Interactive respiratory device usage tracking system
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring and facilitating use of a respiratory device by a patient, wherein the respiratory device comprises an inhaler having a body with an opening at the top into which is positioned a canister of respiratory medication, and a mouthpiece, the body and canister having complementary interactive configurations such that depressing the canister into the body causes the canister to deliver a treatment dose of the respiratory medication through the mouthpiece to be administered to the patient, the patient having a usage plan of the inhaler, the system comprising:
- a tracking module comprising a flexible shell configured to be mounted around and in contact with the body of the inhaler, the flexible shell having embedded therein a tracking module memory, a tracking module battery, and a tracking module communication component, the flexible shell also comprising an inhaler activation sensor connected with the shell memory, the activation sensor comprising a pressure-activated switch located in a cap outside the shell connected to the shell with a flexible cable, the cap being located in contact with the canister at the top of the inhaler body such that a user must press the pressure-activated switch when depressing the inhaler canister for activation of the inhaler thereby causing the pressure-activated switch to provide an inhaler activation signal, and to store an inhaler activation signal in the tracking module memory each time the inhaler is activated in this way, the tracking module memory storing inhaler activation data relating to each detected activation of the inhaler as inhaler data, the communication component configured to wirelessly transmit the stored inhaler data; and
a processor located at a local station removed from the inhaler and tracking module mounted thereto, the processor storing the patient'"'"'s inhaler usage plan and configured to communicate with the communication component of the tracking module, receive the stored inhaler data from the tracking module memory, compare it to the inhaler usage plan, and interact with the patient by providing a statement of compliance of the patient with the usage plan.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A monitoring system for inhalers includes a tracker module configured to be secured to a variety of inhalers, including both controller and rescue inhalers. The tracker module has a flexible shell that fastens around an inhaler and an activation sensor for sensing use of the inhaler, an internal memory for storing inhaler use data, and a communication component for forwarding the stored usage data to a processor for analyzing the data. The activation sensor is flexibly connected to the flexible shell with a flexible cable and is placed over the end of the inhaler canister. The processor is located in a local station separate from the tracker module but wirelessly synchronized therewith. In one embodiment, the system also collects lung function data, e.g., from a spirometer, and then processes all of the controller inhaler data, the rescue inhaler data, and the lung function data, to generate alerts and other messages.
-
Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A system for monitoring and facilitating use of a respiratory device by a patient, wherein the respiratory device comprises an inhaler having a body with an opening at the top into which is positioned a canister of respiratory medication, and a mouthpiece, the body and canister having complementary interactive configurations such that depressing the canister into the body causes the canister to deliver a treatment dose of the respiratory medication through the mouthpiece to be administered to the patient, the patient having a usage plan of the inhaler, the system comprising:
-
a tracking module comprising a flexible shell configured to be mounted around and in contact with the body of the inhaler, the flexible shell having embedded therein a tracking module memory, a tracking module battery, and a tracking module communication component, the flexible shell also comprising an inhaler activation sensor connected with the shell memory, the activation sensor comprising a pressure-activated switch located in a cap outside the shell connected to the shell with a flexible cable, the cap being located in contact with the canister at the top of the inhaler body such that a user must press the pressure-activated switch when depressing the inhaler canister for activation of the inhaler thereby causing the pressure-activated switch to provide an inhaler activation signal, and to store an inhaler activation signal in the tracking module memory each time the inhaler is activated in this way, the tracking module memory storing inhaler activation data relating to each detected activation of the inhaler as inhaler data, the communication component configured to wirelessly transmit the stored inhaler data; and a processor located at a local station removed from the inhaler and tracking module mounted thereto, the processor storing the patient'"'"'s inhaler usage plan and configured to communicate with the communication component of the tracking module, receive the stored inhaler data from the tracking module memory, compare it to the inhaler usage plan, and interact with the patient by providing a statement of compliance of the patient with the usage plan. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A system for monitoring and facilitating use of a respiratory device by a patient, wherein the respiratory device comprises an inhaler having a body with an opening at the top into which is positioned a canister of respiratory medication, and a mouthpiece, the body and canister having complementary interactive configurations such that depressing the canister into the body causes the canister to deliver a treatment dose of the respiratory medication through the mouthpiece to be administered to the patient, the patient having a usage plan of the inhaler, the system comprising:
-
a tracking module comprising a flexible shell configured to be mounted around and in contact with the body of the inhaler, the flexible shell having embedded therein a tracking module memory, a tracking module battery, and a tracking module communication component, the flexible shell also comprising an inhaler activation sensor connected with the shell memory, the activation sensor comprising a pressure-activated switch located in a cap outside the shell connected with the shell, the cap being located in contact with the canister at the top of the inhaler body such that a user must press the pressure-activated switch when depressing the canister for activation of the inhaler thereby causing the pressure-activated switch to provide an inhaler activation signal, and to store the inhaler activation signal in the tracking module memory each time the inhaler is activated in this way, the tracking module memory storing activation data relating to each detected activation of the inhaler as inhaler data, the communication component configured to wirelessly transmit the stored inhaler data; a processor located at a handheld local station removed from the inhaler and tracking module mounted thereto, the processor storing the patient'"'"'s inhaler usage plan and configured to communicate with the communication component of the tracking module, receive the stored inhaler data from the tracking module memory, compare it to the inhaler usage plan, and interact with the patient by providing a statement of compliance of the patient with the usage plan; a display connected with the processor, wherein the processor determines from the stored inhaler data received from the tracking module memory the number of doses remaining in the canister of the inhaler and controls the display to visually display an indication of the number of doses remaining in the inhaler, the processor also being configured to control the display to display the statement of compliance with the usage plan on the display; and a remote server in communication with the local station, wherein the remote server is configured to store a patient'"'"'s inhaler usage plan, receive the inhaler data from the processor of the local station, determine the patient'"'"'s compliance with the usage plan, and make the compliance determination available to those having authorization to access the server; wherein at least one of the tracking module, the local station, and the remote server is configured to issue an alert to the patient if the inhaler is not used according to the usage plan. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A system for monitoring and facilitating use of respiratory devices by a patient, wherein the respiratory devices comprise a controller inhaler and a rescue inhaler, each of which has a body with an opening at the top into which is positioned a canister of respiratory medication, and a mouthpiece, the body and canister having a complementary interactive configuration such that depressing the canister into the body causes the canister to provide a treatment dose of the respiratory medication through the mouthpiece to be administered to the patient, the patient having a usage plan for the controller inhaler, the system comprising:
-
a separate tracking module attached to each of the controller and rescue inhalers, each tracking module comprising a flexible shell configured to be secured around and in contact with the body of the inhaler, the flexible shell having embedded therein a tracking module memory, a tracking module battery, and a tracking module communication component, the flexible shell also comprising an inhaler activation sensor connected with the shell memory, the activation sensor comprising a pressure-activated switch located in a cap outside the shell connected to the shell with a flexible cable, the cap being located in contact with the canister at the top of the inhaler body such that a user must press the pressure-activated switch when depressing the inhaler canister for activation of the inhaler thereby causing the pressure-activated switch to provide an inhaler activation signal, and to store an inhaler activation signal in the tracking module memory each time the inhaler is activated in this way, the tracking module memory storing inhaler activation data relating to each detected activation of the inhaler as inhaler data, the communication component configured to wirelessly transmit the stored inhaler data; wherein each of the tracking modules attached to the controller and the rescue inhaler is configured to; operate in an off/standby mode to conserve life of the battery; automatically awaken to store a date/time stamp when inhaler is used; thereafter attempt to connect with the local station processor to transfer the date/time stamp data;
butif unsuccessful in connecting with the processor, will continue trying at intervals to connect with the processor until successful; whereby the local station processor need not be in proximity when an inhaler dose is taken; a spirometer configured to sense the lung function of a patient and provide lung function data representative thereof; a processor located at a handheld local station removed from the inhalers and tracking modules mounted thereto, the processor storing the patient'"'"'s controller inhaler usage plan and configured to communicate with the communication component of each of the tracking modules, receive the stored inhaler data from each tracking module memory, compare it to the usage plan, and interact with the patient by providing a statement of compliance of the patient with the inhaler usage plan, the processor also configured to receive the lung function data from the spirometer and correlate the lung function data with the inhaler data; a display connected with the processor, wherein the processor determines from the stored data of the inhalers received from the tracking modules'"'"' memories the number of doses remaining in the canister of each of the inhalers and controls the display to visually display an indication of the number of doses remaining in the inhalers, the processor also configured to control the display to visually display lung function over time; and a remote server connected with the local station, wherein the remote server is configured to receive a patient'"'"'s inhaler usage plan, receive the inhaler data from the processor of the local station, determine the patient'"'"'s compliance with the usage plan, and make the determination available to those having authorization to access the server; wherein at least one of the tracking modules, the local station, and the server is configured to issue an alert to the patient if the controller respiratory device is not used according to the usage plan.
-
Specification