Medical communication system, medical load system, and relay device

Abstract

To provide a medical communication system capable of suppressing deterioration in measurement accuracy of R wave synchronous blood pressure measurement even when the system is made wireless.SOLUTION: A medical communication system (rehabilitation support system 10) includes: a first wireless device (input box 23) for detecting an R wave contained in an ECG of a subject and wirelessly transmitting an R wave synchronous signal that synchronizes with the R wave; a blood pressure manometer 24 for measuring the blood pressure of the subject using the R wave synchronous signal; and a relay device (load controller 22) for wirelessly receiving the R wave synchronous signal wirelessly transmitted from the first wireless device (input box 23) and transmitting it to the blood pressure manometer 24. The relay device (load controller 22) adjusts a timing for transmitting the R wave synchronous signal to the blood pressure manometer 24 so that the delay time from a timing t10 of the R wave to a timing t20 for receiving the R wave synchronous signal in the blood pressure manometer 24 becomes constant.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a medical communication system, a medical load system, and a relay device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, one of the medical stress systems is the cardiac rehabilitation (hereinafter "rehabilitation" may be abbreviated as "rehab") support system. Cardiac rehabilitation is performed for the purpose of extending the life prognosis and improving exercise tolerance of patients with angina pectoris, post-PCI (Percutaneous Coronary Intervention), and heart failure through exercise therapy.

[0003] Cardiac rehabilitation is mainly performed in rehabilitation rooms set up exclusively for rehabilitation in hospitals and other facilities. Exercise stress devices such as medical treadmills and ergometers are installed in the rehabilitation rooms. Patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation are fitted with electrocardiograms and blood pressure monitors. Medical professionals such as doctors, physical therapists, and nurses manage the operation of cardiac rehabilitation and evaluate the performance of cardiac rehabilitation based on the patient's biological information acquired by the electrocardiogram and blood pressure monitor.

[0004] Devices for managing rehabilitation exercise results are disclosed in, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2.

[0005] Patent Document 1 proposes a rehabilitation management device that analyzes exercise information from rehabilitation exercises performed by patients and manages the overall history of the motor functions of multiple patients. Patent Document 2 proposes a rehabilitation support device that makes it easy to understand whether the evaluation values ​​of many rehabilitation evaluation items are improving overall, are unchanged, or are getting worse by going back to a desired point in time.

[0006] As described above, a patient undergoing cardiac rehabilitation, cardiac exercise stress testing, or the like has his / her blood pressure and ECG (electrocardiogram) measured during rehabilitation or exercise using a blood pressure monitor and an electrocardiogram.

[0007] There are two methods for measuring blood pressure: the oscillometric method and the Riberoch-Korotkoff method. In the Riberoch-Korotkoff method, a cuff wrapped around the upper arm is inflated to a target pressure, and then deflates at a constant rate. The Korotkoff sounds that are generated during the deflating process are detected by a microphone attached to the cuff. The cuff pressure when the Korotkoff sounds begin to be heard is detected as the maximum blood pressure (systolic blood pressure), and the cuff pressure when the Korotkoff sounds disappear is detected as the minimum blood pressure (diastolic blood pressure).

[0008] Incidentally, in cardiac rehabilitation and cardiac exercise stress testing, the patient exercises, which causes noise to be superimposed on the Korotkoff sounds, making it difficult to measure blood pressure.

[0009] As a conventional technique for solving such problems, there is one that uses the R-wave of ECG, as described in Patent Document 3 and Non-Patent Document 1. Specifically, this type of electrocardiograph sets the effective range of Korotkoff sounds based on the position of the R-wave, and removes sounds generated outside the effective range as noise. Then, using the Korotkoff sounds after noise removal, the blood pressure value is determined from their occurrence and disappearance patterns. Hereinafter, this type of blood pressure measurement will be referred to as "R-wave synchronized blood pressure measurement." [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0010] [Patent Document 1] JP 2005-352686 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2010-108430 A [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-272109 [Non-patent literature]

[0011] [Non-Patent Document 1] Takahiro Yamaguchi, "Blood pressure measurement under body movement and noise environment," Japan Society of Medical Instrumentation, Vol. 80, No. 6 (2010) P. 647-658 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0012] In recent years, cardiac rehabilitation support systems have also been moving towards wireless communication. This increases the flexibility of the system and makes it easier for medical professionals to manage cardiac rehabilitation.

[0013] However, in the past, when making a cardiac rehabilitation support system wireless, not much consideration was given to what kind of wireless system should be constructed.

[0014] In particular, there has been no sufficient consideration as to how the behavior of R-wave synchronous blood pressure measurement as described in Patent Document 3 and Non-Patent Document 1 will change when it is made wireless.

[0015] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides a medical communication system, a medical load system, and a relay device that can suppress a decrease in the measurement accuracy of R-wave synchronized blood pressure measurement even when made wireless. [Means for solving the problem]

[0016] One aspect of the medical communication system of the present disclosure includes: an R wave detection unit for detecting an R wave included in an ECG of a subject; a first radio unit that wirelessly transmits an R wave synchronization signal synchronized with the detected R wave; a sphygmomanometer for measuring the blood pressure of the subject in response to the R wave synchronous signal; a relay device that wirelessly receives the R wave synchronization signal wirelessly transmitted from the first wireless unit and transmits the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer; Equipped with The relay device is The timing of transmitting the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer is adjusted so that the delay time from the timing of the R wave to the timing of receiving the R wave synchronization signal at the sphygmomanometer is constant.

[0017] One aspect of a medical load system of the present disclosure includes the above-described medical communication system.

[0018] One aspect of the relay device of the present disclosure is to A relay device in a medical communication system, comprising: an R wave detection unit that detects R waves included in an ECG of a subject; a first wireless unit that wirelessly transmits an R wave synchronization signal synchronized with the detected R waves; a blood pressure monitor that measures a blood pressure of the subject in response to the R wave synchronization signal; and a relay device that wirelessly receives the R wave synchronization signal wirelessly transmitted from the first wireless unit and transmits it to the blood pressure monitor, The timing of transmitting the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer is adjusted so that the delay time from the timing of the R wave to the timing of receiving the R wave synchronization signal at the sphygmomanometer is constant. Effect of the Invention

[0019] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to realize a medical communication system, a medical load system, and a relay device that can suppress a decrease in measurement accuracy of R-wave synchronous blood pressure measurement even when wireless. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a cardiac rehabilitation support system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram showing a flow of transmission and reception of an R wave synchronization signal when an electrocardiograph and a blood pressure monitor are connected by wire, as a comparative example of the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a sequence diagram showing a general flow of transmission and reception of an R-wave synchronization signal in a system configuration such as an embodiment. [Figure 4] Diagram showing PING response time in wireless LAN communication [Diagram 5]A sequence diagram showing the flow of transmission and reception of an R wave synchronization signal according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0022] <1. System configuration> 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of a cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Cardiac rehabilitation differs from musculoskeletal rehabilitation in which rehabilitation is performed for each patient in turn (performed one-on-one between a medical professional and a patient), in that a medical professional can perform rehabilitation for multiple patients simultaneously while monitoring the biological information (e.g., ECG) and exercise records of multiple patients.

[0023] The cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 includes a tablet terminal 100. A plurality of individual units 20-1, 20-2 are connected to the tablet terminal 100. In the example of Fig. 1, two individual units 20-1, 20-2 are connected to the tablet terminal 100, but this is not limited thereto. For example, the number of individual units connected to the tablet terminal 100 may be one, or three or more.

[0024] In the example of Fig. 1, only one tablet terminal 100 is shown for the sake of simplicity, but the cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 may have a plurality (n) of tablet terminals 100. In the following description, a group consisting of one tablet terminal 100 and its subordinate individual units 20-1 and 20-2 will be referred to as a unit 101. Thus, the cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 generally has n unit units 101-1 to 101-n.

[0025] The cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 of this embodiment is assumed to have n=4, that is, four basic units 101. Therefore, the cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 has 2×4=8 individual units and can simultaneously perform cardiac rehabilitation for eight patients.

[0026] Each of the individual units 20-1 and 20-2 has a load device 21, a load controller 22, an input box 23, and a blood pressure monitor 24 as components.

[0027] As shown in the figure, the load device 21 is, for example, an ergometer. Alternatively, the load device 21 may be another device, such as a treadmill. The load device 21 operates based on a control signal from a load controller 22. Furthermore, information on the operating state of the load device 21, for example information on the number of revolutions of the pedals of the ergometer, is sent from the load device 21 to the load controller 22.

[0028] The input box 23 is a device that inputs bioinformation of a patient undergoing cardiac rehabilitation and transmits the bioinformation wirelessly. The input box 23 is housed, for example, in a dedicated bag accompanying the patient. The input box 23 inputs the ECG and SpO2 of a patient undergoing or after rehabilitation. In other words, the input box 23 is a bioinformation acquisition device that acquires bioinformation of a patient to whom a load is applied by the load device 21 and transmits the bioinformation wirelessly.

[0029] Specifically, the input box 23 is connected to a lead wire connected to an electrode for ECG measurement worn by the patient. The input box 23 is also connected to a lead wire connected to a probe for SpO2 measurement worn by the patient. In this way, the input box 23 inputs an ECG signal and an SpO2 signal via a wire. The input box 23 converts the ECG signal and the SpO2 signal input via a wire into a digital signal and transmits it wirelessly to the tablet terminal 100. The tablet terminal 100 has a function of analyzing an ECG, and for example performs an arrhythmia analysis and displays the analysis result.

[0030] In this embodiment, the tablet terminal 100 and the input box 23 wirelessly communicate with each other using a communication method that complies with the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) standard. The tablet terminal 100 and the input box 23 are in a relationship in which the tablet terminal 100 is a central (parent device) and the input box 23 is a peripheral (child device).

[0031] It should be noted that the input box 23 differs from a medical telemeter in terms of the frequency band and communication method used. In this embodiment, by using the input box 23 that uses the Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication method, it is possible to easily connect to the tablet terminal 100 without the user having to perform a connection setting operation as in the case of a medical telemeter. In this embodiment, biological information such as ECG data, which has conventionally been sent to a management terminal by wire, is wirelessly transmitted to the tablet terminal 100 using the input box 23 that uses Bluetooth communication.

[0032] The sphygmomanometer 24 is a so-called automatic sphygmomanometer, and measures the blood pressure of a patient during or after cardiac rehabilitation. The sphygmomanometer 24 operates based on a control signal from the load controller 22. In addition, the blood pressure measurement result is sent from the sphygmomanometer 24 to the load controller 22. The sphygmomanometer 24 is placed on, for example, a cart.

[0033] In this embodiment, the blood pressure monitor 24 is a so-called R-wave synchronous automatic blood pressure monitor. A more detailed description will be given. The blood pressure monitor 24 measures blood pressure by the Liberaloch-Korotkoff method. The blood pressure monitor 24 inflates a cuff wrapped around the upper arm of the patient to a target pressure, and then depressurizes the cuff at a constant speed. The Korotkoff sounds generated during the depressurization process are detected by a microphone attached to the cuff. The cuff pressure when the Korotkoff sounds begin to be heard is detected as the systolic blood pressure, and the cuff pressure when the Korotkoff sounds disappear is detected as the diastolic blood pressure.

[0034] In cardiac rehabilitation, since the patient exercises, noise is superimposed on the Korotkoff sounds, which may make it difficult to measure blood pressure. Therefore, the blood pressure monitor 24 sets an effective range for the Korotkoff sounds based on the position of the R waves, and removes Korotkoff sounds generated outside the effective range as noise. The blood pressure monitor 24 uses the Korotkoff sounds after noise removal to determine the blood pressure value from their occurrence and disappearance patterns. Such an R-wave synchronized electrocardiograph is described in, for example, Patent Document 3 and Non-Patent Document 1.

[0035] Timing information of the R wave detected by the input box 23 or the tablet terminal 100 is input to the sphygmomanometer 24 via the AP 30 and the load controller 22, and the sphygmomanometer 24 uses the timing information of the R wave to remove noise from the Korotkoff sound and measure blood pressure. In this embodiment, the R wave is detected by the input box 23.

[0036] Here, the load device 21 and the sphygmomanometer 24 are wired to the load controller 22 using an input / output interface conforming to the RS232C standard. The load device 21 and the sphygmomanometer 24 may be connected to the load controller 22 using an input / output interface conforming to another standard.

[0037] The cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 has an access point (AP) 30 of a wireless LAN (Local Area Network). The load controllers 22 of the individual units 20-1 and 20-2 and the tablet terminal 100 are wirelessly connected to the AP 30. In the embodiment, four individual units 101, that is, four tablet terminals 100 and eight load controllers 22 are wirelessly connected to the AP 30. Note that the wireless LAN in this specification may be read as Wi-Fi (registered trademark). Here, Wi-Fi is a communication technology conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard, as is well known.

[0038] The AP 30 is also connected by wire to a monitoring terminal 200 and a management database terminal 300 via a hub 40 .

[0039] The tablet terminal 100 is used during cardiac rehabilitation by medical professionals such as doctors, physical therapists, and nurses who manage cardiac rehabilitation. The tablet terminal 100 has a display unit, an operation input unit, a calculation unit, and a wireless communication unit. The tablet terminal 100 is wirelessly connected to the input box 23 using Bluetooth wireless technology, and biological information from the input box 23 is sent to the tablet terminal 100 wirelessly using Bluetooth.

[0040] The monitoring terminal 200 is realized, for example, by installing dedicated software on a personal computer, and collectively displays information acquired by multiple (e.g., n=4) tablet terminals 100. This allows the monitoring terminal 200 to collectively display biological information of multiple (e.g., 8) patients undergoing cardiac rehabilitation. The monitoring terminal 200 can also send commands to the load device 21 and blood pressure monitor 24, etc., and can also send these commands to the tablet terminal 100.

[0041] The management database terminal 300 is realized, for example, by installing dedicated software on a personal computer, and stores and analyzes the biometric information from the tablet terminal 100. The management database terminal 300 also has a function for editing the biometric data, and can also provide comprehensive information.

[0042] For example, rehabilitation data for today can be compared with rehabilitation data from one month ago on the management database terminal 300. In addition, a printer (not shown) is connected to the management database terminal 300, making it possible to print reports using the printer.

[0043] Here, an outline of the operation of the cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 will be described.

[0044] When the medical staff operates the tablet terminal 100, a control signal corresponding to the operation is sent to the load controller 22, and the load of the load device 21 and the operation of the sphygmomanometer 24 are controlled.

[0045] The load controller 22 functions as a relay that converts data so that the format of data exchanged between the tablet terminal 100 and the load device 21 and the sphygmomanometer 24 is suitable for each interface. For example, the load controller 22 converts a control signal from the tablet terminal 100 into control data suitable for the interface (i.e., RS232C) of each of the load device 21 and the sphygmomanometer 24, and transmits it to each of the load device 21 and the sphygmomanometer 23. The load controller 22 also converts data input from the load device 21 and the sphygmomanometer 24 into data suitable for wireless LAN, and outputs the data to the AP 30.

[0046] Biometric information of the patient input into the input box 23 during or after the operation of the load device 21 is transmitted to the tablet terminal 100 and displayed on the tablet terminal 100. In addition, the measurement results of the sphygmomanometer 24 are also transmitted to the tablet terminal 100 via the load controller 22 and the AP 30 and displayed on the tablet terminal 100.

[0047] As a result, the biological information obtained by the subordinate individual units 20-1 and 20-2 is displayed on the tablet terminal 100. The medical staff can change the load of the load device 21 or stop the operation of the load device 21 by operating the tablet terminal 100 while looking at the displayed biological information.

[0048] Moreover, the biological information obtained by the plurality of unit units 101-1 to 101-n is collected and displayed on the monitoring terminal 200. This allows the user of the monitoring terminal 200 to view the biological information obtained by the plurality of unit units 101-1 to 101-n all at once. Moreover, the management database terminal 300 stores the biological information obtained by the plurality of unit units 101-1 to 101-n.

[0049] In this embodiment, a tablet terminal 100 with a small screen size is capable of displaying biometric information of a small number of people and controlling the load devices 21 of a small number of people, while a stationary monitoring terminal 200 with a large screen size is capable of displaying aggregated biometric information of a large number of people and controlling the load devices 21 of a large number of people.

[0050] In addition, in this embodiment, the tablet terminal 100 and the input box 23 are wirelessly connected, so medical staff can move around and manage cardiac rehabilitation while monitoring the condition of multiple patients without having to worry about wires. In addition, because Bluetooth communication is used for the wireless connection, the wireless connection is easy to operate, and the number of patients to be managed can also be easily changed.

[0051] <2. Consideration of R wave synchronization in blood pressure monitor 24> As described above, in this embodiment, the blood pressure monitor 24 is a so-called R-wave synchronized automatic blood pressure monitor, which sets the effective range of Korotkoff sounds based on the position (timing) of the patient's R waves, and removes sounds generated outside the effective range as noise. In other words, the blood pressure monitor 24 determines that sounds at the timing of the heartbeat (timing of the R waves) are pulsation sounds, and other sounds are noise, and performs blood pressure measurement using the Rival-Roch-Korotkoff method.

[0052] The R waves are detected by the input box 23, transmitted from the input box 23 to the tablet terminal 100 via Bluetooth, transmitted from the tablet terminal 100 to the load controller 22 via wireless LAN, and transmitted from the load controller 22 to the sphygmomanometer 24 via wired connection.

[0053] 2 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of transmission and reception of an R-wave synchronization signal when an electrocardiograph and a blood pressure monitor are connected by wire, as a comparative example to the embodiment. The electrocardiograph corresponds to the input box 23 in the embodiment in the sense that it detects R-waves. An R-wave appears at time t0, the electrocardiograph detects the R-wave at time t1, and transmits an R-wave synchronization signal by wire at the detection time t1. The blood pressure monitor receives the R-wave synchronization signal at time t2.

[0054] Here, the time from time 0 to time t1 is the time required for the electrocardiograph to determine the R wave, and the time from time t1 to time t2 is the time required for wired transmission. Since these times are almost constant, if these times are set in advance as delay times in the blood pressure monitor, the blood pressure monitor can correctly determine time t0, which is the actual timing of the R wave, from time t2, when the R wave synchronization signal is received. Therefore, the effective range of the Korotkoff sound can be correctly set using this time t0, allowing for highly accurate blood pressure measurement.

[0055] FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of transmission and reception of an R wave synchronization signal in a system configuration such as that of the embodiment.

[0056] The input box 23 detects, at time t11, the R wave that appeared at time t10. Then, the input box 23 transmits an R wave synchronization signal to the tablet terminal 100 by BLE communication at time t11. Next, the tablet terminal 100 transmits the R wave synchronization signal to the load controller 22 by wireless LAN communication. Next, the load controller 22 transmits the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer 24 by wired serial communication.

[0057] As can be seen from the figure, there is variation in the times t21 and t22 at which the R-wave synchronous signal is received by the sphygmomanometer 24. In other words, there is variation in the delay time from the actual R-wave timing to when the R-wave synchronous signal is received by the sphygmomanometer 24. This makes it difficult for the sphygmomanometer 24 to correctly determine the time t0 of the actual R-wave timing.

[0058] Such a variation in the reception times t21, t22 of the R wave synchronous signal in the sphygmomanometer 24 is considered to be largely influenced by the presence of a wireless LAN path in the communication path and the variation in communication time on this wireless LAN path.

[0059] Therefore, the inventors of the present disclosure investigated the variation in communication time in wireless LAN communication. In the investigation, the PING response time in wireless LAN communication was examined. Figure 4 shows the results.

[0060] To confirm the effects of obstacles and distance, we investigated the case of no obstacles at close range (approximately 1m) and the case of an obstacle (door) at long range (approximately 10m). For each case, we tried 100 consecutive transmissions and receptions three times.

[0061] As can be seen from Figure 4, although there was no significant difference in the average response time and standard deviation due to differences in obstacles and distance, it was found that the PING response time varied by about 40 to 110 ms for a round trip (about 20 to 65 ms for a one-way trip). Considering that the normal heartbeat interval (interval between R waves) is about 600 ms to 1200 ms, this variation may have a negative effect on the noise removal of Korotkoff sounds in the blood pressure monitor 24.

[0062] The inventors of the present disclosure believed that if a wireless path is included in the communication path from such an electrocardiograph (input box 23 in the embodiment) to the sphygmomanometer 24, the transmission time of the R wave synchronization signal may vary, resulting in degradation of blood pressure measurement by the sphygmomanometer 24, and thus arrived at the present disclosure.

[0063] <3. Transmission of R-wave Synchronization Signal in the Embodiment> Next, the transmission of the R wave synchronization signal according to this embodiment will be described.

[0064] FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of transmission and reception of an R wave synchronization signal according to an embodiment.

[0065] The input box 23 detects, at time t11, the R wave that appeared at time t10. Then, the input box 23 transmits an R wave synchronization signal to the tablet terminal 100 by BLE communication at time t11. At this time, the input box 23 adds time information t11 of the transmitted time t11 to the R wave synchronization signal and transmits it to the tablet terminal 100.

[0066] Next, the tablet terminal 100 transmits the R wave synchronization signal and the time information t11 to the load controller 22 via wireless LAN communication.

[0067] Next, the load controller 22 transmits the R-wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer 24 by wired serial communication. At this time, the load controller 22 does not transmit the R-wave synchronization signal immediately after receiving it, but temporarily stores the R-wave synchronization signal in a buffer and transmits the R-wave synchronization signal a certain time after the time indicated by the time information t11. This allows the load controller 22 to cancel out any difference in communication time on the wireless transmission path for each R-wave synchronization signal.

[0068] As a result, as can be seen from the figure, the time t20 at which the R wave synchronous signal is received by the sphygmomanometer 24 does not vary for each R wave synchronous signal, but occurs a certain delay time after the time t10 at which the R wave actually appears.

[0069] The sphygmomanometer 24 is preset with information on the time required for the R-wave determination process by the input box 23, information on the time from time information t11 in the load controller 22 to transmission, and information on the time required for wired transmission from the load controller 22 to the sphygmomanometer 24. The sphygmomanometer 24 subtracts these preset pieces of time information from the reception time t20 of the R-wave synchronization signal to determine the actual R-wave timing t0.

[0070] In this manner, in the cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 of this embodiment, the load controller 22 adjusts the timing of transmitting the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer 24 so that the delay time from the timing of the R wave (time t10) to the timing at which the R wave synchronization signal is received in the sphygmomanometer 24 (time t20) is constant, thereby suppressing a decrease in the accuracy of blood pressure measurement by the sphygmomanometer 24 caused by variations in communication time over the wireless transmission path.

[0071] When performing processing such as in this embodiment, it is important that the time in the input box 23 and the time in the load controller 22 are synchronized with high precision without any discrepancy between the devices. Therefore, when executing the system of this embodiment, it is preferable to perform highly accurate time synchronization using a time synchronization technology such as PTP (Precision Time Protocol).

[0072] <4. Summary> The above-described embodiment is merely an example of the embodiment of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited by the embodiment. In other words, the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the gist or main characteristics of the present invention.

[0073] In the above embodiment, the input box 23 detects R waves included in the ECG of the subject and wirelessly transmits an R wave synchronization signal synchronized with the R waves, but the input box 23 may be, for example, an electrocardiograph having a wireless unit. The medical communication system of the present disclosure only needs to have an R wave detection unit that detects R waves included in the ECG of the subject and a first wireless unit that wirelessly transmits an R wave synchronization signal synchronized with the detected R waves, and the R wave detection unit and the first wireless unit may be provided in the same device (provided in the input box 23 in the embodiment) or in different devices.

[0074] In the above embodiment, the load controller 22 serves as a relay device that wirelessly receives an R wave synchronization signal wirelessly transmitted from the input box 23 and transmits it to the sphygmomanometer 24, and further, the load controller 22 adjusts the timing of transmitting the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer 24 so that the delay time from the timing of the R wave to the timing of receiving the R wave synchronization signal in the sphygmomanometer 24 is constant. The present disclosure is not limited to this, and the above processing of the load controller 22 may be performed by a relay device separate from the load controller 22.

[0075] In the above embodiment, the case has been described in which the communication section between the R wave detection section (in the embodiment, the input box 23) that detects the R wave included in the ECG of the subject, the first wireless section (in the embodiment, the input box 23) that wirelessly transmits an R wave synchronization signal synchronized with the R wave, and the blood pressure monitor 24 includes a Bluetooth communication section, a wireless LAN communication section, and a wired communication section. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is broadly effective when the communication section between the first wireless section (in the embodiment, the input box 23) and the blood pressure monitor 24 includes a wireless communication section. In particular, it is effective when a wireless communication section in which communication time varies, such as a wireless LAN communication section, is included. In particular, it is preferable to place the relay device (in the embodiment, the load controller 22) on the blood pressure monitor 24 side rather than the wireless communication section in which the communication time varies more. In other words, when the communication section between the first wireless section and the relay device has a larger variation in communication time than the communication section between the relay device and the blood pressure monitor, the relay device may absorb the variation in communication time in the communication section between the first wireless section and the relay device.

[0076] The configuration of the cardiac rehabilitation support system 10 shown in Fig. 1 is an example, and can be modified as appropriate. The medical communication system of the present disclosure is not limited to cardiac rehabilitation support systems, and can be applied to, for example, cardiac stress testing systems, and can be widely applied to medical stress systems. The medical communication system of the present disclosure can be widely applied to cases where an R-wave synchronous signal is transmitted to a blood pressure monitor via a wireless path, and R-wave synchronous blood pressure measurement is performed by the blood pressure monitor.

[0077] The tablet terminal 100 of the present disclosure means a portable information terminal capable of wireless communication that has a display unit, an operation unit, and a signal processing unit. For example, a smartphone having a screen large enough to display biological information such as ECG of multiple patients is included in the portable information terminal capable of wireless communication of the present disclosure.

[0078] One embodiment of the medical communication system of the present disclosure includes an R wave detection unit (input box 23) that detects R waves contained in the ECG of a subject, a first wireless device (input box 23) that wirelessly transmits an R wave synchronization signal synchronized with the R wave, a sphygmomanometer 24 that measures the subject's blood pressure in response to the R wave synchronization signal, and a relay device (load controller 22) that wirelessly receives the R wave synchronization signal wirelessly transmitted from the first wireless unit (input box 23) and transmits it to the sphygmomanometer 24, and the relay device (load controller 22) adjusts the timing of transmitting the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer 24 so that the delay time from the timing t10 ​​of the R wave to the timing t20 of receiving the R wave synchronization signal in the sphygmomanometer 24 is constant.

[0079] This makes it possible to realize a medical communication system, a medical load system, and a relay device that can suppress a decrease in the measurement accuracy of R-wave synchronous blood pressure measurement caused by a variation in the communication time of the R-wave synchronous signal in the wireless transmission path. Also, if the timing of receiving the R-wave synchronous signal at the sphygmomanometer 24 varies, the heart rate displayed at the sphygmomanometer 24 and the heart rate displayed at the electrocardiograph (in the case of the embodiment, the input box 23 or the tablet terminal 100) may not match, which is undesirable. However, according to the configuration of the embodiment, the variation in the timing of receiving the R-wave synchronous signal at the sphygmomanometer 24 can be suppressed, so that such inconvenience can be avoided.

[0080] In one embodiment of the medical communication system of the present disclosure, the communication section between the first wireless unit (input box 23) and the relay device (load controller 22) has a larger variation in communication time than the communication section between the relay device (load controller 22) and the sphygmomanometer 24, and the relay device (load controller 22) absorbs the variation in communication time in the communication section between the first wireless unit (input box 23) and the relay device (load controller 22).

[0081] In one aspect of the medical communication system of the present disclosure, the first wireless unit (input box 23) wirelessly transmits, in addition to the R wave synchronization signal, time information t11 indicating the time at which the R wave synchronization signal was wirelessly transmitted to the relay device (load controller 22), and the relay device (load controller 22) transmits the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer 24 a fixed time after the time indicated by the time information t11.

[0082] In one aspect of the medical communication system of the present disclosure, a wireless LAN communication section exists in the communication section between the first wireless section (the input box 23) and the relay device (the load controller 22).

[0083] In one embodiment of the medical communication system of the present disclosure, a wireless LAN communication section exists in the communication section between the first wireless unit (input box 23) and the relay device (load controller 22), but a wireless LAN communication section does not exist in the communication section between the relay device (load controller 22) and the sphygmomanometer 24. [Industrial Applicability]

[0084] The present disclosure is widely applicable to cases where an R-wave synchronous signal is transmitted to a sphygmomanometer via a wireless path and R-wave synchronous blood pressure measurement is performed by the sphygmomanometer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0085] 10 Rehabilitation Support System 20-1, 20-2 Individual units 21 Load device 22 Load Controller 23 Input Box 24 Blood Pressure Monitor 30 Access Points (AP) 40 Hub 100 tablet devices 101-1~101-n Unit 200 Monitoring terminals 300 Management database terminal

Claims

1. An R wave detection unit for detecting an R wave included in an ECG of a subject; a first radio unit that wirelessly transmits an R wave synchronization signal synchronized with the detected R wave; a sphygmomanometer for measuring a blood pressure of the subject in response to the R-wave synchronous signal; a relay device that wirelessly receives the R wave synchronization signal wirelessly transmitted from the first wireless unit and transmits the R wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer; Equipped with The relay device is adjusting a timing for transmitting the R-wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer so that a delay time from the timing of the R-wave to a timing for receiving the R-wave synchronization signal at the sphygmomanometer is constant; Medical communication systems.

2. a communication section between the first wireless unit and the relay device has a larger variation in communication time than a communication section between the relay device and the sphygmomanometer; The relay device absorbs a variation in communication time in a communication section between the first wireless unit and the relay device. The medical communication system according to claim 1 .

3. the first radio unit wirelessly transmits, in addition to the R wave synchronization signal, time information indicating a time at which the R wave synchronization signal was wirelessly transmitted to the relay device; the relay device transmits the R-wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer after a certain time has elapsed since the time indicated by the time information. The medical communication system according to claim 1 .

4. a wireless LAN communication section exists in a communication section between the first wireless unit and the relay device; The medical communication system according to claim 2 .

5. a wireless LAN communication section exists in a communication section between the first wireless unit and the relay device, and a wireless LAN communication section does not exist in a communication section between the relay device and the sphygmomanometer; The medical communication system according to claim 2 .

6. the first wireless unit is provided in an input box for inputting biological information of a patient, The relay device is provided in a controller that controls the blood pressure monitor. The medical communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A medical load system comprising the medical communication system according to claim 1.

8. A relay device in a medical communication system, comprising: an R-wave detection unit that detects R-waves included in an ECG of a subject; a first wireless unit that wirelessly transmits an R-wave synchronization signal synchronized with the detected R-waves; a blood pressure monitor that measures a blood pressure of the subject in response to the R-wave synchronization signal; and a relay device that wirelessly receives the R-wave synchronization signal wirelessly transmitted from the first wireless unit and transmits it to the blood pressure monitor, adjusting a timing for transmitting the R-wave synchronization signal to the sphygmomanometer so that a delay time from the timing of the R-wave to a timing for receiving the R-wave synchronization signal at the sphygmomanometer is constant; Relay device.

9. a communication section between the first wireless unit and the relay device has a larger variation in communication time than a communication section between the relay device and the sphygmomanometer; The relay device absorbs a variation in communication time in a communication section between the first wireless unit and the relay device. The relay device according to claim 8.

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