Change determination system

Abstract

To provide a change determination system allowing a watcher to know a behavior change occurring in an object person by grasping an oral care activity performed every day by the object person.SOLUTION: The present invention is a change determination system 1 for grasping an oral care activity of a subject T and determining a behavioral change of the subject T, comprising an information acquisition unit 410 for acquiring information on the oral care activity, a determination processing unit 41 for determining a behavioral change occurred in the subject T based on the information on the oral care activity acquired by the information acquisition unit 410, and an information accumulation unit 43 for accumulating the information on the oral care activity acquired by the information acquisition unit 410 and determination information determined by the determination processing unit 41.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for determining changes in a subject's daily activities. [Background technology]

[0002] Currently, there are systems that detect the movements and vital signs of a subject and determine the subject's condition. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a system that uses sensors in a house to detect the movements of the resident (subject) and the operating status of various facilities in the house, and compares a normal activity manual created based on accumulated detection information with a current activity pattern generated from detection information detected over a recent fixed period to determine the subject's condition.

[0003] Patent document 2 also describes a system that detects the movements and conditions of a person (subject) living in a specified living space (e.g., a residence) using various sensors such as wearable sensors (e.g., vital signs sensors, acceleration sensors, vibration sensors) attached to the person, and determines whether there is an abnormality in the subject based on the output of these sensors. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-065886 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-175581 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, a system such as that described in Patent Document 1 requires the installation of the above-mentioned sensors and various equipment in various locations in the residence, and as such, it detects not only the target person's cohabitants and visitors, but also the target person's daily activities, making it difficult to detect only the target person's daily activities.

[0006] Furthermore, in a system such as that described in Patent Document 2, the subject must wear the wearable sensor at all times in order to accurately determine the subject's condition, but subjects are likely to forget to wear the wearable sensor if they are not used to wearing it. For this reason, the system described in Patent Document 2 cannot continuously detect the subject's movements and condition, and cannot accurately determine whether there is anything abnormal in the subject.

[0007] In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present invention provides a change detection system that allows a watcher to know any behavioral changes that have occurred in a subject by understanding the oral care activities that the subject performs every day. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] That is, the present invention includes the following inventions. (1) A change detection system that grasps a subject's oral care activities and determines behavioral changes of the subject, comprising: an information acquisition unit that acquires information about the oral care activities; a discrimination processing unit that determines behavioral changes that have occurred in the subject based on the information about the oral care activities acquired by the information acquisition unit; and an information storage unit that stores the information about the oral care activities acquired by the information acquisition unit and the discrimination information determined by the discrimination processing unit.

[0009] (2) The change discrimination system described in (1), wherein the discrimination processing unit includes an activity analysis unit that analyzes the activity content of the subject in the oral care activity based on the information stored in the information storage unit, a change extraction unit that compares the most recent information acquired by the information acquisition unit with the activity content analyzed by the activity analysis unit to extract changes in the subject in the oral care activity, and a change discrimination unit that discriminates the behavioral change based on the change information extracted by the change extraction unit.

[0010] (3) The change discrimination system described in (1) or (2), wherein the discrimination processing unit includes a pattern analysis unit that analyzes the subject's unique behavioral pattern in the oral care activity based on the information stored in the information storage unit, a change extraction unit that compares the most recent information acquired by the information acquisition unit with the behavioral pattern analyzed by the pattern analysis unit to extract changes in the subject in the oral care activity, and a change discrimination unit that discriminates the behavioral change based on the change information extracted by the change extraction unit.

[0011] (4) The change detection system according to (3), wherein the change detection unit detects an abnormality in the health condition of the subject as the behavioral change.

[0012] (5) The change detection system according to (4), wherein the change detection unit detects a behavioral change in daily activities that has occurred in the subject as the behavioral change.

[0013] (6) The change detection system described in (3), wherein the information regarding the oral care activity includes movement information detected by a movement detection unit that detects cleaning movements using an oral cleaning tool to clean the oral cavity.

[0014] (7) A change detection system as described in (6), further comprising a current situation grasping means for grasping the current state of the subject's daily activities, wherein the change detection unit determines the behavioral change based on the change information extracted by the change extraction unit and the current state of the subject's daily activities grasped by the current situation grasping means, and the information storage unit accumulates the discrimination information determined by the change detection unit of the discrimination processing unit and the current situation information regarding the current state of the subject's daily activities grasped by the current situation grasping means.

[0015] (8) The change detection system according to (3), further comprising an information output unit that outputs the detection information to a watcher watching the subject. [Effects of the Invention]

[0016] Oral care activities are hygiene management practices performed by individuals as part of their daily habits. The products used in these oral care activities are also typically used by individuals alone. Therefore, even if the subject has cohabitants or visitors in their home, the present invention can identify behavioral changes occurring only in the subject. The present invention does not directly output detected changes in oral care activities to the observer, but rather identifies changes in the subject's daily activities from changes in oral care activities, allowing the observer to easily grasp the subject's behavioral changes. Furthermore, the present invention analyzes the subject's unique behavioral patterns in oral care activities from the behavioral changes accumulated in the information storage unit, thereby making the subject's unique behavioral changes clear and reducing the likelihood of overlooking changes occurring in the subject. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a change determination system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the change determination system shown in FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 1 , a change detection system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a detection terminal 2, a subject terminal 3, a processing server 4, and a watcher terminal 5. The detection terminal 2 in this embodiment is a terminal device capable of acquiring and transmitting information related to oral care activities, preferably a smart toothbrush that detects cleaning actions such as toothbrushing. Other examples of the detection terminal 2 include a detection device attached to a non-powered toothbrush to detect cleaning actions, a toothbrush stand that detects the placement and removal of a toothbrush, or a stand that detects changes in oral care agents such as toothpaste, mouthwash, and mouthwash, such as a toothpaste stand that detects the amount of toothpaste remaining. Other examples of the detection terminal 2 include a smart mirror that analyzes images captured by an imaging function, or a sink that detects the amount of mouthwash or mouthwash spat out after use. The detection terminal 2 may be capable of detecting information related to oral care activities and transmitting the detected information. In the following description, the detection terminal 2 is described as a smart toothbrush.

[0020] The detection terminal 2 includes a brush unit 20, a power unit 21, a detection unit 22, a processing unit 23, a communication unit 24, and a power supply unit 25. The brush unit 20 has a plurality of bristle bundles implanted therein. The power unit 21 is preferably a well-known power source such as a brushless DC motor or a brushed DC motor that vibrates or rotates the brush unit 20, and may be any power source that can move the brush unit 20 to clean the teeth of the subject.

[0021] The detection unit 22 includes a motion detection unit 220 that detects the cleaning action of the brush unit 20 that cleans the teeth. The detection unit 22 includes at least one of an acceleration sensor, a motion sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, and a weight sensor as the motion detection unit 220, and these sensors detect the movement and posture of the detection terminal 2, as well as the pressure applied to the brush unit 20, as actions when cleaning the teeth. The motion information detected by the motion detection unit 220 is acquired by an information acquisition unit 410, which will be described later, as information related to oral care activities. In addition, the detection units 22 of the other detection terminals 2 also detect whether the toothbrush has been placed on or removed from the toothbrush stand and how much toothpaste is left, and these are also acquired as information related to oral care activities.

[0022] The processing unit 23 is an information processing device including a memory device such as a RAM or a ROM, a CPU, etc., and the memory device stores programs and processing data that define the operating procedures of various information processes in the processing unit 23. The processing unit 23 collects the detection information detected by the detection unit 22 and processes the information into a form that can be transmitted.

[0023] The communication unit 24 is a communication device that uses wireless communication technology such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and wirelessly transmits the detection information processed by the processing unit 23 to the subject terminal 3. The power supply unit 25 supplies power to the power unit 21, the detection unit 22, the processing unit 23, and the communication unit 24, and is implemented by a well-known rechargeable battery such as a nickel-metal hydride battery, a lithium polymer battery, or a lithium-ion battery. The power supply unit 25 may be a large-capacitance capacitor (supercapacitor) or a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a manganese battery, as long as it can supply power to the detection terminal 2. It is preferable that the power supply unit 25 of the detection terminal 2 is charged by renewable energy such as a solar cell.

[0024] The subject terminal 3 is preferably a terminal device, such as a smartphone or tablet terminal owned by the subject T, that can receive detection information wirelessly transmitted by the communication unit 24 of the detection terminal 2 and transmit it to the processing server 4. In the following description, the subject terminal 3 is described as a smartphone. The subject terminal 3 includes an information transfer unit 30 that transmits the detection information to the processing server 4 via a network N including the Internet. When the information transfer unit 30 receives the detection information transmitted from the communication unit 24 of the detection terminal 2, it transmits the detection information to the processing server 4 using an application. The information transfer unit 30 may transmit the detection information transmitted from the detection terminal 2 to the processing server 4 every time it receives the detection information, or may transmit the detection information transmitted from the detection terminal 2 to the processing server 4 after the detection information reaches a predetermined threshold.

[0025] The processing server 4 includes a server communication unit 40, a server processing unit 41, and a server storage unit 43. The server communication unit 40 is a communication device that uses wireless communication technology capable of connecting to a network N such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark) or a mobile network, and receives detection information transmitted from the subject terminal 3, and transmits discrimination information determined by the server processing unit 41 to the watcher terminal 5. The server processing unit 41 is an information processing device including a CPU, etc. The server processing unit 41 as a discrimination processing unit discriminates a behavioral change that has occurred in the subject T based on the detection information received by the server communication unit 40, and outputs discrimination information, which is the behavioral change of the subject T determined by the server processing unit 41, to the watcher terminal 5 via the server communication unit 40.

[0026] The server storage unit 43 is a storage device including RAM, ROM, etc. The server storage unit 43 stores programs and processing data that define the operating procedures of various information processes in the server processing unit 41. The server storage unit 43 also functions as an information storage unit that stores the detection information received by the server communication unit 40 and the behavioral changes of the subject T determined by the server processing unit 41.

[0027] The server processing unit 41 executes a program stored in the server storage unit 43, thereby causing an information acquisition unit 410, an activity analysis unit 411, a pattern analysis unit 412, a change extraction unit 413, a change determination unit 414, and an information output unit 415 to function. The information acquisition unit 410 acquires detection information from the detection terminal 2, which is information related to oral care activities, via the server communication unit 40 and stores it in the server storage unit 43. The activity analysis unit 411 analyzes the activity content of each oral care activity based on the detection information stored in the server storage unit 43, such as the date and time of the start and end of the oral care activity, the duration of the activity from the start to the end, and the movement of the detection terminal 2 during the duration of the activity. The pattern analysis unit 412 analyzes the subject T's unique behavioral pattern based on the activity content analyzed for each oral care activity by the activity analysis unit 411.

[0028] The change extraction unit 413 compares the most recent detection information acquired from the detection terminal 2 with the activity content analyzed by the activity analysis unit 411 or the behavioral pattern analyzed by the pattern analysis unit 412 to extract changes in the subject T's oral care activities. Note that the most recent detection information may include not only the most recent detection information acquired by the detection terminal 2, i.e., the current detection information just acquired at the current time, but also the previous, previous-to-previous, or multiple detection information, as well as an average over a certain period including the most recent detection information. The change extraction unit 413 may compare the average of the most recent detection information acquired from the detection terminal 2 over a certain period with the average of past detection information acquired from the detection terminal 2 over a similar period to extract changes in the subject T's oral care activities. This is because changes occurring in the subject T are not necessarily noticeable after one or two occurrences, and a single change may lead to a misidentification of whether or not the change is accidental. Therefore, the change extraction unit 413 can more accurately extract changes occurring in the subject T by comparing multiple pieces of detection information, including the current detection information, with the activity content or activity pattern. The change extraction unit 413 may also calculate an average of multiple pieces of detection information, including the current detection information, and compare it with the activity content or activity pattern to extract changes in the subject T in oral care activities. Methods for calculating the average include the arithmetic mean, geometric mean, weighted mean, moving average, and quantile mean. Furthermore, methods for processing outliers when averaging multiple pieces of detection information include a method for excluding outliers, such as the quantile mean, and a method for reducing the influence of outliers, such as the robust mean. This makes it possible to more accurately extract changes in subject T while minimizing the influence of outliers.

[0029] The change determination unit 414 determines a behavioral change that has occurred in the subject T based on the change information extracted by the change extraction unit 413. The change determination unit 414 determines, as a behavioral change, an abnormality in the health condition that has occurred in the subject T, or a behavioral change that has occurred in the daily activities of the subject T, that is, an improvement in the daily activities. The information output unit 415 outputs the determination information determined by the change determination unit 414 to the watcher terminal 5 via the server communication unit 40.

[0030] The activity analysis unit 411, pattern analysis unit 412, change extraction unit 413, and change determination unit 414, which function in the server processing unit 41, can be implemented by machine learning. In the case of unsupervised learning, LOF (Local Outlier Factor) is preferred, and in the case of semi-supervised learning, OC-SVM (One Class SVM) is preferred. Other machine learning algorithms that may be used include Hotelling's T2 method, GMM (Gaussian Mixture Model), KDE (Kernel Density Estimation), AE (Auto Encoder), and k-NN (k-Nearest Neighbor). When determining whether an abnormality in the health condition of subject T occurs as a behavioral change, LOF is preferred as the machine learning algorithm. When determining whether a behavioral change occurs in the daily activities of subject T as a behavioral change, AE is preferred as the machine learning algorithm.

[0031] The server processing unit 41 can also be implemented using a conventional algorithm other than machine learning, such as a moving average method, a Z-score method, an epsilon-support vector regression (EPSVR), and an entropy-based method.

[0032] There are various indicators and modes in which the change determination unit 414 determines that an abnormality in the health condition of the subject T or an improvement in daily activities is a behavioral change, and may, for example, compare the latest detection information at the present time with past detection information each time, or compare the average of the latest detection information detected for a certain period with the average of past detection information detected for a similar period. Furthermore, the change determination unit 414 may determine that the current detection information deviates from the average of the past detection information by more than a certain amount, or may set a predetermined threshold for determining that an abnormality has occurred in the health condition or that daily activities have improved, and determine that an abnormality in the health condition or an improvement in daily activities has occurred based on whether the current detection information exceeds or falls below the threshold.

[0033] Taking an increase or decrease in the number of times or duration of one action when brushing teeth as an example, when the change determination unit 414 determines whether or not a certain deviation from the average of past detection information or whether or not the deviation is above or below a predetermined threshold, if the deviation is below the average or below the threshold, it transmits determination information including a sign of an abnormality in the subject T, and if the deviation is above the average or above the threshold, it transmits determination information including a sign of an improvement in the daily activities of the subject T. Furthermore, a change from a regular behavior pattern to irregular, or an irregular behavior pattern to regular, may be used as an indicator for determining whether or not a change or improvement has occurred in the subject T.

[0034] In the case of a toothbrush stand that detects changes in the amount of toothpaste, mouthwash, or other medication used by weight, it can detect the amount of medication used each day and determine an abnormality if the amount increases or decreases beyond a threshold. In the case of a toothbrush with a pressure sensor, it can determine an abnormality if the brushing pressure during a single toothbrushing session increases or decreases beyond a threshold, or if the average brushing pressure for each toothbrushing session increases or decreases beyond a threshold. Furthermore, in the case of a smart mirror or other device that uses an imaging device to determine the tooth region to be cleaned, it can determine an abnormality if the characteristics of the tooth region to be cleaned, such as the bias in the tooth region to be cleaned, change beyond a threshold, or if previously cleaned tooth regions are no longer cleaned.

[0035] The watcher terminal 5 is preferably a terminal device, such as a smartphone or tablet terminal owned by the watcher M, that can receive the discrimination information transmitted from the processing server 4 and display the behavioral changes that have occurred in the subject T that have been discriminated by the server processing unit 41. The watcher terminal 5 includes an information display unit 50 that displays the behavioral changes that have occurred in the subject T based on the discrimination information. The watcher terminal 5 may further include a warning unit 51 that outputs a warning such as an alert to the watcher M when the behavioral changes that have occurred in the subject T indicate an emergency, an unexpected situation, or an abnormal change in health condition.

[0036] The flow of the change detection system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Information regarding oral care activities is detected (step S1). The detection terminal 2 is activated and vibrates or rotates the brush head 20. When tooth brushing, which is one of oral care activities, is performed, the detection unit 22 detects detection information such as the pressure applied to the brush head 20 (brushing pressure), the direction and posture of the brush head 20 when brushing, the pitch and stroke of moving the brush head 20 when brushing, and the trajectory followed by the brush head 20 when brushing. Note that it is preferable for the detection unit 22 to continuously detect the detection information at any time, but it may also be detected intermittently at regular intervals or for each change.

[0037] Information regarding oral care activities is transmitted to the processing server 4 (step S2). The processing unit 23 collects the detection information and processes it into a transmittable form. The communication unit 24 wirelessly transmits the detection information processed by the processing unit 23 to the subject terminal 3. When the subject terminal 3 receives the detection information, the information forwarding unit 30 transmits the detection information to the processing server 4 via the network N. Note that the detection terminal 2 transmits the detection information, which is information regarding oral care activities, to the processing server 4 via the subject terminal 3, but other terminal devices or means may be used as a gateway. Alternatively, the communication unit 24 of the detection terminal 2 may connect to the network N using communication technology such as 4G or 5G cellular communication and transmit the detection information to the processing server 4 without passing through a terminal device or means serving as a gateway.

[0038] The processing server 4 analyzes information regarding oral care activities (step S3). The server communication unit 40 receives the detection information. The server processing unit 41 analyzes what kind of oral care activities the subject T is performing based on the detection information. The activity analysis unit 411 analyzes the activity content of what the subject T is performing in oral care activities on a single occasion, a day, or a predetermined period basis based on changes in parameters included in the detection information. In addition, the pattern analysis unit 412 analyzes the subject T's unique behavioral patterns of oral care activities based on changes in parameters included in the detection information.

[0039] The processing server 4 determines a behavioral change of the subject T (step S4). The change extraction unit 413 extracts a change that has occurred in the subject T based on the activity content and behavioral pattern. The change determination unit 414 determines a behavioral change of the subject from the changes that have occurred in the subject T extracted by the change extraction unit 413.

[0040] When the server processing unit 41 is implemented using semi-supervised learning, the change extraction unit 413 extracts changes that have occurred in the subject T based on the activity details and behavioral patterns from the initial stage. Thereafter, the activity details and behavioral patterns stored in the server storage unit 43 are learned, thereby accurately extracting changes that have occurred in the subject T. The change determination unit 414 determines behavioral changes in the subject T from the content previously learned in the initial stage. The changes in the subject T extracted by the change extraction unit 413 and the behavioral changes in the subject T determined by the change determination unit 414 are stored in the server storage unit 43 and used to improve the accuracy of the next extraction by the change extraction unit 413 and the determination by the change determination unit 414.

[0041] When the server processing unit 41 is implemented using unsupervised learning, the activity details and behavioral patterns are accumulated in the server storage unit 43, and learning is performed until the amount of learning required to extract changes that have occurred in the subject T and to distinguish between changes in the behavior of the subject T is reached. When the amount of learning required to extract changes that have occurred in the subject T and to distinguish between changes in the behavior of the subject T is reached, the change extraction unit 413 extracts changes that have occurred in the subject T, and the change discrimination unit 414 discriminates changes in the behavior of the subject T. The amount of learning may be set to a constant value regardless of the subject T, or may be set to different values ​​depending on the age, sex, place of residence, personality, lifestyle, etc. of the subject T.

[0042] Examples of items that the change determination unit 414 uses to determine behavioral changes in the subject T include the continuity of oral care activities, such as recently stopping tooth brushing, the frequency of oral care activities, such as brushing teeth multiple times a day, and recently brushing teeth only once, the time spent on each oral care activity, changes in the cleaning status, including the time spent cleaning each tooth or each row of teeth, changes in the posture of the brush unit 20 when cleaning each tooth or each row of teeth, and changes in behavioral patterns, such as changes in the order and brushing pressure when cleaning each tooth. Note that the tooth row regions refer to the four regions of the upper, lower, left, and right tooth rows in the oral cavity, the eight regions including the lingual and buccal surfaces of the tooth, the 12 regions including the occlusal surfaces, and the twenty regions including the anterior teeth and molars. In addition to these, tooth row regions can be appropriately divided and set.

[0043] If the detection terminal 2 is a terminal device other than a smart toothbrush, the items that the change determination unit 414 determines as behavioral changes will also be different. For example, changes in the amount of toothpaste, mouthwash, mouthwash, and other substances used by the subject T, and changes in video images of the subject T during oral care activities and changes in feature points detected from the images may be included.

[0044] The determination result is sent to the watcher terminal 5 (step S5). The information output unit 415 connects to the network N via the server communication unit 40, and the server communication unit 40 sends the determination information determined by the change determination unit 414 to the watcher terminal 5. When the watcher terminal 5 receives the determination information, the information display unit 50 displays the behavioral change that has occurred in the subject T based on the determination information. If the determination information received by the watcher terminal 5 includes information that reports an emergency situation, an unexpected situation, or an abnormal change in health condition, the warning unit 51 outputs a warning such as an alert to the watcher M. This concludes the change determination system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0045] The change detection system 1 of the present invention, when the detection terminal 2 is not a smart toothbrush but another terminal device, will be described, focusing on differences from the above embodiment. When the detection terminal 2 is a smart mirror, a camera attached to the smart mirror captures images of the subject T during oral care activities, including the movement of the muscles around the oral cavity, the direction in which the subject T's face is facing the smart mirror, and the movement of the subject T's arms holding the oral care product. The information acquisition unit 410 of the server processing unit 41 detects feature points of each movement from the images or video captured by the camera. The activity analysis unit 411 identifies the type of oral care product the subject T is using in the oral care activity from the images or video captured by the camera, and analyzes the activity content of the oral care activity, including the movement using the oral care product, based on the feature points. If the activity analysis unit 411 identifies a toothbrush as the oral care product, it analyzes, for example, the number of times the subject brushes their teeth with the toothbrush, the duration of the brushing, and the brushing pitch and strokes. The activity analysis unit 411 can also identify the part of the dentition where the subject T is brushing their teeth, based on, for example, the handle or bristle surface of the toothbrush contained in an image or video captured by the subject T. The pattern analysis unit 412 analyzes the behavioral pattern of the subject T's oral care activity from the analysis by the activity analysis unit 411.

[0046] The watcher M in the change detection system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is a family member of the subject T, such as a spouse or guardian. In other embodiments of the present invention, the watcher M may be a medical institution or medical professional, such as a family doctor in a dentistry, otolaryngology, oral surgery, or the like, or a pharmacist at a prescription pharmacy, or a home care institution, such as a home care provider or a visiting nurse, or may be combined with a family member of the subject T.

[0047] An example will be described in which the determination information received by the watcher terminal 5 includes information indicating a change in health status, such as suspected dementia. Examples of information indicating suspected dementia include fluctuations in the number of times teeth are brushed per day, increases or decreases in the duration of each brushing session, a deviation in the duration of each brushing session compared to the average duration of previous brushing sessions, and a tendency to brush teeth in a single direction, either left, right, or top or bottom. The change determination system 1 outputs a warning to the warning unit 51 of the watcher terminal 5 owned by the family and medical institution of the subject T (the person being watched over, M), along with the detection information used when determining that there is a risk of dementia. Examples of the warning and detection information output by the warning unit 51 include a warning indicating tendencies such as a decline in comprehension, loss of motivation, and decreased concentration, which are observed in the early stages of dementia, and detection information indicating a change in the duration of oral care activities.

[0048] The change detection system 1 according to the present invention can detect signs of diseases other than dementia from behaviors in oral care activities as abnormalities in health status. For example, if the change extraction unit 413 detects unnatural, short, and sudden changes in brushing behavior, an inability to move the toothbrush at a constant speed and amplitude, or an inability to maintain a constant brushing pressure as behavioral changes, the change detection unit 414 outputs detection information indicating possible signs of hand tremors, rigidity (muscle rigidity), or the like caused by Parkinson's disease to the watcher terminal 5. Furthermore, if the patient's hand movements become uncontrollable, making it difficult to dispense the appropriate amount of toothpaste from the tube, and the resulting excessive use of toothpaste is also included in the detection information as a behavioral change indicating a possible sign of the disease.

[0049] Symptoms of disease that can be identified from movements during oral care activities include, for example, tendon and joint diseases such as carpal tunnel syndrome, osteoarthritis, and trigger finger (elastic finger), brain and nervous system diseases such as cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, transient ischemic attack, brain tumor, chronic subdural hematoma, subarachnoid hemorrhage, and cervical spondylosis, and systemic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. The change detection system 1 according to the present invention can present to the watcher M, via the warning unit 51, what behavioral changes have occurred in the subject T, and what symptoms of disease are observed depending on the category and degree of the behavioral change.

[0050] Furthermore, for example, in the case of subject T who has no relatives, such as an elderly person living alone, the watcher M may be a local government official or a welfare officer, or may be a newspaper delivery person or a courier who regularly comes into contact with subject T. By having multiple watchers M who watch over subject T from various angles, changes in subject T's behavior will not be overlooked, and early treatment or response can be expected.

[0051] Furthermore, in order to improve the accuracy of determining a behavioral change of the subject T, the change detection system 1 according to the present invention preferably further includes a current situation grasping means for grasping the current state of the daily activities of the subject T. In this embodiment, the current situation grasping means is provided in the subject terminal 3 and the watcher terminal 5. The current situation grasping means may grasp the health condition, lifestyle habits, etc. of the subject T in advance in the form of a questionnaire, or may provide feedback on the results of a medical visit to a medical institution based on a warning from the warning unit 51. When the change detection system 1 according to the present invention grasps the current state of the daily activities in advance or grasps the results of a medical visit to a medical institution, it can adjust the threshold for determining a behavioral change in accordance with the current state of the daily activities of the subject T.

[0052] Furthermore, the change detection system 1 according to the present invention can be configured to register the location where the detection terminal 2 is used in advance, identify location information using the communication unit 24 of the detection terminal 2, and detect only when the activity is being performed at that location. The means for detecting whether the detection terminal 2 is located at that location can be existing equipment at that location, such as IoT appliances or sensor-equipped lighting fixtures installed in the subject T's home, as long as it can detect that the detection terminal 2 is located at the registered location. This allows the accuracy of behavioral change detection to be maintained, even if the detection terminal 2 is used outside the home, without storing detection information that differs from normal daily activities in the server storage unit 43. Also, well-known technologies for detecting whether the subject T is at home can be used, such as door open / close sensors, motion sensors, heat sensors, switch sensors for appliances and lights, and meters for water, electricity, gas, etc.

[0053] Therefore, the present invention can provide a change detection system that allows a watcher to know any behavioral changes that have occurred in the subject by understanding the oral care activities that the subject performs every day.

[0054] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these examples, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0055] 1. Change detection system 2. Detection terminal 3. Target device 4 Processing Server 5. Guardian terminal 20 Brush section 21 Power section 22 Detection unit 23 Processing section 24 Communications Department 25 Power supply section 30 Information Transfer Department 40 Server Communication Unit 41 Server processing unit 43 Server storage unit 50 Information display section 51 Warning section 220 Motion detection unit 410 Information Acquisition Department 411 Activity Analysis Department 412 Pattern Analysis Unit 413 Change Extraction Unit 414 Change detection unit 415 Information Output Unit M Watcher N Network T target audience

Claims

1. A change determination system that grasps a subject's oral care activity and determines a behavioral change of the subject, an information acquisition unit that acquires information about the oral care activity; a discrimination processing unit that discriminates the behavioral change that has occurred in the subject based on the information about the oral care activity acquired by the information acquisition unit; an information storage unit that stores information about the oral care activity acquired by the information acquisition unit and discrimination information determined by the discrimination processing unit; A change detection system comprising:

2. The discrimination processing unit includes: An activity analysis unit that analyzes the activity content of the subject in the oral care activity based on the information accumulated in the information accumulation unit; a change extraction unit that compares the most recent information acquired by the information acquisition unit with the activity content analyzed by the activity analysis unit to extract a change in the subject's oral care activity; a change determination unit that determines the behavioral change based on the change information extracted by the change extraction unit, The change detection system according to claim 1 .

3. The discrimination processing unit includes: A pattern analysis unit that analyzes the subject's unique behavioral pattern in the oral care activity based on the information stored in the information storage unit; a change extraction unit that compares the most recent information acquired by the information acquisition unit with the behavioral pattern analyzed by the pattern analysis unit to extract a change in the subject's oral care activity; a change determination unit that determines the behavioral change based on the change information extracted by the change extraction unit, The change detection system according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The change determination unit determines, as the behavioral change, an abnormality in the health condition of the subject. The change detection system according to claim 3 .

5. The change determination unit determines, as the behavioral change, a behavioral change in daily activity that has occurred in the subject. The change detection system according to claim 4 .

6. The information about the oral care activity includes action information detected by an action detection unit that detects a cleaning action by an oral cleaning tool that cleans the oral cavity. The change detection system according to claim 3 .

7. The system further includes a means for grasping the actual situation of the subject's living activities, the change determination unit determines the behavioral change based on the change information extracted by the change extraction unit and the actual state of the subject's daily activity grasped by the actual state grasping means; The information storage unit stores the determination information determined by the change determination unit of the determination processing unit and actual situation information regarding the actual situation of the subject's daily activities grasped by the actual situation grasping means. The change detection system according to claim 6 .

8. An information output unit that outputs the discrimination information to a watcher watching the subject is further provided. The change detection system according to claim 3 .

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