The present invention relates to a blood pressure measurement device for measuring blood pressure by wrapping a cuff band around the arm.
When measuring the blood pressure, an air bag is wrapped around to compress the artery of the measurement target site (upper arm, wrist, femoral area, ankle) in the human body, and then the air bag is restrained from the periphery to be fixed, and then pressurized or depressurized to measure the blood pressure.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-230175 (patent document 1) discloses a blood pressure measurement device including an automatic cuff winding mechanism. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-054867 (patent document 2) discloses a blood pressure measurement device performed by wrapping the cuff band around the upper arm using the force of the hand. In either blood pressure measurement device, the blood pressure is measured by sending air to the air bag arranged inside the cuff band, and compressing the upper arm.
In the blood pressure measurement device disclosed in patent document 1, however, the mechanism for automatically wrapping the cuff up to the wrapping size (wrapping peripheral length) of the measurement target site is complicated and may increase the cost of the blood pressure measurement device.
In the case of the wrapping configuration using the force of the hand described in patent document 2, delicate operation of the hand is required for the adjustment operation of the wrapping strength of the cuff, and the like, and hence, such device is inconvenient for those with crippled hands.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-230175
Patent Document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-054867
Therefore, one or more embodiments of the present invention provides a blood pressure measurement device with a simple device configuration and having a configuration enabling the cuff to be easily wrapped around the site to be measured even for those with crippled hands.
A blood pressure measurement device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention is a blood pressure measurement device including a cuff with an air bag for compressing an artery of a measurement target site and used by being attached to a site to be measured at the time of measurement, wherein the cuff includes a cuff main body having a band-like form in a developed state, and being rounded to a tubular form so that one end side and the other end side overlap each other to receive the measurement target site from an axial direction; and an engagement rotation member arranged at a position sandwiched by the one end side and the other end side at a position where the one end side and the other end side of the cuff main body overlap each other with the cuff main body rounded, and arranged to be rotatable in a direction where an inner diameter of the tubular form reduces or in a direction where the inner diameter is enlarged while engaging with the one end side and the other end side of the cuff main body; and the cuff main body includes a flexible member for maintaining the tubular form with the cuff main body being rounded.
In a blood pressure measurement device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the one end side and the other end side of the cuff main body can be simultaneously moved in a direction where the inner diameter of the tubular form is reduced or in a direction where the inner diameter is enlarged according to the rotation of the engagement rotation member, and the cuff main body can be easily and rapidly wrapped around the site to be measured by arranging the engagement rotation member that engages with the one end side and the other end side of the cuff main body with the cuff main body being rounded.
If an external force against the elastic force to enlarge the diameter of the rounded flexible member is released, the inner diameter of the tubular form of the cuff main body can be rapidly enlarged based on the elastic force of the flexible member.
For instance, if an external force towards the engagement rotation member side is acted on the outer peripheral surface on the upper side of the cuff main body at the position on the opposite side of the engagement rotation member against the elastic force to enlarge the diameter of the rounded flexible member, the one end side and the other end side of the cuff main body can be simultaneously moved in the direction where the inner diameter of the tubular form is further reduced. As a result, the cuff main body can be easily and rapidly wrapped around the site to be measured.
In a blood pressure measurement device according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a blood pressure measurement device with a simple device configuration and having a configuration enabling the cuff main body to be easily wrapped around the measurement target site even for those with crippled hands is provided.
Each embodiment of the blood pressure measurement device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The blood pressure measurement device according to the embodiment shown below is a so-called upper arm type blood pressure measurement device in which the upper arm is adopted for the site to be measured. However, the essence of the present invention is not limited to the upper arm type blood pressure measurement device, and can be applied to a blood pressure measurement device aimed to measure the blood pressure by wrapping the air bag to compress the artery of the site to be measured (upper arm, wrist, femoral area, ankle) of the human body, restraining the air bag from the periphery to fix it, and pressurizing or depressurizing the air bag.
An outer appearance structure of a blood pressure measurement device 1 according to a first embodiment will be described with reference to
As shown in
The air tube 70 is a member for coupling the main body 10 and the cuff 20, which are separately configured, and is configured by a flexible tube. The configuration in which the main body 10 and the cuff 20 are separated is not the sole case, and embodiments of the present invention can also be applied to a blood pressure measurement device in which the main body 10 and the cuff 20 are integrated.
The upper arm supporting stand 30 of the cuff 20 includes an upper arm supporting surface 31 with a curved surface 31a to which the upper arm 100 is arranged at the time of measurement, and a case body 32, a seat 33 arranged on the lower side of the case body 32, and an elbow placement section 34 arranged at the front side of the lower end of the case body 32.
The upper arm supporting stand 30 is arranged so that the case body 32 is tilted at the upper part of the seat 33 in such manner that the upper arm supporting surface 31 is tilted when mounted on the mounting surface. The elbow placement section 34 includes an elbow placement surface 35, where a switch 35a for detecting that the elbow is placed is arranged at the central part.
A specific configuration of the cuff 20 will now be described with reference to
As shown in
As shown in
An air bag 43 for compressing the artery of the upper arm 100 is accommodated at a position sandwiched by the flexible member 42 and the inner cloth 44 at a central portion of the cuff main body 40. The air tube 70 is connected to the air bag 43.
A plurality of engagement holes 45, to which the gearing tooth 46 (to be described later) gears with, is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the cuff main body 40 at one end side 40a and the other end side 40b of the cuff main body 40. In the present embodiment, the plurality of engagement holes 45 is arranged along two sides in the longitudinal direction of the cuff main body 40.
With reference again to
As shown in
A guide roller 36 for supporting the cuff main body 40 from both sides is arranged at both sides of the case body 32 so as to sandwich the gearing tooth 46 from the side surface side.
In the present embodiment, a case where the gearing tooth 46 is arranged at twelve areas about the rotation shaft 47 is described, but the number is merely illustrative and the numerical quantity may be appropriately changed. The gearing tooth 46 is arranged at two areas with a predetermined spacing in the axial direction of the rotation shaft 47, but this is to send the cuff main body 40 in a parallel state, and thus, it is not necessarily limited to two areas and a configuration of arranging only at one area by arranging a member etc. for guiding the transporting direction of the cuff main body 40 may be adopted, or a configuration of arranging at three or more areas to more stably send the cuff main body 40 may be adopted.
As shown in
As shown in
With reference again to
In the blood pressure measurement device 1 having the above configuration, the state shown in
Thereafter, as shown in
The force in the direction of further reducing the inner diameter of the tubular form thus acts on the one end side 40a and the other end side 40b of the cuff main body 40, so that the rotation shaft 47 rotates in the clockwise direction and the one end side 40a and the other end side 40b of the cuff main body 40 are simultaneously moved. As a result, the inner diameter of the tubular form of the cuff main body 40 can be reduced, and the cuff main body 40 can be easily and rapidly wrapped around the upper arm with only the pushing task using one hand. Furthermore, the wrapped state of the cuff main body 40 can be maintained by acting the lock/unlock mechanism 60.
Because the position of the air bag 43 arranged in the cuff main body 40 does not change when wrapping the cuff main body 40 around the upper arm 100, the artery of the upper arm 100 can be accurately compressed, and the accuracy of the blood pressure measurement can be enhanced.
At the end of the blood pressure measurement, the slide button 61 of the lock/unlock mechanism 60 is slid in the horizontal direction so that the engagement pin 65 moves along the groove 66, and the engagement shaft 63 slides to the upper side in the axis direction thereby separating the clutch mechanisms 48, 64, as shown in
A blood pressure measurement device 2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will now be described based on
A case in which the cuff main body 40 is manually wrapped around the upper arm 100 in the blood pressure measurement device 1 according to the first embodiment has been described, but in the blood pressure measurement device 2 according to the second embodiment, a torque motor 200 is coupled as one example of a drive device to the rotation shaft 47 to wrap the cuff main body 40 around the upper arm 100 using the force of the motor, as shown in
Other configurations are the same as the configurations in the first embodiment, and thus, the same reference numbers are denoted for the same or corresponding portions, and the redundant description will not be repeated. The lock/unlock mechanism 60 may not necessarily be used because the rotating direction of the rotation shaft 47 can be controlled using the torque motor 200. However, according to one or more embodiments of the present invention, the lock/unlock mechanism 60 is arranged when adopting a configuration of forcibly separating the torque motor 200 and the rotation shaft 47.
As shown in
The flow of the blood pressure measurement using the blood pressure measurement device 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
After the placement of the elbow is confirmed, the air of an initial volume is introduced to the air bag 43 (step 3). Thereafter, the handle 50 is gripped with the hand on the opposite side of the inserted upper arm and pushed to the position of a predetermined arm periphery, by which the inner diameter of the tubular form of the cuff main body 40 is reduced (step 4). Furthermore, the inner diameter of the tubular form of the cuff main body 40 is reduced until reaching the arm periphery of a predetermined range while checking the display unit 14 of the main body 10 (step 5). In step 4 and step 5, the inner pressure of the air bag 43 is checked with the pressurization sensor 213 to check the most suitable wrapped state (step 6). Fine tuning is performed if the wrapped state needs to be adjusted (step 13).
After checking the most suitable wrapped state, the lock of the torque motor 200 is fixed (step 7). The air is then introduced into the air bag 43 to perform the blood pressure measurement (step 8). The details of the blood pressure measurement will be described later. Thereafter, the lock fixation of the torque motor 200 is released (step 8) to transition to the waiting state (step 9). The placement of the elbow is detected constantly or periodically in step 2, and if the placement of the elbow is not detected, the state transitions to the waiting state.
After measuring the blood pressure, the elbow is moved away from the switch 35a, so that a check can be made that the upper arm 100 is taken out from the cuff main body 40 (step 11). The series of blood pressure measurement operation is thereby terminated.
The blood pressure measurement will now be described with reference to
In the graph of
The tightened state shown with the line L1 is a suitable tightened state because the tightening pressure is positioned between the line P1 and the line P2. The tightened state shown with the line L2 is a wrapping abnormality because the tightening pressure is lower than the line P3. The tightened state shown with the line L3 is a wrapping abnormality since the tightening pressure is greater than the line P4. Therefore, the rotation amount (ω) of the torque motor 200 needs to be determined because a suitable tightened state cannot be obtained on a steady basis by simply providing a microscopic stroke (ΔL).
With reference to
A blood pressure measurement device 3 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will now be described based on
As shown in
The detailed structure of the cuff 300 of the blood pressure measurement device according to the present embodiment will now be described with reference to
As shown in
The case 351 includes a first slit 350a that passes one end side 340a of the cuff main body 340 therethrough, and a second slit 350b, positioned on the upper side of the first slit 350a, that passes the other end side 340b of the cuff main body 340 therethrough. The push button 355 is arranged at a predetermined position of the grip portion 350.
The cuff main body 340 includes a flexible member 342 for maintaining the tubular form as a core member with the cuff main body 340 being rounded, where the flexible member 342 is covered by an outer cloth 341 and an inner cloth 344. Similar to the cuff main body 40 shown in
The cuff main body 340 is rounded to a tubular form so that the upper arm can be inserted from the axial direction, and the grip portion 350 is fixed to the cuff main body 340 so that the grip 353 extends in the direction parallel to the axial direction of the cuff main body 340 formed to a tubular shape. The rotation mechanism 500 is arranged at a position on the outer peripheral surface of the cuff main body 340 and inside the case 351 of the grip portion 350.
The gearing tooth 346 serving as the engagement rotation member is arranged at the position sandwiched by the one end side 340a and the other end side 340b at the position where the one end side 340a and the other end side 340b of the cuff main body 340 overlap each other with cuff main body 340 being rounded to a cylindrical shape. The rotating direction of the gearing tooth 346 is controlled using the rotation mechanism 500.
As shown in
The geared motor 510 is a motor equipped with a decelerator, and includes a motor portion 510a, a decelerating portion 510b, and an output shaft 510c. A gear 550 is fixed to the output shaft 510c of the geared motor 510. An electromagnetic brake 520 is arranged adjacent to the geared motor 510 at an axial end on the side opposite to the side where the output shaft 510c of the geared motor 510 is positioned. The electromagnetic brake 520 exhibits the braking force with respect to the rotation shaft 510a1 by constraining the rotation shaft 510a1 of the motor portion 510a.
The rotation shaft 580 is fixed to a shaft 557a axially supported by the supporting frame 546, and is driven and rotated when the shaft 557a rotates. The gearing tooth 346 is arranged at both ends of the rotation shaft 580, and an engagement hole 345 of the cuff main body 340 engages with the gearing tooth 346.
A gear 570 is fixed to the shaft 557a to which the rotation shaft 580 is fixed. A gear 560 is fixed to the shaft 560a axially supported by the supporting frame 546. The gear 560 gears with the gear 550 and the gear 570, respectively, and transmits the rotation force generated by the output shaft 510c of the geared motor 510 to the rotation shaft 580. The gears 550, 560, 570 are configured with the respective outer diameter and the number of teeth adjusted, and also function as a decelerator similar to the decelerating portion 510b of the geared motor 510.
The configuration of the function blocks of the blood pressure measurement device 3 according to the present embodiment will now be described with reference to
The main body 10 includes a CPU 311, an amplifier 320, an A/D (Analog/Digital) conversion circuit 325, a pump drive circuit 321, a valve drive circuit 322, an electromagnetic brake drive circuit 323, and a motor drive circuit 324, in addition to the display unit 14 and the operation unit 16.
The CPU 311 is a means for controlling the entire blood pressure measurement device 3. The memory 326 is configured by a ROM (Read-Only Memory) or a RAM (Random-Access Memory), and is a means for storing programs for causing the CPU 311 etc. to execute the processing procedures for measuring the blood pressure value, and for storing measurement results and the like. The display unit 327 is configured by a LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and is a means for displaying the measurement results and the like. The operation unit 328 is a means for accepting the operation by the subject and the like, and inputting such command from the outside to the CPU 311.
The CPU 311 inputs the control signal for driving the geared motor 510, the electromagnetic brake 520, the air pump 314, and the air valve 315 to the motor drive circuit 324, the electromagnetic brake drive circuit 323, the pump drive circuit 321, and the valve drive circuit 322, or inputs the blood pressure value serving as the measurement result to the memory 326 and the display unit 327. The CPU 311 also acquires the blood pressure value of the subject based on the pressure value detected by the pressure sensor 313.
The blood pressure value acquired by the CPU 311 is input to the memory 326 and the display unit 327 as the measurement result. The blood pressure measurement device 3 may separately include an output unit for outputting the blood pressure value serving as the measurement result to an external device (e.g., PC (Personal Computer), printer, etc.). A serial communication line, a write device for writing to various types of recording medium, and the like can be used for the output unit.
The motor drive circuit 324 controls the operation of the geared motor 510 based on the control signal input from the CPU 311. The electromagnetic brake drive circuit 323 controls the operation of the electromagnetic brake 520 based on the control signal input from the CPU 311. The pump drive circuit 321 controls the operation of the air pump 314 based on the control signal input from the CPU 311. The valve drive circuit 322 controls the open/close operation of the air valve 315 based on the control signal input from the CPU 311.
The geared motor 510 is an electric motor for rotatably driving the gearing tooth 346 in the forward direction and the reverse direction, and an operation thereof is controlled by the motor drive circuit 324. The electromagnetic brake 520 is a brake that applies a braking force on the gearing tooth 346, and an operation thereof is controlled by the electromagnetic brake drive circuit 323 described above.
The tightening operation of the cuff main body 340 of the blood pressure measurement device 3 according to the present embodiment will now be described. In the blood pressure measurement device 3 according to the present embodiment, the tightening operation with respect to the upper arm 100 of the cuff 300, the measurement operation of the blood pressure value performed after the tightening operation, and the tightening release operation with respect to the upper arm of the cuff 300 performed after the measurement operation are automatically carried out continuously.
The tightening operation with respect to the upper arm 100 of the cuff 300 and the tightening release operation with respect to the upper arm 100 of the cuff 300 are carried out by the tightening operation by the cuff main body 340 by the rotation mechanism 500 and the loosening operation by the rotation mechanism 500 to be described below.
With reference again to
When the rotation shaft 580 is rotated in the forward direction, the gearing tooth 346 rotates, and the one end side 340a and the other end side 340b of the cuff main body 340 are sent in the direction where the inner diameter of the tubular form of the cuff main body 340 is reduced through the engagement hole 345 of the cuff main body 340. The tightening operation of the cuff 300 with respect to the upper arm is realized by the sending operation.
At the time of the rotational drive of the geared motor 510 in the forward direction, the electromagnetic brake 520 is in a state where the rotation shaft 510a1 of the motor portion 510a of the geared motor 510 is not restrained, and the motor portion 510a is driven without the operation thereof being limited.
In a state where the geared motor 510 is rotationally driven in the reverse direction, the output shaft 510c of the geared motor 510 is rotated in the reverse direction, the rotation force is transmitted to the shaft 570a through the gears 550, 560, 570, and the rotation shaft 580 is rotated in the reverse direction.
When the rotation shaft 580 is rotated in the reverse direction, the gearing tooth 346 rotates, and the one end side 340a and the other end side 340b of the cuff main body 340 are sent in the direction where the inner diameter of the tubular form of the cuff main body 340 is reduced through the engagement hole 345 of the cuff main body 340. The loosening operation of the cuff 300 with respect to the upper arm is realized by the sending operation.
At the time of the rotational drive of the geared motor 510 in the reverse direction, the electromagnetic brake 520 is in a state where the rotation shaft 510a1 of the motor portion 510a of the geared motor 510 is not restrained, and the motor portion 510a is driven without the operation thereof being limited.
In a state where the geared motor 510 is not rotationally driven in either the forward direction or the reverse direction, that is, when the geared motor 510 is stopped, the rotation shaft 510a1 of the motor portion 510a of the geared motor 510 is restrained by the electromagnetic brake 520.
In the relevant state, the braking force by the electromagnetic brake 520 is applied on the rotation shaft 580 through the rotation shaft 510a1 of the motor portion 510a, the decelerating portion 510b, the output shaft 510c, and the gears 550, 560, 570, and the shaft 570a, so that the rotation operation of the gearing tooth 346 is limited. Therefore, in the relevant state, the tightening operation and the loosening operation of the cuff main body 340 by the gearing tooth 436 are both stopped, and the inner diameter of the tubular form of the cuff main body 340 is maintained constant.
According to the blood pressure measurement device 3 having the above configuration, the rotation shaft 580 is driven in the direction where the one end side 340a and the other end side 340b of the cuff main body 340 further reduce the inner diameter of the tubular form, so that the one end side 340a and the other end side 340b of the cuff main body 340 are simultaneously moved. As a result, the inner diameter of the tubular form of the cuff main body 40 can be easily reduced, and the cuff main body 340 can be easily and rapidly wrapped around the site to be measured. In the control in the blood pressure measurement, the measurement is carried out by the flow similar to that shown in the second embodiment.
Because the air bag 343 is fixed to the base 352 of the grip portion 350, the position of the air bag 343 does not change when wrapping the cuff main body 340 around the upper arm 100, whereby the artery of the upper arm can be accurately compressed, and the accuracy of the blood pressure measurement can be enhanced.
In the embodiment described above, the configuration in which the main body and the cuff are separated is described, but the configuration is not limited to the separated structure, and the present invention can be applied to the blood pressure measurement device in which the main body and the cuff are integrated. When mentioning the number, the amount, and the like in the embodiment described above, the scope of the invention is not necessarily limited to the number, the amount and the like unless particularly stated. It should be recognized that appropriately combining the configuration, the blood pressure measurement control, and the like described in each embodiment above is presumed from the beginning.
While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.
1, 2, 3 blood pressure measurement device
10 main body
14, 327 display unit
16, 328 operation unit
20, 300 cuff
30 upper arm supporting stand
31 upper arm supporting surface
31
a curved surface
32 case body
33 seat
34 elbow placement section
35 elbow placement surface
35
a switch
36 guide roller
40, 340 cuff main body
40
a,
340
a one end side
40
b,
340
b other end side
41, 341 outer cloth
42, 342 flexible member
43, 343 air bag
44, 344 inner cloth
45, 345 engagement hole
46, 346 gearing tooth
47, 580 rotation shaft
47
a bearing member
48, 64 clutch mechanism
50 handle
60 lock/unlock mechanism
61 slide button
63 engagement shaft
65 engagement pin
66 groove
70 air tube
71 connection cable
100 upper arm
200 torque motor
211, 311 CPU
213, 313 pressure sensor
214, 314 air pump
215, 315 air valve
216 fine tuning lock/unlock mechanism / arm periphery count
320 amplifier
321 pump drive circuit
322 valve drive circuit
323 electromagnetic brake drive circuit
324 motor drive circuit
325 ND conversion circuit
326 memory
350 grip portion
350
a first slit
350
b second slit
351 case
352 base
353 grip
355 push button
500 rotation mechanism
510 geared motor
510
a motor portion
510
a
1 rotation shaft
510
b decelerating portion
510
c output shaft
520 electromagnetic brake
546 supporting frame
550, 560, 570 gear
557
a,
560
a shaft
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2008-287842 | Nov 2008 | JP | national |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | PCT/JP2009/068457 | Oct 2009 | US |
Child | 13104668 | US |