WO2019140694A1

WO2019140694A1 - Measuring apparatus, computer implemented method, program and one or more computer readable storage mediums

Info

Publication number: WO2019140694A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/073644
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sato Shohei
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2018-01-22
Filing date: 2018-01-22
Publication date: 2019-07-25
Also published as: JP6968285B2; CN111343906B; JP2021510100A; CN111343906A

Abstract

Provided is a measuring apparatus (1) including a first measuring section (10) configured to perform non-contact measurement of vital data of a body; a second measuring section (20) configured to measure motion of the body relative to the first measuring section (10); a detecting section (30) configured to detect whether the motion measured by the second measuring section (20) is less than a first reference value; and a selecting section (40) configured to set the vita data measured by the first measuring section (10) to be valid data, on a condition that the motion measured by the second measuring section (20) is less than the first reference value.

Description

MEASURING APPARATUS, COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD, PROGRAM AND ONE OR MORE COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUMS

BACKGROUND

1. TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a measuring apparatus, a computer implemented method, a program, and one or more computer readable storage mediums.

2. RELATED ART

In the fields of medical treatment, health care, and the like, various types of conventional technology have been proposed for non-contact measurement of vital data such as HR (Heartbeat Rate) and RR (Respiration Rate) . However, when the subject’s body moves, the vital data is measured with low accuracy.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, provided is a measuring apparatus comprising a first measuring section configured to perform non-contact measurement of vital data of a body; a second measuring section configured to measure motion of the body relative to the first measuring section; a detecting section configured to detect whether the motion measured by the second measuring section is less than a first reference value; and a selecting section configured to set the vital data measured by the first measuring section to be valid data, on a condition that the motion measured by the second measuring section is less than the first reference value. In this way, it is possible to gather only vital data with high accuracy.

The first measuring section may be configured to measure the vital data using radar measurement. The second measuring section may be configured to measure the motion based on a result obtained by capturing an image of the body. The second measuring section may be configured to measure the motion based on a result obtained by capturing the image including information in a depth direction. The second measuring section may be configured to perform non-contact measurement of the vital data of the body, and the selecting section may be configured to set the vital data measured by the second measuring section to be valid data, on a condition that the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value.

In another embodiment, provided is a computer-implemented method comprising first measurement of, with a first measuring section, performing non-contact measurement of vital data of a body; second measurement of, with a second measuring section, measuring motion of the body relative to the first measuring section; detection of detecting whether the motion measured by the second measuring section is less than a first reference value; and selection of setting the vital data measured by the first measuring section to be valid data, on a condition that the motion measured by the second measuring section is less than the first reference value. In this way, it is possible to gather only vital data with high accuracy.

In another embodiment, provided is a program that causes a computer to function as the measuring apparatus of the one embodiment.

In yet another embodiment, provided is one or more computer readable storage mediums collectively storing program instructions that are executable by a computer, wherein the program instructions cause the computer to function as the measuring apparatus of the one embodiment.

The summary clause does not necessarily describe all necessary features of the embodiments of the present invention. The present invention may also be a sub-combination of the features described above. The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the measuring apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows the first measuring section 10 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 shows the second measuring section 20 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows the operation of the measuring apparatus.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary hardware configuration of a computer according to the embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, some embodiments of the present invention will be described. The embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and all the combinations of the features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to means provided by aspects of the invention.

(1. Configuration of the measuring apparatus)

FIG. 1 shows a measuring apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.

The measuring apparatus 1 is an apparatus for measuring vital data of a body 9 of a subject, and includes a first measuring section 10, a second measuring section 20, a detecting section 30, a selecting section 40, a driving section 50, a display 60, and a storage section 70. At least one of the driving section 50, the display 60, and the storage section 70 does not need to be included in the measuring apparatus 1. Each section of the measuring apparatus 1 may be formed integrally, and may be a type of apparatus that is installed, for example. The subject may be a human or an animal.

(1-1. The first measuring section and second measuring section)

The first measuring section 10 performs non-contact measurement of vital data of the body 9. For example, the first measuring section 10 may measure the vital data of the body 9 from a distance of 0.2 m to 3.0 m (as an example, 1 m to 1.5 m) . The first measuring section 10 may measure the vital data indicating at least one of the heartbeat rate and the respiration rate of the body 9. The first measuring section 10 may be operable to adjust at least one of its orientation relative to the body 9 and its distance from the body 9. As an example, the first measuring section 10 may be provided on a mobile arm. The first measuring section 10 may provide the measured vital data to the selecting section 40.

The second measuring section 20 measures motion of the body 9 relative to the first measuring section 10. The motion of the body 9 relative to the first measuring section 10 may refer to changes in the relative positions and/or orientations of the first measuring section 10 and the body 9. For example, motion of the body 9 relative to the first measuring section 10 may be caused by changes in the position and/or orientation of the body 9 and/or first measuring section 10. The second measuring section 20 may measure the relative motion without contacting the body 9, and may perform this measurement at a distance of 1 m to 1.5 m from the body 9, for example. The second measuring section 20 may supply the measured motion data to the detecting section 30.

Here, the method by which the first measuring section 10 measures the vital data and the method by which the second measuring section 20 measures the motion may be different from each other. For example, the first measuring section 10 may perform the measurement using a measurement method that has higher accuracy when the body 9 is still than when the body 9 is moving. The second measuring section 20 may perform the measurement using a measurement method with an accuracy that almost never changes even when the body 9 is moving. As described in detail further below, as an example, the first measuring section 10 may perform measurement using radar, and the second measuring section 20 may perform measurement using an image of the body 9.

The second measuring section 20 may perform non-contact measurement of the vital data of the body 9. The second measuring section 20 may use the same sensor to measure the vital data of the body 9 and the motion of the body 9 relative to the first measuring section 10. The vital data measured by the second measuring section 20 may be the same as or different from the vital data measured by the first measuring section 10. The accuracy of the measurement of the vital data by the second measuring section 20 may be lower than that of the first measuring section 10 if the motion of the body 9 is less than a first reference value, and may be higher than that of the first measuring section 10 if the motion of the body 9 is greater than or equal to the first reference value. The second measuring section 20 may supply the measured vital data to the selecting section 40.

(1-3. The detecting section)

The detecting section 30 detects whether the motion measured by the second measuring section 20 is less than the first reference value. For example, the detecting section 30 may detect whether an index value of the measured motion is less than the first reference value. The index value may be, for example, a change amount of the relative positions and/or orientations, a change in speeds, or a change in accelerations of the first measuring section 10 and the body 9. The first reference value may be a lower limit value of the motion if the measurement accuracy of the first measuring section 10 is outside an allowable accuracy range, or may be a value obtained by adding a margin to this lower limit value.

The detecting section 30 may detect whether the motion has returned to be less than a second reference value after becoming greater than or equal to the first reference value. The second reference value may be smaller than the first reference value. For example, the second reference value may be an upper limit value of the motion if the measurement accuracy of the first measuring section 10 is within an allowable accuracy range, or may be a value obtained by subtracting a margin from this upper limit value. The detecting section 30 may supply a detection signal indicating the detection result to the selecting section 40.

(1-4. The selecting section)

The selecting section 40 sets the vital data obtained by the first measuring section 10 to be valid data, on the condition that the motion measured by the second measuring section 20 is less than the first reference value based on the detection signal from the detecting section 30. Here, setting the vital data to be valid data if the motion is less than the first reference value may refer to invalidating the vital data if the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value, thereby setting the remaining vital data to be valid data. For example, the selecting section 40 may attach a label indicating invalid data to vital data for which the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value. Furthermore, the selecting section 40 may cause the first measuring section 10 to output an invalid value if the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value. Yet further, the selecting section 40 may disable the first measuring section 10 to stop the supply of vital data if the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value, and may stop receiving the vital data from the first measuring section 10. The selecting section 40 may set the vital data measured by the first measuring section 10 to be vital data in response to the motion returning to be less than the second reference value after becoming greater than or equal to the first reference value.

When the second measuring section 20 measures the vital data, the selecting section 40 may set the vital data measured by the second measuring section 20 to be valid data on the condition that the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value. For example, the selecting section 40 may set the vital data from the second measuring section 20 to be valid data using a method similar to the method used to set the vital data from the first measuring section 10 to be valid data. Furthermore, the selecting section 40 may attach to the valid data a label indicating which of the vital data measured by the first measuring section 10 and the vital data measured by the second measuring section 20 is the valid data.

The selecting section 40 may supply the vital data set as the valid data to the display 60. The selecting section 40 may supply the vital data to the storage section 70.

(1-5. The driving section)

The driving section 50 moves the sensor portion of the first measuring section 10 to a position and orientation enabling measurement of the vital data of the body 9, in response to a change in at least one of the position and orientation of the body 9 included in the motion measured by the second measuring section 20. As an example, the driving section 50 may drive the mobile arm on which the first measuring section 10 is provided. It should be noted that as long as the first measuring section 10 can be moved, the driving section 50 may move the sensor portion of the first measuring section 10 using another method.

(1-6. The display)

The display 60 displays the vital data that is set to be valid. For example, the display 60 displays the vital data from the first measuring section 10 while the vital data from the first measuring section 10 is valid, and displays the vital data from the second measuring section 20 while the vital data from the second measuring section 20 is valid. The display 60 may display the measured vital data in real time, or may display the vital data for which measurement has been completed in time-sequence in a graph or chart. If a plurality of types of vital data is measured, the display 60 may display each type of vital data. The display 60 may display the vital data together with identification information of the subject, e.g. an image of the body 9. The display 60 may be a touch panel, or may display a user interface that can be manipulated by touch.

(1-7. The storage section)

The storage section 70 stores the vital data measured by the first measuring section 10. If the second measuring section 20 measures the vital data, the storage section 70 may store the vital data measured by the second measuring section 20 along with the vital data measured by the first measuring section 10. The storage section 70 may store the vital data in association with the valid data and/or invalid data labels attached by the selecting section 40, or may store only the vital data set as valid data by the selecting section 40. The storage section 70 may store vital data for each subject.

With the measuring apparatus described above, the vital data from the first measuring section 10 is set to be valid data on the condition that the motion measured by the second measuring section 20 is less than the first reference value. Accordingly, it is possible to gather only vital data with high accuracy, which is measured when the motion of the body 9 is less than the first reference value.

Since the vital data and motion of the body 9 are measured by the first measuring section 10 and the second measuring section 20 using different measurement methods, it is possible to measure each of the vital data and the motion of the body 9 with high accuracy.

Furthermore, since the measurement of the motion of the body 9 and the measurement of the vital data are both performed by the second measuring section 20, it is possible to simplify the measuring apparatus 1 in comparison to a case where these measurements are performed by separate measuring sections. Yet further, since the vital data measured by the second measuring section 20 is set to be valid data on the condition that the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value, it is possible to gather the vital data with high accuracy even when the motion of the body 9 is greater than or equal to the first reference value. Accordingly, it is possible to safely gather the vital data with high accuracy.

A label indicating which of the vital data measured by the first measuring section 10 and the vital data measured by the second measuring section 20 has been set as the valid data is attached to the valid data. Accordingly, it is possible to use the vital data in analysis or the like, while checking whether the component that measured the vital data is the first measuring section 10 or the second measuring section 20.

The vital data from the first measuring section 10 is set to be valid data in response to the motion becoming less than the second reference value, which is smaller than the first reference value, after the motion has become greater than or equal to the first reference value. Accordingly, compared to a case where the second reference value is greater than or equal to the first reference value, it is possible to prevent frequently switching the component that measures the vital data between the first measuring section 10 and the second measuring section 20.

Since the sensor portion of the first measuring section 10 is moved in response to a change in the movement and/or orientation of the body 9 measured by the second measuring section 20, it is possible to measure the vital data continuously with the first measuring section 10. Accordingly, it is possible to more safely gather the vital data with high accuracy.

(2. Detailed example of the first measuring section)

FIG. 2 shows the first measuring section 10 according to the present embodiment. As an example, the first measuring section 10 measures the vital data using radar measurement. For example, the first measuring section 10 may detect periodic motion in the chest, skin surface, or the like of the body 9 using radar measurement, and extract the HR and/or RR using a plurality of signal processing algorithms. The first measuring section 10 may include a radar section 101, an amplifier/filter 102, an ADC (Analog Digital Converter) 103, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 104, and a vital data extracting section 105.

The radar section 101 emits a radio wave, and measures the reflected wave resulting from this radio wave. As an example, the radar section 101 may perform the measurement using FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) radar or continuously frequency-modulated radio waves. The radar section 101 may use a radio wave of an IQ signal including an I phase (In Phase) component and a Q phase (Quadrature phase) component that are phase-shifted from each other by 90°. The radar section 101 may supply a measurement signal indicating the waveform of the reflected wave, e.g. the IQ signal, to the amplifier/filter 102.

The amplifier/filter 102 may perform amplification and/or filtering of the measurement signal from the radar section 101. For example, the amplifier/filter 102 may remove the noise component of the IQ signal and, as an example, may remove aliasing noise corresponding to the sampling frequency of the radar section 101 or remove the noise caused by diffused reflection of the radio waves. The amplifier/filter 102 may supply the IQ signal that has been amplified and/or filtered to the ADC 103.

The ADC 103 converts the IQ signal from an analog signal to a digital signal. The ADC 103 supplies the signal-processed IQ signal to the DSP 104.

The DSP 104 performs various types of signal processing on the digitalized IQ signal. For example, the DSP 104 may remove the DC component of the IQ signal. The DSP 104 supplies the signal-processed IQ signal to the vital data extracting section 105.

The vital data extracting section 105 extracts the vital data of the body 9 from the signal supplied in a case where the reflected wave from the body 9 is measured by the radar section 101. For example, the vital data extracting section 105 may extract the HR and/or RR of the body 9. As an example, the vital data extracting section 105 may calculate the phase angle of the IQ signal, calculate beat frequency from the phase angle of transmitted signal and received signal, input the beat frequency into FFT, and generate a spectrogram indicating the relationship between the distance from the radar section 101 to the reflective surface, the Doppler shift frequency, and the signal strength. The vital data extracting section 105 may then extract the vital data by detecting reciprocating motion in the chest, skin surface, or the like of the body 9 from the spectrogram. The vital data extracting section 105 may supply the vital data to the selecting section 40. Here, the Doppler shift frequency may be the shift amount of the frequency caused by the reflective surface that reflects the radio wave moving relative to the radar section 101. The vital data extracting section 105 may use an STFT (Short Time Fourier Transform) or DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform) to generate the spectrogram. The calculation of the phase angle of the IQ signal may be performed by the DSP 104.

With the first measuring section 10 described above, the vital data is measured using radar measurement, and therefore it is possible to measure the vital data with high accuracy when the body 9 exhibits little motion.

The first measuring section 10 may have another configuration. For example, as long as it is possible to measure the vital data using radar measurement, the first measuring section 10 may omit one or more of the amplifier/filter 102, the ADC 103, and the DSP 104.

(3. Detailed example of the second measuring section)

FIG. 3 shows the second measuring section 20 according to the present embodiment. The second measuring section 20 measures the motion based on a result obtained by capturing an image of the body 9, for example. Furthermore, the second measuring section 20 may perform non-contact measurement of the vital data of the body 9, and may measure the HR and/or RR, for example. The second measuring section 20 may include an image sensor 201, a depth sensor 202, an ROI (Region Of Interest) extracting section 203, a motion detecting section 204, and a vital data extracting section 205.

The image sensor 201 may acquire a video image of the body, and may acquire an image with a frame rate of 15 to 60 fps, for example. The image sensor 201 may acquire an image including at least a head portion or the upper body. The image sensor 201 may acquire an RGB color image. The image sensor 201 may supply the acquired image data to the ROI extracting section 203.

The depth sensor 202 may acquire information in the depth direction in the field of vision. The depth sensor 202 may acquire depth data in the same field angle as the image sensor 201, and may acquire a depth image that includes a depth for each pixel of the image sensor 201, for example. The depth sensor 202 may acquire depth data with the same frame rate as the image sensor 201. The depth sensor 202 may detect the depth using a multi-lens camera, or may calculate the depth by emitting pulsed laser light and receiving the resulting reflected light. It should be noted that the technique for detecting the depth is not limited to the above.

The depth sensor 202 may supply the depth data to the ROI extracting section 203. As an example in the present embodiment, the depth sensor 202 may be provided integrally with the image sensor 201 to form an RGB-D sensor, capture an RGB-D image that includes information in the depth direction, and supply this RGB-D image to the ROI extracting section 203. The depth direction may be the optical axis direction of the optical system including the image sensor.

The ROI extracting section 203 extracts the ROI corresponding to at least a portion of the body 9 in the image from the RGB-D image data. The ROI may be all of the body 9 included within a contour, or may be a portion of the body 9. The portion of the body 9 that is the ROI may be at least one of a portion where the vital data is measured by the first measuring section 10 (e.g. the chest or skin surface) and a portion where the vital data is measured by the second measuring section 20 (e.g. the head portion or upper body) . The ROI extracting section 203 may extract the ROI from only the image data from the image sensor 201, or may extract the ROI from only the depth image data from the depth sensor 202. The ROI extracting section 203 may extract the ROI using a segmentation algorithm and pattern matching.

The ROI extracting section 203 may supply the data concerning the ROI in the RGB-D image data to the motion detecting section 204 and the vital data extracting section 205. As an example, the ROI extracting section 203 may supply the RGB-D image data in which the portion where the vital data is measured by the first measuring section 10 is the ROI, among the portions of the body 9, to the motion detecting section 204. Furthermore, the ROI extracting section 203 may supply the RGB-D image data in which the portion where the vital data is measured by the second measuring section 20 is the ROI, among the portions of the body 9, to the vital data extracting section 205. The ROI extracting section 203 may supply the supplied RGB-D image data with a label attached to the ROI portion, or may extract only the ROI portion from the supplied RGB-D image data and supply this portion.

The motion detecting section 204 detects the motion of the body 9 based on the motion of the ROI in the image. For example, the motion detecting section 204 may detect the motion of the ROI as the motion of the body 9.

The motion detecting section 204 may measure the motion of the body 9 based on the RGB-D image including the information in the depth direction. For example, the motion detecting section 204 may detect the motion of the body 9 based on the movement of the ROI in a parallel direction of an object plane and/or a depth direction in the RGB-D image. The motion detecting section 204 may detect the motion of the ROI by performing template matching in each frame image using a template with the shape of the ROI and detecting a change in at least one of the position, angle, and size of the ROI. If the depth sensor 202 is provided separately from the image sensor 201, the motion detecting section 204 may acquire the RGB image of the ROI from the ROI extracting section 203 and acquire the depth image from the depth sensor 202, and use these images for the motion detection. The object plane may be a plane orthogonal to the depth direction, for example. The motion detecting section 204 may supply the measured motion data to the detecting section 30.

The vital data extracting section 205 extracts the vital data of the body 9 from the video image supplied thereto. For example, the vital data extracting section 205 may measure the HR by detecting a periodic change in the face color from the RGB video image of the face portion using an iPPG (image photoplethysmogram) technique. Furthermore, the vital data extracting section 205 may measure the RR by detecting gradient magnitude and direction of edges of the shoulder portion or the face portion in the RGB video image. Furthermore, the vital data extracting section 205 may extract the periodic fluctuation of the body 9 in the depth direction from the depth video image and measure the HR and/or the RR of the body 9 based on this periodic fluctuation. For example, the vital data extracting section 205 may measure the RR by detecting the reciprocating motion of the chest from the depth video image. The vital data extracting section 205 may extract the vital data from the video image of the ROI portion supplied from the ROI extracting section 203, within the video image. In this way, the load of the vital data extraction is reduced. The vital data extracting section 205 may supply the vital data to the selecting section 40.

With the second measuring section 20 described above, the motion is measured based on the image of the body 9, and therefore it is possible to measure the motion of the body 9 with high accuracy in the object plane. Furthermore, since the second measuring section 20 measures the motion based on the image that includes information concerning the depth direction, it is possible to measure the motion of the body 9 in the depth direction, in addition to the motion of the body 9 in the object plane, with high accuracy.

The ROI extracting section 203 and the motion detecting section 204 extract the ROI corresponding to at least a portion of the body 9 in the image, and detect the motion based on the movement of the ROI in the image. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the gathering of vital data with low accuracy by the first measuring section 10 by setting the portion of the body 9 where the vital data measurement accuracy of the first measuring section 10 is affected by the occurrence of motion to be the ROI.

The second measuring section 20 may have another configuration. For example, as long as it is possible to measure the motion of the body 9, the second measuring section 20 may omit at least one of the image sensor 201 or the depth sensor 202, the ROI extracting section 203, and the vital data extracting section 205. Furthermore, as long as it is possible to measure the motion of the body 9 and measure the vital data, the second measuring section 20 may omit at least one of the image sensor 201 or depth sensor 202 and the ROI extracting section 203.

(4. Operation of the measuring apparatus)

FIG. 4 shows the operation of the measuring apparatus 1. The measuring apparatus 1 measures the vital data of the body 9 with high accuracy, by performing the process from step S1 to step S5.

First, at step S1, the first measuring section 10 measures the vital data and the second measuring section 20 measures the motion of the body 9. The second measuring section 20 may further measure the vital data.

For example, the motion detecting section 204 of the second measuring section 20 may detect the motion of the body 9 from the video image of the ROI portion (e.g. the portion that is the target for vital data measurement by the first measuring section 10) , within the RGB-D video image. Furthermore, the vital data extracting section 205 of the second measuring section 20 may measure the vital data from the video image of the ROI portion (e.g. the portion that is the target for vital data measurement by the second measuring section 20) within the RGB-D video image.

Furthermore, the vital data extracting section 105 of the first measuring section 10 may generate a spectrogram indicating the relationship between the distance from the radar section 101, the Doppler shift frequency, and the signal strength, and measure the vital data. The first measuring section 10 may measure the vital data based on a portion in a distance range that includes the distance of the body 9 measured by the depth sensor 202 of the second measuring section 20 within the spectrogram. For example, the first measuring section 10 may extract the vital data from the spectrogram within the distance range where the body 9 is included. The distance of the body 9 may be an average value of the depth of the body 9 or a portion surrounded by the contour of the ROI, among the depths of each of the pixels in the depth image. One of the measurement by the first measuring section 10 and the measurement by the second measuring section 20 may be performed before the other.

Here, if motion of the body 9 relative to the first measuring section 10 is detected by the second measuring section 20, the driving section 50 may move the sensor portion of the first measuring section 10 to a position and orientation enabling measurement of the vital data of the body 9. For example, if the body 9 has moved relative to the first measuring section 10, the driving section 50 may change the position and/or orientation of the sensor portion of the first measuring section 10 in accordance with the movement of the body 9 such that this motion becomes less than the first reference value. Furthermore, if the orientation of the body 9 relative to the first measuring section 10 has changed, the driving section 50 may change the position and orientation of the sensor portion of the first measuring section 10 such that the orientation of the body 9 relative to the first measuring section 10 is maintained.

Next, at step S3, the detecting section 30 detects whether the motion measured by the second measuring section 20 is less than the first reference value. If the motion is detected to be greater than or equal to the first reference value, the detecting section 30 may further detect whether the motion has returned to be less than the second reference value.

Next, at step S5, the selecting section 40 sets the vital data from the first measuring section 10 to be valid data, on the condition that the motion is less than the first reference value. The selecting section 40 may set the vital data from the second measuring section 20 as valid data, on the condition that the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value. If the motion has been detected to be greater than or equal to the first reference value, the selecting section 40 may set the vital data from the second measuring section 20 to be valid data as long as the motion has not returned to be less than the second reference value, and may set the vital data from the first measuring section 10 to be valid data on the condition that the motion has returned to be less than the second reference value. The selecting section 40 may display the valid vital data in the display 60, and also store the valid vital data in the storage section 70.

With the operation described above, the vital data is extracted based on the portion of the spectrogram acquired using radar measurement in a distance range including the distance of the body 9 measured by the second measuring section 20. Accordingly, it is possible to extract the vital data from the spectrogram while eliminating information in the distance range in which the body 9 is not present, e.g. noise information caused by scattered reflection.

(5. Modification)

In the present embodiment described above, the measuring apparatus 1 is described as being an installed type of apparatus, but may instead be mobile. For example, the measuring apparatus 1 may move relative to the body 9 according to external force from an operator, or may house a movement power source that is not shown in the drawings to move on its own. In this case, the movement power source may be the driving section 50 and the first measuring section 10 may move relative to the body 9 as a result of the measuring apparatus 1 moving on its own. It should be noted that if the vital data measurement accuracy is reduced while the measuring apparatus 1 is moving, a label indicating invalid data may be attached by the selecting section 40 to the vital data acquired during movement.

In the above description, the driving section 50 moves the sensor portion of the first measuring section 10 relative to the body 9, but instead of or in addition to this, the body 9 may be moved relative to the first measuring section 10. For example, the driving section 50 may move the body 9 relative to the first measuring section 10 by driving a support member (e.g. a stool or a chair) that supports the body 9 of the subject.

In the above description, the HR and/or RR is measured as the vital data, but instead of or in addition to this, the HRV (Heart Rate Variability) may be measured.

In the above description, the second measuring section 20 includes the image sensor 201 and the depth sensor 202 as the means for measuring the motion and/or vital data, but instead of or in addition to this, a thermograph may be included. In this case, the second measuring section 20 may detect the motion of the body 9 from a change in at least one of the position, angle, and size of the contour of the body 9 shown in a thermal image. Furthermore, the second measuring section 20 may measure body temperature as the vital data. Furthermore, and the second measuring section 20 may measure the RR from periodic changes of body temperature in a mouth portion or nose portion in the thermal image or from gradient magnitude and direction of edges of the shoulder portion or the face portion in the thermal image. Yet further, the second measuring section 20 may measure the HR from periodic changes in the thermal image which caused by blood flow.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary hardware configuration of a computer configured to perform the foregoing operations, according to an embodiment of the present invention. A program that is installed in the computer 700 can cause the computer 700 to function as or perform operations associated with apparatuses of the embodiments of the present invention or one or more sections (including modules, components, elements, etc. ) thereof, and/or cause the computer 700 to perform processes of the embodiments of the present invention or steps thereof. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 700-12 to cause the computer 700 to perform certain operations associated with some or all of the blocks of flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

The computer 700 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 700-12, a RAM 700-14, a graphics controller 700-16, and a display device 700-18, which are mutually connected by a host controller 700-10. The computer 700 also includes input/output units such as a communication interface 700-22, a hard disk drive 700-24, a DVD-ROM drive 700-26 and an IC card drive, which are connected to the host controller 700-10 via an input/output controller 700-20. The computer also includes legacy input/output units such as a ROM 700-30 and a keyboard 700-42, which are connected to the input/output controller 700-20 through an input/output chip 700-40.

The CPU 700-12 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 700-30 and the RAM 700-14, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller 700-16 obtains image data generated by the CPU 700-12 on a frame buffer or the like provided in the RAM 700-14 or in itself, and causes the image data to be displayed on the display device 700-18.

The communication interface 700-22 communicates with other electronic devices via a network 700-50. The hard disk drive 700-24 stores programs and data used by the CPU 700-12 within the computer 700. The DVD-ROM drive 700-26 reads the programs or the data from the DVD-ROM 700-01, and provides the hard disk drive 700-24 with the programs or the data via the RAM 700-14. The IC card drive reads programs and data from an IC card, and/or writes programs and data into the IC card.

The ROM 700-30 stores therein a boot program or the like executed by the computer 700 at the time of activation, and/or a program depending on the hardware of the computer 700. The input/output chip 700-40 may also connect various input/output units via a parallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and the like to the input/output controller 700-20.

A program is provided by computer readable media such as the DVD-ROM 700-01 or the IC card. The program is read from the computer readable media, installed into the hard disk drive 700-24, RAM 700-14, or ROM 700-30, which are also examples of computer readable media, and executed by the CPU 700-12. The information processing described in these programs is read into the computer 700, resulting in cooperation between a program and the above-mentioned various types of hardware resources. An apparatus or method may be constituted by realizing the operation or processing of information in accordance with the usage of the computer 700-

For example, when communication is performed between the computer 700 and an external device, the CPU 700-12 may execute a communication program loaded onto the RAM 700-14 to instruct communication processing to the communication interface 700-22, based on the processing described in the communication program. The communication interface 700-22, under control of the CPU 700-12, reads transmission data stored on a transmission buffering region provided in a recording medium such as the RAM 700-14, the hard disk drive 700-24, the DVD-ROM 700-01, or the IC card, and transmits the read transmission data to network 700-50 or writes reception data received from network 700-50 to a reception buffering region or the like provided on the recording medium.

In addition, the CPU 700-12 may cause all or a necessary portion of a file or a database to be read into the RAM 700-14, the file or the database having been stored in an external recording medium such as the hard disk drive 700-24, the DVD-ROM drive 700-26 (DVD-ROM 700-01) , the IC card, etc., and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 700-14. The CPU 700-12 may then write back the processed data to the external recording medium.

Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored in the recording medium to undergo information processing. The CPU 700-12 may perform various types of processing on the data read from the RAM 700-14, which includes various types of operations, processing of information, condition judging, conditional branch, unconditional branch, search/replace of information, etc., as described throughout this disclosure and designated by an instruction sequence of programs, and writes the result back to the RAM 700-14. In addition, the CPU 700-12 may search for information in a file, a database, etc., in the recording medium. For example, when a plurality of entries, each having an attribute value of a first attribute is associated with an attribute value of a second attribute, are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 700-12 may search for an entry matching the condition whose attribute value of the first attribute is designated, from among the plurality of entries, and reads the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, thereby obtaining the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute satisfying the predetermined condition.

The above-explained program or software modules may be stored in the computer readable media on or near the computer 700. In addition, a recording medium such as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as the computer readable media, thereby providing the program to the computer 700 via the network.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been described, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to the above described embodiments. It is apparent to persons skilled in the art that various alterations and improvements can be added to the above-described embodiments. It is also apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such alterations or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the invention.

The operations, procedures, steps, and stages of each process performed by an apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams can be performed in any order as long as the order is not indicated by “prior to, ” “before, ” or the like and as long as the output from a previous process is not used in a later process. Even if the process flow is described using phrases such as “first” or “next” in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams, it does not necessarily mean that the process must be performed in this order.

As made clear from the above, the embodiments of the present invention can be used to realize a measuring apparatus, a computer implemented method, a program, and one or more computer readable storage mediums for gathering only vital data with high accuracy.

Claims

A measuring apparatus comprising:

a first measuring section configured to perform non-contact measurement of vital data of a body;

a second measuring section configured to measure motion of the body relative to the first measuring section;

a detecting section configured to detect whether the motion measured by the second measuring section is less than a first reference value; and

a selecting section configured to set the vital data measured by the first measuring section to be valid data, on a condition that the motion measured by the second measuring section is less than the first reference value.
The measuring apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein

the first measuring section is configured to measure the vital data using radar measurement.
The measuring apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein

the first measuring section is configured to measure the vital data indicating at least one of a heartbeat rate and a respiration rate of the body.
The measuring apparatus according to Claim any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein

the second measuring section is configured to measure the motion based on a result obtained by capturing an image of the body.
The measuring apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein

the second measuring section is configured to measure the motion based on a result obtained by capturing the image including information in a depth direction.
The measuring apparatus according to Claim 5, wherein

the first measuring section is configured to extract the vital data based on a portion of a spectrogram, obtained by radar measurement, within a distance range that includes a distance of the body measured by the second measuring section.
The measuring apparatus according to any one of Claims 4 to 6, wherein the second measuring section includes:

a region of interest extracting section configured to extract a region of interest corresponding to at least a portion of the body in the image; and

a motion detecting section configured to detect the motion based on movement of the region of interest in the image.
The measuring apparatus according to Claim 7, wherein

the motion detecting section is configured to detect the motion based on the movement of the region of interest in a direction parallel to an object plane and a depth direction, in the image including information in a depth direction.
The measuring apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein

the second measuring section is configured to perform non-contact measurement of the vital data of the body, and

the selecting section is configured to set the vital data measured by the second measuring section to be valid data, on a condition that the motion is greater than or equal to the first reference value.
The measuring apparatus according to Claim 9, wherein

the selecting section is configured to attach, to the valid data, a label indicating which of the vital data measured by the first measuring section and the vital data measured by the second measuring section has been set as the valid data.
The measuring apparatus according to Claim 9 or 10, wherein

the selecting section is configured to set the vital data measured by the first measuring section to be the valid data, in response to the motion returning to be less than a second reference value, which is smaller than the first reference value, after having become greater than or equal to the first reference value.
The measuring apparatus according to any one of Claims 9 to 11, wherein the second measuring section is configured to:

capture an image of the body including information in a depth direction,

extract a periodic fluctuation of the body in the depth direction, from the image, and

measure the vital data indicating at least one of the heartbeat rate and the respiration rate of the body, based on the periodic fluctuation.
The measuring apparatus according to any one of Claims 9 to 11, wherein

the second measuring section is configured to include a thermograph that measures the vital data.
The measuring apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 13, further comprising:

a driving section configured to relatively move a sensor portion of the first measuring section to a position and orientation at which the first measuring section is capable of measuring the vital data of the body, in response to a change in at least one of the position and the orientation of the body included in the motion measured by the second measuring section.
A computer-implemented method comprising:

first measurement of, with a first measuring section, performing non-contact measurement of vital data of a body;

second measurement of, with a second measuring section, measuring motion of the body relative to the first measuring section;

detection of detecting whether the motion measured by the second measuring section is less than a first reference value; and

selection of setting the vital data measured by the first measuring section to be valid data, on a condition that the motion measured by the second measuring section is less than the first reference value.
A program that causes a computer to function as the measuring apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 14.
One or more computer readable storage mediums collectively storing program instructions that are executable by a computer, wherein the program instructions cause the computer to function as the measuring apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 14.