MEDICATION ADHERENCE AND/OR COUNTERFEIT DETECTION WEARABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE

• US 20180132783A1
• Filed: 11/17/2016
• Published: 05/17/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biointellisense, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Striiv, Inc.
• Inventors: Wang, David Jonq, Ross, Mark A.
• Granted Patent: US 10,524,726 B2
• Time in Patent Office: 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 in sweat vapor of a user;

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

a processor communicatively coupled to the chemical marker sensor and the verification sensor and configured to determine whether the user has taken a therapeutic agent that includes the one or more markers based on a signal generated by the chemical marker sensor and the verification sensor.

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 method to determine medication adherence, the method comprising:

detecting whether a wearable electronic device is in use;

detecting one or more markers in sweat vapor of the user using a chemical marker sensor of the wearable electronic device; and

in response to detecting that the system is in use, determining whether the user has taken a therapeutic agent that includes the one or more markers based on detecting the one or more markers in the sweat vapor.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein:

detecting the one or more markers in the sweat vapor includes detecting a plurality of markers in the sweat vapor; and

the method further comprises identifying a given specific therapeutic agent taken by the user based on both a proportion and identity of each of the plurality of markers that are detected in the sweat vapor and that are unique to the given specific therapeutic agent.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising detecting the sweat vapor of the user using a perspiration sensor of the wearable electronic device, wherein detecting the sweat vapor of the user comprises detecting the sweat vapor from at least one of:

a wrist of the user;

an ear canal of the user;

or an ear lobe of the user.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising biometrically authenticating the user as a particular known person.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein biometrically authenticating the user as a particular known person comprises:

determining user-specific biometric characteristics of the user, wherein the user-specific biometric characteristics include at least one of user-specific gait characteristics, user-specific fingerprint characteristics, user-specific voice characteristics, user-specific image characteristics, or user-specific heart beat characteristics;

comparing the user-specific biometric characteristics to person-specific biometric characteristics of the particular known person, wherein the person-specific biometric characteristics include at least one of person-specific gait characteristics, person-specific fingerprint characteristics, person-specific voice characteristics, person-specific image characteristics, or person-specific heart beat characteristics; and

determining that the user is the particular known person in response to the user-specific biometric characteristics matching the person-specific biometric characteristics.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein detecting whether the wearable electronic device is in use comprises detecting whether the verification sensor is less than a threshold distance from skin using an infrared sensor.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising authenticating a source of the therapeutic agent.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein authenticating the source of the therapeutic agent comprises:

determining a marker signature of the therapeutic agent;

comparing the determined marker signature to a unique known marker signature associated with a known source of a known therapeutic agent; and

determining that the source of the therapeutic agent is the known source of the known therapeutic agent in response to the marker signature of the therapeutic agent matching the known marker signature.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the marker signature of the therapeutic agent comprises identifying at least two different markers in the sweat vapor and determining a concentration of each of the at least two different markers.

19. The method of claim 10, wherein determining whether the user has taken the therapeutic agent includes calculating a confidence level that the user has taken the therapeutic agent based on detecting the one or more markers in the sweat vapor and based on at least one of:

objective measurement data indicative of whether an expected effect of the therapeutic agent is manifest in the user;

subjective first input data from the user that indicates whether the user has taken the therapeutic agent;

subjective second input data from the user that indicates a self-assessment by the user of a condition being treated by the therapeutic agent;

or

calendar information indicative of any reminders related to the user taking the therapeutic agent.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining a baseline measurement of the one or more markers in the sweat vapor of the user during a baseline period of time prior to the user taking the therapeutic agent, wherein:

detecting the one or more markers in the sweat vapor comprises determining a subsequent measurement of the one or more markers in the sweat vapor of the user subsequent to the baseline period of time; and

the method further includes comparing the subsequent measurement to the baseline measurement; and

determining whether the user has taken the therapeutic agent includes determining that the user has taken the therapeutic agent in response to the subsequent measurement exceeding the baseline measurement by a threshold amount.

21. The method of claim 10, wherein detecting the one or more markers in the sweat vapor includes detecting at least two markers of different metabolic rates in the sweat vapor of the user, including:

detecting a first one of the at least two markers at a first time, detection of the first one of the at least two markers indicating that the user has taken the therapeutic agent; and

detecting at least a second one of the at least two markers at a second time subsequent to the first time, detection of the at least the second one of the at least two markers at the second time relative to the first time indicating a metabolic rate of the user.