LIVING BODY INSPECTION APPARATUS

• US 20090227907A1
• Filed: 02/19/2009
• Published: 09/10/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maxell, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi Consumer Electronics Company Limited (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: MIYASHITA, Tsuyoshi, KAWABATA, Ryuzo, SANO, Yuko, KANDORI, Akihiko, ONUMA, Mitsuru
• Granted Patent: US 8,118,758 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/593
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/11 Measuring movement of the entire body or parts thereof, e.g. head or hand tremor, mobility of a limb for measuring pulse A61B5/02 ;A61B5/1038 takes precedence; motion detection to correct for motion artifacts in physiological signals A61B5/721
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1126 using a particular sensing technique
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4205 Evaluating swallowing
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6822 Neck

Abstract

A living body inspection apparatus includes: a first detecting unit detecting a displacement of two positions in a lateral direction of a subject'"'"'s larynx; a second detecting unit detecting a swallowing sound of the subject; a displaying unit displaying a waveform regarding the displacement of the two positions formed using information from the first detecting unit and a waveform regarding the swallowing sound formed using information from the second detecting unit; a processor instructing the displaying unit; and a flexible holding member including a pair of sensor holding members having flexibility and provided with the first and second detecting units at one ends, and a mounting member integrally formed with the pair of sensor holding members at other ends to hold the sensor holding members, the other ends being made open so that the mounting member is mounted on and held by the subject'"'"'s larynx.

Claims

1. A living body inspection apparatus comprising:

larynx displacement detecting means for detecting a displacement of two positions in a lateral direction of a larynx of a subject;

swallowing sound detecting means for detecting a swallowing sound generated when said subject swallows;

displaying means for displaying a waveform regarding the displacement of two positions of said larynx and formed in accordance with information obtained from said larynx displacement detecting means and a waveform regarding said swallowing sound and formed in accordance with information obtained from said swallowing sound detecting means;

processing means for instructing said displaying means; and

a flexible holding member,

wherein said flexible holding member includes a pair of sensor holding members having flexibility and a mounting member,

said pair of sensor holding members are, at one ends thereof, provided with said larynx displacement detecting means and said swallowing sound detecting means, and

said mounting member is integrally formed with said pair of sensor holding members at other ends thereof to hold said pair of sensor holding members and said other ends are made open so that said mounting member is mounted on and held by said larynx of said subject.

2. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said pair of sensor holding members and said mounting member are made of different members and have a connection structural body integrally coupling said mounting member to said sensor holding members at the other ends, and said flexible holding member is mounted on and held by said larynx of said subject.

3. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said pair of sensor holding members are disposed inner than said mounting member.

4. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising an abutting member disposed at ends of said mounting member to be abutted upon said larynx of said subject.

5. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

said swallowing sound detecting means includes a microphone to be disposed on said larynx of said subject during inspection;

said larynx displacement detecting means includes an oscillation coil and a detection coil; and

said processing means identifies a peak time of said swallowing sound in accordance with an envelope line of a signal supplied from said microphone, and calculates either a time when a minimum value of a distance between two positions of said larynx is obtained before said identified peak time or a time when a minimum value of a distance between two positions of said larynx is obtained after said identified peak time, in accordance with an envelope line of an output signal from an amplifier circuit for amplifying a voltage induced in said detection coil by said oscillation coil.

6. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a full wave rectifying means connected to said microphone and a low-pass filer, wherein said processing means detects the swallowing sound in accordance with a signal from said microphone full-wave rectified by said full wave rectifying means and low frequency components thereof being passed through said low-pass filter.

7. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said oscillation coil and said detection coil are disposed on both sides of a thyroid cartilage of said larynx of said subject.

8. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said processing means judges from the waveform regarding a displacement of the two positions of said larynx whether the two positions have two peaks.

9. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein by using the peak time of said swallowing sound as a reference, said processing means judges whether each of a time difference from a time when an operating member is operated, a time difference from a time when a minimum value of a distance between two positions of said larynx is obtained before the peak time of said swallowing sound, and a time when a minimum value of a distance between two positions of said larynx is obtained after the peak time of said swallowing sound is in each of corresponding reference ranges, and instructs said displaying means to display judgment results.

10. The living body inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said oscillation coil and said detection coil are held at approximately facing or parallel positions, and said oscillation coil and said detection coil are disposed in a perpendicular relation relative to said microphone.