Medication adherence and/or counterfeit detection wearable electronic device

• US 10,524,726 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2016
• Issued: 01/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biointellisense, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Biointellisense, Inc.
• Inventors: Wang, David Jonq, Ross, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jang, Christian
• Application Number:
  US15/353,738
• Publication Number:
  US 20180132783A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,146 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/112 Gait analysis
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/117 Identification of persons methods or arrangements for recognising patterns, e.g. fingerprints, G06F18/00, G06V40/00; identification of persons by analysing their voice or speech G10L17/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1172 using fingerprinting
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14517 for sweat
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14546 for measuring analytes not otherwise provided for, e.g. ions, cytochromes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1455 using optical sensors, e.g. spectral photometrical oximeters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/318 Heart-related electrical modalities, e.g. electrocardiography [ECG]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4266 sweat secretion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4833 Assessment of subject's compliance to treatment
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4866 Evaluating metabolism A61B5/083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6803 Head-worn items, e.g. helmets, masks, headphones or goggles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7275 Determining trends in physiological measurement data; Predicting development of a medical condition based on physiological measurements, e.g. determining a risk factor

Abstract

A system to determine medication adherence may include a chemical marker sensor, a verification sensor, and a processor. The chemical marker sensor may be configured to detect one or more markers in sweat vapor of a user. The verification sensor may be configured to detect whether the system is in use. The processor may be communicatively coupled to the chemical marker sensor and the verification sensor and may be configured to determine whether the user has taken a therapeutic agent that includes the one or more markers based on signals generated by the chemical marker sensor and the verification sensor.

Claims

1. A system to determine medication adherence, the system comprising:

a chemical marker sensor configured to detect one or more markers of a therapeutic agent in sweat vapor of a user;

a verification sensor configured to detect whether the system is less than a threshold distance from skin;

a heart-beat sensor configured to detect a manifestation of an expected effect of the therapeutic agent on the user;

and

a processor communicatively coupled to the chemical marker sensor, the verification sensor, and the heart-beat sensor, and configured to calculate a confidence level indicative of whether the user has taken the therapeutic agent based on the chemical marker sensor detecting the one or more markers in the sweat vapor, the verification sensor detecting that the system is less than the threshold distance from skin, and the heart-beat sensor detecting the manifestation of the expected effect of the therapeutic agent on the user.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the chemical marker sensor is configured to detect a plurality of markers in the sweat vapor; and

the processor is configured to identify specific therapeutic agents taken by the user based on, for a given specific therapeutic agent, at least one of a proportion or an identity of each of two or more markers of the plurality of markers that are detected in the sweat vapor and that are specific to the given specific therapeutic agent.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising a wristband, a wristwatch, or a smartwatch that includes at least a perspiration sensor configured to detect the sweat vapor of the user, the chemical marker sensor, and the verification sensor and configured to position the perspiration sensor to detect sweat vapor from a wrist of the user.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a hearing aid that includes at least a perspiration sensor configured to detect the sweat vapor of the user, the chemical marker sensor, and the verification sensor and configured to position the perspiration sensor to detect sweat vapor from an ear canal of the user.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a clip-on ear accessory that includes at least a perspiration sensor configured to detect the sweat vapor of the user, the chemical marker sensor, and the verification sensor and configured to position the perspiration sensor to detect sweat vapor from an ear lobe of the user.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the chemical marker sensor comprises at least one of a hot plate detector, a metal-oxide gas sensor, a graphene nanoelectric heterodyne sensor, an infrared sensor, or a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT)-based chemical sensor.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising at least one biometric authentication sensor configured to biometrically authenticate the user as a particular known person.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the at least one biometric authentication sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a fingerprint scanner, a microphone, an image sensor, an electrocardiograph (ECG) sensor, or a photoplethysmograph (PPG) sensor.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the verification sensor comprises an infrared sensor or an accelerometer.

10. A system to determine medication adherence, the system comprising:

a chemical marker sensor configured to detect one or more markers of a therapeutic agent in sweat vapor of a user;

a verification sensor configured to detect whether the system is less than a threshold distance from skin;

at least one of a heart-beat sensor or a motion sensor, the at least one of the heart-beat sensor or the motion sensor configured to detect a manifestation of an expected effect of the therapeutic agent on the user; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the chemical marker sensor, the verification sensor, and the at least one of the heart-beat sensor or the motion sensor and configured to calculate a confidence level indicative of whether the user has taken the therapeutic agent based on the chemical marker sensor detecting the one or more markers in the sweat vapor, the verification sensor detecting that the system is less than the threshold distance from skin, and the at least one of the heart-beat sensor or the motion sensor detecting the manifestation of the expected effect of the therapeutic agent on the user.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein:

the one or more markers of the therapeutic agent include a first chemical marker and a second chemical marker;

the chemical marker sensor is configured to;

detect the first chemical marker of the therapeutic agent in the sweat vapor at a first time; and

detect the second chemical marker of the therapeutic agent in the sweat vapor at a second time; and

the processor is further configured to;

determine a metabolic rate of the user based on the first time and the second time; and

determine a personalized dosing for the user based on the metabolic rate.

11. A system to determine medication adherence, the system comprising:

a chemical marker sensor configured to detect one or more markers of a therapeutic agent in sweat vapor of a user;

a verification sensor configured to detect whether the system is less than a threshold distance from skin;

a motion sensor configured to detect a change in a movement pattern of the user indicative of a manifestation of an expected effect of the therapeutic agent on the user;

and

a processor communicatively coupled to the chemical marker sensor, the verification sensor, the motion sensor, and the user interface and configured to calculate a confidence level indicative of whether the user has taken the therapeutic agent based on the chemical marker sensor detecting the one or more markers in the sweat vapor, the verification sensor detecting that the system is less than the threshold distance from skin, and the motion sensor detecting the change in the movement pattern of the user indicative of the manifestation of the expected effect of the therapeutic agent on the user.