Treatment assistance device, treatment assistance program, and treatment assistance system

Abstract

The present invention executes a process based on cognitive behavior therapy for chronic diseases by means of a treatment assistance application installed on a patient terminal 1 for use by a patient. As a functional configuration for executing the process, a treatment assistance device comprises: a provocation content presentation unit 111 for presenting, to the patient and on the patient terminal 1, a content that provokes a symptom or a negative feeling; a reaction information acquisition unit 112 for acquiring information indicating a reaction from the patient during or after the presentation of the provocation content, through an input operation by the patient to the patient terminal 1 or a detection process by the treatment assistance application; and an intervention process determination unit 113 for determining, on the basis of the acquired reaction information, a treatment intervention process to be executed. As a result, the need for using a VR / AR projection device as a means for presenting the provocation content is eliminated, and the need for using an electroencephalograph or a specialized medial apparatus as a means for acquiring the reaction information from the patient with respect to the presentation of the provocation content is also eliminated.

Description

Treatment support device, treatment support program, and treatment support system

[0001] The present invention relates to a treatment support device, a treatment support program, and a treatment support system, and is particularly suitable for use in technology for supporting the implementation of cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic diseases.

[0002] Among chronic illnesses that require long-term treatment, there are several, both mental and physical, for which the non-pharmacological therapy of cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be effective.Cognitive behavioral therapy is a method of gradually treating illness by influencing the patient's perceptions and behaviors toward things and changing their daily behavior.

[0003] For example, the pathological mechanisms underlying chronic illnesses such as dizziness, social anxiety disorder, depression, and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) are such that the appearance of symptoms causes anxiety and fear, and these negative thoughts and emotions lead to hypersensitivity to symptoms and restrictions on daily activities, which, over the course of a long period of time, make the person even more sensitive to the symptoms, creating a vicious cycle.

[0004] Among these chronic diseases, certain situations can trigger the onset of symptoms. Therefore, patients with this type of chronic disease exhibit avoidance behaviors that excessively try to avoid situations that trigger the onset of symptoms. As a result, this creates a vicious cycle that interferes with daily life and induces further hypersensitivity reactions to symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy works to address these cognitive and behavioral distortions, thereby eliminating the vicious cycle and leading to treatment of the disease.

[0005] Conventionally, a programmed medical device that provides this type of cognitive behavioral therapy via a smartphone app is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Also known are a system that provides cognitive behavioral therapy using a medical device connected to an electroencephalogram recorder (see, for example, Patent Document 2), and a system that provides cognitive behavioral therapy using a VR / AR device (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

[0006] The system described in Patent Document 2 selects challenges that are thought to induce symptoms of a patient's stress disorder, exposes the patient to them, and records the electrical signals generated by the patient's brain in response to the exposure.The system then processes the recorded electrical signals to estimate activity levels in specific brain regions, provides an indicator of the estimated activity levels to the patient, and modifies the content of the challenges as needed.By repeating this series of processes, training is carried out for patients diagnosed with PTSD.

[0007] In the system described in Patent Literature 3, content related to facing fears or causing anxiety is presented to the user by a VR / AR projection device, and while the treatment program is being carried out, a UI device or a sensor inputs user status, physical behavior or task performance, detected symptoms (e.g., level of strenuous activity, fear, stress, calmness), subjective data characterizing the user, etc. Then, user-activated content is presented by the VR / AR projection device in accordance with the input data to guide and encourage the user to continue the treatment program.

[0008] Special Table No. 2023-546942 Publication Special Table No. 2022-513440 Publication Special Publication No. 2022-540641

[0009] The system described in Patent Document 2 requires measuring electrical signals in specific brain regions using electrodes attached to the patient's head. Therefore, training cannot be conducted at home, as is the patient's daily routine, and the patient must visit a medical institution equipped with an electroencephalogram recorder and specialized medical equipment to receive training. However, there is a problem in that training conducted only a few times a month is not sufficient to provide effective cognitive behavioral therapy.

[0010] The system described in Patent Document 3 presents virtual content to the user using VR or AR. While it is possible to provide treatment at home, this requires a VR / AR projection device to be prepared at home and the user to wear the VR / AR projection device each time treatment is administered. This presents certain environmental and psychological hurdles to starting and continuing treatment.

[0011] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and aims to provide an environment in which cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic diseases can be easily implemented.

[0012] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention executes a process based on cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic diseases using a treatment support program installed on a patient terminal that the patient uses daily. As a functional configuration for executing the process, the present invention includes: an eliciting content presenting unit that presents content on the patient terminal that elicits symptoms or negative emotions in the patient; a reaction information acquiring unit that acquires information indicating the patient's reaction through an input operation by the patient on the patient terminal or a detection process by the treatment support program during or after the presentation of the content; and an intervention process determining unit that determines a treatment intervention to be performed based on the acquired reaction information.

[0013] According to the present invention configured as described above, there is no need to use a VR / AR projection device as a means for presenting content that evokes symptoms or negative emotions to a patient, and there is no need to use an electroencephalogram (EEG) recorder or specialized medical equipment as a means for acquiring information on the patient's reaction to the presented content. In other words, a patient terminal with a treatment assistance program installed can execute a series of cognitive behavioral therapy processes, including presenting content, acquiring reaction information, and determining therapeutic intervention. This eliminates the need for a VR / AR projection device or visiting a medical institution to receive treatment. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide patients with an environment in which cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic diseases can be easily implemented by lowering the environmental and psychological hurdles for starting and continuing treatment.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a treatment support system to which a treatment support device according to this embodiment is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a patient terminal according to this embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a treatment support device implemented in a patient terminal of this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of trigger content presented to a patient suffering from vertigo. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for reaction information displayed by a reaction information acquisition unit of this embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a treatment support device implemented in a patient terminal of this embodiment. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of a treatment support device implemented in a patient terminal of this embodiment.

[0015] An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a treatment support system to which a treatment support device according to this embodiment is applied. As shown in Fig. 1, the treatment support system according to this embodiment is configured to include a patient terminal 1 that is used daily by a patient with a chronic disease, and a server device 2 that is connected to the patient terminal 1 via a communication network 100 such as the Internet or a mobile phone network.

[0016] The patient terminal 1 is configured by a terminal that is used on a daily basis, such as a personal computer, a tablet, a smartphone, etc. A terminal that is used on a daily basis means a terminal that is normally used in daily life, and does not necessarily have to be used every day.

[0017] An application program for treatment support (corresponding to a treatment support program in the claims, hereinafter referred to as a treatment support app) is installed in the patient terminal 1. The treatment support device of this embodiment is a device implemented in the patient terminal 1 by the treatment support app installed in the patient terminal 1, and executes processing based on cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic diseases.

[0018] To use the treatment support app, the patient receives a diagnosis from a doctor, downloads the treatment support app from the server device 2 according to the doctor's prescription, and installs it on the patient terminal 1. For example, a doctor may prescribe different types of treatment support apps depending on the type of chronic disease, such as dizziness, social anxiety disorder, depression, or PTSD, and the patient installs and uses the type of treatment support app corresponding to the type of chronic disease on the patient terminal 1. Each type of treatment support app executes processing according to the type of chronic disease. Processing according to the type of chronic disease means that the triggering content presented to the patient, the method of acquiring information on the patient's reaction to the triggering content, and the method of therapeutic intervention based on the reaction information differ depending on the type of chronic disease. This will be described in detail later.

[0019] 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the patient terminal 1 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the patient terminal 1 includes, as its hardware configuration, a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, an input unit 13, a display unit 14, an audio output unit 15, and a communication unit 16.

[0020] The control unit 11 is configured by, for example, a microcomputer equipped with a CPU, RAM, and ROM, and operates in accordance with an operating system and a treatment support application stored in the storage unit 12, and executes information processing using various data stored in the storage unit 12. In addition to the microcomputer, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) or the like may be provided.

[0021] The storage unit 12 is configured with a computer-readable storage medium. For example, the storage unit 12 is configured to include a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, or a semiconductor memory. The storage unit 12 stores various programs executed by the control unit 11. The various programs include a treatment support application program.

[0022] The storage unit 12 also stores various data including data used in the processing of the control unit 11 and data generated during the processing. The various data include data on trigger content to be presented to the patient, data on an input screen used to acquire reaction information from the patient regarding the trigger content, data on a notification screen used to notify the patient of a future therapeutic intervention method based on the reaction information, etc. Note that these data may be stored in the server device 2, and the therapeutic support app may acquire and use the necessary data from the server device 2 when executing processing by the therapeutic support app.

[0023] The input unit 13 is configured with, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, or a touch panel, and supplies data according to user operation input to the control unit 11. The display unit 14 is configured with, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays information according to instructions input from the control unit 11. The audio output unit 15 is configured with a speaker and outputs audio according to instructions input from the control unit 11. The communication unit 16 is configured with a communication module that exchanges data with the server device 2 via the communication network 100, and communicates with the server device 2 according to instructions input from the control unit 11.

[0024] 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a treatment support device implemented in the patient terminal 1 of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the patient terminal 1 of this embodiment includes, as its functional configuration, a triggering content presenting unit 111, a reaction information acquiring unit 112, an intervention process determining unit 113, and a message presenting unit 114. The processing of these functional blocks 11 to 14 is executed by the operation of a program including a treatment support app stored in the storage unit 12 under the control of the control unit 11 shown in Fig. 2.

[0025] The trigger content presenting unit 111 presents content (trigger content) that triggers symptoms or negative emotions in the patient on the patient terminal 1. Here, the trigger content presenting unit 111 presents the trigger content from the time the patient performs an operation to start presentation on the input unit 13 until the patient performs an operation to end presentation.

[0026] The triggering content to be presented is at least one of video content, still image content, audio content, and text content that depicts a situation that provokes symptoms or negative emotions in the patient. When the triggering content includes video content, still image content, or text content, the triggering content presenting unit 111 reads the triggering content from the storage unit 12 and displays it on the display unit 14. When the triggering content includes audio content, the triggering content presenting unit 111 reads the triggering content from the storage unit 12 and outputs it to the audio output unit 15.

[0027] As described above, the triggering content presented to the patient varies depending on the type of chronic disease. For example, when the treatment support app is installed in the patient terminal 1 in accordance with a doctor's prescription, triggering content corresponding to the type of chronic disease is downloaded from the server device 2 to the patient terminal 1 together with the treatment support app and stored in the storage unit 12. The triggering content presenting unit 111 presents the triggering content stored in the storage unit 12.

[0028] 4A and 4B show examples of elicitation content presented to patients suffering from vertigo. Fig. 4A shows an example of a motion graphics video in which an image of a predetermined shape repeats a certain movement (e.g., a video in which identical patterns drawn in multiple concentric circular areas rotate around). Fig. 4B shows an example of a video taken of a location where multiple objects are densely arranged (e.g., a video taken while moving around a store's product display shelves).

[0029] If the patient's chronic illness is vertigo, the trigger content presenting unit 111 reads out the trigger content shown in FIG. 4( a) or 4(b) from the storage unit 12 and displays it on the display unit 14. Here, the trigger content presenting unit 111 may change the trigger content to be presented each time the patient issues a presentation start instruction. Alternatively, the trigger content presenting unit 111 may present the same trigger content several times in succession and then switch to present the next trigger content. Alternatively, the trigger content presenting unit 111 may repeatedly present only one of the trigger contents shown in FIG. 4( a) or 4(b) according to a doctor's prescription.

[0030] Note that Figure 4 shows an example of trigger content, and is not limited to this. For example, a video other than that shown in Figure 4(a) may be used as a motion graphics video in which images of a predetermined shape repeat a certain movement. Furthermore, a motion graphics video in which the movement is random or chaotic rather than a certain movement may also be used. Furthermore, a video other than that shown in Figure 4(b) may also be used as a video of a location where multiple objects are crowded together. Any other video that may potentially induce dizziness may also be used. Furthermore, the content is not limited to a video, and may be any of still images, text, audio, or a combination of these.

[0031] Furthermore, if the patient's chronic illness is social anxiety disorder, the trigger content presentation unit 111 presents, for example, video content related to places where people gather, video content related to situations that attract attention from others, etc. Furthermore, if the patient's chronic illness is PTSD, the trigger content presentation unit 111 presents, for example, content related to situations similar to traumatic events (traumatic events) that the patient has experienced. Furthermore, if the patient's chronic illness is depression, the trigger content presentation unit 111 presents, for example, content related to situations that cause the patient to feel mental or physical stress.

[0032] The reaction information acquisition unit 112 acquires information indicating the patient's reaction to the presentation of the triggering content through input operations by the patient on the input unit 13 of the patient terminal 1 or detection processing by the treatment support app during or after the presentation of the triggering content by the triggering content presentation unit 111.

[0033] For example, immediately after the triggering content presentation unit 111 finishes presenting the triggering content, the reaction information acquisition unit 112 reads data of the input screen for reaction information from the storage unit 12, displays it on the display unit 14, and acquires reaction information that the patient inputs to the input screen by operating the input unit 13 of the patient terminal 1. The acquired reaction information in this case is subjective information about at least one of the symptoms and emotions that appeared in the patient who was presented with the triggering content.

[0034] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a reaction information input screen displayed by the reaction information acquisition unit 112. Here, an example of the input screen displayed when the type of chronic disease is vertigo is shown. In the input screen shown in FIG. 5, the patient inputs a value from 0 to 100 according to the subjective degree of the dizziness symptoms that occurred as a result of receiving the triggering content. The patient also inputs a value from 0 to 100 according to the subjective degree of the fear and anxiety that occurred as a result of receiving the triggering content.

[0035] As an example of acquiring reaction information through a detection process by the treatment support app, the reaction information acquiring unit 112 acquires the presentation time of the triggering content from when the patient performs an operation to instruct the patient to start presentation to when the patient performs an operation to instruct the patient to stop presentation. That is, the reaction information acquiring unit 112 starts a timing operation when the patient performs an operation to instruct the patient to start presentation and ends the timing operation when the patient performs an operation to instruct the patient to stop presentation, thereby acquiring the presentation time of the triggering content. It is estimated that the longer the presentation time, the smaller the negative impact of the triggering content on the patient.

[0036] The reaction information acquisition unit 112 may acquire, as reaction information, either the presentation time of the triggering content or subjective information about at least one of the symptoms and emotions that appear, or may acquire both.

[0037] The intervention procedure determination unit 113 determines the therapeutic intervention procedure to be performed subsequently based on the reaction information acquired by the reaction information acquisition unit 112. For example, the intervention procedure determination unit 113 determines the degree of symptom improvement based on the reaction information acquired by the reaction information acquisition unit 112, and determines the therapeutic intervention procedure to be performed according to the determination result. The degree of symptom improvement can be determined, for example, by a method of making a determination from numerical values ​​acquired as reaction information, or a method of calculating a score using a predetermined function based on numerical values ​​acquired as reaction information and making a determination from the score.

[0038] For example, when a plurality of subjective information values ​​representing the degree of present symptoms and present emotions are acquired as reaction information through the input screen illustrated in Fig. 5, the intervention process determination unit 113 calculates a score from these values ​​using a predetermined function and determines the degree of symptom improvement based on the score. In this case, the function is a function in which the smaller the value of the subjective information, the larger the score, and it is determined that the larger the score, the greater the degree of symptom improvement.

[0039] Furthermore, when only one type of subjective information value representing the degree of either the presenting symptom or the presenting emotion is acquired as reaction information, or when only the presentation time of the triggering content is acquired as reaction information, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines the degree of symptom improvement based on the value of the one type of subjective information or the length of the presentation time. In this case, the smaller the value of the subjective information, the higher the degree of symptom improvement is determined to be, and the longer the presentation time, the higher the degree of symptom improvement is determined to be.

[0040] Furthermore, when both the subjective information and the presentation time of the triggering content are acquired as reaction information, the intervention process determination unit 113 calculates a score from these values ​​using a predetermined function and determines the degree of symptom improvement based on the score. In this case, the function is a function in which the score increases as the value of the subjective information decreases and the presentation time increases, and it is determined that the greater the score, the greater the degree of symptom improvement.

[0041] The intervention processing decision unit 113 further determines whether the degree of symptom improvement determined as described above is above a predetermined level, and decides whether to perform therapeutic intervention processing if the degree is above the predetermined level, or whether to perform therapeutic intervention processing if the degree is below the predetermined level.

[0042] For example, when only one type of subjective information value is acquired as reaction information, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines that the degree of symptom improvement is at or above a predetermined level if the value is less than a predetermined value. Also, when only the presentation time of the triggering content is acquired as reaction information, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines that the degree of symptom improvement is at or above a predetermined level if the presentation time is at or above a predetermined value.

[0043] Furthermore, when multiple values ​​of subjective information are acquired as reaction information, or when both the subjective information and the presentation time of the triggering content are acquired as reaction information, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines that the degree of symptom improvement is at or above a predetermined level if the score calculated using a predetermined function is at or above a predetermined value. Note that the degree of symptom improvement may also be determined to be at or above a predetermined level if the score calculated from the multiple values ​​of subjective information is at or above a predetermined value (or the value of one type of subjective information is less than a predetermined value) and the presentation time of the triggering content is at or above a predetermined value.

[0044] If the intervention process determination unit 113 determines that the degree of symptom improvement is less than a predetermined level, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines to continue the therapeutic intervention process by presenting the triggering content. That is, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines to re-execute the processes of the triggering content presenting unit 111, the reaction information acquiring unit 112, and the intervention process determination unit 113.

[0045] In response to this determination, the message presenting unit 114 notifies the patient of the content of the determination made by the intervention procedure determining unit 113 by displaying it as a message on the display unit 14. For example, a message such as "Don't rush, continue your treatment" is displayed on the display unit 14. The patient who receives this message can continue the treatment by operating the input unit 13 to instruct the start of presentation of the triggering content at any later timing.

[0046] On the other hand, when the intervention procedure determination unit 113 determines that the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than a predetermined level, it determines to terminate the therapeutic intervention procedure. That is, the intervention procedure determination unit 113 determines to terminate the processing of the triggering content presentation unit 111, the reaction information acquisition unit 112, and the intervention procedure determination unit 113. In response to this determination, the message presentation unit 114 notifies the patient of the content of the determination made by the intervention procedure determination unit 113 by displaying a message on the display unit 14. For example, a message such as "Try expanding your range of activity" is displayed on the display unit 14.

[0047] If it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than a predetermined level, the intervention process may be transitioned to a therapeutic intervention process performed through actual behavior. In this case, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines to omit the process of the triggering content presentation unit 111 and to execute the processes of the reaction information acquisition unit 112 and the intervention process determination unit 113.

[0048] When such a therapeutic intervention process is determined, the message presenting unit 114 displays a message on the display unit 14 to encourage the patient to actually experience a situation similar to the situation presented by the triggering content. For example, when the video of a product display shelf shown in Fig. 4(b) is presented, the message presenting unit 114 displays a message such as "Let's actually go to a supermarket" on the display unit 14.

[0049] The patient who receives this message may then go to a supermarket at a later time of their choosing and look at the product shelves. Then, while at the supermarket or after leaving the supermarket, the patient inputs a subjective information value for at least one of the symptoms and emotions that the patient experienced as a result of the experience of looking at the product shelves through an input operation on the input unit 13 via an input screen similar to that shown in Figure 5. The reaction information acquisition unit 112 acquires the subjective information value thus input as reaction information for the patient's experience.

[0050] Based on the response information thus acquired, the intervention process determination unit 113 again determines whether the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than a predetermined level, and determines whether to perform therapeutic intervention when the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than the predetermined level, or whether to perform therapeutic intervention when the degree of symptom improvement is less than the predetermined level. The threshold used for the level determination here may be different from the threshold used for determining the level at the stage where therapeutic intervention is being performed through the presentation of triggering content. For example, the threshold used at the stage where triggering content is presented may be a first predetermined level, and the threshold used at the stage where actual behavior is performed may be a second predetermined level, with the first predetermined level being lower than the second predetermined level.

[0051] Here, if it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is below a predetermined level, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines to continue the therapeutic intervention process performed through actual behavior, for example. Note that if it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement through actual behavior is worse than the degree of symptom improvement due to the presentation of triggering content (if it is determined that the degree is below a first predetermined level), it may determine to return to the therapeutic intervention process through the presentation of triggering content. On the other hand, if it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than the predetermined level, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines to terminate the therapeutic intervention process.

[0052] 6A and 6B are flowcharts illustrating an example of the operation of the treatment support device implemented in the patient terminal 1 of this embodiment configured as described above. First, the triggering content presenting unit 111 determines whether the patient has operated the input unit 13 to instruct the patient to start presenting the triggering content (step S1). If it is determined that the patient has operated the triggering content presenting unit 111, the triggering content presenting unit 111 starts presenting the triggering content (step S2). Furthermore, the reaction information acquiring unit 112 starts a timing operation (step S3).

[0053] Thereafter, the triggering content presenting unit 111 determines whether the patient has performed an operation to instruct the input unit 13 to end the presentation of the triggering content (step S4). If it is determined that the patient has performed an operation to instruct the patient to end the presentation, the triggering content presenting unit 111 ends the presentation of the triggering content (step S5). The reaction information acquiring unit 112 stops the timing operation (step S6) and acquires, as the patient's reaction information, the presentation time of the triggering content from the operation to instruct the patient to end the presentation (step S7).

[0054] Next, the reaction information acquisition unit 112 reads out data of the reaction information input screen from the storage unit 12 and displays it on the display unit 14 (step S8), and determines whether information has been input to the input screen (step S9). If it is determined that information about symptoms and emotions has been input to the input screen, the reaction information acquisition unit 112 acquires subjective information about the input symptoms and emotions as reaction information (step S10).

[0055] Next, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines the degree of symptom improvement by calculating a score based on a predetermined function, based on the presentation time of the triggering content acquired in step S7 and the patient's subjective information acquired in step S10 (step S11). Furthermore, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines whether the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than a predetermined level, based on the calculated score (step S12).

[0056] If it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is below a predetermined level, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines to continue the therapeutic intervention process by presenting the triggering content (step S13). In response to this determination, the message presentation unit 114 notifies the patient of the determination made by the intervention process determination unit 113 by displaying a message such as "Take your time and continue the treatment" on the display unit 14 (step S14). Thereafter, the process returns to step S1.

[0057] On the other hand, if it is determined in step S12 that the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than the predetermined level, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines to transition to therapeutic intervention process through actual behavior (step S15 in FIG. 6B ). In response to this, the message presentation unit 114 displays on the display unit 14 a message urging the patient to actually experience a situation similar to the situation presented by the triggering content (step S16).

[0058] Thereafter, the reaction information acquiring unit 112 determines whether or not the patient has operated the input unit 13 to instruct the display of a reaction information input screen (step S17). If it is determined that the display instruction operation has been performed, the reaction information acquiring unit 112 reads data of the reaction information input screen from the storage unit 12 and displays it on the display unit 14 (step S18), and determines whether or not information has been input to the input screen (step S19). If it is determined that information about symptoms and emotions has been input to the input screen, the reaction information acquiring unit 112 acquires the input subjective information about the symptoms and emotions as reaction information (step S20).

[0059] Next, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines the degree of symptom improvement by calculating a score based on a predetermined function based on the patient's subjective information acquired in step S20 (step S21).The intervention process determination unit 113 further determines whether the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than a predetermined level based on the calculated score (step S22).

[0060] If it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is below the predetermined level, the intervention process determination unit 113 determines to continue the therapeutic intervention process through actual behavior (step S23). Thereafter, the process returns to step S16.

[0061] On the other hand, if it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than the predetermined level, the intervention process determiner 113 determines to terminate the therapeutic intervention process (step S24). In response, the message presenter 114 notifies the patient of the determination made by the intervention process determiner 113 by displaying a message such as "Try expanding your range of activities" on the display unit 14 (step S25). This terminates the process of the flowcharts shown in Figures 6A and 6B.

[0062] 6A and 6B are merely examples, and are not intended to be limiting. For example, steps S15 to S23 may be omitted, and the process may proceed from step S12 to step S24. Alternatively, in step S22, it may be determined whether the degree of symptom improvement is less than the first predetermined level or less than the second predetermined level (first predetermined level<second predetermined level), and if it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than the first predetermined level but less than the second predetermined level, the process may return to step S16 after step S23, or if it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is less than the first predetermined level, the process may return to step S13.

[0063] As described above in detail, in this embodiment, a process based on cognitive behavioral therapy for a chronic disease is executed by a treatment support app installed in the patient terminal 1 that the patient uses daily. As functional components for executing this process, the patient terminal 1 of this embodiment includes a triggering content presenting unit 111, a reaction information acquiring unit 112, and an intervention process determining unit 113.

[0064] According to this embodiment, there is no need to use a VR / AR projection device as a means for presenting content that evokes symptoms or negative emotions to the patient, and there is no need to use an electroencephalogram (EEG) recorder or specialized medical equipment as a means for acquiring information on the patient's reaction to the presentation of the triggering content. In other words, with the patient terminal 1 installed with the treatment support app, it is possible to execute a series of cognitive behavioral therapy processes, including presenting triggering content, acquiring reaction information, and determining therapeutic intervention. This eliminates the need for a VR / AR projection device or visiting a medical institution or other facility to receive treatment. Therefore, this embodiment can provide patients with an environment in which cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic diseases can be easily implemented by lowering the environmental and psychological hurdles for starting and continuing treatment.

[0065] In the above embodiment, the patient's reaction information to the presentation of the triggering content includes the duration of the triggering content detected by the treatment support app and subjective information input by the patient regarding at least one of the symptoms and emotions experienced by the patient, but is not limited to this. For example, the reaction information acquiring unit 112 may acquire information indicating the execution status of a given task to be performed by the patient along with viewing the triggering content, or information indicating a state experienced by the patient as a result of the execution of the task.

[0066] In this case, the triggering content presenting unit 111 displays on the display unit 14, before or during the presentation of the triggering content, the content of the task to be performed by the patient while viewing the triggering content. Instead of or in addition to displaying on the display unit 14, a guidance voice may be output to the audio output unit 15. In response to this, the patient performs the instructed task while viewing the triggering content. For example, the task may be a task of touching a product image while viewing video content on a product display shelf for a patient with vertigo, or a task of speaking while viewing video content in a situation where the patient is attracting attention from others for a patient with social anxiety disorder.

[0067] The reaction information acquisition unit 112 can acquire information about the task execution status detected by the treatment assistance app as the patient's reaction information to the task execution. For example, it can detect whether the patient was able to accurately touch product images at designated positions multiple times while video content of a product display shelf was being presented, and acquire the detection information as the patient's reaction information. Alternatively, it can acquire, as the patient's reaction information, the duration of the patient's speech while video content of a situation attracting attention from others was being presented, the volume (sound intensity) of the speech, the degree of fear or anxiety detected by analyzing the acoustic features of the speech, and the like.

[0068] In addition, the reaction information acquisition unit 112 may acquire, as the patient's reaction information to the task execution as described above, subjective information input by the patient regarding at least one of the symptoms and emotions that appear in the patient as a result of the task execution.

[0069] As another example of the patient's reaction information to the presentation of the triggering content, the degree of fear or anxiety detected by analyzing facial expressions, complexion, blood flow, etc. using a facial image of the patient captured by the camera of the patient terminal 1 during the presentation of the triggering content may be acquired as the patient's reaction information. Furthermore, biological information such as heart rate and blood pressure detected during the presentation of the triggering content by a wearable terminal or the like worn by the patient may be acquired as the patient's reaction information.

[0070] In the above embodiment, when the degree of symptom improvement reaches a predetermined level or more as a result of the therapeutic intervention process using the triggering content, the therapeutic intervention process is transitioned to a therapeutic intervention process performed through actual behavior or the therapeutic intervention process is terminated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, one or more thresholds for determining whether the degree of symptom improvement reaches a predetermined level or more may be set, and the triggering content to be presented may be changed each time the degree of symptom improvement increases by one level. Alternatively, the frequency of presentation of the triggering content may be reduced each time the degree of symptom improvement increases by one level.

[0071] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which it is determined whether one of two types of interventional treatment is performed depending on whether the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than a predetermined level, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, two or more thresholds used as the predetermined level may be set, and one of three or more types of interventional treatment may be selected and performed depending on the degree of symptom improvement.

[0072] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which the patient instructs the start of presentation of the triggering content at any timing, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, when a preset time is detected, a push notification may be sent to prompt the patient to start presentation of the triggering content, and the patient may receive the notification and instruct the patient to start presentation of the triggering content.

[0073] In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which all of the processes of the triggering content presenting unit 111, the reaction information acquiring unit 112, the intervention process determining unit 113, and the message presenting unit 114 are executed independently by the patient terminal 1, but some of the processes may be executed by the server device 2. For example, data of the triggering content may be stored in the server device 2, and the triggering content presenting unit 111 may acquire the data of the triggering content from the server device 2 and present it.

[0074] Furthermore, the reaction information acquired by the reaction information acquisition unit 112 may be transmitted from the patient terminal 1 to the server device 2, and the therapeutic intervention may be determined by the intervention procedure determination unit 113 included in the server device 2. In this case, the patient's reaction information acquired by the server device 2 from the patient terminal 1, information indicating the content of the therapeutic intervention procedure determined by the server device 2, and the like may be provided from the server device 2 to a medical institution terminal (not shown) used by a doctor.

[0075] Furthermore, the above-described embodiments are merely examples of specific embodiments for carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereby. In other words, the present invention can be carried out in various forms without departing from the gist or main characteristics thereof.

[0076] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 patient terminal 2 server device 11 control unit 12 storage unit 13 input unit 14 display unit 15 audio output unit 16 communication unit 111 triggering content presentation unit 112 reaction information acquisition unit 113 intervention process determination unit 114 message presentation unit

Claims

1. A treatment support device that executes processing based on cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic diseases using a treatment support program installed on a patient terminal that the patient uses on a daily basis, comprising: a trigger content presentation unit that presents trigger content that triggers symptoms or negative emotions in the patient on the patient terminal; a reaction information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the patient's reaction to the presentation of the trigger content through an input operation by the patient on the patient terminal or a detection process by the treatment support program during or after the presentation of the trigger content by the trigger content presentation unit; and an intervention process determination unit that determines the treatment intervention process to be executed based on the reaction information acquired by the reaction information acquisition unit.

2. The therapeutic support device described in claim 1, characterized in that the trigger content presentation unit presents the trigger content from the time the patient performs an operation to start presentation until the patient performs an operation to end presentation, and the reaction information acquisition unit acquires the presentation time of the trigger content as the reaction information.

3. The treatment support device described in claim 1, characterized in that the reaction information acquisition unit acquires, as the reaction information, subjective information input by the patient by operating the patient terminal regarding at least one of the symptoms and emotions that appeared in the patient when the triggering content was presented.

4. The treatment support device described in claim 1, characterized in that the trigger content presentation unit presents the trigger content from the time the patient performs an operation to start presentation until the patient performs an operation to end presentation, and the reaction information acquisition unit acquires, as the reaction information, the presentation time of the trigger content and subjective information input by the patient by operating the patient terminal regarding at least one of the symptoms and emotions that appeared in the patient when the trigger content was presented.

5. The treatment support device described in claim 1, characterized in that the reaction information acquisition unit acquires, as the reaction information, information indicating the execution status of a given task to be performed by the patient along with viewing the triggering content, or information indicating the state that appears in the patient as a result of the execution of the task.

6. The treatment support device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the eliciting content presentation unit presents at least one of video content, still image content, audio content, and text content that depicts a situation that elicits symptoms or negative emotions in the patient.

7. The treatment support device described in claim 1, characterized in that the intervention processing decision unit determines the degree of symptom improvement based on the reaction information acquired by the reaction information acquisition unit, and determines the treatment intervention processing to be executed based on the determination result.

8. The therapeutic support device described in claim 7, characterized in that the intervention processing decision unit decides to continue the therapeutic intervention processing by presenting the triggering content when it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is below a predetermined level.

9. The therapeutic support device described in claim 8, characterized in that, when the intervention processing decision unit determines that the degree of symptom improvement is at or above a predetermined level, it stops the therapeutic intervention processing by presenting the triggering content and decides to transition to therapeutic intervention processing performed through the patient's actual behavior.

10. The therapeutic support device of claim 6, wherein the intervention process decision unit determines the degree of symptom improvement based on the reaction information acquired by the reaction information acquisition unit, and if it determines that the degree of symptom improvement is below a predetermined level, decides to re-execute the processing of the triggering content presentation unit, the reaction information acquisition unit, and the intervention process decision unit, while if it determines that the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than the predetermined level, decides to omit the processing of the triggering content presentation unit and execute the processing of the reaction information acquisition unit and the intervention process decision unit, and in the therapeutic intervention process when it is determined that the degree of symptom improvement is equal to or greater than the predetermined level, the reaction information acquisition unit acquires, through an input operation by the patient, information indicating the reaction of a patient who actually experienced a situation similar to the situation presented by the triggering content.

11. A treatment support program that is installed on a patient terminal that a patient uses on a daily basis and that performs processing based on cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic diseases, comprising: a trigger content presentation means that presents trigger content that triggers symptoms or negative emotions in the patient on the patient terminal; a reaction information acquisition means that acquires information indicating the patient's reaction to the presentation of the trigger content through an input operation by the patient on the patient terminal or a detection process by the treatment support program during or after the presentation of the trigger content by the trigger content presentation means; and an intervention process determination means that determines the therapeutic intervention process to be performed based on the reaction information acquired by the reaction information acquisition means.

12. A treatment support system comprising: an inducement content presentation unit that presents inducement content that induces symptoms or negative emotions in a patient using a treatment support program installed on a patient terminal that the patient uses on a daily basis; a reaction information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating the patient's reaction to the presentation of the inducement content through an input operation by the patient on the patient terminal or a detection process by the treatment support program during or after the presentation of the inducement content by the inducement content presentation unit; and an intervention process determination unit that determines a treatment intervention process to be performed based on the reaction information acquired by the reaction information acquisition unit, wherein the treatment support system performs processing based on cognitive behavioral therapy for a chronic disease using the inducement content presentation unit, the reaction information acquisition unit, and the intervention process determination unit.

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