IP Library › Granted Patent US 10,591,407
Granted Patent B2
US 10,591,407 · App. 15/521,361 · Granted Mar 17, 2020

Excrement analysis device, toilet provided with said analysis device, and method for analyzing excrement

Inventors: Takeshi Akagawa (Tokyo, JP); Masahiro Kubo (Tokyo, JP); Katsumi Abe (Tokyo, JP); Kimiyasu Takoh (Tokyo, JP); Ersin Altintas (Tokyo, JP); Yuji Ohno (Tokyo, JP); Tetsuri Ariyama (Tokyo, JP)
Assignee: NEC Corporation
G01N21/01A61B5/0075A61B5/207A61B5/6891A61B10/007A61B10/0038G01N21/31G01N21/3563G01N21/3577G01N33/4833G01N33/493G01N21/78
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,591,407
App. No.
15/521,361
Granted
Mar 17, 2020
Kind
B2
Abstract

Provided is an excrement analysis device capable of analyzing urine and feces simultaneously without increasing a burden of maintenance. The excrement analysis device 10 of the present invention includes: a light source 20 that emits an inspection light toward an inspection area in a toilet bowl; spectroscopic information acquisition means 30 that receives an inspection light emitted toward the inspection area and acquires spectroscopic information from the received inspection light; and analysis means 40 that extracts a first space containing the largest amount of urine components and a second space containing the largest amount of fecal components from the acquired spectroscopic information, and outputs a result of analysis of urine and feces on the basis of spectroscopic information regarding the first space and the second space.

Claims (28)

1. An excrement analysis device comprising:

a light source configured to emit an inspection light toward an inspection area in a toilet bowl;

a hyperspectral camera configured to receive the inspection light emitted toward the inspection area, acquire spectroscopic information from the received inspection light, and output the spectroscopic information;

a drive mechanism configured to cause the hyperspectral camera to move in an optical axis direction of the inspection light; and

a processor configured to extract a first space containing a largest amount of urine components and a second space containing a largest amount of fecal components from the spectroscopic information output by the hyperspectral camera, and output a result of analysis of urine and feces on the basis of spectroscopic information regarding the extracted first space and second space,

wherein the hyperspectral camera is configured to output three-dimensional spectroscopic information by moving in the optical axis direction.

2. The excrement analysis device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the hyperspectral camera is configured to receive the inspection light reflected from the inspection area.

3. The excrement analysis device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether a component including at least one of sugar, protein, uric acid, sodium, potassium, stress hormone, or blood is contained in urine and feces and, if the component is contained, identify the amount of the contained component, and output the amount as the result of analysis.

4. The excrement analysis device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a collection container, which is a transparent container with an open top and which is embedded such that an open surface is exposed to an inner surface of the collection container,

wherein the light source emits an inspection light toward an inspection area in the collection container.

5. A toilet comprising:

a bowl into which urine and feces are discharged; and

the excrement analysis device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the light source emits an inspection light toward an inspection area in the bowl.

6. An excrement analysis device comprising:

a light source configured to emit an inspection light;

a reflector configured to reflect an incoming inspection light in a direction opposite to an incident direction;

a half mirror configured to split the emitted inspection light into two inspection lights, output a first inspection light to the reflector and output a second inspection light to an inspection area in a toilet bowl, and output, as a reference light, the first inspection light reflected by the reflector and output, as a light under inspection, the second inspection light reflected from the inspection area;

an optical path length adjuster configured to cause the reflector to move in an optical axis direction of the reference light;

a processor configured to:

detect an interference signal between the reference light and the light under inspection;

acquire a reflection light intensity distribution and spectral information from the light under inspection;

generate a three-dimensional tomographic image from the acquired reflection light intensity distribution;

output the generated three-dimensional tomographic image and the spectral information, as three-dimensional spectroscopic information;

extract a first space containing a largest amount of urine components and a second space containing a largest amount of fecal components from the three-dimensional spectroscopic information; and

output a result of analysis of urine and feces on the basis of spectroscopic information regarding the extracted first space and second space.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 24, 2017
From: AKAGAWA, TAKESHI; KUBO, MASAHIRO; ABE, KATSUMI; TAKOH, KIMIYASU; ALTINTAS, ERSIN; OHNO, YUJI; ARIYAMA, TETSURI
To: NEC CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 042124/0531 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2014-216906 · Oct 24, 2014 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20170307512A1 · Oct 26, 2017