JP7668619B2 - Health support device, health support system, and health support method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a health support device, a health support system, and a health support method.

As the aging society advances, there is a demand for support to extend healthy lifespan so that individuals can stay healthy for as long as possible. Diet has a large impact on maintaining health. For this reason, there are devices that provide advice on diet to maintain health (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-221637 A

To maintain good health, in addition to the content of your diet, it is also important to have good oral function for eating. If oral function declines, your chewing function will decline and you will tend to eat soft foods, which may lead to a decrease in appetite and malnutrition.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a health support device, a health support system, and a health support method that can support health by providing useful information about eating tailored to each individual.

One aspect of the present invention is a health support device that includes an estimation unit that estimates a meal menu based on image data of a user's meal, a chewing evaluation unit that acquires a chewing evaluation value that corresponds to the menu estimated by the estimation unit and indicates the frequency of chewing, and an information provision unit that provides information based on the chewing evaluation value.

One aspect of the present invention is the health support device described above, in which the chewing evaluation unit calculates a total chewing evaluation value that indicates the number of chews required to eat the meal based on the chewing evaluation value corresponding to the estimated menu.

One aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned health support device, further comprising an acquisition unit that acquires food intake information indicating the food ingredients or food categories used in the menu estimated by the estimation unit, a determination unit that determines one or both of the nutrient sufficiency and food intake diversity score sufficiency for a dietary intake goal based on the food intake information acquired by the acquisition unit, and a diet evaluation unit that evaluates a diet using the chewing evaluation value and the sufficiency.

One aspect of the present invention is the health support device described above, in which the diet evaluation unit evaluates the user's diet using the chewing evaluation value and the satisfaction state based on the image data, and information about the user's body.

One aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned health support device, in which the information about the living body includes one or more of the following information: weight, appetite, height, body mass index, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, and lean body mass.

One aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned health support device, further comprising a receiving unit that receives the image data from a terminal device used by the user, and the information providing unit comprises a returning unit that returns to the terminal device one or both of the total chewing evaluation value based on the image data received by the receiving unit and the evaluation result by the diet evaluation unit.

One aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned health support device, further comprising a storage unit that stores, for each user, historical information indicating a history of at least a portion of the image data, the overall chewing evaluation value, the satisfaction state, and the evaluation results by the diet evaluation unit, and the information providing unit comprises an information output unit that outputs one or both of information for an individual user obtained from the historical information and information regarding a plurality of users.

One aspect of the present invention is the health support device described above, in which the user-specific information output by the information output unit includes at least one of the image data, the number of times the image data is received, information based on the overall chewing evaluation value in time series, the satisfaction status in time series, and the evaluation result in time series.

One aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned health support device, further comprising an advice selection unit that selects advice information based on information obtained from the user's history information, and the information output unit outputs the advice information selected by the advice selection unit.

One aspect of the present invention is the health support device described above, in which the advice selection unit selects advice information based on information obtained from the user's history information and information about the user's body.

One aspect of the present invention is the health support device described above, in which the information about the living body used by the advice selection unit is one or both of weight information and appetite information.

One aspect of the present invention is the health support device described above, in which the chewing evaluation value and the total chewing evaluation value indicate one of a number of stages corresponding to the number of chews.

One aspect of the present invention is the health support device described above, in which the chewing evaluation value corresponding to the menu is based on one or more of the number of chews measured for the menu, the hardness of the ingredients included in the menu, the cutting method of the ingredients included in the menu, and the cooking method of the menu.

One aspect of the present invention is a health support system having an estimation unit that estimates a meal menu based on image data of a user's meal, a chewing evaluation unit that acquires a chewing evaluation value corresponding to the menu estimated by the estimation unit, the chewing evaluation value indicating the number of chews, and an information provision unit that provides information based on the chewing evaluation value.

One aspect of the present invention is a health support method executed by a health support device, the health support method having an estimation step of estimating a meal menu based on image data of a user's meal, a chewing evaluation step of acquiring a chewing evaluation value corresponding to the menu estimated in the estimation step, the chewing evaluation value indicating the number of chews, and an information provision step of providing information based on the chewing evaluation value.

This invention makes it possible to provide useful information about eating tailored to each individual to support health.

1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a health support system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of menu-specific chewing value information according to the embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of history information according to the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of advice selection information according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operation of the health support system according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the operation of the health support system according to the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a screen displayed on a terminal device according to the embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a screen displayed on a terminal device according to the embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a health support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The health support system 1 shown in the figure includes a health support device 2, a terminal device 3, and a terminal device 4. The health support device 2, the terminal device 3, and the terminal device 4 are each connected to a network 9. The network 9 is a communication network including a public network such as the Internet, an intranet, a LAN (Local Area Network), and a private network such as a dedicated line. The health support device 2 and the terminal device 3, and the health support device 2 and the terminal device 4 transmit and receive data via the network 9. Although one each of the terminal device 3 and the terminal device 4 are shown in the figure, the number of the terminal devices 3 and the number of the terminal devices 4 are arbitrary.

For example, a business providing a health support service owns a health support device 2. A user uses a terminal device 3, and an advice provider who gives advice to the user uses a terminal device 4. Examples of users include, but are not limited to, patients at dental clinics, hospitals, clinics, etc., patients with oral hypofunction, patients with oral developmental deficiencies, elderly people, people who are concerned about the decline or development of oral function, people who want to prevent the decline of oral function, and people who want to promote the development of oral function. Advice providers include, but are not limited to, dental clinics, hospitals including oral surgery, non-dental hospitals and clinics, organizations that provide health guidance in local governments, etc. The following describes an example in which the user is a patient at a dental clinic and the advice provider is a dental clinic.

The user transmits meal image data, which is image data obtained by photographing a meal using the terminal device 3, to the health support device 2. The health support device 2 estimates a meal menu based on the meal image data and obtains a chewing evaluation value corresponding to the estimated menu. The chewing evaluation value corresponding to the menu indicates the number of chews required to eat the food of that menu. The health support device 2 calculates a total chewing evaluation value, which is a comprehensive chewing evaluation value for one photographed meal, based on the chewing evaluation value for each menu. The total chewing evaluation value indicates the number of chews required to eat a meal of the estimated menu. Furthermore, the health support device 2 calculates a dietary diversity score (DVS) and the intake of various nutrients for the meal of the estimated menu, and calculates the satisfaction level for these goals.

Each time the health support device 2 receives meal image data from the terminal device 3, it feeds back to the terminal device 3 an evaluation of the meal based on the chewing evaluation value, the satisfaction level of the DVS, the satisfaction level of various nutrients, etc. The overall chewing evaluation value, which is one piece of information based on the chewing evaluation value, may be used to evaluate the meal. In this way, by providing feedback each time the user sends meal image data, it is possible to motivate the user to strive to eat meals that will be well evaluated. Furthermore, the feedback allows the user to enjoy what kind of evaluation they will receive in a game-like manner, thereby encouraging them to continue sending meal image data.

The health support device 2 stores history information indicating each user's meal image data, total mastication evaluation value, DVS satisfaction status, various nutrient satisfaction status, dietary evaluation, etc. The health support device 2 further stores each user's biometric information such as weight and appetite. The health support device 2 acquires information used by the dental clinic to provide advice on eating to the user based on information obtained from the history information, and transmits it to the terminal device 4. The information provided to the dental clinic includes information based on the total mastication evaluation value in time series, the DVS satisfaction status in time series, the various nutrient satisfaction status in time series, and the weight and appetite in time series. The information provided to the dental clinic further includes advice based on the total mastication evaluation value, the DVS satisfaction status, the various nutrient satisfaction status, the recent values and time series changes of weight and appetite. The dental clinic refers to the information received by the terminal device 4 to explain oral function and diet to the user and provide advice. This allows users to receive advice from dental clinics on how to improve their oral function and how to eat a balanced diet, which can be used to maintain and improve their health. In addition, this can increase the added value of the dental clinic owned by the user, and support users in continuing to use the dental clinic on a regular basis.

The configuration of each device will be described.
Health support device 2 is realized by a computer device such as a server computer. Health support device 2 includes a communication unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a processing unit 23. Communication unit 21 transmits and receives information via network 9.

The memory unit 22 stores various information. The memory unit 22 stores menu-specific chewing value information, menu-specific classification information, nutrient information, user management information, history information, biological information, advice provider information, and advice selection information.

The menu-specific chewing value information indicates the chewing evaluation value of each menu. The menu-specific classification information indicates the food classification to which the ingredients used in each menu belong. The food classification indicates the classification of food for calculating DVS. The food classification includes seafood, meat, eggs, milk, soy products, green and yellow vegetables, seaweed, potatoes, fruits, and oils and fats. Seafood, meat, eggs, milk, and soy products are classified into the protein group, green and yellow vegetables and seaweed into the vitamin and mineral group, and potatoes, fruits, and oils and fats into the energy group. The memory unit 22 may store menu-specific ingredient information instead of or in addition to the menu-specific classification information. The menu-specific ingredient information indicates the ingredients used in each menu and their amounts. The nutrient information indicates the nutrients contained in each menu or each ingredient and their amounts. The nutrients are energy, protein, lipids, carbohydrates, various vitamins, various minerals, dietary fiber, cholesterol, salt, etc.

The user management information includes information such as the user ID and name of the user, and the address of the user's terminal device 3. The history information indicates the user ID, meal image data of each meal, the chewing evaluation value of each menu included in the meal, the total chewing evaluation value, the DVS satisfaction status, the satisfaction status of various nutrients, and the evaluation of the meal. The biological information indicates information about the user's biological body, and includes information such as the user ID, sex, date of birth, weight, appetite, height, body mass index (BMI), body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, and fat-free mass. Age information is obtained from the date of birth information. Age is also one of the information about the user's biological body. The weight, appetite, height, BMI, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, and fat-free mass information included in the biological information may be time-series information associated with information on the date and time when each of these pieces of information was obtained. In this embodiment, the biological information includes weight history information, which is time-series weight information, and appetite history information, which is time-series appetite information. The weight history information includes information that associates the date and time with the weight. The appetite history information includes information that associates the date and time with the appetite information felt by the user. The appetite information is indicated, for example, by one of several stages ranging from "very strong appetite" to "no appetite." The advice provider information indicates information such as the ID of the advice provider and the name and contact information of the advice provider. The advice provider may be a dental clinic, hospital, medical clinic, or an organization that provides health guidance in a local government or other institution that provides advice to the user.

The advice selection information is information that associates advice selection conditions with advice to be given to the user when the selection conditions are met. The advice selection conditions may use information obtained from history information or information obtained from biometric information. The advice selection conditions may also use information on the date and time when the advice is to be given.

The processing unit 23 includes a receiving unit 231, an estimation unit 232, a chewing evaluation unit 233, an acquisition unit 234, and a determination unit 235, which includes a meal evaluation unit 236, an information update unit 237, an advice selection unit 238, and an information provision unit 239.

The receiving unit 231 receives meal image data from the terminal device 3. The receiving unit 231 also receives an information request from the terminal device 4. The estimating unit 232 estimates a meal menu based on the meal image data. Any conventional technology can be used for estimating the meal menu. The chewing evaluation unit 233 obtains the chewing evaluation value of each menu estimated by the estimating unit 232 from the menu-specific chewing value information. The chewing evaluation unit 233 calculates a total chewing evaluation value for the meal based on the chewing evaluation value of each menu included in the meal. In this embodiment, the chewing evaluation value and the total chewing evaluation value indicate which of multiple stages corresponding to the number of chews is present.

The acquisition unit 234 acquires the food classification of the ingredients used in each menu estimated by the estimation unit 232 from the menu-specific classification information, and sets the food intake information as the food intake information. The acquisition unit 234 may acquire the ingredients used in each menu estimated by the estimation unit 232 and their amounts from the menu-specific ingredient information, and may sum up the amounts acquired for each ingredient as the food intake information.

The determination unit 235 determines the DVS and the sufficiency of the DVS based on the food category indicated by the food intake information or the food category to which the food ingredient indicated by the food intake information belongs. The determination unit 235 may determine the sufficiency of various nutrients instead of or in addition to the DVS and the sufficiency. The determination unit 235 obtains the nutrients and their amounts corresponding to each menu from the nutrient information and sums up the amounts of the nutrients for each nutrient. The determination unit 235 compares the total amount and the target intake amount for each nutrient to determine the sufficiency of each nutrient. Alternatively, the determination unit 235 refers to the nutrients and their amounts for each food ingredient indicated by the nutrient information and calculates the intake amount of each nutrient according to the food ingredient and its amount indicated by the food intake information. The determination unit 235 compares the total intake amount for each nutrient with the target intake amount to determine the sufficiency of each nutrient.

The meal evaluation unit 236 evaluates the meal using the total mastication evaluation value and the satisfaction level determined by the determination unit 235. For this satisfaction level, one or both of the DVS satisfaction level and the satisfaction level of various nutrients are used. In addition to the total mastication evaluation value and the satisfaction level, the meal evaluation unit 236 may further use information about the user's body in order to evaluate the user's meal. This information about the body includes at least one or more pieces of information obtained from the biometric information, including weight, appetite, height, BMI, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, and lean body mass.

The information update unit 237 updates the history information and biometric information of each user. The advice selection unit 238 selects advice information based on information obtained from the user's history information. The advice selection unit 238 may select advice information using information about the user's biometrics in addition to or instead of the information obtained from the user's history information. The biometric information used by the advice selection unit 238 includes one or both of weight and appetite. In addition, other information obtained from the biometric information, such as gender and age, may be used as the biometric information used by the advice selection unit 238.

The information providing unit 239 provides information based on the chewing evaluation value, the DVS satisfaction status, and the sufficiency status of various nutrients to the terminal device 3 and the terminal device 4. The information providing unit 239 has a return unit 241 and an information output unit 242. The return unit 241 returns to the terminal device 3 one or both of the total chewing evaluation value based on the meal image data received by the receiving unit 231 and the evaluation result by the meal evaluation unit 236. The information output unit 242 outputs one or both of the user-specific information obtained from the history information and information about multiple users. The output destination is the terminal device 4, but it may also be output to the terminal device 3. The user-specific information output by the information output unit 242 includes at least one of the meal image data, the number of times the meal image data is received, information based on the time-series total chewing evaluation value, the time-series DVS satisfaction status, the time-series nutrient satisfaction status, and the time-series meal evaluation result. Furthermore, the information output unit 242 outputs information on the advice selected by the advice selection unit 238. The information on the multiple users is, for example, the average value of the total chewing evaluation value, the DVS satisfaction status, and the nutrient satisfaction status of all users or users belonging to a specific group. The information output unit 242 determines the users belonging to a specific group based on, for example, the total chewing evaluation value.

The terminal device 3 is a computer device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a personal computer. The terminal device 3 includes a communication unit 31, an input unit 32, an imaging unit 33, a display unit 34, and a processing unit 35. The communication unit 31 transmits and receives information via the network 9. The input unit 32 is configured using existing input devices such as a button, a touch panel, a keyboard, and a mouse. The input unit 32 is operated by a user when inputting the user's instructions to the terminal device 3. The imaging unit 33 is a camera that captures images. The display unit 34 is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The processing unit 35 performs processing to transmit and receive information via the communication unit 31 and processing to display data on the display unit 34 according to instructions input by the input unit 32.

The terminal device 4 is a computer device such as a tablet terminal or a personal computer. The terminal device 4 includes a communication unit 41, an input unit 42, a display unit 43, and a processing unit 44. The communication unit 41 transmits and receives information via the network 9. The input unit 42 is configured using existing input devices such as a button, a touch panel, a keyboard, and a mouse. The input unit 42 is operated by a user of the terminal device 4 when inputting instructions from the user to the terminal device 4. The display unit 43 is an image display device such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display. The processing unit 44 performs a process of transmitting and receiving information via the communication unit 41 and a process of displaying data on the display unit 43 according to the instructions input by the input unit 42. The processing unit 44 also performs a process of instructing the printing device 5 to print information.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of menu-specific chewing value information. The menu-specific chewing value information shown in the figure is information that associates menus with chewing evaluation values. In the figure, the chewing evaluation values are expressed in three stages, "◎", "◯", and "△", in order of the number of chews. The number of stages is arbitrary. The chewing evaluation value of each menu is determined based on the measurement value of the ingredients or each menu. Specifically, the number of chews that experimental participants of different ages and genders chewed from the time they put a mouthful of food (dish) of the menu for which the chewing evaluation value is to be determined until they swallow it is measured a predetermined number of times, and the chewing evaluation value is determined based on the measurement value. The amount of food in one mouthful is about one curry spoon. As a result of such measurements, it was shown that the number of chews varies not only depending on the hardness of the ingredients themselves, but also on the way the ingredients are cut and cooked. Therefore, the mastication evaluation value of a menu item for which no measurement has been performed may be determined based on the ingredients that have actually been measured, the hardness and cutting method of the ingredients, and the cooking method for each menu item. In this way, the mastication evaluation value of a menu item is based on the actual measurement value (actual measurement value) of the number of chews when eating the food of that menu item, or on one or more of the hardness of the ingredients included in that menu item, the cutting method of the ingredients included in that menu item, and the cooking method for that menu item.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of history information. The history information shown in the figure includes a user ID and one or more pieces of meal information. The meal information includes a date and time, meal image data captured on that date and time, a chewing evaluation value for each meal menu estimated based on the meal image data, and an estimated total chewing evaluation value, DVS satisfaction status, nutrient satisfaction status, and evaluation for that meal.

The DVS sufficiency status indicates the score for each food category, the score for each food group and the percentage of the target score, and the DVS and the percentage of the target DVS. For example, the score for each food category is expressed as 1 if the meal contains ingredients of that food category, and 0 if not. The score for each food group is the sum of the scores of the food categories contained in that food group. The DVS is the sum of the scores of each food group. In a radar chart, the area of a polygon obtained by connecting the percentage of the target score for each food category or food group of the user may be divided by the area of the polygon when the score for all food categories or food groups is 100% of the intake target, to obtain the DVS sufficiency status. The nutrient sufficiency status is indicated by the intake amount for each nutrient and the percentage of the target intake. The nutrient sufficiency status may be expressed by which stage the nutrient is in when the percentage of the target intake is divided into stages. The target intake amount can be the intake amount for any period, for example, one meal, one day, the past 30 days, or six months. Alternatively, it can be the target intake amount for the period from the start of recording food to the present. The start of recording food is obtained from the oldest date and time information set in the history information.

In addition, the target score for each food group, the target DVS, and the target nutrient intake may be common to age, sex, weight, and height, or may correspond to one or more of age, sex, weight, and height, or may be for the well-chewing group. Users belonging to the well-chewing group may be selected based on the total chewing evaluation value set in the history information. For example, the determination unit 235 determines that a user who has a predetermined or higher percentage of "◎" in the total chewing evaluation value of meals in a specified period belongs to the well-chewing group. Alternatively, the determination unit 235 may determine that a user who has a predetermined or higher average total chewing evaluation value of meals in a specified period belongs to the well-chewing group when the total chewing evaluation values of "◎", "◯", and "△" are set to "3 points", "2 points", and "1 point", respectively. In this case, the determination unit 235 calculates the average of the score for each food group, the DVS, and the nutrient intake set in the diet information for the above-mentioned specified period of each user belonging to the well-chewing group as the target.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of advice selection information. Advice selection information is information that associates advice selection conditions with advice to the user when the selection conditions are met. The selection conditions can use any information obtained from history information and information about the user's body. In the figure, the selection conditions are set for each category, but any combination of information from multiple categories may be used as the selection conditions. Examples of information used for the selection conditions are shown below.

(1) The average of the total chewing evaluation value in the most recent specified period (e.g., 30 days), the percentage of the specified total chewing evaluation value, and the number of specified total chewing evaluation values. The average of the total chewing evaluation value for each period (e.g., every month), the percentage of the specified total chewing evaluation value, and the change over time in the number of specified total chewing evaluation values.
(2) Variation in the overall chewing evaluation value in the most recent specified period, and change over time in the variation in the overall chewing evaluation value for each period.
(3) The number or percentage of menu items with a specified chewing evaluation value in meals during a specified most recent period, or the change over time in the number or percentage of menu items with a specified chewing evaluation value in meals for each period.
(4) Time series changes in the balance of the most recent meal or the balance of the meal over a period of time. The balance of the meal is shown by food classification, food group, DVS, nutrients, and the sufficiency of these. The sufficiency may be compared with a group of users who chew well, or may be compared with the average of all users.
(5) Appetite for a recent specified period and changes in appetite over time for each period.
(6) Comparison with ideal weight and changes over time, such as weight gain or loss.
(7) The number of times meals were recorded during a recent specified period, the number of consecutive days for which recording was performed, and changes over time in the number of times meals were recorded during each period. Note that recording meals corresponds to transmitting meal image data from the terminal device 3 to the health support device 2.
(8) The date and time when the advice was selected.
(9) Recent values and changes over time of height, BMI, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, and lean mass.

Next, the operation of the health support system 1 will be described. Note that the processing unit 23 of the health support device 2 transmits and receives data via the communication unit 21, the processing unit 35 of the terminal device 3 transmits and receives data via the communication unit 31, and the processing unit 44 of the terminal device 4 transmits and receives data via the communication unit 41, but the description of these will be omitted below.

Figure 5 is a diagram showing the operation of the health support system 1 when a user transmits meal image data. The user operates the input unit 32 of the terminal device 3 to capture a picture of the meal using the imaging unit 33. The processing unit 35 of the terminal device 3 transmits the meal image data captured by the imaging unit 33 and the user ID to the health support device 2 in accordance with instructions input by the user using the input unit 32. The processing unit 35 of the terminal device 3 may further transmit biological information, such as weight and appetite, input by the user using the input unit 32 to the health support device 2.

The receiving unit 231 of the health support device 2 receives the meal image data and the user ID transmitted from the terminal device 3 (step S105). The receiving unit 231 identifies the history information by the user ID. The receiving unit 231 also reads the date of birth from the biometric information identified by the user ID, and calculates the age from the date of birth. The estimation unit 232 analyzes the meal image data received by the receiving unit 231 in step S105, and estimates the meal menu (step S110). The chewing evaluation unit 233 reads the chewing evaluation value corresponding to each menu estimated by the estimation unit 232 in step S110 from the menu-specific chewing value information stored in the memory unit 22 (step S115).

The chewing evaluation unit 233 calculates a total chewing evaluation value based on the chewing evaluation value of each menu read out in step S115 (step S120). For example, the best chewing evaluation value among the chewing evaluation values of each menu may be set as the total chewing evaluation value, the average of the chewing evaluation values of each menu may be set as the total chewing evaluation value, or the total chewing evaluation value may be calculated by adding up the chewing evaluation values of each menu.

For example, the chewing evaluation value is divided into three levels: "◎", "◯", and "△", with "◎" being assigned 3 points, "◯" being assigned 2 points, and "△" being assigned 1 point. Suppose a meal menu consists of rice, miso soup, grilled fish, and cold tofu, with the chewing evaluation value of the rice being "◯", the chewing evaluation value of the miso soup being "◯", the chewing evaluation value of the grilled fish being "◎", and the chewing evaluation value of the cold tofu being "△". When the best chewing evaluation value is set as the overall chewing evaluation value, the chewing evaluation unit 233 sets the overall chewing evaluation value to "◎".

On the other hand, when the average of the chewing evaluation values of each menu is set as the total chewing evaluation value, the chewing evaluation unit 233 calculates the average score as (3 points x 1 + 2 points x 2 + 1 point x 1) / 4 = 2 points. If the average score of the chewing evaluation values is a1 or more, the chewing evaluation unit 233 judges the total chewing evaluation value to be "◎", if it is a2 or more but less than a1, the total chewing evaluation value to be "◯", and if it is less than a2, the total chewing evaluation value to be "△". However, 3 > a1 > a2 > 1. The chewing evaluation unit 233 may multiply the chewing evaluation value of each menu by a coefficient that takes into account the amount of each menu, and calculate the average score of the chewing evaluation values multiplied by the coefficient.

When the total chewing evaluation value is calculated by adding up the chewing evaluation values of each menu, the chewing evaluation unit 233 calculates the total score as (3 points x 1 + 2 points x 2 + 1 point x 1) / 4 = 8 points. If the total score is b1 or more, the chewing evaluation unit 233 determines the total chewing evaluation value as "◎", if the total score is b2 or more but less than b1, the total chewing evaluation value as "◯", and if the total score is less than b2, the total chewing evaluation value as "△". However, b1 > b2 > 1. The chewing evaluation unit 233 may multiply the chewing evaluation value of each menu by a coefficient that takes into account the amount of each menu, and calculate the sum of the chewing evaluation values multiplied by the coefficient.

Next, the acquisition unit 234 acquires the food classification of the ingredients used in each menu estimated by the estimation unit 232 in step S110 from the menu-specific classification information, and sets this as food intake information. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 234 acquires the ingredients used in each menu estimated by the estimation unit 232 and their amounts from the menu-specific ingredient information, and sets the total amount for each ingredient in the food intake information (step S125).

The determination unit 235 determines the DVS sufficiency and nutrient sufficiency based on the food intake information acquired in step S125 (step S130). Specifically, the acquisition unit 234 assigns 1 point if the food intake information indicates that the food has been ingested, and 0 point if the food intake information indicates that the food has not been ingested, and calculates a score by adding up the scores for each food category included in each group for the protein group, vitamin/mineral group, and energy group. The determination unit 235 further calculates the DVS by adding up the scores for the protein group, vitamin/mineral group, and energy group. The determination unit 235 compares the calculated score with the target score for each of the protein group, vitamin/mineral group, energy group, and DVS to determine the sufficiency. The sufficiency may be expressed as a percentage of the target score, or may be expressed by which stage the percentage of the target score is when divided into multiple stages. Alternatively, the state of satiety may be represented by food categories included in the diet and food categories not included in the diet.

The determination unit 235 also refers to the nutrients and their amounts for each ingredient indicated in the nutrient information, calculates the amounts of various nutrients according to the ingredients and their amounts indicated in the food intake information, and calculates the total intake amount by adding up the calculated amounts for each nutrient. The determination unit 235 compares the total intake amount for each nutrient with the target intake amount to determine the sufficiency of various nutrients with respect to the intake target for the meal.

The meal evaluation unit 236 evaluates the user's meal using the total mastication evaluation value calculated in step S120, the sufficiency of each nutrient and the sufficiency of DVS determined in step S130, and one or more pieces of information among the user's weight, appetite, BMI, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, and lean mass (step S135). For example, the meal evaluation unit 236 classifies the user's meal according to the classification conditions indicated by the combination of the total mastication evaluation value, the sufficiency of each nutrient, the sufficiency of DVS, the user's weight, the value representing the user's appetite, and the respective numerical ranges of BMI, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, and lean mass, and sets it as the meal evaluation result. The return unit 241 returns feedback information indicating the total mastication evaluation value and the meal evaluation result to the terminal device 3 (step S140). The feedback information may include past evaluation results obtained from history information. The processing unit 35 of the terminal device 3 displays the received feedback information on the display unit 34.

For example, the processing unit 35 displays on the display unit 34 a screen in which the time series evaluation results using the total chewing evaluation value, DVS, and body weight are mapped onto a plane of two axes, the total chewing evaluation value and DVS. The evaluation results are classified into evaluations A, B1, B2, and C, and the plane onto which the evaluation results are mapped shows areas corresponding to the evaluations A, B1, B2, and C. Evaluation A indicates that a well-balanced diet is consumed and that the food is chewed well. Evaluation B1 indicates that the food is chewed well, but the balance of the diet is not good. Evaluation B2 indicates that the food is balanced, but the food is not chewed well. Evaluation D indicates that the food is not balanced and that the food is not chewed well. The user aims for evaluation A.

The information update unit 237 adds the meal information to the user's history information (step S145). The meal information includes the image data received in step S105, the chewing evaluation value for each menu read in step S115, the overall chewing evaluation value calculated in step S120, the DVS and nutrient sufficiency determined in step S130, and the meal evaluation result in step S135. The date and time of the meal information may be set to the date and time when the meal image data was received from the terminal device 3, or the photographing date and time assigned to the meal image data. When information about a biological body, such as weight or appetite, is received from the terminal device 3, the information update unit 237 adds the received date and time of the information to the biological information identified by the user ID in association with the received biological information.

Figure 6 is a diagram showing the operation of the health support system 1 when giving advice to a user. Here, it is described that a dental hygienist at a dental clinic gives the advice, but someone other than a dental hygienist may also give the advice to the user. Examples of people other than dental hygienists include, but are not limited to, dentists, dental assistants, other dental medical professionals, doctors, nurses, medical assistants, caregivers, nutritionists, care managers, and social workers.

The processing unit 44 of the terminal device 4 transmits an information request that includes the user ID of the patient user and the ID of the dental clinic to the health support device 2 according to the instructions input by the dental hygienist through the input unit 42. The processing unit 44 of the terminal device 4 may further transmit information about one or more of the user's biological information input by the dental hygienist through the input unit 42 to the health support device 2.

The receiving unit 231 receives an information request from the terminal device 4 (step S205). The receiving unit 231 identifies the history information, biometric information, and user management information stored in the storage unit 22 by the user ID set in the received information request. Furthermore, the receiving unit 231 identifies the advice provider information stored in the storage unit 22 by the clinic ID set in the information request. When the receiving unit 231 receives information about a biometric body from the terminal device 4, the information update unit 237 adds the date and time of reception of the information and the received information about the biometric body to the identified biometric information in association with each other.

The advice selection unit 238 determines whether or not the information obtained based on the history information and biometric information identified by the receiving unit 231 matches each selection condition of the advice selection information stored in the storage unit 22. The advice selection unit 238 reads out advice information associated with the selection condition that is determined to match from the advice selection information (step S210).

The information output unit 242 obtains user-specific information obtained based on the history information and biometric information identified by the receiving unit 231, and statistical information based on the history information and biometric information of multiple users. The information output unit 242 generates provided information indicating the user-specific information, statistical information, a comparison between the user-specific information and the statistical information, and advice information selected by the advice selection unit 238, and transmits the information to the terminal device 4 (step S215). The information output unit 242 may include information such as the user's name read from the user management information, and information such as the name and contact information of the clinic read from the advice provider information in the provided information. The processing unit 44 of the terminal device 4 displays the received provided information on the display unit 43. The processing unit 44 may instruct the printing device 5 to print the provided information. The dental hygienist refers to the provided information displayed on the display unit 43 and the provided information printed by the printing device 5, provides explanations and advice to the user, and encourages the user to record their meals.

The information output unit 242 may transmit the provided information to the terminal device 4 in multiple batches. In this case, which information in the provided information is requested from the terminal device 4 may be set in an information request and transmitted to the health support device 2. The information output unit 242 of the health support device 2 transmits the provided information requested by the information request to the terminal device 4.

Figures 7 and 8 are diagrams showing examples of provided information displayed on the terminal device 4. Screen G1 shown in Figure 7 includes a display of the user's monthly dietary balance, overall chewing evaluation value (munching score), number of photos taken, and changes over time in weight and appetite, as well as a display of a list of advice for the user. The information output unit 242 generates screen data for displaying screen G1 and transmits it to the terminal device 4.

Regarding the dietary balance, the ratio of the user's intake to the intake target of each food category is shown in the figure. Here, the intake target is the average intake of each food category of users who belong to the group who can chew well. The intake amount is shown, for example, as the ratio of meals that include that food category to meals for one month. The information output unit 242 calculates the score of the dietary balance by dividing the area of a polygon obtained by connecting the intake ratio of each food category of the user in the figure by the area of the polygon when the intake of all food categories is 100% of the intake target. The information output unit 242 calculates the score of the dietary balance of the user every month, and sets a graph showing the time series change of the calculated score and a figure showing the dietary balance of the user every month in the provided information. Furthermore, the figure shows the ratio of the average intake of each food category of users who belong to the group who cannot chew to the intake target. Note that users who belong to the group who cannot chew are users whose average total chewing evaluation value of meals in a specified period is below a specified value. In addition, the information output unit 242 converts the chewing evaluation value for each meal menu into a score, calculates a total score for each meal, and calculates the average of these total scores for each month to calculate an overall chewing evaluation to be used in the provided information.

The advice information includes advice A1 based on the number of photos taken, advice A2 about seasonal ingredients based on the current date, advice A3 based on DVS, advice A4 based on the sufficiency of food groups, advice A5 based on the sufficiency of food categories, advice A6 based on the overall chewing evaluation score, and advice A7 based on weight and appetite.

Screen G2 shown in FIG. 8 shows a list of meal image data taken during a specified period. Information on the date and time of shooting is added to each meal image data. The information output unit 242 generates screen data for displaying screen G2 based on the meal image data and date and time information obtained from the user's history information, and transmits it to the terminal device 4. Note that when an operation to select meal image data is performed using the input unit 42 of the terminal device 4, the information output unit 242 may generate screen data so that detailed information added to the selected meal image data is displayed. The detailed information includes one or more of the chewing evaluation value, total chewing evaluation value, DVS satisfaction status, nutrient satisfaction status, and meal evaluation of each menu set in the history information in association with the meal image data.

The advice provider may refer to the provided information of each user transmitted from the health support device 2 in step S215 and transmit advice tailored to each user to the user's terminal device 3. In the above example, the dental hygienist inputs advice for the user through the input unit 42 by referring to the provided information displayed on the display unit 43 of the terminal device 4 or printed by the printing device 5. When the dental hygienist inputs a transmission instruction to the user through the input unit 42, the processing unit 44 transmits advice notification information in which the input advice is set to the health support device 2. The advice notification information may include all or part of the provided information. The provided information included in the advice notification information may be predetermined or may be selected by the dental hygienist through the input unit 42. A user ID may also be added to the advice notification information. The information output unit 242 of the health support device 2 reads an address from the user management information identified in step S205 or the user management information identified by the user ID added to the advice notification information, and transmits the advice notification information to the read address. The processing unit 44 of the terminal device 4 may send the advice notification information directly to the user's address. The processing unit 35 of the user's terminal device 3 displays the advice notification information received from the health support device 2 or the terminal device 4 on the display unit 34.

According to the above-described embodiment, it is possible to provide useful information about eating tailored to each individual user and support their health. Since the deterioration of the nutritional state of the elderly is related to the decline of oral function, it is possible to improve malnutrition and maintain and improve oral function, mainly in elderly users, by providing nutritional information in the dental field. Furthermore, from the perspective of preventing frailty, dental clinics and medical offices can provide dental hygienists, nurses, and other users with information useful for improving their health, which will increase the number of patients visiting the clinic and the frequency of visits, leading to regional collaboration between dental clinics and medical offices, collaboration between medical and dental offices, and increased profits.

The health support device 2 may be a system implemented using multiple computer devices communicatively connected via a network. In this case, it is possible to arbitrarily determine which of the multiple computer devices is used to realize each functional unit of the health support device 2. In addition, the same functional unit may be realized by multiple computer devices.

When the functions of the health support device 2, the terminal device 3, and the terminal device 4 in the above-mentioned embodiment are realized by a computer, a program for realizing the functions may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded in the recording medium may be read into the computer system and executed. Note that the term "computer system" here includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard disks built into the computer system. Furthermore, the term "computer-readable recording medium" may also include a medium that dynamically holds a program for a short period of time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, or a medium that holds a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory inside a computer system that is a server or client in such a case. Furthermore, the above-mentioned program may be a program for realizing part of the above-mentioned functions, or may be a program that can be realized in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

The above describes an embodiment of the present invention in detail with reference to the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

1...health support system, 2...health support device, 3...terminal device, 4...terminal device, 5...printing device, 9...network, 21...communication unit, 22...storage unit, 23...processing unit, 31 communication unit, 32...input unit, 33...imaging unit, 34...display unit, 35...processing unit, 41...communication unit, 42...input unit, 43...display unit, 44...processing unit, 231...receiving unit, 232...estimation unit, 233...chewing evaluation unit, 234...acquisition unit, 235...determination unit, 236...diet evaluation unit, 237...information update unit, 238...advice selection unit, 239...information provision unit, 241...return unit, 242...information output unit

Claims (15)

An estimation unit that estimates a menu of a meal based on image data of the meal of a user;
a chewing evaluation unit that acquires a chewing evaluation value corresponding to each of the menus estimated by the estimation unit, the chewing evaluation value indicating a number of chews, and evaluates whether the meal is a menu meal requiring a large number of chews to be eaten based on the chewing evaluation value acquired corresponding to each of the menus ;
an information providing unit that provides information indicating an evaluation of the meal by the chewing evaluation unit;
A health support device comprising: the chewing evaluation unit calculates a total chewing evaluation value indicating the number of chews required to eat the meal based on the estimated chewing evaluation values corresponding to each of the menus, as the evaluation of whether the meal is a menu that requires a large number of chews to eat.
The health support device according to claim 1 . an acquisition unit that acquires food intake information indicating the classification or ingredients of ingredients used in the menu estimated by the estimation unit;
A determination unit that determines one or both of a nutrient sufficiency status and a food intake diversity score sufficiency status for a dietary intake goal based on the food intake information acquired by the acquisition unit;
a meal evaluation unit that evaluates a meal using the chewing evaluation value and the satisfaction state;
The health support device according to claim 2 , further comprising: the meal evaluation unit evaluates the meal of the user by using the chewing evaluation value and the satisfaction state based on the image data and information related to a biological body of the user.
The health support device according to claim 3. The information on the living body includes one or more of information on weight, appetite, height, body mass index, body fat, skeletal muscle mass, bone mass, and lean body mass.
The health support device according to claim 4. a receiving unit for receiving the image data from a terminal device used by the user,
The information providing unit includes a return unit that returns to the terminal device one or both of the overall mastication evaluation value based on the image data received by the receiving unit and the evaluation result by the meal evaluation unit.
The health support device according to any one of claims 3 to 5. A storage unit is further provided which stores, for each user, history information indicating a history of at least a part of the image data, the overall mastication evaluation value, the satisfaction state, and the evaluation result by the meal evaluation unit,
the information providing unit includes an information output unit that outputs one or both of information about an individual user obtained from the history information and information about a plurality of users;
The health support device according to any one of claims 3 to 6. The information for each user output by the information output unit includes at least one of the image data, the number of times the image data is received, information based on the overall mastication evaluation value in time series, the satisfaction state in time series, and the evaluation result by the meal evaluation unit in time series.
The health support device according to claim 7. An advice selection unit that selects advice information based on information obtained from the user's history information,
The information output unit outputs information on the advice selected by the advice selection unit.
The health support device according to claim 7 or 8. the advice selection unit selects advice information based on information obtained from the history information of the user and information regarding a biological body of the user.
The health support device according to claim 9. The information on the living body used by the advice selection unit is one or both of weight information and appetite information.
The health support device according to claim 10. The chewing evaluation value and the total chewing evaluation value indicate which of a plurality of stages corresponding to the number of chewing times is included.
The health support device according to any one of claims 2 to 11. The chewing evaluation value corresponding to the menu is based on one or more of the number of chews measured for the menu, the hardness of ingredients included in the menu, the cutting method of ingredients included in the menu, and the cooking method of the menu.
The health support device according to any one of claims 2 to 12. An estimation unit that estimates a menu of a meal based on image data of the meal of a user;
a chewing evaluation unit that acquires a chewing evaluation value corresponding to each of the menus estimated by the estimation unit, the chewing evaluation value indicating a number of chews, and evaluates whether the meal is a menu meal requiring a large number of chews to be eaten based on the chewing evaluation value acquired corresponding to each of the menus ;
an information providing unit that provides information indicating an evaluation of the meal by the chewing evaluation unit;
A health support system having the above features. A health support method executed by a health support device, comprising:
an estimation step of estimating a menu of the meal based on image data of the meal of the user;
a chewing evaluation step of acquiring a chewing evaluation value corresponding to each of the menus estimated in the estimation step, the chewing evaluation value indicating a number of chews, and evaluating whether the meal is a menu meal requiring a large number of chews to be eaten based on the chewing evaluation value acquired corresponding to each of the menus ;
an information providing step of providing information indicating an evaluation of the meal in the chewing evaluation step;
A health support method having the above-mentioned features.

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