Digital scale able to measure human weight and determine suitable dosage of a medicament

• US 8,822,847 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2012
• Issued: 09/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Joel Vidal, Monique S. Vidal, Yael Vidal
• Original Assignee: Monique S. Vidal
• Inventors: Vidal, Joel, Vidal, Yael, Vidal, Monique S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gibson, Randy W
• Application Number:
  US13/417,261
• Publication Number:
  US 20130233627A1
• Time in Patent Office: 905 Days
• Field of Search: 177 2511- 2517, 177/25.19, 177/144, 177/245, 702/173, 128/908, 128/923, 128/924, 600/587
• US Class Current: 177/25.13
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/414 using electronic computing means only
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 19/44 for weighing persons
• CPC Class Codes: G01G 23/3721 with particular representation of the result, e.g. graphic
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

Some embodiments of the present invention include a digital scale to measure a weight of a user who stands on the digital scale; and to calculate and convey to the user a dosage of a medicament which is appropriate for the user based on the measured user weight. The digital scale may determine the medicament dosage by performing a local query to a locally-stored medicament database which may be stored locally within the digital scale, and/or by performing a remote query to a remotely-stored medicament database which may be stored externally to the digital scale.

Claims

1. A digital bathroom scale, comprising:

a weight measuring unit internal to the digital bathroom scale, and comprising one or more load cells to measure a weight of a user who stands on the digital bathroom scale;

a dosage determination module internal to the digital bathroom scale, to determine a dosage of a medicament based on said weight of said user measured by the weight measuring unit;

a display unit embedded in the digital bathroom scale, to display to the user said dosage of said medicament,

wherein the digital bathroom scale is an integrated, autonomous device which is able (A) to measure the weight of the user who stands on the digital bathroom scale, and (B) to determine and display to the user the dosage of said medicament based on the weight of the user;

wherein the display unit is to display (a) the weight of the user as measured by the weight measuring unit, and (b) a name of said medicament, and (c) said dosage of said medicament as determined by the dosage determination module based on said weight.

2. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1,

wherein the display unit is to concurrently display (a) the weight of the user measured by the weight measuring unit, (b) the name of said medicament, (c) the dosage of said medicament determined by the dosage determination module based on said weight, (d) a name of another medicament, and (e) a dosage of said other medicament determined by the dosage determination module based on said weight.

3. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, comprising:

a memory unit to store data representing (A) names of a plurality of medicaments, and (B) dosing information items corresponding to said plurality of medicaments.

4. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, comprising:

an input unit to allow a user to select a particular medicament name from said names of medicaments;

wherein the dosage determination module is to determine a recommended dosage of said particular medicament based on the weight of the user measured by the weight measuring unit;

wherein the display unit is to display said recommended dosage of said particular medicament to the user.

5. The digital bathroom scale of claim 4, wherein the input unit comprises:

a microphone to receive a spoken utterance of the user, the utterance indicating said particular medicament name;

wherein the digital bathroom scale further comprises a processor to process said spoken utterance and to extract said particular medicament name from said spoken utterance.

6. The digital bathroom scale of claim 4, comprising:

a wireless transceiver to receive, via a wireless communication link, one or more updates to said data stored in said memory unit.

7. The digital bathroom scale of claim 4, comprising:

a communication port to receive, via a wired communication link, one or more updates to said data stored in said memory unit.

8. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, comprising:

a wireless transceiver to (i) send a query to a remote server, the query indicating (A) a user-selected medicament, and (B) the weight of the user as measured by the weight measuring unit; and

(ii) receive from the remote server a response indicating a particular dosage of said user-selected medicament corresponding to said weight of the user.

9. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, comprising:

a wireless transceiver to (i) send to a remote server a query indicating a user-selected medicament; and

(ii) receive from the remote server a response indicating dosage information of said user-selected medicament corresponding to two or more weight range values;

wherein the dosage determination module is to determine a recommended dosage of said user-selected medicament, based on (A) the weight of the user as measured by the weight measuring unit, and (B) the dosage information corresponding to the two or more weight range values received from the remote server.

10. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, comprising:

a processor (A) to obtain local dosage information for a particular user-selected medicament based on a first, local, query towards a locally-stored medicament database internal to the digital bathroom scale;

(B) to obtain remote dosage information for said particular user-selected medicament based on a second, remote, query towards a remotely-stored medicament database external to the digital bathroom scale; and

(C) to transfer at least one of the local dosage information and the remote dosage information to the dosage determination module.

11. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, comprising a single housing encapsulating the weight measurement unit, the dosage determination module, and the display unit.

12. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, wherein the weight measurement unit is non-detachable from the dosage determination module.

13. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, wherein the weight measurement unit is to transfer a value indicating the weight of the user to the dosage determination module via a wired link which is entirely internal to the digital bathroom scale.

14. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, wherein the dosage determination module is to determine said dosage based exclusively on data stored internally within said digital bathroom scale, and without receiving wireless communication signals.

15. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, wherein the dosage determination module is to determine said dosage based on a dual-query process which comprises both a local query to a locally-stored medicament database and a remote query to a remotely-stored medicament database.

16. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, wherein the weight measuring unit is non-detachable and non-separable from the dosage determination module;

wherein the weight measuring unit is hard-wired via circuitry to the dosage determination module.

17. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, wherein the weight measuring unit is to transfer a value, indicating the weight of the user, to the dosage determination module via a wired link which is entirely internal to the digital bathroom scale.

18. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, further comprising:

a parent-with-child button to be actuated by a user, indicating to the digital bathroom scale to perform a multi-step process for weighting a child;

wherein, in said multi-step process, the weight measuring unit is (a) to measure a weight (W2) of a parent, (b) to measure a combined weight (W1) of said parent holding said child, and (c) to determine a net weight of said child by subtracting the weight (W2) of the parent from the combined weight (W1) of the parent and the child;

wherein the display unit is to display (i) said net weight of the child, and (ii) dosage information for a pediatric medicament calculated based on said net weight of the child.

19. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, further comprising:

a barcode scanner to scan a barcode printed on a packaging of said medicament;

a medicament sensor to identify said medicament based on said barcode printed on said packaging;

a processor (a) to search, in a medicament database stored locally within the digital bathroom scale, a record corresponding to said medicament, and (b) to command the display unit to display a name of said medicament and dosing information for said medicament.

20. The digital bathroom scale of claim 1, further comprising:

a medicament sensor comprising a camera, (i) to capture a photograph of said medicament autonomously when said medicament is placed by the user in a field-of-view of said medicament sensor, and (ii) to identify said medicament based on Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of a name of said medicament which appears in said photograph;

a processor (A) to search, in a medicament database stored locally within the digital bathroom scale, a record corresponding to said medicament, and (B) to command the display unit to display a name of said medicament and dosing information for said medicament.