Device and method for measuring human subcutaneous depressed edema

Abstract

The invention discloses a human subcutaneous depressed edema measuring device and method, and belongs to the field of edema measurement. The device comprises a pressure sensor, a camera, a support, a light supplementing lamp and a computer. The measuring method comprises the following steps: fixing the camera on the bracket, adjusting the position and the angle, turning on the light supplementing lamp, and making a proper mark on the skin beside an area to be pressed; vertically pressing the edema part by using a pressure sensor, keeping a specific pressure value for a period of time, shooting videos of pressing and skin recovery processes by using a camera, and transmitting the videos to a cloud end; a video file is downloaded from the cloud to a computer, the video is analyzed through image processing, the time for complete recovery of the recess is determined according to the change of the recess area features, and the edema degree is quantified according to the recovery time. The method is easy and convenient to operate and low in cost, and objective, quantitative and repeatable measurement of the recovery time of the depressed edema is achieved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of edema detection, and relates to a measuring device and method for quantitatively evaluating the severity of subcutaneous pitting edema of a human body, which is suitable for quantitative evaluation of subcutaneous pitting edema of a human body in multiple scenarios. BACKGROUND

[0002] Edema refers to the phenomenon of tissue space fluid accumulation caused by excessive retention of extracellular fluid, which causes swelling of the body, and often occurs in the extremities, presenting as local swelling, skin tightness, and severe tissue indentation, tenderness or functional limitation. Therefore, the monitoring of edema has important clinical value in disease management and treatment. At present, the methods for clinically evaluating the degree of edema mainly include soft ruler measurement, water displacement method and electrical impedance method, etc., but each has its own limitations. The soft ruler measurement method measures the circumference of a specific part of the limb and estimates the volume by combining geometric formulas, but the uncertainty of the measurement position, the inconsistency of the tightness of the winding and the error of the measurement tool will lead to inaccurate and unreliable data. The drainage method immerses the limb in a container filled with water, measures the change in water level or the volume of overflow water to calculate the volume of the limb. However, this method is greatly affected by factors such as container size, drainage collection method and patient skin condition (such as open wounds or infection), making it difficult to be widely used in clinical practice. The electrical impedance method measures the change in impedance of the current in the body fluid to infer the content of intracellular and extracellular fluid, but this method is affected by environmental temperature, patient metabolic state and other factors, and its stability in clinical application still needs further verification.

[0003] In addition, there are some devices that use ultrasonic waves, optical three-dimensional scanning and other technologies to evaluate the degree of edema, but these devices are usually large in size, high in cost and require professional operation, making it difficult to popularize in bedside or primary medical institutions.

[0004] Subcutaneous pitting edema is the most common type of edema in clinical practice, which often occurs in the lower extremities and face of the human body. The pressing method is the most commonly used method for evaluating pitting edema in clinical practice, which grades the edema by observing the glossiness of the edema area, skin tension and the depth of indentation and recovery time after pressing, is a simple method for identifying pitting edema, although it is quick and non-invasive, it is greatly affected by the pressing force and pressing time, mainly relies on the subjective judgment of the operator, lacks standardized and quantitative indicators, and is difficult to accurately track the changes of edema, with large variability and low reliability between different operators.

[0005] Therefore, there is an urgent need for a simple, low-cost and objective subcutaneous pitting edema measuring device and method. Objective and quantitative measurement of subcutaneous pitting edema can provide standardized data support, traceable monitoring indicators and long-term dynamic management for remote services, greatly extending the scope and depth of services. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application aims to overcome the shortcomings of the pressing method, and provide a device and method for objectively and quantitatively measuring the degree of subcutaneous concave edema of the human body, which are simple to operate and low in cost.

[0007] The present application provides a device and method for measuring subcutaneous concave edema of the human body, which comprises a pressure sensor with pressure indication (10), a camera (11), a support (12), a fill light (13), and a computer.

[0008] The pressure sensor with pressure indication (10) comprises a pressure sensor (1) and a host computer (4). The pressure sensor is made of flexible film material and is non-invasive to the human skin, and is used to collect the pressure value of the pressed edema part. The pressure sensor is connected to the host computer (4) through a data line (3) via a data interface. The display screen on the host computer (4) can display the pressure value collected by the sensor in real time, so as to facilitate the operator to control the pressing force. The camera (11) has high-definition video shooting function and is used to record the recovery process of the concave part after pressing. The support (12) can adjust the angle and height and is used to fix the camera (11), so as to ensure that the position and angle of the camera remain unchanged during shooting and avoid the deviation of the shooting picture. The fill light (13) can be fixed on the support and is used to provide uniform and stable light source for the shooting part, so as to eliminate the influence of the change of the shooting ambient light and ensure the accuracy of subsequent image analysis. The computer is used to receive the shooting video of the camera (11) and process the image and data.

[0009] Based on the above device, the present application provides a method for measuring subcutaneous concave edema of the human body, which comprises the following steps: fixing the camera on the support and adjusting the support to the appropriate position and angle, turning on the fill light and adjusting it to the appropriate position and brightness; additionally marking the skin beside the body part to be pressed, sticking the pressure sensor to the edema part to be measured, then vertically pressing the gasket (2) and maintaining a certain pressure value for a period of time, while shooting the overall video of the skin recovery process after pressing and unpressing (the pressure sensor immediately leaves the skin surface after unpressing), saving and uploading the video to the cloud; downloading the video file from the cloud to the computer, analyzing the video through image processing technology, determining the time of complete recovery of the concave area by analyzing the change of some features of the concave area, quantifying the degree of edema according to the recovery time, and generally the longer the recovery time, the more serious the degree of edema.

[0010] The size of the pressure can be set as needed; additionally, a regular gasket (2) with a certain area is pasted on the surface of the pressure sensor, so as to unify and standardize the pressure area. The size of the gasket (2) can be set as the size of the tip of the human finger.

[0011] Some features of the concave area can include one or more of image gray value, concave morphology (such as concave depth, concave area size), etc.

[0012] The further analysis video method comprises the following:

[0013] (1) Video pre-processing: the video is segmented into a sequence of image frames arranged in time sequence, and image registration is performed using skin markers to eliminate image deviation caused by limb movement;

[0014] (2) Selection of the region of interest: on a reference frame image representing the initial concave state, a core area containing the concave is selected as the region of interest;

[0015] (3) Feature extraction: for each frame image, at least one image statistical feature value in the region of interest is calculated, which includes but is not limited to: average gray value, median gray value, concave area value or gradient feature value of concave depth;

[0016] (4) Curve fitting: scatter plots of concave features of each frame image changing with time are drawn, and data smoothing and interpolation methods are used to obtain the concave recovery curve;

[0017] (5) Recovery time determination: according to a preset algorithm rule, the time corresponding to the complete recovery state of the concave is automatically determined from the concave recovery curve, and the time interval from the end of pressing to the time is calculated, which is the complete recovery time of the concave.

[0018] The selection of the region of interest is performed in a man-machine interactive manner, and the region of interest is drawn on the first N frame images.

[0019] The selection of the region of interest can also manually mark the concave area of each frame image, train a deep learning model, and automatically identify the concave area.

[0020] The present application is not used for diagnosis and treatment of diseases.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects: first, the pressing process is controlled by standardized pressing force and pressing time, which is objective and avoids the subjectivity of manual evaluation; second, the pressing concave recovery time is obtained by analyzing the change of the pressing concave feature value through image processing technology, which is more convenient than traditional visual observation of the concave recovery condition, and improves the accuracy of edema evaluation; third, the measuring device is composed of common devices such as pressure sensor with pressure indication and camera, without the need for special large equipment, reducing the measurement cost; fourth, the overall operation process is simple and suitable for various scenes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] In order to further explain the present application, the drawings required to be used in the following embodiment description will be briefly introduced. The schematic example drawings in the following description are only used to introduce the present application, and do not constitute improper limitation to the present application.

[0023] Figure 1 A pressure sensor with pressure indication and size schematic diagram used in the embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 2 A flow chart of a human subcutaneous concave edema measuring method provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 3 A use state schematic diagram of a human subcutaneous concave edema measuring device provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 4 A flow chart of image analysis provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 5 A result curve diagram of image analysis using image analysis software provided in the embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 6 A result diagram of automatic identification of a concave area using a deep learning model provided in the embodiment of the present application.

[0029] Reference signs:

[0030] Figure 1 : 1-pressure sensor; 2-gasket; 3-signal line; 4-host;

[0031] Figure 2 : 10-pressure sensor with pressure indication; 11-mobile phone; 12-mobile phone support; 13-light supplement lamp. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to better understand the present application, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0033] The present embodiment selects a pressure sensor with pressure indication, as shown in Figure 1 The diameter is 18.3mm, the range is 20g~6kg, and the display screen can display a pressure peak wave diagram or a pressure value in real time.

[0034] The present application provides a human subcutaneous concave edema measuring device and method for measuring lower limb edema, as shown in Figure 2 The specific steps are as follows:

[0035] First step: Fix the camera on the phone holder and adjust the holder to the appropriate position and angle, turn on the fill light and adjust it to the appropriate position and brightness, and paste a 1cm3 area of colored medical tape on the skin beside the area to be pressed to facilitate subsequent image analysis.

[0036] Further, the appropriate mark can be other sizes that can be accurately measured or calculated, and the regular pattern is non-invasive to the skin.

[0037] Second step: Press the edema area vertically with the pressure sensor, and keep the pressure value at 40N for 5 seconds.

[0038] Further, the surface of the pressure sensor has a circular gasket to unify and standardize the pressure area, and the selected pressing pressure value and pressing time can be adjusted as appropriate.

[0039] Third step: After pressing, remove the sensor while continuously shooting the recovery video of the pressed indentation with the phone, keep the fill light on during the shooting process, and keep the camera position and angle unchanged. After the shooting is completed, check the video quality, if the video quality is poor, it needs to be re-shot, save the video and upload it to Baidu Netdisk.

[0040] Further, video shooting can also start before pressing begins.

[0041] Fourth step: Download the video file to the computer from Baidu Netdisk, and analyze the video using MATLAB computer software, as shown in Figure 4 First, read the video and split it into independent frame images; then perform image preprocessing to convert each color image to grayscale, and use the mark on the skin as a reference to align all frames, eliminate image offset, and ensure that the indentation area of all frames is aligned; select the pressed indentation area in the first frame and calculate the average gray value of the area; then calculate the difference between the average gray values of the current frame and the next frame indentation area, and take the absolute value; calculate the gray difference of all adjacent frames in the above manner, smooth the data, and obtain the gray difference absolute value change curve of the indentation area; determine the time required for complete indentation recovery by analyzing the change rule of the gray difference curve (computer software MATLAB has image analysis functions), as shown in Figure 5 .

[0042] Further, for each frame of image, manual indentation area annotation can also be used to train a deep learning model (such as YOLO model) to automatically identify the indentation area, as shown in Figure 6 In addition, to avoid data redundancy and improve operation speed, the indentation area gray difference value can be calculated every few frames.

[0043] Step 5: The evaluation result of the degree of edema is given according to the recovery time, and the shorter the recovery time, the more severe the degree of edema.

[0044] The above matters not covered are well-known facts. The present specification and drawings are only exemplary illustration of the present application defined by the appended claims, and any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents that fall under the scope of the present application are considered to be covered thereby, and the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Those skilled in the art can make various improvements on the basis thereof, and these improvements are also considered to be covered by the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A human subcutaneous pitting edema measuring device, characterized by, The utility model relates to a kind of water edema degree quantitative device, including: pressure sensor (10) with pressure indication, camera (11), support (12), light supplement lamp (13) and computer;Wherein: pressure sensor (10) with pressure indication includes pressure sensor (1) and host computer (4), pressure sensor uses flexible film material, no damage to human skin, for gathering the pressure value of pressing edema part, pressure sensor is connected with host computer (4) by data line (3) via data interface, display screen on host computer (4) can display the pressure numerical value of sensor acquisition in real time, to facilitate operator control pressing degree of force;Camera (11) has high-definition video shooting function, for recording the concave recovery process after pressing edema part;Support (12) can adjust angle and height, for fixing camera (11), guarantee camera position and angle unchanged in shooting process, avoid shooting picture offset, preferably adopt mobile phone;Light supplement lamp (13) can be fixed on support, for providing uniform and stable light source to shooting part, eliminate the influence of shooting ambient light variation, guarantee the accuracy of subsequent image analysis;Computer is used to receive the shooting video of camera (11) and carry out image and data processing. The pressure sensor can indicate the pressure value. In addition, a regular gasket (2) with a certain area is pasted on the surface of the pressure sensor to unify and standardize the pressure area, and the size of the gasket (2) can be set as the size of the finger pad of a person.

2. The apparatus for measuring subcutaneous stasis of a human body according to claim 1, wherein Fix the camera on the support and adjust the support to a suitable position and angle, turn on the light supplement lamp and adjust it to a suitable position and brightness; additionally, make appropriate marks on the skin beside the body area to be pressed, paste the pressure sensor on the edema part to be measured, press the pressure sensor vertically, maintain a certain pressure value for a period of time, and simultaneously shoot the overall video of the skin recovery process after pressing and unpressing with the camera, save and upload the video to the cloud; download the video file from the cloud to the computer, analyze the video through image processing technology, determine the time of complete recovery of the concave area by analyzing the changes of certain features of the concave area, quantify the edema degree according to the recovery time, and generally the longer the recovery time is, the more serious the edema degree is; if the gasket (2) is used, press the gasket (2) vertically, and the gasket (2) transmits the pressure to the pressure sensor.

3. The method of measuring subcutaneous pitting edema in humans of claim 1, wherein, The certain features of the concave area can include one or more of image gray value, concave morphology, concave depth and concave area size.

4. Method for measuring subcutaneous pitting edema in humans using the apparatus of any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The method for analyzing the video includes:

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, video preprocessing: divide the video into image frame sequences arranged in time sequence, and use skin marks for image registration to eliminate image offset caused by limb movement; 6. The method of claim 4, wherein, selection of region of interest: select a core area containing the concave as the region of interest on the reference frame image representing the initial concave state; feature extraction: calculate at least one image statistical feature value in the region of interest for each frame image, and the image statistical feature value includes but is not limited to: average gray value, median gray value, concave area value or gradient feature value of concave depth; ​ ​ Curve fitting: scatter plot of the concave feature of each frame image over time, using but not limited to data smoothing and interpolation methods, to obtain the concave recovery curve; Recovery time determination: according to the preset algorithm rule, automatically determine the time corresponding to the complete recovery state of the concave from the concave recovery curve, and calculate the time interval from the end of pressing to the time, which is the complete recovery time of the concave.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The selection of the region of interest adopts the way of human-computer interaction, and draws the region of interest on the first N frames of images.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, The selection of the region of interest, or manually marking the concave area of each frame of image, training a deep learning model to automatically identify the concave area.

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