JP7748591B1 - blood pressure monitor - Google Patents

Abstract

A blood pressure monitor that prevents unintended mechanical operation during sleep due to malfunction of an operating switch is provided.
[Solution] A blood pressure monitor (10A to 10E) comprises a cuff (14), a main body (12) formed in a columnar shape having end faces (12a to 12f), fixed to the cuff, and equipped with an operation switch (28), and a blood pressure measuring means provided on the main body for measuring the blood pressure of the person being measured using the cuff, wherein the operation switch (28) is a switch for temporarily suspending the sleep mode during the sleep mode, and the operation switch (28) is provided on the end faces (12b to 12e) of the main body (12) excluding the face (12a) fixed to the cuff (14), and is provided at a position recessed from the end faces.
[Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a blood pressure monitor.

In recent years, blood pressure monitors have been proposed that automatically measure blood pressure while the user is asleep according to a set schedule. For example, the blood pressure monitor described in Patent Document 1 can be switched to a sleep mode, in which blood pressure is automatically measured while the user is asleep, using an operation switch provided on the main unit. The monitor also has an operation switch for suspending this sleep mode, which can be used to cancel the sleep mode.

Patent No. 7400342

However, there is a concern that the operation switch may be pressed accidentally, for example, when the person being measured changes position while sleeping. If the operation switch is pressed accidentally, the automatic measurement mode during sleep will be automatically canceled. Furthermore, if the operation switch is pressed accidentally after the automatic measurement mode has been canceled, unintended operation may occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a blood pressure monitor that prevents malfunction of an operation switch and prevents unintended mechanical operation from occurring during sleep.

In order to solve the above problems, a first aspect of the present invention is a blood pressure monitor comprising: a cuff to be worn by a person to be measured; a main body formed in a cylindrical shape with an end surface, fixed to the cuff, and equipped with an operation switch; and a blood pressure measuring means attached to the main body and measuring the blood pressure of the person to be measured using the cuff. The blood pressure monitor has a normal mode in which blood pressure is measured by operation by the person to be measured, and a sleep mode in which the blood pressure of the person to be measured is measured automatically. The operation switch is a switch that temporarily suspends the sleep mode during the sleep mode, and is provided on the end surface of the main body excluding the surface fixed to the cuff, and is provided in a position recessed from the end surface.

In the blood pressure monitor of the second aspect, in the first aspect, the main body is fixed to the cuff so that, when the cuff is attached to the subject's arm, the longitudinal direction of the main body is parallel to the extension direction of the arm, and it is also preferable that the operation switch is provided on the end face of the main body that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

In the blood pressure monitor of the third aspect, in the first or second aspect, it is also preferable that during the sleep mode, the temporary suspension is performed in response to a press operation of the operation switch that satisfies a predetermined condition, and that press operations of the operation switch that do not satisfy the predetermined condition are ignored.

In the fourth aspect of the blood pressure monitor, in the third aspect, the main body is preferably equipped with a display unit, and if the operation switch is pressed under a condition other than the predetermined condition during the sleep mode, it is preferable that the display unit displays the fact that the device is in the sleep mode and/or displays an explanation of the pressing operation under the predetermined condition.

In the blood pressure monitor of the fifth aspect, in the third or fourth aspect, the blood pressure monitor is preferably equipped with an acceleration sensor that detects the movement of the person being measured, and if the operation switch is pressed in the sleep mode in a manner other than that specified, the temporary suspension is executed based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor.

In the blood pressure monitor of the sixth aspect, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, it is also preferable that the depression amount or depression resistance of the operation switch is different between the normal mode and the sleep mode.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a blood pressure monitor that can prevent unintended mechanical operation during sleep due to malfunction of an operation switch.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sphygmomanometer 10A according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main body 12 of the sphygmomanometer 10A. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a blood pressure monitor 10A. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main body 12 of a sphygmomanometer 10A. 10 is an example of an operation for temporarily suspending the sleep mode. FIG. 10 is a configuration block diagram of a sphygmomanometer 10C according to a second modification. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a main body 12 of a sphygmomanometer 10D according to a third modification. 13 shows another example of the arrangement of the operation switch 28 of the sphygmomanometer 10E according to the fourth modification.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the directions of front, back, left, right, up and down referred to in this specification refer to the directions shown in the drawings.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a blood pressure monitor 10A according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a plan view of the main body 12 of the blood pressure monitor 10A. The blood pressure monitor 10A is composed of the main body 12 and a cuff 14. As shown in Figure 1, the cuff 14 is formed in a belt-like shape and is removably wrapped around the arm of the person being measured. The main body 12 is formed in a columnar shape and is fixed to the surface of the cuff 14 so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the wrapping direction of the cuff 14. When the cuff 14 is worn on the arm of the person being measured, the longitudinal direction of the main body 12 is aligned with the extension direction of the arm.

The main body 12 is, for example, formed in the shape of a rectangular prism with rounded corners and has six end faces. Of these, as shown in FIG. 2, one longitudinal end face 12a is flat and is fixed to the cuff 14 (hereinafter, this end face will be referred to as the "fixed face 12a"). The end face opposite the fixed face 12a is the front face 12b, which has a display unit 27. The display unit 27 is, for example, a liquid crystal or organic EL display. The end faces connecting the fixed face 12a and the front face 12b in the longitudinal direction are the left face 12c and the right face 12d, and the end faces connecting the fixed face 12a and the front face 12b in the lateral direction are the top face 12e and the bottom face 12f. In this embodiment, the operation switch 28 is provided on the top face 12e. Details of the operation switch 28 will be described later.

Figure 3 is a structural block diagram of the blood pressure monitor 10A. As shown in Figure 3, a collapsible air bag 18 is provided inside the cuff 14. The housing of the main body 12 contains a pump 21, an on-off valve 22, a pressure sensor 23, a memory unit 25, a communication unit 26, and a control unit 30.

The air bag 18 is connected to a pump 21 and an on-off valve 22. Air is supplied from the pump 21 to inflate the air bag 18, and air is released through the on-off valve 22 to deflate the air bag 18. The air bag 18 is connected to a pressure sensor 23 inside the main body 12, and the pressure inside the air bag 18 is measured by the pressure sensor 23.

The control unit 30 is embodied as a microcomputer in which a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs calculations, and ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory) as auxiliary storage units are implemented on an integrated circuit. The control unit 30 includes an air supply/exhaust control unit 31, a blood pressure calculation unit 32, and a measurement control unit 35. These functional units 31, 32, and 35 are composed of logic circuits or dedicated circuits formed on integrated circuits, etc. These circuits may be implemented using one or more integrated circuits, and multiple processes may be implemented using a single integrated circuit.

The sphygmomanometer 10A is an oscillometric type that inflates the air bag 18 of the cuff 14 to compress the blood vessels and then contracts the air bag 18 to release the pressure. While measuring the pressure in the air bag 18 with the pressure sensor 23, the blood pressure value is calculated from the measurement. The air supply/exhaust control unit 31 controls the pump 21, on-off valve 22, and pressure sensor 23. The blood pressure calculation unit 32 calculates the blood pressure value from the measurement value of the pressure sensor 23, stores it in the memory unit 25, and displays it on the display unit 27. The cuff 14, pump 21, on-off valve 22, pressure sensor 23, and blood pressure calculation unit 32 constitute the "blood pressure measurement means" referred to in the claims.

The blood pressure monitor 10A has a normal blood pressure measurement mode (hereinafter referred to as "normal mode") and a sleep blood pressure measurement mode (hereinafter referred to as "sleep mode"). In normal mode, blood pressure measurements are performed from after waking up until before going to bed, and blood pressure is measured when the person being measured operates the device. In sleep mode, blood pressure measurements are performed from going to bed until around the time of waking up, and blood pressure during sleep is automatically measured according to a set schedule.

The measurement control unit 35 controls the blood pressure measurement means according to the normal mode and sleep mode described above. In normal mode, if the subject operates the operation switch 28 to perform a measurement, the blood pressure measurement means is controlled to measure the blood pressure, and the blood pressure value is stored in the memory unit 25 together with the measurement date and time, etc. In sleep mode, the blood pressure measurement means is controlled to measure the blood pressure according to a pre-set schedule (the "standby time" described below), and the blood pressure value is stored in the memory unit 25 together with the measurement date and time, etc. Furthermore, if the operation switch 28 is pressed under "predetermined conditions" during sleep mode, the sleep mode is temporarily suspended. Details of this will be described later.

The storage unit 25 is realized by a small storage medium such as a solid-state drive (SSD) or flash memory. The storage unit 25 stores information related to measured blood pressure values. In addition, if there are multiple subjects, the storage unit 25 identifies and stores the IDs of the subjects.

The communication unit 26 has the function of communicating with an external communication device 50, such as a smartphone or tablet terminal. Examples of communication functions include FeliCa (registered trademark) and BLUETOOTH (registered trademark). A dedicated blood pressure measurement application is pre-installed on the external communication device 50, and data such as blood pressure values stored in the memory unit 25 is also transmitted to the external communication device 50 via the communication unit 26. When a sleep mode schedule ("standby time") is entered into the external communication device 50, the data is stored in the memory unit 25 via the communication unit 26 and processed by the measurement control unit 35. The "standby time" is the time until automatic blood pressure measurement begins, and is set by default to, for example, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 1 hour and 30 minutes, from which the subject can select and set it. Multiple standby times may be set, such as measuring three times at 30-minute intervals after going to bed.

Here, the operation switch 28 is provided on the top surface 12e of the main body 12, i.e., on an end surface perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the main body 12 (the x-axis direction in FIG. 1). FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along IV-IV in FIG. 2) of the main body 12 of the sphygmomanometer 10A. The housing of the main body 12 is formed, for example, by fitting together a front case 12F and a rear case 12B. The upper part of the front case 12F is formed to include the top surface 12e, and a storage space 12S for the operation switch 28 is formed in the upper part of the front case 12F. The operation switch 28 is provided in the storage space 12S of the front case 12F, and when the operation switch 28 is pressed, it comes into contact with an electronic board 30' connected to the control unit 30. The surface 28' of the operation switch 28 is recessed by a dimension d from the top surface 12e.

The operation switch 28 can be used to turn the power of the main unit 12 on and off. In addition, in normal mode, for example, a short press can start/pause manual blood pressure measurement, and a long press can select user selection, pairing with an external communication device 50, and airplane mode on/off.

During sleep mode, if a pressing operation that satisfies a "predetermined condition" is performed on the operation switch 28, sleep mode can be temporarily suspended. The "predetermined condition" requires at least a pressing operation more complex than a "single short press." Figure 5 shows an example of an operation for temporarily suspending sleep mode. First, in step S1, during sleep mode, the display unit 27 has its screen turned off. If the operation switch 28 is pressed and held (e.g., for three seconds) during sleep mode, the process proceeds to step S2, where the measurement control unit 35 displays the home screen on the display unit 27. If the operation switch 28 is pressed and held (e.g., for three seconds), the process proceeds to step S3, where the measurement control unit 35 displays a screen on the display unit 27 that allows the user to select whether to suspend sleep mode. If the operation switch 28 is pressed and held for a short time, the process proceeds to step S4, where the measurement control unit 35 suspends sleep mode. If the operation switch 28 is pressed and not suspended, the process returns to step S1, where the measurement control unit 35 turns off the screen. In this example, the "predetermined condition" for the pressing operation is to "long press twice and short press once." However, it is not limited to this.

On the other hand, the measurement control unit 35 ignores any pressing operations that do not satisfy the "predetermined conditions" during sleep mode. In the example of Figure 5, the measurement control unit 35 does not proceed from step S1, keeps the screen of the display unit 27 turned off, and continues sleep mode.

As described above, according to the blood pressure monitor 10A of this embodiment, the operation switch 28, which allows the user to temporarily suspend sleep mode, is located in a recessed position from the end surface 12e of the main body 12. This makes it less likely that the operation switch 28 will be pressed accidentally, even if the person being measured changes position while asleep. This prevents the operation switch 28 from malfunctioning and causing unintended mechanical operation during sleep.

Furthermore, according to the blood pressure monitor 10A, the sleep mode is temporarily suspended only when the operation switch 28 is operated under predetermined conditions. Therefore, the temporary suspension is performed at the will of the person being measured, and unintentional short-term pressing of the switch by the person being measured is ignored, preventing malfunction of the operation switch 28.

We will now describe a preferred variation of the above embodiment.

(Variation 1)
To prevent malfunction during sleep mode, the blood pressure monitor 10A according to the embodiment requires a pressing operation of the operation switch 28 under predetermined conditions. Because this requires a certain level of complex operation, support is required if the subject makes a mistake or forgets to perform this operation. Therefore, in the blood pressure monitor 10B according to Modification 1, if a pressing operation other than the predetermined conditions is performed, the measurement control unit 35 displays "In Sleep Mode" on the display unit 27 to notify the subject that the pressing operation (temporary interruption) by the subject has not been accepted. This eliminates the subject's anxiety about not responding to an operation that is not a predetermined condition. Alternatively/or in addition to this, the blood pressure monitor 10B according to Modification 1 preferably displays an explanation of the pressing operation under the predetermined conditions on the display unit 27 to instruct the subject on how to cancel sleep mode when a pressing operation other than the predetermined conditions is performed. The configuration of the blood pressure monitor 10B according to Modification 1 is similar to that of the embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 4), and therefore is not illustrated.

(Variation 2)
Similar to Modification 1, Modification 2 also provides support when the subject erroneously or forgets to temporarily suspend the sleep mode, and provides support different from that of Modification 1. Fig. 6 is a configuration block diagram of a sphygmomanometer 10C according to Modification 2. The sphygmomanometer 10C further includes an acceleration sensor 24 in the main body 12 or the cuff 14, and an action determination unit 33 in the control unit 30.

The acceleration sensor 24 is a three-axis acceleration sensor. The main body 12 is positioned so that it is parallel to the arm when the cuff 14 is worn on the arm. Therefore, by setting one of the x-axis, y-axis, or z-axis, for example the x-axis, to be parallel to the arm (see Figure 1), and detecting the movement of the main body 12 with the acceleration sensor 24, it is possible to detect the movement of the arm (amount of movement in three axes).

The activity determination unit 33 monitors the detection values of the acceleration sensor 24. For example, it monitors two items, arm posture and arm activity level, and detects an increase in arm movement based on a preset wake-up threshold for each of the two items. If either the arm posture or arm activity level item exceeds the wake-up threshold, or if both the arm posture and arm activity level items exceed the wake-up threshold for a predetermined period of time, or if the number of times both items exceed the wake-up threshold reaches a predetermined number, it determines that the subject has temporarily woken up.

If a pressing operation other than that which meets the predetermined conditions is performed during sleep mode, the measurement control unit 35 checks whether the action determination unit 33 has determined that the operation is to wake up. If there is no wake-up determination, it is determined that the operation switch 28 has operated incorrectly and the operation is ignored. On the other hand, if the action determination unit 33 has determined that the operation of the operation switch 28 was performed at the subject's discretion, the measurement control unit 35 automatically suspends sleep mode without requiring a pressing operation that meets the predetermined conditions. This allows support in the latter case, when it is unclear whether the operation of the operation switch 28 during sleep mode was a malfunction of the operation switch 28 or an operation error by the subject, by determining that the temporary suspension was performed at the subject's discretion on the basis that the subject had woken up.

(Variation 3)
In the third modification, the depression amount of the operation switch 28 changes between the normal mode and the sleep mode. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the main body 12 of a sphygmomanometer 10D according to the third modification. In the sphygmomanometer 10D, a leaf spring 29B is interposed between the operation switch 28 and the electric boat 30', and a small protrusion 29A is formed on the peripheral wall of the accommodation space 12S. In the normal mode, the measurement control unit 35 responds even if the operation switch 28 is not depressed below the small protrusion 29A. On the other hand, in the sleep mode, the measurement control unit 35 is controlled to respond only when the operation switch 28 is depressed below the protrusion 29A and a predetermined pressure is applied to the leaf spring 29B. Alternatively, a sensor 29C is disposed in the electric boat 30' to detect the depression amount (displacement) or pressure of the operation switch 28. In the sleep mode, the measurement control unit 35 is controlled to respond only when the operation switch 28 is depressed by a predetermined amount or more. Alternatively, a resistor 29D is provided on the circuit of the electric boat 30', and during sleep mode, the resistor 29D is applied to increase the pressing resistance, so that the measurement control unit 35 does not respond unless the operation switch 28 is pressed. This requires the subject to operate the operation switch 28 at their own will, and can prevent unintended mechanical operation during sleep due to malfunction.

(Variation 4)
8 shows other arrangement examples of the operation switch 28 of the sphygmomanometer 10E according to Modification 4, illustrating variations in the arrangement. In the sphygmomanometer 10E according to Modification 4, in arrangement example (i), the operation switch 28 is provided on the front surface 12b of the main body 12, and the surface 28' of the operation switch 28 is recessed by a dimension d from the front surface 12b. In arrangement example (ii), the operation switch 28 is provided on the right surface 12d or the left surface 12c of the main body 12, and the surface 28' of the operation switch 28 is recessed by a dimension d from the right surface 12d or the left surface 12c. In arrangement example (iii), the operation switch 28 is provided on the bottom surface 12f of the main body 12, and the surface 28' of the operation switch 28 is recessed by a dimension d from the bottom surface 12f. Thus, the operation switch 28 may be provided on an end surface other than the fixing surface 12a of the main body 12. Furthermore, the shape of the main body 12 is not limited to the illustrated one, and it may be a cylindrical shape or another polygonal prism shape. From the viewpoint of preventing malfunction, the operation switch 28 may be provided at a recessed position on the end face of the columnar shape, excluding the fixed face. Of these, the end faces 12e and 12f, which are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the main body 12, are the positions on the end faces of the main body 12 where malfunction is least likely to occur when the subject is in a sleeping position. Of these, the top face 12a is the most preferable position for providing the operation switch 28, considering the operability of the subject.

The blood pressure monitors 10A to 10E shown in the embodiments and variations can be applied to both types in which the cuff 14 is worn on the upper arm and types in which the cuff 14 is worn on the wrist. However, in variation 2, it is preferable to use the upper arm as the target in order to accurately detect the subject's wake-up behavior.

Although the preferred embodiments and modifications of the present invention have been described above, these can be modified and combined based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, and such modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10A to 10E... Sphygmomanometer, 12... Main body, 12a to 12f... End surface, 14... Cuff, 21... Pump, 22... Opening/closing valve, 23... Pressure sensor, 24... Acceleration sensor, 25... Memory unit, 26... Communication unit, 27... Display unit, 28... Operation switch, 30... Control unit, 31... Air supply/exhaust control unit, 32... Blood pressure calculation unit, 33... Action determination unit, 35... Measurement control unit, 50... External communication device

Claims (5)

a cuff to be attached to the upper arm of the subject;
a main body formed in a columnar shape having an end surface, fixed to the cuff, and equipped with an operation switch;
a blood pressure measuring means provided on the main body and measuring the blood pressure of the subject using the cuff,
the blood pressure monitor has a normal mode in which the blood pressure is measured by an operation of the subject, and a sleep mode in which the blood pressure of the subject is automatically measured,
the main body is fixed to the cuff such that, when the cuff is attached to the upper arm of the subject, a longitudinal direction of the main body is parallel to an extension direction of the upper arm,
The operation switch is a switch for temporarily suspending the sleep mode during the sleep mode, and the operation switch is provided at a position recessed from the end face perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the main body , and during the sleep mode, the temporary suspension is performed in response to a pressing operation of the operation switch that satisfies a predetermined condition, and pressing operations of the operation switch that do not satisfy the predetermined condition are ignored.
An upper arm blood pressure monitor characterized by:
the main body includes a display unit, and the display unit is provided on a front surface that is an end surface opposite to a fixing surface where the main body is fixed to the cuff,
The upper arm blood pressure monitor according to claim 1 , wherein the operation switch and the display unit are not provided on the same end surface.
The upper arm blood pressure monitor according to claim 1, characterized in that the main body is equipped with a display unit, and when a pressing operation other than that of the predetermined condition is performed on the operation switch during the sleep mode, a message indicating that the device is in the sleep mode and/or an explanation of the pressing operation of the predetermined condition is displayed .
the blood pressure monitor includes an acceleration sensor that detects the movement of the subject;
2. The upper arm blood pressure monitor according to claim 1 , wherein, when the operation switch is pressed under a condition other than the predetermined condition during the sleep mode, the temporary suspension is executed based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor .
2. The upper arm blood pressure monitor according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of depression or the resistance to depression of the operation switch is different between the normal mode and the sleep mode .