WO2013135974A1 - System for transmitting bodily sounds - Google Patents

Description

 Body sound transmission system

The present invention relates to a system for transmitting body sounds. The present invention finds particular application in the medical field, and more particularly in maternity wards, and even more particularly in the case of births of premature babies.

It is known that the sense of hearing develops early in a fetus. The latest studies indicate that the fetus reacts to sounds to I 6 ^th week of pregnancy and some even think as soon as i 2 ^nd week of pregnancy. The fetus hears the sound of the outer voices, but mainly the sounds that the fetus hears inside the mother's body are the heartbeat and the mother's gastric and bloodstream noises. It is therefore in this particular environment that the fetus develops. Babies born prematurely are usually placed in closed enclosures called incubators. Of course, these incubators are particularly useful for the development of the premature baby, but they obviously do not replace the mother's body, or the mother / baby contact called kangaroo contact or skin to skin.

 The present invention aims to provide an improved body sound transmission system.

 More particularly, the present invention aims to improve the operation of pregnant, such as incubators, cradles or beds for babies, including premature, in particular to promote their development after birth.

 The present invention also aims to provide a body sound transmission system that is simple and inexpensive to achieve and implement.

The subject of the present invention is therefore a system for transmitting body sounds, comprising a detection device for detecting body sounds originating from an animal body, in particular a human body, said detection device being connected to recording means for recording recording said detected body sounds, said recording means being connected to processing means for processing said recorded body sounds.

 Advantageously, said detection device is provided with a contact surface to be disposed against an external part of said body.

 Advantageously, said detection device comprises a stethoscope and said recording means comprise a microphone.

 Advantageously, said microphone is disposed in said stethoscope.

 Advantageously, said processing means comprise digital storage means for storing at least one sequence of said recorded body sounds.

 Advantageously, said processing means further comprise modifying means for modifying said at least one sequence of body sounds stored.

 Advantageously, said modification means make it possible to broadcast said recorded sequence in a loop and / or to modify said recorded sequence, in particular at the level of the frequency and / or of the intensity.

 Advantageously, said processing means comprise transmission means for transmitting said recorded body sounds to a reception device.

 Advantageously, said transmission of said recorded body sounds is performed in real time.

 Advantageously, said receiving device comprises a loudspeaker.

According to an advantageous variant, said receiving device comprises a vibrating pellet adapted to be placed against an external surface of a wall of an enclosure, such as an incubator, cradle or baby bed, in particular premature, and to transmit said sounds. bodily within said enclosure through said wall. Advantageously, said processing means are supported by a computer, a portable terminal, such as a smartphone or a digital tablet, or a multimedia terminal.

 In a variant, said processing means are supported by a specific module comprising storage means, a read-only memory, a power supply source such as a battery, a recording button and a read button.

 Advantageously, said specific module comprises a connection device for connecting to a computer.

 Advantageously, said specific module comprises connection ports for connecting respectively to said detection device, to a reception device and to a connection device.

 Advantageously, said detection device, said receiving device and said specific module are integrated in the same set.

 These and other features of the present invention will appear more clearly in the following detailed description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, given as non-limiting examples, and in which:

 FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a device for detecting body sounds applied against the body of a mother,

 FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an incubator receiving a baby and on a wall of which a vibrating pellet is applied,

 FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a detection device of FIG. 1, according to an alternative embodiment,

 FIG. 4 is a detail view of a vibrating pad of FIG. 2, according to an alternative embodiment,

 FIG. 5 is a schematic view of an advantageous embodiment of the invention,

 FIG. 6 is a detailed view of a detection device, according to another variant embodiment, and

Figure 7 is a schematic view of another advantageous embodiment of the invention. The invention applies more particularly to the field of babies, especially premature babies, and to the transmission of body sounds in an enclosure, such as an incubator, cradle or baby bed, particularly premature, but it is understood that it could have other applications. Thus, one could consider using the present invention to transmit body sounds to a physician to enable him to make a remote diagnosis. The invention could also be used to transmit sounds in an enclosure that would not be specifically dedicated to babies, for example a sterile room. Other uses are also possible.

 The embodiments shown in the figures relate more specifically to babies, especially premature babies, placed in an incubator, a cradle or a bed. The mother is in her room as shown in Figure 1, while the baby is usually in another room, for example in an incubator as shown in Figure 2. To allow the baby to be as much as possible in a known environment , in which he is likely to feel good, the invention provides to transmit within the incubator body sounds from within the body of his mother. Indeed, during his development in the belly of his mother, it is mainly these sounds there, namely the heart, circulatory and digestive sounds of the mother he heard. Eventually, surrounding sounds, such as the voice of the mother and / or father can also be transmitted in addition to body sounds.

 In the embodiments shown, provision is made to use a detection device 10, which preferably comprises a stethoscope. This stethoscope has a contact surface January 1 which is disposed against an outer portion 2 of the body of the mother, typically the belly. Alternatively, a probe internal to the body of the mother could be used as a detection device.

Of course, the invention could also apply to animals and is therefore not limited to the human body. The detection device 10, and in particular the contact surface 11 in the case of a stethoscope, is connected to recording means 15, which are preferably made in the form of a microphone. This microphone is preferably arranged inside the stethoscope, as can be seen in particular in FIG.

 The microphone is connected to processing means for processing said recorded body sounds. These processing means may be of various kinds, but they ultimately comprise means for transmitting recorded body sounds to a reception device 20.

 Transmission of body sounds recorded by the microphone 15 to the processing means can be done wired, or wirelessly via a Wifi connection, Bluetooth®, infrared, radio or the like.

The processing means may be incorporated in a module 40. These processing means advantageously comprise storage means 116 for storing at least one sequence of said recorded body sounds. Advantageously, these processing means also comprise modifying means for modifying said at least one sequence of stored body sounds. These modifications may, for example, include the looping of one or more recorded sequence (s). This allows for example to continuously broadcast the baby's body sound of the mother without having to place the detection device permanently on her belly. One or more sequences are recorded of a certain length, for example one hour, and this (these) sequence (s) is (are) broadcast (s) loop. Advantageously, the modification means also make it possible to modify and / or digitally modulate a recorded sequence, in particular at the frequency or the intensity of the sound. For example, the recorded sequence may be a standard sequence, and the modification means then make it possible to increase or decrease the heartbeats of the standard sequence. In particular, this makes it possible to modulate a recorded standard sequence to be able to create, for example, quieter parts to simulate the mother's sleep and more active parts corresponding to the times when the mother is awake. It is not so necessarily mandatory to record a 24-hour sequence by applying the stethoscope to the mother's womb for 24 hours, and this 24-hour sequence can be created numerically from one or more partial sequence (s). Of course, the invention may also consist in simply transmitting in real time the body sounds recorded by the stethoscope, in which case it is not necessary to provide modifying means. This can especially be used with a detection device that would be permanently applied to the body of the mother, such as a monitoring using a tip similar to a stethoscope or an internal probe.

 On the side of the baby, we see in Figure 2 that the incubator forms an enclosure 50 and a receiving device 20, such as a vibrating pad, is disposed at said enclosure. The enclosure 50 may be closed, as in the case of an incubator, or open, for example a cradle or a bed. When the enclosure 50 is open, the receiving device 20 could be formed by a simple speaker. According to another variant, such a loudspeaker could be integrated in the wall of a closed enclosure, such as an incubator. This receiving device 20 receives the recorded body sounds.

 Typically, in the case of a vibrating pellet, said recorded body sounds will vibrate a small plate 22 which, applied against the outside of a wall 51 of the enclosure 50, will transmit said body sounds recorded inside. of the enclosure through said wall. To do this, the vibrating pellet must be in contact with an outer surface of said wall 51 and therefore advantageously comprises fastening means 21, such as an adhesive layer or the like.

 Said sounds to be transmitted can be fed to said wafer 20 in particular via a power cable 23, which also makes it possible to supply said vibrating wafer with electricity. Advantageously, said cable 23 is connected to a specific module 40 which will be more fully described below.

Optionally, it is possible to provide means for adjusting the volume at said vibrating wafer 20. Advantageously, said wafer vibrator transmits sound at frequencies between 1 Hz and 30 000 Hz, preferably between 300 Hz and 10 000 Hz. It advantageously has a sensitivity between 1 dB and 100 dB, preferably about 30 dB, and it advantageously comprises a power between 0.5 W and 5 W, preferably in about 1 W. Of course, different pellets could be used.

 In the example of FIGS. 1 to 4, the detection device 10 simply comprises a stethoscope associated with a microphone 15, and the sequence of sounds recorded by the microphone 15 is transmitted to a device 400 which can be of the computer or portable terminal type. , such as a smartphone or digital tablet, or multimedia terminal. This device 400 typically incorporates the storage means 1 16 of the recorded sequence, as well as a read-only ROM 1 17 that contains the program for reading any recorded sequence. This device 400 may also contain the modification means described above. Advantageously, the screen of the device 400 allows the user of the system to manage the sounds to be transmitted to the reception device 20.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, a specific module 40 is provided on which the detection device 10 can be connected on the one hand and the reception device 20 on the other hand. Advantageously, the module 40 also receives a connection device 60, for example of the USB type, to enable the connection of the module 40 to a computer. As a variant, this connection could be made wirelessly, for example via a Wifi connection, Bluetooth®, infrared, radio or the like. Thus, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the module 40 has three connection ports 41, 42, 43 each receiving a tap formed at the end of a connection cable 13, 23, 63 respectively connected to the connection device. 10, the receiving device 20, and the connection device 60. The module 40 comprises the digital storage means 1 16, such as for example an SD card or the like, for storing the recorded sound sequence (s). (s). The module 40 also comprises the read-only memory 1 17 of the ROM type containing the program for managing the recorded sounds, and therefore the means of treatment. Advantageously, the module 40 comprises a power supply source 1 14, such as a battery, typically of the rechargeable type, for example when the module is connected to a computer via the connection device 60. This battery 1 14 makes it possible to power module 40, but also advantageously the pellet 20 when it is connected to said module 40. The module 40 also advantageously comprises a record button 1 18 and a read button 1 19. When the detection device 10 (stethoscope with microphone in this example) is connected to the module 40, the actuation of the recording button 1 18 starts the recording and storage of sounds detected by the stethoscope. When the receiving device 20 (vibratory pad in this example) is connected to the module 40, the actuation of the play button 1 19 starts the broadcast of the sound sequence stored in the memory 1 16. Advantageously, when the module 40 is connected to a computer, for example via the connection device 60, not only the battery 1 14 is recharged, but the user, including the doctor or the nurse, can change the sequence (s) of sounds recorded (s) by means of appropriate software provided on the computer, forming the modifying means described above. In particular, it can then be defined the reading mode of the recorded sequence (s), for example a single reading of a sequence, a chained reading of several sequences, or a loop reading of a or more sequence (s).

FIG. 6 shows an alternative embodiment of a detection device 10. In this variant, in addition to the stethoscope and the microphone, the detection device incorporates the digital storage means 1 16, the read-only memory 1 17, the battery 1 14 and the recording buttons 1 18 and reading 1 19. Preferably, a connection device, for example of the USB type, can be connected to this detection device, in particular to allow a connection to a computer. In this variant, the module 40 of FIG. 5 is substantially integrated with the detection device 10. The pellet 20 can then be connected directly to the detection device via an appropriate connection. FIG. 7 shows another variant embodiment in which the detection device 10, the reception device 20 and the module 40 are integrated in the same set. Here too, it may be desirable to provide a device for connecting to a computer.

 Various modifications are possible for those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

claims 1. - System for transmitting body sounds, characterized in that it comprises a detection device (10) for detecting body sounds from an animal body (1), in particular human, said detection device (10) being connected to recording means (15) for recording said detected body sounds, said recording means (15) being connected to processing means for processing said recorded body sounds. 2. - System according to claim 1, wherein said detection device is provided with a contact surface (1 1) to be disposed against an outer portion (2) of said body. 3. - System according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said detection device (10) comprises a stethoscope and said recording means (15) comprise a microphone. 4. - System according to claim 3, wherein said microphone is disposed in said stethoscope. 5. System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said processing means comprise digital storage means (1 16) for storing at least one sequence of said recorded body sounds. 6. - System according to claim 5, wherein said processing means further comprises modifying means for modifying said at least one sequence of body sounds stored. 7. - System according to claim 6, wherein said modifying means make it possible to broadcast said sequence in a loop. recorded and / or modify said recorded sequence, especially at the frequency and / or intensity. 8. - System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said processing means comprise transmission means for transmitting said recorded body sounds to a receiving device (20). 9. - System according to claim 8, wherein said transmission of said body sounds recorded is performed in real time. 10. - System according to claim 8 or 9, wherein said receiving device comprises a loudspeaker. 1 1. - System according to claim 8 or 9, wherein said receiving device comprises a vibrating pellet (20) adapted to be placed against an outer surface of a wall (51) of an enclosure (50), such as an incubator , cradle or crib, in particular premature, and to transmit said body sounds inside said enclosure (50) through said wall (51). 12. - System according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said processing means are supported by a computer, a portable terminal, such as a smartphone or a digital tablet, or a multimedia terminal. 13. - System according to any one of claims 1 to 1 1, wherein said processing means are supported by a specific module (40) having storage means (1 16), a read-only memory (1 17), a power source (1 14) such a battery, a record button (1 18) and a play button (1 19). The system of claim 13, wherein said specific module (40) includes a connection device (60) for connecting to a computer. The system of claim 13 or 14, wherein said specific module (40) has connection ports (41,42,43) for connecting respectively to said detecting device (10) to a receiving device (20). ) and a connection device (60). 16. - System according to any one of claims 8 to 11 and any one of claims 13 to 15, wherein said detection device (10), said receiving device (20) and said specific module (40) are integrated in the same set.