the part length.

7. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

said body part is trunk, and

said first part-length calculation unit calculates the part length of said trunk by using a predetermined expression based on said draw-out extent, said angle and said part length of the leg portion.

8. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

said body part includes arm portion and trunk, and

said body composition measuring apparatus further comprises a third body composition calculation unit for calculating the body composition of the whole body of said subject based on said body composition of the arm portion and said body composition of the trunk calculated by said first body composition calculation unit and said body composition of the leg portion calculated by said second body composition calculation unit.

9. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said plurality of electrodes include electrodes for hand provided to said hold position and including at least a pair of an electrode for current and an electrode for voltage.

10. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 9, wherein

said body part is arm portion, and

said first part-length calculation unit calculates the part length of said arm portion by using a predetermined expression based on said draw-out extent and said angle.

11. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said plurality of electrodes include electrodes for foot provided to said rest portion and including at least a pair of an electrode for current and an electrode for voltage.

12. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 11, wherein

said body part is arm portion, and

said first part-length calculation unit calculates the part length of said arm portion by using a predetermined expression based on said draw-out extent and said angle.

13. The body composition measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

said body composition includes at least one of body fat mass, body fat percentage, fat free mass, fat free percentage, bone mineral density, muscle mass, and muscle percentage.