Online medicine cabinet
First Claim
1. A method of tracking use of medications, comprising the steps of:
- (a) automatically identifying medication stored in a medicine cabinet by reading labels associated with the medications, the labels at least respectively identifying the medications; and
(b) detecting use of the medications in the medicine cabinet by detecting removal of a respective medication from the medicine cabinet and by detecting changes in a quantity of items of medication of the respective medication.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A medicine cabinet or similar device that assists users in selecting and taking medication. A radio frequency receiver is configured to read information included on radio frequency sensitive labels that are attached to items containing medication in the medicine cabinet. A computer in the medicine cabinet is operatively connected to the radio frequency receiver and also to a wide area network, such as the Internet. The medicine cabinet has a display device that is operatively coupled with the computer and, in the form of a touch screen flat panel, the display device functions to interface the user and the medicine cabinet. The computer is configured to transmit information to the Internet and receives information from websites or additional computers that are coupled to the Internet. Information regarding medications and users as well as vital signs records of the users are stored either in the memory of the medicine cabinet or at a remote location via the connection to the Internet.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method of tracking use of medications, comprising the steps of:
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(a) automatically identifying medication stored in a medicine cabinet by reading labels associated with the medications, the labels at least respectively identifying the medications; and
(b) detecting use of the medications in the medicine cabinet by detecting removal of a respective medication from the medicine cabinet and by detecting changes in a quantity of items of medication of the respective medication. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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15. A medicine cabinet that identifies medication and transmits information via the Internet, comprising:
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a radio frequency receiver configured to read information included on radio frequency sensitive labels attached to items containing medication;
a sensor for determining a number of units of medication in a container for the medication;
a computer operatively coupled to the radio frequency receiver, to the weight sensor and to the Internet;
a display device operatively coupled to the computer; and
wherein the computer is configured to transmit information to and receive information from web sites on the Internet.
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18. A medicine cabinet that identifies medication and transmits information via a wide area network, comprising:
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a radio frequency receiver configured to read information included on radio frequency sensitive labels attached to items containing medication;
a computer operatively coupled to the radio frequency receiver and to the Internet;
a display device operatively coupled to the computer; and
wherein the computer is configured to transmit information to and receive information from sites on the wide area network.
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27. A method of aiding a user in the selection of medication, comprising the steps of:
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a. identifying a respective user of a plurality of users;
b. automatically identifying medication stored in a medicine cabinet by reading labels associated with items of medication, a respective label at least identifying respective medication, and by determining a number of units of medication of respective medication;
c. automatically identifying a first item of medication that has been removed from the medicine cabinet;
d. automatically determining if the first item of medication removed from the medicine cabinet is a medication associated with the respective user; and
e. displaying information indicative of a result of determining if the first item of medication is associated with the respective user.
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32. A medicine cabinet that identifies medication and transmits information to a wide area network, comprising:
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a sensor that identifies a user;
a radio frequency receiver configured to read information included on radio frequency sensitive labels attached to items containing medication;
a sensor for determining a number of units of medication in respective items containing medication;
a computer operatively coupled to the radio frequency receiver and a wide area network;
an interface for connecting to a network for automatically requesting a refill of a medication when the number of units of medication falls below a predetermined number;
a display device operatively coupled to the computer; and
wherein the computer is configured to transmit information to the wide area network and receive information from additional computers coupled to the wide area network. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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37. A smart medicine cabinet system for storing medication, the system having a smart medicine cabinet having a sensor system for detecting medication and for detecting a user, comprising:
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a propagated signal adapted for use in monitoring the medication, the signal having therein machine-readable information;
the machine-readable information having first information identifying type and quantity of a respective medication; and
the machine-readable information having second information identifying a current respective user.
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Specification