Medical cooperation system, medical cooperation method, and program

Abstract

This medical cooperation system is provided with an assessment device that is used in medical institutions or in a prescribed non-medical institution environment other than the medical institutions and that is for performing assessment relating to cognitive function of an assessee. The medical cooperation system is configured to comprise an assessment unit for assessing the state relating to the cognition function of the assessee, on the basis of biological information which at least includes uttered speech of the assessee, the uttered speech having been inputted to the assessment device; and an assessment result output unit that outputs an assessment result of the assessment unit. The medical cooperation system is configured such that the assessment result output unit transmits the assessment result to a medical institution server of a prescribed medical institution, among medical institution servers that are disposed to correspond to the medical institutions and that are capable of accumulating assessment result information.

Description

Medical collaboration system, medical collaboration method, and program

[0001] The present invention relates to a medical collaboration system, a medical collaboration method, and a program. This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-085276, filed on May 25, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] A dementia system is known that calculates the dementia level of a patient based on audio data obtained by recording a conversation between a doctor and a patient (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Patent No. 6263308

[0004] Considering the need to identify symptoms early and provide appropriate treatment, it is desirable to coordinate dementia-related suggestions and responses among multiple environments where dementia-related responses are provided.

[0005] The present invention aims to enable coordination of dementia-related suggestions and dementia-related responses among multiple environments in which dementia-related responses are provided.

[0006] One aspect of the present invention that solves the above-mentioned problems is a medical collaboration system that includes an evaluation device that is used in a medical institution or a specified external environment other than the medical institution and that evaluates the cognitive function of a person being evaluated, and that includes an evaluation unit that evaluates the state of the cognitive function of the person being evaluated based on bio-related information that includes at least the speech of the person being evaluated that is input to the evaluation device, and an evaluation result output unit that outputs the evaluation results by the evaluation unit, and the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation results to a medical institution server of a specified medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to medical institutions and are capable of storing evaluation result information.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a medical collaboration method in a medical collaboration system that includes an evaluation device used in a medical institution or a specified external environment other than the medical institution and that evaluates the cognitive function of a person being evaluated, and that includes an evaluation step that evaluates the state of the cognitive function of the person being evaluated based on bio-related information that includes at least the speech of the person being evaluated that is input to the evaluation device, and an evaluation result output step that outputs the evaluation result from the evaluation step, and the evaluation result output step is a medical collaboration system that transmits the evaluation result to a medical institution server of a specified medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to medical institutions and are capable of storing evaluation result information.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer included in a medical collaboration system that is used in a medical institution or a specified external environment other than the medical institution and that includes an evaluation device that evaluates the cognitive function of a subject to be evaluated to function as an evaluation unit that evaluates the state of the cognitive function of the subject based on bio-related information that includes at least the subject's speech input into the evaluation device, and an evaluation result output unit that outputs the evaluation results by the evaluation unit, wherein the evaluation result output unit is a program that transmits the evaluation results to a medical institution server of a specified medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to the medical institution and are capable of storing evaluation result information.

[0009] As explained above, the effect is that suggestions and responses regarding dementia can be coordinated among multiple environments in which dementia-related responses are provided.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a medical collaboration system according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of an evaluation device according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of evaluatee information according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of evaluation result information according to the present embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of medical institution server information according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of corresponding medical institution information according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the evaluation device according to the present embodiment in relation to the evaluation of dementia.

[0011] The present invention has the following functions: [1] A medical collaboration system including an evaluation device used in a medical institution or a predetermined environment outside the medical institution to evaluate the cognitive function of a subject, the medical collaboration system comprising: an evaluation unit that evaluates the state of the cognitive function of the subject based on biometric information input to the evaluation device, the evaluation unit including at least the subject's speech; and an evaluation result output unit that outputs the evaluation results by the evaluation unit, wherein the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation results to a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution among medical institution servers provided corresponding to medical institutions and capable of storing evaluation result information. [2] The medical collaboration system according to [1], wherein the evaluation result output unit outputs evaluation results including a presentation of evaluation results for each predetermined item when the evaluation device is used at the medical institution, and outputs an overall evaluation result derived based on the evaluation results for each item when the evaluation device is used in the environment outside the medical institution. [3] The medical collaboration system according to [2], wherein the evaluation result output unit determines whether the environment in which the evaluation device is used is the medical institution or the environment outside the medical institution, and outputs an evaluation result corresponding to the determined environment. [4] The medical collaboration system described in any one of [1] to [3], wherein, when the evaluation device is used in an environment outside the medical institution, the evaluation result output unit transmits evaluation result information including the evaluation result and information about the person being evaluated to the medical institution server. [5] The medical collaboration system described in [4], wherein, when the evaluation device is used in an environment outside the medical institution, the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation result information to a medical institution server selected based on information about the corresponding person being evaluated. [6] The medical collaboration system described in [5], wherein, when the evaluation device is used in an environment outside the medical institution, the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation result information to a medical institution server corresponding to the address indicated by information about the person being evaluated included in the evaluation result information. [7] The medical collaboration system described in [5], wherein, when the evaluation device is used in an environment outside the medical institution, the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation result information to a medical institution server of a medical institution corresponding to the evaluation result in the evaluation result information.[8] The medical collaboration system described in any one of [1] to [7], wherein the medical institution server of one medical institution is capable of transmitting predetermined evaluation result information accumulated therein to the medical institution servers of other predetermined medical institutions. [9] The medical collaboration system described in any one of [1] to [8], wherein the evaluation unit evaluates the state of the cognitive function of the person being evaluated based on features extracted from the frequency characteristics of the speech included in the bio-related information.

[10] The medical collaboration system described in any one of [1] to [9], wherein the bio-related information further includes a gaze recognized of the person being evaluated.

[11] The medical collaboration system described in any one of [1] to [9], wherein the bio-related information further includes a behavioral history of the person being evaluated in daily life.

[12] A medical collaboration method in a medical collaboration system that is used in a medical institution or a predetermined environment outside the medical institution and that includes an evaluation device that evaluates the cognitive function of a person being evaluated, the medical collaboration method comprising: an evaluation step of evaluating a state of the cognitive function of the person being evaluated based on bio-related information including at least the speech of the person being evaluated that is input into the evaluation device; and an evaluation result output step of outputting an evaluation result obtained by the evaluation step, wherein the evaluation result output step transmits the evaluation result to a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to medical institutions and that are capable of storing evaluation result information.

[13] A program that causes a computer provided in a medical collaboration system that is used in a medical institution or a predetermined environment outside the medical institution and that includes an evaluation device that evaluates the cognitive function of a person being evaluated to function as: an evaluation unit that evaluates the state of the cognitive function of the person being evaluated based on bio-related information including at least the speech of the person being evaluated that is input into the evaluation device; and an evaluation result output unit that outputs the evaluation result by the evaluation unit, the program

[14] An evaluation device used in a medical institution or a specified environment outside the medical institution other than the medical institution to evaluate the cognitive function of a subject, comprising: an evaluation unit that evaluates the state of the cognitive function of the subject based on input bio-related information including at least the speech of the subject; and an evaluation result output unit that outputs the evaluation result by the evaluation unit, wherein the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation result to a medical institution server of a specified medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to the medical institution and are capable of storing evaluation result information.

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of a medical cooperation system, a medical cooperation method, and a program will be described.

[0013] FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a medical collaboration system according to this embodiment. In this medical collaboration system, cognitive function assessments are conducted on individuals in both an external medical institution environment group 10 and an external medical institution group 20. An evaluation device 100 is used to assess the cognitive function of individuals. The evaluation device 100 evaluates the cognitive function of individuals. In this medical collaboration system, the evaluation results of the evaluation device 100 can be used to provide advice to individuals, for example, to raise awareness (suggestions) about dementia or encourage them to undergo examinations, treatment, etc. related to their cognitive function. This makes it possible for the medical collaboration system according to this embodiment to promote early detection and treatment of dementia. The external medical institution environment group 10 includes one or more external medical institution environments 11. In the figure, three external medical institution environments 11, 11-1, 11-2, and 11-3, are shown.

[0014] The non-medical institution environment 11 is an environment that is not a medical institution but is capable of evaluating the cognitive function of the person being evaluated using the evaluation device 100 of this embodiment. One non-medical institution environment 11 may be, for example, a dementia screening conducted by a local government. Furthermore, the non-medical institution environment 11 may be, for example, an event that includes a dementia screening program and is conducted individually or collaboratively by a local government, a private organization, a company, etc. Furthermore, the non-medical institution environment 11 may be a nursing care facility, etc. Furthermore, the non-medical institution environment 11 may also include an institution that conducts screenings, etc., conducted by a local government, a company, etc.

[0015] The non-medical institution environments 11 (11-1, 11-2, 11-3) are environments where cognitive function assessments are performed using the evaluation devices 100 (100-1, 100-2, 100-3), respectively. The evaluation devices 100 in the non-medical institution environments 11 are used by personnel in charge of assessment in the corresponding non-medical institution environments 11.

[0016] The group of medical institutions 20 includes one or more medical institutions 21. The medical institutions 21 are institutions where medical examinations, medical care, and other procedures are provided by qualified physicians. The medical institutions 21 may also include, for example, institutions that conduct medical checkups. In some cases, institutions that conduct medical checkups may be treated as institutions included in the non-medical institution environment 11. In the figure, three medical institutions 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 are shown as medical institutions 21. Medical institutions 21-1, 21-2, and 21-3 indicate medical institutions where, for example, a subject (i.e., a person under evaluation) can receive treatment. In the figure, an example is shown in which medical institution 21-1 corresponds to a family doctor, medical institution 21-2 corresponds to a support doctor, and medical institution 21-3 corresponds to a specialist. At each medical institution 21, a doctor or other medical professional uses the evaluation device 100 to diagnose dementia for the subject under evaluation. In other words, the medical institution 21 is an environment where cognitive function assessments are conducted.

[0017] The evaluation device 100 used in each of the outside-medical-institution environment 11 and the medical institution 21 may be, for example, a smartphone or a tablet terminal. A dementia evaluation application is installed in the evaluation device 100. For example, the person being evaluated speaks when conversing with a staff member in the outside-medical-institution environment 11. The person being evaluated also speaks when conversing with a doctor or the like while undergoing a medical examination at the medical institution 21, or when prompted to utter specific sounds, phrases, sentences, etc. for diagnosis. The evaluation device 100 running the evaluation application acquires, as evaluation voice data, the voice (an example of biological information) obtained by collecting sound with a microphone while the person being evaluated is speaking as described above.

[0018] The evaluation device 100 analyzes the acquired evaluation voice data to evaluate the cognitive function of the person being evaluated. In this embodiment, the evaluation device 100 evaluates voice corresponding to a fixed utterance type. To evaluate voice corresponding to a fixed utterance type, the evaluation device 100 obtains the frequency characteristics (acoustic spectrum) of the voice uttered by the person being evaluated and extracts features from the obtained acoustic spectrum. The evaluation device 100 evaluates the cognitive function based on the extracted features.

[0019] Each of the medical institutions 21 (21-1, 21-2, 21-3) is equipped with a medical institution server 200 (200-1, 200-2, 200-3). The evaluation device 100 of the medical institution 21 transmits information indicating the evaluation result (evaluation result information) to the medical institution server 200 of the same medical institution 21 via the network NW. The medical institution server 200 stores the transmitted evaluation result information as evaluation result history information. The evaluation device 100 of the external medical institution environment 11 can also transmit evaluation result information to the medical institution servers 200 (200-1 to 200-3) via the network NW, causing the evaluation result information to be stored in the medical institution server 200.

[0020] The evaluation device 100 may have the same configuration in the outside medical institution environment 11 and the medical institution 21. However, the evaluation device 100 changes the mode of outputting the evaluation results depending on whether the environment in which it is used is the outside medical institution environment 11 or the medical institution 21. Specifically, the evaluation device 100 uses evaluation voice data to perform evaluation for each of a plurality of predetermined items. The evaluation device 100 of this embodiment may score (assign points) the results of evaluation for each item, for example, within a predetermined numerical range.

[0021] When outputting the evaluation results, the evaluation device 100 determines whether the environment in which the user used the device for evaluation was the medical institution 21 or the environment outside the medical institution 11 (evaluation environment determination). For example, a user such as a doctor or a person in charge may operate the evaluation device 100 to register whether the environment in which the user used the device for evaluation was the medical institution 21 or the environment outside the medical institution 11. The evaluation device 100 stores usage environment information indicating whether the registered environment in which the user used the device for evaluation was the medical institution 21 or the environment outside the medical institution 11. The evaluation device 100 may perform evaluation environment determination based on whether the usage environment information indicates the medical institution 21 or the environment outside the medical institution 11. If the evaluation device 100 determines that the environment in which the user used the device for evaluation was the medical institution 21 through the evaluation environment determination, it outputs an evaluation result (detailed evaluation result) presenting the evaluation results for each item. The evaluation result for each item may, for example, indicate a score (point) obtained by the evaluation for each item. In addition, more specific details of estimated symptoms, etc. may be presented together with the score. On the other hand, if the evaluation device 100 determines that the environment in which it is used is the non-medical institution environment 11 through the evaluation environment determination, it outputs an evaluation result (simplified evaluation result) that combines the evaluation results for each item. The evaluation result that combines the evaluation results for each item may be, for example, a single score (total score) that indicates the overall evaluation result based on the scores for each item. The total score in such a simplified evaluation result may be derived based on, for example, the average, median, or normal distribution of the scores for each item.

[0022] The evaluation device 100 is used in the medical institution 21, where a doctor or other medical professional with specialized medical knowledge about dementia conducts an examination. In this case, the doctor or other medical professional will request detailed information as the evaluation result from the evaluation device 100. Therefore, when the evaluation device 100 is used at the medical institution 21, it outputs a detailed evaluation result to meet the requirements of the examiner, as described above. Meanwhile, the person performing the evaluation using the evaluation device 100 in the non-medical institution environment 11 does not necessarily have specialized knowledge like a doctor. The evaluation result presented to the person performing the evaluation may simply be an index representing the state of the subject's cognitive function. Furthermore, providing a detailed evaluation result to the person performing the evaluation may make it difficult for the person performing the evaluation to accurately understand the evaluation result, and thus may be less useful. Therefore, when the evaluation device 100 is used in the non-medical institution environment 11, it is configured to output a simplified evaluation result. In this manner, in this embodiment, the evaluation device 100 can appropriately switch between outputting a simplified evaluation result and a detailed evaluation result depending on whether the evaluation device 100 is used in the non-medical institution environment 11 or the medical institution 21.

[0023] In addition, dementia assessments have traditionally been conducted by having the subject fill out answers to questions using an assessment question sheet, with a doctor or other professional determining the degree of dementia based on the answers. However, this type of dementia assessment takes a relatively long time, such as about 20 minutes. In contrast, the assessment device 100 of this embodiment, which performs assessments based on fixed utterance patterns, can obtain assessment results with a certain level of accuracy by acquiring, for example, about five samples of speech data from the subject's speech, depending on how the trained model used for assessment is constructed. In other words, it is possible to shorten the time required for dementia assessment while maintaining the accuracy of the assessment.

[0024] In the medical collaboration system of Fig. 1, for example, assume that a person in an environment 11 outside a medical institution uses the evaluation device 100 to evaluate the dementia of a person being evaluated, and the overall score indicated by the simplified evaluation result output by the evaluation device 100 corresponds to the range in which a visit to a medical institution is recommended. In this case, the person in charge can arrange for the person to be examined at a medical institution 21 that serves as the person's family doctor.

[0025] At the medical institution 21-1, which serves as a primary care physician, the doctor who will be the diagnoser can make a diagnosis using the evaluation device 100-11. The doctor at the medical institution 21-1 can, for example, efficiently and accurately make a diagnosis regarding dementia and provide treatment, etc., by referring to the evaluation results for the person being evaluated output by the evaluation device 100-11. Furthermore, if the doctor at the medical institution 21, which serves as a primary care physician, determines that a more advanced diagnosis or treatment is necessary, he or she can refer the person being evaluated to the medical institution 21-2 of a supporting physician or the medical institution 21-3 of a specialist. The diagnoser, such as a doctor at the medical institution 21-2, which serves as a supporting physician, can also make a diagnosis regarding dementia, treatment, etc., using the evaluation device 100-12. Furthermore, if the doctor at the medical institution 21-2, which serves as a supporting physician, determines that a more advanced diagnosis or treatment is necessary, he or she can refer the person being evaluated to the medical institution 21-3 of a specialist. The doctor who will be the diagnoser at the medical institution 21-3, which serves as a specialist, can also use the evaluation device 100-13 to make a diagnosis regarding dementia, treatment, etc. In addition, if a specialist doctor at medical institution 21-3 determines that support from a support doctor is necessary, for example, in rehabilitation, he or she can refer the person being evaluated to medical institution 21-2 where the support doctor is located.

[0026] As described above, each evaluation device 100 can transmit evaluation result information indicating the evaluation result to the medical institution server 200 via the network NW, thereby allowing the evaluation result information to be stored in the medical institution server 200. The evaluation device 100 of a medical institution 21 may, for example, by default, transmit the evaluation result information to the medical institution server 200 of the same medical institution 21. The evaluation device 100 of a medical institution 21 may also be configured to transmit evaluation result information to the medical institution server 200 of another medical institution 21 in response to a user's operation. The evaluation device 100 of the non-medical institution environment 11 may also be configured to transmit evaluation result information to the medical institution server 200 of a medical institution 21 specified by operation. The evaluation device 100 of the non-medical institution environment 11 may, for example, select a medical institution 21 available for the subject to be evaluated based on the evaluation result, and when the subject decides to visit the medical institution 21, transmit the evaluation result information to the medical institution server 200 of the selected medical institution 21. Alternatively, the evaluation device 100 in the non-medical institution environment 11 may identify the medical institution 21 where the person to be evaluated and treated should be based on the address of the person to be evaluated, and transmit the evaluation result information to the medical institution server 200 of the identified medical institution 21. In addition, in cases where the medical institutions 21 of the family doctor, support doctor, and specialist doctor cooperate with each other regarding the diagnosis and treatment of the same person, the evaluation result information of the person to be evaluated may be transmitted and received between the medical institution servers 200 of each of the multiple cooperating medical institutions 21.

[0027] As described above, in this embodiment, the evaluation result information is exchanged in an environment including the non-medical institution environment 11 and the medical institution 21, allowing the non-medical institution environment 11 and the medical institution 21 to share the same evaluation result information. Sharing the evaluation result information in this manner enables collaboration regarding dementia treatment (dementia evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, etc.) in the environment including the non-medical institution environment 11 and the medical institution 21. Specifically, collaboration regarding dementia treatment is achieved between the non-medical institution environment 11 and the medical institution 21 by transmitting evaluation result information from the evaluation device 100 used in one non-medical institution environment 11 to the medical institution server 200 of one or more medical institutions 21. Furthermore, collaboration regarding dementia treatment is achieved between the multiple medical institutions 21 by transmitting and receiving evaluation result information accumulated in the medical institution server 200 between the multiple medical institutions 21. Furthermore, collaboration regarding dementia treatment can be achieved between the multiple non-medical institution environments 11 by transmitting evaluation result information from the evaluation device 100 used in one non-medical institution environment 11 to a terminal device (not shown) provided in one or more other non-medical institution environments 11.

[0028] An example of the functional configuration of the evaluation device 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. The functions of the evaluation device 100 shown in Fig. 2 are realized by executing programs by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) included in the evaluation device 100 as hardware.

[0029] The evaluation device 100 in the figure includes a communication unit 101, a microphone 102, a display unit 103, an operation unit 104, a control unit 105, and a storage unit 106. The communication unit 101 communicates via a network NW. The microphone 102 collects sound and obtains sound data of the collected sound.

[0030] The display unit 103 includes a display device and displays information under the control of the control unit 105. The operation unit 104 includes an input device and an operator provided in the evaluation device 100 and outputs operation information corresponding to an operation to the control unit 105. The evaluation device 100 may include a touch panel in which the display unit 103 is combined with the operation unit 104 as a touch input device.

[0031] The control unit 105 executes various controls in the evaluation device 100. The control unit 105 includes an evaluation unit 151 and an evaluation result output unit 152. The evaluation unit 151 analyzes audio data collected by the microphone 102 and determines the state of the cognitive function of the person being evaluated. The evaluation result output unit 152 outputs the evaluation result by the evaluation unit 151. The evaluation result output unit 152 may output the evaluation result to be displayed on the display unit 103. In addition, the evaluation result output unit 152 transmits evaluation result information indicating the evaluation result by the evaluation unit 151 to the medical institution server 200 as an output of the evaluation result.

[0032] The storage unit 106 stores various information corresponding to the evaluation device 100. The storage unit 106 includes an evaluationee information storage unit 161, a medical institution server information storage unit 162, and a usage environment information storage unit 163.

[0033] The assessee information storage unit 161 stores assessee information for each assessee. Figure 3 shows an example of assessee information corresponding to one assessee. The assessee information includes areas for assessee ID, assessee basic information, and assessment result history information. The assessee ID area stores an assessee ID uniquely assigned to the corresponding assessee. The assessee basic information area stores assessee basic information for the corresponding assessee. The assessee basic information is basic information about the corresponding assessee and may include information such as name, age, gender, and address. The assessment result history information area stores assessment result history information for the corresponding assessee. The assessment result history information includes information on the assessment results obtained so far by the evaluation device 100 for the corresponding assessee.

[0034] FIG. 4 shows an example of one piece of evaluation result information corresponding to one evaluation in the evaluation history result information. The evaluation result information in the same figure includes fields for evaluation date and time, evaluation device ID, evaluation environment information, evaluator information, and evaluation result. The evaluation date and time field stores the evaluation date and time when the response evaluation was performed. The evaluation device ID field stores the evaluation device ID of the evaluation device 100 that performed the response evaluation (diagnosis). The evaluation environment information field stores evaluation environment information. The evaluation environment information is information that identifies the environment outside the medical institution 11 or the medical institution 21 as the environment in which the evaluation device 100 that performed the response evaluation is used. The evaluator information field stores evaluator information. This is information indicating the user (evaluator) who operated the evaluation device 100 to evaluate the response. The evaluation result field stores the evaluation result. In the same figure, an example is shown in which score values ​​obtained for N evaluation items 1 to N are stored as evaluation results.

[0035] Returning to Fig. 2 for the explanation, the medical institution server information storage unit 162 stores medical institution server information, which is information relating to each medical institution server 200 that is a candidate for the destination of evaluation result information.

[0036] FIG. 5 shows an example of medical institution server information. One row (one record) in the figure is medical institution server information corresponding to one medical institution server 200. Medical institution server information corresponding to one medical institution server 200 includes fields for a medical institution server ID, a network address, and corresponding medical institution information. The medical institution server ID field stores the medical institution server ID indicating the corresponding medical institution server 200. The network address field stores the network address of the corresponding medical institution server 200. The corresponding medical institution information field stores corresponding medical institution information including predetermined information regarding the medical institution 21 that the corresponding medical institution server 200 serves.

[0037] FIG. 6 shows an example of the corresponding medical institution information. The corresponding medical institution information shown in the figure includes fields for a medical institution ID and medical institution information. The medical institution ID field stores the medical institution ID indicating the corresponding medical institution 21. The medical institution information field stores medical institution information related to the corresponding medical institution 21. The medical institution information in the figure includes fields for the medical institution name, medical institution type, location, and corresponding treatment method, etc. The medical institution name field stores the name of the corresponding medical institution 21 (medical institution name). The medical institution type field stores the type of medical institution. The medical institution type indicates the type of medical institution 21, such as a family doctor, support doctor, specialist, advanced medical hospital, etc. The location field stores information indicating the location of the corresponding medical institution 21. The corresponding treatment method field stores information indicating the treatment methods that the corresponding medical institution 21 can provide.

[0038] An example of a processing procedure executed by the evaluation device 100 in relation to the evaluation of the cognitive function state will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7 . Step S100: The evaluator at the medical institution 21 or the outside medical institution environment 11 has the subject speak, for example, by having a conversation with the subject. While the subject is conversing in this manner, the evaluator causes the evaluation device 100 running an evaluation application to collect sound. At this time, the evaluation unit 151 of the evaluation device 100 acquires audio data of the sound collected by the microphone 102. The evaluation unit 151 may store the acquired audio data in the storage unit 106.

[0039] Step S102: The evaluation unit 151 analyzes the voice data acquired in step S100 and evaluates the subject for each of several predetermined evaluation items related to dementia. The voice data acquired in step S100 may also include the voice of the evaluator conversing with the subject. In such cases, the evaluation unit 151 distinguishes between the voice of the diagnostician and the voice of the subject contained in the voice data, for example, based on the results of recognizing the speech content. Specifically, the evaluation unit 151 may analyze the differentiated voice of the subject, evaluate each predetermined item, and calculate a score (points) according to the evaluation results. The evaluation unit 151 also derives an overall evaluation result by combining the evaluation results for each evaluation item. As an example, the evaluation unit 151 may calculate a score (total score) as an overall evaluation result by performing a predetermined calculation using the scores for each evaluation item.

[0040] The evaluation unit 151 may use a trained model that outputs an evaluation result (score) for each evaluation item in response to input voice data through machine learning. Such a trained model may be constructed, for example, by inputting training data in which various speech patterns are associated with scores for each evaluation item into a learner and allowing the learner to train the data.

[0041] Step S104: The evaluation unit 151 stores the evaluation result information indicating the evaluation result obtained in step S102 so as to add it to the evaluation result history information in the evaluatee information of the corresponding evaluatee stored in the evaluatee information storage unit.

[0042] Step S106: The evaluation result output unit 152 determines whether the environment (usage environment) in which the evaluation device 100 is used for evaluation is the medical institution 21 or the environment outside the medical institution 11. The evaluation result output unit 152 may determine whether the usage environment is the medical institution 21 or the environment outside the medical institution 11 depending on whether the usage environment information stored in the usage environment information storage unit 163 indicates the medical institution 21 or the environment outside the medical institution 11.

[0043] Step S108: If it is determined in step S106 that the usage environment is a medical institution 21, the evaluation result output unit 152 outputs the detailed evaluation result as the evaluation result of this step S102. That is, the evaluation result output unit 152 outputs the evaluation result including the score for each item obtained by the evaluation in step S102 to be displayed on the display unit 103.

[0044] Step S110: If step S106 determines that the usage environment is an environment outside a medical institution 11, the evaluation result output unit 152 outputs, as the evaluation result of this step S102, a simplified evaluation result that presents an overall score without presenting scores for each item, for example, to be displayed on the display unit 103.

[0045] Step S112: After the evaluation result is output in step S108 or step S110, the evaluation result output unit 152 determines the medical institution server 200 to which the evaluation result is to be sent.

[0046] When the evaluation result information is provided to the medical institution 21 closest to the address of the person being evaluated, the evaluation result output unit 152 identifies the location closest to the address indicated in the basic information of the person being evaluated (FIG. 3) in the person being evaluated from among the locations of the medical institutions indicated in the corresponding medical institution information for each medical institution server information (FIG. 6). In identifying such a location, the evaluation result output unit 152 may use, for example, map information provided over a network or stored in the storage unit 106. The evaluation result output unit 152 determines the medical institution server 200 associated with the medical institution information including the identified location as the transmission destination.

[0047] Furthermore, if the evaluation result information is to be provided to the medical institution 21 that can provide an appropriate treatment corresponding to the evaluation result, the evaluation result output unit 152 identifies the medical institution information ( FIG. 6 ) whose stored corresponding treatment method matches the evaluation result obtained in step S102. The evaluation result output unit 152 determines the medical institution server 200 associated with the identified medical institution information as the transmission destination.

[0048] Step S114: The evaluation result output unit 152 transmits evaluation result information indicating the current evaluation result of step S102 to the medical institution server 200 determined in step S112. When transmitting the evaluation result information to the medical institution server 200, the evaluation result output unit 152 specifies the network address associated with the medical institution server 200 determined in step S112 as the transmission destination. The evaluation result information transmitted to the medical institution server 200 is the evaluation result information stored in step S104 to be added to the evaluation result history information, and may have a structure similar to that shown in FIG. 4, for example.

[0049] The evaluation device 100 may perform the evaluation using information related to the living body, such as the person being evaluated's gaze (an example of biological information), in addition to the person being evaluated's speech. In this case, the evaluation device 100 may be equipped with a camera. When evaluating dementia, the evaluator captures an image of the person being evaluated's eyes using the camera of the evaluation device 100. The evaluation device 100 recognizes the gaze of the captured image of the eyes and extracts features corresponding to the recognized gaze. The evaluation device may perform an evaluation of dementia based on the features extracted from the speech and the features extracted from the gaze. By performing the evaluation using information other than the speech in this way, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the evaluation results.

[0050] In addition, in the medical collaboration system of this embodiment, for example, a behavioral history indicating the behavior of the person being evaluated in their daily life may be acquired. Specifically, for example, a camera or a load sensor may be installed on the floor, bedroom, or bed of the person being evaluated, and the behavioral history information server may store the sensor information obtained by the sensor. Furthermore, the behavioral history server may store the operation history of home appliances, lighting, etc. as behavioral history information. Furthermore, the behavioral history may be stored in a wearable device worn directly by the person being evaluated. For example, the evaluation device 100 may acquire the behavioral history information of the person being evaluated stored in the behavioral history server as described above via a network, and use the acquired behavioral history information to perform the evaluation.

[0051] Note that, for example, some of the components of the evaluation device 100 in FIG. 2 may be provided in another device, such as a cloud server. Then, the evaluation device 100 and the cloud server may communicate with each other via a network to achieve functions equivalent to those of the evaluation device 100 in the above-described embodiment. Specifically, for example, the evaluation device 100 may function as a thin client that transmits audio data collected by a microphone 102 to a cloud server and displays display data of the evaluation result transmitted from the cloud server on a display unit 103. In this case, the cloud server may have the functions of the evaluation unit 151, the evaluation result output unit 152, and the storage unit 106. Such a cloud server performs an evaluation based on the audio data transmitted from the evaluation device 100, transmits display data indicating a detailed evaluation result or a simplified evaluation result to the evaluation device 100 depending on the usage environment of the evaluation device 100, and displays the evaluation result on the display unit 103 of the evaluation device 100. Furthermore, the cloud server determines the medical institution server 200 to which the evaluation result information is to be transmitted and transmits the evaluation result information to the determined medical institution server 200.

[0052] A program for implementing the functions of the evaluation device 100, medical institution server 200, etc. may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program may be loaded into a computer system and executed to perform the processing of the evaluation device 100, medical institution server 200, etc. Here, "loading a program recorded on a recording medium into a computer system and executing it" includes installing the program on a computer system. The term "computer system" here includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. The term "computer system" may also include multiple computers connected via a network, including communication lines such as the Internet, WAN, LAN, and dedicated lines. The term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, as well as storage devices such as hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs) built into a computer system. The recording medium storing the program may be a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM. The term "recording medium" also includes internal or external recording media accessible from a distribution server for distributing the program. The program code stored on the distribution server's recording medium may be different from the program code in a format executable by the terminal device. In other words, the format in which the program is stored on the distribution server is not important as long as it can be downloaded from the distribution server and installed in a format executable by the terminal device. The program may be divided into multiple parts, downloaded at different times, and then combined on the terminal device, or each part may be distributed by a different distribution server. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" also includes a storage medium that stores a program for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory (RAM) within a computer system that serves as a server or client when a program is transmitted over a network. The program may also be for implementing part of the functions described above.Furthermore, the above-mentioned functions may be realized in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, that is, a so-called differential file (differential program).

[0053] 10 Group of environments outside medical institutions 11 (11-1, 11-2, 11-3) Environments outside medical institutions 20 Group of medical institutions 21 (21-1, 21-2, 21-3) Medical institutions 100 (100-1, 100-2, 100-3, 100-11, 100-12, 100-13) Evaluation device 101 Communication unit 102 Microphone 103 Display unit 104 Operation unit 105 Control unit 106 Memory unit 151 Evaluation unit 152 Evaluation result output unit 161 Evaluation subject information memory unit 162 Medical institution server information memory unit 163 Usage environment information memory unit 200 (200-1, 200-2, 200-3) Medical institution server

Claims

1. A medical collaboration system that is used in a group of medical institutions or a group of environments outside of a medical institution and includes an evaluation device that evaluates the cognitive function of an individual to be evaluated, The evaluation device includes: an evaluation unit that evaluates a state of the cognitive function of the subject based on biological information including at least the speech of the subject input to the evaluation device; an evaluation result output unit that outputs an evaluation result by the evaluation unit; When the evaluation device is used in the non-medical institution environment group, the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation results to a medical institution server of a specified medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to one or more medical institutions in the medical institution group and are capable of accumulating evaluation result information, and when the evaluation device is used in the non-medical institution environment group, the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation results to the medical institution server of the medical institution where the evaluation device is used or to the medical institution server of a specified medical institution other than the medical institution where the evaluation device is used; A medical institution server of one medical institution in the group of medical institutions, Evaluation result history information including the evaluation results transmitted by the evaluation result output unit is stored, and the stored evaluation result history information can be transmitted to a medical institution server of another predetermined medical institution. Medical collaboration system.

2. A medical collaboration system that is used in a group of medical institutions or a group of environments outside of medical institutions and includes an evaluation device that evaluates the cognitive function of an individual to be evaluated, an evaluation unit that evaluates a state of the cognitive function of the subject based on biological information including at least the speech of the subject input to the evaluation device; an evaluation result output unit that outputs an evaluation result by the evaluation unit; the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation result to a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to one or more medical institutions in the group of medical institutions and that are capable of storing evaluation result information; When the evaluation device is used in the environment group outside the medical institution, evaluation result information including the evaluation result and the information of the person to be evaluated is transmitted to a medical institution server selected based on the information of the corresponding person to be evaluated. Medical collaboration system.

3. A medical collaboration system that is used in a group of medical institutions or a group of environments outside of medical institutions and that includes an evaluation device that evaluates the cognitive function of an individual to be evaluated, an evaluation unit that evaluates a state of the cognitive function of the subject based on biological information including at least the speech of the subject input to the evaluation device; an evaluation result output unit that outputs an evaluation result by the evaluation unit; the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation result to a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to one or more medical institutions in the group of medical institutions and that are capable of storing evaluation result information; When the evaluation device is used in the environment group outside the medical institution, the evaluation result information including the evaluation result and the information of the person to be evaluated is transmitted to a medical institution server corresponding to an address indicated by the information of the person to be evaluated included in the evaluation result information. Medical collaboration system.

4. A medical collaboration system that is used in a group of medical institutions or a group of environments outside of medical institutions and includes an evaluation device that evaluates the cognitive function of an individual to be evaluated, an evaluation unit that evaluates a state of the cognitive function of the subject based on biological information including at least the speech of the subject input to the evaluation device; an evaluation result output unit that outputs an evaluation result by the evaluation unit; the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation result to a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to one or more medical institutions in the group of medical institutions and that are capable of storing evaluation result information; When the evaluation device is used in the environment group outside the medical institution, evaluation result information including the evaluation result and information of the person to be evaluated is transmitted to a medical institution server of the medical institution corresponding to the evaluation result of the evaluation result information. Medical collaboration system.

5. The evaluation result output unit outputs an evaluation result including a presentation of an evaluation result for each predetermined item when the evaluation device is used in the group of medical institutions, and outputs a comprehensive evaluation result derived based on the evaluation result for each item when the evaluation device is used in the group of environments outside the medical institution. The medical collaboration system according to claim 1 .

6. The evaluation result output unit determines whether the environment in which the evaluation device is used is the group of medical institutions or the group of environments outside the medical institution, and outputs an evaluation result according to the determined environment. The medical collaboration system according to claim 5.

7. The evaluation unit evaluates a state of the cognitive function of the subject based on a feature extracted from a frequency characteristic of an uttered voice included in the biological information. The medical collaboration system according to claim 1 .

8. The biometric information further includes a gaze recognized about the subject to be evaluated. The medical collaboration system according to claim 1 .

9. The bio-related information further includes the behavioral history of the person to be evaluated in daily life. The medical collaboration system according to claim 1 .

10. A medical collaboration method in a medical collaboration system equipped with an evaluation device used in a group of medical institutions or a group of environments outside a medical institution to evaluate the cognitive function of an assessee, The evaluation device includes: An evaluation step in which an evaluation unit evaluates a state of the cognitive function of the subject based on biological information including at least the speech of the subject input to the evaluation device; an evaluation result output step in which an evaluation result output unit outputs the evaluation result obtained by the evaluation step; The evaluation result output step, when the evaluation device is used in the non-medical institution environment group, transmits the evaluation result to a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution among medical institution servers that are provided corresponding to one or more medical institutions in the medical institution group and are capable of accumulating evaluation result information, and when the evaluation device is used in the non-medical institution environment group, transmits the evaluation result to a medical institution server of the medical institution in which the evaluation device is used or a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution other than the medical institution in which the evaluation device is used; A medical institution server of one medical institution in the group of medical institutions, a storage step of storing evaluation result history information including the evaluation result transmitted by the evaluation result output step by a storage unit; and a transmission step in which the transmission unit can transmit the predetermined evaluation result history information accumulated by the accumulation step to a medical institution server of another predetermined medical institution. Medical coordination methods.

11. A medical cooperation system including an evaluation device used in a group of medical institutions or a group of environments outside a medical institution to evaluate the cognitive function of an individual to be evaluated, and a medical institution server provided corresponding to one or more medical institutions in the group of medical institutions, the medical cooperation system including a first program for causing a first computer to function as the evaluation device, and a second program for causing a second computer to function as the medical institution server, The first program causes the first computer to an evaluation unit that evaluates a state of the cognitive function of the subject based on biological information including at least the speech of the subject input to the evaluation device; functioning as an evaluation result output unit that outputs the evaluation result by the evaluation unit; the evaluation result output unit transmits the evaluation results to a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution among the medical institution servers in the medical institution group when the evaluation device is used in the non-medical institution environment group, and transmits the evaluation results to a medical institution server of the medical institution in which the evaluation device is used or a medical institution server of a predetermined medical institution other than the medical institution in which the evaluation device is used when the evaluation device is used in the non-medical institution environment group; The second program causes the second computer to a storage unit that stores evaluation result history information including the evaluation results transmitted by the evaluation result output unit; The storage unit functions as a transmission unit capable of transmitting predetermined evaluation result history information stored by the storage unit to a medical institution server of another predetermined medical institution. program.