Sensing exposure to environmental factors
First Claim
1. A method of sensing exposure to one or more of a plurality of environmental factors, comprising steps of:
- an exposing step of exposing a code circuit to at least some of the environmental factors, the code circuit disposed over a substrate and including a plurality of sensor patches, each sensor patch having a respective electrical state that changes with exposure to one of the environmental factors, so that the code circuit has an electrical state;
a checking step of passing an electrical excitation signal through the code circuit, and detecting a corresponding received electrical signal, using a transceiver formed on a transceiver substrate separate from and disposed over the substrate, wherein the transceiver includes a controller and the received electrical signal depends on the excitation signal and the electrical state of the code circuit;
a storing step of using the controller, automatically storing the received electrical signal or a representation thereof in a memory; and
a repeating step of using the controller, automatically repeating the checking and storing steps after one or more selected time intervals; and
wherein;
the exposing step includes contemporaneously exposing a plurality of code circuits to the at least some of the environmental factors, each code circuit disposed over the substrate and including a respective plurality of electrically-connected sensor patches, each sensor patch having an electrical state that changes with exposure to a corresponding one of the one or more environmental factors, so that each code circuit has a respective electrical state;
the checking step includes passing a respective electrical excitation signal through each code circuit and detecting a respective received electrical signal; and
the storing step includes, using the controller, automatically storing the respective received electrical signals or respective representations thereof in the memory.
13 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of sensing exposure to one or more of a plurality of environmental factors includes exposing a code circuit to at least some of the environmental factors, the code circuit disposed over a substrate and including a plurality of electrically-connected sensor patches, each sensor patch susceptible to one of the environmental factors, wherein the code circuit has an electrical state. An electrical excitation signal is passed through the code circuit, and a corresponding received electrical signal detected, using a transceiver formed on a transceiver substrate separate from and disposed over the substrate, wherein the transceiver includes a controller and the received electrical signal depends on the excitation signal and the electrical state of the code circuit. Using the controller, the received electrical signal or a representation thereof is automatically stored in a memory. The checking and storing steps are automatically repeated after one or more selected time intervals.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A method of sensing exposure to one or more of a plurality of environmental factors, comprising steps of:
-
an exposing step of exposing a code circuit to at least some of the environmental factors, the code circuit disposed over a substrate and including a plurality of sensor patches, each sensor patch having a respective electrical state that changes with exposure to one of the environmental factors, so that the code circuit has an electrical state; a checking step of passing an electrical excitation signal through the code circuit, and detecting a corresponding received electrical signal, using a transceiver formed on a transceiver substrate separate from and disposed over the substrate, wherein the transceiver includes a controller and the received electrical signal depends on the excitation signal and the electrical state of the code circuit; a storing step of using the controller, automatically storing the received electrical signal or a representation thereof in a memory; and a repeating step of using the controller, automatically repeating the checking and storing steps after one or more selected time intervals; and
wherein;the exposing step includes contemporaneously exposing a plurality of code circuits to the at least some of the environmental factors, each code circuit disposed over the substrate and including a respective plurality of electrically-connected sensor patches, each sensor patch having an electrical state that changes with exposure to a corresponding one of the one or more environmental factors, so that each code circuit has a respective electrical state; the checking step includes passing a respective electrical excitation signal through each code circuit and detecting a respective received electrical signal; and the storing step includes, using the controller, automatically storing the respective received electrical signals or respective representations thereof in the memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A method of sensing exposure to one or more of a plurality of environmental factors, comprising steps of:
-
an exposing step of exposing a code circuit to at least some of the environmental factors, the code circuit disposed over a substrate and including a plurality of sensor patches, each sensor patch having a respective electrical state that changes with exposure to one of the environmental factors, so that the code circuit has an electrical state; a checking step of passing an electrical excitation signal through the code circuit, and detecting a corresponding received electrical signal, using a transceiver formed on a transceiver substrate separate from and disposed over the substrate, wherein the transceiver includes a controller and the received electrical signal depends on the excitation signal and the electrical state of the code circuit; a storing step of using the controller, automatically storing the received electrical signal or a representation thereof in a memory; a repeating step of using the controller, automatically repeating the checking and storing steps after one or more selected time intervals; wherein the checking step further includes the controller automatically comparing the received electrical signal with a selected criterion and, if the signal corresponds to the criterion, activating an actuator adapted to dispense a drug when activated. - View Dependent Claims (17)
-
-
18. A method of sensing exposure to one or more of a plurality of environmental factors, comprising steps of:
-
an exposing step of exposing a code circuit to at least some of the environmental factors, the code circuit disposed over a substrate and including a plurality of sensor patches, each sensor patch having a respective electrical state that changes with exposure to one of the environmental factors, so that the code circuit has an electrical state; a checking step of passing an electrical excitation signal through the code circuit, and detecting a corresponding received electrical signal, using a transceiver formed on a transceiver substrate separate from and disposed over the substrate, wherein the transceiver includes a controller and the received electrical signal depends on the excitation signal and the electrical state of the code circuit; a storing step of using the controller, automatically storing the received electrical signal or a representation thereof in a memory; a repeating step of using the controller, automatically repeating the checking and storing steps after one or more selected time intervals; and
wherein;the sensor patches are arranged in a patch stack including a first-exposed one of the sensor patches and one or more buried ones of the sensor patches arranged between the first-exposed one of the sensor patches and the substrate, and the code circuit includes a seal lower in susceptibility to each of the respective environmental factors than the respective sensor patches in the patch stack, the seal arranged so that each of the buried sensor patches is permitted to be exposed to the respective environmental factor only through a void in one or more of the sensor patches farther from the substrate than that buried sensor patch; the one or more buried ones of the sensor patches include a second-exposed sensor patch adjacent to the first-exposed sensor patch; the seal and patch stack are arranged to define a cavity between them, the cavity sealed off from the environmental factors of the plurality of sensor patches by the seal and the first-exposed sensor patch; the patch stack is arranged so that the second-exposed layer has a flow surface adjacent to the first-exposed layer, the flow surface having a shape, orientation, or composition that defines a flow pattern; and the first-exposed sensor patch is made fluid by exposure to the corresponding environmental factor, so that when the first-exposed sensor patch becomes fluid, at least some of the resulting fluid travels substantially according to the flow pattern into the cavity to permit the second-exposed sensor patch to be exposed to the corresponding environmental factor.
-
Specification