Medication dispenser respecting the physiological clock of patients

• US 8,068,015 B2
• Filed: 08/22/2007
• Issued: 11/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Burg, Bernard
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu; Daniel
• Assistant Examiner(s): TUN, NAY L
• Application Number:
  US11/843,306
• Publication Number:
  US 20090050645A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,560 Days
• Field of Search: 340/309, 340/539.12, 221/2, 221/3, 221/15, 368/10, 700/231, 700/239, 700/240, 700/242, 700/244, 706/21, 706/924, 358/10
• US Class Current: 340/309.16
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0436 resulting from removing a drug from, or opening, a container
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/049 automatically changing in response to a schedule deviation by the patient
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/001 Interfacing with vending machines using mobile or wearable devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 9/002 Vending machines being part of a centrally controlled network of vending machines
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems

Abstract

A medication dispensing system for use with a medication dispenser, includes a physiological module and an ingestion module. The physiological module receives information regarding time-based medication intake, information regarding event-based medication prescription, and sensory input indicating occurrences of events indicative of a patient'"'"'s physiological condition and/or the patient'"'"'s physiological clock. The physiological module then determines physiological event-based medication intake based on the information regarding the event-based medication prescription and physiological rules regarding the patient'"'"'s physiological condition and/or the patient'"'"'s physiological clock. The ingestion module merges event-based medication intake and time-based medication intake by delaying or accelerating dispensing of a time-based medication. The delay or acceleration can be applied to ensure that the time-based medication is dispensed at the same time as an event-based medication, and/or in order to increase a time difference between ingestion of the time-based medication and the event-based medication.

Claims

1. A medication dispensing system for use with a medication dispenser, the system comprising:

a physiological module implemented as computer executable instructions executed by a computer processor of a computing device, the physiological module receiving an event-based medication prescription for a patient that specifies when to ingest a first medication in relation to a physiological event experienced by the patient and receiving sensory input from one or more sensors remote from the computing device and proximate to the patient, the physiological module detecting a pattern of occurrences of the physiological event from the sensory input, identifying an expected time for an occurrence of the physiological event and scheduling ingestion of the first medication proximate the expected time for the occurrence of the physiological event and in accordance with the event-based medication prescription;

wherein said physiological module includes an event detection module that maintains a calendar of events experienced by the patient, including the physiological event, and makes a determination of a time range in which these events occur; and

an ingestion module that receives another time-based medication prescription for the patient that specifies a timing for ingesting a second medication, the ingestion module schedules ingestion of the second medication in relation to the ingestion of the first medication in accordance with an ingestion policy,

said ingestion module employs a predetermined temporal window for dispensing the second medication to determine whether to delay or accelerate dispensing the second medication and delays dispensing of the second medication when overlap occurs with the expect time for the occurrence of the physiological event.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said ingestion module delays dispensing of the second medication until either:

(a) the first medication is dispensed or (b) an end of the predetermined temporal window is reached, whichever comes first.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said system downloads an e-prescription from a health monitoring organization, and the e-prescription specifies both the information regarding intake of the second medication, and the information regarding the event-based medication prescription.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the information regarding intake of the second medication includes instructions for dispensing medication according to a fixed time distribution schedule, and the event-based medication prescription includes instructions for dispensing medication in response to events including at least one of:

blood pressure level;

heart attack;

going to sleep;

waking; and

taking a meal.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said ingestion module recognizes that the second medication and the first medication have a possibility of producing a side effect when consumed concurrently, and decides to delay or accelerate dispensing of the second medication in order to increase a time difference between ingestion of the second medication and ingestion of the first medication.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the side effect is an allergic reaction.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said system connects to a health monitoring organization and uploads notifications of medication intake in order to update status of the patient.

14. The medication dispensing system of claim 1 wherein the ingestion policy is further defined as a convenience policy that minimizes a number of medications taken.

15. The medication dispensing system of claim 1 wherein the ingestion policy is further defined as an anti-allergy policy that separates in time ingestion of medications having potential allergic reactions.

8. A medication dispensing method for use with a medication dispenser, the method comprising:

receiving an event-based medication prescription for a patient that specifies when to ingest a first medication in relation to a physiological event experienced by the patient;

receiving sensory input from one or more sensors proximate to the patient;

detecting a pattern of occurrences of the physiological event from the sensory input by a physiological module executed by a computer processor;

identifying an expected time for an occurrence of the physiological event from the pattern of occurrences;

scheduling ingestion of the first medication to correlate with the expected time in accordance with the event-based medication prescriptions and an ingestion policy by an ingestion module executed by the computer processor;

maintaining a calendar of events experienced by the patient, including the physiological event, and making a determination of a time range in which these events occur;

receiving a time-based-medication prescription for the patient that specifies a timing for ingesting a second medication and employing a predetermined temporal window for dispensing the second medication to determine whether to delay or accelerate dispensing the second medication; and

delaying dispensing of the second medication when overlap occurs of the predetermined temporal window with the expected time for an occurrence of the physiological event.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising delaying dispensing of the second medication until either:

(a) the first medication is dispensed or (b) an end of the predetermined temporal window is reached, whichever comes first.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising downloading an e-prescription from a health monitoring organization, wherein the e-prescription specifies both the information regarding intake of the second medication, and the information regarding the event-based medication prescription.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the information regarding intake of the second medication includes instructions for dispensing medication according to a fixed time distribution schedule, and the event-based medication prescription includes instructions for dispensing medication in response to events including at least one of:

blood pressure level;

heart attack;

going to sleep;

waking; and

taking a meal.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

recognizing that the second medication and the first medication have a possibility of producing a side effect when consumed concurrently; and

deciding to delay or accelerate dispensing of the second medication in order to increase a time difference between ingestion of the second medication and ingestion of the first medication.

13. The medication dispensing method of claim 8 wherein detecting a pattern of occurrences of the physiological event further comprises learning a pattern of meal times for the patient and scheduling ingestion of the medication to correlate with the pattern of meal times.