WO2017119130A1 - Non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument and non-invasive biological lipid measuring method - Google Patents

Abstract

A problem to be addressed by the present invention is to provide a technology which measures blood lipid concentration with improved precision. The problem is solved by, when computing a scattering coefficient, assessing whether detected light has been transmitted through blood, and computing the scattering coefficient of the light which is assessed as having been transmitted through the blood. Specifically, provided is a non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument which measures lipids in blood within a lifeform, said non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument comprising: an irradiation unit which irradiates light of a prescribed light intensity from outside of a lifeform toward the interior of the lifeform; a light intensity detection unit which, through the scattering within the lifeform of the irradiated light from the irradiation unit, detects the light intensity which is discharged from the lifeform; a scattering coefficient computation unit which computes a scattering coefficient of the light within the lifeform on the basis of the light intensity which is detected by the light intensity detection unit; and a lipid concentration computation unit which computes lipid concentration on the basis of the computed scattering coefficient. The scattering coefficient computation unit assesses whether the light intensity which is detected by the light intensity detection unit has been transmitted through the blood within the lifeform, and computes the scattering coefficient of the light which is assessed as having been transmitted through the blood within the lifeform.

Description

Non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument and non-invasive biological lipid measuring method

The present invention relates to a biological lipid measuring instrument that can measure lipid in blood in a living body non-invasively, and a biological lipid measuring method that can measure lipid in blood in a living body non-invasively About.

Several techniques have been developed for non-invasive blood component measurement.
For example, in Patent Document 1, light in the near-infrared region or in the infrared region is output by an acousto-optic variable vibration filter and irradiated on a living body, and light transmitted through or reflected by a non-measurement object is received. An invention relating to an apparatus for calculating the concentration of a non-measurement object by analyzing and calculating the obtained absorption spectrum is disclosed.

Patent Document 2 discloses that the living body is irradiated with light, the light intensity emitted from the living body is detected, the scattering coefficient of the detection light is calculated, and the lipid concentration in the living body is determined by using the scattering coefficient. An invention relating to an apparatus for calculating is disclosed.

JP 2004-251673 A International Publication No. 2014/087825

The technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2 opens the way to measure lipids in a living body with high accuracy using optical scattering, makes it possible to easily measure the lipid concentration in a living body, and tests for metabolic abnormalities, etc. Application to is expected.
On the other hand, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 cannot distinguish between light that has actually passed through blood and light that has not passed through among detection light emitted from a living body. For this reason, there has been a problem that the irradiation unit and the detection unit need to be aligned so that light from the irradiation unit is reliably transmitted through the blood. Furthermore, even when trying to align, depending on the color and constitution of the skin, the position of the blood vessel cannot always be confirmed through the skin, so that there is a difficulty in the alignment itself.

As a result of diligent studies to solve the above problems, the present inventors have found that light transmitted through the blood has a large absorption in addition to scattering, and when measured at the same position from the light source, the light transmitted through the blood is It was found that the intensity was remarkably attenuated compared to light that did not pass through the blood. Then, when calculating the scattering coefficient, it is possible to solve the above problem by determining whether or not the detection light is transmitted through the blood and calculating the scattering coefficient of the light determined to be transmitted through the blood. The present invention has been completed.

That is, the gist of the present invention is as follows.
(1) A noninvasive living body lipid measuring instrument for measuring lipids in blood in a living body,
An irradiation unit that emits light at a predetermined light intensity from outside the living body toward the living body;
A light intensity detection unit that detects light intensity emitted from the living body through scattering of the irradiation light from the irradiation unit;
A scattering coefficient calculation unit that calculates a scattering coefficient of light in the living body based on the light intensity detected by the light intensity detection unit;
A lipid concentration calculator that calculates a lipid concentration based on the calculated scattering coefficient,
The scattering coefficient calculation unit determines whether or not the light intensity detected by the light intensity detection unit is transmitted through the blood in the living body, and is determined to have transmitted through the blood in the living body. Calculate the scattering coefficient of the light
Non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument.
(2) The scattering coefficient calculation unit determines that the light having a light intensity equal to or lower than a preset threshold is the light intensity transmitted through the blood in the living body with respect to the plurality of detected light intensities. ) Non-invasive living body lipid measuring instrument.
(3) The scattering coefficient calculation unit compares a plurality of detected light intensities, and the light intensity normalized by the distance between the irradiation unit and the detection unit is the light intensity transmitted through the blood in the living body. The noninvasive living body lipid measuring device according to (1), which is determined to be present.
(4) The noninvasive biological lipid measuring instrument according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein a plurality of the irradiation units and / or the light intensity detection units are arranged.
(5) A plurality of the light intensity detectors are arranged, and a filter that cuts the amount of light so that the light intensities detected by the plurality of light intensity detectors are substantially the same (1) to (1) 4) The noninvasive biological lipid measuring instrument according to any one of the above.
(6) The non-invasive device according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the irradiation unit can modulate the irradiation light, and the scattering coefficient calculation unit can calculate a scattering coefficient in accordance with the modulation of the irradiation light. Type biological lipid measuring instrument.

Another aspect of the present invention is summarized as follows.
(7) A method for measuring lipids in blood in a living body,
An irradiation step of irradiating light at a predetermined light intensity from outside the living body toward the living body;
A light intensity detection step of detecting light intensity emitted from the living body through scattering in the living body of the irradiation light in the irradiation step;
A scattering coefficient calculating step for calculating a light scattering coefficient in the living body based on the light intensity detected by the light intensity detecting step; and a lipid concentration calculating step for calculating a lipid concentration based on the calculated scattering coefficient. Have
The scattering coefficient calculating step includes a step of determining whether or not the light intensity detected by the light intensity detecting step is transmitted through the blood in the living body, and the blood in the living body is determined by the step. Calculating the scattering coefficient of the light determined to have passed through,
A method for measuring non-invasive biological lipids.

According to the present invention, in a non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument, it is possible to determine whether or not the detection light is transmitted through the blood without requiring precise alignment. Is possible.
In addition, by using a plurality of irradiation units and / or light intensity detection units, the number of light intensities that can be detected (irradiation unit-detection unit lines) increases. Therefore, when linear conversion is used in the calculation of the scattering coefficient. Can significantly improve its accuracy.
On the other hand, since the number of light intensities that can be detected increases, the scattering coefficient can be calculated using, for example, curve fitting without using linear transformation. Therefore, more complicated analysis can be performed.

It is a schematic diagram of the noninvasive biological lipid measuring device which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flow of the noninvasive living body lipid measuring method concerning this embodiment. It is the upper surface schematic diagram (a) and cross-sectional schematic diagram (b) which show the positional relationship of the irradiation part and light intensity detection part of the blood vessel of a biological body, and a noninvasive biological lipid measuring device. It is the upper surface schematic diagram (c) and the upper surface schematic diagram (d) which show the positional relationship of the irradiation part and light intensity detection part of the blood vessel of a biological body and a noninvasive type biological lipid measuring device. It is the upper surface schematic diagram (a) and the upper surface schematic diagram (b) which show the positional relationship of the irradiation part and light intensity detection part of the blood vessel of a biological body, and a noninvasive biological lipid measuring device. It is the upper surface schematic diagram (a), upper surface schematic diagram (b), and upper surface schematic diagram which show the positional relationship of the irradiation part and light intensity detection part of the blood vessel of a biological body, and a noninvasive biological lipid measuring device. It is an upper surface schematic diagram which shows the positional relationship of the irradiation part and light intensity | strength detection part of a biological blood vessel and a noninvasive type biological lipid measuring device. It is the schematic diagram (a) which shows one Embodiment of the blood vessel of a biological body, and a noninvasive biological lipid measuring device, and a schematic diagram (b). It is the front schematic diagram (a) of the form which applied the noninvasive biological lipid measuring device of this invention to the large sized device, and the front schematic diagram of the form which used the noninvasive biological lipid measuring device of this invention as the non-contact type device. .

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. The description of the constituent elements described below is an example (representative example) of an embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these contents unless the gist of the present invention is exceeded, and various modifications are performed. be able to. In addition, a part of the drawing may be emphasized or enlarged for the sake of understanding, but this is merely an enlargement / emphasis for understanding.

A schematic diagram of a non-invasive biological lipid measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment is shown in FIG. The non-invasive living body lipid measuring instrument 1 includes an irradiation unit 2 that irradiates light from outside the living body toward the living body, and the intensity of light emitted from the living body after the irradiation light from the irradiation unit is scattered in the living body. Calculated by a light intensity detection unit 3 to be detected, a scattering coefficient calculation unit 41 that calculates a light scattering coefficient μ _S ′ in the living body based on the light intensity detected by the light intensity detection unit, and a scattering coefficient calculation unit 41 The calculation unit 4 includes a lipid concentration calculation unit 42 that calculates the lipid concentration in the living body based on the light scattering coefficient μ _S ′.

As shown in FIG. 1, the irradiating unit 2 irradiates a predetermined irradiation position with light from outside the living body toward the living body, and has a light source for irradiating light. The light source is adjusted such that its wavelength range is outside the wavelength range in which light is largely absorbed by substances such as plasma water and hemoglobin.
In the present invention, blood means not only veins and arteries but also blood vessels including capillaries, but is preferably relatively thick blood vessels other than capillaries such as veins and arteries.

In addition, the wavelength range in which light is absorbed by substances in plasma mainly indicates a range in which light absorption by water or hemoglobin in plasma is strong.
That is, the wavelength range used as a light source is preferably 1400 nm or less in consideration of the wavelength range in which light is absorbed by water in plasma, and further, 580 nm in consideration of the wavelength range in which light is absorbed by hemoglobin. The thickness is more preferably 1400 nm or less.

In this way, by setting the wavelength range used as the light source to the above range, in the light detected by the light intensity detector 3 described later, the influence of light absorption by the inorganic substance in plasma and the light of the cell component of blood The influence of absorption can be suppressed. Thereby, the light energy loss by absorption becomes small.

Further, the irradiation unit 2 of the present embodiment irradiates light such as continuous irradiation of light or pulsed irradiation of light according to a calculation method of the scattering coefficient μ _S ′ by a scattering coefficient calculation unit 41 described later. The time length can be arbitrarily adjusted, and the intensity of light to be irradiated or the phase of light can be arbitrarily modulated.
In particular, when there is a distance between the light source and the living body, it is preferable to provide means for shielding light from the outside, but even if such means is not provided, the irradiation unit 2 is modulated. By making it possible, the light intensity detection unit 3 can distinguish and detect light from the outside and light from the irradiation unit 2. In such a case, the scattering coefficient calculation unit 41 needs to be able to calculate the scattering coefficient according to the modulation of the irradiation light.

In FIG. 1, only one irradiation unit 2 is shown, but a plurality of irradiation units 2 may exist. Since there are multiple irradiation units, it is easy to obtain multiple data with varying light intensity of the light source and the distance between the light irradiation unit and the light intensity detection unit, and linear conversion is performed in the calculation of the scattering coefficient. When used, the accuracy can be remarkably improved. On the other hand, the scattering coefficient can be calculated using, for example, curve fitting without using linear transformation.

The light intensity detection unit 3 receives light and detects the light intensity, and the light emitted from the living body to the outside of the living body after the irradiation light from the irradiation unit is scattered in the living body is detected by the photodetector. The light intensity can be detected and the light intensity can be detected. Moreover, when using the several light intensity | strength detection part 3, you may install in each different distance centering | focusing on an irradiation position, and you may install in a fan shape in the same distance. In FIG. 1, the light intensity detectors can be arranged in order on the same surface and in a straight line at a predetermined interval from the irradiation position, but is not limited thereto.

In FIG. 1, a predetermined distance is provided between an irradiation position for irradiating the living body with light and a detection position for detecting the light intensity emitted from the living body. Thereby, the irradiated light is reflected by the scatterer in the living body surface and the vicinity of the surface, and the influence of the light emitted directly from the living body can be suppressed. Moreover, after the irradiation light reaches the depth where blood or lipid exists, the light intensity of the backscattered light emitted from the living body through scattering by blood lipid can be measured.
On the other hand, if the detection light emitted from the living body does not distinguish between light that has actually passed through blood and light that has not passed through, it may not be possible to obtain an accurate biological lipid concentration.

The arrangement in the case of providing a plurality of detection positions is not limited to a straight line as long as they are arranged at different distances around the irradiation position, but are not limited to a circular shape, a wavy shape, a zigzag shape, a fan shape, Can be selected as appropriate, such as a two-dimensional array. Moreover, the distance between irradiation detection from an irradiation position to a detection position, and the space | interval of detection positions are not limited to a fixed space | interval, but are selected suitably.

Of the calculation unit 4, the scattering coefficient calculation unit 41 calculates a light scattering coefficient μ _S ′ in the living body based on the light intensity detected by the light intensity detection unit 3. Then, in the calculation unit 4, the lipid concentration calculation unit 42 calculates the lipid concentration using the calculated scattering coefficient. As described above, the light intensity detected by the light intensity detector 3 includes the influence of light scattering by blood lipids, and from this, the scattering coefficient μ _S ′ is to be calculated.
For the calculation of the scattering coefficient μ _S ′, the method described in Patent Document 2 (International Publication No. 2014/0887825) can be applied as it is.

On the other hand, the present invention is to solve the problem that detection accuracy is insufficient because light that has actually passed through blood and light that has not passed through blood cannot be distinguished from detection light emitted from a living body. The scattering coefficient calculation unit 41 determines whether or not the light intensity detected by the light intensity detection unit 3 is transmitted through blood in the living body. The determination can also be automatically performed by a method such as using a computer having a predetermined program.

The method for determining whether or not the detected light intensity is transmitted through the blood can be performed based on the knowledge found by the present inventors. In other words, light that has passed through the blood has a large absorption as well as scattering, and when measured at the same position from the light source, the intensity of the light that has passed through the blood is significantly attenuated compared to light that has not passed through the blood. It is possible to determine whether or not the light intensity of the detection light has passed through the blood by using the attenuation of the transmitted light intensity in the blood as an index.

A specific example of determining whether or not the light transmitted through the blood using the attenuation of transmitted light intensity in blood as an index is, for example, light having a light intensity equal to or lower than a preset threshold for a plurality of detected light intensities. This is a method for discriminating that the light intensity is transmitted through blood in the living body.
As a method of setting the threshold value in advance, for example, the light intensity of the light source and the distance from the light source to the detector are fixed, and the light intensity is measured by a plurality of irradiation units—light intensity detection units (also referred to as lines). Here, the light transmitted through the blood has a large absorption in addition to the scattering, so that the light is attenuated. Therefore, by measuring the light intensity with multiple lines and comparing the intensities, the location of the blood vessel can be specified, and in addition, when the blood passes through the blood at a specific irradiation part-light intensity detection part distance The light intensity and the light intensity when not transmitting through the blood can be obtained. Then, assuming that the light intensity when not transmitting through the blood is 100%, the light intensity of 70% or less may be determined as the light intensity transmitted through the blood, and the light intensity of 50% or less May be determined as the light intensity transmitted through the blood, and the light intensity of 40% or less may be determined as the light intensity transmitted through the blood, and the light intensity of 30% or less. May be judged as the light intensity transmitted through the blood, and those having a light intensity of 20% or less may be judged as the light intensity transmitted through the blood. You may judge that the thing of light intensity is the light intensity which permeate | transmitted in the blood. This numerical value can be appropriately determined depending on the accuracy of the required blood lipid concentration.

Another method is to compare the detected multiple light intensities, and use a light with a low standardized light intensity normalized by the distance between the irradiation part and the light intensity detection part. This is a method for determining that When comparing the light intensities, the light intensity from the irradiating part is attenuated according to the distance, and therefore it is necessary to standardize the light intensity in consideration of the attenuation ratio due to the distance. Since the light transmitted through the blood is attenuated as described above, the light intensity after normalization is compared, and the light having a lower light intensity can be determined as the blood transmitted light.
Note that the attenuation ratio depending on the distance of the light intensity can be derived in consideration of the method described in Patent Document 2.
Also in this method, the threshold value of the attenuation ratio with the light intensity when not transmitting through the blood as described above as 100% may be set and used for discrimination. In this case, the above threshold value can be used as a specific threshold value.
In this method, as the light intensity is detected more (the number of lines), blood permeation discrimination accuracy is improved. Although the number is not particularly limited, for example, the detection of the light intensity may be 5 lines or more, 10 lines or more, or 15 lines or more.

As another method, in a portion where blood vessels do not pass (capillary blood vessels are not considered), the light intensity at a specific distance is measured in advance a plurality of times as necessary to predict the light intensity not transmitted through the blood. Is a method of determining, comparing the predicted or determined reference light intensity not transmitted through blood with the measured light intensity, and if the light intensity is smaller than the reference light intensity, Can be determined.
Furthermore, although it depends on the degree of accuracy of the required lipid concentration in the blood, it is generally related to the prediction or determination of the light intensity that is not transmitted through the blood. Since the scattering coefficient is known, the light intensity that does not pass through the blood can be calculated using the absorption coefficient / scattering coefficient.
Also in these methods, the threshold value of the attenuation ratio with the light intensity when not transmitting through the blood as described above as 100% may be set and used for discrimination. In this case, the above threshold value can be used as a specific threshold value.

The lipid concentration calculation unit 42 included in the calculation unit 4 calculates blood lipid concentration based on the scattering coefficient μ _S ′ calculated by the scattering coefficient calculation unit 41. Note that there is a correlation between the scattering coefficient μ _S ′ and the lipid concentration, and the lipid concentration is calculated based on the value of the scattering coefficient μ _S ′. In this embodiment, statistical data on the relationship between the scattering coefficient μ _S ′ and blood lipid concentration is taken in advance, and the actual blood lipid concentration is calculated by comparing the scattering coefficient μ _S ′ with the statistical data. To do.

For example, when the blood lipid concentration of a specific living body Mr. A is to be measured, the measurement result obtained by measuring the blood lipid concentration of Mr. A by another blood lipid concentration measuring method such as blood sampling and the like was calculated. By comparing with the scattering coefficient μ _S ′, the statistical data of Mr. A can be created so that the concentration can be calculated.
Or, compare the measurement result of Mr. A's blood lipid concentration by other blood lipid concentration measurement methods, etc. with the measurement result of the concentration obtained from the detected light intensity, and compare The statistical data of Mr. A may be created by calculating an error between the concentration obtained by the above and the concentration in the statistical data in the case of a general living body, and performing calibration to correct the error .

Note that the format of the statistical data is not particularly limited, and may be classified by gender, height, weight, BMI, etc., and may be calculated using a table, a graph, a functional expression, or the like. .
In clinical practice, concentration and turbidity are sometimes used interchangeably, and the concentration in the present invention includes the concept of turbidity. Therefore, the lipid concentration calculation means can calculate not only the concentration but also the number of particles per unit amount and formazine turbidity as the calculation result.

Hereinafter, the noninvasive biological lipid measuring device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 3 is a top schematic diagram (a), a cross-sectional schematic diagram (b), a top schematic diagram (c), and a positional relationship between a biological blood vessel and an irradiation unit and a light intensity detection unit of a non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument; It is an upper surface schematic diagram (d).
Since the apparatus disclosed in FIG. 3A calculates the scattering coefficient based on the distance ratio between the irradiation detection from the irradiation unit 12 to the light intensity detection unit 13, the irradiation unit 12 and the plurality of light intensity detection units 13 are linear. It is intended to exist in the form. However, depending on the settings of the irradiation unit 12 and the light intensity detection unit 13, the light intensity detection unit 13 may be disposed at a position away from the blood vessel 11, as shown in FIG.
Moreover, since the position of the blood vessel 11 cannot always be confirmed through the skin depending on the color and constitution of the skin, there is a difficulty in positioning itself.
Furthermore, even if the alignment is possible, it is difficult to grasp where the blood vessel 11 exists in the depth direction of the skin, and the light irradiated from the irradiation unit 12 as shown in FIG. The scattering propagation path 14 only needs to pass through the blood, but depending on the intensity and angle of incident light at the light source, the scattering propagation path may not pass through the blood.
In the present embodiment, since it is determined whether or not the detection light detected by the light intensity detection unit 13 is transmitted through blood in the living body, the above problems are solved.

On the other hand, FIG. 4 is a schematic top view (a) and a schematic top view (b) showing the positional relationship between the blood vessel of the living body and the irradiation unit and the light intensity detection unit of the noninvasive biological lipid measuring instrument. The positioning problem can be solved by the arrangement of the detector 13 as disclosed in FIG.
In FIG. 4A, even if the light intensity detection unit 13 (for example, a plurality of light intensity detection units 13 existing on one straight line from the irradiation unit 12) is disposed outside the blood vessel, the light intensity detection unit 13 is constant from the irradiation unit 12. By disposing the plurality of light intensity detectors 13 in a fan shape at a distance, the scattered light transmitted through the blood can be reliably detected. When the light intensity detection unit 13 is arranged in a fan shape, the arrangement range is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of obtaining detection light that has surely transmitted through the blood, the light intensity detection unit 13 and the irradiation unit located in the center of the fan shape It is preferable to deploy 30 degrees or more on both sides from the line connecting 12 to the surface, 45 degrees or more, or 60 degrees or more, or 75 degrees or more. Or 90 degrees or more.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4B, the light intensity detection unit 13 is formed in a two-dimensional array, so that scattered light transmitted through the blood can be obtained even if several light intensity detection units 13 are arranged outside the blood vessel. Can be reliably detected. The shape and size of the array formed by the light intensity detector 13 when arranged in an array are not particularly limited and are generally rectangular, but are not limited thereto. Also, the size is not particularly limited. For example, when a wearable device is assumed, the maximum length may be 1 cm or more, the maximum length may be 3 cm or more, the maximum length may be 5 cm or more, and the maximum length is It may be 10 cm or more.

On the other hand, FIG. 5 is a top schematic diagram (a), a top schematic diagram (b), and a top schematic diagram (c) showing the positional relationship between a living body blood vessel and an irradiation unit and a light intensity detection unit of a noninvasive biological lipid measuring instrument. As shown in FIG. 3D, the light source 12 instead of the light intensity detector 13 may be disconnected from the blood vessel 11. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 5A, the positioning problem can be solved by making the position or angle of the irradiation unit 12 movable in the vertical direction, for example. An example in which the irradiation unit 12 is movable includes, for example, a beam controller, but is not limited thereto.
Moreover, as shown in FIG.5 (b), you may arrange in multiple numbers so that the irradiation part 12 may make a row | line | column to an up-down direction.
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5C, a plurality of irradiation units 12 can be arranged in a two-dimensional array. The shape and size of the array formed by the irradiation unit 12 when the light emitting units 12 are arranged in an array are not particularly limited and are generally rectangular, but are not limited thereto. Also, the size is not particularly limited. For example, when assuming a wearable device, the maximum length may be 1 cm or more, the maximum length may be 3 cm or more, the maximum length may be 5 cm or more, and the maximum length is It may be 10 cm or more.

The alignment problem can be completely solved by adopting the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 in which both the irradiation unit 12 and the light intensity detection unit 13 are arranged in an array.

Further, when there are a plurality of light intensity detection units 13 as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, or when there are a plurality of irradiation units 12 as shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, irradiation is performed. There are a plurality of distances between the unit 12 and the light intensity detection unit 13. In general, the transmitted light in the blood attenuates as the distance between the irradiation unit 12 and the light intensity detection unit 13 increases. For this reason, the detection light detected from the light intensity detection unit 13 present at the position closest to the irradiation unit 12 has a certain intensity, and the light intensity detection present at the position farthest from the irradiation unit 12. Since the intensity of the detection light detected from the unit 13 is small, there are cases where the intensity range of the detection light does not fall within the detection range that can be measured by the same detector.
In such a case, for example, when the light intensity detectors 13 are arranged in an array, as shown in FIG. 7A, the array formed by the light intensity detector 13 has a neutral density filter with a concentration gradient. By arranging 15, the detection light intensity can be converged within the detection range that can be measured by the same detector. Specifically, a filter that can cut a lot of light at a location close to the irradiation unit 12 and has a small amount of light cut at a location far from the irradiation unit 12 is used. As for the gradient of the filter with the density gradient, an appropriate gradient can be determined by measuring the light intensity in advance without a filter and then dividing it back in the calculation.

Further, when the light intensity detectors 13 are arranged in an array, a plurality of light intensity detectors 13 are required, and thus the device tends to be physically large. In such a case, by using the condensing means 16 having an optical condensing function as shown in FIG. 7B, even if the detectable range immediately above the living body is large, the light is collected by the condensing means. The detected light can also be detected by the small light intensity detector 13. A specific example of the light collecting means 16 is a convex mirror, but is not particularly limited as long as it has a light collecting function.

Hereinafter, a method for measuring non-invasive biological lipids, which is another embodiment of the present invention, will be described.
A method for measuring non-invasive biological lipids in an embodiment of the present invention includes an irradiation step of irradiating light at a predetermined light intensity from outside the living body to the living body, and the irradiation light in the irradiation step is in vivo. A light intensity detecting step for detecting light intensity emitted from the living body through scattering, a scattering coefficient calculating step for calculating a light scattering coefficient in the living body based on the light intensity detected by the light intensity detecting step; And a lipid concentration calculating step for calculating a lipid concentration based on the calculated scattering coefficient, wherein the scattering coefficient calculating step is configured such that the light intensity detected by the light intensity detecting step is measured in the blood in the living body. A non-invasive biological lipid that includes a step of determining whether or not the light is transmitted, and that calculates a light scattering coefficient determined to have passed through the blood in the living body by the step It is a method of measurement. The calculated scattering coefficient is used for calculating the lipid concentration in the lipid concentration calculating step. Hereinafter, steps will be described in order.

The irradiation step is a step of irradiating light from the irradiation unit toward the living body with a predetermined light intensity. The irradiation unit irradiates continuous light having a predetermined intensity from outside the body toward the inside of the body. By making the light irradiating the living body continuous light, the light intensity detected by the light intensity detector can be prevented from including the influence of attenuation due to time.
In addition, the wavelength of light emitted from the irradiation unit is preferably 1400 nm or less in consideration of the wavelength range in which the light is absorbed by the plasma inorganic substance, and the wavelength at which the light is absorbed by the cellular components of blood. In consideration of the range, the thickness is more preferably 580 nm to 1400 nm.

The light intensity detection step is a step in which the light intensity detection unit detects the light emitted in the irradiation step and emitted from the living body through scattering in the living body. The intensity of the light emitted from the irradiation unit is detected by the light detector of the light intensity detection unit.

In the scattering coefficient calculation step, a light scattering coefficient in the living body is calculated based on the light intensity detected in the light intensity detection step. The details of the calculation of the light scattering coefficient can be referred to those described in Patent Document 2 (International Publication No. 2014/0887825). The calculated light scattering coefficient is sent to the lipid concentration calculating step. At this time, it is determined whether or not the light intensity detected by the light intensity detection step is transmitted through blood in the living body. By this discrimination step, it is possible to discriminate whether or not the detection light is transmitted through the blood without requiring strict alignment, so that lipid measurement of a living body can be performed more easily and accurately.
The lipid concentration calculating step is a step of calculating the blood lipid concentration and the like based on the correlation between the blood lipid concentration and the scattering coefficient.
Note that there are a plurality of methods for calculating the light scattering coefficient, as described in Patent Document 2 (International Publication No. 2014/0887825), and any method may be used.

The calculated lipid concentration is compared with statistical data prepared in advance, and it is determined whether or not it is a normal value. If it is not a normal value, it can be determined that some abnormality may exist.

Since the noninvasive biological lipid measuring instrument according to the embodiment of the present invention can be designed in a very small device, it can be used in a wearable device. For example, the measuring instrument according to the present invention is applied to a digital wristwatch. Mounted and can measure blood lipid concentration when needed. Moreover, it can also be used like a thermometer as a home medical device.

On the other hand, it can be applied to a large-sized device for a medical institution as shown in FIG. 8A, and can also be applied to a non-contact type device as shown in FIG. 8B. . However, when applied to a non-contact type device, in order to reduce noise from other light sources, it is necessary to modulate the intensity and phase of light.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Non-invasive biological lipid measuring device 2 Irradiation part 3 Light intensity detection part 4 Calculation part 41 Scattering coefficient calculation part 42 Lipid concentration calculation part 10, 20 Living body 11, 21 Blood vessel 12, 22 Irradiation part 13, 23 Light intensity detection part 14 Detection scattered light propagation path 15 Density filter with concentration gradient 16 Condensing means

Claims (7)

A non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument for measuring lipids in blood in a living body,
An irradiation unit that emits light at a predetermined light intensity from outside the living body toward the living body;
A light intensity detection unit that detects light intensity emitted from the living body through scattering of the irradiation light from the irradiation unit;
A scattering coefficient calculation unit that calculates a scattering coefficient of light in the living body based on the light intensity detected by the light intensity detection unit;
A lipid concentration calculator that calculates a lipid concentration based on the calculated scattering coefficient,
The scattering coefficient calculation unit determines whether or not the light intensity detected by the light intensity detection unit is transmitted through the blood in the living body, and is determined to have transmitted through the blood in the living body. Calculate the scattering coefficient of the light
Non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument. The said scattering coefficient calculation part discriminate | determines that it is the light intensity which permeate | transmitted the blood in the biological body with the light intensity below a preset threshold value with respect to the detected several light intensity. Non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument. The scattering coefficient calculation unit compares a plurality of detected light intensities, and determines that the light intensity normalized by the distance between the irradiation unit and the detection unit is the light intensity transmitted through the blood in the living body. The noninvasive living body lipid measuring device according to claim 1. The noninvasive living body lipid measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of the irradiation units and / or the light intensity detection units are arranged. 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the light intensity detection units are arranged, and a filter that cuts the amount of light so that the light intensities detected by the plurality of light intensity detection units are substantially the same. The non-invasive biological lipid measuring instrument according to item 1. The non-invasive biological lipid according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the irradiation unit can modulate the irradiation light, and the scattering coefficient calculation unit can calculate a scattering coefficient in accordance with the modulation of the irradiation light. Measuring instrument. A method for measuring lipids in blood in a living body,
An irradiation step of irradiating light at a predetermined light intensity from outside the living body toward the living body;
A light intensity detection step of detecting light intensity emitted from the living body through scattering in the living body of the irradiation light in the irradiation step;
A scattering coefficient calculating step for calculating a light scattering coefficient in the living body based on the light intensity detected by the light intensity detecting step; and a lipid concentration calculating step for calculating a lipid concentration based on the calculated scattering coefficient. Have
The scattering coefficient calculating step includes a step of determining whether or not the light intensity detected by the light intensity detecting step is transmitted through the blood in the living body, and the blood in the living body is determined by the step. Calculating the scattering coefficient of the light determined to have passed through,
A method for measuring non-invasive biological lipids.

Images