System and method for tracking content in a medicine container

• US 10,091,468 B2
• Filed: 01/14/2016
• Issued: 10/02/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northwestern University
• Original Assignee: Northwestern University
• Inventors: Mehrotra, Sanjay, Memik, Fatma Seda, Mikhelson, Ilya
• Primary Examiner(s): Huang, Frank
• Application Number:
  US14/995,653
• Publication Number:
  US 20160212389A1
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/1418 Threaded type
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2200/30 Compliance analysis for taking medication
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2200/74 for weight
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/04 Arrangements for time indication or reminder for taking medicine, e.g. programmed dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/188 Capturing isolated or intermittent images triggered by the occurrence of a predetermined event, e.g. an object reaching a predetermined position signal generation from motion picture films H04N5/253

Abstract

A system and a method include a medicine container having a bottle and a cap. The medicine container includes a controller and can include a camera located in the cap. The container can include a scale in the base. The controller controls the camera to take an image of the inside of the container to detect the contents, along with a weight measurement to determine usage of the content. A memory connects with the camera and the scale to store the image and weight data. The container can communicate data with a backend server using a wired or wireless connection upon a trigger event. Multiple containers can be connected to form a network of containers.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a medicine container including a bottle and a cap;

a controller located in the medicine container, the controller connected with an image sensor to capture an image of a content in the medicine container and a scale to measure a weight of the content in the medicine container, the controller configured to process the image of the content and the weight of the content contained in the bottle;

an inertial measurement unit connected with the controller, the inertial measurement unit configured to detect a position of the medicine container, the controller configured to process the position information to ensure that the container is located in an upright position before the weight measurement is considered; and

a communication element connected with the controller, the communication element to send at least one of the image of the content and the weight of the content to at least one of a communication device and a server.

2. The system of claim 1, where the communication device includes an application configured to analyze at least one of the image of the content and the weight of the content.

3. The system of claim 2, where at least one of the controller and the communication device are configured to provide an alarm based on the analysis.

4. The system of claim 1, where the controller enters a sleep mode based on the cap being closed.

19. The system of claim 1, where the content comprises a liquid.

5. A medicine container, comprising:

a controller;

an image sensor connected with the controller, the controller configured to control the image sensor to take an image of a content of the medicine container to detect usage of the content;

a memory connected with the image sensor, the memory configured to store the image;

a scale connected with the controller, the scale configured to measure a weight of the content of the medicine container;

an inertial measurement unit connected with the controller, the inertial measurement unit configured to detect a position of the medicine container, the controller configured to process the position information to ensure that the container is located in an upright position before the weight measurement is considered.

6. The medicine container of claim 5, further including a printed circuit board, where the controller, the image sensor and the memory are located on the printed circuit board.

7. The medicine container of claim 6, where the printed circuit is sized to fit in a bottle cap used to dispense medication.

8. The medicine container of claim 6, where the printed circuit board includes separate layers electrically connected together.

9. The medicine container of claim 5, where the memory comprises volatile memory configured to temporarily store the image and a non-volatile memory configured to store the image until communication becomes available.

10. The medicine container of claim 9, further comprising a dataflow manager connected with the controller, the dataflow manager configured to control a flow of the image from the volatile memory to the non-volatile memory.

11. The medicine container of claim 5, further including a communication element connected with the controller, the communication element configured to send the image to a communication device or a server.

12. The medicine container of claim 5, further including a power controller connected with the controller, the power controller configured to put a circuit component in sleep or low power state when not in use.

13. The medicine container of claim 12, where the power controller is further configured to turn on the circuit component when the medicine container is opened or closed.

20. The medicine container of claim 5, where the content comprises a liquid.

14. A method, comprising:

detecting with a controller a cap being opened from a medicine container;

collecting image information and weight information of a content in the medicine container when the cap of the medicine container is opened; and

detecting a position of the medicine container, the controller configured to process the position information to ensure that the container is located in an upright position before the weight information is considered.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting the information to at least one of a communication device and a server for analysis of the information.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

detecting with the controller when the cap is replaced on the medicine container; and

collecting at least one of image information and weight information of the content in the medicine container when the cap is replaced on the medicine container.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising generating an alarm based on the image information or the weight information.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising the controller and other components entering sleep mode after detecting that the cap is replaced on the medicine container.

21. The method of claim 14, where the content comprises a liquid.