A swallowing test system

Abstract

The present invention discloses a swallowing test system, characterized in that the system comprises: a myoelectric signal acquisition patch (1), a signal acquisition device (2), a microcurrent generating device (3), an error compensation module (4), a signal processing module (5) and a swallowing detection module (6), wherein the myoelectric signal acquisition patch (1) has an electrode array comprising a plurality of electrodes, the signal acquisition device (2) is a multi-channel signal acquisition channel, each channel corresponds to an electrode, and each signal acquisition channel can be switched between signal acquisition and current input or output.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of medical devices, and in particular relates to a swallowing test system. Background Art

[0002] Swallowing is an essential process for the human body to take in food. People swallow about 600 times a day, which is the main way for humans to maintain life.

[0003] Deglutition disorders are a medical symptom, not a medical disease. Dysphagia refers to difficulty swallowing caused by various reasons and occurring in different parts of the body. Dysphagia can affect food intake and nutrient absorption, and can also cause aspiration pneumonia caused by accidental inhalation of food into the trachea, which can be life-threatening in severe cases. The primary disease causing dysphagia should be identified and treated according to the cause. Rehabilitation training is a necessary measure to improve neurological dysphagia.

[0004] Relevant data show that dysphagia may occur in people of any age, and there are many causes of dysphagia. Any disease or pathological condition that can temporarily or permanently cause obstruction and stenosis of the swallowing passage (oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus), weakened or uncoordinated muscle contraction, reduced glandular secretion, etc. can cause dysphagia. Dysphagia affects the patient's daily basic life and can even be life-threatening in severe cases. Therefore, timely and accurate evaluation and diagnosis of the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia is of great significance to patients, their families and society.

[0005] During swallowing, 26 muscles related to swallowing function need to contract in a certain order to generate force to move food from the mouth to the stomach to complete swallowing. During swallowing, the contraction of swallowing muscles generates electrical signals. The electrical signals of neuromuscular activity measured on the body surface have a strong electrophysiological correlation with swallowing function. Therefore, the use of surface electromyography signals to study the swallowing mechanism has always attracted widespread attention from researchers and clinicians.

[0006] In existing swallowing test equipment, an electrode sheet with multiple electrodes is generally used, which is attached to the epidermis near the human swallowing muscles. Based on this principle, some manufacturers have produced equipment for swallowing disorder research based on the strong electrophysiological correlation between the neuromuscular activity electrical signals measured on the body surface and the swallowing function. These devices are based on the time domain characteristic information and frequency domain characteristic information obtained from the surface electromyography signal, and establish the correspondence between the time domain characteristic information and the frequency domain characteristic information and each swallowing muscle according to the time domain characteristic information, and obtain a high-density dynamic potential map under the characteristic time, and use these high-density dynamic potential maps to detect swallowing disorders. However, the applicant found that due to the different body fat percentage, the degree of correlation between the electromyography signal and the muscle swallowing strength, and the muscle structure of each individual, such individual differences cannot be reflected in a unified standard during the detection process, which leads to errors in the swallowing test level judgment process. Summary of the invention

[0007] The object of the present invention is to provide a swallowing test device that can better perform swallowing tests on different types of patients, especially obese patients, so as to solve the problems raised in the above-mentioned background technology.

[0008] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

[0009] A swallowing test system, characterized in that the system includes: a myoelectric signal acquisition patch, a signal acquisition device, a microcurrent generating device, an error compensation module, a signal processing module and a swallowing detection module, the myoelectric signal acquisition patch has an electrode array comprising multiple electrodes, the signal acquisition device is a multi-channel signal acquisition channel, each channel corresponds to an electrode, and each signal acquisition channel can switch between signal acquisition and current input or output.

[0010] In a preferred implementation, the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch includes an electrode array, and the electrode array is evenly arranged.

[0011] In another preferred implementation, the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch includes two working modes, the first working mode is the signal acquisition mode, and the second working mode is the current conduction efficiency test mode. When the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch is in the first working mode, each signal acquisition channel is connected to the potential signal acquisition device to perform swallowing muscle potential distribution detection. The second working mode is the current conduction efficiency test mode. When the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch is in the second working mode, each signal acquisition channel is gated, wherein the signal channel corresponding to at least one electrode sheet is connected to the microcurrent generating device, and the remaining signal acquisition channels are connected to the current signal acquisition device by gated means.

[0012] In another preferred implementation, in the second working mode, the signal acquisition channel is selected as follows: first starting from any electrode, connect it to a microcurrent generator, the microcurrent generator generates a low voltage and applies it to the electrode sheet - the electrode sheet is called the current injection end, and the remaining signal acquisition channels are selected and connected to the current signal acquisition device according to a certain rule to perform equivalent resistance measurement.

[0013] In another preferred implementation, the error compensation module is used to perform test compensation based on equivalent resistance.

[0014] In another preferred implementation, multiple electrode sheets are selected at intervals as current input terminals, the above operation is repeated to obtain multiple equivalent resistance diagrams, and the multiple equivalent resistance diagrams are averaged to obtain an average equivalent resistance diagram.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effect of the present invention is that the present invention provides a testing device that can effectively correct individual differences and thus provide a more accurate swallowing test. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a swallowing test system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the architecture of each module in the swallowing test system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a communication cable of a swallowing test system in an embodiment of the present invention, which includes a plurality of independent cables;

[0019] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of signal acquisition channel connection of a swallowing test device in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0021] See also Figure 1-Figure 4The present invention provides a swallowing test system, which includes: a myoelectric signal acquisition patch 1, a signal acquisition device 2, a microcurrent generating device 3, an error compensation module 4, a signal processing module 5, and a swallowing detection module 6. The signal acquisition device 2, the microcurrent generating device 3, the body fat rate measurement module 4, the signal processing module 5, and the swallowing detection module 6 are integrated in a chassis 100, and the myoelectric signal acquisition patch 1 is respectively connected to the signal acquisition device 2 and the microcurrent generating device 3 in the chassis through a signal transmission line.

[0022] The myoelectric current signal acquisition patch 1 includes an electrode array having 64-256 electrodes, and the electrode array can be evenly arranged in a rectangular or square form. The current signal acquisition device 2 is a multi-channel signal acquisition channel, and each channel corresponds to an electrode.

[0023] Different from the existing common signal acquisition devices, each signal acquisition channel of the present invention can be switched between signal acquisition and current input (or output), such as Figure 3 As shown, the myoelectric signal acquisition patch includes two working modes, the first working mode is the signal acquisition mode, and the second working mode is the current conduction efficiency test mode. When the myoelectric signal acquisition patch is in the first working mode, each signal acquisition channel is connected to the potential signal acquisition device 2 to perform swallowing muscle potential distribution detection, and the potential distribution diagram is collected at this time. When the myoelectric signal acquisition patch is in the second working mode, each signal acquisition channel is gated, wherein the signal channel corresponding to at least one electrode sheet is connected to the microcurrent generating device 3, and the remaining signal acquisition channels are connected to the current signal acquisition device 7 by gating. The current signal acquisition device 7 can collect multiple current signals at the same time, and the signal channels connected to the microcurrent generating device 3 are rotated. It should be noted that the circuit in the figure is only used for illustration, and the actual circuit switching process is realized by a multi-way switching switch. A group of multi-way switching switches can realize the selection of 16 channels, and two groups of switching switches in series can realize 16*16=256 channel selections.

[0024] In one implementation, in the second working mode, the signal acquisition channel is selected in the following manner: first, starting from the electrode at the upper left corner, it is connected to a microcurrent generator, and the microcurrent generator generates a low voltage applied to the electrode sheet - the electrode sheet is called the current injection end, and the low voltage is at least one order of magnitude higher than the voltage and current generated by normal swallowing of the human body to ensure that the muscle current of the human body is covered. The remaining signal acquisition channels are selected and connected to the current signal acquisition device according to a certain rule. Preferably, for all electrode sheets except the electrode connected to the microcurrent generator, they are connected to the current signal acquisition device one by one or row by row, and the electrode sheet connected to the current signal acquisition device is called the "current output end". Based on the injection voltage and the current signal collected at the current output end, the equivalent resistance between the current injection end and the current output end is determined. Based on the difference in the equivalent resistance between the same current injection end and the two adjacent current output ends, the equivalent resistance between the two adjacent current output ends can be determined. In this way, the equivalent resistance between any two electrode sheets can be obtained, and then the equivalent resistance distribution corresponding to the entire electrode sheet area can be obtained.

[0025] Select multiple electrode sheets at the corners and in the middle as current input terminals respectively, and repeat the operation in the previous paragraph to obtain multiple equivalent resistance diagrams (matrices). Averaging the equivalent resistance diagrams obtained with multiple electrode sheets as current input terminals can obtain an average equivalent resistance diagram.

[0026] Those skilled in the art should understand that, since the fat content in the human body is different and the conductivity of fat is significantly weaker than other tissues in the body, although the fat content in the neck of most people is relatively low, for obese people, there is still a lot of fat accumulated in their necks, resulting in a large deviation in the test of their myoelectric current. Therefore, the equivalent resistance distribution matrix obtained can be used as a weighting parameter to correct the potential distribution diagram measured by obese patients.

[0027] However, there are slight differences between the equivalent resistance measurement process and the potential map measurement process. Since the equivalent resistance is determined by the difference method, the data points of the equivalent resistance are less than the measurement points of the potential map in both the horizontal and vertical directions. For example, if a 10*10 electrode sheet is used for potential map measurement, the equivalent resistance value data obtained in the equivalent resistance measurement process is (10-1)*(10-1). Therefore, linear extrapolation based on the data can be performed. Based on the equivalent resistance values ​​of the two or three outermost points, linear extrapolation is performed on both sides to obtain 2 equivalent resistance values, and (9+2)*(9+2) equivalent resistance values ​​are obtained. The equivalent resistance values ​​of any two adjacent measurement points are then averaged, and the number is reduced to obtain the same equivalent resistance value as the number of electrode sheets, thereby achieving the correspondence between the equivalent resistance map and the potential distribution map, and the potential distribution map can be weighted by the equivalent resistance map.

[0028] Since the equivalent resistance is inversely proportional to the current, the equivalent resistance diagram is normalized and used as an inverse weight, multiplied by the empirical coefficient, and applied to the potential distribution diagram. Among them, φ' ij represents the corrected potential distribution of the electrode sheet in row i and column j, M represents the number of rows of the electrode sheet, N represents the number of columns of the electrode sheet, and λ ij represents the correction coefficient determined according to the equivalent resistance at the position of the electrode sheet in row i and column j. The larger the equivalent resistance, the larger the coefficient, because the equivalent resistance hinders the detection of muscle current. In one implementation, the coefficient is linearly related to the equivalent resistance. In another implementation, the coefficient is nonlinearly related to the equivalent resistance.

[0029] The swallowing test module is used to substitute the corrected potential distribution map into the image recognition module to match it with the standard potential map. The potential map matching can be achieved by using the traditional image matching method used in machine vision, or by using a deep learning algorithm to judge image similarity, which will not be described in detail here.

[0030] Example 2

[0031] In another embodiment, considering that current injection is performed only through the same current injection terminal and current reception is performed at an adjacent current receiving terminal, the equivalent resistance measurement process is actually related to the position and angle of the current injection terminal relative to the current receiving terminal, which may cause an error in the measurement of the equivalent resistance.

[0032] To address this problem, this embodiment proposes an improved solution.

[0033] In this embodiment, similar to Example 1, the swallowing test system includes: a myoelectric signal acquisition patch 1, a signal acquisition device 2, a microcurrent generating device 3, a body fat rate measurement module 4, a signal processing module 5, and a swallowing detection module 6. The signal acquisition device 2, the microcurrent generating device 3, the body fat rate measurement module 4, the signal processing module 5, and the swallowing detection module 6 are integrated in the chassis, and the myoelectric signal acquisition patch 1 is connected to the signal acquisition device 2 and the microcurrent generating device 3 in the chassis through a signal transmission line. Different from Example 1, a second electrode sheet is added in this embodiment, and the second electrode sheet is crescent-shaped (matching the space of the sublingual part), which is used to be set under the tongue of the patient being tested. The second electrode sheet includes three electrodes, left, middle, and right, and the three electrodes are independently controlled from each other. The second electrode sheet is electrically connected to the microcurrent generating device 3, and the microcurrent generating device 3 is used to send microcurrent to the left, middle, and right electrodes in a time-division multiplexing manner.

[0034] The myoelectric current signal acquisition patch 1 includes an electrode array having 64-256 electrodes, and the electrode array can be evenly arranged in a rectangular or square form. The current signal acquisition device 2 is a multi-channel signal acquisition channel, and each channel corresponds to an electrode.

[0035] Similar to Example 1, the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch includes two working modes, the first working mode is the signal acquisition mode, and the second working mode is the current conduction efficiency test mode. When the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch is in the first working mode, each signal acquisition channel is connected to the potential signal acquisition device 2 to perform swallowing muscle potential distribution detection, and the potential distribution diagram is collected at this time.

[0036] In the second working mode, the swallowing test system uses the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch and the second electrode patch to test the equivalent resistance distribution of the patient's mandibular and neck areas.

[0037] First, the second electrode sheet is used for testing. After cleaning and disinfecting, the second electrode sheet is placed under the patient's tongue and close to the mandible. The microcurrent generating device 3 first applies a low voltage to any one of the left, middle and right electrodes of the second electrode sheet, and then rotates in turn. Each electrode on the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch works in a gating mode. The current signal acquisition device 7 is electrically connected to the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch, and the corresponding current signals can be collected at the same time, and the current signals collected by each electrode on the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch when the internal left electrode, the middle electrode and the right electrode are applied with voltage are obtained in turn, and then the corresponding current signal is converted into an equivalent resistance to obtain a corresponding equivalent resistance distribution matrix. Since the second electrode is placed under the patient's tongue, the contact between the oral electrode patch and the mandibular tissue is significantly better than that between the in vitro patch and the mandibular muscle tissue, and relative to the fat layer on the inner side of the mandible, the mandibular muscle tissue can almost be regarded as a whole conductor. Therefore, the contact resistance between the second electrode and the oral cavity and the internal resistance of the left, middle and right parts of the mandible can be set with an initial resistance weight σ1, σ2, and σ3, respectively.

[0038] In order to simplify the description, the equivalent resistance calculation is described by taking the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch using only 3*3 electrode patches as an example. Assume that the equivalent resistance corresponding to each patch area is R ij , i and j represent the number of rows and columns of patch electrodes respectively, then the equivalent resistances of the patch electrodes in three rows and three columns are R 11 , R 12 , R 13 , R 21 , R 22 , R 23 , R 31 , R 32 and R 33Here, the description is made by taking the case where the number of columns increases from left to right as an example.

[0039] For any patch electrode corresponding area,

[0040]

[0041]

[0042]

[0043] Substituting different values ​​for i in the above formula, we can get M*N equations, where M is the number of rows and N is the number of columns. Here, both rows and columns are 3, but more columns are used in actual use. When the electrodes are arranged, the direction of the rows is parallel to the transverse direction of the human body, and the direction of the columns is along the front-back direction of the human body. In fact, an approximation is made here, and the inner part of the mandible is approximated into three pieces, which matches the arrangement of the electrodes. Through the above formula, after three rounds of testing, M*N*3 sets of equations can be obtained.

[0044] By taking the minimum variance as the optimization condition for the obtained results, parameter optimization can be performed to obtain the parameter values ​​of 6 parameters σ1, σ2, σ3, a1, a2, and a3, and then the equivalent resistance of the corresponding area of ​​each electrode sheet can be obtained.

[0045] The simulation material was used for experimental simulation, and 20 groups of simulations were performed using pork epidermis and inner tissues with different fat contents. During the simulation, samples with thin sebum layer and uneven fat layer thickness were selected, and the samples were cleaned and dried. Cut out a piece of meat close to the size of the entire patch electrode, place the second electrode on the inside of the skin, and attach the electrode patch to the outside of the skin for equivalent resistance measurement. For the convenience of the experiment, the number of electrode sheets was reduced during the test, and 3*3 electrode sheets were used. Then, according to the method of Example 1, the second electrode was not set for secondary measurement, and 5 measurements were taken to average. After the measurement is completed, the sample is cut according to the electrode size, and the equivalent resistance corresponding to each electrode sheet is measured for the cut sample. The actual equivalent resistance at each electrode sheet position measured is calculated, and the variance is calculated separately with the equivalent resistance at each position measured by Test 1 and the equivalent resistance at each position measured by Test 2. The results show that the variance of the test method of Example 2 is reduced by about 10% compared with that of the test method of Example 1.

[0046] Of course, those skilled in the art can combine the equivalent resistance measurement methods of this embodiment and embodiment 2, and then further reduce the error by weighted averaging.

[0047] An equivalent resistance map is prepared for the equivalent resistance matrix, the equivalent resistance map is normalized and applied as an inverse weight to the potential distribution map.

[0048] Substitute the corrected potential distribution map into the image recognition module and match it with the standard potential map.

[0049] The matching of potential maps can be achieved using traditional image matching methods used in machine vision, or by using deep learning algorithms to judge image similarity and detect swallowing disorders based on whether the similarity deviation exceeds a certain range.

[0050] In order to further verify the effect of the method of the present invention, a constant pulse current was applied to both ends of the test sample, and then the test was carried out with and without correction. Then, a second sample with a significant difference in fat thickness was replaced. The test showed that under the same current, the corrected potential distribution was much less affected by the difference in fat thickness than the test without correction.

[0051] The above shows and describes the basic principles, main features and advantages of the present invention. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. The above embodiments and descriptions are only for explaining the principles of the present invention. Without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, the present invention may have various changes and improvements, which fall within the scope of the present invention to be protected. The scope of protection of the present invention is defined by the attached claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A swallowing test system, characterized in that: The system comprises: a myoelectric signal acquisition patch (1), a signal acquisition device (2), a microcurrent generating device (3), an error compensation module (4), a signal processing module (5) and a swallowing detection module (6); the myoelectric signal acquisition patch (1) comprises an electrode array comprising a plurality of electrodes; the signal acquisition device (2) is a multi-channel signal acquisition channel, each channel corresponds to an electrode, and each signal acquisition channel can be switched between signal acquisition and current input or output; the myoelectric signal acquisition patch (1) comprises an electrode array, and the electrode array is evenly arranged. It also includes a current signal acquisition device (7), wherein the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch includes two working modes, the first working mode is a signal acquisition mode, and the second working mode is a current conduction efficiency test mode. When the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch is in the first working mode, each signal acquisition channel is connected to the signal acquisition device (2) to perform swallowing muscle potential distribution detection. When the myoelectric current signal acquisition patch is in the second working mode, each signal acquisition channel is gated, wherein the signal channel corresponding to at least one electrode patch is connected to the microcurrent generating device (3), and the remaining signal acquisition channels are connected to the current signal acquisition device (7) by gated mode. In the second working mode, the signal acquisition channel is selected as follows: first, starting from the electrode in the upper left corner, connect it to the microcurrent generator, and the microcurrent generator generates a low voltage applied to the electrode sheet - the electrode sheet is called the current injection end. The low voltage is at least one order of magnitude higher than the voltage and current generated by normal swallowing of the human body to ensure that the body's own muscle current is covered. For all electrode sheets except the electrode connected to the microcurrent generator, they are connected to the current signal acquisition device one by one or row by row. The electrode sheet connected to the current signal acquisition device is called the "current output end". Based on the injected voltage and the current signal collected at the current output end, Determine the equivalent resistance between the current injection terminal and the current output terminal. Based on the difference in equivalent resistance from the same current injection terminal to two adjacent current output terminals, the equivalent resistance between two adjacent current output terminals can be determined. In this way, the equivalent resistance between any two electrode sheets can be obtained, and then the equivalent resistance distribution corresponding to the entire electrode sheet area can be obtained. Select multiple electrode sheets at the corners and in the middle as current input terminals, repeat the operations in the previous paragraph, and obtain multiple equivalent resistance diagrams. The equivalent resistance diagrams obtained by using multiple electrode sheets as current input terminals are averaged to obtain an average equivalent resistance diagram. The potential distribution diagram is weighted using the equivalent resistance diagram. Applied potential distribution diagram ,in, represents the corrected potential distribution of the electrode sheet in row i and column j, M represents the number of electrode rows, and N represents the number of electrode columns. It represents the correction coefficient determined according to the equivalent resistance at the location of the electrode sheet in row i and column j.

2. The swallowing test system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The error compensation module (4) is used to perform test compensation based on equivalent resistance.

3. The swallowing test system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The device also includes a second electrode sheet for applying voltage to the patient from inside the oral cavity to measure the equivalent resistance of the mandibular and neck areas.

Images