JP7253298B2 - Biometric information acquisition device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a biometric information acquiring apparatus that acquires biometric information of a subject based on an image.

It is generally known that biometric information of a subject can be calculated from an image of the skin of the body. For example, it is known that a subject's pulse wave or the like can be calculated from an image of the sole of the foot.

When photographing the soles of the feet as described above, the soles of the feet are illuminated with an illumination device such as a light. However, when photographing while illuminating the soles of the feet with a light, a phenomenon called "shiny" occurs in which the skin of the soles of the feet causes specular reflection of the light from the lights. Therefore, it may not be possible to obtain accurate biometric information based on the image in which this "shiny" phenomenon occurs.

Therefore, in order to suppress the generation of "shine" during photographing, conventionally, a foot is placed on a transparent plate during photographing, and light is made to enter the inside of the plate from the side surface of the plate. Light that enters the inside of the board travels through the inside of the board while being reflected, and the light is reflected on the soles of the feet, thereby photographing the soles of the feet from the back side of the transparent board on which the feet are placed. (See Patent Document 1, for example).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-219404

However, when photographing the sole of the foot with the foot placed on a board as described in Patent Document 1, it is not possible to photograph a specific part such as the arch of the foot. As described above, depending on the shape of the skin portion to be imaged, it may not be possible to capture the image well, and biometric information may not be obtained based on the image of the skin portion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and is capable of obtaining an image of a skin portion without being affected by the shape of the skin portion to be photographed, and obtaining biometric information of a subject based on the obtained image. It aims at providing the biometric information acquisition apparatus which can acquire.

The contact part of the present invention has transparency, contacts the skin part of the body, and deforms into a shape corresponding to the shape of the skin part according to the pressure received from the skin part when in contact with the skin part. an illumination unit that irradiates light of a specific wavelength into the contact portion; an image information acquisition unit that acquires image information of the skin portion that is in contact with the contact portion on which the light from the illumination unit is incident; and acquiring biometric information of a subject based on the image information of the skin part acquired by the image information acquisition unit, wherein the contact when the contact part contacts the skin part a load cell for measuring the load applied to the part, the contact part is formed of a plurality of layers with different flexibility, and the illumination part is a layer that contacts the skin part among the plurality of layers of the contact part. The light of the specific wavelength is incident on the contact portion from the position of .

A biometric information acquiring unit for acquiring biometric information of the subject based on the image information of the skin portion, wherein the biometric information acquiring unit acquires the image information of the skin portion as a melanin image representing melanin components in the skin, A hemoglobin image representing the hemoglobin component in the skin and a shadow image representing the shadow of the skin are separated, and biometric information of the subject is obtained based on the hemoglobin image among the separated images.

Further, the contact portion retains the deformed shape when deformed into a shape corresponding to the shape of the skin portion in accordance with the pressure received from the skin portion with which it is in contact.

According to the present invention, it is possible to photograph without being affected by the shape of the object to be photographed, and to obtain biological information of the object based on the obtained image.

1 is an overall view showing the configuration of a biometric information acquisition device according to a first embodiment; FIG. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the structure of the biometric information acquisition apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment, (A) is a top view, (B) is a front view. 1 is an AA cross-sectional view of the biological information acquisition device according to the first embodiment; FIG. FIG. 2A is a side view of the contact portion of the biological information acquisition device according to the first embodiment, with a foot on the contact portion, and FIG. It is a rear view of a contact part. FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing a flow when biometric information of a subject is acquired by the biometric information acquiring apparatus according to the first embodiment; (A) is a diagram showing the back side of the contact portion of the biometric information acquisition device according to the first embodiment, and (B) is a diagram different from the biometric information acquisition device according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the back side of the contact part of a biometric information acquisition apparatus. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the structure of the biometric information acquisition apparatus concerning 1st Embodiment, (A) is a top view, (B) is a front view. It is an overall view showing the configuration of a biometric information acquiring apparatus according to a second embodiment. FIG. 2A is a plan view showing the configuration of a biometric information acquisition device according to a second embodiment, and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB of the biometric information acquisition device; FIG. 10A is a side view of the contact portion of the biological information acquisition device according to the second embodiment, with a forearm placed thereon, and FIG. is a front view of the contact portion of the.

[First embodiment]
A biological information acquisition device 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG. Unless otherwise specified, the directions (front-rear direction and left-right direction) in the embodiments described below are based on the direction of the sole of the subject's feet viewed from the person being photographed. That is, the direction viewed from a person who puts his/her foot on the biological information acquisition device 1 will be described as a reference.

(Configuration of biological information acquisition device)
First, the overall configuration of the biometric information acquisition device 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the biometric information acquisition device 1 includes a main body 10, an image information acquisition section 20, a placement section 30, an illumination section 40, and a biometric information acquisition section 50. As shown in FIG.

<Body part>
The body portion 10 is a base portion of the biological information acquisition device 1 . The body portion 10 has a bottom plate portion 11 and a column portion 12 . The bottom plate portion 11 is formed in a rectangular shape in a plan view, and an RGB camera as an image information acquiring portion 20 is arranged on the bottom plate portion 11 . The pillar portion 12 is composed of four pillars 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d which are rectangular parallelepipeds. Each of the columns 12 a , 12 b , 12 c , 12 d extends upward from the bottom plate portion 11 and supports the mounting portion 30 . Also, in the present embodiment, the bottom plate portion 11 and the column portion 12 are made of stainless steel.

<Image information acquisition part>
The image information acquisition section 20 is for capturing an image of the skin portion of the body placed on the placement section 30 . Further, in the present embodiment, the image information acquiring section 20 is composed of two cameras, the first RGB camera 20a and the second RGB camera 20b. The two RGB cameras 20 a and 20 b are arranged side by side near the center of the bottom plate portion 11 . In the present embodiment, the case where both feet F of the subject are placed on the placing section 30 will be described as an example, and the case where the sole S portion as the skin portion of the body is photographed will be described below as an example. .

The first RGB camera 20a photographs the sole S of the left foot LF, and the second RGB camera 20b photographs the sole S of the right foot RF (see FIG. 1). Here, the RGB camera 20 (hereinafter simply referred to as a camera) includes a plurality of detection elements that are sensitive to the light intensity in the wavelength regions corresponding to each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue), Image information can be acquired.

<Placement part>
The placing section 30 is for placing the foot F thereon so as to photograph the sole S with the camera 20 . The mounting portion 30 is composed of a frame portion 31 and a contact portion 32 .

The frame portion 31 supports the contact portion 32 that contacts the sole S, and as shown in FIG. 2A, the frame portion 31 is formed in a rectangular shape in plan view. A hollow portion 31a having a shape corresponding to the shape of the contact portion 32 is formed inside the frame portion 31 so that the contact portion 32 is fitted therein. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the frame portion 31 has a support portion 31b projecting in the lateral direction for supporting the contact portion 32 fitted in the hollow portion 31a. The frame portion 31 is made of stainless steel like the bottom plate portion 11 and the column portion 12 . The four corners of the frame portion 31 are supported by the four columns 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d forming the column portion 12 (see FIGS. 1 and 2B).

The contact portion 32 is a portion with which a skin portion such as the sole S is brought into contact when the foot F is placed on the placing portion 30 . Like the frame portion 31, the contact portion 32 is rectangular in plan view and formed in a plate shape (hereinafter, the contact portion 32 is referred to as a contact plate). The contact plate 32 is fitted into a hollow portion 31a formed in the frame portion 31, and the side portions of the contact plate 32 are supported by the support portions 31b of the frame portion 31 (see FIG. 3). ).

As shown in FIG. 3, the contact plate 32 is composed of two upper and lower layers, an upper layer portion 32a with which the foot F contacts and a lower layer portion 32b that supports the upper layer portion 32a. The upper layer portion 32a of the contact plate 32 is the portion that contacts the sole S as described above, and is made of thermoplastic elastomers. The upper layer portion 32a made of a thermoplastic elastomer has certain flexibility and elasticity. In addition, the upper layer portion 32a is made transparent so that the light L emitted from the illumination portion 40 is transmitted through the upper layer portion 32a.

A lower layer portion 32b of the contact plate 32 is made of an acrylic plate. The acrylic plate forming the lower layer portion 32b has a certain degree of hardness (rigidity) so that its shape does not change even if a person steps on the contact plate 32 (upper layer portion 32a). Thus, unlike the upper layer 32a, the lower layer 32b does not have flexibility, and the lower layer (acrylic plate) 32b is made transparent. The light L is also transmitted through the lower layer (acrylic plate) 32b. That is, the entire contact plate 32 is made transparent, and the light L is transmitted through the interior of the contact plate 32 .

Further, the upper layer portion 32a and the lower layer portion 32b are integrally formed. As a result, the soles S and the like that are in contact with the upper layer portion 32a can be seen through the acrylic plate that is the lower layer portion 32b. That is, the sole S in contact with the surface of the contact plate 32 can be seen from the back surface of the contact plate 32 (see FIG. 6A).

<Lighting part>
The illumination unit 40 illuminates the inside of the contact plate 32, and is configured by an LED lamp in this embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the lighting section 40 is provided so that the side surface on the rear side of the contact plate 32 (upper layer section 32a) faces (contacts with) the light emitting surface. In this manner, the light L emitted from the illumination unit 40 is incident (enters) into the contact plate 32 from the rear side surface portion of the contact plate 32 . As shown in FIG. 4, the light L incident inside the contact plate 32 travels forward while being reflected inside the contact plate 32 .

<Biological information acquisition unit>
The biometric information acquisition unit 50 is a personal computer (hereinafter simply referred to as a personal computer) for acquiring (calculating) biometric information of a subject (a person whose sole S is photographed) from image information captured by the camera 20 . 50 (see FIG. 1). The personal computer 50 includes a server device 51 for processing and storing various information, a display 52 as a display device for displaying various images, and a keyboard, mouse, etc. (not shown) as operation devices. there is

A camera 20 and a display 52 are connected to the server device 51 , and image information is input from the camera 20 to the server device 51 . In addition to the camera 20 and the display 52, the server device 51 is also connected to various devices such as the keyboard and the printer (not shown).

In addition, the server device 51 includes a control unit, a storage unit, and the like, although not shown. The control unit controls the overall operation of the biological information acquiring apparatus 1, such as control of each device connected to the server device 51 such as the camera 20 and the display 52, and control of the server device 51 itself. Also, the storage unit stores various information.

The control unit includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that is a processor, a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. It is configured with a semiconductor memory such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

The control unit is adapted to process and store various information. In the present embodiment, the control unit calculates the biological information of the subject based on the image of the sole S captured by the camera 20, and the calculated biological information is stored in the storage unit.

(Operation of biological information acquisition device)
Next, the operation of the biometric information acquisition device 1 when operating the biometric information acquisition device 1 to acquire the biometric information of the subject will be described with reference to FIG.

In the present embodiment, since the subject's biological information is obtained from the image of the sole S, first, the sole S is photographed by the camera 20 (STEP 10 and thereafter, simply referred to as S ◯ ◯).

In the present embodiment, both feet F (or one foot F) are placed on the placing portion 30 when photographing the soles S of the feet. Specifically, the feet F are placed on the placing portion 30 so that the soles S of both feet F are in contact with the surface of the contact plate 32 (upper layer portion 32a) (see FIG. 1).

When both feet F are placed on the contact plate 32 as described above, the weight applied to both feet F, such as the total weight of the subject or the weight of the foot F portion, acts as a pressure pushing the contact plate 32. It will be transmitted. As described above, the upper layer portion 32a that constitutes the contact plate 32 is made of thermoplastic elastomer having flexibility and the like, and the upper layer portion 32a is supported by the lower layer portion 32b, which is an acrylic plate having hardness. there is Therefore, the portion of the upper layer portion 32a that contacts the sole S is compressed and deformed into a shape corresponding to the shape of the sole S so as to sink downward in response to the pressure from both feet F (see FIG. 4). ). That is, the surface side of the contact plate 32 is deformed into a shape corresponding to the unevenness of the sole surface of the foot.

For example, if the contact plate 32 (upper layer 32a) with which the sole S contacts is made of a hard material (for example, a glass plate) that does not deform even when the foot F rests thereon, as in the conventional art. , even if the foot F is placed on (or brought into contact with) the contact plate 32, the contact plate 32 does not come into contact with the concave portion of the sole S such as the arch of the foot (see FIG. 6B). That is, there is a portion that does not adhere to the surface of the contact plate 32 and the sole surface of the foot. However, as described above, the surface side of the contact plate 32 (upper layer portion 32a) deforms into a shape corresponding to the unevenness of the sole surface of the foot. As shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 6(A), there is no gap between them. If a transparent liquid is applied to the sole surface of the foot when the foot is placed on the contact plate 32, the gap between the sole S and the contact plate 32 will be further reduced when the sole S contacts the contact plate 32, and the degree of adhesion will be further improved. Good to go up.

Also, when both feet F are placed on the contact plate 32, the pressure from both feet F is transmitted to the lower layer portion 32b through the upper layer portion 32a. As described above, the lower layer portion 32b is made of an acrylic plate having a certain hardness. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the lower layer portion 32b does not change its shape even if it receives pressure from both feet F through the upper layer portion 32a. That is, the back side of the contact plate 32 is not deformed.

Also, when the foot F is placed on the contact plate 32 , the light L from the LED lamp 40 is incident on the contact plate 32 . The light L that has entered the contact plate 32 from the rear side surface portion of the contact plate 32 (upper layer portion 32a) travels while being reflected by the front and rear surfaces of the contact plate 32 (see FIG. 4). ). Part of the light L traveling through the contact plate 32 is diffusely reflected on the contact surface portion of the sole S in contact with the contact plate 32 (upper layer portion 32a). Then, part of the irregularly reflected light L is radiated from the back side of the contact plate 32 via the lower layer 32b, so that the back surface of the contact plate 32 (acrylic plate that is the lower layer 32b) is exposed to the sole S of the foot. The shape of the ground contact surface is projected as if it were floating. That is, the sole S illuminated by the light of the LED lamp 40 can be seen on the back surface of the contact plate 32 , and in the present embodiment, substantially the entire area of the sole S including the arch of the foot is covered with the contact plate 32 . It can be seen from the back side (see FIG. 6(A)). Then, when the foot F leaves the contact plate 32, the surface of the contact plate 32 (upper layer portion 32a) that has been compressed and deformed is restored to its original planar shape.

As described above, when both feet F are placed on the surface side of the contact plate 32 and the soles S are projected on the rear surface side of the contact plate 32 , the soles S reflected on the contact plate 32 are photographed by the camera 20 .

When the soles S are photographed by the camera 20, the image information is stored in the memory or the storage section in the control section of the personal computer 50 and read into the personal computer 50 (S20).

Then, when the image information of the sole S is read into the controller, the controller performs a process of extracting the G signal from the RGB signals in the image information (S30). Here, the G signal means a green component image signal, the R signal means a red component image signal, and the B signal means a blue component image signal.

Then, as described above, along with the extraction of the G signal, the control unit performs signal smoothing processing for removing unnecessary signals, signal filtering processing for extracting signals of a specific frequency, periodic Various types of information processing such as peak detection processing for detecting the peak of the signal that changes to 1 is performed (S40).

Then, the control unit performs various types of information processing on the extracted G signal, and based on the information obtained therefrom, for example, calculates biological information such as the pulse wave of the subject, and also calculates the subject from the image of the sole S. It is also designed to measure the state of blood flow in the body (S50). The display 52 displays data related to biological information such as the calculated pulse wave.

As described above, the contact plate 32 that comes into contact with the portion of the sole S is composed of two upper and lower layers of a thermoplastic elastomer having flexibility and an acrylic plate having a certain hardness, and the foot F is placed on the contact plate 32. Since the contact plate 32 is compressed and deformed into a shape corresponding to the unevenness of the sole surface, it is possible to bring the entire area of the sole S including the arch of the foot into close contact with the surface of the contact plate 32 (upper layer portion 32a). can. As a result, the light L of the LED lamp 40 entering the contact plate 32 can be applied to the entire area of the sole S including the arch of the foot. can be displayed, and a clear image of the entire area of the sole S can be acquired (photographed). For example, if the contact plate is composed only of a non-flexible material such as a glass plate, the contact plate cannot be brought into close contact with the portion of the foot sole S such as the arch of the foot because the shape of the contact plate does not change. . Therefore, it is difficult to obtain a clear image of the part, and it becomes difficult to obtain biological information of the subject from the arch of the foot or the like. However, by configuring the contact plate 32 as described above, it is possible to calculate the biometric information of the subject even at the arch of the foot. That is, the image of the sole S can be acquired without being affected by the shape of the sole S, and the biological information of the subject can be acquired based on the image.

Further, since the lower layer portion 32b of the contact plate 32 is made of an acrylic plate having a certain hardness, the flexible upper layer portion 32a can be supported. As a result, not only when only the foot F is placed on the contact plate 32, but also when the contact plate 32 is subjected to a large pressure, such as when a person stands on the contact plate 32, the sole S can be photographed. Also, when the sole S is brought into contact with the contact plate 32, pressure is easily applied to the skin portion of the sole S. As a result, it becomes easier to change how the pressure is applied to the skin portion of the sole S, and it becomes easier to measure the state of change in blood flow.

Moreover, since the upper layer portion 32a is made of a thermoplastic elastomer, the manufacturing cost of the contact plate 32 can be reduced as compared with the case where the upper layer portion 32a is made of a thermosetting elastomer such as rubber. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the whole biometric information acquisition device 1 itself can also be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the G signal is extracted from the photographed image of the sole S, and various types of information processing such as smoothing, filtering, and peak detection are performed on the G signal. etc., but it is not limited to this. For example, the photographed image of the sole S is separated into each image of a melanin image representing the melanin component contained in the skin, a hemoglobin image contained in the skin, and a shadow image representing the shade of the skin, and the separated hemoglobin images are obtained. You may make it calculate a pulse wave etc. based on. This is because, as in the present embodiment described above, when the light L incident on the contact plate 32 illuminates the sole S, the light does not uniformly hit the sole S, so the light is not directly applied to the sole S. Spots of bright and dark spots (hereinafter referred to as spots of light) are more likely to occur on the sole S than in the case of direct illumination. However, even if a spot of light occurs on the sole S, the effect of the spot of light on the image can be suppressed by separating the image into the above three images and removing the shadow image from the three images. Biometric information can be acquired based on the image.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, the main body portion 10 is configured by the bottom plate portion 11 and the pillar portions 12 made up of four pillars, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it may be composed of a bottom plate and four wall plates. That is, any device may be used as long as the RGB camera 20 can be placed thereon and the mounting portion 30 and the lighting portion 40 can be supported.

Further, in the present embodiment, the placing portion 30 for placing the foot is composed of the frame portion 31 and the contact plate 32, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the mounting section 30 may be configured with only the contact plate 32 .

In addition, in the present embodiment, the lighting section 40 is provided on the rear side of the contact plate 32 (upper layer section 32a), but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the lighting units 40 may be provided on the front side of the contact plate 32 (upper layer 32a) or on the front, rear, left and right side of the contact plate 32 (upper layer 32a). In other words, any place may be used as long as the light L can enter the contact plate 32 .

Further, in the present embodiment, two cameras 20a and 20b are arranged, and the sole S of the left foot LF is photographed by the first RGB camera 20a, and the sole S of the right foot RF is photographed by the second RGB camera 20b. Although it was made to shoot with , it is not limited to this. For example, one camera may photograph the soles S of the right foot RF and the left foot LF. In other words, any camera may be used as long as it can photograph the sole S, and the number of cameras and their positions can be freely set.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, the upper layer portion 32a is made of a thermoplastic elastomer, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the upper layer portion 32a may be made of a thermosetting elastomer, or may be made of polymer network gel, polyacrylate, water, or the like in a transparent bag. That is, any material may be used as long as it is transparent and compressively deforms into a shape corresponding to the unevenness of the sole S according to the pressure from the sole S.

Further, in the present embodiment, the upper layer 32a is made of a thermoplastic elastomer having flexibility and elasticity, and when the foot F is placed on the contact plate 32 (upper layer 32a), it is compressed and deformed according to the shape of the sole. However, when the foot is removed from the contact plate 32, the surface of the contact plate 32 is restored to its original planar shape, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, even if the foot F leaves the contact plate 32 (upper layer portion 32a) that has been compressed and deformed into a shape corresponding to the sole S, the surface of the contact plate 32 may not restore its original planar shape. That is, once compression deformation is performed, the shape may be maintained.

Further, in the present embodiment, the contact portion 32 that contacts the sole S is configured in a plate shape, but the configuration is not limited to this. For example, the contact portion may be spherical. That is, any shape may be used as long as it can come into contact with the sole S of the foot.

Moreover, although the lower layer portion 32b is made of an acrylic plate in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the lower layer portion 32b may be made of a transparent glass plate. That is, any material may be used as long as it has a certain hardness and can support the foot F (upper layer portion 32 a ) when the foot F is placed on the contact plate 32 .

Moreover, in the present embodiment, the contact plate 32 is composed of two layers of a thermoplastic elastomer and an acrylic plate, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the contact plate 32 may be composed of three layers, such as an upper layer made of a thermoplastic elastomer, an intermediate layer made of a glass plate, and a lower layer made of an acrylic plate. That is, as long as the surface of the contact plate 32 deforms into a shape corresponding to the sole S, the contact plate 32 may be composed of any number of layers.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, the illumination unit 40 is configured by an LED lamp that emits visible light, but the configuration is not limited to this. For example, the illumination unit 40 may be configured with a lamp that emits light having a wavelength different from that of visible light, such as an ultraviolet lamp that emits ultraviolet rays or an infrared lamp that emits infrared rays.

Further, in the present embodiment, the RGB camera 20 is configured to photograph the sole S, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the sole S may be photographed with an infrared camera or the like. That is, any device may be used as long as it can acquire an image of the sole S placed on the contact plate 32 .

Further, in the present embodiment, the pulse wave is calculated based on the image of the sole S as the biometric information, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, oxygen saturation in blood may be calculated using the difference in absorption wavelength between oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin in the near-infrared region. In other words, any information may be used as long as it relates to the biological information of the subject.

Further, in the present embodiment, the sole S is brought into contact with the contact plate 32 and the biological information of the subject is calculated based on the image of the sole S, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the biometric information of the subject may be calculated based on the image of the skin of the forehead or chest. That is, it may be any part of the body as long as it is a skin part.

Further, in the present embodiment, biometric information of a person who is a subject is obtained from the sole S of the person's foot as the skin portion, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, biometric information of animals other than humans, such as chimpanzees and mice, may be obtained from the skin of the animals.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the biological information acquisition device 1 is placed on the floor or the like, and the foot F is placed on the placing portion 30 so that the sole S is brought into contact with the contact plate 32, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the biometric information of the subject may be calculated by bringing the skin of the forehead or chest into contact with the contact plate 32 while holding the biometric information acquisition device 1 in the hand.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, the four corners of the frame portion 31 are directly supported by the four pillars 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d forming the pillar portion 12, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, load cells (load transducers) 60 for converting loads into electric signals may be provided between the columns 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the frame portion 31, respectively. Thus, by providing the load cell 60 under the frame portion 31, when the foot F is placed on the placement portion 30 (contact plate 32), the load (pressure) that the contact plate 32 receives from the foot F is measured. be able to. Thereby, for example, when measuring the state of blood flow in the sole S, the blood flow state can be measured while calculating the pressure applied to the sole S. The load cell 60 may be provided at any location as long as the pressure from the foot F in contact with the contact plate 32 can be measured.

[Second embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10. FIG. However, regarding the second embodiment described below, only differences from the already described first embodiment will be described. It shall be.

(Configuration of biological information acquisition device)
As in the biological information acquisition device 1 according to the first embodiment described above, the biological information acquisition device 1A according to the second embodiment includes a main body 10, an image It comprises an information acquisition section 20 , a placement section 30 , an illumination section 40 and a biological information acquisition section 50 . However, as shown in FIG. 9B, the contact plate 33 constituting the mounting portion 30 of the biological information acquisition device 1A is made only of thermoplastic elastomer, unlike the biological information acquisition device 1 described above. That is, the contact plate 33 of the second embodiment is composed of only one layer of thermoplastic elastomer.

(Operation of biological information acquisition device)
Next, the operation of the biological information acquisition device 1A when the biological information acquisition device 1A is operated to acquire the biological information of the subject will be described.

In the biometric information acquiring apparatus 1A as well, the skin part to be photographed is brought into contact with the surface of the contact plate 33 in order to photograph the skin part with the camera 20 (S10 in FIG. 5). In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the case where the skin portion of the arm (forearm) A is brought into contact with the contact plate 33 will be described as an example.

When the forearm A is brought into contact with the surface of the contact plate 33 , the weight of the subject, for example, applied to the forearm A is transmitted to the contact plate 33 as pressure pushing the contact plate 33 . As described above, the contact plate 33 is composed of only one layer of flexible thermoplastic elastomer. Therefore, when receiving pressure from the forearm A, the contact plate 33 bends so that the surface of the contact plate 33 in contact with the forearm A follows the skin portion of the forearm A, as shown in FIG. That is, the contact plate 33 is such that the surface side of the contact plate 33 that contacts the skin portion of the forearm A deforms into a shape corresponding to the curved surface of the forearm A. As shown in FIG.

Then, on the back side of the contact plate 33, the skin portion of the forearm A, which is in contact with the surface of the contact plate 33 due to the light L incident on the contact plate 33, is projected so as to be lifted. By photographing the relevant portion with the camera 20 and performing various information processing on the photographed image information, the biological information of the subject is calculated (S20 to 50 in FIG. 5).

As described above, the contact plate 33 is composed only of a flexible thermoplastic elastomer, and the entire contact plate 33 including its surface bends along the curved surface of the forearm A according to the pressure from the forearm A. Therefore, a wide skin portion of the forearm A can be brought into close contact with the surface of the contact plate 33 . As a result, the camera 20 can photograph a wide skin portion of the forearm A, and biometric information of the subject can be obtained from the skin portion of the forearm A. For example, if the contact plate 33 is made of an inflexible glass plate or the like, its shape cannot be changed according to the curved surface of the skin of the forearm A. Therefore, with the glass plate, the area of the skin portion of the forearm A that can be brought into contact with the contact plate 33 is limited (narrowed). However, by configuring the contact plate 33 as described above, the skin portion of the forearm A can be brought into close contact with the surface of the contact plate 33 over a wide area, and biological information of the subject can be acquired from the image of the skin portion of the forearm A. can do.

In addition, since the contact plate 33 is composed of only one layer of thermoplastic elastomer, the contact is greater than when the contact plate 33 is composed of, for example, a glass plate or when the contact plate 33 is composed of a plurality of layers made of a plurality of substances. The weight of the plate 33 itself can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the contact plate 33 can also be reduced. As a result, the overall weight of the biometric information acquisition device 1A can be reduced, so that, for example, the physical burden of touching the contact plate 33 with the skin while the biometric information acquisition device 1A is lifted can be reduced. In addition, the manufacturing cost of the biological information acquisition device 1A can be reduced.

Although the contact plate 33 is made of a thermoplastic elastomer in the present embodiment, it is not limited to this. As in the first embodiment described above, for example, the contact plate 33 is made of a thermosetting elastomer, or the contact is made by putting polymer network gel, polyacrylate, water, or the like in a transparent bag. A plate 33 may be configured. That is, any material may be used as long as it has transparency and deforms into a shape corresponding to the pressure from the forearm A when the forearm A contacts the contact plate 33 .

Also in the biological information acquiring apparatus 1A according to the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, for example, a load is applied between the pillars 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the frame 31. A signal-changing load cell (load transducer) 60 may be provided for each

Although the present invention has been described in the above embodiment, it is not limited to this. Modifications, changes, and changes in combinations of constituent elements are possible within the scope of achieving the object of the present invention.

S sole (skin part)
A forearm (skin part)
1, 1A biological information acquisition device 20 RGB camera (image information acquisition unit)
32, 33 Contact portion 40 LED lamp (illumination portion)

Claims (3)

a transparent contact portion that contacts the skin portion of the body and deforms into a shape corresponding to the shape of the skin portion according to the pressure received from the skin portion when in contact with the skin portion;
an illumination unit that irradiates light of a specific wavelength into the contact portion;
An image information acquisition unit that acquires image information of the skin portion that is in contact with the contact portion on which light from the illumination unit is incident,
A biological information acquisition device for acquiring biological information of a subject based on the image information of the skin portion acquired by the image information acquiring unit,
A load cell for measuring the load applied to the contact portion when the contact portion contacts the skin portion ,
The contact portion is formed from a plurality of layers with different flexibility,
The illumination unit causes light of the specific wavelength to enter the contact portion from a position of a layer in contact with the skin portion, among a plurality of layers of the contact portion.
A biological information acquisition device characterized by: a biological information acquisition unit that acquires biological information of the subject based on the image information of the skin portion;
The biological information acquisition unit separates the image information of the skin portion into each image of a melanin image representing melanin components in the skin, a hemoglobin image representing hemoglobin components in the skin, and a shadow image representing shadows of the skin, and separates the images. obtaining biometric information of the subject based on the hemoglobin image among the obtained images;
2. The biometric information acquisition device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The contact portion retains the deformed shape when deformed into a shape corresponding to the shape of the skin portion according to the pressure received from the contacted skin portion.
3. The biological information acquisition device according to claim 1, wherein:

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