Olfactory impairment detection device, olfactory impairment detection method, and olfactory impairment detection program

Abstract

This olfactory disorder detection device comprises: a skin electrical activity measurement result acquisition unit; a characteristic amount calculation unit; an olfactory disorder determination unit; and a determination result output unit. The skin electrical activity measurement result acquisition unit acquires a skin electrical activity measurement result obtained by measuring the skin electrical activity of a user. On the basis of to the skin electrical activity measurement result acquired by the skin electrical activity measurement result acquisition unit, the characteristic amount calculation unit calculates a characteristic amount of the skin electrical activity of a user, the characteristic amount being a phase component of the skin electrical activity. The olfactory disorder determination unit determines whether the user has olfactory disorder on the basis of the characteristic amount of the skin electrical activity calculated by the characteristic amount calculation unit. The determination result output unit outputs the determination result by the olfactory disorder determination unit.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] One aspect of the present invention relates to an olfactory disorder detection device, an olfactory disorder detection method, and an olfactory disorder detection program. [Background technology]

[0002] A screening test for olfactory disorders has been established that uses multiple types of odors (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Because this test method requires specialized olfactory stimulation, it is common for people who are aware of their olfactory disorder to go to a hospital for testing.

[0003] For the average person, excluding those in specialized occupations, olfactory disorders do not directly affect life or death. Furthermore, the onset and progression of olfactory disorders symptoms are gradual. Therefore, it is difficult for the average person to become aware of an olfactory disorder. It is also difficult for the average person to prepare specialized olfactory stimuli to test for olfactory disorders. Therefore, even if an olfactory disorder exists, people may not realize it and may not seek medical attention, which can lead to the symptoms worsening.

[0004] It is known that the phase component of electrodermal activity (EDA) responds to olfactory stimuli (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2). [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0005] [Non-Patent Document 1] Simmen, Daniel, and Hans Rudolf Briner. "Olfaction in rhinology-methods of assessing the sense of smell." Rhinology 44.2 (2006): 98. [Non-patent document 2] Greco, Alberto, et al. "Gender-specific automatic valence recognition of affective olfactory stimulation through the analysis of the electrodermal activity." 2016 38th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC). IEEE, 2016. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] This invention was made in light of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide an olfactory disorder detection device, an olfactory disorder detection method, and an olfactory disorder detection program that can easily determine whether or not an olfactory disorder exists. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, one aspect of the olfactory disorder detection device of the present invention is: an odor measurement result acquisition unit; The device includes an electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit, a feature calculation unit, an olfactory disorder determination unit, and a determination result output unit. The odor measurement result acquisition unit acquires the measurement result of the environmental odor that is being applied to the user as an odor stimulus, as measured by the odor measurement unit. The electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit acquires electrodermal activity measurement results that measure the electrodermal activity of the user. The feature calculation unit calculates the feature of the odor stimulus by performing signal processing to extract signals in a specific frequency band for each fixed window width from the odor measurement results acquired by the odor measurement result acquisition unit. The feature calculation unit Furthermore, The electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit performs signal processing to extract signals of a specific frequency band for each fixed window width from the electrodermal activity measurement result acquired by the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit, and calculates a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, which is a phase component of the electrodermal activity. The olfactory disorder determination unit determines whether the feature of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature calculation unit is less than a threshold value for the feature of the electrodermal activity. and whether the feature amount of the odor stimulus is equal to or greater than a threshold value for the feature amount of the odor stimulus, The determination result output unit determines whether the user has an olfactory disorder. The determination result output unit outputs the determination result made by the olfactory disorder determination unit. Another aspect of the olfactory disorder detection device of the present invention includes an odor stimulus presentation unit, an electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit, a feature calculation unit, an olfactory disorder assessment unit, and a assessment result output unit. The odor stimulus presentation unit controls the amount and timing of an odor stimulus provided to a user by an odor stimulus generation unit. The electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit acquires electrodermal activity measurement results that measure the user's electrodermal activity when the stimulus presentation unit applies an odor stimulus to the user via the odor stimulus generation unit. The feature calculation unit calculates a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, which is a phase component of the electrodermal activity, by performing signal processing on the electrodermal activity measurement results acquired by the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit to extract signals in a specific frequency band at intervals of a certain window width. The olfactory disorder assessment unit determines whether the user has an olfactory disorder based on whether the feature of electrodermal activity calculated by the feature calculation unit is less than a threshold value for the feature of electrodermal activity. The assessment result output unit outputs the assessment result by the olfactory disorder assessment unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an olfactory disorder detection device, an olfactory disorder detection method, and an olfactory disorder detection program that can easily determine whether or not an olfactory disorder exists. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an olfactory disorder detection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a user wearing the olfactory disorder detection device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the olfactory disorder detection device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation processing procedure of the olfactory disorder detection device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a graph showing the feature amounts of the odor stimuli in the verification experiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a graph showing the feature amounts of electrodermal activity when olfactory sense was normal in the verification experiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a graph showing the feature amount of electrodermal activity in a state of olfactory impairment in a verification experiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an olfactory disorder detection device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an olfactory disorder detection device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the operation processing procedure of the olfactory disorder detection device according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0011] [First embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a user wearing the olfactory disorder detection device 10. The olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to this embodiment utilizes environmental odors as the odor stimulus applied to the user, who is a subject for olfactory disorder detection. In other words, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to this embodiment is a passive olfactory disorder detection device.

[0012] The olfactory disorder detection device 10 is composed of a computer such as a microcomputer, and as shown in FIG. 1, has a processor 11A such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The olfactory disorder detection device 10 has a processor 11A, a program memory 11B, a data memory 12, an input device 13, an input / output interface 14, and an output device 15 connected via a bus 16.

[0013] 2, the processor 11A, program memory 11B, data memory 12, input device 13, input / output interface 14, output device 15, and bus 16 are housed in a device main body 101, which can be worn on the user's arm. In other words, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to this embodiment can be a wearable device.

[0014] The processor 11A may be a multi-core / multi-thread processor, and can execute multiple processes in parallel.

[0015] The program memory 11B is configured using, for example, an SSD (Solid State Drive) as a storage medium. The program memory 11B uses a combination of a nonvolatile memory that can be written to and read from at any time, such as a RAM (RAM), and a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory). The program memory 11B stores programs necessary for the processor 11A to execute various processes. The programs include an OS (Operating System) and various application programs, and one of the application programs is the olfactory disorder detection program according to the first embodiment.

[0016] The data memory 12 is a storage that uses a combination of a nonvolatile memory such as an SSD that can be written to and read from at any time, and a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) as a storage medium. The data memory 12 is used to store data acquired and created in the course of various processes.

[0017] The input device 13 is a device for a user to input various instructions to the processor 11A, and may include keys, operation buttons, switches, etc. In the present embodiment, for example, the input device 13 includes an operation button 131 as shown in FIG.

[0018] The input / output interface 14 is an interface with external devices, such as a gas sensor 20 and an EDA sensor 30.

[0019] The gas sensor 20 measures the odor in the environment where the user is present and outputs the odor measurement result. The input / output interface 14 A / D converts the odor measurement result output by the gas sensor 20 and inputs it into the olfactory disorder detection device 10 as a digital value.

[0020] The EDA sensor 30 is attached to the user's finger, for example, as shown in Fig. 2. The EDA sensor measures the user's electrodermal activity (EDA) and outputs the electrodermal activity measurement results. The input / output interface 14 inputs the electrodermal activity measurement results output by the EDA sensor 30 into the olfactory disorder detection device 10.

[0021] The output device 15 is a device for outputting output data to be presented to the user from the processor 11A, and may include a display, a speaker, etc. In this embodiment, for example, the output device 15 includes a display 151 as shown in Fig. 2. The output device 15 may also be a stimulation device that applies vibration stimulation or electrical stimulation to the user.

[0022] Although not specifically shown in Figure 1, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 may have a communication interface. The communication interface is a wired or wireless communication unit for connecting to a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet (not shown).

[0023] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the olfactory disorder detection device 10 in relation to the hardware configuration shown in FIG.

[0024] Processing unit 11 is composed of processor 11A and program memory 11B, and includes software-based processing function units, such as instruction acquisition unit 111, odor measurement result acquisition unit 112, electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113, feature calculation unit 114, olfactory disorder determination unit 115, and determination result output unit 116. All of these processing function units are realized by having processor 11A execute an olfactory disorder detection program stored in program memory 11B. Processing unit 11 may also be realized in a variety of other forms, including integrated circuits such as ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits), DSPs (Digital Signal Processors), FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays), and GPUs (Graphics Processing Units).

[0025] The storage area of ​​the volatile memory of the data memory 12 includes an odor measurement result storage unit 121, an electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122, and a feature storage unit 123. The storage area of ​​the nonvolatile memory of the data memory 12 includes a threshold value storage unit 124. Although not specifically shown, the storage area of ​​the volatile memory of the data memory 12 further includes a temporary storage unit that temporarily stores various data generated during the processing operations of the processing unit 11.

[0026] The instruction acquisition unit 111 acquires instructions from the user via the input device 13. For example, the instruction acquisition unit 111 acquires operation of the operation button 131 as an instruction to start the detection operation. In response to this instruction to start the detection operation, the instruction acquisition unit 111 starts the operations of the odor measurement result acquisition unit 112, the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113, the feature calculation unit 114, the olfactory disorder determination unit 115, and the determination result output unit 116, and initializes the stored contents of the odor measurement result storage unit 121, the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122, and the feature storage unit 123 in the data memory 12. Furthermore, the instruction acquisition unit 111 may, for example, acquire operation of the operation button 131 as an instruction to start the detection operation, and acquire a second operation of the operation button 131 as an instruction to end the detection operation. In this case, the instruction acquisition unit 111 performs the above-mentioned operation in response to an instruction to start the detection operation, and also terminates the operation of the odor measurement result acquisition unit 112, the skin electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113, the feature calculation unit 114, the olfactory disorder determination unit 115, and the determination result output unit 116 in response to an instruction to end the detection operation.

[0027] The odor measurement result acquisition unit 112 instructs the gas sensor 20 to measure the odor of the environment via the input / output interface 14, and acquires the odor measurement results from the gas sensor 20 by importing them via the input / output interface 14. The odor measurement result acquisition unit 112 stores the acquired odor measurement results in the odor measurement result storage unit 121 of the data memory 12. The odor measurement result acquisition unit 112 acquires odor measurement results for a certain period of time, for example, 30 seconds to several minutes, and stores these odor measurement results in the odor measurement result storage unit 121 as time-series data.

[0028] The electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 instructs the EDA sensor 30 to measure the user's electrodermal activity via the input / output interface 14, and acquires the electrodermal activity results from the EDA sensor 30 by importing them via the input / output interface 14. The electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 stores the acquired electrodermal activity measurement results in the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122 of the data memory 12. The electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 acquires the electrodermal activity measurement results for a certain period of time similar to that of the odor measurement result acquisition unit 112, and stores the electrodermal activity measurement results in the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122 as time-series data.

[0029] The feature calculation unit 114 calculates the feature of the odor stimulus from the odor measurement results stored in the odor measurement result storage unit 121. Specifically, the feature calculation unit 114 performs signal processing on the odor measurement results stored in the odor measurement result storage unit 121 for each fixed window width. For example, the feature calculation unit 114 applies a band-pass filter of 0.1 to 1 Hz to each 30-second odor measurement result, and uses the result as a feature. The feature calculation unit 114 stores the calculated feature of the odor stimulus in the feature storage unit 123.

[0030] Furthermore, the feature calculation unit 114 calculates feature quantities of electrodermal activity from the electrodermal activity measurement results stored in the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122. Specifically, the feature calculation unit 114 performs signal processing on the electrodermal activity measurement results stored in the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122 for each fixed window width. For example, the feature calculation unit 114 extracts phase components of electrodermal activity by applying a 0.1 to 1 Hz bandpass filter to each 30-second electrodermal activity measurement result, and uses the extracted phase components as feature quantities. The feature calculation unit 114 stores the calculated feature quantities of electrodermal activity in the feature storage unit 123.

[0031] The threshold storage unit 124 of the data memory 12 stores thresholds for the feature of the odor stimulus and the feature of the electrodermal activity in a non-volatile manner. Here, the threshold for the feature of the odor stimulus is a value for determining whether or not there has been a change in the odor of the environment exposed to the user, that is, whether or not the odor stimulus to the user has exceeded a certain level. Furthermore, the threshold for the feature of the electrodermal activity is a value for determining whether or not the user has reacted to the odor stimulus. These thresholds can be, for example, amplitude thresholds related to the amplitude of each feature.

[0032] The olfactory disorder determination unit 115 compares the features of the odor stimuli and the features of the electrodermal activity stored in the feature amount storage unit 123 with the respective thresholds stored in the threshold storage unit 124 to determine whether the user has an olfactory disorder. For example, if the magnitude of the amplitude of the features of the odor stimuli stored in the feature amount storage unit 123 is equal to or greater than the threshold of the odor stimuli stored in the threshold storage unit 124, the olfactory disorder determination unit 115 determines that there has been an odor change, that is, that the user has received an odor stimulus of a certain level or greater. Furthermore, if the magnitude of the amplitude of the features of the electrodermal activity stored in the feature amount storage unit 123 is equal to or greater than the threshold of the electrodermal activity stored in the threshold storage unit 124, the olfactory disorder determination unit 115 determines that the user is responding to the odor stimuli. On the other hand, if the magnitude of the amplitude of the features of the electrodermal activity is less than the threshold of the electrodermal activity, the olfactory disorder determination unit 115 determines that the user is not responding to the odor stimuli. In this way, if the user does not react to an odor stimulus even though the odor stimulus is present at a certain level or more, the olfactory disorder determining unit 115 determines that the user has an olfactory disorder.

[0033] The determination result output unit 116 outputs the determination result by the olfactory disorder determination unit 115 to the user via the output device 15. Possible methods for outputting the determination result by the output device 15 to the user include visually presenting it using the display 151, audibly presenting it using a speaker with an alarm sound, or tactilely presenting it using a stimulation device with vibration stimulation or electrical stimulation.

[0034] The olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to this embodiment can be realized by a processor 11A, which is a computer, and an olfactory disorder detection program pre-stored in program memory 11B. However, this olfactory disorder detection program can also be recorded on a non-transitory computer-readable medium or provided to the olfactory disorder detection device 10 via a network. The olfactory disorder detection program thus provided can be stored in program memory 11B. Alternatively, the provided olfactory disorder detection program can be stored in data memory 12, which is a storage device, and executed by processor 11A as needed, so that processor 11A can function as processing unit 11.

[0035] Next, the processing operation of the olfactory disorder detection device 10 configured as above will be described.

[0036] 4 is a flowchart showing the operational processing procedure of the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the first embodiment. The processor 11A of the olfactory disorder detection device 10 can start the processing shown in this flowchart by, for example, turning on the power and executing an olfactory disorder detection program pre-stored in the program memory 11B. It is assumed here that thresholds for the feature amounts of odor stimuli and the feature amounts of electrodermal activity have already been stored in the threshold storage unit 124 of the data memory 12.

[0037] Processor 11A first operates as instruction acquisition unit 111 and determines whether or not a detection operation start instruction has been acquired by operating, for example, operation button 131 of input device 13 (step S11). If it is determined that a detection operation start instruction has not been acquired, processor 11A repeats the processing operation of step S11. In this way, processor 11A waits for acquisition of a detection operation start instruction.

[0038] If it is determined that an instruction to start the detection operation has been received, the processor 11A initializes the contents stored in the odor measurement result memory unit 121, the skin electrodermal activity measurement result memory unit 122, and the feature memory unit 123 of the data memory 12, i.e., erases those contents (step S12).

[0039] Thereafter, the processor 11A acquires the odor measurement results of the environment by the gas sensor 20, and stores the acquired odor measurement results in the odor measurement result storage unit 121 of the data memory 12 (step S13).

[0040] In addition, the processor 11A operates as the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 to acquire the electrodermal activity measurement results obtained by the EDA sensor 30, and stores the acquired electrodermal activity measurement results in the electrodermal activity measurement result memory unit 122 of the data memory 12 (step S14).

[0041] Thereafter, the processor 11A operates as the feature calculation unit 114 and determines whether a certain window width, for example, 30 seconds, has elapsed (step S15). For example, the processor 11A starts timing using a timer (not shown) at the point when the processor 11A starts acquiring the odor measurement results in the above step S13. The processor 11A can determine whether this certain window width has elapsed based on the time measured by this timer. If it determines that the certain window width has not yet elapsed, the processor 11A proceeds to the processing operation of the above step S13. In this way, the processor 11A acquires the odor measurement results and electrodermal activity results for the certain time width.

[0042] Then, when it is determined that a certain time period has elapsed, the processor 11A calculates the feature of the odor stimulus and the feature of the electrodermal activity, and stores both calculated feature amounts in the feature amount storage unit 123 of the data memory 12 (step S16). That is, the processor 11A applies a 0.1 to 1 Hz band-pass filter to the odor measurement results of a certain window width stored in the odor measurement result storage unit 121, and stores the results as feature amounts in the feature amount storage unit 123. The processor 11A also applies a 0.1 to 1 Hz band-pass filter to the electrodermal activity measurement results of a certain window width stored in the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122, thereby extracting a phase component of the electrodermal activity, and stores the extracted phase component as a feature amount in the feature amount storage unit 123.

[0043] Next, processor 11A operates as olfactory disorder determination unit 115 and first determines whether the feature amount of the odor stimulus is equal to or greater than the threshold value of the odor stimulus (step S17). That is, processor 11A compares the feature amount of the odor stimulus stored in feature amount storage unit 123 with the threshold value of the odor stimulus stored in threshold value storage unit 124, and determines whether the magnitude of the amplitude of the feature amount of the odor stimulus over one or more fixed time widths is equal to or greater than the threshold value of the odor stimulus. When the feature amount of the odor stimulus is equal to or greater than the threshold value of the odor stimulus, it means that there is an odor change, that is, the odor stimulus to the user is equal to or greater than a certain level.

[0044] If it is determined that the feature of the odor stimulus is equal to or greater than the threshold of the odor stimulus, the processor 11A further determines whether the feature of the electrodermal activity is equal to or greater than the threshold of the electrodermal activity (step S18). That is, the processor 11A compares the magnitude of the amplitude of the feature of the electrodermal activity stored in the feature storage unit 123 with the threshold of the electrodermal activity stored in the threshold storage unit 124, and determines whether the magnitude of the amplitude of the feature of the electrodermal activity for one or more fixed time widths is equal to or greater than the threshold of the electrodermal activity. When the feature of the electrodermal activity is equal to or greater than the threshold of the electrodermal activity, the user is responding to the odor stimulus.

[0045] If the processor 11A determines that the feature of electrodermal activity is equal to or greater than the threshold of electrodermal activity, it determines that the user is responding to the scent stimulus. In this case, the processor 11A operates as the determination result output unit 116 and outputs the determination result that there is no olfactory disorder to the user via the output device 15 (step S19).

[0046] On the other hand, if the processor 11A determines that the feature of electrodermal activity is not equal to or greater than the threshold of electrodermal activity, i.e., is less than the threshold, the processor 11A determines that the user has not reacted to the odor stimulus. In this case, the processor 11A operates as the determination result output unit 116 and outputs the presence of an olfactory disorder to the user via, for example, the display 151 of the output device 15 (step S20).

[0047] After outputting the presence or absence of olfactory impairment to the user in this way, processor 11A determines whether or not to end the processing operation shown in this flowchart (step S21). For example, it can be determined that the processing has ended when, for example, operation button 131 of input device 13 is operated. Alternatively, it can be determined that the processing has ended when a specified time has elapsed since the start of outputting the determination result to the user in step S19 or step S20.

[0048] When it is determined that the process should be ended, processor 11A ends the process operation shown in this flowchart, thereby ending the output of the determination result to the user in step S19 or step S20.

[0049] Furthermore, if it is determined in step S17 that the feature amount of the odor stimulus is not equal to or greater than the threshold value of the odor stimulus, processor 11A determines whether a certain period of time, such as 30 seconds to several minutes, has elapsed since the start of obtaining the odor measurement results in step S13 (step S22). If the certain period of time has not yet elapsed, processor 11A proceeds to the processing operation of step S13. By doing so, processor 11A expects that the environment will change during that certain period of time, providing the user with an odor stimulus and enabling a diagnosis of olfactory dysfunction.

[0050] If it is determined that a certain period of time has elapsed, processor 11A determines that there is no odor stimulation and that olfactory dysfunction cannot be determined. In this case, processor 11A operates as determination result output unit 116 and outputs the determination result of no odor stimulation to the user via, for example, display 151 of output device 15 (step S23). Thereafter, the processor proceeds to the processing operation of step S21.

[0051] [verification] This paper describes a verification experiment to examine how the response of electrodermal activity to odor stimuli changes due to olfactory impairment. The olfactory impairment detection device 10 was worn by a subject as shown in Figure 2, and odor measurements were obtained using the gas sensor 20 and electrodermal activity results using the EDA sensor 30 in both a normal olfactory state and an olfactory impairment state using the following method.

[0052] 1. Normal sense of smell The subject, without wearing a mask, held a commercially available alcohol disinfectant in the hand on the arm wearing the olfactory disorder detection device 10, or held the olfactory disorder detection device 10 near his or her face, brought the alcohol disinfectant close to his or her nose, and smelled it. At this time, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 acquired odor measurement values ​​from the gas sensor 20 and electrodermal activity results from the EDA sensor 30.

[0053] 2. Olfactory dysfunction The subject wore a mask and held a commercially available alcohol disinfectant in the hand on the arm wearing the olfactory disorder detection device 10, or held the olfactory disorder detection device 10 near their face, brought the alcohol disinfectant close to their nose, and smelled it. At this time, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 acquired odor measurement values ​​from the gas sensor 20 and electrodermal activity results from the EDA sensor 30. In this way, wearing a mask simulated an olfactory impairment.

[0054] The fixed time period as the measurement section was set to 30 seconds, the sampling rate of the gas sensor 20 and the EDA sensor 30 was set to 10 Hz, and the pass frequency band of the applied band pass filter was set to 0.1 to 1 Hz.

[0055] Figure 5 is a graph showing the results of calculating the feature values ​​of odor stimuli using a fixed window width of 5 seconds. There is no difference between the normal olfactory state and the simulated olfactory disorder state. The part where the feature values ​​of the odor stimuli increase significantly (at 1 second) corresponds to the part where the subject smelled the alcohol disinfectant.

[0056] Figure 6 is a graph showing the results of calculations of electrodermal activity features in a normal olfactory state, calculated over a fixed 5-second window. Figure 7 is a graph showing the results of calculations of electrodermal activity features in an olfactory impairment state, calculated over a fixed 5-second window. Electrodermal activity responses are observed from approximately 1 second to 5 seconds after the 1-second point in Figure 5, when the alcoholic disinfectant was smelled. Amplitude comparisons revealed that the normal olfactory state (Figure 6) exhibited an electrodermal activity of 0.3 μS, while the olfactory impairment state (Figure 7) exhibited an electrodermal activity of 0.1 μS, a threefold amplitude difference between the two states. In other words, in the normal olfactory state, electrodermal activity responded to odor stimuli, with significant amplitude fluctuations, whereas in the olfactory impairment state, electrodermal activity did not respond to odor stimuli, with almost no amplitude fluctuations. This suggests that differences in electrodermal activity responses to the same odor stimuli can be used to distinguish between a normal olfactory state and an olfactory impairment state.

[0057] As described above in detail, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 acquires electrodermal activity measurement results from the EDA sensor 30 that measures the user's electrodermal activity, and the feature calculation unit 114 calculates a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, which is the phase component of the electrodermal activity, from the electrodermal activity measurement results acquired by the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113. The olfactory disorder assessment unit 115 then determines whether the user has an olfactory disorder based on the feature of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature calculation unit 114, and the assessment result output unit 116 outputs the assessment result by the olfactory disorder assessment unit 115. It is known that the phase component of electrodermal activity responds to olfactory stimuli. Therefore, in a first embodiment of the present invention, the phase component of electrodermal activity is used as a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, and if this feature is equal to or greater than a threshold, it is determined that the user's sense of smell is normal, and if it is less than the threshold, it is determined that the user has an olfactory disorder. Therefore, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to easily determine whether or not a user has an olfactory disorder.

[0058] Furthermore, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the first embodiment acquires measurement results of the environmental odors that are applied to the user as odor stimuli, measured by the gas sensor 20, which is an odor measurement unit, via the odor measurement result acquisition unit 112. The feature calculation unit 114 then calculates feature amounts of the odor stimuli from the odor measurement results acquired by the odor measurement result acquisition unit 112, and the olfactory disorder determination unit 115 determines whether the user has an olfactory disorder based on the feature amounts of the electrodermal activity and the feature amounts of the odor stimuli calculated by the feature calculation unit 114. Therefore, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to determine whether or not a subject has an olfactory disorder without using multiple types of olfactory stimulations dedicated to testing for olfactory disorders.

[0059] Here, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the first embodiment stores in advance, in the threshold storage unit 124, a threshold for the feature of an odor stimulus for determining whether or not the user has received an odor stimulus of a certain level or more, and a threshold for the feature of electrodermal activity for determining whether or not the user has reacted to the odor stimulus. The olfactory disorder determination unit 115 determines that the user has an olfactory disorder when the feature of the odor stimulus calculated by the feature calculation unit 114 is equal to or greater than the threshold of the odor stimulus stored in the threshold storage unit 124, and when the feature of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature calculation unit 114 is not equal to or greater than the threshold of the electrodermal activity stored in the threshold storage unit 124. Therefore, if sufficient electrodermal activity is not observed despite the presentation of a sufficiently strong odor stimulus, it can be assumed that the user is unable to perceive the odor.

[0060] In addition, in the olfactory disorder detection device 10 of the first embodiment, the olfactory disorder judgment unit 115 makes a judgment based on the feature amount of skin electrodermal activity and a threshold value only when the feature amount of the odor stimulus is equal to or greater than a threshold value for the odor stimulus, which indicates that the user has been exposed to a certain level of odor stimulus. Therefore, according to the first embodiment, if an odor stimulus of sufficient strength is not obtained, a determination as to whether or not the user has an olfactory disorder is not made, thereby preventing an erroneous determination result from being output to the user.

[0061] In addition, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the first embodiment is configured as a wearable device that houses an odor measurement result acquisition unit 112, an electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113, a feature calculation unit 114, an olfactory disorder judgment unit 115, a judgment result output unit 116, a threshold value storage unit 124, etc., within a device main body 101 that can be worn on the user's arm. Therefore, according to the first embodiment, by using a wearable device, the user can perform screening tests for olfactory disorders on a daily basis.

[0062] [Second embodiment] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment is an example in which the olfactory disorder detection device 10 is configured as an active device that presents an odor stimulus to the user. In the following description, parts similar to those in the first embodiment will be assigned the same reference numerals as those used in the first embodiment, and their description will be omitted.

[0063] 8 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of an olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment, a gas release device 40 is connected to the input / output interface 14 as an odor stimulus generator for presenting an odor stimulus, instead of the gas sensor in the first embodiment.

[0064] The gas release device 40 is equipped with a small gas cylinder (not shown) and releases a predetermined amount of scent gas in response to a release command given from the processor 11A via the input / output interface 14. This scent gas may be any of the multiple types of scent gas used in screening tests for olfactory disorders, or it may be any other scent gas that does not affect human health. The amount of scent gas to be released is determined depending on the type of scent.

[0065] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the olfactory disorder detection device 10 in relation to the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 8. In the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment, the processing unit 11 does not include the instruction acquisition unit 111 and odor measurement result acquisition unit 112 of the first embodiment. Instead, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment includes an odor stimulation presentation unit 117. The odor stimulation presentation unit 117 causes the gas release device 40 to release a predetermined amount of odor gas at an arbitrary stimulation timing and instructs the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 to start operation. The arbitrary stimulation timing can be set from the input device 13 or from an external device via a communication interface (not shown). Of course, the arbitrary stimulation timing may also be when the operation button 131 of the input device 13 is operated, as in the first embodiment.

[0066] Furthermore, in the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment, the data memory 12 does not include the odor measurement result storage unit 121 of the first embodiment. Furthermore, the threshold storage unit 124 of the data memory 12 does not store the feature amounts of the odor stimulus, but only stores the threshold amounts for the feature amounts of the electrodermal activity in a non-volatile manner.

[0067] Therefore, in the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment, the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 of the processing unit 11 acquires electrodermal activity results from the EDA sensor 30 in response to an instruction to start operation from the odor stimulation presentation unit 117. Then, the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 stores the acquired electrodermal activity measurement results in the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122 of the data memory 12, and instructs the feature calculation unit 114 to start operation.

[0068] In response to an operation start instruction from the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113, the feature amount calculation unit 114 calculates feature amounts of electrodermal activity from the electrodermal activity measurement results stored in the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122. The feature amount calculation unit 114 stores the calculated feature amounts of electrodermal activity in the feature amount storage unit 123, and instructs the olfactory disorder assessment unit 115 to start operation.

[0069] In response to an instruction to start operation from the feature calculation unit 114, the olfactory disorder determination unit 115 compares the feature of the skin electrodermal activity stored in the feature memory unit 123 with the threshold value of the feature of the skin electrodermal activity result stored in the threshold storage unit 124 to determine whether the user has an olfactory disorder.

[0070] The determination result output unit 116 outputs the determination result by the olfactory disorder determination unit 115 to the user via the output device 15.

[0071] In the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment, the odor stimulation presentation unit 117 controls the amount and timing of release of the odor gas from the gas release device 40 to provide a sufficient odor stimulation to the user. Therefore, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment does not have a configuration for determining whether the user is receiving an odor stimulation, as in the first embodiment.

[0072] Next, the processing operation of the olfactory disorder detection device 10 configured as above will be described.

[0073] 10 is a flowchart showing the operational processing procedure of the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment. The processor 11A of the olfactory disorder detection device 10 can start the processing shown in this flowchart by, for example, turning on the power and executing an olfactory disorder detection program pre-stored in the program memory 11B. It is assumed here that the threshold value for the feature amount of electrodermal activity has already been stored in the threshold value storage unit 124 of the data memory 12.

[0074] Processor 11A first operates as odor stimulation presentation unit 117 and determines whether or not it is an arbitrary stimulation timing (step S31). If it is determined that it is not an arbitrary stimulation timing, processor 11A repeats the processing operation of step S31. In this way, processor 11A waits for an arbitrary stimulation timing.

[0075] If it is determined that it is time for stimulation, the processor 11A initializes the stored contents of the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122 and the feature amount storage unit 123 of the data memory 12, that is, erases these stored contents (step S12).

[0076] Thereafter, the processor 11A causes the gas emission device 40 to emit the odor gas (step S32).

[0077] Then, the processor 11A operates as the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 to acquire the electrodermal activity measurement results from the EDA sensor 30, and stores the acquired electrodermal activity measurement results in the electrodermal activity measurement result memory unit 122 of the data memory 12 (step S14).

[0078] Thereafter, the processor 11A operates as the feature calculation unit 114 to calculate the feature of the electrodermal activity and stores the calculated feature of the electrodermal activity in the feature storage unit 123 of the data memory 12 (step S33). That is, the processor 11A extracts the phase component of the electrodermal activity by applying a bandpass filter of 0.1 to 1 Hz to the electrodermal activity measurement results of a fixed window width stored in the electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 122, and stores the extracted phase component in the feature storage unit 123 as a feature.

[0079] Then, in the olfactory disorder detection device 10 of the second embodiment, the processor 11A proceeds to the processing operation of step S18 as described in the first embodiment, and determines whether or not an olfactory disorder is present by comparing the characteristic amount of skin electrodermal activity with the threshold value of skin electrodermal activity.

[0080] As described above in detail, the second embodiment of the present invention includes an odor stimulation presentation unit 117 for controlling the amount and timing of odor stimulation by the gas release device 40, which serves as an odor stimulation generation unit that applies odor stimulation to the user, an electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113 for acquiring electrodermal activity measurement results from the EDA sensor 30 that measures the user's electrodermal activity, and a feature calculation unit 114 for calculating a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, which is the phase component of the electrodermal activity, from the electrodermal activity measurement results acquired by the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 113. Then, an olfactory disorder assessment unit 115 determines whether the user has an olfactory disorder based on the feature of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature calculation unit 114, and a determination result output unit 116 outputs the determination result by the olfactory disorder assessment unit 115. Therefore, according to the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, it is possible to easily determine whether or not a person has an olfactory disorder.

[0081] Furthermore, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 according to the second embodiment stores a threshold value for the feature amount of electrodermal activity, which is used to determine whether the user has reacted to an odor stimulus, in the threshold value storage unit 124. The olfactory disorder determination unit 115 determines that the user has an olfactory disorder if the feature amount of electrodermal activity calculated by the feature amount calculation unit 114 is not equal to or greater than the threshold value of electrodermal activity stored in the threshold value storage unit 124. Therefore, if sufficient electrical skin activity is not observed even though a sufficiently strong odor stimulus is presented by the gas emission device 40, it can be assumed that the user himself is unable to perceive the odor.

[0082] [Other embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

[0083] For example, in the first and second embodiments, olfactory impairment is determined by threshold processing. However, any determination method may be used to determine olfactory impairment, such as a method of creating a model by machine learning.

[0084] Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 is a wearable type that is worn on the user's arm, but the olfactory disorder detection device 10 is not limited to such a form.

[0085] For example, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 can be provided in the form of an application for a portable information processing device such as a smartphone. In this case, the gas sensor 20 and the EDA sensor 30 can be devices capable of transmitting measurement results via short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). Alternatively, the gas release device 40 may be one that can control the amount and timing of release of the scent gas by short-range wireless communication.

[0086] Alternatively, the olfactory disorder detection device 10 may be configured on a server device on the cloud. In this case, the portable information processing device functions as the input device 13 and output device 15 of the olfactory disorder detection device 10, and also functions as the input / output interface 14, relaying the exchange of control information and measurement results between the gas sensor 20, EDA sensor 30, or gas release device 40 and the olfactory disorder detection device 10.

[0087] The olfactory impairment detection device 10 may also be provided in the form of a non-portable device that is placed in the user's home or the like.

[0088] Furthermore, the flow of each process described with reference to the flowchart is not limited to the procedure described. For example, steps S13 and S14 in FIG. 3 may be performed in reverse order, or may be performed simultaneously as parallel processing operations. Furthermore, although two types of feature quantities are calculated in step S16, it is also possible to first calculate only the feature quantity of the odor stimulus, and then calculate the feature quantity of the electrodermal activity result only if it is determined in step S17 that the feature quantity is equal to or greater than a threshold. In this way, the order of some steps may be reversed, some steps may be performed simultaneously in parallel, or the processing content of some steps may be modified.

[0089] The methods described in each embodiment can be stored as a processing program (software means) that can be executed by a computer on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD, an MO, etc.), or a semiconductor memory (e.g., a ROM, a RAM, a flash memory, etc.), and can also be distributed by transmitting it via a communication medium. The program stored on the medium also includes a configuration program that configures the software means (including not only execution programs but also tables and data structures) that the computer executes. The computer that realizes this device reads the program stored on the recording medium and, in some cases, configures the software means using the configuration program, and executes the above-mentioned processing by having the operation controlled by this software means. The term "recording medium" as used herein is not limited to a storage medium for distribution, but also includes a storage medium such as a magnetic disk or semiconductor memory installed inside the computer or in a device connected via a network.

[0090] In short, this invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the components can be modified and embodied in practice without departing from the spirit of the invention. Furthermore, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining multiple components disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be omitted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined. [Explanation of symbols]

[0091] 10...Olfaction disorder detection device 11...Processing section 11A...Processor 11B...Program memory 12...Data memory 13...Input device 15...Output device 16...Bus 20...Gas sensor 30...EDA sensor 40...Gas release device 101...Device body 111…Instruction acquisition unit 112...Odor measurement result acquisition unit 113...Electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit 114...Feature calculation unit 115...Olfaction Disorder Assessment Department 116...Determination result output unit 117...Odor stimulus presentation unit 121...Odor measurement result memory unit 122...Electrodermal activity measurement result storage unit 123...Feature memory unit 124...Threshold storage unit 131...Operation button 151...Display

Claims

1. an electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit that acquires an electrodermal activity measurement result that measures the electrodermal activity of the user; a feature calculation unit for calculating a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, which is a phase component of the electrodermal activity, by performing signal processing to extract a signal of a specific frequency band for each fixed window width from the electrodermal activity measurement result acquired by the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit; an olfactory disorder determination unit for determining whether the user has an olfactory disorder based on whether the feature amount of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature amount calculation unit is less than a threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity; a determination result output unit for outputting the determination result by the olfactory disorder determination unit; Equipped with The device further includes an odor measurement result acquisition unit that acquires the measurement result of the environmental odor that is being applied to the user as an odor stimulus, measured by the odor measurement unit; The feature calculation unit further calculates the feature of the odor stimulus by performing signal processing to extract signals of the specific frequency band for each of the fixed window widths from the odor measurement results acquired by the odor measurement result acquisition unit; the olfactory disorder assessment unit assesses whether the user has the olfactory disorder based on a determination result of whether the feature amount of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature amount calculation unit is less than a threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity and a determination result of whether the feature amount of the odor stimulus is equal to or greater than a threshold value for the feature amount of the odor stimulus. Olfactory impairment detection device.

2. the threshold value for the feature amount of the smell stimulus is a threshold value for determining whether or not the smell stimulus to the user is equal to or greater than a certain level; the threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity is a threshold value for determining whether or not the user has reacted to the scent stimulus; The device further includes a threshold value storage unit for storing a threshold value for the feature amount of the odor stimulus and a threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity, the olfactory disorder assessment unit assesses that the user has the olfactory disorder when the feature amount of the odor stimulus calculated by the feature amount calculation unit is equal to or greater than the threshold value of the odor stimulus stored in the threshold value storage unit, and the feature amount of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature amount calculation unit is less than the threshold value of the electrodermal activity stored in the threshold value storage unit. The olfactory disorder detection device according to claim 1 .

3. the olfactory disorder determination unit performs a determination based on the feature amount of the electrodermal activity and the threshold only when the feature amount of the odor stimulus is equal to or greater than the threshold for the odor stimulus, which indicates that the user has received a certain amount of odor stimulus. The olfactory disorder detection device according to claim 2 .

4. An odor stimulus presentation unit for controlling the amount and timing of an odor stimulus generated by an odor stimulus generation unit that applies an odor stimulus to a user; an electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit that acquires an electrodermal activity measurement result that measures the electrodermal activity of the user when the stimulus presentation unit applies the odor stimulus to the user using the odor stimulus generation unit; a feature calculation unit for calculating a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, which is a phase component of the electrodermal activity, by performing signal processing to extract a signal of a specific frequency band for each fixed window width from the electrodermal activity measurement result acquired by the electrodermal activity measurement result acquisition unit; an olfactory disorder determination unit for determining whether the user has an olfactory disorder based on whether the feature amount of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature amount calculation unit is less than a threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity; a determination result output unit for outputting the determination result by the olfactory disorder determination unit; An olfactory disorder detection device comprising:

5. the threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity is a threshold value for determining whether or not the user has reacted to the scent stimulus; a threshold value storage unit for storing a threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity; the olfactory disorder assessment unit assesses that the user has the olfactory disorder when the feature amount of the electrodermal activity calculated by the feature amount calculation unit is less than the threshold value stored in the threshold value storage unit. The olfactory disorder detection device according to claim 4 .

6. An olfactory disorder detection method for an olfactory disorder detection device that includes a processor and a memory and detects that a user has an olfactory disorder, comprising: The processor acquires a measurement result of the environmental odor that is applied to the user as an odor stimulus, measured by the odor measurement unit, and stores the result in the memory; obtaining, by the processor, electrodermal activity measurements of the user and storing the results in the memory; The processor performs signal processing to extract signals of specific frequency bands for each fixed window width from the odor measurement results stored in the memory, thereby calculating the feature amount of the odor stimulus; calculating a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, which is a phase component of the electrodermal activity, by performing signal processing with the processor to extract signals of the specific frequency band for each of the predetermined window widths from the electrodermal activity measurement results stored in the memory; The processor determines whether the user has an olfactory disorder based on a determination result of whether the feature amount of the odor stimulus is equal to or greater than a threshold value for the feature amount of the odor stimulus and a determination result of whether the calculated feature amount of the electrodermal activity is less than a threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity; outputting the olfactory disorder assessment result by the processor; A method for detecting olfactory impairment, comprising:

7. An olfactory impairment detection method for an olfactory impairment detection device, comprising a processor and a memory, for detecting that a user has an olfactory impairment, comprising: Controlling the amount and timing of the scent stimulation by the scent stimulation generating unit that provides the scent stimulation to the user by the processor; When the odor stimulus is applied to the user by the odor stimulus generating unit, the processor acquires an electrodermal activity measurement result of the user, measuring the electrodermal activity of the user, and stores the result in the memory; calculating a feature of the user's electrodermal activity, which is a phase component of the electrodermal activity, by performing signal processing with the processor to extract a signal of a specific frequency band for each fixed window width from the electrodermal activity measurement result stored in the memory; determining, by the processor, whether or not the user has an olfactory disorder based on whether or not the calculated feature amount of the electrodermal activity is less than a threshold value for the feature amount of the electrodermal activity; outputting the olfactory disorder assessment result by the processor; A method for detecting olfactory impairment, comprising:

8. An olfactory disorder detection program that causes a computer to execute processing by each unit of the olfactory disorder detection device according to claim 1 or 4.

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