Electronic stethoscope

Abstract

To provide a chest piece for a stethoscope that enables volume adjustment to be performed by fingers of one hand while holding the chest piece by fingers of the same one hand.SOLUTION: A chest piece for a stethoscope includes: a biological sound sensor for converting a biological sound to a biological signal of an electric signal; a body part for housing the biological sound sensor; a volume housed in the body part for varying magnitude of the biological signal converted by the biological sound sensor; and a ring arranged in the body part, which rotates in a circumferential direction in the plane parallel to the bottom face that comes in contact with the living body of the body part, and varies the volume with a rotational motion.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an electronic stethoscope for detecting body sounds. [Background technology]

[0002] An electronic stethoscope has been proposed for auscultating biological sounds (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The electronic stethoscope in Patent Document 1 is configured with a microphone for collecting sounds in the chest piece, which converts the sound into an electrical signal, which is then converted into sound by a speaker and guided to the ear through a tube. Volume adjustment is performed by a signal processor between the chest piece and the speaker.

[0003] In an electronic stethoscope such as that disclosed in Patent Document 1, the signal processor that adjusts the volume must be located in a position separate from the chest piece. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-126085 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Typically, the chest piece is pressed vertically against the surface of the living body, so to prevent the chest piece from falling, it is necessary to auscultate while holding the chest piece between the fingers of one hand, and adjust the volume of the signal processing unit with the other hand.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide a stethoscope chestpiece and an electronic stethoscope that enable volume adjustment with the fingers of one hand while holding the chestpiece between the fingers of the same hand. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present disclosure provides a configuration in which a stethoscope chestpiece has a rotary volume adjustment mechanism.

[0008] The present disclosure relates to A biosound sensor that converts a biosound into an electrical biosound signal; A main body portion that houses the body sound sensor; a volume that is housed in the main body and changes the magnitude of the biosignal converted by the biosound sensor; a ring that is disposed on the main body and rotates in a circumferential direction within a plane parallel to a bottom surface of the main body that contacts the living body, and changes the volume by the rotational motion; A stethoscope chest piece equipped with It is.

[0009] The present disclosure relates to A biosound sensor that converts a biosound into an electrical biosound signal; A main body portion that houses the body sound sensor; a volume that is housed in the main body and changes the magnitude of the biosignal converted by the biosound sensor; a wheel disposed on the main body, rotating in a plane perpendicular to a surface of the main body and varying the volume by the rotational motion; A stethoscope chest piece equipped with It is.

[0010] The present disclosure relates to The stethoscope chest piece, a headset for converting a bio-signal from the stethoscope chestpiece into audio; It is an electronic stethoscope equipped with.

[0011] The present disclosure relates to The electronic stethoscope further comprises a volume adjustment unit between the stethoscope chestpiece and the headset for varying the volume of the biosignal.

[0012] The above disclosures may be combined to the greatest extent possible. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a stethoscope chestpiece that can be held between the fingers of one hand while allowing volume adjustment with the fingers of the same hand. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration example of a stethoscope chest piece. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration example of a stethoscope chest piece. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration example of a stethoscope chest piece. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration example of a stethoscope chest piece. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration example of an electronic stethoscope. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] Hereinafter, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown below. These implementation examples are merely illustrative, and the present disclosure can be implemented in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. Note that components with the same reference numerals in this specification and drawings are assumed to indicate the same components.

[0016] An example of the configuration of a stethoscope chestpiece of the present disclosure is shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, a stethoscope chestpiece 10 includes a body sound sensor 12 that converts body sounds into electrical biosignals, a main body 11 that houses the body sound sensor 12, a volume (not shown) that is housed in the main body 11 and changes the magnitude of the biosignal converted by the body sound sensor 12, and a ring 13 that is disposed on the main body 11 and rotates in a circumferential direction within a plane parallel to the bottom surface of the main body 11 that contacts the living body, changing the volume by the rotational motion. In Fig. 1, the ring 13 is disposed on the upper surface side or the upper surface of the side peripheral surface of the main body 11.

[0017] When performing auscultation, the bottom surface of the main unit 11 is brought into contact with the living body. For example, when listening to heart sounds, the bottom surface is pressed against the chest. The biosound sensor 12 converts the heart sounds propagating through the chest into an electrical biosignal. To change the magnitude of the biosignal according to the hearing ability of the person performing auscultation, the ring 13 is rotated. The ring 13 is linked to a volume inside the main unit 11, and the volume changes the magnitude of the biosignal according to the amount of rotation of the ring 13. The correspondence between the rotation direction of the ring 13 and the large / small volume direction may be preset, or may be set according to the preference of the person performing the auscultation.

[0018] In FIG. 1, main body 11 is cylindrical, but is not limited to a cylindrical shape and may have any shape that is easy to hold between fingers.

[0019] The stethoscope chest piece 10 can be held by pinching it between the index finger and middle finger, between the thumb and index finger, or between the thumb, index finger, and middle finger. In the stethoscope chest piece shown in FIG. 1, the ring 13 may be pinched between the fingers, or the main body 11 may be pinched between the fingers. When the ring 13 is pinched between the fingers, the ring 13 is rotated with the pinched fingers. When the main body 11 is pinched between the fingers, the ring 13 may be rotated with the free finger, or the pinched finger may be moved to the ring 13 and rotated. In either case, the volume can be adjusted with the fingers of one hand while pinching the stethoscope chest piece 10 with the fingers of the same hand, without dropping the stethoscope chest piece 10 from the living body surface.

[0020] An example of the configuration of a stethoscope chestpiece of the present disclosure is shown in Fig. 2. The difference in configuration from the stethoscope chestpiece shown in Fig. 1 is that the ring 13 is disposed in the middle of the circumferential side surface of the main body 11. In the stethoscope chestpiece shown in Fig. 2, the ring 13 may be held between the fingers, or the upper part of the main body 11 (the part above the ring 13) may be held between the fingers, or the lower part of the main body 11 (the part below the ring 13) may be held between the fingers.

[0021] 2, main body 11 is cylindrical, but is not limited to a cylindrical shape and may have any shape that is easy to hold between fingers. Furthermore, the upper and lower parts of main body 11 may have different shapes.

[0022] When pinching ring 13 between fingers, ring 13 is rotated with the pinched fingers. When pinching the upper or lower part of main body 11 with fingers, ring 13 may be rotated with a free finger, or the pinched finger may be moved to ring 13 to rotate it. In either case, while pinching stethoscope chestpiece 10 with the fingers of one hand, it is possible to adjust the volume with the fingers of the same hand without dropping stethoscope chestpiece 10 from the living body surface.

[0023] An example of the configuration of the stethoscope chestpiece of the present disclosure is shown in Figures 3 and 4. In Figures 3 and 4, the stethoscope chestpiece 10 includes a body sound sensor 12 that converts body sounds into electrical biosignals, a main body 11 that houses the body sound sensor 12, a volume (not shown) that is housed in the main body 11 and that varies the magnitude of the biosignal converted by the body sound sensor 12, and a wheel 14 that is disposed on the main body 11, rotates in a plane perpendicular to the surface of the main body 11, and varies the volume (not shown) by the rotational motion.

[0024] In Figs. 3 and 4, the main body 11 is cylindrical, but is not limited to a cylindrical shape and may have any shape as long as it is easy to hold between fingers.

[0025] Wheel 14 is disposed on the circumferential side surface of main body 11 in Fig. 3, and on the top surface of main body 11 in Fig. 4. If the top surface of main body 11 is curved, wheel 14 may be disposed on the curved surface. Also, in Figs. 3 and 4, wheel 14 rotates in a plane perpendicular to the bottom surface of the main body that contacts the living body, but wheel 14 may rotate in a plane parallel to the bottom surface of the main body that contacts the living body. The rotation plane may be within a plane perpendicular to the surface of main body 11.

[0026] When performing auscultation, the bottom surface of the main unit 11 is brought into contact with the living body. For example, when listening to heart sounds, the bottom surface is pressed against the chest. The biosound sensor 12 converts the heart sounds propagating through the chest into an electrical biosignal. To change the magnitude of the biosignal according to the hearing ability of the person performing the auscultation, the wheel 14 is rotated. The wheel 14 is linked to a volume inside the main unit 11, and the volume changes the magnitude of the biosignal according to the amount of rotation of the wheel 14. The correspondence between the rotation direction of the wheel 14 and the volume direction may be preset, or may be set according to the preference of the person performing the auscultation.

[0027] In the stethoscope chestpiece shown in Fig. 3 or 4, the main body 11 is pinched between the fingers. The main body 11 may be pinched between the fingers and the wheel 14 may be rotated with a free finger, such as the index finger or thumb, or the pinched fingers may be moved to the wheel 14 to rotate it. In either case, while pinching the stethoscope chestpiece 10 between the fingers of one hand, it is possible to adjust the volume with the fingers of the same hand without dropping the stethoscope chestpiece 10 from the living body surface.

[0028] The shape of the main body 11 is not limited to that shown in Figures 1 to 4. It is preferable that a diaphragm or a trumpet shape is formed on the bottom surface that contacts the living body. Examples of materials for the main body 11 include metal and plastic.

[0029] FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of an electronic stethoscope equipped with the above-mentioned stethoscope chest piece 10. The electronic stethoscope is equipped with the above-mentioned stethoscope chest piece 10 and a headset 30 that converts a biological signal from the stethoscope chest piece 10 into sound. The connection between the stethoscope chest piece 10 and the headset 30 may be wired or wireless. The headset 30 may be of any type, such as a headphone type, an earphone type, or an ear hook type. It is sufficient that the stethoscope user can hear the biological sound picked up by the stethoscope chest piece 10. Such an electronic stethoscope allows the user to adjust the volume with the fingers of one hand while holding the stethoscope chest piece 10 between the fingers of the same hand, without dropping the stethoscope chest piece 10 from the biological surface.

[0030] The electronic stethoscope may further include a volume adjustment unit 20 that varies the volume of the biosignal between the stethoscope chestpiece 10 and the headset 30. The connection between the stethoscope chestpiece 10 and the volume adjustment unit 20, or between the volume adjustment unit 20 and the headset 30, may be wired or wireless.

[0031] When the magnitude of the biosignal cannot be varied by the volume of the stethoscope chestpiece 10, for example, when the fingers holding the stethoscope chestpiece 10 cannot be moved, the magnitude of the biosignal can be varied by the volume adjustment unit 20.

[0032] As described above, the stethoscope chestpiece of the present disclosure allows the volume to be adjusted with the fingers of one hand while the chestpiece is held between the fingers of the same hand. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 10: Stethoscope chest piece 11: Main body 12: Biological sound sensor 13: Ring 14: Wheels 20: Volume control section 30: Headset

Claims

1. A biosound sensor that converts a biosound into an electrical biosound signal; A main body portion that houses the body sound sensor; a volume that is housed in the main body and changes the magnitude of the biosignal converted by the biosound sensor; a ring that is disposed on the main body and rotates in a circumferential direction within a plane parallel to a bottom surface of the main body that contacts the living body, and changes the volume by the rotational motion; A stethoscope chest piece comprising:

2. A biosound sensor that converts a biosound into an electrical biosound signal; A main body portion that houses the body sound sensor; a volume that is housed in the main body and changes the magnitude of the biosignal converted by the biosound sensor; a wheel disposed on the main body, rotating in a plane perpendicular to a surface of the main body and varying the volume by the rotational motion; A stethoscope chest piece comprising:

3. A stethoscope chest piece according to claim 1 or 2; a headset for converting a biosignal from the stethoscope chestpiece into audio; An electronic stethoscope comprising:

4. 4. The electronic stethoscope according to claim 3, further comprising a volume adjustment unit between the stethoscope chestpiece and the headset for varying the volume of the biosignal.

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