Excrement determination method, excrement determination device, and non-transitory computer readable recording medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12592001-B2
Application number	US-202318217180-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2023
Priority date	Jan 6, 2021
Publication date	Mar 31, 2026
Grant date	Mar 31, 2026

Abstract

An excrement determination device acquires image data of excrement captured by a camera which is provided to photograph an inner part of a bowl of a toilet, calculates a G/R value and a B/R value on the basis of an R (red) value, a G (green) value, and a B (blue) value each included in the image data, determines, on the basis of the G/R value and the B/R value, whether the image data includes an image of at least one of urine, feces, and blood, and outputs a result of the determination.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . An excrement determination method for an excrement determination device having a processor that improves detection of the presence of excrement, urine, or blood in a bowl of a toilet using the processor, the excrement determination method comprising:
sensing with a sitting sensor attached to the toilet that a user is sitting on the toilet and inputting a sitting result from the sitting sensor into a processor; illuminating the bowl with a lighting device in response to instructions from the processor and the sensing of the sitting of the user on the toilet; continuously acquiring with the processor image data of excrement in color captured by a camera which is provided to photograph an inner part of the bowl of the toilet illuminated in the illuminating operation; calculating with the processor a G/R value and a B/R value on the basis of an R (red) value, a G (green) value, and a B (blue) value each included in each pixel of the image data; setting with the processor a predetermined feces-detection condition for detecting the presence of feces in the toilet, a predetermined urine-detection condition for detecting the presence of urine in the toilet, and a predetermined blood-detection condition for detecting the presence of blood in the toilet; calculating, with the processor, for each of images of the toilet bowl in a sitting period sensed in the sensing operation, the number of pixels falling within a predetermined range of the G/R value and a predetermined range of the B/R value with respect to each of the feces-detecting condition, the urine-detecting condition, and the blood-detecting condition; determining, with the processor, on the basis of the number of pixels falling within the predetermined range of the G/R value and the number of pixels falling within the predetermined range of the B/R value, whether the image data includes an image of at least one of the urine, the feces, and the blood; and outputting from the processor a result of the determination, wherein the result of the determination includes feces RGB data generated from image data having a maximum number of pixels that satisfies the feces-detecting condition in the sitting period, or urine RGB data generated from image data having a maximum number of pixels that satisfies the urine-detecting condition in the sitting period.

2 . The excrement determination method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the determining operation, the image data is determined to include an image of blackish feces when each of the G/R value, the B/R value, the R value, the G value, and the B value satisfies a predetermined blackish feces condition.

3 . The excrement determination method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the determining operation, the image data is determined to include an image of orangish feces when each of the R value, the G value, and the B value satisfies a predetermined orangish feces condition.

4 . The excrement determination method according to claim 1 , wherein the feces-detecting condition includes a condition that the G/R value is smaller than A1% and the B/R value is smaller than A2%, which is less than A1%.

5 . The excrement determination method according to claim 1 , wherein the urine-detecting condition includes a condition that the G/R value ranges from B1% to B2%, and the B/R value ranges from B3% to B4%, B3% being less than B1%, B4% being less than B2%.

6 . The excrement determination method according to claim 1 wherein the blood-detecting condition includes a condition that the G/R value is smaller than C1% and the B/R value is smaller than C2%, which is less than C1%.

7 . The excrement determination method according to claim 2 , wherein the blackish feces condition includes a condition that the G/R value ranges from D1% to D2%, the B/R value ranges from D3% to D4%, and each of the R value, G value, and the B value is smaller than E, D3% being less than D1%, and D4% being equal to D2%.

8 . The excrement determination method according to claim 3 , wherein the orangish feces condition includes a condition that each of the R value, the G value, and the B value ranges from F1 to F2.

9 . The excrement determination method according to claim 1 , wherein in the determining operation,
the image data is determined to include an image of the feces when the image data includes data of a first number of or more pixels that satisfies the feces-detecting condition, the image data is determined to include an image of the urine when the image data includes data of a second number of or more pixels that satisfies the urine-detecting condition, and the image data is determined to include an image of blood when the image data includes data of a third number of or more pixels that satisfies the blood-detecting condition.

10 . The excrement determination method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the G/R-value and the B/R-value calculating operation, the G/R value and the B/R value are determined on the basis of an R value, a G value, and a B value of image data of a predetermined detection area including a pool part of the toilet bowl.

11 . An excrement determination device that improves the detection of the presence of excrement, urine, or blood in a bowl of a toilet, comprising:
a sitting sensor attached to the toilet and configured to detect that a user is sitting on the toilet; a lighting device configured to illuminate the toilet bowl; and a processor configured to
receive a signal from the sitting sensor to whether the user is sitting on the toilet,
control the lighting device by transmitting an instruction to the lighting device to turn on the lighting device to illuminate the toilet bowl in response to determining that the user is sitting on the toilet in response to receiving the signal from the sitting sensor,
continuously acquire image data of excrement in color captured by a camera which is provided to photograph the bowl of the toilet illuminated by the lighting device,
calculate a G/R value and a B/R value on the basis of an R (red) value, a G (green) value, and a B (blue) value each included in each pixel of the image data,
set a predetermined feces-detection condition for detecting the presence of feces in the toilet, a predetermined urine-detection condition for detecting the presence of urine in the toilet, and a predetermined blood-detection condition for detecting the presence of blood in the toilet,
calculate, for each of images of the toilet bowl in a sitting period sensed by the sitting sensor, the number of pixels falling within a predetermined range of the G/R value and a predetermined range of the B/R value with respect to each of the feces-detecting condition, the urine-detecting condition, and the blood-detecting condition,
determine, on the basis of the number of pixels falling within the predetermined range of the G/R value and the number of pixels falling within the predetermined range of the B/R value, whether the image data includes an image of at least one of the feces, the urine, and the blood,
output a result of the determination, wherein
the result of the determination includes feces RGB data generated from image data having a maximum number of pixels that satisfies the feces-detecting condition in the sitting period, or urine RGB data generated from image data having a maximum number of pixels that satisfies the urine-detecting condition in the sitting period.

12 . A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing an excrement determination program that improves the detection of the presence of excrement, urine, or blood in a bowl of a toilet by causing a computer to serve as an excrement determina

Assignees

• Panasonic Holdings Corp
• Panasonic Housing Solutions Co Ltd

Inventors

• Maehara Hideyuki
• Kanai Hirofumi
• Yamada Yuka

Classifications

• G06T2207/30004

  Biomedical image processing · CPC title

• G06T2207/10024

  Color image · CPC title

• G01N33/49

  Blood {(chemical methods for determining blood cell populations G01N33/5094; chemical analysis of blood groups or blood types G01N33/80)} · CPC title

• G01N33/493

  urine · CPC title

• G01N33/483

  Physical analysis of biological material · CPC title