PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a muscle hardness meter for reducing the influence of the individual difference of a body to be pressurized which is body tissue, especially the difference of the thickness of the subcutaneous fat of a human body, and improving the accuracy of muscle hardness measurement.SOLUTION: The muscle hardness meter 1 includes a contact 4 driven by a driving means 3 to pressurize the body 20 to be pressurized, a moving distance detection means for detecting the moving distance X of the contact 4, a pushing force detection means 5 for detecting pushing force F acting on the contact 4, a computing means for computing the change amount of an elastic modulus k from respective detected values, and a control means for determining the elastic modulus k when the change amount of the elastic modulus k has a prescribed saturation value or smaller as muscle hardness. Then, by defining the elastic modulus k when the change amount of the elastic modulus k becomes the prescribed saturation value or smaller as the muscle hardness, the muscle hardness measurement in which the influence by the individual difference of the body 20 to be pressurized is reduced is performed.COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT【課題】 生体組織である被押圧体の個体差、特に、人体の皮下脂肪の厚みの差の影響を低減して、筋硬度測定の精度の向上した筋硬度計を提供する。【解決手段】 筋硬度計1は、駆動手段3により駆動して被押圧体20を押圧する接触子4と、接触子4の移動距離Xを検出する移動距離検出手段と、接触子4に作用する押力Fを検出する押力検出手段5と、各検出値から弾性率kの変化量を演算する演算手段と、弾性率kの変化量が所定の飽和値以下になった際の弾性率kを筋硬度と判定する制御手段と、を有するものである。そして、弾性率kの変化量が所定の飽和値以下になった際の弾性率kを筋硬度としたことで、被押圧体20の個体差による影響を低減した筋硬度測定を行うことができる。【選択図】 図1
