Disordered swallowing detection system, disordered swallowing detection device, and disordered swallowing detection program

Abstract

To accurately detect abnormality of swallowing activity without bringing a detection device into contact with or invading a subject.SOLUTION: A disordered swallowing detection system 100 includes: a respiratory condition detection means 10 for detecting respiratory condition information indicating the state of the respiratory movement of a subject H without contacting the subject H; a swallowing state detection means 20 for detecting swallowing state information indicating the state of the swallowing movement of the subject H without contacting the subject H; and swallowing abnormality detection means 30 for determining whether or not the subject H is swallowing based on the swallowing state information detected by the swallowing state detection means 20, and for determining the respiratory states immediately before and after the swallowing based on the respiratory state information detected by the respiratory state detection means 10 when it is determined that the subject H is swallowing, thereby detecting swallowing abnormalities in the subject H.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a swallowing abnormality detection system, a swallowing abnormality detection device, and a swallowing abnormality detection program. [Background technology]

[0002] As society ages, the incidence of diseases caused by swallowing disorders, such as aspiration pneumonia, is increasing. Swallowing disorders refer to disorders related to the "swallowing" movement in the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus. To prevent diseases such as aspiration pneumonia, a device that can easily determine and evaluate whether a subject is swallowing normally is desired. For this reason, devices for evaluating swallowing function by monitoring swallowing activity have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-4968 [Patent Document 2] Special Publication No. 2019-509094 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the swallowing activity monitoring devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 require attaching a pressure sensor to the chest, attaching a respiratory flow sensor cannula to the nostrils or oral cavity, and attaching a contact microphone or acoustic microphone to the throat or cheek in order to monitor swallowing activity. In this way, when a detection device is placed in contact with or invasively placed on a subject to monitor swallowing activity, there is a problem in that the burden of the test on the subject during monitoring is heavy.

[0005] Furthermore, the swallowing activity monitoring device described in Patent Document 2 employs a method of evaluating the state of swallowing activity by collecting swallowing sounds with a microphone. However, when swallowing sounds are collected with a microphone, environmental sounds (such as noise) are also collected, which creates the problem of making it difficult to determine the swallowing sounds.

[0006] For example, if the microphone's recording sensitivity is low, it is difficult to collect swallowing sounds with a sufficient signal level, which may result in a decrease in the accuracy of swallowing evaluation based on collected audio information.On the other hand, if the microphone's recording sensitivity is increased, sounds other than swallowing sounds may be collected along with swallowing sounds, which may actually decrease the accuracy of swallowing evaluation based on audio information.

[0007] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide an abnormal swallowing detection device, an abnormal swallowing detection system, and an abnormal swallowing detection program that are capable of accurately detecting abnormalities in swallowing activity without requiring a detection device to come into contact with or be invasive to the subject. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the swallowing abnormality detection system in the first embodiment of the present disclosure is characterized by comprising: a respiratory state detection means that detects respiratory state information indicating the state of the respiratory movement of the subject without contacting the subject; a swallowing state detection means that detects swallowing state information that indicates the state of the swallowing movement of the subject without contacting the subject; and a swallowing abnormality detection means that determines whether the subject is swallowing based on the swallowing state information detected by the swallowing state detection means, and when it is determined that the subject is swallowing, determines the respiratory state immediately before and after the swallowing movement based on the respiratory state information detected by the respiratory state detection means, and detects swallowing abnormalities in the subject.

[0009] In a swallowing abnormality detection system according to a second embodiment that may be dependent on the first embodiment, the respiratory condition information may be information indicating a state of chest movement of the subject.

[0010] Furthermore, in a swallowing abnormality detection system according to a third embodiment that can be dependent on the first or second embodiment, the respiratory condition detection means may be a detection means that detects the respiratory condition of the subject by measuring changes in the state of the subject's chest from outside the body in a non-contact manner.

[0011] In addition, in a swallowing abnormality detection system according to a fourth embodiment which may be dependent on the third embodiment, the respiratory condition detection means may be an imaging means for imaging a change in condition around the chest of the subject.

[0012] Furthermore, in a swallowing abnormality detection system of a fifth embodiment that can be dependent on any of the first to fourth embodiments, the swallowing state detection means may be a detection means that detects the state of the swallowing movement of the subject by measuring changes in the state around the throat of the subject from outside the body in a non-contact manner.

[0013] In addition, in a swallowing abnormality detection system according to a sixth embodiment which may be dependent on the fifth embodiment, the swallowing state detection means may be a sound collection means for collecting sounds generated around the throat of the subject.

[0014] Furthermore, in a seventh embodiment of the swallowing abnormality detection system that can be dependent on the sixth embodiment, the swallowing abnormality detection means may have a swallowing state signal processing means that applies audio signal processing to the sound collected by the sound collection means to make apparent swallowing sounds that may be generated when the swallowing action is performed.

[0015] In addition, in the swallowing abnormality detection system of the eighth embodiment which can be dependent on the fifth embodiment, the swallowing state detection means may be an imaging means for imaging a change in state around the throat of the subject.

[0016] Furthermore, in a swallowing abnormality detection system of a ninth embodiment that can be dependent on the eighth embodiment, the swallowing abnormality detection means may have a swallowing state signal processing means that extracts features of a fluctuating area around the throat based on an image of the area around the throat captured by the imaging means.

[0017] In addition, in a swallowing abnormality detection system of a tenth embodiment that can be dependent on any of the first to ninth embodiments, the swallowing abnormality detection means may determine that the swallowing abnormality has occurred in the subject when the breathing state immediately after the swallowing action is an inhalation state.

[0018] Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the swallowing abnormality detection device in the eleventh embodiment of the present disclosure is characterized by comprising: a swallowing action determination means for determining whether or not the subject is swallowing, based on swallowing state information that is information indicating the state of the subject's swallowing action and is detected without contacting the subject; a respiratory state determination means for determining whether the subject's respiratory action is exhalation or inhalation, based on respiratory state information that is information indicating the state of the subject's respiratory action and is detected without contacting the subject; and a swallowing abnormality determination means for determining swallowing abnormalities in the subject, when the swallowing action determination means determines that the subject is swallowing, based on the respiratory action immediately before and after the swallowing action determined by the respiratory state determination means.

[0019] Furthermore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the swallowing abnormality detection program in the twelfth embodiment of the present disclosure is characterized in that it realizes a swallowing action determination function that causes a computer to determine whether a subject is swallowing based on swallowing state information that is information indicating the state of the subject's swallowing action and is detected without contacting the subject; a respiratory state determination function that causes a computer to determine whether the subject's breathing action is exhalation or inhalation based on respiratory state information that is information indicating the state of the subject's breathing action and is detected without contacting the subject; and a swallowing abnormality determination function that, when the swallowing action determination function determines that the subject is swallowing, determines whether the subject has swallowing abnormalities based on the breathing action immediately before and after the swallowing action determined by the respiratory state determination function. [Effects of the Invention]

[0020] According to the abnormal swallowing detection system, abnormal swallowing detection device, and abnormal swallowing detection program of the present disclosure, it is possible to accurately detect abnormalities in swallowing activity without contacting or invasively placing a detection device on the subject. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an abnormal swallowing detection system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an abnormal swallowing detection system according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] 10(a) and 10(b) are diagrams showing changes over time in waveform information and swallowing sound information according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing executed by a calculation unit of the swallowing abnormality detection device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0022] An example of a swallowing abnormality detection system according to the present disclosure will be shown below and described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a swallowing abnormality detection system. The swallowing abnormality detection system 100 mainly comprises a camera (respiratory state detection means, imaging means) 10, a shotgun microphone (swallowing state detection means, sound collection means) 20, and a swallowing abnormality detection device (swallowing abnormality determination means) 30. The swallowing abnormality detection system 100 detects the state of the breathing movement (the state of exhalation and inhalation in respiratory activity) and the state of the swallowing movement of the subject H to detect swallowing abnormalities in the subject H. Here, swallowing refers to swallowing food and drink and transporting it to the stomach, and swallowing abnormality refers to a state in which food and drink swallowed by the subject H is not normally transported to the stomach.

[0023] The camera 10 is a sensor for detecting a respiratory condition used to detect the respiratory condition of the subject H without contacting the subject H. Specifically, in order to detect changes (changes in the feature quantities of the changing part) in a specific position (specific part) of the subject H that fluctuates greatly during breathing, the camera 10 captures an image of the area around the chest (around the lungs) of the subject H (the area indicated by V11 in FIG. 1). The camera 10 captures a series of images or a video of the subject H so that changes in the condition around the chest of the subject H can be seen. The series of images or a video captured by the camera 10 corresponds to "respiratory condition information" that indicates the respiratory condition of the subject. The series of images, etc. (respiratory condition information) captured (detected) by the camera 10 are output to the abnormal swallowing detection device 30.

[0024] Shotgun microphone 20 is a swallowing state detection sensor used to detect the state of the swallowing movement of subject H without making contact with subject H. When subject H swallows (swallows food or drink), swallowing sounds (hereinafter, these sounds will be referred to as swallowing sounds) specific to the swallowing movement are generated around the throat. Shotgun microphone 20 has directionality in the sound collection process, so by collecting sound with the tip of the microphone directed toward the area around the throat of subject H (the area indicated by V12 in FIG. 1), it is possible to accurately collect sounds generated around the throat (sounds mainly including swallowing sounds). The sounds around the throat collected by shotgun microphone 20 correspond to "swallowing state information" that indicates the state of the swallowing movement of subject H. The swallowing sounds (swallowing state information) collected by shotgun microphone 20 are output to swallowing abnormality detection device 30.

[0025] 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the swallowing abnormality detection system 100. The above-mentioned camera 10 and shotgun microphone 20 are connected to the swallowing abnormality detection device 30. The swallowing abnormality detection device 30 mainly includes a respiratory condition information processing unit 32, a swallowing condition information processing unit 34, a calculation unit 36, and a judgment result display unit 38.

[0026] The respiratory condition information processing unit 32 performs processing to detect the state of respiratory movement based on the sequential images or video (respiratory condition information) captured by the camera 10. Specifically, the respiratory condition information processing unit 32 detects a region that may change over time as a specific position from the captured images of the subject H's chest area (images of the V11 area in FIG. 1) based on the sequential images or video. The respiratory condition information processing unit 32 then calculates a feature vector at the specific position and tracks changes in the feature amount (temporal changes) at the specific position (changing region) based on the sequential images or video, thereby detecting the state of respiratory movement. The detected respiratory movement state is information detected based on changes in the chest area of ​​the subject H, and is obtained as waveform information (information whose amplitude changes over time) indicating exhalation and inhalation of respiratory movement. The waveform information calculated by the respiratory condition information processing unit 32 is output to the calculation unit 36.

[0027] The swallowing state information processing unit 34 performs a process of extracting sound information that clearly indicates the swallowing state based on the swallowing sounds (swallowing state information) collected by the shotgun microphone 20. Specifically, the swallowing state information processing unit 34 performs a process of extracting only frequency components of 3000 Hz or less by applying a filter process to the swallowing sounds acquired by the shotgun microphone 20. Generally, sounds generated around the throat in association with swallowing are characterized by having a frequency band of 3000 Hz or less. For this reason, the swallowing state information processing unit 34 extracts only frequency components of 3000 Hz or less from the swallowing sounds collected by the shotgun microphone 20, thereby extracting sounds that can more accurately determine the state of the swallowing action. The filter used for the filtering process may be a low-pass filter that allows sounds of frequencies of 3000 Hz or less, or may be a band-pass filter that allows a frequency range of extremely low frequencies, such as 10 Hz, or above, and further including 3000 Hz or less. The swallowing sound information from which the swallowing state information processing unit 34 has extracted the frequency band of 3000 Hz or less is output to the calculation unit 36.

[0028] The calculation unit 36 ​​judges whether or not there is swallowing abnormality in the subject H based on waveform information indicating the state of the respiratory movement obtained from the respiratory state information processing unit 32 and swallowing sound information indicating the state of the swallowing movement obtained from the swallowing state information processing unit 34. Specifically, the calculation unit 36 ​​includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), a recording device (such as a solid state drive or hard disk drive), and the like, and judges (detects) whether or not there is swallowing abnormality by the CPU executing the processing described below in accordance with a swallowing abnormality detection program recorded in the recording device.

[0029] The judgment result display unit 38 displays a graph showing the waveform information and swallowing sound information, which will be described below, and the result of the judgment by the calculation unit 36 ​​as to whether or not there is swallowing abnormality in the subject H. The judgment result display unit 38 uses a display means such as a general liquid crystal display.

[0030] 3(a) and 3(b) are diagrams showing waveform information and swallowing sound information. In FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b), the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents the amplitude of the waveform information and the signal level of the swallowing sound information. As described above, the waveform information indicates the state of breathing, and it is determined that an exhalation has occurred when the amplitude of the waveform information becomes convex upward, and that an inhalation has occurred when the amplitude of the waveform information becomes convex downward. Furthermore, the timing of a swallowing action is determined based on the state in which the signal level of the swallowing sound information fluctuates greatly while the amplitude of the waveform information is maintained constant during the swallowing action.

[0031] Fig. 3(a) shows an example of a case where it is determined that there is no abnormality in swallowing activity, and Fig. 3(b) shows an example of a case where it is determined that there is an abnormality in swallowing activity. As shown in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b), subject H exhales from time t1 to t2 and from time t3 to t4, and inhales from time t2 to t3. Subject H is swallowing at times such as from time t4 to t5 when the amplitude of the swallowing sound information fluctuates greatly.

[0032] Comparing the respiratory state after swallowing (times t5 to t6) in Figures 3(a) and 3(b), subject H is exhaling in Figure 3(a) and inhaling in Figure 3(b). In the case of Figure 3(a), swallowing occurs after (or during) exhalation (times t3 to t4), followed by exhalation (times t5 to t6). Since there is consistency between the breathing movements before and after, it can be determined that the swallowing movement was normal.

[0033] In the case of Figure 3(b), swallowing occurs after (or during) exhalation (time t3 to t4), and inhalation (time t5 to t6) occurs immediately after the end of swallowing. If swallowing abnormalities occur, such as food or drink entering the trachea, there is a high possibility that the person will attempt to inhale air (breath) immediately after swallowing. In particular, in the case of Figure 3(b), breath (air from the lungs) is expelled during exhalation (time t3 to t4) immediately before swallowing, so it is possible that food or drink has entered the trachea, causing shortness of breath, and the person will attempt to inhale air (air) immediately after swallowing. For this reason, in the case of Figure 3(b), it can be determined that there is an abnormality in the swallowing process.

[0034] For example, if an inhalation (time t3-t4) occurs before a swallowing action and an exhalation (time t5-t6) occurs after a swallowing action, it can be determined that air has accumulated in the lungs due to the previous inhalation. Therefore, if breathing occurs after a swallowing action, it is considered that normal breathing has occurred, and it can be determined that the swallowing action was normal. On the other hand, if air has accumulated in the lungs due to the previous inhalation (time t3-t4) and abnormal swallowing occurs during the subsequent swallowing action, the person will attempt to expel food that has entered the trachea by coughing or vomiting, which expels the air from the lungs. Therefore, it can be determined whether the swallowing action is normal or abnormal based on whether coughing or the like occurs after a swallowing action. Furthermore, if the person is unable to expel food that has entered the trachea due to coughing or vomiting, it is considered that the person will swallow again in an attempt to breathe, and will then inhale immediately thereafter. Therefore, it can be determined that abnormal swallowing is due to the inhalation after the swallowing action.

[0035] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 3(a), if the same breathing action occurs before and after the swallowing action (inhale → swallow → inhale, or exhale → swallow → exhale), it can be determined that the series of breathing actions occurred continuously through the swallowing action, and therefore it is possible to determine that there is no swallowing abnormality and that the swallowing action is normal. However, whether the series of breathing actions occurred continuously and normally through the swallowing action may vary depending on factors such as the length of the exhalation and inhalation immediately before the swallowing action. For this reason, by detecting and recording the time and timing of each normal breathing action and swallowing action in subject H in advance, it becomes possible to quickly and accurately determine the difference between normal and abnormal swallowing actions, thereby improving the accuracy of detecting swallowing abnormalities.

[0036] In this way, the calculation unit 36 ​​(particularly, the CPU of the calculation unit 36) can determine whether swallowing is abnormal based on breathing (exhalation and inhalation) before and after swallowing. In particular, if inhalation occurs after swallowing, there is a high possibility of swallowing abnormality as described above. Therefore, in the embodiment, the calculation unit 36 ​​measures breathing (exhalation and inhalation) before and after swallowing, and determines that swallowing abnormality has occurred if inhalation occurs at least after swallowing.

[0037] 4 is a flowchart showing the processing executed by the calculation unit 36 ​​(CPU of the calculation unit 36). The calculation unit 36 ​​performs processing to determine whether there is any abnormality in the swallowing movement based on a program for detecting swallowing abnormalities recorded in a recording device. Therefore, the calculation unit 36 ​​(CPU) functions as a swallowing movement determination means, a respiratory condition determination means, and a swallowing abnormality determination means. The processing shown in FIG. 4 is executed by the calculation unit 36 ​​when it is determined that the swallowing abnormality determination processing has been started by operating an input means (keyboard, etc.) of the swallowing abnormality detection device 30 (not shown).

[0038] The calculation unit 36 ​​first acquires waveform information from the respiratory condition information processing unit 32 and also acquires swallowing sound information from the swallowing condition information processing unit 34 (S.01), and performs a detection process to determine whether or not the subject H has swallowed (determines whether or not there has been a swallowing action) based on the swallowing sound information (S.02, swallowing action determination function). If a swallowing action has occurred, the signal level of the swallowing sound information will fluctuate significantly, as already explained.

[0039] If the swallowing action of the subject H cannot be detected (No in S.02), the calculation unit 36 ​​repeatedly executes the process of S.01 described above. If the swallowing action of the subject H can be detected (Yes in S.02), the calculation unit 36 ​​detects the respiratory state (exhalation and inhalation) before and after the swallowing action based on the waveform information (S.03, respiratory state determination function), and determines whether or not there is a swallowing abnormality based on the respiratory state before and after the swallowing action (S.04, swallowing abnormality determination function). The calculation unit 36 ​​of the present disclosure determines that a swallowing abnormality has occurred at least if an inhalation action occurs after a swallowing action. Thereafter, the calculation unit 36 ​​displays the swallowing action determination result on the determination result display unit 38 (S.05), and ends the swallowing abnormality determination process.

[0040] As described above, the swallowing abnormality detection system 100 of the present disclosure uses a camera 10 capable of detecting the state of the breathing movement of the subject H without contacting the subject H, and can detect the breathing state of the subject H based on breathing state information (sequential images or video) captured by the camera 10. Furthermore, the swallowing abnormality detection system 100 uses a shotgun microphone 20 capable of detecting the state of the swallowing movement of the subject H without contacting the subject H, and can detect the swallowing state of the subject H based on swallowing state information (swallowing sounds) collected by the shotgun microphone 20. Therefore, the breathing state and swallowing state of the subject H can be detected without contacting or invasively placing a detection sensor or the like on the subject H, and it becomes possible to reduce the physical burden on the subject H during the detection process.

[0041] Furthermore, in the swallowing abnormality detection system 100 of the present disclosure, the swallowing state information processing unit 34 of the swallowing abnormality detection device 30 performs filtering on the swallowing sounds, thereby removing sounds other than the swallowing sounds, making it possible to more easily and accurately determine the state of the swallowing movement.

[0042] Furthermore, the calculation unit 36 ​​of the swallowing abnormality detection system 100 of the present disclosure can detect swallowing abnormalities based on the swallowing action and the state of breathing before and after the swallowing action, making it possible to easily and accurately determine swallowing abnormalities. In particular, when the subject H inhales immediately after swallowing, it may be determined that food or drink has entered the trachea, and the calculation unit 36 ​​of the swallowing abnormality detection system 100 will determine that swallowing abnormalities have occurred.

[0043] The swallowing abnormality detection system, swallowing abnormality detection device, and swallowing abnormality detection program of the present disclosure have been described in detail above, using the swallowing abnormality detection system 100 as an example, but the swallowing abnormality detection system, swallowing abnormality detection device, and swallowing abnormality detection program of the present disclosure are not limited to the configurations shown in the embodiments.

[0044] For example, in the swallowing abnormality detection system 100, a method has been described in which a change in a specific position of the subject H (change in movement around the chest) that fluctuates greatly when breathing is detected using the camera 10, but the device for detecting a change in a specific position of the subject H is not limited to the camera 10. For example, by using a radio wave sensor such as a millimeter wave radar, it is possible to detect the state of breathing movement based on the amount of change in the specific position (change in movement around the chest).

[0045] Furthermore, in the description of the swallowing abnormality detection system 100, a method has been described in which the shotgun microphone 20 is used to collect swallowing sounds in order to determine the state of swallowing. However, the device for determining the state of swallowing is not limited to the shotgun microphone 20. For example, it is also possible to detect swallowing by using a camera to capture successive images or videos of the state around the throat of the subject H, and detecting time-series changes in the throat movement (changes in the feature quantities of the moving parts) based on the captured successive images, etc. When detecting swallowing using a camera, for example, by expanding the capture range of the camera 10 in the embodiment from the range around the chest of the subject H (the range V11 in FIG. 1 ) to the range including the throat area (the range V13 in FIG. 1 ), it is possible to simultaneously capture the state of breathing and the state of swallowing with a single camera.

[0046] By detecting the state of breathing and the state of swallowing with one camera, the single camera can serve as both a device for detecting the breathing state (breathing state detection means) and a device for detecting the swallowing state (swallowing state detection means), thereby simplifying the configuration of the swallowing abnormality detection system 100. Also, in the swallowing abnormality detection device 30, the respiratory state information processing unit 32 and the swallowing state information processing unit 34 can be combined into only the respiratory state information processing unit 32, thereby simplifying the configuration. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10...Camera (breathing state detection means, photographing means) 20...Shotgun microphone (means for detecting swallowing state, means for collecting sound) 30... Swallowing abnormality detection device (swallowing abnormality detection means) 32...Respiratory status information processing unit 34 ... swallowing state information processing unit (swallowing state signal processing means) 36...Calculation unit (swallowing action determination means, respiratory condition determination means, swallowing abnormality determination means) 38…Judgment result display section 100...Swallowing abnormality detection system H...Subject

Claims

1. a respiratory condition detection means for detecting respiratory condition information indicating a state of the respiratory movement of the subject without contacting the subject; a swallowing state detecting means for detecting swallowing state information indicating a state of the swallowing action of the subject without contacting the subject; a swallowing abnormality detection means for determining whether or not the subject is performing a swallowing action based on the swallowing state information detected by the swallowing state detection means, and, when it is determined that the subject is performing the swallowing action, determining the respiratory states immediately before and immediately after the swallowing action based on the respiratory state information detected by the respiratory state detection means, thereby detecting swallowing abnormalities in the subject; A swallowing abnormality detection system comprising:

2. The abnormal swallowing detection system according to claim 1 , wherein the respiratory condition information is information indicating a state of chest movement of the subject.

3. 2. The abnormal swallowing detection system according to claim 1, wherein the respiratory condition detection means detects the respiratory movement state of the subject by measuring changes in the state of the chest of the subject from outside the body in a non-contact manner.

4. 4. The swallowing abnormality detection system according to claim 3, wherein the respiratory condition detection means is an imaging means for imaging changes in the condition around the chest of the subject.

5. 2. The swallowing abnormality detection system according to claim 1, wherein the swallowing state detection means detects the state of the swallowing movement of the subject by measuring changes in the state around the throat of the subject from outside the body in a non-contact manner.

6. 6. The swallowing abnormality detection system according to claim 5, wherein the swallowing state detection means is a sound collection means that collects sounds generated around the throat of the subject.

7. 7. The swallowing abnormality detection system according to claim 6, wherein the swallowing abnormality detection means includes swallowing state signal processing means that applies audio signal processing to the sound collected by the sound collection means to make swallowing sounds that may be generated when the swallowing action is performed apparent.

8. 6. The swallowing abnormality detection system according to claim 5, wherein the swallowing condition detection means is an imaging means for imaging changes in the condition around the throat of the subject.

9. 9. The swallowing abnormality detection system according to claim 8, wherein the swallowing abnormality detection means comprises swallowing state signal processing means that extracts feature amounts of a fluctuating area around the throat based on the image of the throat area captured by the imaging means.

10. 2. The swallowing abnormality detection system according to claim 1, wherein the swallowing abnormality detection means determines that the swallowing abnormality has occurred in the subject when the breathing state immediately after the swallowing action is an inhalation state.

11. a swallowing action determination means for determining whether or not the subject is swallowing based on swallowing state information that indicates the state of the subject's swallowing action and that is detected without contacting the subject; a respiratory condition determining means for determining whether the respiratory condition of the subject is exhalation or inhalation based on respiratory condition information indicating the state of the respiratory condition of the subject, the respiratory condition information being detected without contacting the subject; a swallowing abnormality determination means for determining, when the swallowing action determination means determines that the subject is performing the swallowing action, abnormal swallowing in the subject based on the breathing actions immediately before and immediately after the swallowing action determined by the respiratory condition determination means; A swallowing abnormality detection device comprising:

12. On the computer, a swallowing action determination function for determining whether or not the subject is swallowing based on swallowing state information that indicates the state of the subject's swallowing action and is detected without contacting the subject; a respiratory state determination function for determining whether the respiratory state of the subject is exhalation or inhalation based on respiratory state information indicating the state of the respiratory state of the subject, the respiratory state information being detected without contacting the subject; a swallowing abnormality determination function that, when it is determined by the swallowing action determination function that the subject is performing the swallowing action, determines whether the subject has swallowing abnormalities based on the breathing actions immediately before and after the swallowing action determined by the respiratory state determination function; A swallowing abnormality detection program characterized by realizing the above.

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