Blood flow measurement device

Abstract

Disclosed is a blood flow measurement device capable of emitting microwaves at a target blood vessel of a human body, measuring a blood flow in real time by using the microwaves reflected from the blood vessel, and adjusting, by means of a simple method, the position of the target blood vessel, which is the target of the microwaves. The disclosed blood flow measurement device comprises a probe having: a bar-shaped probe body extending in the longitudinal direction; and an antenna unit formed at one end of the probe body. The antenna unit includes: a transmission antenna for emitting microwaves at the target blood vessel in the human body; a reception antenna for receiving the microwaves transmitted from the transmission antenna and reflected by the target blood vessel; and an antenna spacing adjusting unit, which adjusts spacing between the transmission antenna and the reception antenna so as to adjust the measurement position of the blood flow to the depth of the target blood vessel for which the blood flow is to be measured.

Description

blood flow measuring device

[0001] The present invention relates to a blood flow measuring device that emits microwaves to target blood vessels of the human body and measures blood flow in real time using microwaves reflected from the blood vessels.

[0002] Microwave blood flow measurement is a non-invasive technology that uses electromagnetic waves to detect and analyze blood flow within blood vessels. This method primarily utilizes microwave sensors to measure changes within tissues and enables the monitoring of various biological signals, including blood flow.

[0003] Microwaves are high-frequency electromagnetic waves that can penetrate human tissues and are reflected or absorbed depending on the electrical properties of the tissues. Blood has high conductivity and permittivity to microwaves due to its high water and electrolyte content. By utilizing these characteristics, blood flow can be measured by analyzing changes that occur as blood flows, particularly changes in reflected signals.

[0004] The present invention aims to provide a blood flow measuring device that emits microwaves to target blood vessels in the human body and measures blood flow in real time using microwaves reflected from the blood vessels.

[0005] In addition, the present invention aims to provide a blood flow measuring device capable of adjusting the measurement location of the blood flow to the location of a target blood vessel that is the target of the microwave in a simple manner.

[0006] A blood flow measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a bar-shaped probe body formed extending in the longitudinal direction and a probe having an antenna portion formed at one end of the probe body. The antenna portion includes a transmitting antenna that emits microwaves to a target blood vessel within the human body, a receiving antenna that receives microwaves transmitted from the transmitting antenna and reflected by the target blood vessel, and an antenna spacing adjustment unit that adjusts the measurement position of the blood flow to the depth of the target blood vessel to be measured by adjusting the spacing between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna.

[0007] According to an embodiment of the present invention, microwaves can be emitted to a target blood vessel of the human body, and the amount of blood flow can be measured in real time using the microwaves reflected from the blood vessel. In addition, the measurement location of the amount of blood flow can be adjusted to the location of the target blood vessel that is the target of the microwaves in a simple manner.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a drawing showing a blood flow measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the antenna portion of a blood flow measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] FIG. 3 is a drawing showing a control unit of a blood flow measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] FIG. 4 is a drawing showing a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the attached drawings. Identical components in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions of identical components are omitted.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a drawing showing a blood flow measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] Referring to FIG. 1, a blood flow measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a probe (100), a control unit (200), and a computing unit (300).

[0015] The probe (100) emits microwaves generated by the control unit (200) into target blood vessels of the human body. Here, the target blood vessels may be the common carotid artery, which is located at the front of the patient's neck and supplies blood to the anterior part of the brain, and the vertebral artery, which is located at the back of the patient's neck and supplies blood to the posterior part of the brain.

[0016] The probe (100) may be provided as a single unit to sequentially measure the blood flow of the common carotid artery and vertebral artery of the subject, or provided as a pair to simultaneously measure the blood flow of the common carotid artery and vertebral artery of the subject. Alternatively, it may be provided as a plurality of three or more units to simultaneously measure the blood flow of three or more blood vessels of the subject.

[0017] The probe (100) includes a probe body (110) and an antenna part (120).

[0018] The probe body (110) is configured in the form of a bar extending in the longitudinal direction, an antenna part (120) is installed at one end thereof, and a cable (C) connected to a control part (200) is installed at the other end thereof.

[0019] The antenna unit (120) includes a transmitting antenna (121), a receiving antenna (122), and an antenna spacing adjustment unit (123). In the present invention, the antenna unit (120) can adjust the measurement location of the blood flow to the location of the target blood vessel that is the target of the microwave (specifically, the depth of the target blood vessel that is the subject of blood flow measurement) in a simple manner. This will be described later with reference to FIG. 2.

[0020] The control unit (200) generates microwaves and causes the generated microwaves to be emitted through the probe (100) after undergoing a process of amplification and phase modulation. Then, the control unit (200) extracts blood flow information of the common carotid artery and vertebral artery by amplifying, phase modulating, mixing processing, and filtering the microwaves reflected from the target blood vessel and received through the probe (100). This will be described later with reference to FIG. 3.

[0021] The computing unit (300) can provide information on the health status of the patient using the blood flow information of the common carotid artery and vertebral artery extracted from the control unit (200).

[0022] FIG. 2 is a drawing showing the antenna portion of a blood flow measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Referring to FIG. 2, the antenna unit (120) includes a transmitting antenna (121), a receiving antenna (122), and an antenna spacing adjustment unit (123).

[0024] The transmitting antenna (121) emits microwaves generated by the control unit (200) into target blood vessels (T1, T2) within the human body. The receiving antenna (122) receives microwaves transmitted from the transmitting antenna (121) and reflected by the target blood vessels (T1, T2).

[0025] The transmitting antenna (121) and the receiving antenna (122) are provided in the form of metal rods, and the length of the antenna (i.e., the length of the metal rod) is determined according to the frequency of the microwave generated by the control unit (200) according to the following equation (1).

[0026] Equation (1): L = c / (2*f)

[0027] Here, L is the length of the antenna, c is the speed of light, which is the speed of microwaves, and f is the frequency of the microwave to be transmitted.

[0028] In one embodiment, the frequency of the microwave may be 5.7 GHz or 24 GHz. For example, when the frequency of the microwave is 5.7 GHz, the length of the antenna may be formed to be about 2.63 cm according to Equation (1).

[0029] Also, the angle formed by the microwave emission line of the transmitting antenna (121) and the microwave reception line of the receiving antenna (122) may be any one of the range from 50° to 70°. If the angle is less than 50°, the reception sensitivity is poor, and if the angle is greater than 70°, interference may occur between the emitted microwave and the received microwave, resulting in reception errors. Preferably, as shown in FIG. 2, the angle formed by the microwave emission line of the transmitting antenna (121) and the microwave reception line of the receiving antenna (122) may be formed as 60°, and at this angle, interference between the emitted microwave and the received microwave is minimized and the reception sensitivity can be maximized.

[0030] That is, microwaves emitted from the transmitting antenna (121) can be received at maximum sensitivity by the receiving antenna (122) when the microwaves are reflected at 60° from the target blood vessel.

[0031] The antenna spacing adjustment unit (123) adjusts the spacing between the transmitting antenna (121) and the receiving antenna (122) to adjust the measurement location of the blood flow to the depth of the target blood vessel to be measured. That is, the antenna spacing adjustment unit (123) can adjust the spacing between the transmitting antenna (121) and the receiving antenna (122) according to the depth of the target blood vessel to be measured. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the antenna spacing adjustment unit (123) can adjust the spacing between the transmitting antenna (121) and the receiving antenna (122) to change the target blood vessel to be measured from a blood vessel located at a first target location (T1) to a blood vessel located at a second target location (T2).

[0032] The antenna spacing adjustment unit (123) includes a bidirectional screw (123a) and an adjustment screw (123b).

[0033] The bidirectional screw (123a), also known as a simultaneous entry screw, is a screw having a structure that moves closer to or further apart from both sides while rotating. The bidirectional screw (123a) moves axially through rotational motion to position two objects closer together or further apart simultaneously.

[0034] The bidirectional screw (123a) has screw threads formed in two directions, with one side of the screw having a clockwise thread and the other side having a counterclockwise thread. As a result, when the screw rotates, the screw threads on both sides move in opposite directions simultaneously, allowing two objects to move closer together or further apart.

[0035] One end (121a, 122a) of the transmitting antenna (121) and the receiving antenna (122) is formed to be connected to each side of the bidirectional screw (123a).

[0036] At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, the transmitting antenna (121) can be connected to the bidirectional screw (123a) at an angle of 60° toward the receiving antenna (122), and the receiving antenna (122) can be connected to the bidirectional screw (123a) at an angle of 60° toward the transmitting antenna (121). Accordingly, the angle formed by the microwave emission line of the transmitting antenna (121) and the microwave reception line of the receiving antenna (122) can be formed as 60°, and as a result, interference between the microwave emitted from the transmitting antenna (121) and the microwave received by the receiving antenna (122) is minimized, so that the reception sensitivity of the receiving antenna (122) can be maximized.

[0037] The adjustment screw (123b) is a bidirectional screw adjustment screw positioned in the center of the bidirectional screw (123a), and is designed to allow simultaneous tightening or loosening in two directions.

[0038] The antenna unit (120) configured in this way can change the target blood vessel, which is the subject of blood flow measurement, from the blood vessel at the first target location (T1) to the blood vessel at the second target location (T2) by rotating the adjustment screw (123b) in one direction, thereby causing the transmitting antenna (121) and the receiving antenna (122), which are connected to both sides of the bidirectional screw (123a), to move away from each other.

[0039] Conversely, if the adjustment screw (123b) is rotated in the other direction, the transmitting antenna (121) and the receiving antenna (122), which are connected to both sides of the bidirectional screw (123a), come close to each other, and the target blood vessel to be measured for blood flow can be changed from the blood vessel at the second target position (T2) to the blood vessel at the first target position (T1).

[0040] FIG. 3 is a drawing showing a control unit of a blood flow measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] Referring to FIG. 3, the control unit (200) includes a microwave generator (201), a transmitting amplifier (202), a transmitting phase shifter (203), a receiving amplifier (204), a receiving phase shifter (205), a first mixer (206), a second mixer (207), a first low-pass filter (208), a second low-pass filter (209), and a signal processor (210).

[0042] A microwave generator (201) generates microwaves of a desired frequency. A transmitting amplifier (202) amplifies the microwaves generated by the microwave generator (201). Since the microwaves amplified by the transmitting amplifier (202) have an inverted waveform, they are phase-modulated by a transmitting phase shifter (203) to convert them into normal signals.

[0043] The microwave converted by the transmitting phase shifter (203) is emitted to the target blood vessel through the transmitting antenna (121), and the microwave reflected from the target blood vessel is received through the receiving antenna (122). At this time, the received microwave contains a waveform of blood flow information of the target blood vessel. Also, some of the received microwave may have the same phase as the emitted microwave, and some may have the opposite phase to the emitted microwave.

[0044] The receiving amplifier (204) amplifies the received microwave. Since the microwave amplified by the receiving amplifier (204) has an inverted waveform, it is phase-modulated by the receiving phase shifter (205) to convert it into a normal signal.

[0045] The first mixer (206) mixes the microwave amplified by the transmitting amplifier (202) and the microwave amplified by the receiving amplifier (204). At this time, the transmitting microwave and the receiving microwave, which have opposite phases, are canceled out by interference, and the waveform of the blood flow information of the target blood vessel contained in the receiving microwave remains.

[0046] The second mixer (207) mixes the microwave amplified by the transmitting amplifier (202) and the microwave amplified by the receiving amplifier (204) and phase-modulated by the receiving phase shifter (205). At this time, the transmitting microwave and the receiving microwave, which have the same phase, are phase-modulated and then canceled out by interference, leaving the waveform of the blood flow information of the target blood vessel contained in the receiving microwave.

[0047] The first low-pass filter (208) passes only the desired low frequencies from the blood flow information waveform that has passed through the first mixer (206), and the second low-pass filter (209) passes only the desired low frequencies from the blood flow information waveform that has passed through the second mixer (207), thereby leaving only the blood flow information in the desired band range.

[0048] The signal processor (210) digitizes blood flow information (which is an analog signal) that has passed through the first low-pass filter (208) and the second low-pass filter (209) by selectively sampling it from 1 μs to 1 ms.

[0049] The digitized blood flow information from the signal processor (210) is input to the computing unit (300) via a separate communication means (e.g., USB).

[0050] For the above, with reference to FIG. 3, a configuration and method for a control unit (200) to emit microwaves into a blood vessel and to measure the blood flow of the blood vessel using microwaves reflected from the blood vessel have been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the control unit (200) can be implemented in various configurations that can measure the blood flow using microwaves known in the prior art.

[0051] Since the basic configuration and method for measuring blood flow using microwaves are widely known, a detailed description thereof is omitted here.

[0052] The computing unit (300) can provide information on the health status of the patient using digitized blood flow information of the common carotid artery and vertebral artery.

[0053] For example, blood ejected from the heart is supplied to the brain through the common carotid artery and the vertebral artery. In this case, the common carotid artery is located at the front of the patient's neck and supplies blood to the entire brain, while the vertebral artery is located at the back of the patient's neck and supplies blood to the posterior part of the brain.

[0054] Generally, when the blood flow of the common carotid artery and the blood flow of the vertebral artery are the same, blood is evenly supplied to the anterior and posterior parts of the brain, increasing the oxygen saturation of the cerebrum and maintaining the patient's health condition in an optimal state.

[0055] However, if the blood flow in the common carotid artery and the blood flow in the vertebral artery are different, blood supply to all parts of the brain is not smooth, which can cause headaches or reduced concentration, and in severe cases, may lead to dementia.

[0056] Therefore, the computing unit (300) can indicate that the smaller the difference between the blood flow of the common carotid artery and the blood flow of the vertebral artery, the better the health condition of the patient, and that the larger the difference between the blood flow of the common carotid artery and the blood flow of the vertebral artery, the worse the health condition of the patient.

[0057] FIG. 4 is a drawing showing a computing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0058] The computing device (TN100) of FIG. 4 may be a hardware configuration of the control unit (200) and computing unit (300) described in this specification.

[0059] In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the computing device (TN100) may include at least one processor (TN110), a transceiver (TN120), and a memory (TN130). Additionally, the computing device (TN100) may further include a storage device (TN140), an input interface device (TN150), an output interface device (TN160), etc. The components included in the computing device (TN100) may be connected by a bus (TN170) to communicate with each other.

[0060] The processor (TN110) can execute a program command stored in at least one of the memory (TN130) and the storage device (TN140). The processor (TN110) may refer to a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or a dedicated processor on which methods according to embodiments of the present invention are performed. The processor (TN110) may be configured to implement the procedures, functions, and methods described in relation to embodiments of the present invention. The processor (TN110) can control each component of the computing device (TN100).

[0061] Each of the memory (TN130) and the storage device (TN140) can store various information related to the operation of the processor (TN110). Each of the memory (TN130) and the storage device (TN140) may be composed of at least one of a volatile storage medium and a non-volatile storage medium. For example, the memory (TN130) may be composed of at least one of read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM).

[0062] The transmitting and receiving device (TN120) can transmit or receive wired or wireless signals. The transmitting and receiving device (TN120) can be connected to a network to perform communication.

[0063] Meanwhile, the present invention may be implemented as a computer program. The present invention may be implemented as a computer program stored on a computer-readable recording medium in combination with hardware.

[0064] Methods according to embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in the form of a program readable through various computer means and recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Here, the recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., either individually or in combination.

[0065] The program instructions recorded on the recording medium may be those specifically designed and configured for the present invention, or they may be those known and available to those skilled in the art of computer software.

[0066] For example, recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tapes, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs, magneto-optical media such as floptical disks, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions such as ROM, RAM, and flash memory.

[0067] Examples of program instructions may include machine language, such as that generated by a compiler, as well as high-level language that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, etc.

[0068] Such hardware devices may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operation of the present invention, and vice versa.

[0069] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above, those skilled in the art may modify and change the present invention in various ways by adding, changing, deleting, or adding components, etc., without departing from the spirit of the present invention as described in the claims, and such modifications and changes are also to be included within the scope of the rights of the present invention.

Claims

1. A probe comprising a bar-shaped probe body formed extending in the longitudinal direction and an antenna portion formed at one end of the probe body, The above antenna part is, A transmitting antenna that emits microwaves into target blood vessels within the human body, and A receiving antenna that receives microwaves transmitted from the above-mentioned transmitting antenna and reflected by the above-mentioned target blood vessel, and A blood flow measuring device characterized by including an antenna spacing adjustment unit that adjusts the measurement position of blood flow to the depth of the target blood vessel to be measured by adjusting the spacing between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna.

2. A blood flow measuring device according to claim 1, characterized in that the angle formed by the microwave emission line of the transmitting antenna and the microwave receiving line of the receiving antenna is any one of the range of 50° to 70°.

3. A blood flow measuring device according to claim 1, characterized in that the angle formed by the microwave emission line of the transmitting antenna and the microwave reception line of the receiving antenna is 60°.

4. In claim 1, the antenna spacing adjustment unit is, A bidirectional screw having a structure that gradually moves closer or further apart from both sides while rotating, and A blood flow measuring device characterized by including an adjustment screw positioned at the center of the above-mentioned bidirectional screw.

5. A blood flow measuring device according to claim 4, wherein the transmitting antenna is connected to the bidirectional screw at a 60° angle in the direction of the receiving antenna, and the receiving antenna is connected to the bidirectional screw at a 60° angle in the direction of the transmitting antenna.

6. In Claim 1, A control unit that generates microwaves emitted through the transmitting antenna and extracts blood flow information from microwaves reflected from the target blood vessel and received through the receiving antenna, and A blood flow measuring device characterized by further including a computing unit that provides information on the health status of a patient using blood flow information extracted from the control unit above.

7. In claim 1, the probe is provided as a pair, and A blood flow measuring device characterized by one of the above pair of probes measuring the total carotid artery blood flow of the subject and the other measuring the vertebral artery blood flow of the subject.

8. In claim 1, the probe is provided in a plurality of three or more, and A blood flow measuring device characterized by the above-mentioned three or more probes simultaneously measuring the blood flow of three or more blood vessels of a subject.

Images