Smart diaper system equipped with enhanced sensors using repeater

Abstract

The present invention relates to a smart diaper system (1). Such a smart diaper system (1) comprises: a sensor unit (3) that is placed in a diaper (2) to detect defecation and urination and transmits the detected data to the outside by means of a signal; a floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) that is provided on each floor to receive and transmit data transmitted from the sensor unit (3) of the diaper (2) provided in each hospital room, and detects and transmits the status of each hospital room; and a server (9) that analyzes the data transmitted from the floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) by artificial intelligence to determine whether defecation and urination have occurred, whether there is an odor, and to perform measurement value correction.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a smart diaper system, and more specifically, to a technology in which a sensor applied to a smart diaper also serves as a relay, making it convenient to use even in environments such as nursing homes, improving the quality of life of care recipients, increasing the work efficiency of caregivers and guardians, and improving the operation of care centers. Background Technology

[0002] With the entry into an aging society, the demand for in-home care services is surging, and in particular, there is a growing need for technology that can monitor the health status of care recipients in real time and respond quickly.

[0003] Existing care services rely primarily on human labor, which limits their management efficiency and accuracy. Accordingly, smart care systems incorporating advanced technology are being developed.

[0004] However, since current in-home care services utilize basic monitoring devices and manual management systems, these systems lack real-time monitoring and data analysis capabilities, making it difficult to rapidly detect and respond to changes in the care recipient's condition.

[0005] In addition, the lack of smooth information sharing between caregivers and guardians is causing a problem of deteriorating quality of care.

[0006] In addition, home care patients wear a diaper between their legs to accommodate bowel movements or urination.

[0007] Furthermore, these diapers are used as assistive devices for excretion or as nursing hygiene products by retaining and absorbing excrement without leakage for people, such as patients, who have difficulty excreting on their own.

[0008] Therefore, as defecation or urination can serve as important data for assessing a user's health status, diapers capable of automatically detecting defecation or urination are being proposed.

[0009] In other words, these diapers detect defecation or urination using sensors and transmit the detected signals to an external management office or smartphone via a relay, thereby allowing for the determination of whether defecation or urination has occurred even from a remote location.

[0010] However, conventional diapers have the following problems.

[0011] First, there is a problem in that urination and defecation cannot be detected accurately and quickly due to the performance limitations of the sensor.

[0012] Second, since the repeater transmits the signal detected by the sensor, there is a problem in that it cannot transmit quickly due to limitations in the repeater's performance. Prior art literature

[0013] Patent Application No. 10-2016-0021391 (Title: Smart Diaper) The problem to be solved

[0014] Accordingly, the present invention has been devised to solve such problems, and the objective of the present invention is to provide a technology in which a sensor applied to a smart diaper also serves as a relay, making it convenient to use even in environments such as nursing homes, improving the quality of life of the person being cared for, increasing the work efficiency of caregivers and guardians, and improving the operation of the care center. means of solving the problem

[0015] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose, a smart diaper system (1) according to one embodiment of the present invention is,

[0016] A sensor unit (3) that is placed in the diaper (2) to detect defecation and urination and transmits the detected data to the outside by means of a signal;

[0017] A floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) that is equipped on each floor and receives data transmitted from a sensor unit (3) of a diaper (2) equipped in each hospital room, and detects and transmits the status of each hospital room; and

[0018] It includes a server (9) that analyzes data transmitted from floor-by-floor LoRa receivers (7) using artificial intelligence to determine whether defecation and urination have occurred, whether there is an odor, and performs measurement value correction. Effects of the invention

[0019] As described above, a smart diaper system according to one embodiment of the present invention has the following effects.

[0020] First, real-time health monitoring enables rapid response, allowing for effective care services, and can be applied particularly to smart pilot welfare research projects.

[0021] Second, by having the sensor equipped in the diaper also serve as a relay, when there are multiple diapers, one of the relay modules performs the role of a relay, and the remaining sensor parts perform the role of a simple sensor. This eliminates the need to separately equip a relay in the hospital room, requiring only floor-by-floor LoRa receiver relays, and effectively saves the sensor's battery, thereby extending the usage time.

[0022] Third, by equipping the LoRa receivers, which are placed on each floor and act as routers, with sensors capable of detecting air quality, temperature, and humidity, and by detecting the air quality status within the patient rooms on each floor, it is possible to perform the combined functions of data transmission and detection of the temperature, humidity, and air quality of the patient rooms.

[0023] Fourth, real-time monitoring of multiple subjects allows for the efficient operation of the protection center.

[0024] Fifth, health data management is efficient through the long-term accumulation of health data and personalized management. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0025] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a system for transmitting and receiving defecation and urination signals by connecting a smart diaper, a sensor, and a LoRa receiver to a server via a network according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a structure in which the sensor part of the smart diaper illustrated in FIG. 1 and a LoRa receiver are placed in each room. Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the structure in which the sensor unit illustrated in Figure 1 is mounted on a diaper. Figure 3 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of the sensor part of the smart diaper illustrated in Figure 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing the process in which, when there are multiple sensor units as illustrated in FIG. 3, one of the sensor units performs the role of a relay, and the remaining sensor units perform only the role of a sensor. Figure 5 is a side view showing the internal structure of the sensor unit of Figure 3. Figure 6 is a hardware configuration diagram of the sensor unit of Figure 4, showing the sensor, the group module, and the relay module. Figure 7 is an exploded assembly diagram of the sensor part of Figure 4. Figure 8 is a plan view showing the main body and sensor structure of the sensor unit of Figure 4. Figure 9 is a diagram schematically showing the structure of the LoRa receiver illustrated in Figure 1. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0026] Hereinafter, a smart diaper system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0027] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 9, the smart diaper system (1) proposed by the present invention can detect defecation and urination in real time by connecting the sensor part (3) of the smart diaper (2) and the layered LoRa receiver (7) to the server (9) via a network in a wired or wireless manner.

[0028] This smart diaper system (1) includes: a sensor unit (3) that is placed in the diaper (2) to detect defecation and urination and transmits the detected data to the outside by means of a signal; a floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) that is provided on each floor to receive and transmit data transmitted from the sensor unit (3) of the diaper (2) provided in each hospital room, and detects and transmits the status of each hospital room; and a server (9) that analyzes the data transmitted from the floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) by artificial intelligence to determine whether defecation and urination have occurred, whether there is an odor, and performs measurement value correction.

[0029] To explain in more detail,

[0030] The smart diaper (2) is equipped with a sensor unit (3) so that it can detect defecation, urination, movement and activity of the wearer, and air quality conditions in real time, and can act as a relay to transmit and receive the detected data to the outside.

[0031] The sensor unit (3) comprises a main body (10); an acceleration sensor (12) provided inside the main body (10) and detecting the wearer's movements and activities; an air quality sensor (16) that monitors air quality, such as carbon monoxide and hydrogen sulfide; an electrode (14) that electrically contacts a conductive pattern (4) placed on the diaper (2); a capacitance sensor (18) connected to the electrode (14) and detecting changes in the current flowing through the conductive pattern (4); a relay module (19) that transmits the detected data externally via a low-power communication method (LORa) and a Bluetooth method (BLE); a group module (15) that forms a group with neighboring sensors to communicate with each other and determines whether to act as a relay within the group; and a battery (B).

[0032] In this sensor part (3),

[0033] The acceleration sensor (12) is a sensor that processes an output signal to measure dynamic forces such as acceleration, vibration, and shock of the diaper (2), and is classified into inertial, gyroscopic, and silicon semiconductor types.

[0034] The air quality sensor (16) is a sensor for measuring the concentration of ammonia and consists of an ammonium ion selective membrane or an ammonia gas permeable membrane and a composite hydrogen ion electrode. The ammonia concentration can be measured by measuring the change in hydrogen ion concentration caused by ammonium ions or ammonia gas diffusing into the membrane using the hydrogen ion electrode.

[0035] And the air quality sensor (16) includes a sensor capable of measuring the concentration of hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, etc. Thus, it can detect the air quality and temperature and humidity inside the hospital room.

[0036] And, the electrode (14) is electrically connected to the surface of the diaper (2).

[0037] That is, the electrode (14) is connected to the capacitive sensor (18), so that when the wearer defecates or urinates while wearing the diaper (2), moisture comes into contact with the electrode (14) and is transmitted to the capacitive sensor (18), which is converted into a digital measurement value, and this measurement value is transmitted to the server (9) through the relay module (19) and the layer-by-layer LoRa receiver (7) so that the defecation and urination status can be analyzed.

[0038] Meanwhile, the relay module (19) receives data detected by the sensors (12, 16, 18) and transmits it externally using a low-power communication method (LORa) and a Bluetooth method (BLE).

[0039] To explain in more detail, the relay module (19) includes a LORa module (20) capable of stable communication with low power; a BLE module (22) for transmitting and receiving Bluetooth signals; and an antenna (23) for transmitting signals from the LORa module (20) and the BLE module (22) to the outside.

[0040] In this relay module (19),

[0041] The LORa module (20) is a low-power wide-area (LPWA) communication technology that enables objects to communicate with each other. It is a wireless wide-area communication network with low power consumption that has a very wide service range of more than 10 km and provides a communication speed of up to several hundred kilobits (kbps) per second. It is also referred to as a dedicated network for the Internet of Things (IoT).

[0042] This LORa module (20) transmits signals detected by each sensor of the diaper (2) to the outside through a network. At this time, the LORa module (20) converts the signals received from the sensors into Bluetooth or Wi-Fi signals and transmits them, typically in the 900 MHz frequency band.

[0043] In addition, low-power long-range communication methods are classified into LoRa (LORa WAN), Sigfox, LTE-MTC (LTE Machine-Type Communications), and Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) methods.

[0044] A BLE module (Bluetooth Low Energy; 22) refers to Bluetooth technology capable of transmitting and receiving low-power, low-capacity data in the 2.4 GHz frequency band with a range of about 10 meters (m).

[0045] These BLE modules (22) have a duty cycle of a few milliseconds (ms) and spend most of the time in sleep mode, so they consume very little power and use a bandwidth of 2 MHz and support a transmission speed of 1 Mbps, but because the duty cycle is short, the average transmission speed is 200 kbps or less.

[0046] These BLE modules (22) are mainly used in micro-Internet of Things (IoT) devices where power supply is limited, such as beacons, watches, toys, and wearable computers.

[0047] And, the group module (15) communicates with neighboring sensor units through the antenna (23) and determines which sensor among the plurality of sensors will act as a relay.

[0048] This decision is calculated by software mounted on the group module (15), and when there is only one diaper, the sensor relay module (19) performs the role of a relay, but when there are multiple diapers, one of the multiple relay modules (19) performs the role of a relay, and the remaining sensor parts are controlled to perform the role of a simple sensor.

[0049] At this time, the process calculated by the software detects the battery capacity of each sensor unit (3) and makes the sensor unit (3) with the highest battery capacity (strength) perform the role of a relay.

[0050] And, when it is decided to perform the role of a repeater, the signal is transmitted to the layered LoRa receiver (7) through the repeater module (19) of the sensor unit via the LoRa module (20) or the BLE module (22).

[0051] This group module (15) refers to a microprocessor composed of a control unit, an arithmetic unit, and a register, which processes input values ​​by a program.

[0052] Then, capacitance and resistance fluctuation data, acceleration data, and air quality data detected by the sensor unit (3) mounted on the diaper (2) are transmitted to the layered LoRa receiver (7) through the antenna (23).

[0053] The above-mentioned layered LoRa receiver (7) detects temperature, humidity, and gas, and also receives a signal transmitted from the sensor unit (3) through the antenna (23) and transmits it to the server (9).

[0054] To explain in more detail, as shown in FIG. 9, the floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) receives measurements received from the sensor part (3) of each diaper (2) in the hospital room and transmits them to the server (9).

[0055] The floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) includes a LoRa module (24) that performs Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication; a transceiver (26) that transmits and receives signals from the LoRa module (24); an antenna (28) that transmits signals from the transceiver (26) to the outside; a LAN pod (30) connected to a network; a sensor module (32) that detects temperature, humidity, and gas inside the hospital room; an LED unit (34) that displays the status of the floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7); and a display window (36).

[0056] To explain in more detail, the LORa module (24) is a microcontroller that performs both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication. This LORa module (24) can be applied to various products, for example, an ESP8266 microcontroller.

[0057] That is, the LORa module (24) consists of a processor, memory, a communication module, and an interface. At this time, wireless communication includes Wi-Fi communication [802.11b / g / n (2.4 GHz)] and Bluetooth communication [v4.2 BR / EDR and Bluetooth LE].

[0058] And, the transceiver (26) transmits and receives the signal of the LORa module (24) through the antenna (28) by implementing the transmitter and receiver as one. Various products can be applied to this transceiver (26), for example, the SX1262 can be applied.

[0059] The antenna (28) includes an antenna (40) for LORa module communication and a BLE module / Wi-Fi antenna (42). Thus, both BLE module signals and Wi-Fi signals can be transmitted and received.

[0060] The sensor module (32) detects the air quality inside the hospital room. That is, the sensor module (32) includes a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and a gas sensor. Therefore, the air temperature, humidity, and gas content inside the hospital room can be determined.

[0061] The LED section (34) is configured with a plurality of LEDs, including a red LED in the case of a LORa module (20) signal; a green LED in the case of a Wi-Fi signal; and a blue LED in the case of a BLE module (22) signal.

[0062] The display window (36) is an OLED type display window (36) that displays the status and values ​​of the layered LoRa receiver (7).

[0063] In this way, data signals transmitted from multiple diapers (2) in each hospital room are transmitted to the server (9) through the floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) of each floor.

[0064] And the server (9) determines whether there is defecation or urination, whether there is an odor, and whether there is operation by calculating each data transmitted through the floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) using artificial intelligence, and performs correction of the measurement value as needed.

Claims

Claim 1 A sensor unit (3) placed in a diaper (2) to detect defecation and urination and to transmit the detected data to the outside by means of a signal; a floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) provided on each floor to receive and transmit data transmitted from the sensor unit (3) of the diaper (2) provided in each hospital room, and to detect and transmit the status of each hospital room; and a server (9) that analyzes the data transmitted from the floor-by-floor LoRa receiver (7) by artificial intelligence to determine whether defecation and urination have occurred, whether there is an odor, and to perform measurement value correction, wherein the sensor unit (3) includes an acceleration sensor (12), an air quality sensor (16), a capacitance sensor (18), and a relay module (19) integrally inside the main body (10) to serve as a relay, communicates with neighboring sensor units through an antenna (23) to detect the battery capacity of each sensor unit (3) in real time, selects the sensor unit (3) with the largest battery capacity as the representative sensor performing the relay role, and controls the remaining sensor units to perform the role of sensors. A smart diaper system including a module (15). Claim 2 In claim 1, the sensor unit (3) comprises a main body (10); an acceleration sensor (12) provided inside the main body (10) and detecting the movement and activity of the wearer; an air quality sensor (16) for monitoring air quality; an electrode (14) that electrically contacts a conductive pattern (4) placed on the diaper (2); a capacitance sensor (18) connected to the electrode (14) and detecting a change in current flowing through the conductive pattern (4); a relay module (19) that transmits the detected data to the outside using a low-power communication method (LORa) and a Bluetooth method (BLE); a group module (15) that forms a group with neighboring sensors to communicate with each other and determines whether to act as a relay within the group; and a battery (19), comprising a smart diaper system. Claim 3 In claim 2, the relay module (19) comprises a LORa module (20) capable of stable communication with low power; a BLE module (22) for transmitting and receiving Bluetooth signals; and an antenna for transmitting signals from the LORa module (20) and the BLE module (22) to the outside, forming a smart diaper system. Claim 4 delete Claim 5 In claim 1, the layered LoRa receiver (7) comprises a LoRa module (24) that performs Wi-Fi and Bluetooth communication; a transceiver (26) that transmits and receives signals from the LoRa module (24); an antenna (28) that transmits signals from the transceiver (26) to the outside; a LAN pod (30) connected to a network; an LED unit (34) that displays the status of the layered LoRa receiver (7); and a display window (36), forming a smart diaper system. Claim 6 In claim 5, the layer-by-layer LoRa receiver (7) further includes a sensor module (32) that detects temperature, humidity, and gas inside the hospital room, in a smart diaper system.

Images