Patent Application
20100137725
The present invention relates to a sphygmomanometer cuff used by being wrapped around a measuring site of a living body such as a wrist or an upper arm when measuring blood pressure, and a sphygmomanometer equipped with the same.
Normally, when measuring a blood pressure value, a cuff internally including a fluid bag for putting pressure on an artery in a living body is wrapped around the body surface of the living body, and the wrapped fluid bag is inflated and contracted to detect the arterial pressure pulse wave generated in the artery to thereby measure the blood pressure value. Here, the cuff refers to a band-shaped structural body having a lumen that can be wrapped around on one part of the living body, and refers to that which can be used to measure arterial pressure of upper and lower limbs by injecting fluid such as gas or liquid into the lumen. Therefore, the cuff is a term that represents a concept including the fluid bag and the wrapping member for wrapping the fluid bag around the living body, and in particular, the cuff worn by being wrapped around the arm or the wrist is also referred to as an arm band or a manchette.
The fluid bag in which at least two or more sheet-like members made of resin are overlapped, and the peripheral edges are joined to be formed into a bag-form is normally used. A cover body made from a fabric including a fixing portion such as a surface fastener is used for the wrapping member. The above-described fluid bag is accommodated inside the cover body, and the fluid bag and the cover body configure a sphygmomanometer cuff. With the sphygmomanometer cuff configured in this manner, the main surface on the inner peripheral side of the fluid bag positioned on the living body side when the sphygmomanometer cuff is wrapped around the living body functions as a compression acting surface for putting pressure on the living body.
The sphygmomanometer cuff described above has a problem that wrinkles form at the compression acting surface of the fluid bag when measuring the blood pressure. If wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface of the fluid bag, part of the measuring site may be trapped in the valley portions of the wrinkles, which may cause slight internal bleeding at the measuring site. This point will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.
A cross-sectional view enlarging the portion (region XXX shown in
In the process of inflating the air bladder 151, the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 closely attaches to the upper arm 200, as described above, and thus the friction between them causes one part of the skin of the upper arm 200 to be pulled following the portion where the wrinkle is formed of the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162. Thus, part of the skin of the upper arm 200 enters the valley portions of the wrinkles and is caught in the wrinkles. As a result, slight internal bleeding may occur at the relevant portion when measuring the blood pressure.
The wrinkles formed at the compression acting surface of the air bladder thus become the cause of slight internal bleeding at the measuring site of a subject. Therefore, a technique of preventing the wrinkle itself from forming at the compression acting surface of the air bladder when measuring the blood pressure, or a technique of preventing part of the skin from getting caught at the valley portion of the wrinkle even if wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface of the air bladder is being conventionally reviewed. Representative examples are a technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-51158 (Patent Document 1), and techniques disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2006-81668 (Patent Document 2) and 2006-218178 (Patent Document 3).
The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a technique in which the inner peripheral side sheet portion of the cover body has a two-layer structure, where such two sheets are formed from two fabrics that easily slide with respect to each other so that the sheet positioned on the living body side of the two sheets does not move following the sheet positioned on the air bladder side, whereby part of the skin will not be caught at the valley portions of the wrinkles even if wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface of the air bladder.
The technique disclosed in Patent Document 2 is a technique in which a sponge member is arranged in the interior of the air bladder so that wrinkles contact the sponge member thereby preventing the wrinkles from growing any larger even if wrinkles are formed at the inner peripheral side sheet portion, whereby the wrinkles formed at the compression acting surface of the air bladder when measuring the blood pressure are shallowly dispersed.
The technique disclosed in Patent Document 3 is a technique in which the sheet-like member made of resin configuring the air bladder is formed to a thickness of smaller than or equal to 0.15 mm, so that the difference in peripheral length between the outer sheet and the inner sheet of the air bladder that occurs when the cuff is wrapped around the measuring site is reduced, whereby the wrinkles themselves are prevented from forming at the compression acting surface of the air bladder when measuring the blood pressure.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-51158
[Patent Document 2] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-81668
[Patent Document 3] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-218178
However, when the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is adopted, if large wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface of the air bladder, an extra portion produces in both sheets irrespective of the magnitude of the frictional force generated between the two sheets of the cover body, and such an extra portion enters the valley portions of the wrinkles formed at the compression acting surface of the air bladder thereby forming wrinkles at the inner peripheral side sheet portion of the cover body. Thus, part of the skin also enters the valley portions of the wrinkles, which may cause a slight internal bleeding. It is also conceivable that a frictional coefficient between the two sheets increases with repeated use or degradation over time, or by temperature and humidity environment, whereby the frictional force that is generated increases, the sliding of the two sheets degrades, and the effect of preventing the internal bleeding lowers.
Moreover, when the techniques disclosed in patent documents 2 and 3 are adopted, the size of the wrinkle that is formed may be suppressed relatively small, but it is difficult to completely vanish the wrinkles, and thus the possibility a slight internal bleeding may occur still exists.
Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and aims to reliably prevent the internal bleeding at the measuring site that may occur when measuring the blood pressure.
A sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention is used by being wrapped around a living body, and includes a fluid bag, a cover body, and a cushion material. The fluid bag inflates/contracts by in/out of fluid, and includes a compression acting surface positioned on the living body side when the sphygmomanometer cuff is wrapped around the living body. The cover body internally includes the fluid bag, and has an inner peripheral side sheet portion positioned on the living body side when the sphygmomanometer cuff is wrapped around the living body. The cushion material is positioned on the inner peripheral side sheet portion side than the compression acting surface, and is compressible in a direction parallel to a thickness direction of the inner peripheral side sheet portion.
According to such a configuration, the cushion material mainly enters the valley portions of the wrinkles when wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface of the fluid bag when measuring the blood pressure, and thus there is no room for the skin to be caught at the valley portions of the wrinkles. Therefore, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced is obtained.
As a secondary effect, the fluid bag is compressed from the outside by the restoring force of the cushion material in exhausting fluid from the fluid bag during the blood pressure measurement or after the blood pressure measurement, and thus the fluid in the fluid bag can be rapidly pushed out, and an effect of more rapid blood pressure measurement can be expected. Moreover, since the cushion material is arranged between the measuring site and the fluid bag when the sphygmomanometer cuff is worn, a feeling of pressure when compressing the measuring site by the fluid bag becomes smooth, and the subject will not feel pain caused by the sudden compression. In addition, the fluid bag is protected since the compression acting surface side of the fluid bag is covered by the cushion material.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention, the cushion material preferably has compressibility higher than compressibility in the thickness direction of the inner peripheral side sheet portion in the direction parallel to the thickness direction of the inner peripheral side sheet portion.
A configuration that allows the cushion material to reliably enter the valley portions of the wrinkles when measuring the blood pressure is obtained by using a cushion material having compressibility higher than the compressibility in the thickness direction of the inner peripheral side sheet portion of the cover body. Therefore, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is more reliably reduced is obtained.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention, the cushion material is preferably an independently foamed or simultaneously foamed sponge member made of rubber or synthetic resin.
The internal bleeding can be more reliably prevented by using an independently foamed or simultaneously foamed sponge member made of rubber or synthetic resin for the cushion material.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention, the cushion material may be positioned between the compression acting surface and the inner peripheral side sheet portion, or may be positioned on a side opposite to the compression acting surface side of the inner peripheral side sheet portion. In the sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention, the cushion material may be positioned in a space of the inner peripheral side sheet portion having a two-layer structure with the space inside.
According to such a configuration, the cushion material is positioned between the fluid bag and the measuring site when the sphygmomanometer cuff is worn in either case, and thus a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced is obtained.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention, the cushion material may be attached to the inner peripheral side sheet portion, in which case, the attachment of the cushion material to the inner peripheral side sheet portion is preferably carried out by one of suturing, adhering, or welding, or a combination thereof. In the sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention, the cushion material may be attached to the compression acting surface, in which case, the attachment of the cushion material to the compression acting surface is preferably carried out by either adhering or welding, or a combination thereof.
According to such a configuration, the cushion material does not shift position, and thus a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is more reliably reduced is obtained.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention, the cushion material may be a sheet-like member of even thickness, or a member in which thickness is changed in at least one of either axial direction or peripheral direction of the sphygmomanometer cuff. In the sphygmomanometer cuff based on the present invention, the cushion material may be positioned so as to cover the entire surface of the compression acting surface, or may include a plurality of divided bodies each being divided and arranged so as to face part of the compression acting surface.
Therefore, the shape of the cushion material is not particularly limited, and changes may be appropriately made.
A sphygmomanometer based on the present invention includes one of sphygmomanometer cuff described above; an inflation/contraction mechanism for inflating/contracting the fluid bag; a pressure detection unit for detecting pressure in the fluid bag; and a blood pressure value calculation unit for calculating a blood pressure value based on pressure information detected by the pressure detection unit.
According to such a configuration, a sphygmomanometer that does not cause internal bleeding at the measuring site in time of measurement is obtained.
According to the present invention, the internal bleeding that may occur when measuring the blood pressure is reliably prevented.
100A, 100B: sphygmomanometer, 110: device main body, 114: display unit, 115: operation unit, 123: memory unit, 124: power supply unit, 125: oscillation circuit, 126: pump drive circuit, 127: valve drive circuit, 131: blood pressure measurement air system component, 132: pressure sensor, 133: inflation/contraction mechanism, 134: pump, 135: valve, 140: air tube, 150A to K, 150×: sphygmomanometer cuff, 151: air bladder, 152: inner sheet, 152a: compression acting surface, 153: outer sheet, 161: cover body, 162: inner peripheral side sheet portion, 162a: first sheet layer, 162b: second sheet layer, 162c: accommodation space, 163: outer peripheral side sheet portion, 164: surface fastener, 166a: joining portion, 166b: joining portion, 167: sutured portion (zigzag stitch), 168: shell, 168a: grip, 168b: unlock button, 171: cushion material, 171A to 171D: divided body, 171a to 171d: thick portion, 181: curler, 182: resin plate, 183: fabric, 200: upper arm, 210: artery.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment described below, a sphygmomanometer mounted on an oscillometric type upper arm sphygmomanometer intended to have the upper arm as the measuring site, and a cuff thereof will be described by way of example.
As shown in
The cuff 150A is intended to be wrapped around the upper arm of the left arm or the upper arm of the right arm of a subject, and has a band-shaped outer shape. The cuff 150A includes an air bladder 151 (see
The cuff 150A and the device main body 110 are connected by an air tube 140 serving as a connection tube. The air tube 140 is a flexible tube, where one end is connected to a blood pressure measurement air system component 131 (see
As shown in
Furthermore, the device main body 110 is installed with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 122 for controlling and monitoring each unit in a concentrated manner, a memory unit 123 for storing a program for causing the CPU 122 to perform a predetermined operation and various information such as measured blood pressure values, the display unit 114 for displaying various information including blood pressure measurement result, the operation unit 115 operated to input various instructions for measurement, and a power supply unit 124 for supplying power to the CPU 122 and each function block. The CPU 122 also functions as a blood pressure value calculation unit for calculating the blood pressure value.
The pressure sensor 132 detects the pressure in the air bladder 151 (hereinafter referred to as “cuff pressure”), and outputs a signal corresponding to the detected pressure to the oscillation circuit 125. The pump 134 supplies air to the air bladder 151. The valve 135 opens/closes when maintaining the pressure in the air bladder 151, or exhausting the air in the air bladder 151. The oscillation circuit 125 outputs a signal of an oscillating frequency corresponding to the output value of the pressure sensor 132 to the CPU 122. The pump drive circuit 126 controls the drive of the pump 134 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 122. The valve drive circuit 127 performs open/close control of the valve 135 based on a control signal provided from the CPU 122.
As shown in
The CPU 122 then calculates the blood pressure value (systolic blood pressure value, diastolic blood pressure value) through a known procedure (step S4). Specifically, in the process of gradually depressurizing the cuff pressure, the CPU 122 extracts the pulse wave information based on the oscillating frequency obtained from the oscillation circuit 125. The blood pressure value is calculated from the extracted pulse wave information. After the blood pressure value is calculated in step S4, the calculated blood pressure value is displayed on the display unit 114 (step S5). The measurement method described above is based on a so-called depressurization measurement method of detecting the pulse wave when depressurizing the air bladder and calculating the blood pressure value, but it should be apparent that a so-called pressurization measurement method of detecting the pulse wave when pressurizing the air bladder and calculating the blood pressure value may be adopted.
As shown in
As shown in
The material of the resin sheet configuring the air bladder 151 may be of any type as long as it excels in stretchability, and air does not leak out from the inflation/contraction space after welding. From such a standpoint, the suitable material of the resin sheet is ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyurethane (PU), polyamide (PA), raw rubber, or the like.
As shown in
The cover body 161 is suitably formed from a fabric of synthetic fiber such as polyamide (PA) and polyester, and welding, suturing, or the like is employed to join the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 and the outer peripheral side sheet portion 163. The inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161 is suitably configured by a member excelling in stretchability, and the outer peripheral side sheet portion 163 of the cover body 161 is suitably configured by a member which stretchability is inferior to the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162.
As shown in
The cushion material 171 preferably has a high compressibility in the thickness direction, which compressibility is more suitably higher than the compressibility in the thickness direction of the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162. The hardness of the cushion material 171 may lead to the cause of lowering in accuracy of the blood pressure measurement, and thus is desirably smaller than or equal to the sponge hardness 20 (Asker C (SRIS-0101)). From such a standpoint, an independently foamed or simultaneously foamed sponge member made from rubber or synthetic resin can be used for the cushion material 171, and suitably, urethane foam, rubber sponge, or the like is particularly used. The thickness of the cushion material 171 is not particularly limited, but is suitably about greater than or equal to 1 mm and smaller than or equal to 15 mm.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
When the air bladder 151 is inflated for blood pressure measurement, the inner sheet 152 of the air bladder 151 moves towards the upper arm 200 side with the inflation of the air bladder 151, and the compression acting surface 152a, which is the main surface on the upper arm 200 side, closely attaches to the cushion material 171. The cushion material 171 is then sandwiched by the air bladder 151 and the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161, and compressed in the thickness direction thereof. When the cushion material 171 is sufficiently compressed, the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161 also moves towards the upper arm 200 side, and closely attaches to the upper arm 200.
In this case, as shown in
The wrinkles do not form at the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161 since the cushion material 171 is made from a material having excellent compressibility, as described above, and the frictional force is alleviated as part of the cushion material 171 elastically deforms. Thus, the close-attachment of the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 and the upper arm 200 is not impaired, and obviously, part of the skin of the upper arm 200 will not be trapped in the wrinkles when measuring the blood pressure, and thus internal bleeding will not occur at the upper arm 200.
At the portion the wrinkles S are not formed, the cushion material 171 is sufficiently compressed by the air bladder 151 and the upper arm 200, and thus the compression force due to inflation of the air bladder 151 is sufficiently transmitted to the upper arm 200, and lack of compression force of the upper arm 200 due to the arrangement of the cushion material 171 does not arise.
Therefore, with the sphygmomanometer cuff 150A according to the present embodiment, even if wrinkles S are formed at the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 when measuring the blood pressure, the cushion material 171 mainly enters the valley portions of the wrinkles S, and there is no room for the skin to be caught at the valley portions of the winkles S. Therefore, the sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced is obtained. Furthermore, a sphygmomanometer in which internal bleeding does not occur at the measuring site in time of measurement is obtained with the sphygmomanometer equipped with the sphygmomanometer cuff.
As a secondary effect, the air bladder 151 is compressed from the outside by the restoring force of the cushion material 171 in exhausting air from the air bladder 151 during the blood pressure measurement or after the blood pressure measurement, and thus the air in the air bladder 151 can be rapidly pushed out, and an effect of more rapid blood pressure measurement can be expected. Moreover, since the cushion material 171 is arranged between the upper arm 200 and the air bladder 151 when the sphygmomanometer cuff 150A is worn, the feeling of pressure when compressing the upper arm 200 by the air bladder 151 becomes smooth, and the subject will not feel pain caused by the sudden compression. In addition, the air bladder 151 is protected since the compression acting surface 152a side of the air bladder 151 is covered by the cushion material 171.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff 150A according to the first embodiment described above, a case in which the cushion material 171 is not particularly fixed has been described by way of example, but a configuration of fixing the cushion material to the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161 or the inner sheet 152 of the air bladder 151 to prevent the cushion material 171 from shifting position or bending may be adopted. The fixing method for this case may be either method of welding or adhering, or a combination thereof when fixing the cushion material 171 to the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161. Any method of suturing, welding, or adhering, or a combination thereof may be used when fixing the cushion material 171 to the inner sheet 152 of the air bladder 151. If suturing is adopted, a zigzag stitch described in a second variant of the present embodiment, to be hereinafter described, is preferably used.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff 150A according to the present embodiment described above, a case in which the cushion material 171 is arranged between the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 and the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161 has been described by way of example. However, the cushion material 171 can exhibit the function of preventing internal bleeding as long as it is positioned on the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 side than the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 when the sphygmomanometer cuff is worn. Variants of when the arrangement position of the cushion material 171 is changed will be described below.
Even if configured as above, the cushion material 171 and the second sheet layer 162b of the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 mainly enter the valley portions of the wrinkles when wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 when measuring the blood pressure, and thus there is no room for the skin to be caught at the valley portions of the wrinkles. Therefore, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced is obtained.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff 1506 according to the first variant, a case in which the cushion material 171 is not particularly fixed has been described by way of example, but a configuration in which the cushion material is fixed to the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 to prevent the cushion material 171 from shifting position or bending may be adopted. In this case, the cushion material 171 may be attached to the first sheet layer 162a or/and the second sheet layer 162b of the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162. The fixing method for this case may be any method of suturing, welding, or adhering, or a combination thereof. If suturing is adopted, a zigzag stitch described in a second variant, to be hereinafter described, is preferably used. Furthermore, an advantage in that the stitches are not exposed at the surface of the sphygmomanometer cuff 1508 can be obtained by suturing the cushion material 171 to the second sheet layer 162b when adopting suturing.
When configured in such a manner, the cushion material 171 needs to be fixed to the cover body 161.
Even if configured as above, the cushion material 171 and the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 mainly enter the valley portions of the wrinkles when wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 when measuring the blood pressure, and thus there is no room for the skin to be caught at the valley portions of the wrinkles. Therefore, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced is obtained.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff 150C according to the second variant, a case in which the cushion material 171 is attached to the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 by suturing has been described by way of example, but the cushion material 171 may be attached to the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 by welding or adhering.
In the present embodiment, the first variant, and the second variant, a case in which the cushion material 171 is arranged so as to cover the entire surface of the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 has been described by way of example, but the cushion material 171 may cover only part of the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151, in which case the cushion material 171 may be configured by a plurality of divided bodies. In this case, the cushion material or the divided body thereof is preferably arranged so as to cover the portion where the wrinkle is likely to form at the air bladder 151. A variant of one example of when configured in such a manner will be described below.
According to such a configuration, the divided body 171 of the cushion material is arranged between the upper arm and the air bladder 151 at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the air bladder and the vicinity of the nipple portion, which are portions where wrinkles particularly easily form, and thus the cushion material 171 and the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 mainly enter the valley portions of the wrinkles and there is no room for the skin to be caught at the valley portions of the wrinkles. Therefore, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced is obtained.
In the present embodiment, and the first variant to the third variant, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which only the air bladder 151 and the cushion material 171 are accommodated inside the cover body 161 has been described by way of example, but a configuration including other internal structures may be adopted. One example will be described below.
The curler 181 is adhered/fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the air bladder 151 by an adhesive member such as a double-sided tape (not shown). The curler 181 is configured to lie along the upper arm by maintaining its annular state, and enables the cuff 150E to be easily worn at the upper arm by the subject and biases the air bladder 151 towards the upper arm side when the cuff 150E is worn at the upper arm. The curler 181 is made from resin material such as polypropylene (PP) to express sufficient elastic force.
Even if configured as above, the cushion material 171 mainly enters the valley portions of the wrinkles when wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 when measuring the blood pressure, and thus there is no room for the skin to be caught at the valley portions of the wrinkles. Therefore, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced is obtained.
First, the outer appearance structure of the sphygmomanometer according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to
The device main body 110 has the display unit 114 and the operation unit 115. The display unit 114 visually displays the measurement result of the blood pressure value, the measurement result of the pulse rate, and the like using numerical values and graphs. A liquid crystal panel, or the like is used for the display unit 114. The operation unit 115 is arranged with a power button, a measurement start button, and the like. An elbow placing section 119 for the subject to place the elbow when taking a measurement position is arranged at a predetermined position on the upper surface of the device main body 110 adjacent to the operation unit 115 and the display unit 114, as shown in
The cuff 150F serving as the upper arm inserting section includes a shell 168 having a substantially cylindrical outer shape. A grip 168a gripped by the subject to turnably move the cuff 150F serving as the upper arm inserting section is arranged at a predetermined position on the outer peripheral surface of the shell 168. An unlock button 168b used to turnably move the cuff 150F accommodated on the device main body 110 is arranged near the grip 168a. A detailed structure (in particular, internal structure) of the cuff 150F will be hereinafter described.
The cuff 150F is coupled to be freely turnable in the up and down direction with respect to the device main body 110 by a turnably coupling mechanism including a turning shaft. Specifically, the device main body 110 and the cuff 150F are coupled in a freely turning manner in a direction of an arrow B in the figure by the turning shaft arranged in the device main body 110 closer to the front end positioned on the subject side.
The internal structure of the sphygmomanometer cuff according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to
The air bladder 151 has a substantially rectangular outer shape in the developed state, and is a bag-shaped member suitably formed using a resin sheet. The air bladder 151 is formed to a bag-shape by overlapping the inner sheet 152, which is to be positioned on the upper arm side when the upper arm is inserted to the hollow portion of the cuff 150F, and the outer sheet 153, which is to be positioned on the outer side than the inner sheet 152, and welding the peripheral edges, and is interiorly formed with an inflation/contraction space. The inflation/contraction space is connected to the air tube (not shown) so as to be pressurized/depressurized by the inflation/contraction mechanism (not shown) arranged in the device main body 110. The main surface of the inner sheet 152 of the air bladder 151 that is to be positioned on the upper arm side when the upper arm is inserted to the hollow portion of the cuff 150F functions as the compression acting surface 152a for compressing the upper arm in the pressurizing state.
The cover body 161 is configured by the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162, which is the inner fabric to be positioned on the upper arm side when worn at the upper arm, and the shell 168 configuring the casing of the cuff 150F serving as the upper arm inserting section, where the air bladder 151 described above is accommodated therein.
The cushion material 171 is a compressible member of even thickness having a substantially rectangular outer shape in a developed state. The cushion material 171 is accommodated in the space formed in the interior of the cover body 161 along with the air bladder 151, and is interposed between the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 and the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161 so as to cover the entire surface of the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151. The cushion material 171 is arranged to cover the entire surface of the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151.
The material and the shape similar to those described in the first embodiment can be used for the air bladder 151, the inner peripheral side sheet portion 161, and the cushion material 171.
In addition to the air bladder 151 and the cushion material 171, a resin plate 182 having a relatively large rigidity, which is a shape maintaining member, positioned on the outer side of the air bladder 151 to maintain the shape of the air bladder 151 of small rigidity, and a fabric 183, which is a low friction member, positioned on the outer side of the resin plate 182 and contacting the inner peripheral surface side of the shell 168 are arranged in the interior of the cover body 161 including the shell 168 and the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162.
Therefore, effects similar to the first embodiment are obtained even if the sphygmomanometer and the sphygmomanometer cuff are configured as above. In other words, the cushion material 171 mainly enters the valley portions of the wrinkles when wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 when measuring the blood pressure, and thus there is no room for the skin to be caught at the valley portions of the wrinkles. Therefore, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced and the sphygmomanometer equipped with the same are obtained.
In the sphygmomanometer cuff 150F according to the present embodiment, a case in which the cushion material 171 is arranged between the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 and the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161 has been described by way of example. However, the function of preventing internal bleeding is exhibited as long as the cushion material 171 is positioned on the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 side than the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 when the sphygmomanometer cuff is worn. Variants of when the arrangement position of the cushion material 171 is changed will be described below.
Even if configured as above, the cushion material 171 and the second sheet layer 162b of the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 mainly enter the valley portions of the wrinkles when wrinkles are formed at the compression acting surface 152a of the air bladder 151 when measuring the blood pressure, and thus there is no room for the skin to be caught at the valley portions of the wrinkles. Therefore, a sphygmomanometer cuff in which the possibility of causing internal bleeding is greatly reduced is obtained.
Although illustration will be omitted, the cushion material 171 may obviously be attached to the exposed surface of the inner peripheral side sheet portion 162 of the cover body 161, similar to the third variant of the first embodiment, where internal bleeding can be prevented in this case as well.
In the present embodiment and the first variant thereof, a case of using a sheet-like cushion material having an even thickness has been described by way of example, but the thickness and the shape may be variously changed. Cases in which the thickness, the shape, and the like of the cushion material are variously changed will be described below as variants.
In the first and second embodiments as well as the variants thereof, the cushion material is positioned between the compression acting surface of the air bladder and the measuring site of the living body when the sphygmomanometer cuff is worn. When measuring the blood pressure, the cushion material is sufficiently compressed in the thickness direction, so that the compression force on the measuring site by the air bladder does not lower. However, if the cuff pressure is significantly low even though the cushion material is sufficiently soft, or if the cushion material is relatively hard, the pressure may be attenuated by the cushion material in the process of the arterial pressure being transmitted to the air bladder. The reason for occurrence of such a problem will be described below with reference to the drawings.
As shown in
One countermeasure for preventing lowering in the measurement accuracy by the pressure propagation loss will be described below.
This countermeasure references the cuff pressure in a state where the cushion material is sufficiently compressed and the pressure propagation loss by the cushion material is presumed to be small to a negligible extent, and compares with a predefined value to correct the diastolic blood pressure value, thereby preventing lowering in the measurement accuracy.
Specifically, for example, when the determining condition of the diastolic blood pressure value ADIA is calculated from a maximum pulse wave amplitude value AMAX, the relationship thereof is as expressed in the following equation (1).
A
DIA
=α×A
MAX (1)
Here, α is a coefficient derived from great number of data.
Assuming correction is performed when the maximum pulse wave amplitude value AmAx is smaller than 80 mmHg, the calculation formula of the diastolic blood pressure value ADIA of when performing correction is as expressed in the following equation (2).
A
DIA
=α×A
MAX×(1−(80−P)/80) (2)
Here, P is a cuff pressure value at the time point the maximum pulse wave amplitude value is observed.
If such countermeasure is adopted, the error of the diastolic blood pressure value that occurs with the pressure propagation loss can be corrected through correction, whereby a more accurate blood pressure value measurement becomes possible. In the specific example described above, one example in the case where the diastolic blood pressure value ADIA is determined by the maximum pulse wave amplitude value AMAX is shown, but correction can be applied through a similar method even when the diastolic blood pressure value ADIA is determined by the systolic blood pressure value ASYS.
In the first and second embodiments as well as the variants thereof described above, the sphygmomanometer cuff intended to be worn at the upper arm and the sphygmomanometer equipped with the same have been described by way of example, but the present invention may be applied to the sphygmomanometer cuff intended to be worn at the wrist and the sphygmomanometer equipped with the same.
It should be apparent that the characteristic configurations described in the first and the second embodiments as well as the variants thereof may be implemented by being combined with each other.
In the first and the second embodiments as well as the variants thereof, a case in which the present invention is applied to the oscillometric type sphygmomanometer cuff has been described by way of example, but it should be apparent that the present invention may be applied to a Korotkoff type sphygmomanometer cuff.
Each embodiment disclosed herein is illustrative in all aspects, and is not restrictive. The technical scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and encompasses meanings equivalent to the description of the claims and all modifications made within the scope.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-274223 | Oct 2006 | JP | national |
This application is a National Stage application of PCT/JP2007/068975, filed Sep. 28, 2007, which claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Application No. 2006-274223, filed Oct. 5, 2006, the entire contents of these applications hereby incorporated by reference.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2007/068975 | 9/28/2007 | WO | 00 | 1/20/2010 |
