JP7681830B2 - Oral irrigator, periodontal disease assessment device, periodontal disease assessment system, periodontal disease assessment method, and periodontal disease assessment program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an oral irrigator, a periodontal disease assessment device, a periodontal disease assessment system, a periodontal disease assessment method, and a periodontal disease assessment program.

A system has been proposed that determines the components contained in a user's breath and monitors the user's health condition. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a mobile phone with a function for measuring breath components. The mobile phone disclosed in Patent Document 1 is equipped with a semiconductor gas sensor that is sensitive to components contained in the breath emitted from the human body, and makes it possible to measure the user's bad breath, for example, by the components contained in the breath emitted during a call.

JP 2000-341375 A

Some human bad breath is caused by internal diseases such as periodontal disease and visceral disease, and specific substances are detected in the breath of patients suffering from periodontal disease, visceral disease, and other diseases. Therefore, it is expected that the degree of periodontal disease, for example, can be estimated by determining the components of a person's breath. However, the components of human breath may contain various odors such as odors caused by food residue (noise odors) in addition to odors caused by periodontal disease, and the composition of the components of human breath is complex. Therefore, for example, when measuring the user's breath using the mobile phone disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to accurately estimate the degree of periodontal disease due to the influence of noise odors caused by food residues, and only the level of bad breath can be determined.

The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the problems associated with the conventional technology. The purpose of the present disclosure is to provide an oral irrigator, a periodontal disease assessment device, a periodontal disease assessment system, a periodontal disease assessment method, and a periodontal disease assessment program that are capable of acquiring information about the user's oral cavity, which can be used to more accurately estimate the degree of periodontal disease.

The oral irrigator according to the embodiment of the present disclosure includes a cleaning process control unit that controls the cleaning process of the oral cavity by the cleaning unit for cleaning the oral cavity, and an oral cavity information acquisition unit that acquires information about the user's oral cavity for use in estimating the degree of periodontal disease.

A periodontal disease assessment device according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a periodontal disease assessment device equipped with the oral irrigator described above, and has an estimation unit that estimates the degree of periodontal disease of the user based on intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit.

A periodontal disease determination system according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a periodontal disease determination system configured with the oral irrigator described above and a terminal capable of communicating with the oral irrigator, in which the oral irrigator further includes a transmission unit that transmits the intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit as detection data, and the terminal includes an estimation unit that determines the components of the user's exhaled breath based on the detection data transmitted from the oral irrigator and estimates the degree of the user's periodontal disease.

A periodontal disease determination system according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a periodontal disease determination system configured with a terminal capable of communicating with the oral irrigator described above, in which the oral irrigator further includes a transmission unit that transmits the extracted data extracted by the component information extraction unit, and the terminal includes an estimation unit that determines the components of the information in the oral cavity based on the extracted data transmitted from the oral irrigator and estimates the degree of periodontal disease of the user.

A method for assessing periodontal disease according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a method for assessing periodontal disease executed by a computer, which controls a cleaning unit that cleans the inside of the oral cavity, acquires information about the inside of the user's oral cavity, and estimates the degree of the user's periodontal disease based on the acquired information about the inside of the user's oral cavity.

A periodontal disease assessment program according to another aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute the steps of controlling a cleaning unit that cleans the inside of the oral cavity, acquiring information about the user's oral cavity, and estimating the degree of the user's periodontal disease based on the acquired information about the user's oral cavity.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide an oral irrigator, a periodontal disease assessment device, a periodontal disease assessment system, a periodontal disease assessment method, and a periodontal disease assessment program that are capable of acquiring information about a user's oral cavity, which can be used to more accurately estimate the degree of periodontal disease.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a periodontal disease determination system according to a first embodiment. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a periodontal disease determination system according to a first embodiment. A block diagram showing the functional configuration of the oral irrigator according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining frequency components of exhaled breath according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed on a terminal according to the first embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining estimation of the degree of periodontal disease according to the first embodiment. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an estimation result of the degree of periodontal disease according to the first embodiment displayed on a user terminal. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of the periodontal disease determination system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a periodontal disease assessment device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a periodontal disease assessment device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a periodontal disease assessment device according to a second embodiment. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a periodontal disease assessment device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a periodontal disease determination system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a server according to the third embodiment. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a periodontal disease determination system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a machine learning function according to the present embodiment.

Below, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more detailed description than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed description of already well-known matters or duplicate description of substantially the same configuration may be omitted. Note that the attached drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

(Schematic configuration of periodontal disease determination system 1)
The periodontal disease determination system 1 according to this embodiment cleans the inside of a user's mouth with an oral irrigator 10 equipped with a gas sensor 12, detects the breath after cleaning, and transmits frequency component information of the detected breath to a terminal 20 via a network 30. The terminal 20 then determines the frequency component of the breath and estimates periodontal disease. The periodontal disease determination system 1 will be described below with reference to several specific embodiments.

First Embodiment
1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a periodontal disease determination system 1 according to the first embodiment. The periodontal disease determination system 1 includes an oral irrigator 10 having a gas sensor 12, and a terminal 20.

The oral irrigator 10 includes a cleaning unit 11, a gas sensor 12, a switch 13, a display unit 14, and a water tank 15. The oral irrigator 10 also includes a controller 100. Details of the controller 100 will be described later.

The cleaning unit 11 has a nozzle and ejects a water flow for oral cleaning through the nozzle. The nozzle grip of the cleaning unit 11 is provided with an ejection ON/OFF switch (not shown) that controls the ejection of the water flow from the nozzle. When the user presses the ejection ON/OFF switch, water stored in the water tank 15 is ejected through the hose connected to the oral irrigator 10 and the nozzle.

The nozzle of the cleaning unit 11 is also used to collect the user's breath. Specifically, the user blows their breath into the tip of the nozzle, which causes the user's breath to be taken into the oral irrigator 10. The taken-in user's breath reaches the gas sensor 12 provided inside the oral irrigator 10, where it is sensed.

The oral irrigator 10 has an oral cleaning mode in which a water flow is discharged from a nozzle, and a breath collection mode in which breath is collected from the nozzle. Switching between the oral cleaning mode and the breath collection mode is performed by a switch 13, and the mode is switched in response to the user pressing the switch 13.

The gas sensor 12 is a quartz crystal resonator gas sensor equipped with multiple sensitive films with different characteristics, and detects whether or not a specific frequency component is present in the user's breath collected through the nozzle of the cleaning unit 11. The gas sensor 12 can detect (sense) gases corresponding to multiple odors.

The oral irrigator 10 also includes a filter (not shown) that can adjust the humidity of the breath that flows between the nozzle of the cleaning unit 11 and the gas sensor 12. This filter has the function of removing moisture contained in the collected breath of the user. By using this filter, it is possible to reduce the effect of moisture contained in the breath on the gas sensor 12.

Generally, the main components of oral odor (bad breath) are volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs). These volatile sulfur compounds mainly consist of three types of gases: hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and dimethyl sulfide. Of these, methyl mercaptan is particularly detected in the breath of patients with periodontal disease. In this embodiment, the degree of periodontal disease is estimated based on the correlation between this methyl mercaptan and hydrogen sulfide used as reference data. In this specification, the reference data has a specific relationship with the data (substance) to be measured. By examining the correlation between this reference data and the data to be measured, it becomes possible to recognize the characteristics of the data to be measured in more detail. In this embodiment, the methyl mercaptan of the data to be measured and the hydrogen sulfide of the reference data are such that a certain amount of hydrogen sulfide is detected in the breath in which methyl mercaptan is detected. Therefore, by estimating the degree of periodontal disease based on the correlation between methyl mercaptan and hydrogen sulfide, it is possible to estimate the degree of periodontal disease more accurately than by simply estimating it using methyl mercaptan. Dimethyl sulfide is a substance that is often detected in the breath of patients with visceral diseases.

In addition, in this embodiment, the gas sensor 12 is configured as a quartz crystal resonator gas sensor, but the configuration is not limited to this, and the gas sensor 12 may be configured to use an oxide semiconductor gas sensor or other gas sensors.

The switch 13 is a switch that switches the oral irrigator 10 between an oral cleaning mode and a breath collection mode, and is pressed by the user. When the switch 13 is pressed by the user, the pressing information is notified to the controller 100 in the oral irrigator 10. The switch 13 may be composed of multiple switches corresponding to the oral cleaning mode and the breath collection mode, respectively. Alternatively, the switch 13 may be configured to switch between the standby mode, oral cleaning mode, and breath collection mode in the order in which the user presses the switch.

The display unit 14 is a lamp that indicates whether the mode switched (selected) by the switch 13 is the oral cleaning mode or the breath sampling mode. The display unit 14 may also have a function of lighting up in a standby state (standby mode).

(Functional configuration of oral irrigator 10)
Next, the functions of the oral irrigator 10 and the controller 100 will be described with reference to the functional block diagram shown in FIG.

The controller 100 includes a control unit 110, a memory unit 120, a communication IF 130, and an input/output IF 140. The controller 100 may also be configured as a general-purpose microcomputer including a CPU (control unit 110), a memory (memory unit 120), and an input/output unit (communication IF 130 and input/output IF 140). In this case, a computer program for functioning as the oral irrigator 10 may be installed in the microcomputer. By executing the computer program, the microcomputer functions as multiple information processing circuits included in the oral irrigator 10. Note that in this embodiment, an example is shown in which multiple information processing circuits included in the oral irrigator 10 are realized by software, but it is of course possible to configure the information processing circuit by preparing dedicated hardware for performing each of the information processes shown below. Also, multiple information processing circuits may be configured by individual hardware.

The control unit 110 operates based on a program (not shown) stored in the memory unit 120, and executes the functions of the cleaning process control unit 111, the gas sensor control unit 112, the frequency component extraction unit 113, and the transmission unit 114, as shown in FIG. 3. The program is not limited to being stored in the memory unit 120, and may be stored in, for example, a ROM (not shown) in the controller 100. Details of the cleaning process control unit 111, the gas sensor control unit 112, the frequency component extraction unit 113, and the transmission unit 114 will be described later.

The storage unit 120 temporarily stores detection data detected by the gas sensor 12 and extracted data of the frequency components of the user's breath extracted by the frequency component extraction unit 113. The storage unit 120 may also store programs for each function executed by the control unit 110, as described above. The extracted data and programs stored in the storage unit 120 may be configured as areas that are physically or logically separated within a single storage device. Alternatively, the storage unit 120 for each data may be configured to be provided in multiple physically different storage devices.

The communication IF 130 is an interface for communicating with the terminal 20 via a wired and/or wireless network.

The input/output IF 140 is an interface with the cleaning unit 11, switch 13, gas sensor 12, and display unit 14 provided in the oral irrigator 10. The control unit 110 acquires the state of the discharge ON/OFF switch pressed by the user via the input/output IF 140. The control unit 110 also acquires the state of the switch 13 pressed by the user via the input/output IF 140. Furthermore, the control unit 110 controls the gas sensor 12 according to the state of the switch 13. Details of the control of the cleaning unit 11 and the gas sensor 12 by the control unit 110 will be described later. The control state of the oral irrigator 10 is displayed on the display unit 14 according to the control state of the control unit 110. Specifically, a lamp on the display unit 14 indicates whether the oral irrigator 10 is in standby mode, oral cleaning mode, or breath collection mode.

Next, we will explain the details of each function of the control unit 110.

The cleaning process control unit 111 controls the on/off of the oral cleaning mode in the oral cavity by ejecting a water flow from the nozzle of the cleaning unit 11. That is, the cleaning process control unit 111 controls the cleaning process in the oral cavity by the cleaning unit 11 for cleaning the oral cavity. Specifically, the cleaning process control unit 111 controls the ejection of the water flow from the nozzle of the cleaning unit 11 according to the state of the ejection ON/OFF switch. In this embodiment, when the user turns on the main power supply (not shown), the oral cleaning mode is started in the ON state. Also, when the user turns on the ejection ON/OFF switch while the oral cleaning mode is on, the ejection is turned on and a water flow is ejected from the nozzle. Also, when the user presses the ejection ON/OFF switch again, the ejection is turned off and the ejection of the water flow from the nozzle stops.

The gas sensor control unit 112 controls the on/off of the breath collection mode in which the gas sensor 12 collects the breath of the user. Specifically, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns on the breath collection mode when the collection of the breath of the user by the gas sensor 12 is enabled according to the state of the switch 13. When the breath collection mode is on, the gas sensor 12 is enabled, and the breath of the user collected from the nozzle of the cleaning unit 11 is sensed. In addition, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns off the breath collection mode when the collection of the breath of the user by the gas sensor 12 is disabled. In this specification, data detected (sensed) by the gas sensor 12 is referred to as detection data. The detection data detected by the gas sensor 12 is stored in the storage unit 120. The detection data is stored in the storage unit 120 together with the time of detection. The gas sensor control unit 112 corresponds to an intraoral information acquisition unit.

The frequency component extraction unit 113 extracts frequency components (component information) of the detection data for the detected breath of the user and stores them in the storage unit 120. Specifically, a component of a predetermined frequency is obtained as shown in FIG. 4. In the example shown in FIG. 4, it is shown that the frequencies of the first waveform 113a and the second waveform 113b increase for the breath exhaled by the user between time T1 and time T2. The frequency component extraction unit 113 extracts breath components that show a specific frequency in this manner. In this embodiment, for example, the first waveform 113a shows the time response characteristics of methyl mercaptan, and the second waveform 113b shows the time response characteristics of hydrogen sulfide. In this specification, data (component information) related to the frequency components extracted by the frequency component extraction unit 113 is referred to as extracted data. The frequency component extraction unit 113 corresponds to a component information extraction unit.

The transmission unit 114 transmits the extracted data regarding the frequency components extracted by the frequency component extraction unit 113 to the terminal 20 via the communication IF 130.

(Functional configuration of terminal 20)
Next, the functions of the terminal 20 will be described using the functional block diagram shown in Fig. 2. The terminal 20 is configured, for example, as a smartphone equipped with a general computer 200, and is usually operated by a user who operates the oral irrigator 10. The terminal 20 may be configured as a mobile device such as a tablet or a notebook computer. As shown in Fig. 2, the computer 200 of the terminal 20 includes a control unit 210, a storage unit 220, a communication IF 230, and an input/output IF 240.

The terminal 20 displays an image for advice on cleaning the oral cavity on the display device 21. FIG. 5 shows an example of an image displayed on the terminal 20. The user cleans the oral cavity by following the screen (guide) shown in FIG. 5. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the image shows the teeth to which the water flow from the nozzle should be applied by moving the position of the shaded part (highlight) shown by tooth 21b in the direction of the arrow 21a in sequence. In addition, the control unit 210 of the terminal 20 causes the display device 21 to display the location where the breath is to be collected in the breath collection mode. For example, the control unit 210 of the terminal 20 displays a message such as "Point the nozzle between the inside of the specified tooth and the gums and blow into it," and the user points the nozzle at the specified location according to the displayed content and blows into it in the breath collection mode. The control unit 210 of the terminal 20 stores the time when the specified location in the breath collection mode was specified in the memory unit 220 for each specified location. Note that the designation of the designated locations (tooth) in the breath collection mode does not limit this embodiment, and the periodontal disease assessment system 1 may be configured to collect breath from the entire oral cavity rather than collecting breath from each designated location (tooth) in the breath collection mode.

The terminal 20 may also operate based on a program (not shown) stored in the memory unit 220 and execute a specified application. In this case, for example, the user may input or select a specified mode via the display device 21 functioning as a touch panel for the functions of the oral irrigator 10 displayed on the display device 21. For example, the oral irrigator 10 may be configured to allow the user to select the strength of the water flow (water pressure), etc.

The control unit 210 of the terminal 20 also receives extracted data of frequency components extracted from the detection data of the user's exhalation from the oral irrigator 10 and stores the data in the memory unit 220.

The control unit 210 of the terminal 20 has an estimation unit 215 as a function. The estimation unit 215 estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on frequency components. In this embodiment, the estimation unit 215 estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on a graph with two axes of principal components A and B, as shown in FIG. 6. In this embodiment, principal component A indicates the value of the frequency component of methyl mercaptan, and principal component B indicates the value of the frequency component of hydrogen sulfide. For example, the estimation unit 215 plots the maximum value of the frequency of principal component A on the graph by applying the value on the horizontal axis and the maximum value of the frequency of principal component B on the vertical axis.

For example, when the value of the frequency component is included in the mild region 114a, the moderate region 114b, or the severe region 114c, the estimation unit 215 estimates that the disease is mild, moderate, or severe. The mild, moderate, and severe regions shown in FIG. 6 are grouped based on a clustering method such as the K-means method using frequency components of breath detection data collected in advance from multiple periodontal disease patients as samples. This makes it possible to estimate the degree of periodontal disease more accurately than, for example, estimating the degree of periodontal disease based on the concentration of a specific component contained in the breath of a patient with periodontal disease. Note that the clustering method such as the K-means method does not limit the configuration of this embodiment, and for example, a hierarchical method such as the shortest distance method or Ward's method may be used as a grouping method.

In addition, in the first embodiment, the estimation unit 215 estimates the degree of periodontal disease for each designated location specified in the breath collection mode. That is, the control unit 210 of the terminal 20 compares the time at which the designated location was specified in the breath collection mode with the time stored in the memory unit 220 for each designated location and the time provided in correspondence with the extracted data for each designated location, and associates the extracted data with the designated location.

The terminal 20 displays the estimated result of the degree of periodontal disease on the display device 21. FIG. 7 shows an example of a screen displaying the estimated result of the degree of periodontal disease. As shown in the designated locations 21a to 21g in FIG. 7, locations with a high risk of periodontal disease are displayed in a color such as red. The estimated result of the degree of periodontal disease displayed on the display device 21 may have different color intensities depending on the degree of mild, moderate, and severe. Alternatively, the estimated result may be displayed in different patterns depending on the degree of mild, moderate, and severe. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the estimated result is displayed for each designated location (tooth) designated in the breath collection mode. In the first embodiment, if measurement is not performed for each tooth in the breath collection mode, for example, a message saying "Your risk of periodontal disease is high" may be displayed on the display device 21.

(Outline of processing flow of oral irrigator 10)
Next, the process for determining periodontal disease in the oral irrigator 10 equipped with the gas sensor 12 (periodontal disease determination method) will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 8. The series of operations of the oral irrigator 10 shown in the flowchart in Fig. 8 begins when the oral irrigator 10 is started, and ends when the power is turned off. In addition to being turned off, the process in the flowchart shown in Fig. 8 also ends when an interrupt is issued to end the process. In the following description of the flowchart, the same content as that described in the above description of the oral irrigator 10 will be omitted or simplified.

In step S801, the cleaning process control unit 111 turns on the cleaning unit 11 and starts cleaning the oral cavity. Specifically, the user presses the start switch (not shown) of the cleaning unit 11, and then the user presses the nozzle discharge ON/OFF switch. The control unit 110 then detects that the discharge ON/OFF switch has been pressed, sends a control instruction to the cleaning process control unit 111, and oral cleaning starts.

In step S802, the control unit 110 determines whether the oral cleaning has been completed. Specifically, the control unit 110 determines whether the oral cleaning has been completed by detecting whether the user has pressed the discharge ON/OFF switch again to terminate the discharge, thereby determining whether the oral cleaning has been completed. In step S802, if the control unit 110 determines that the oral cleaning has been completed (step S802: YES), the control unit 110 proceeds to step S803. On the other hand, in step S802, if the control unit 110 determines that the oral cleaning has not been completed (step S802: NO), the control unit 110 returns to step S802 and repeats the process of step S802. In other words, the process of step S802 is repeated until the oral cleaning is completed, and the oral cavity is cleaned.

In step S803, the gas sensor control unit 112 controls the gas sensor 12 to obtain the breath detection data and store it in the storage unit 120. That is, the gas sensor control unit 112 controls the on/off of the breath collection mode in which the gas sensor 12 collects the breath of the user. Specifically, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns on the breath collection mode when enabling the gas sensor 12 to obtain the breath detection data of the user. When the breath collection mode is on, the gas sensor 12 is enabled and the collected breath of the user from the nozzle of the cleaning unit 11 is detected. In the breath collection mode, the user points the tip of the nozzle at a specified location and blows breath, following the guide displayed on the display unit 21 of the terminal 20. In addition, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns off the breath collection mode when disabling the collection of the breath of the user by the gas sensor 12. The on/off control of the breath collection mode is performed by the gas sensor control unit 112 depending on the state of the switch 13 pressed by the user.

The gas sensor control unit 112 controls the acquisition of detection data by acquiring detection data for each designated location in the breath collection mode displayed on the display device 21 of the terminal 20 described above. For example, in this embodiment, the user blows breath into each designated location designated on the display device 21 of the terminal 20, and detection data for each designated location is collected. Alternatively, if the switch 13 is capable of independently controlling the breath collection mode, the user may press the switch 13 for each designated location designated on the display device 21 of the terminal 20 to collect detection data for each designated location. The detection data for each designated location is stored in the memory unit 120 together with the detection time.

In step S804, the frequency component extraction unit 113 extracts frequency component extraction data from the collected detection data of the user's breath, and stores the data in the memory unit 120. Specifically, the frequency component extraction unit 113 extracts components of a predetermined frequency, as shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, in the example shown in FIG. 4, for example, the frequency component of methyl mercaptan in the first waveform 113a is obtained, and the frequency component of hydrogen sulfide in the second waveform 113b is obtained. The extracted data is stored in the memory unit 120 in association with the time at which the detection data was detected.

In step S805, the transmission unit 114 transmits the extracted data of the frequency components to the terminal 20 via the communication IF 130. Then, the process proceeds to step S806.

In step S806, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns off the gas sensor 12, ends the breath collection mode, and processing in the oral irrigator 10 ends.

In step S807, the terminal 20 receives the extracted data from the oral irrigator 10 via the communication IF 230.

In step S808, the estimation unit 215 of the terminal 20 estimates the degree of periodontal disease. Specifically, the degree of periodontal disease is estimated based on the extracted data of frequency components. In this embodiment, the estimation unit 215 estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on a graph in which the principal components are represented by two axes, principal component A and principal component B, as shown in FIG. 6. In the first embodiment, the estimation unit 215 estimates the degree of periodontal disease for each specified location specified in the breath collection mode.

In step S809, the control unit 210 of the terminal 20 causes the display device 21 to display the estimated result of the degree of periodontal disease via the input/output IF 240. For example, in the first embodiment, the estimated result of the degree of periodontal disease as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, it is possible to display the estimated result for each specified location specified in the breath collection mode.

As described above, the periodontal disease determination system 1 according to the first embodiment includes the gas sensor 12 in the oral irrigator 10, and the user's breath can be detected by the gas sensor 12 immediately after performing oral irrigation. This reduces the influence of noise odors caused by food residue, and makes it possible to properly determine odors caused by periodontal disease.

The periodontal disease determination system 1 according to the first embodiment also includes a frequency component extraction unit 113 that extracts the frequency components of the exhaled breath based on the components of the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12, and a transmission unit 114 that transmits the extracted data relating to the frequency components to the terminal 20. As a result, the periodontal disease determination system 1 can reduce the amount of data transmitted to the terminal 20 and the amount of data in the estimation process at the terminal 20 by transmitting extracted data in which only the necessary frequency components are extracted from the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12 to the terminal 20.

The periodontal disease assessment system 1 according to the first embodiment estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on the correlation of extracted data extracted from frequency components, based on data that has been clustered (grouped) in advance. This makes it possible to estimate the degree of periodontal disease more accurately than, for example, estimating the degree of periodontal disease based on the concentration of a specific component contained in the breath of a patient with periodontal disease.

The gas sensor 12 of the oral irrigator 10 according to the first embodiment is composed of a quartz crystal resonator gas sensor. A quartz crystal resonator gas sensor can be realized with lower power consumption than a semiconductor gas sensor. This enables the oral irrigator 10 to collect breath from the oral cavity with lower power consumption. In addition, since a quartz crystal resonator gas sensor is smaller than a semiconductor gas sensor, it is possible to make the oral irrigator 10 smaller.

The oral irrigator 10 according to the first embodiment further includes a filter for adjusting the humidity of the gas flowing into the gas sensor 12. This filter makes it possible to remove moisture contained in the collected breath of the user, thereby reducing the effect of moisture contained in the breath on the gas sensor 12.

Second Embodiment
As described above, one specific embodiment has been described, but the above-mentioned embodiment is merely an example and is not intended to limit the embodiments. For example, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a configuration is shown in which the main components of the user's breath extracted by the oral irrigator 10 are used to estimate the degree of periodontal disease in the terminal 20. Here, a configuration different from that of the first embodiment is described for a periodontal disease assessment device 2 according to a second embodiment that estimates periodontal disease in the oral irrigator 10.

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing an outline of the periodontal disease assessment device 2 in the second embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, the periodontal disease assessment device 2 is configured with a cleaning unit 11, a gas sensor 12, an air inlet 16, and a display device 21.

Figure 10 shows a block diagram of the periodontal disease assessment device 2 in the second embodiment. Also, Figure 11 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the control unit 110 of the periodontal disease assessment device 2. As shown in Figure 11, the control unit 110 of the periodontal disease assessment device 2 differs from the configuration of the oral irrigator 10 in the first embodiment in that it includes an estimation unit 115.

In other words, the periodontal disease assessment device 2 in the second embodiment is configured to include an estimation unit 115, and thus the periodontal disease assessment device 2 is capable of cleaning the oral cavity, collecting exhaled breath, extracting the frequency components of the exhaled breath, and estimating the degree of periodontal disease.

In the periodontal disease assessment device 2, the user cleans the oral cavity using the cleaning unit 11. In the second embodiment, the cleaning unit 11 is configured as a toothbrush, i.e., the oral irrigator 10 functions as an electric toothbrush.

After cleaning the oral cavity, the user blows into the mouthpiece 16 of the periodontal disease assessment device 2, which then collects the user's breath. The components of the collected breath are detected by the gas sensor 12.

In the second embodiment, the frequency component of the detected user's breath is extracted by the frequency component extraction unit 113, as in the first embodiment. Then, in the second embodiment, the estimation unit 115 estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on the extracted frequency components.

In addition, in the periodontal disease assessment device 2 in the second embodiment, the estimated degree of periodontal disease is displayed via the display device 21. For example, the display device 21 of the periodontal disease assessment device 2 is composed of a liquid crystal panel, an LED lamp, or the like. The user can recognize the degree of periodontal disease based on the estimated results of periodontal disease displayed on the display device 21.

Next, the process for determining periodontal disease by the periodontal disease determination device 2 in the second embodiment (periodontal disease determination method) will be described based on the flowchart in FIG. 12. The series of operations of the periodontal disease determination device 2 shown in the flowchart in FIG. 12 begins when the periodontal disease determination device 2 is started, and ends when the power is turned off. The process in the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 also ends when the power is turned off or when an interrupt is issued to end the process. In the following description of the flowchart, the same content as that described in the description of the periodontal disease determination device 2 will be omitted or simplified.

In step S1201, the cleaning process control unit 111 turns on the cleaning unit 11 to start cleaning the oral cavity. Specifically, the user presses the start switch (not shown) of the cleaning unit 11, and then the user presses the nozzle discharge ON/OFF switch. The control unit 110 then detects that the discharge ON/OFF switch has been pressed, sends a control instruction to the cleaning process control unit 111, and the oral cleaning mode is started.

In step S1202, the control unit 110 determines whether the oral cleaning has been completed. Specifically, the control unit 110 determines whether the oral cleaning has been completed by detecting whether the user has pressed the discharge ON/OFF switch again to terminate the discharge, thereby determining whether the oral cleaning has been completed. In step S1202, if the control unit 110 determines that the oral cleaning has been completed (step S1202: YES), the control unit 110 proceeds to step S1203. On the other hand, in step S1202, if the control unit 110 determines that the oral cleaning has not been completed (step S1202: NO), the control unit 110 returns to step S1202 and repeats the process of step S1202. In other words, the process of step S1202 is repeated until the oral cleaning is completed, and the oral cavity is cleaned.

In step S1203, the gas sensor control unit 112 controls the gas sensor 12 to obtain breath detection data and store it in the memory unit 120. That is, the gas sensor control unit 112 controls the on/off of the breath collection mode in which the gas sensor 12 collects the user's breath. Specifically, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns on the breath collection mode when the gas sensor 12 is to collect the user's breath. When the breath collection mode is on, the gas sensor 12 is enabled and the collected user's breath from the blowing port 16 is detected. In addition, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns off the breath collection mode when the gas sensor 12 is to disable the collection of the user's breath. The on/off control of the breath collection mode is performed by the gas sensor control unit 112 depending on the state of the switch 13 pressed by the user.

In step S1204, the frequency component extraction unit 113 extracts frequency component extraction data from the collected detection data of the user's breath and stores the data in the storage unit 120. Specifically, a component of a predetermined frequency is obtained, as shown in FIG. 4.

In step S1205, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns off the gas sensor 12, and the breath collection mode ends.

In step S1206, the estimation unit 115 estimates the degree of periodontal disease. Specifically, the estimation unit 115 estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on the extracted data of the frequency components. In this embodiment, the estimation unit 115 estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on a graph in which the principal components are represented by two axes, principal component A and principal component B, as shown in FIG. 6.

In step S1207, the control unit 110 causes the display device 21 to display the estimated result of the degree of periodontal disease via the input/output IF 140.

The periodontal disease assessment device 2 in the second embodiment may be capable of communicating with an external terminal via the communication IF 130. For example, the device may be provided with the terminal 20 in the first embodiment, and may perform oral cleaning and breath sampling in accordance with, for example, a guide image in the oral cleaning mode shown in FIG. 5 or a guide image in the breath sampling mode. In addition, the estimation result of the degree of periodontal disease estimated by the estimation unit 115 may be transmitted to the terminal 20 via the communication IF 130, and the estimation result may be displayed on the display device 21 of the terminal 20.

As described above, the periodontal disease assessment device 2 in the second embodiment includes a frequency component extraction unit 113 inside the oral irrigator 10 that extracts frequency components of the exhaled breath based on the components of the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12. The periodontal disease assessment device 2 also includes an estimation unit 115 inside the oral irrigator 10 that estimates the degree of the user's periodontal disease by determining the components of the exhaled breath based on the frequency components. This makes it possible to estimate the degree of periodontal disease using only the periodontal disease assessment device 2, without the need to transmit the extracted data to the terminal 20 in the periodontal disease assessment.

Third Embodiment
Next, a third embodiment will be described. In the following description, when the same reference numerals as those in the first and/or second embodiment are used, they indicate the same configuration as those in the first and/or second embodiment, and the preceding description will be referred to unless otherwise specified. Here, a configuration different from that of the first and/or second embodiment will be described for a periodontal disease determination system 3 according to a third embodiment, which estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on detection data of exhaled breath detected by a gas sensor 12. In the third embodiment, the server 40 corresponds to a terminal.

Figure 13 is a diagram showing an overview of the periodontal disease determination system 3 in the third embodiment. As shown in Figure 13, the periodontal disease determination system 3 in the third embodiment includes a server 40, and is configured so that the oral irrigator 10, the terminal 20, and the server 40 can communicate with each other via a network 30. Note that the configurations of the oral irrigator 10 and the terminal 20 are similar to those of the oral irrigator 10 and the terminal 20 in the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described here.

Figure 14 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the server 40. The server 40 is configured, for example, with a general computer 400, and is operated by a user who operates the oral irrigator 10 or an administrator who comprehensively manages the user's health. The server 40 may be configured with a calculator such as a personal computer. As shown in Figure 14, the computer 400 of the server 40 is configured to include a control unit 410, a memory unit 420, a communication IF 430, and an input/output IF 440.

The server 40 may operate based on a program (not shown) stored in the memory unit 420 and execute a specified application.

The control unit 410 of the server 40 also receives the detection data of the user's breath transmitted from the oral irrigator 10 and stores it in the memory unit 420. The control unit 410 also includes an estimation unit 415 as a function, which estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on the detection data. In the third embodiment, the estimation unit 415 estimates the degree of periodontal disease by pattern recognition of the frequency trend indicated by the detection data and the frequency trend of the breath collected from the periodontal disease patient. In this embodiment, the frequency trend of the breath collected from the periodontal disease patient is stored in advance in the memory unit 420 as a medical history DB (database) of the periodontal disease patient (not shown).

Next, the process related to periodontal disease determination by the periodontal disease determination system 3 in the third embodiment (periodontal disease determination method) will be described based on the flowchart in FIG. 15. The series of operations of the periodontal disease determination system 3 shown in the flowchart in FIG. 15 begins when the oral irrigator 10 is started, and ends when the power is turned off. In addition to being turned off, the process in the flowchart shown in FIG. 15 can also end when an interrupt is issued to end the process. In the description of the flowchart below, the same content as that described in the description of the periodontal disease determination system 3 will be omitted or simplified.

In step S1501, the cleaning process control unit 111 turns on the cleaning unit 11 to start cleaning the oral cavity. Specifically, the user presses the start switch (not shown) of the cleaning unit 11, and then the user presses the nozzle discharge ON/OFF switch. The control unit 110 then detects that the discharge ON/OFF switch has been pressed, sends a control instruction to the cleaning process control unit 111, and the oral cleaning mode is started.

In step S1502, the control unit 110 determines whether the oral cleaning has been completed. Specifically, the control unit 110 determines whether the oral cleaning has been completed by detecting whether the user has pressed the discharge ON/OFF switch again to terminate the discharge, thereby determining whether the oral cleaning has been completed. In step S1502, if the control unit 110 determines that the oral cleaning has been completed (step S1502: YES), the control unit 110 proceeds to step S1503. On the other hand, in step S1502, if the control unit 110 determines that the oral cleaning has not been completed (step S1502: NO), the control unit 110 returns to step S1502 and repeats the process of step S1502. In other words, the process of step S1502 is repeated until the oral cleaning is completed, and the oral cavity is cleaned.

In step S1503, the gas sensor control unit 112 controls the gas sensor 12 to acquire breath detection data and store it in the storage unit 120. That is, the gas sensor control unit 112 controls the on/off of the breath collection mode in which the gas sensor 12 collects the breath of the user. Specifically, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns on the breath collection mode when enabling the gas sensor 12 to acquire the breath detection data of the user. When the breath collection mode is on, the gas sensor 12 is enabled and the collected breath of the user from the nozzle of the cleaning unit 11 is detected. In the breath collection mode, the user points the tip of the nozzle at a specified location and blows breath, following the guide displayed on the display unit 21 of the terminal 20. In addition, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns off the breath collection mode when disabling the collection of the breath of the user by the gas sensor 12. The on/off control of the breath collection mode is performed by the gas sensor control unit 112 depending on the state of the switch 13 pressed by the user.

In step S1504, the transmission unit 114 transmits the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12 to the server 40 via the communication IF 130. Then, the process proceeds to step S1505.

In step S1505, the gas sensor control unit 112 turns off the gas sensor 12, ends the breath collection mode, and processing in the oral irrigator 10 ends.

In step S1506, the control unit 410 of the server 40 receives detection data from the oral irrigator 10 via the communication IF 430.

In step S1507, the estimation unit 415 of the server 40 estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on the received detection data. Specifically, the estimation unit 415 estimates the degree of periodontal disease by pattern recognition of the frequency trend indicated by the detection data and the frequency trend of the breath sampled from the periodontal disease patient.

In step S1508, the control unit 410 of the server 40 causes the estimation result of the degree of periodontal disease to be displayed on a display connected to the server 40 via the input/output IF 440. The control unit 410 of the server 40 may also send the estimation result of the degree of periodontal disease to the terminal 20 via the communication IF 430, and cause the estimation result of the degree of periodontal disease to be displayed on the display device 21 of the terminal 20.

As described above, the periodontal disease determination system 3 according to the third embodiment transmits detection data of the breath detected by the gas sensor 12 to the server 40, and the estimation unit 415 of the server 40 estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on the detection data. This makes it possible to determine the components of the breath based on detection data that is not limited to specific components, making it possible to more accurately estimate the degree of periodontal disease.

Other Embodiments
Although the present embodiment has been described above, the embodiment is not limited to these, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the embodiment. It is also possible to combine a part or all of the various embodiments to form a new embodiment. In other words, since the above-mentioned embodiment is intended to illustrate the technology in this disclosure, various modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. can be made within the scope of the claims or their equivalents.

In the third embodiment described above, the estimation unit 415 is configured to estimate the degree of periodontal disease by pattern recognition of the frequency trend indicated by the detection data and the frequency trend of the breath collected from the periodontal disease patient, but the embodiment is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the server 40 may be provided with a learning unit 450 including a machine learning unit 453. The machine learning unit 453 learns the relationship between the learning detection data 421 and the degree of periodontal disease based on the learning detection data 421, which is the breath detection data of the user stored in advance in the storage unit 420, and the periodontal disease history DB 422, which stores the periodontal disease history data of the periodontal disease patient. By using the learned model learned by the machine learning unit 453 as the estimation unit 415, the estimation unit 415 functions as a classifier that outputs an estimation result of the degree of periodontal disease for the breath detection data. This enables the estimation unit 415 to more accurately estimate the degree of periodontal disease for the breath detection data of the user.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the frequency component extraction unit 113 extracts methyl mercaptan as one of the main components, and the estimation unit 215 or the estimation unit 115 estimates the degree of periodontal disease, but the embodiments are not limited to this. For example, the frequency component extraction unit 113 may be configured to extract dimethyl sulfide as one of the main components and hydrogen sulfide as reference data, and the components of the exhaled breath may be determined based on the correlation between these. This makes it possible to estimate the degree of visceral disease, for example.

The periodontal disease determination system 1 in the above embodiment is configured to include, as the intraoral information acquisition unit, a gas sensor control unit 112 that controls the on/off of the gas sensor 12 that detects the user's breath. The periodontal disease determination system 1 is configured to include, as the component information extraction unit, a frequency component extraction unit 113 that extracts the frequency components of the breath based on the components of the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12. However, the periodontal disease determination system 1 in the above embodiment is not limited to these configurations. For example, the intraoral information acquisition unit may be configured to acquire an image of the oral cavity by a camera. Furthermore, the component information extraction unit may be configured to extract the main components (principal components) of the image of the oral cavity. This makes it possible for the estimation unit to determine the components of the image based on the extraction data extracted from the components of the image of the oral cavity transmitted from the oral irrigator 10, and to estimate the degree of the user's periodontal disease.

The scope of this embodiment includes a computer program (periodontal disease assessment program) that causes a computer to execute the above-mentioned periodontal disease assessment method, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded. Any type of computer-readable recording medium may be used. Furthermore, the above-mentioned computer program is not limited to being recorded on the above-mentioned recording medium, and may be transmitted via a telecommunications line, a wireless or wired communication line, a network such as the Internet, or the like.

The following describes the features of the oral irrigator 10, periodontal disease assessment device 2, periodontal disease assessment system, periodontal disease assessment method, and periodontal disease assessment program according to this embodiment.

(1) The oral irrigator 10 has the following configuration.
(i) A cleaning process control unit 111 is included that controls the cleaning process of the oral cavity by the cleaning unit 11 for cleaning the oral cavity.
(ii) An intraoral information acquisition unit that acquires information about the user's oral cavity, which is used to estimate the degree of periodontal disease.

According to the present disclosure, the oral irrigator 10 includes a cleaning process control unit 111 that controls the cleaning process of the oral cavity by the cleaning unit 11 for cleaning the oral cavity, and an oral cavity information acquisition unit that acquires information about the user's oral cavity to be used to estimate the degree of periodontal disease. This makes it possible to acquire information about the oral cavity after oral cleaning is performed by the cleaning unit 11. Therefore, the acquired oral cavity information can be used to estimate the degree of periodontal disease, with the data having reduced influence of noise odors due to food residue and images containing noise, allowing for a more accurate estimation of periodontal disease.

(2) It is preferable that the oral irrigator 10 further has the following configuration.
(iii) It is preferable that the intraoral information acquisition unit controls the on/off of the gas sensor 12 that detects the user's breath.

According to the present disclosure, the oral cavity information acquisition unit of the oral irrigator 10 can control the on/off of the gas sensor 12 that detects the user's breath. This allows the oral irrigator 10 to acquire the user's breath after cleaning the oral cavity. Therefore, the acquired oral cavity information, which reduces the influence of noise odors caused by food residue, can be used to estimate the degree of periodontal disease, allowing for more accurate estimation of periodontal disease.

(3) It is preferable that the oral irrigator 10 further has the following configuration.
(iv) The gas sensor 12 is preferably a quartz crystal type gas sensor.

According to the present disclosure, the gas sensor 12 of the oral irrigator 10 is preferably configured as a quartz crystal resonator gas sensor. A quartz crystal resonator gas sensor can be realized with lower power consumption than a semiconductor gas sensor. This enables the oral irrigator 10 to collect breath from the oral cavity with lower power consumption. In addition, since a quartz crystal resonator gas sensor is smaller than a semiconductor gas sensor, it is also possible to make the oral irrigator 10 smaller.

(4) It is preferable that the oral irrigator 10 further has the following configuration.
(v) It is preferable to further include a filter for adjusting the humidity of the gas flowing into the gas sensor 12.

According to the present disclosure, the oral irrigator 10 further includes a filter for adjusting the humidity of the gas flowing into the gas sensor 12. This filter makes it possible to remove moisture contained in the collected breath of the user, thereby reducing the effect of moisture contained in the breath on the gas sensor 12.

(5) It is preferable that the oral irrigator 10 further has the following configuration.
(vi) It is preferable to further include a component information extraction unit that extracts component information from the intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit as extracted data.
(vii) It is preferable that the component information extracting unit extracts frequency components of the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12 as the extracted data.

According to the present disclosure, the oral irrigator 10 further includes a component information extraction unit that extracts component information of the intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit as extracted data, and the component information extraction unit extracts frequency components of the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12 as extracted data. This enables the periodontal disease determination system 1 to acquire extracted data in which only necessary frequency components are extracted from the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12, thereby reducing the amount of data required to estimate periodontal disease.

(6) The periodontal disease assessment device 2 equipped with the oral irrigator 10 described above has the following configuration.
(i) An estimation unit that estimates the degree of periodontal disease of the user based on the intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit.

According to the present disclosure, the periodontal disease determination device 2 is capable of detecting the breath of the user using the gas sensor 12 immediately after the user performs oral cleaning. This reduces the influence of noise odors caused by food residue and makes it possible to properly determine odors caused by periodontal disease.

(7) A periodontal disease determination system including the oral irrigator 10 and a terminal capable of communicating with the oral irrigator 10 has the following configuration.
The oral irrigator 10 has the following configuration.
(i) It further includes a transmission unit 114 that transmits the intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit as detection data.
The terminal has the following configuration.
(ii) An estimation unit that determines the components of the user's exhaled breath based on the detection data transmitted from the oral irrigator 10 and estimates the degree of the user's periodontal disease.

According to the present disclosure, the periodontal disease determination system transmits detection data of the breath detected by the gas sensor 12 to a terminal, and an estimation unit of the terminal estimates the degree of periodontal disease based on the detection data. This makes it possible to determine the components of the breath based on detection data that is not limited to specific components, making it possible to more accurately estimate the degree of periodontal disease.

(8) It is preferable that the periodontal disease assessment system further has the following configuration.
(iii) It is preferable that the terminal further includes a learning unit 450 .
(iv) It is preferable that the estimation unit is a trained model in which the learning unit 450 has trained the relationship between the learning detection data and the degree of periodontal disease based on the learning detection data and periodontal disease history data.

According to the present disclosure, the terminal of the periodontal disease determination system further includes a learning unit 450. The estimation unit is configured as a trained model (classifier) in which the learning unit 450 has trained the relationship between the detection data for learning and the degree of periodontal disease based on the detection data for learning and the periodontal disease history data. This enables the estimation unit 415 to more accurately estimate the degree of periodontal disease based on the user's breath detection data.

(9) A periodontal disease determination system including the oral irrigator 10 described in (5) above and a terminal capable of communicating with the oral irrigator 10 has the following configuration.
The oral irrigator 10 has the following configuration.
(i) It further includes a transmission unit 114 that transmits the data extracted by the component information extraction unit.
The terminal has the following configuration.
(ii) An estimation unit that determines the components of information within the oral cavity based on the extracted data transmitted from the oral irrigator 10 and estimates the degree of periodontal disease of the user.

According to the present disclosure, the periodontal disease determination system transmits the extracted data extracted by the component information extraction unit to the terminal, and the estimation unit of the terminal determines the components of the information in the oral cavity based on the extracted data, and estimates the degree of periodontal disease of the user. As a result, the periodontal disease determination system 1 transmits extracted data in which only the necessary frequency components are extracted from the detection data detected by the gas sensor 12 to the terminal 20, thereby reducing the amount of data transmitted to the terminal 20 and the amount of data in the estimation process at the terminal 20.

(10) It is preferable that the periodontal disease assessment system further has the following configuration.
(iii) It is preferable that the terminal further includes a display device 21 that displays the estimation result estimated by the estimation unit.

According to the present disclosure, the terminal of the periodontal disease assessment system further includes a display device 21 that displays the estimation results estimated by the estimation unit. This makes it possible to display the estimation results estimated by the estimation unit on the display device 21, allowing the user to check the degree of periodontal disease.

(11) A method for determining periodontal disease executed by a computer includes the following steps.
(i) The process includes a process for controlling the cleaning unit 11 that cleans the inside of the oral cavity.
(ii) The process includes acquiring information about the user's oral cavity.
(iii) The method includes a process of estimating the degree of the user's periodontal disease based on the acquired information about the user's oral cavity.

According to the present disclosure, the method for assessing periodontal disease includes a process executed by a computer to control a cleaning unit 11 that cleans the oral cavity, acquire information about the user's oral cavity, and estimate the degree of the user's periodontal disease based on the acquired information about the user's oral cavity. This makes it possible to acquire information about the oral cavity after cleaning the oral cavity, and estimate the degree of periodontal disease based on the acquired information about the oral cavity. Therefore, data that reduces the influence of noise odors caused by food residue and images containing noise can be used to estimate the degree of periodontal disease, allowing for a more accurate estimation of periodontal disease.

(12) A periodontal disease assessment program to be executed by a computer has the following steps.
(i) The step includes controlling the cleaning unit 11 that cleans the inside of the oral cavity.
(ii) acquiring information about the user's oral cavity.
(iii) A step of estimating the degree of periodontal disease of the user based on the acquired information about the user's oral cavity.

According to the present disclosure, the periodontal disease assessment program controls the cleaning unit 11 that cleans the oral cavity, acquires information about the user's oral cavity, and causes a computer to execute a process of estimating the degree of the user's periodontal disease based on the acquired information about the user's oral cavity. This makes it possible to acquire information about the oral cavity after cleaning the oral cavity, and estimate the degree of periodontal disease based on the acquired information about the oral cavity. Therefore, it becomes possible to use data that reduces the influence of noise odors caused by food residue and images containing noise, etc., to estimate the degree of periodontal disease, allowing for a more accurate estimation of periodontal disease.

This disclosure is applicable to oral irrigators equipped with a gas sensor. Specifically, this disclosure is applicable to oral irrigators for commercial and home use.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1, 3 Periodontal disease determination system 2 Periodontal disease determination device 10 Oral irrigator 11 Cleaning unit 12 Gas sensor 13 Switch 14 Display unit 15 Water tank 20 Terminal 21 Display device 30 Network 40 Server 100 Controller 110, 210, 410 Control unit 111 Cleaning process control unit 112 Gas sensor control unit 113 Frequency component extraction unit 114 Transmission unit 115, 215, 415 Estimation unit 120, 220, 420 Memory unit 130, 230, 430 Communication IF
140, 240, 440 Input/Output IF
200, 400 Computer 421 Learning detection data 422 Periodontal disease history DB
450 Learning section 453 Machine learning section

Claims (12)

A control unit;
A cleaning process control unit that controls a cleaning process of the oral cavity by a cleaning unit for cleaning the oral cavity;
an intraoral information acquisition unit that acquires information about the user's oral cavity for use in estimating the degree of periodontal disease;
Equipped with
The control unit controls execution of each function of the cleaning process control unit and the intraoral information acquisition unit so as to acquire information on the user's oral cavity after the oral cavity cleaning process is completed.
Oral irrigator. The intraoral information acquisition unit controls on/off of a gas sensor that detects the user's breath.
The oral irrigator according to claim 1. The oral irrigator according to claim 2, wherein the gas sensor is a quartz crystal resonator gas sensor. A filter for adjusting the humidity of the gas flowing into the gas sensor is further provided.
The oral irrigator according to claim 3. A component information extraction unit extracts component information of the intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit as extracted data,
The component information extraction unit extracts a frequency component of the detection data detected by the gas sensor as the extracted data.
An oral irrigator according to any one of claims 2 to 4. A periodontal disease assessment device comprising the oral irrigator according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
An estimation unit that estimates a degree of periodontal disease of the user based on the intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit.
Periodontal disease assessment device. A periodontal disease determination system comprising the oral irrigator according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and a terminal capable of communicating with the oral irrigator,
The oral irrigator comprises:
A transmitting unit that transmits the intraoral information acquired by the intraoral information acquisition unit as detection data,
The terminal includes:
an estimation unit that determines components of the user's breath based on the detection data transmitted from the oral irrigator and estimates a degree of periodontal disease of the user;
Periodontal disease assessment system. The terminal further includes a learning unit,
The periodontal disease determination system of claim 7, wherein the estimation unit is a trained model in which the learning unit has trained the relationship between the detection data for learning and the degree of periodontal disease based on the detection data for learning and periodontal disease history data. A periodontal disease determination system comprising the oral irrigator according to claim 5 and a terminal capable of communicating with the oral irrigator,
The oral irrigator comprises:
A transmission unit that transmits the extracted data extracted by the component information extraction unit,
The terminal includes:
an estimation unit that determines components of the information in the oral cavity based on the extracted data transmitted from the oral irrigator and estimates a degree of periodontal disease of the user;
Periodontal disease assessment system. The terminal further includes a display device that displays an estimation result estimated by the estimation unit.
The periodontal disease determination system according to any one of claims 7 to 9. A method for determining periodontal disease executed by a computer, comprising:
Control the cleaning unit that cleans the oral cavity,
After the oral cleaning process is completed, information on the user's oral cavity is acquired;
A method for assessing periodontal disease, comprising estimating the degree of periodontal disease of the user based on acquired information about the user's oral cavity. A step of controlling a cleaning unit that cleans the inside of the oral cavity;
acquiring information about the user's oral cavity after the oral cavity cleaning process is completed ;
and estimating the degree of periodontal disease of the user based on the acquired information about the user's oral cavity.

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