Laser irradiation system

Abstract

A laser irradiation system is disclosed. This system includes a mobile application running on a user's mobile device, a management server that receives and analyzes the user's facial image from the mobile application to determine whether or not the user is a hypertensive patient, one or more laser irradiators arranged with multiple light-emitting elements for irradiating different parts of the user's body in a lying position with a laser, and a controller for controlling the laser irradiators. The controller also includes a communication unit for short-range data communication with the mobile application, an information storage unit that stores acupoint information including acupoints for hypertension, and a control unit that, when data indicating that the user is a hypertensive patient is received from the mobile application via the short-range communication unit, drives and controls the light-emitting elements corresponding to the acupoints for hypertension stored in the information storage unit to irradiate those acupoints with a laser.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to laser irradiation technology, and particularly to a technology for driving and controlling only a part of an entire light-emitting element to perform laser irradiation.

Background Art

[0002] Korean Registered Patent Publication No. 10-0866240 discloses a semiconductor laser driving device. This device does not use a conventional LED driving circuit, generates an optical pulse signal by supplying a stable direct current and utilizing relaxation oscillation, which is a characteristic of a laser, and drives a semiconductor laser, thereby making it possible to suppress shortening of the life of the semiconductor laser. Further, this device enables not only continuous driving of a laser beam but also adjustment of a pulse peak value, a pulse width, and a pulse interval during pulse driving.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0003] An object of the present invention is to provide a solution for automatically performing laser irradiation on a specific part of a user's body.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] A laser irradiation system according to one aspect may include a mobile application executed on a user's mobile terminal, a management server that receives and analyzes a face image of the user from the mobile application and determines whether the user is a hypertension patient, one or more laser irradiators in which a plurality of light-emitting elements for irradiating a laser on different parts of the user's body in a lying position are arranged, and a controller that controls the laser irradiator.

[0005] The controller may also include a communication unit for short-range data communication with a mobile application, an information storage unit that stores acupoint information including acupoints for hypertension, and a control unit that, when data indicating that the user is a hypertensive patient is received from the mobile application via the communication unit, drives and controls a light-emitting element corresponding to the acupoint for hypertension stored in the information storage unit to irradiate the acupoint with a laser.

[0006] Acupuncture points for hypertension may include Renying, Fengfu, and Fengchi points. The control unit can drive and control the light-emitting element corresponding to the Renying point when the user is in a supine position, and can drive and control the light-emitting elements corresponding to the Fengfu point and the Fengchi point when the user is in a prone position.

[0007] The controller may further include a pressure pad that detects downward pressure applied by the user's body in a supine position, and the control unit can determine whether the user's posture is supine or prone based on the downward pressure distribution of the user's body obtained through the pressure pad. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] This invention enables automated laser irradiation based on facial diagnosis. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] Block diagram shows a laser irradiation system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] This shows an example of a laser irradiator being attached to a user's body. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] The aforementioned and additional aspects of the present invention will become even clearer by preferred embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention will be described below in detail so that it can be easily understood and reproduced by an ordinary person of the art by these embodiments.

[0011] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a laser irradiation system according to one embodiment. The mobile application 100 is installed and run on the user's mobile device (e.g., a smartphone), and is capable of short-range data communication with the controller 400 and wireless data communication with the management server 200. The management server 200 is a server system comprising one or more servers, and when a facial image of the user is received from the mobile application 100, it can analyze it and perform a function to determine whether or not the user is a hypertensive patient. The laser irradiator 300 is one or more units and includes a light-emitting unit 320 and a drive unit 310. The light-emitting unit 320 includes a plurality of light-emitting elements for irradiating different parts of the user's body with laser light. The light-emitting elements may be diodes and irradiate light of a predetermined wavelength. For example, the light-emitting unit 320 is for LLLT (Low Level Laser Therapy) and irradiates laser light having a wavelength in the range of 650 nm to 990 nm. The drive unit 310 is driven according to the drive control of the controller 400 so that only the light-emitting elements to be controlled selectively emit light.

[0012] In one embodiment, the laser irradiator 300 is mounted above a bed on which the user lies supine or prone, and irradiates the user's body in a lying position with a laser. That is, the laser irradiator 300 may be configured above the bed so that the laser is irradiated from above to below. In another embodiment, the laser irradiator 300 is a wearable device in a form that can be worn on the user's body. For example, the laser irradiator 300 may be a laser irradiator worn on the arm and a laser irradiator worn on the leg. This can be further divided into a laser irradiator for the left arm and a laser irradiator for the right arm, and a laser irradiator for the left leg and a laser irradiator for the right leg.

[0013] An example of this is shown in Figure 2. The laser irradiator 301 worn on the arm and the laser irradiator 302 worn on the leg are all substantially identical except for their size for wearing, and include multiple light-emitting elements 10 arranged in a matrix to irradiate different corresponding parts of the body with laser light. The laser irradiator 300 also has a shape that allows it to enclose a body part and irradiate both the inside and outside of the body with laser light, and may include fixing means 20 such as a band to secure the body part in an enclosed state. Furthermore, although not shown in Figure 2, additional laser irradiators may be worn on areas other than the arms and legs, such as the neck.

[0014] The controller 400 controls the laser irradiator 300 so that the laser is directed to a specific part of the user's body, and includes a communication unit 410, an information storage unit 420, and a control unit 430. The communication unit 410 is for short-range data communication with the mobile application 100, and is, for example, Bluetooth®. The information storage unit 420 is for storing data and may consist of flash memory or the like. The information storage unit 420 stores and manages acupoint information, including acupoints corresponding to each disease, but acupoints for hypertension are included and managed as essential in the acupoint information. The information storage unit 420 may also store and manage information about light-emitting elements corresponding to each acupoint. The control unit 430 is a microprocessor and controls the drive unit 310 to drive the laser irradiator 300 so that only a portion of all the light-emitting elements of the light-emitting unit 320 selectively emit light.

[0015] Meanwhile, the IoT device 500 is installed in a specific location and plays the role of detecting atmospheric pressure, temperature, and humidity in real time and providing this data to the management server 200. In connection with this, the management server 200 receives atmospheric pressure data, temperature data, and humidity data from the IoT device 500, manages the data, and provides this data to the mobile app 100 upon request from the mobile app 100.

[0016] The following describes an embodiment of the system operation shown in Figure 1. The user operates the mobile app 100 to take a picture of their face with the camera, and the mobile app 100 acquires the user's facial image and sends it to the management server 200. The management server 200 analyzes the facial image received from the mobile app 100 to determine whether or not the user is a hypertensive patient, and then sends the result of that determination to the mobile app 100. The method of diagnosing hypertension using facial image analysis is already known, as can be seen, for example, in the research results published in "Applied Sciences" under the title "A novel method in predicting hypertension using facial images" (Published 9 March 2021).

[0017] When the mobile app 100 receives a result from the management server 200 indicating that the user is a hypertensive patient, it sends data to the controller 400 informing it that the user is a hypertensive patient. Therefore, the control unit 430 drives and controls the light-emitting elements corresponding to the hypertension acupoints stored in the information storage unit 420 to irradiate the corresponding acupoints with a laser. For reference, examples of acupoints for alleviating hypertension include Renying, Fengfu, Fengchi, and Neiguan.

[0018] However, if the laser irradiator 300 is as shown in Figure 2, it is possible to irradiate the front and back of the user's body with the laser simultaneously. For example, it is possible to irradiate the Renying acupoint on the front of the body and the Fengfu and Fengchi acupoints on the back of the body simultaneously. However, if the laser irradiator 300 is installed above the bed and irradiates the laser from top to bottom, it is only possible to irradiate the front or back of the body with the laser. For this reason, the control unit 430 drives and controls the light-emitting element corresponding to the acupoint on the front of the body when the user is in a supine position, and drives and controls the light-emitting element corresponding to the acupoint on the back of the body when the user is in a prone position. In the former case, the acupoint is the Renying acupoint, and in the latter case, the acupoints may be the Fengfu and Fengchi acupoints. Whether the user is in a supine or prone position can be confirmed from the posture information input by the user. For example, although not shown in Figure 1, the controller 400 further includes a user interface for user input and output, through which the user can input information about whether they are lying on their back or on their stomach. Alternatively, the user can input this information via a mobile app 100 and transmit it to the controller 400.

[0019] Furthermore, the controller 400 may further include a pressure pad 440. The pressure pad 440 can be configured on top of the bed and has pressure sensors arranged two-dimensionally inside, which can detect the downward pressure generated by a user lying on their back or stomach on the pressure pad 440. When pressure is detected, the detected data is output to the control unit 430. The control unit 430 then analyzes the pressure detection data input from the pressure pad 440 to understand the downward pressure distribution applied by the user's body, and based on the understood downward pressure distribution, it determines whether the user's posture is supine or prone. This is based on the fact that the body pressure distribution can only be different when lying on one's back or stomach. For example, when lying on one's back, the pressure on the lumbar region (abdomen) and popliteal region (knee region) is smaller than when lying on one's stomach, while when lying on one's stomach, the pressure on the abdomen and knee region is larger. Based on the above, it is possible to automatically determine whether the user's posture is supine or prone, and then drive and control the laser irradiator 300 accordingly.

[0020] On the other hand, the information storage unit 420 can also store and manage information about light-emitting elements corresponding to each acupoint, but it can also store and manage this information separately for each body size. For example, the information about light-emitting elements corresponding to each acupoint may be stored differently for each height (body length). The control unit 430 can then receive the user's body size information from the mobile app 100 via the communication unit 410 and drive and control the corresponding light-emitting elements according to the received body size information. Furthermore, the information storage unit 420 can also store and manage information about light-emitting elements corresponding to each body part, and it can also store and manage this information separately for each body size.

[0021] Furthermore, if the user is in a supine position and the user is a patient with knee arthritis, the controller 400 may drive and control the light-emitting element corresponding to the knee area to irradiate the knee area with a laser. For this purpose, if the user is registered as a patient with knee arthritis and the controller 400 determines that the user is in a supine position, the mobile app 100 requests and receives barometric pressure data, temperature data, and humidity data detected by the IoT device 500 from the management server 200 and transmits it to the controller 400. At this time, the mobile app 100 requests and provides barometric pressure data, temperature data, and humidity data for the time the user was located in a specific location within a predetermined time period (e.g., 24 hours) based on the current time. Since the mobile app 100 can determine the user's location in real time using the GPS resources of the mobile terminal, it can request and obtain barometric pressure data, temperature data, and humidity data for the time the user is confirmed to be located in a specific location. On the other hand, a specific location refers to a location identified by the user, but it is a location where environmental control is difficult for the user, and a typical example is the user's workplace.

[0022] The control unit 430 compares the atmospheric pressure data, temperature data, and humidity data received from the mobile app 100 via the communication unit 410 with preset appropriate atmospheric pressure ranges, temperature ranges, and humidity ranges, respectively, to determine whether the values ​​are outside these ranges and for how long. Based on these findings, it determines the laser irradiation time for the knee area. This takes into account that arthritis pain is greatly affected by humidity, temperature, and atmospheric pressure. Therefore, if the user's atmospheric pressure / temperature / humidity ranges are outside these ranges during their stay at a particular location, the control unit 430 determines the laser irradiation time considering the duration of the deviation. In other words, the laser irradiation time is automatically increased according to the degree of deviation from the appropriate range to better alleviate pain.

[0023] As described above, the present invention has been considered mainly in terms of its preferred embodiments. Those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains will be able to understand that the present invention can be embodied in a modified form without departing from its essential characteristics. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered from an explanatory perspective rather than a limiting one. The scope of the present invention is shown not in the foregoing description but in the claims, and all differences within the equivalent scope thereof should be construed as being included in the present invention.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0024] 100 Mobile Application 200 Management Server 300 Laser Irradiator 310 Driving Unit 320 Light Emitting Unit 400 Controller 410 Communication Unit 420 Information Storage Unit 430 Control Unit 440 Pressure Pad 500 IoT Device

Claims

1. Mobile applications running on the user's mobile device, A management server receives and analyzes facial images of users from a mobile application to determine whether or not the user is a hypertensive patient, One or more laser irradiators, each having multiple light-emitting elements arranged to irradiate different parts of a user's body in a lying position, Includes a controller for controlling the laser irradiator, The controller is, A communication unit for short-range data communication with a mobile application, An information storage unit that stores acupoint information, including acupoints for high blood pressure, A laser irradiation system comprising: a control unit that, upon receiving data from a mobile application via a communication unit indicating that the user is a hypertensive patient, drives and controls a light-emitting element corresponding to a hypertension acupoint stored in an information storage unit to irradiate the acupoint with a laser.

2. Acupuncture points for high blood pressure include Renying, Fengfu, and Fengchi. The laser irradiation system according to claim 1, wherein the control unit drives and controls the light-emitting element corresponding to the Renying acupoint when the user is in a supine position, and drives and controls the light-emitting elements corresponding to the Fengfu acupoint and the Fengchi acupoint when the user is in a prone position.

3. The controller is, The device further includes a pressure pad that detects downward pressure applied by the user's body in a supine position, The laser irradiation system according to claim 2, wherein the control unit determines whether the user's posture is supine or prone based on the downward pressure distribution of the user's body obtained via the pressure pad.

4. The management server collects and manages barometric pressure data, temperature data, and humidity data from IoT devices installed in specific locations. If the mobile application is registered as a patient with knee arthritis and the controller determines that the user is in a supine position, it requests and receives barometric pressure, temperature, and humidity data from the management server for the time period in the past when the user was located at a specific location, relative to the current time. The laser irradiation system according to claim 3, wherein the control unit determines the laser irradiation time for the user's knee area, taking into consideration atmospheric pressure data, temperature data, and humidity data received from a mobile application, and then drives and controls a light-emitting element corresponding to the knee area so that laser irradiation is performed for the determined time.

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