blood pressure monitor

Abstract

To provide a blood pressure monitor that prevents unintended mechanical operation during sleep due to malfunction of an operation switch. [Solution] A blood pressure monitor (10A to 10E) comprises a cuff (14), a main body (12) formed in a columnar shape having end faces (12a to 12f), fixed to the cuff, and equipped with an operation switch (28), and a blood pressure measuring means provided on the main body for measuring the blood pressure of the person being measured using the cuff, wherein the operation switch (28) is a switch for temporarily suspending the sleep mode during the sleep mode, and the operation switch (28) is provided on the end faces (12b to 12e) of the main body (12) excluding the face (12a) fixed to the cuff (14), and is provided at a position recessed from the end faces.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a blood pressure monitor. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, blood pressure monitors have been proposed that automatically measure blood pressure while the user is asleep according to a set schedule. For example, the blood pressure monitor disclosed in Patent Document 1 can be switched to a sleep mode, in which blood pressure is automatically measured while the user is asleep, by using an operation switch provided on the main unit. The blood pressure monitor also has an operation switch for suspending the sleep mode, and the sleep mode can be cancelled by using this operation switch. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7400342 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, there is a concern that the operation switch may be pressed accidentally when the person being measured changes position while sleeping. If the operation switch is pressed accidentally, the automatic measurement mode during sleep will be automatically canceled. Furthermore, if the operation switch is pressed accidentally after the automatic measurement mode has been canceled, unintended operation may occur.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a blood pressure monitor that prevents malfunction of an operation switch and prevents unintended mechanical operation from occurring during sleep. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a blood pressure monitor of a first aspect of the present invention is a blood pressure monitor comprising: a cuff to be attached to a person being measured; a main body formed in a cylindrical shape having an end surface, fixed to the cuff, and equipped with an operation switch; and a blood pressure measuring means provided on the main body and measuring the blood pressure of the person being measured using the cuff, wherein the blood pressure monitor has a normal mode in which blood pressure is measured by operation by the person being measured, and a sleep mode in which the blood pressure of the person being measured is measured automatically, and the operation switch is a switch that temporarily suspends the sleep mode during the sleep mode, and the operation switch is provided on the end surface of the main body excluding the surface fixed to the cuff, and is provided in a position recessed from the end surface.

[0007] In the blood pressure monitor of the second aspect, in the first aspect, the main body is fixed to the cuff so that when the cuff is attached to the arm of the person being measured, the longitudinal direction of the main body is parallel to the extension direction of the arm, and it is also preferable that the operation switch is provided on the end face of the main body that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

[0008] In the blood pressure monitor of the third aspect, in the first or second aspect, it is also preferable that during the sleep mode, the temporary suspension is performed for pressing operations of the operation switch that satisfy predetermined conditions, and pressing operations of the operation switch that do not satisfy the predetermined conditions are ignored.

[0009] In the blood pressure monitor of the fourth aspect, in the third aspect, it is also preferable that the main body is provided with a display unit, and if a pressing operation other than that of the specified conditions is performed on the operation switch during the sleep mode, it is displayed that the device is in the sleep mode, and / or an explanation of the pressing operation of the specified conditions is displayed.

[0010] In the blood pressure monitor of the fifth aspect, in the third or fourth aspect, the blood pressure monitor is preferably provided with an acceleration sensor that detects the movement of the person being measured, and if the operation switch is pressed in a manner other than the predetermined conditions during the sleep mode, the temporary suspension is executed based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor.

[0011] In the blood pressure monitor of the sixth aspect, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, it is also preferable that the depression amount or depression resistance of the operation switch is different between the normal mode and the sleep mode. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a blood pressure monitor that can prevent unintended mechanical operation during sleep due to malfunction of an operation switch. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sphygmomanometer 10A according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main body 12 of the sphygmomanometer 10A. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a blood pressure monitor 10A. [Figure 4] 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main body 12 of a sphygmomanometer 10A. [Figure 5] 10 is an example of an operation for temporarily suspending the sleep mode. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a configuration block diagram of a sphygmomanometer 10C according to a second modification. [Figure 7] 10 is a cross-sectional view of a main body 12 of a sphygmomanometer 10D according to a third modification. FIG. [Figure 8] 13 shows another example of the arrangement of the operation switch 28 of the sphygmomanometer 10E according to the fourth modification. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Next, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this specification, the front, rear, left, right, top and bottom directions are the directions shown in the drawings.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a blood pressure monitor 10A according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main body 12 of the blood pressure monitor 10A. The blood pressure monitor 10A is composed of the main body 12 and a cuff 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the cuff 14 is formed in a belt shape and is detachably wrapped around the arm of a person being measured. The main body 12 is formed in a columnar shape and is fixed to the surface of the cuff 14 so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the wrapping direction of the cuff 14. When the cuff 14 is worn on the person's arm, the longitudinal direction of the main body 12 is aligned with the extension direction of the arm.

[0016] For example, the main body 12 is formed in the shape of a rectangular prism with rounded corners and has six end faces. Of these, as shown in FIG. 2, one end face 12a in the longitudinal direction has a flat surface and is fixed to the cuff 14 (hereinafter, this end face will be referred to as the "fixed face 12a"). The end face opposite the fixed face 12a is the front face 12b, which has a display unit 27. The display unit 27 is, for example, a liquid crystal or organic EL display. The end faces connecting the fixed face 12a and the front face 12b in the longitudinal direction are the left face 12c and the right face 12d, and the end faces connecting the fixed face 12a and the front face 12b in the lateral direction are the top face 12e and the bottom face 12f. In this embodiment, the operation switch 28 is provided on the top face 12e. Details of the operation switch 28 will be described later.

[0017] Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the blood pressure monitor 10A. As shown in Fig. 3, a collapsible air bag 18 is provided inside the cuff 14. The housing of the main body 12 contains a pump 21, an on-off valve 22, a pressure sensor 23, a memory unit 25, a communication unit 26, and a control unit 30.

[0018] Air bag 18 is connected to pump 21 and on-off valve 22, and air can be supplied from pump 21 to inflate air bag 18 and exhausted through on-off valve 22 to deflate air bag 18. Air bag 18 is connected to pressure sensor 23 in main body 12, and the pressure inside air bag 18 is measured by pressure sensor 23.

[0019] The control unit 30 is embodied by a microcomputer in which a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs arithmetic processing, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory) as auxiliary storage units are implemented in an integrated circuit. The control unit 30 includes an air supply / exhaust control unit 31, a blood pressure calculation unit 32, and a measurement control unit 35. These functional units 31, 32, and 35 are configured by logic circuits or dedicated circuits formed in integrated circuits or the like. These circuits may be realized by one or more integrated circuits, and multiple processes may be realized by a single integrated circuit.

[0020] Sphygmomanometer 10A is an oscillometric type that inflates air bag 18 of cuff 14 to compress blood vessels and then contracts air bag 18 to release the pressure, while measuring the pressure in air bag 18 with pressure sensor 23 and calculating a blood pressure value from the measurement value. Air supply / exhaust control unit 31 controls pump 21, on-off valve 22, and pressure sensor 23. Blood pressure calculation unit 32 calculates a blood pressure value from the measurement value of pressure sensor 23, stores the calculated value in memory unit 25, and displays the blood pressure value on display unit 27. Cuff 14, pump 21, on-off valve 22, pressure sensor 23, and blood pressure calculation unit 32 are the "blood pressure measuring means" set forth in the claims.

[0021] The sphygmomanometer 10A has a normal blood pressure measurement mode (hereinafter referred to as "normal mode") and a sleep blood pressure measurement mode (hereinafter referred to as "sleep mode"). In the normal mode, blood pressure is measured from waking up until before going to bed, and blood pressure is measured when the subject operates the device. In the sleep mode, blood pressure is measured from going to bed until around the time of waking up, and blood pressure during sleep is automatically measured according to a set schedule.

[0022] The measurement control unit 35 controls the blood pressure measurement means according to the normal mode and sleep mode. In the normal mode, if the subject operates the operation switch 28 to perform a measurement, the measurement control unit 35 controls the blood pressure measurement means to measure the blood pressure, and stores the blood pressure value together with the measurement date and time, etc. in the memory unit 25. In the sleep mode, the measurement control unit 35 controls the blood pressure measurement means to measure the blood pressure according to a preset schedule (the "standby time" described later), and stores the blood pressure value together with the measurement date and time, etc. in the memory unit 25. Furthermore, if the operation switch 28 is pressed under a "predetermined condition" during the sleep mode, the sleep mode is temporarily suspended. This will be described in detail later.

[0023] The storage unit 25 is realized by a small storage medium such as a solid state drive (SSD) or a flash memory. The storage unit 25 stores information related to the measured blood pressure values. In addition, if there are multiple subjects, the storage unit 25 identifies and stores the IDs of the subjects.

[0024] The communication unit 26 has a function for communicating with an external communication device 50, such as a smartphone or tablet terminal. Examples of communication functions include FeliCa (registered trademark) and BLUETOOTH (registered trademark). A dedicated blood pressure measurement application is pre-installed on the external communication device 50, and data such as blood pressure values ​​stored in the storage unit 25 is also transmitted to the external communication device 50 via the communication unit 26. When a sleep mode schedule ("standby time") is input into the external communication device 50, the data is stored in the storage unit 25 via the communication unit 26 and processed by the measurement control unit 35. The "standby time" refers to the time until automatic blood pressure measurement begins. Default settings include, for example, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 1 hour and 30 minutes, and the subject can select and set one of these. Multiple standby times may be set, such as measuring three times at 30-minute intervals after going to bed.

[0025] Here, the operation switch 28 is provided on the upper surface 12e of the main body 12, i.e., on an end surface perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (x-axis direction in FIG. 1) of the main body 12. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view (a cross-sectional view taken along IV-IV in FIG. 2) of the main body 12 of the sphygmomanometer 10A. The housing of the main body 12 is formed, for example, by fitting a front case 12F and a rear case 12B together. The upper portion of the front case 12F is formed to include the upper surface 12e, and a storage space 12S for the operation switch 28 is formed in the upper portion of the front case 12F. The operation switch 28 is provided in the storage space 12S of the front case 12F, and when the operation switch 28 is pressed, it comes into contact with an electronic board 30' connected to the control unit 30. A surface 28' of the operation switch 28 is recessed by a dimension d from the upper surface 12e.

[0026] The operation switch 28 can be used to turn on / off the power of the main body 12. In addition, in the normal mode, for example, a short press can start / pause manual blood pressure measurement, and a long press can select user selection, pairing with the external communication device 50, and on / off of airplane mode.

[0027] During sleep mode, if a pressing operation that satisfies a "predetermined condition" is performed on operation switch 28, sleep mode can be temporarily suspended. The "predetermined condition" requires at least a pressing operation that is more complex than a "single short press." Figure 5 shows an example of an operation for temporarily suspending sleep mode. First, in step S1, during sleep mode, the display unit 27 has its screen turned off. If operation switch 28 is pressed and held (e.g., for three seconds) during sleep mode, the process proceeds to step S2, where the measurement control unit 35 displays the home screen on the display unit 27. If operation switch 28 is pressed and held (e.g., for three seconds), the process proceeds to step S3, where the measurement control unit 35 displays a screen on the display unit 27 that allows the user to select whether to suspend sleep mode. If the operation switch 28 is pressed and held for a short time, the process proceeds to step S4, where the measurement control unit 35 suspends sleep mode. If the operation switch 28 is pressed and not suspended, the measurement control unit 35 returns to step S1 and turns off the screen. In this example, the "predetermined condition" for the pressing operation is to "long press twice and short press once," but is not limited to this.

[0028] On the other hand, the measurement control unit 35 ignores any pressing operation that does not satisfy the "predetermined condition" during the sleep mode. In the example of Fig. 5, the process does not proceed from step S1, the screen of the display unit 27 remains turned off, and the sleep mode continues.

[0029] As described above, according to blood pressure monitor 10A of the present embodiment, operation switch 28, which can temporarily suspend the sleep mode, is disposed in a position recessed from end surface 12e of main body 12, so that even if the subject changes position while sleeping, operation switch 28 is unlikely to be pressed accidentally. Therefore, it is possible to prevent unintended mechanical operation during sleep due to malfunction of operation switch 28.

[0030] Furthermore, according to sphygmomanometer 10A, the sleep mode is temporarily suspended only when predetermined conditions are met using operation switch 28. Therefore, the temporary suspension is performed at the will of the subject, and unintentional short-term pressing of operation switch 28 is ignored, thereby preventing erroneous operation by operation switch 28.

[0031] A preferred modification of the above embodiment will now be described.

[0032] (Variation 1) To prevent malfunction during sleep mode, blood pressure monitor 10A according to the embodiment requires operation switch 28 to be pressed under predetermined conditions. Because this requires a certain level of complex operation, support is required if the subject makes a mistake or forgets to perform this operation. Therefore, in blood pressure monitor 10B according to Modification 1, if a pressing operation other than the predetermined conditions is performed, measurement control unit 35 displays "in sleep mode" on display unit 27 to notify the subject that the pressing operation (temporary interruption) by the subject has not been accepted. This eliminates the anxiety of a subject who has made an incorrect operation and failed to respond to the operation if the predetermined conditions are not met. Alternatively / or in addition to this, blood pressure monitor 10B according to Modification 1 preferably displays an explanation of the pressing operation under the predetermined conditions on display unit 27 to instruct the subject on how to cancel sleep mode when a pressing operation other than the predetermined conditions is performed. The configuration of blood pressure monitor 10B according to Modification 1 is similar to that of the embodiment (FIGS. 1 to 4), and therefore is not illustrated.

[0033] (Variation 2) Similar to Modification 1, Modification 2 also provides support when the subject mistakenly or forgets to temporarily suspend the sleep mode, and provides support different from that of Modification 1. Fig. 6 is a configuration block diagram of a sphygmomanometer 10C according to Modification 2. Sphygmomanometer 10C further includes an acceleration sensor 24 in main body 12 or cuff 14, and an action determination unit 33 in control unit 30.

[0034] Acceleration sensor 24 is a three-axis acceleration sensor. Main body 12 is positioned so that it is parallel to the arm when cuff 14 is worn on the arm, so by setting one of the x-axis, y-axis, or z-axis, for example the x-axis, to coincide with the direction parallel to the arm (see FIG. 1), and detecting the movement of main body 12 with acceleration sensor 24, it is possible to detect the movement of the arm (the amount of movement in the three axes directions).

[0035] The behavior determination unit 33 monitors the detection values ​​of the acceleration sensor 24. For example, it monitors two items, arm posture and arm activity amount, and detects an increase in arm movement based on a preset wake-up threshold for the two items, and determines that the subject has temporarily woken up when either the arm posture or arm activity amount item exceeds the wake-up threshold, or when, in addition, both the arm posture and arm activity amount items exceed the wake-up threshold for a predetermined period of time, or when the number of times both items exceed the wake-up threshold reaches a predetermined number.

[0036] If a pressing operation other than that required under the predetermined conditions is performed during sleep mode, the measurement control unit 35 checks whether the action determination unit 33 has determined that the user is waking up. If the action determination unit 33 has not determined that the user is waking up, the measurement control unit 35 determines that the operation switch 28 is malfunctioning and ignores the operation. On the other hand, if the action determination unit 33 has determined that the user is waking up, the measurement control unit 35 automatically suspends sleep mode without requesting a pressing operation that meets the predetermined conditions, since the operation of the operation switch 28 was performed intentionally by the user. This allows support in the latter case, in which the operation of the operation switch 28 during sleep mode is determined to be a malfunction of the operation switch 28 or an operation error by the user, by determining that the temporary suspension was performed intentionally by the user on the basis that the user woke up.

[0037] (Variation 3) In the third modification, the depression amount of the operation switch 28 differs between the normal mode and the sleep mode. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the main body 12 of a sphygmomanometer 10D according to the third modification. In the sphygmomanometer 10D, a leaf spring 29B is interposed between the operation switch 28 and the electric port 30′, and a small protrusion 29A is formed on the peripheral wall of the accommodation space 12S. In the normal mode, the measurement control unit 35 responds even if the operation switch 28 is not depressed below the small protrusion 29A. On the other hand, in the sleep mode, the measurement control unit 35 is controlled to respond only when the operation switch 28 is depressed below the protrusion 29A and a predetermined pressure is applied to the leaf spring 29B. Alternatively, a sensor 29C is disposed in the electric port 30′ to detect the depression amount (displacement) or pressure of the operation switch 28. In the sleep mode, the measurement control unit 35 is controlled to respond only when the operation switch 28 is depressed by a predetermined amount or more. Alternatively, a resistor 29D is provided on the circuit of the electric board 30', and during sleep mode, resistor 29D is applied to increase the pressing resistance, so that measurement control section 35 does not respond unless operation switch 28 is pressed. This requires the subject to operate operation switch 28 at their own will, making it possible to prevent unintended mechanical operation during sleep due to malfunction.

[0038] (Variation 4) FIG. 8 shows other arrangement examples of the operation switch 28 of the sphygmomanometer 10E according to the fourth modification, illustrating variations in the arrangement. In the sphygmomanometer 10E according to the fourth modification, in arrangement example (i), the operation switch 28 is provided on the front surface 12b of the main body 12, and the surface 28' of the operation switch 28 is recessed from the front surface 12b by a dimension d. In arrangement example (ii), the operation switch 28 is provided on the right surface 12d or the left surface 12c of the main body 12, and the surface 28' of the operation switch 28 is recessed from the right surface 12d or the left surface 12c by a dimension d. In arrangement example (iii), the operation switch 28 is provided on the bottom surface 12f of the main body 12, and the surface 28' of the operation switch 28 is recessed from the bottom surface 12f by a dimension d. In this way, the operation switch 28 may be provided on an end surface other than the fixing surface 12a of the main body 12. Furthermore, the main body 12 is not limited to the shape shown in the figure, and may be cylindrical or have another polygonal prism shape. From the viewpoint of preventing malfunction, operation switch 28 may be provided at a recessed position on the end face of the columnar shape, excluding the fixed face. Of these, end faces 12e and 12f, which are perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of main body 12, are the positions on the end faces of main body 12 where malfunction is least likely to occur when the subject is in a sleeping position. Of these, top face 12a is the most preferable position for providing operation switch 28, considering the operability of the subject.

[0039] The blood pressure monitors 10A to 10E shown in the embodiment and the modified examples can be applied to both a type in which the cuff 14 is attached to the upper arm and a type in which the cuff 14 is attached to the wrist. However, in the modified example 2, it is preferable to use the upper arm as the target in order to accurately detect the wake-up behavior of the person being measured.

[0040] Although the preferred embodiments and modifications of the present invention have been described above, these can be modified and combined based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, and such modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0041] 10A to 10E...sphygmomanometer, 12...main body, 12a to 12f...end surface, 14...cuff, 21...pump, 22...on-off valve, 23...pressure sensor, 24...acceleration sensor, 25...storage unit, 26...communication unit, 27...display unit, 28...operation switch, 30...control unit, 31...air supply / exhaust control unit, 32...blood pressure calculation unit, 33...activity determination unit, 35...measurement control unit, 50...external communication device

Claims

1. a cuff to be attached to the upper arm of the subject; a main body formed in a columnar shape having an end surface, fixed to the cuff, and equipped with an operation switch; a blood pressure measuring means provided on the main body and measuring the blood pressure of the subject using the cuff, the blood pressure monitor has a normal mode in which the blood pressure is measured by an operation of the subject, and a sleep mode in which the blood pressure of the subject is automatically measured, the main body is fixed to the cuff such that, when the cuff is attached to the upper arm of the subject, a longitudinal direction of the main body is parallel to an extension direction of the upper arm, The operation switch is a switch for temporarily suspending the sleep mode during the sleep mode, and the operation switch is provided at a position recessed from the end face perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the main body, and during the sleep mode, the temporary suspension is performed in response to a pressing operation of the operation switch that satisfies a predetermined condition, and pressing operations of the operation switch that do not satisfy the predetermined condition are ignored. An upper arm blood pressure monitor characterized by:

2. the main body includes a display unit, and the display unit is provided on a front surface that is an end surface opposite to a fixing surface where the main body is fixed to the cuff, The operation switch and the display unit are not provided on the same end surface.

2. The upper arm blood pressure monitor according to claim 1.

3. The upper arm blood pressure monitor described in Claim 1, characterized in that the main body is equipped with a display unit, and if, during the sleep mode, a pressing operation other than that under the specified conditions is performed on the operation switch, a message is displayed indicating that the device is in the sleep mode, and / or an explanation of the pressing operation under the specified conditions is displayed.

4. The blood pressure monitor includes an acceleration sensor that detects the movement of the subject, 2. The upper arm blood pressure monitor according to claim 1, wherein, when the operation switch is pressed under a condition other than the predetermined condition during the sleep mode, the temporary suspension is executed based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor.

5. An upper arm blood pressure monitor as described in claim 1, characterized in that the amount of depression or resistance of the operating switch differs between the normal mode and the sleep mode.

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