Medication compliance alert device

• US 10,383,794 B2
• Filed: 06/05/2018
• Issued: 08/20/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nexpil, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nexpil, Inc.
• Inventors: Khalid, Syed
• Primary Examiner(s): Hunnings, Travis R
• Application Number:
  US15/997,820
• Publication Number:
  US 20180280245A1
• Time in Patent Office: 441 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/1412 Containers with closing means, e.g. caps
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2200/30 Compliance analysis for taking medication
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/10 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/20 Colour codes
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/40 by shape or form, e.g. by using shape recognition
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/50 using icons or symbolic figures, e.g. by a graphical representation symbolising the type of pathology or the organ by an image
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/60 using magnetic or electronic identifications, e.g. chips, RFID, electronic tags
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/70 Audible labels, e.g. for pre-recorded info or messages
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0084 for multiple medicaments
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/04 Arrangements for time indication or reminder for taking medicine, e.g. programmed dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0409 with timers
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0418 with electronic history memory
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0436 resulting from removing a drug from, or opening, a container
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0454 for dispensing of multiple drugs
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0472 of the count-down type, i.e. counting down a predetermined interval after each reset
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0481 working on a schedule basis
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/24 Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

Example embodiments relate to medication compliance alert devices. An example embodiment includes a method. The method includes capturing information about a medication label associated with a medication. The method also includes analyzing, by a first computing device, the information about the medication label to extract medication information. Further, the method includes generating, by the first computing device, a medication schedule for a corresponding patient associated with the medication. The medication schedule includes a dosage strength and dosage frequency. In addition, the method includes prompting, by a second computing device, the corresponding patient to take an amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength at a predetermined time according to the medication schedule. Still further, the method includes receiving, by the second computing device, an indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

capturing information about a medication label associated with a medication;

analyzing, by a first computing device, the information about the medication label to extract medication information;

generating, by the first computing device, a medication schedule for a corresponding patient associated with the medication, wherein the medication schedule comprises a dosage strength and dosage frequency;

prompting, by a second computing device, the corresponding patient to take an amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength at a predetermined time according to the medication schedule; and

receiving, by the second computing device, an indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the medication information comprises a name of a corresponding pharmacy, an address of a corresponding pharmacy, a phone number of a corresponding pharmacy, a name of a corresponding pharmacist, a name of a prescribing physician, a name of the corresponding patient, initials of the corresponding patient, a date of birth of the corresponding patient, a patient identification (ID) number of the corresponding patient, an address of the corresponding patient, a date on which a corresponding prescription was filled, a serial number of a corresponding prescription, directions for prescribed use of the medication, dosage information, a proprietary name of a corresponding drug, a generic name of a corresponding drug, an expiration date of the medication, a drug dose strength of the medication, or an initial quantity of pills in a corresponding container.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing the information about the medication label comprises:

capturing, by a camera, an image of the medication label; and

transmitting, by the camera, the image of the medication label to the first computing device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein analyzing the information about the medication label to extract medication information comprises:

performing, by the first computing device, optical character recognition (OCR) on the image of the medication label;

or

performing, by the first computing device, image analysis on the image of the medication label to read a barcode or a QUICK-RESPONSE (QR) code of the medication label.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the dosage strength or dosage frequency is based on the medication information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prompting, by the second computing device, the corresponding patient to complete a health management task; and

receiving, by the second computing device, an indication that the corresponding patient has completed the health management task, wherein the health management task comprises performing an exercise, performing an at-home diagnostic test, or visiting a physician.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving the indication that the corresponding patient has completed the health management task comprises:

receiving, by the second computing device, results of the at-home diagnostic test; and

storing, within the second computing device or the first computing device, the results of the at-home diagnostic test.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, within the first computing device, at least one of the medication schedule, the dosage strength, the dosage frequency, or the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength; and

presenting, to a physician treating the corresponding patient, the stored medication schedule, stored dosage strength, stored dosage frequency, or stored indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing, within the first computing device, at least one of a name of the medication, the medication schedule, the dosage strength, the dosage frequency, or the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength;

transmitting, by the second computing device, a credential token to a third computing device, wherein the credential token provides access privileges to an approved party for a predetermined length of time to the stored name of the medication, stored medication schedule, stored dosage strength, stored dosage frequency, or stored indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength;

providing, by the third computing device to the first computing device, the credential token;

providing, to the third computing device by the first computing device, access to the stored name of the medication, stored medication schedule, stored dosage strength, stored dosage frequency, or stored indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength; and

revoking, after the predetermined length of time, the access privileges to the stored name of the medication, stored medication schedule, stored dosage strength, stored dosage frequency, or stored indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the first computing device based on the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength, whether an appropriate medication was taken by the corresponding patient;

determining, by the first computing device based on the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength, whether an appropriate amount of medication was taken by the corresponding patient;

or

determining, by the first computing device based on the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength, whether the medication was taken within an appropriate time window based on the predetermined time.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing, by the second computing device, an alert if:

the appropriate medication was not taken by the corresponding patient;

the appropriate amount of the medication was not taken by the corresponding patient;

or

the medication was not taken within the appropriate time window based on the predetermined time.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising revising, by the first computing device, the medication schedule based on a change in health or symptoms of the corresponding patient.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein prompting, by the second computing device, comprises:

displaying, by the second computing device, an image of the medication;

displaying, by the second computing device, an image of the dosage strength;

displaying, by the second computing device, an instructional image regarding how to take the medication;

providing, by the second computing device, audio instructions regarding how to take the medication;

providing, by the second computing device, video instructions regarding how to take the medication;

providing, by the second computing device, a text-message or email reminder regarding the medication;

or

providing, by the second computing device, a popup notification regarding the medication.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the image of the medication is a stock photo of a drug obtained from an image repository of a government agency or pharmaceutical corporation.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength comprises a captured image of a medication taken by the corresponding patient.

16. The method of claim 1,

wherein prompting, by the second computing device, the corresponding patient to take the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength comprises activating, by the second computing device, an alarm, and

wherein the method further comprises silencing, by the second computing device upon receiving the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength, the alarm.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein receiving, by the second computing device, the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength comprises interacting a pill container with a pill-container detection device.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the second computing device, context about a time at which the medication was taken by the corresponding patient; and

storing, within the first computing device or the second computing device, the context about the time at which the medication was taken by the corresponding patient.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the dosage strength comprises a drug dosage strength in mg or a drug dosage amount in number of pills.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the dosage strength or dosage frequency is based on health information about the corresponding patient stored within the first computing device, the second computing device, or some other computing device.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an amount of the medication remaining in a medication container; and

storing, within the first computing device, the amount of medication remaining in the medication container.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein determining the amount of the medication remaining in the medication container comprises:

weighing all pills remaining in the medication container and dividing by a predetermined mass of each pill;

pouring out pills remaining in the medication container, capturing an image of the pills, and performing image processing on the captured image to count a number of pills;

or

subtracting the amount of medication corresponding to the dosage strength from a previously determined amount of remaining medication to establish the amount of the medication remaining in the medication container.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

broadcasting, by a third computing device within a waiting room of an emergency care facility or a physician'"'"'s office, a beacon requesting access to medical information about the corresponding patient;

granting, by the second computing device for a predetermined length of time, access to the medical information about the corresponding patient; and

broadcasting, by the third computing device within the waiting room of the emergency care facility or the physician'"'"'s office, targeted content that is tailored based on the medical information about the corresponding patient.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing information about the medication label associated with the medication comprises:

capturing, by a camera, a first image of the medication label;

transmitting, by the camera, the first image of the medication label to the first computing device;

determining, by the first computing device, that the first image is obscured or blurry;

prompting, by the second computing device, the corresponding patient to capture an additional image of the medication label;

capturing, by the camera, a second image of the medication label; and

transmitting, by the camera, the second image of the medication label to the first computing device.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

determining, by the first computing device, that the second image is obscured or blurry; and

prompting, by the second computing device, the corresponding patient to manually enter the information about the medication label associated with the medication.

26. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

capturing information about an additional medication label associated with an additional medication;

analyzing, by the first computing device, the information about the additional medication label to extract additional medication information; and

generating, by the first computing device, an additional medication schedule for the corresponding patient, wherein the additional medication schedule comprises an additional dosage strength and an additional dosage frequency corresponding to the additional medication.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein generating the additional medication schedule comprises:

determining if any potential adverse drug interactions exist between the medication and the additional medication; and

staggering, if a potential adverse drug interaction does exist, predetermined times to take the medication according to the medication schedule with respect to predetermined times to take the additional medication according to the additional medication schedule.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the first computing device is a server computing device.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the second computing device is a mobile computing device, a tablet computing device, a wearable computing device, a laptop computing device, a desktop computing device, a computing device associated with a smart speaker, or a computing device embedded within a household appliance.

30. A mobile computing device configured to:

capture information about a medication label associated with a medication;

analyze the information about the medication label to extract medication information;

generate a medication schedule for a corresponding patient associated with the medication, wherein the medication schedule comprises a dosage strength and dosage frequency;

prompt the corresponding patient to take an amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength at a predetermined time according to the medication schedule; and

receive an indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength.

31. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising:

receiving information, from a computing device, about a medication label associated with a medication;

analyzing the information about the medication label to extract medication information;

generating a medication schedule for a corresponding patient associated with the medication, wherein the medication schedule comprises a dosage strength and dosage frequency;

transmitting, to the computing device, the medication schedule for the corresponding patient; and

receiving, from the computing device, an indication that the corresponding patient has taken an amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength, wherein the indication that the corresponding patient has taken the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength was received by the computing device in response to the computing device prompting the corresponding patient to take the amount of the medication corresponding to the dosage strength at a predetermined time according to the medication schedule.