Interactive medication container

• US 20030099158A1
• Filed: 09/24/2002
• Published: 05/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Southwest Technology Innovations LLC
• Original Assignee: Carlos De La Huerga
• Inventors: De la Huerga, Carlos
• Granted Patent: US 7,715,277 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 368/10
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/035 Blister-type containers blisters in general B65D75/36
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/1437 Locking means requiring key or combination to open the container
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2200/30 Compliance analysis for taking medication
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2200/70 Device provided with specific sensor or indicating means
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/10 Bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 2205/30 Printed labels
• 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 7/0418 with electronic history memory
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0436 resulting from removing a drug from, or opening, a container
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0445 for preventing drug dispensing during a predetermined time period
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0454 for dispensing of multiple drugs
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0481 working on a schedule basis
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 15/006 for operating at a number of different times cigar or cigarette receptacles or boxes with means for limiting the frequency of smoking A24F15/005
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07762 the adhering arrangement making the record carrier wearable, e.g. having the form of a ring, watch, glove or bracelet record carriers for insertion in the human body for medical purposes A61B90/00; record carriers adapted for attachment to animals A01K11/00
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers

Abstract

This invention relates to an interactive medication container or console that hold or otherwise organizes one or more medication vials or containers. Each vial has a memory strip containing medication and prescription information. Each vial can also include a reminder unit that is attached to and portable with the individual vials. The console or reminder unit reads the information strip of the vial and communicates this information to or interacts with a patient to remind them to take the medication. The medication container or reminder unit also gathers or tracks information such as consumption time, quantity remaining, patient feedback, and contraindication information. The medication container or reminder unit interacts with the patient by displaying questions or receiving and recording input from the patient before, during or after a dose of medication is taken. The patient input can be used to modify the dosing regimen for future doses of medication. The medication container reorders medication when the quantity remaining reaches a threshold level. Contraindication information in the memory strip is downloaded to a personal home computer or a hospital or nursing home computer.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring patient compliance with medication treatment, the method comprising the steps of:

removably receiving a container within a receptacle in an apparatus, wherein the container contains a medicament, wherein the container has an electromagnetic tag attached thereto, wherein the electromagnetic tag contains information about the medicament, and wherein the apparatus includes a reader that is configured to interrogate the electromagnetic tag and retrieve information therefrom;

interrogating the electromagnetic tag via the reader to retrieve information therefrom, wherein the retrieved information comprises an identification of the medicament;

alerting a patient to take a dose of the medicament in accordance with a dosage regimen associated with the identified medicament; and

storing in the apparatus a time when removal of the container from the receptacle is detected by the reader.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the electromagnetic tag is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and wherein the reader comprises an RFID tag reader.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of alerting a patient to take a dose of the medicament comprises providing a visual signal adjacent the receptacle.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of alerting a patient to take a dose of the medicament comprises providing an audio signal to the patient via the apparatus.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprises a display, and wherein the step of alerting a patient to take a dose of the medicament comprises displaying a message via the display.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the step of alerting a patient to take a dose of the medicament comprises providing an indication of medicament quantity.

7. The method according to claim 6 wherein the step of providing an indication of medicament quantity comprises providing at least one of a visual signal and audio signal via the apparatus.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the apparatus includes a processor in communication with the reader and wherein the dosage regimen associated with the medicament is stored within processor memory.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the information retrieved from the electromagnetic tag comprises a dosage regimen associated with the medicament.

10. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

establishing communications between the apparatus and an external computing device via a communications network; and

transmitting information from the apparatus to the external computing device.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein the container contains a plurality of different medicaments to be taken by a patient at a prescribed time.

12. The method according to claim 10 wherein the external computing device is a computing device of a supplier of the medicament and wherein the information transmitted to the external computing device comprises a request for an additional quantity of the medicament.

13. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

establishing communications between the apparatus and a third party computing device via a communications network;

retrieving information from the third party computing device about the medicament; and

displaying the retrieved information.

14. A method of monitoring patient compliance with multiple medication dosage regimens, the method comprising the steps of:

removably receiving a plurality of containers within a respective plurality of receptacles in an apparatus, wherein each container contains a medicament, wherein each container has an electromagnetic tag attached thereto, wherein each electromagnetic tag contains information about the medicament within a respective container, and wherein the apparatus includes a reader that is configured to interrogate the electromagnetic tag of each container and retrieve information therefrom;

interrogating each of the electromagnetic tags via the reader to retrieve information therefrom, wherein the retrieved information comprises an identification of medicament contained within each respective container;

alerting a patient to take a dose of medicament from respective ones of the containers in accordance with a respective dosage regimen associated with each of the identified medicaments; and

storing in the apparatus a time when removal of each container from a respective receptacle is detected by the reader.

15. The method according to claim 14 wherein each electromagnetic tag is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and wherein the reader comprises an array of RFID tag readers, wherein each RFID tag reader is associated with one or more receptacles.

16. The method according to claim 14 wherein the step of alerting a patient to take a dose of medicament from respective ones of the containers comprises providing visual signals adjacent respective ones of the receptacles.

17. The method according to claim 14 wherein the step of alerting a patient to take a dose of medicament from respective ones of the containers comprises providing an audio signal to the patient via the apparatus.

18. The method according to claim 14 wherein the apparatus comprises a display, and wherein the step of alerting a patient to take a dose of medicament from respective ones of the containers comprises displaying at least one message via the display.

19. The method according to claim 14 wherein the step of alerting a patient to take a dose of medicament from respective ones of the containers comprises providing an indication of medicament quantity.

20. The method according to claim 19 wherein the step of providing an indication of medicament quantity comprises providing at least one of a visual signal and audio signal.

21. The method according to claim 14 wherein the apparatus includes a processor in communication with the reader and wherein a dosage regimen associated with each medicament is stored within processor memory.

22. The method according to claim 14 wherein information retrieved from each electromagnetic tag comprises a dosage regimen associated with a respective medicament.

23. A method of monitoring patient compliance with medication treatment, the method comprising the steps of:

removably receiving first and second containers within respective first and second receptacles of an apparatus, wherein the first and second containers contain respective different first and second medicaments, wherein the first and second containers have respective first and second identifiers attached thereto, wherein the first and second identifiers contain information about the respective first and second medicaments, and wherein the apparatus includes a reader that is configured to interrogate each identifier and retrieve information therefrom;

interrogating the first and second identifiers via the reader to retrieve information therefrom, wherein the retrieved information comprises an identification of the first and second medicaments; and

determining whether the first and second medicaments are contraindicated.

24. The method according to claim 23 further comprising the step of alerting a patient if the first and second medicaments are contraindicated.

25. The method according to claim 23 wherein each identifier is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and wherein the reader comprises an RFID tag reader.

26. The method according to claim 23 wherein the step of alerting a patient comprises providing a visual signal adjacent at least one of the first and second receptacles.

27. The method according to claim 23 wherein the step of alerting a patient comprises providing an audio signal.

28. The method according to claim 23 wherein the apparatus comprises a display, and wherein the step of alerting a patient comprises displaying a message via the display.

29. The method according to claim 23 wherein the information retrieved from the respective first and second identifiers comprises dosage regimens associated with the respective first and second medicaments.

30. An apparatus that monitors patient compliance with medication treatment, comprising:

a receptacle for removably receiving a container therein, wherein the container contains a medicament, and wherein the container has an electromagnetic tag attached thereto that contains information about the medicament including an identification of the medicament;

a reader that is configured to interrogate the electromagnetic tag and identify the medicament;

an indicator that alerts a patient to take a dose of the medicament in accordance with a dosage regimen associated with the identified medicament; and

memory associated with the apparatus that stores a time when removal of the container from the receptacle is detected by the reader.

31. The apparatus according to claim 30 wherein the electromagnetic tag is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and wherein the reader comprises an RFID tag reader.

32. The apparatus according to claim 30 wherein the indicator is a visual indicator positioned adjacent the receptacle.

33. The apparatus according to claim 32 wherein the visual indicator is configured to provide an indication of medicament quantity.

34. The apparatus according to claim 30 wherein the indicator comprises an audio indicator.

35. The apparatus according to claim 34 wherein the audio indicator is configured to provide an indication of medicament quantity.

36. The apparatus according to claim 30 wherein the indicator comprises a display.

37. The apparatus according to claim 30 further comprising a processor in communication with the reader and wherein the dosage regimen associated with the medicament is stored within the processor memory.

38. The apparatus according to claim 30 wherein the information retrieved from the electromagnetic tag comprises a dosage regimen associated with the medicament.

39. The apparatus according to claim 30 further comprising a modem that is configured to communicate with external computing devices via a communications network.

40. The apparatus according to claim 30 further comprising a plurality of receptacles for receiving a respective plurality of medicament containers.

41. A system for monitoring patient compliance with medication treatment, comprising:

a container that contains a medicament, wherein the container has an identifier attached thereto that contains information about the medicament including an identification of the medicament;

an apparatus, comprising;

a receptacle for removably receiving the container therein;

a reader that is configured to interrogate the identifier and retrieve information therefrom;

an indicator that alerts a patient to take a dose of the medicament in accordance with a dosage regimen associated with the identified medicament;

memory associated with the apparatus for storing a time when removal of the container from the receptacle is detected by the reader; and

a modem that is configured to communicate with external computing devices via a communications network; and

a computing device in communication with the apparatus via a communications network, wherein the computing device transmits and receives information to and from the apparatus.

42. The system according to claim 41 wherein the identifier is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and wherein the reader comprises an RFID tag reader.

43. The system according to claim 41 wherein the indicator comprises a visual indicator positioned adjacent the receptacle.

44. The system according to claim 43 wherein the visual indicator is configured to provide an indication of medicament quantity.

45. The system according to claim 41 wherein the indicator comprises an audio indicator.

46. The system according to claim 45 wherein the audio indicator is configured to provide an indication of medicament quantity.

47. The system according to claim 41 wherein the apparatus comprises a display.

48. The system according to claim 41 wherein the apparatus includes a processor in communication with the reader and wherein the dosage regimen associated with the medicament is stored within processor memory.

49. The system according to claim 41 wherein the information retrieved from the identifier comprises a dosage regimen associated with the medicament.

50. A system for monitoring patient compliance with medication treatment, comprising:

a first container that contains a first medicament, wherein the container has a first identifier attached thereto that contains information about the first medicament, including an identification of the first medicament;

a second container that contains a second medicament different from the first medicament, wherein the second container has a second identifier attached thereto that contains information about the second medicament, including an identification of the second medicament;

an apparatus, comprising;

a first receptacle for removably receiving the first container therein;

a second receptacle for removably receiving the second container therein;

a reader that is configured to interrogate the first and second identifiers and retrieve information therefrom, wherein the retrieved information includes an identification of the first and second medicaments; and

wherein the apparatus is configured to determine whether the first and second medicaments are contraindicated.

51. The system according to claim 50 wherein each of the identifiers is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and wherein the reader comprises an RFID tag reader.

52. The system according to claim 50 wherein the apparatus further comprises a visual indicator that indicates the first and second medicaments are contraindicated.

53. The system according to claim 50 wherein the apparatus further comprises an audio indicator that indicates the first and second medicaments are contraindicated.

54. The system according to claim 50 wherein the apparatus comprises a display that displays a message that the first and second medicaments are contraindicated.

55. An apparatus that monitors patient compliance with medication treatment, comprising:

a surface for removably receiving a container thereon, wherein the container contains a medicament, and wherein the container has an electromagnetic tag attached thereto that contains information about the medicament including an identification of the medicament;

a reader that is configured to interrogate the electromagnetic tag and identify the medicament;

an indicator that alerts a patient to take a dose of the medicament in accordance with a dosage regimen associated with the identified medicament; and

memory associated with the apparatus that stores a time when removal of the container from the surface is detected by the reader.

56. The apparatus according to claim 55 wherein the electromagnetic tag is a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag and wherein the reader comprises an RFID tag reader.

57. The apparatus according to claim 55 wherein the indicator is at least one of a visual indicator, an audio indicator, and a display.