Evaluation of constipation and development of care criteria by quantitative evaluation inside the large intestine using echo

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K15894
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Fundamental nursing
• Research Institution: University of Fukui
• Principal Investigator: YOTSUYA JUNKO 福井大学, 学術研究院医学系部門, 教授 (10507370)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 田邉 将之 熊本大学, 大学院先端科学研究部(工), 助教 (00613374) ; 瀧井 道明 大阪医科大学, 医学部, 教授 (40319538) ; 原 明子 大阪医科大学, 看護学部, 助教 (70585489)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 便秘 / 高齢者 / 超音波診断装置

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, for the purpose of assisting rapid and appropriate defecation care, we tried to extract the feature value of the colon ultrasound image and semi-quantitatively evaluate stool and gas. The characteristics of the large intestine reservoir were classified into four types: hard stool, normal stool, soft stool, and gas, and the image was used to verify whether the two feature quantities capture the features of each property. As a result, it was suggested that the hardness of the stool could be detected from the attenuation coefficient and the gas could be detected from the PSR of the autocorrelation function.

Free Research Field

老年看護学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

腹部膨満感や便秘症の患者に対して、腹部触診や聴診などと併用し、超音波による画像評価を行うことで便秘のアセスメント技術の向上が見込まれる。さらには、個々の腹部状態に応じた適切な排便ケア方法（下剤服用時間や量の調整、浣腸のタイミングなど）が可能となり、新たな看護技術の開発と技術向上と便秘予防に貢献できる。