Dispensing drugs from a companion diagnostic linked smart pill

• US 10,264,972 B2
• Filed: 05/21/2012
• Issued: 04/23/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kozloski, James R., Pickover, Clifford A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Agahi, Puya
• Application Number:
  US13/476,147
• Publication Number:
  US 20130310663A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,528 Days
• Field of Search: 600302
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/162 Capsule shaped sensor housings, e.g. for swallowing or implantation
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0031 Implanted circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/07 Endoradiosondes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/073 Intestinal transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14539 for measuring pH
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6861 Capsules, e.g. for swallowing or implanting
• CPC Class Codes: A61M 31/00 Devices for introducing or retaining media, e.g. remedies, in cavities of the body A61M25/00 takes precedence ; introducing or retaining ophthalmic products into the ocular cavities A61F9/0008

Abstract

A mechanism is provided. The mechanism includes a user device and a smart pill within a host. The smart pill is communicatively connected to the user device for transmitting and receiving secure communications. Settings of the smart pill while in the host are configured to be changed based on patient category data of the host.

Claims

1. A smart pill system, comprising:

a user device; and

a smart pill configured to be swallowed by a host in a clinical study executed by an application program interface (API) of a remote testing server, the smart pill communicatively connected to the user device for transmitting and receiving secure communications including companion diagnostic data of the host;

wherein the smart pill comprises a controller swallowable in the smart pill;

a plurality of smart pills configured to be swallowed by a plurality of hosts in the clinical study executed by the API of the remote testing server;

wherein each of the plurality of smart pills and the smart pill comprises drugs being tested on the plurality of different hosts in the clinical study;

another controller in each of the plurality of smart pills, the another controller and the controller configured to control release of the drugs, the another controller configured to be in communication with the API of the remote testing server;

wherein a release and a non-release of the drugs in the plurality of smart pills and the smart pill are blind and are controlled by the API of the remote testing server, the release and the non-release being blind is defined as no humans including a doctor and the plurality of hosts being unaware of which of the plurality of hosts have swallowed the plurality of smart pills that release and do not release the drugs, such that none of the plurality of hosts knows whether the drugs are administered or not;

wherein the release and the non-release of the drugs in the plurality of smart pills and the smart pill are controlled according to patient categories in a database, wherein the patient categories comprise predefined genetic information, such that the host and the plurality of hosts are matched to the patient categories;

wherein the another controller and the controller, of the plurality of smart pills and the smart pill for a subpopulation of the plurality of hosts, is configured to be modified via the API given results of the clinical study, the another controller and the controller being modified to target the release of the drugs for the subpopulation according to the patient categories of the remote testing server, the subpopulation being defined as one of the patient categories in a database of the remote testing server;

wherein the smart pill comprises;

separate reservoirs configured to separately house three or more drugs, the smart pill having a longitudinal direction such that a first reservoir containing a first one of the three or more drugs and a second reservoir containing a second one of the three or more drugs are on an opposite side of the smart pill in the longitudinal direction from a third reservoir containing a third one of the three or more drugs, the first, second, and third reservoirs occupying longitudinal ends of the smart pill;

a plurality of dispensers individually controlled by the controller in which a first dispenser is directly adjacent to the first reservoir and is configured to expel the first one of the three or more drugs through a biocompatible shell, a second dispenser is directly adjacent to the second reservoir and is configured to expel the second one of the three or more drugs through the biocompatible shell, and a third dispenser is directly adjacent to the third reservoir and is configured to expel the third one of the three or more drugs through the biocompatible shell;

the first and second dispensers configured to expel the first one and the second one of the three or more drugs out of the first and second reservoirs at one longitudinal end of the smart pill, the third dispenser configured to expel the third one of the three or more drugs out of the third reservoir at another longitudinal end of the smart pill opposite the one longitudinal end, wherein the first dispenser, the second dispenser, and the third dispenser are each a spring, wherein the spring is configured to be extended a first increment through a last increment in order to expel the first one, the second one, and the third one of the three or more drugs into the host, wherein the first increment is a minimum dosage amount and the last increment is a maximum dosage amount to individually expel the first one, the second one, and the third one of the three or more drugs into the host;

a first bus connecting the first dispenser to the controller, a second bus connecting the second dispenser to the controller, and a third bus connecting the third dispenser to the controller;

wherein the combination of the three or more drugs that are to be dispensed in the host include options of;

dispensing no drugs of the three or more drugs, and dispensing a specific combination of the three or more drugs without dispensing some drugs.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to utilize the companion diagnostic data of the host to determine a combination of the three or more drugs that are to be dispensed in the host;

wherein the controller is configured to dispense the combination of the three or more drugs in the host according to the companion diagnostic data of the host;

wherein the companion diagnostic data corresponds to test results of the host, the test results comprising genetic results, proteomic results, and gene expression tests results.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein when determined that a drug of the three or more drugs is to be dispensed, the smart pill is configured to determine a dosage amount of the drug of the three or more drugs to dispense in the host.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the three or more drugs at least comprise drug A, drug B, and drug C;

and

wherein the plurality of dispensers are piezoelectric devices.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the smart pill receives instructions from the user device to control energy usage of the smart pill.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the smart pill further comprises an onboard testing unit comprising a tissue and fluid sampler device, the controller and onboard testing unit positioned in a middle portion of the smart pill.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the user device is eyeglasses.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein a medical report of the host is displayed on the user device;

wherein the medical report of the host comprises current medical information, and past collected medical information for a predefined time interval.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein based on the companion diagnostic data of the host, the controller is configured to cause respective ones of the plurality of dispensers to dispense multiple drugs of the three or more drugs in a specified combination.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the smart pill is configured to release at least one of stem cells, viruses, parasite eggs, parasites, and bacteria;

further comprising;

a plurality of smart pills configured to be swallowed by the host such that the plurality of smart pills and the smart pill form a pill network in the host, the plurality of smart pills being configured to house the three or more drugs, wherein the plurality of smart pills and the smart pill are configured to communicate with one another separate from the user device, wherein each of the plurality of smart pills and the smart pill is configured with a different encryption and decryption protocol such that each of the plurality of smart pills and the smart pill is separately identifiable.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein in response to a user holding the user device in proximity to the host having swallowed the smart pill, the user device displays a danger condition such that the user selects an option on the user device to improve drug delivery characteristics of the smart pill.