TWI601530B - System for monitoring medication ingestion - Google Patents

Description

Medication monitoring device

The invention relates to a medication monitoring device, in particular to monitoring the action of the medication and detecting whether there is a physiological signal of the user.

If the patient does not follow the prescription instructions, such as medication on time, drug withdrawal, etc., the occurrence of drug compliance (Drug Compliance) behavior, it will easily lead to disease deterioration, complications, drug resistance and other issues, and increase the difficulty of clinical treatment.

In order to avoid the problems caused by the above-mentioned lack of medication compliance, there have been recent developments in drug monitoring devices. For example, there are US Patent Publication No. 8,884,752 B2 "Medication usage monitoring and reminding device and method", and the Republic of China patent. Announcement No. I287982 "Medication Reminder System", etc.

Among them, the "medication reminding system" of the Republic of China Patent No. I287982 is mainly for setting up a sensor for a medicine cartridge, such as a photoresist sensor (CDS), for determining whether the medicine is received by light or not. Whether the medicine in the box has been taken. However, at most, the case can only determine whether the drug has been taken, and it is impossible to judge whether the drug has been taken.

As for the "Medication usage monitoring and reminding device and method" of US Pat. No. 8,884,752 B2, it is mainly to determine whether the patient takes the medicine by sensing the weight change of the medicine container, and then monitoring the body of the patient after taking the medicine by the physiological condition monitoring device. The condition is to determine whether the patient has taken the medication at the dose and time indicated by the prescription. However, the previous case must be based on the difference in the type of drug to select the appropriate physiological parameter monitoring equipment for monitoring, in order to measure the difference between before and after the patient took the drug. Different, it is more inconvenient and cumbersome to use; if using monitoring equipment that can monitor various physiological parameters, although it is more practical, the equipment cost will also be greatly improved.

Also searched for the article "An Interoperable Pillbox System for Smart Medication Adherence" published by Jiajia Li et al., discloses a system for medication reminding, mainly comprising a wristband and a kit, the wristband is equipped with a temperature sensor, MPU- 9150 chip (including three-axis acceleration sensor, three-axis gyroscope, three-axis compass), RFID sensor chip and prompt light. When the RFID reader reads the sensor chip of the wristband at a short distance (about 4 cm), the motor can drive the motor to automatically open the medicine box, and the wristband starts to sense the user's motion information and temperature information. The action information and temperature information are then transmitted back to the monitoring computer.

However, the judgment mechanism of the above-mentioned literature for the medication reminder is only whether the wristband is close to the medicine box and whether the medicine of the medicine box is taken out. As for the motion information and the temperature information, the information is mainly recorded by the computer, so it is still impossible to judge whether the user has Take the medicine. Furthermore, the user must continue to wear the bracelet and it is inconvenient to use.

Therefore, in order to provide a more practical medication detector to monitor the medication compliance of the user, the inventors have proposed a medication detector directly or indirectly coupled to a drinking container, the medication monitor comprising: a control unit; and a detecting component, wherein the signal is connected to the control unit, the detecting component comprises a first sensing module and a second sensing module, wherein the first sensing module is a tilt sensor. For detecting a current tilt value of the drinking container, the second sensing module is configured to detect a used signal of the drinking container, and the control unit is configured to substantially correspond to the preset one at the current tilt value. When the medication tilt value is received and the used signal is received, a medication message is generated.

Further, the tilt sensor is a ball switch or a mercury switch.

Further, the second sensing module is a human body infrared sensor, a photo-sensing unit, an ultrasonic sensing unit, and a pressure sensing unit, to combine a human body temperature signal and a cover. Any one or combination of a signal, a reflected signal, and a pressure signal is used as the aforementioned signal.

Further, the detecting component further includes a third sensing module for detecting whether a medicine cartridge is opened or closed.

Further, the kit includes an outer box body and an inner box body movably connected to the outer box body; wherein the third sensing module is a light sensing unit and corresponds to the inner box body, in the inner box When the body is displaced to an open position relative to the outer casing, an external light source is received to generate an opening signal.

The invention also relates to a medication monitoring device comprising the aforementioned medication monitoring device, the medication device comprising: a drinking container; and the aforementioned medication monitoring device being coupled to the drinking container.

Further, the medication monitoring device further includes a medicine box, the medicine monitoring device further comprising a body detachably coupled to the drinking container, the seat body for the control unit, the first sensing module, the second sensing Module, and the kit settings.

Further, the drinking container has an accommodating space, an opening communicates with the accommodating space, and a gap is adjacent to the opening; the drinking container further includes a filter detachably disposed in the accommodating space; the medicine box includes a The outer casing and the inner casing are movably connected to the outer casing, the inner casing corresponding to the notch, so that the inner casing can be displaced to the open position via the notch, and a box mouth of the inner casing Corresponding to the filter.

Further, the medication monitoring device further includes a wireless transmission module connected to the control unit, and an indication module connected to the control unit; the control unit transmits the medication medication message to a back end servo by the wireless transmission module And controlling the foregoing indication module to generate an indication message according to the medication message.

The invention also provides a medication monitoring method, comprising: drinking container detection: detecting a current tilt value of a drinking container by a first sensing module, and substantially corresponding to the current tilt value When a medication tilt value is set, a first signal is generated; the medication target detection: detecting a used signal of the drinking container by using a second sensing module; taking the medicine to judge: a control unit is in the current tilt value substantially A predetermined medication dose value is received, and when the used signal is received, a medication message is generated.

According to the above technical features, the following effects can be achieved:

1. The above medication monitor can monitor the user's medication action by tilt sensor to monitor the user's medication behavior simply and effectively.

2. The above medication monitor not only monitors the user's medication action, but also detects whether there is a used signal of the drinking container (such as human body temperature signal, interception signal, reflection signal, pressure signal, etc.) to exclude the drinking container from being used. Overturned accidents such as dumping and other abnormal medications.

3. Since the tilt value can be judged by a lower cost ball switch or a mercury switch, the manufacturing cost can be greatly reduced.

4. The above medication monitor can further monitor the switch of the kit to monitor the user's medication behavior more comprehensively.

5. The above medication monitor is detachably coupled to the drinking vessel to facilitate installation in a different drinking vessel or to clean the drinking vessel after removing the medication monitor.

6. The above medication monitoring device is not limited to being directly coupled to the drinking container, and may be indirectly coupled to the drinking container through a cover such as a cup lid or a coaster.

(1) ‧ ‧ drinking containers

(11) ‧‧‧ accommodating space

(12) ‧ ‧ openings

(13) ‧ ‧ gap

(14)‧‧‧ Filter

(15)‧‧‧Hands

(2) ‧‧‧Pillbox

(21)‧‧‧Outer box

(22) ‧‧‧ inner box

(221)‧‧‧ Box mouth

(3) ‧‧‧ medication monitor

(31) ‧‧‧Control unit

(32)‧‧‧Detection components

(321)‧‧‧First sensing module

(322)‧‧‧Second Sensing Module

(322A)‧‧‧ Human body infrared sensing unit

(322B)‧‧‧ Pressure Sensing Unit

(323)‧‧‧ Third Sensing Module

(33) ‧ ‧ ‧ body

(331)‧‧‧hook

(34)‧‧‧Wireless Transmission Module

(35)‧‧‧Indicating module

(4) ‧‧‧Backend server

(A) ‧ ‧ drugs

(B) ‧‧‧ users

[First figure] is a schematic perspective view of a medication monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Second diagram] is a perspective exploded view of the medication monitoring device of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Third image] is a schematic diagram of a system architecture of a medication monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Fourth Diagram] is a schematic perspective view of a medication monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention, which discloses that the inner casing of the medicine cartridge is moved to an open position.

[Fifth Figure] is a sequence diagram of the use process of the medication monitoring device of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Sixth Diagram] A schematic diagram showing the state of use of the medication monitoring device of the embodiment of the present invention.

In combination with the above technical features, the main effects of the medication monitoring device, the medication monitoring device, and the medication monitoring method of the present invention will be clearly shown in the following examples.

Please refer to the first figure, which discloses that the medication monitoring device of the embodiment of the present invention comprises: a drinking container (1), a medicine box (2), and a medication monitoring device (3), wherein: please refer to the second figure. The drinking container (1) has an accommodating space (11), an opening (12) communicates with the accommodating space (11), and a notch (13) is adjacent to the opening (12). Preferably, the drinking container (1) further includes a filter (14) detachably disposed in the accommodating space (11).

Referring to the first figure and the second figure, the kit (2) is a drawer type box in the embodiment, and includes an outer box body (21) and an inner box body (22). The outer casing (21) is connected, and the inner casing (21) corresponds to the notch (13) of the drinking container (1), and is movable to a closed position or an open position. However, it should be particularly noted that the kit (2) is not limited to a drawer type box, and may be a kit for controlling a box switch using a slide cover or a lid switch for controlling a box switch. 2).

Referring to the third figure, the medication monitor (3) includes a control unit (31), and a detection component (32) is connected to the control unit (31). The detection component (32) includes a first a sensing module (321), a second sensing module (322), and a third sensing module (323), wherein: referring to the third figure, the control unit (31) can be, for example, It is a micro-controller model of Arduino Uno, which can control the detection component (32) to activate and transmit signals, and can supply the required power from the battery. The first sensing module (321) is a tilt sensor connected to the drinking container (1) for detecting a current tilt value of the drinking container (1). Specifically, the tilt sensor is, for example, a mercury switch or a ball switch (Tilt ball switch). For example, the ball switch is normally open, and when the ball switch substantially corresponds to a medication tilt value (for example, When it exceeds 25°), it will be turned from a broken road to a passage, thereby The purpose of determining the tilt angle of the drinking container (1) can be achieved, but it is not limited thereto, and may be a position sensing element such as a gyro sensor or an angular velocity sensor.

Referring to the third figure, the second sensing module (322) includes a human body infrared sensing unit (322A) and a pressure sensing unit (322B) for detecting the human body infrared sensing unit (322A). A target temperature value to be measured (for example, the body temperature of the human body). Preferably, the human body infrared sensing unit (322A) can be combined with a mask, so that the measuring angle range of the human body infrared sensing unit (322A) can be limited to a specific measuring angle range ( For example, within 120°) to avoid detecting the temperature of incoherent objects.

The second sensing module (322) is not limited to the above description, and may be an optical sensing unit or an ultrasonic sensing unit, so as to block the optical detector from being interrupted, or The ultrasonic signal of the ultrasonic sensing unit is reflected by a reflected signal, and the main purpose is to determine whether the drinking container (1) is used to generate a used signal for the drinking container (1) to be used.

Referring to the third figure, together with the first figure, the pressure sensing unit (322B) is disposed on the drinking container (1) for detecting a current pressure value taken by the drinking container (1). For example, the pressure sensing unit (322B) is spliced and detachably attached to a handle (15) of the drinking container (1), whereby the user can be measured to hold the handle (15). The aforementioned current pressure value. However, it is not limited thereto, and may be disposed on the body of the drinking container (1) to measure the current pressure value of the user's hand holding the drinking container (1). The main purpose is to determine whether the user is The drinking container (1) has been picked up. It should be added that the above-mentioned medication monitoring device (3) is not limited to being directly coupled to the drinking container (1), and may be indirectly coupled to the drinking container (1) through a cup cover, a coaster or the like.

Referring to the third figure, together with the fourth figure, the third sensing module (323) is, for example, a light sensing unit and corresponds to the inner box body (22), so that the inner box body (22) is opposite to the outer box body (22). When the casing (21) is displaced to an open position, an external light source can be received to generate an opening signal. In detail, the inner box body (22) is an opaque material, and the outer box body (21) is made of a light transmissive material, so when the inner box body (22) is displaced to the open position, the inner box body ( 22) the external light source will no longer be shielded, so that the light sensing unit can pass through the outer casing (21) The opening signal is generated by receiving the external light source, but is not limited thereto. It can also be determined by the limit switch whether the inner box body (22) moves to the open position.

Referring to the second and third figures, the medication monitor (3) preferably further includes a body (33) detachably coupled to the drinking container (1), the seat body (33) for the control unit (31) the detecting component (32) includes the first sensing module (321), the human body infrared sensing unit (322A), the third sensing module (323), and the kit (2) Settings. In detail, the kit (2) is detachably coupled to the base body (33) by a combination of a snap, a snap, a magnetic attraction, etc., and the base (33) includes a hook (331) to Hanging on the drinking container (1), but not limited thereto, may also be combined by magnetic components, fasteners, etc., the main purpose is to allow the seat (33) to be detachably coupled to the Drinking container (1).

Referring to the third figure, the medication monitor (3) preferably further includes a wireless transmission module (34) connected to the control unit (31), and an indication module (35) connected to the control unit (31). The wireless transmission module (34) is configured to generate a medication message to a backend server (4). The wireless transmission module (34) is preferably a low-energy near-end wireless transmission module such as Bluetooth or zigbee, but is not limited thereto.

Referring to the second figure, the indicator module (35) is, for example, an LED light group. In this embodiment, the LED light group includes a green light, an orange light, and a red light, but the number and type of the lights are not The instruction module (35) is not limited to the use of lights, but also an audio indicating component. The main purpose is to provide an indication message to the user, and thus can display images and texts. Display the screen.

In the case of use, please refer to the fifth and third figures. When the power of the medication monitor (3) is turned on, the control unit (31) will first send a preparation message to the aforementioned backend server (4). Then the control unit (31) will confirm the threshold of the detecting component (32), and will notify a preliminary message to the aforementioned backend server (4) when the threshold is normal.

Referring again to the fourth figure, when the inner casing (22) of the cartridge (2) is opened and the inner casing (22) is displaced to the open position via the notch (13), the inner casing (22) ) the box mouth (221) will correspond to the filter (14), the drug (A) in the inner casing (22) is dropped on the sieve (14). Referring to the third and fifth figures, the third sensing module (323) will generate an opening signal to the control unit (31) because the external light source is received, and then the user will use the inner box. (22) pushing back to a closed position and returning to the medicine box (2), the third sensing module (323) will generate a closing signal to the control unit (31) because the external light source is not received. Thereby, the control unit (31) can determine that the user has taken out the drug (A) and transmits a ready medication message to the aforementioned backend server (4).

Continuing to refer to the fifth and sixth figures, when the user (B) takes the medicine, the drinking container (1) will be picked up, and the drinking container (1) is tilted to the medication angle, and the pressure sensing unit is (322B) will sense whether the handle (15) of the drinking container (1) has a pressure to be taken, the human body infrared sensing unit (322A) will sense the body temperature, and the first sensing module (321) It will be sensed whether the current tilt value of the drinking container (1) has reached the medication tilt value (for example, more than 25°), when the current tilt value of the drinking container (1) substantially corresponds to the medication tilt value, and the aforementioned use is received. The signal (for example, the physiological signal of the user (B) corresponds to a preset standard physiological signal (for example, the temperature is within the body temperature range, the pressure corresponds to a general finger pressing pressure, etc.), and the control unit (31) will generate a Taking the medication message to the backend server (4), the control unit (31) controls the indication module (35) to generate an indication message (such as a light number) according to the medication message to prompt the user (B) to The server (4) has received the medication message.

In view of the foregoing description of the embodiments, the operation and the use of the present invention and the effects of the present invention are fully understood, but the above described embodiments are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, and the invention may not be limited thereto. Included within the scope of the present invention are the scope of the present invention.

(1) ‧ ‧ drinking containers

(13) ‧ ‧ gap

(15)‧‧‧Hands

(2) ‧‧‧Pillbox

(21)‧‧‧Outer box

(22) ‧‧‧ inner box

(3) ‧‧‧ medication monitor

(322A)‧‧‧ Human body infrared sensing unit

(322B)‧‧‧ Pressure Sensing Unit

(33) ‧ ‧ ‧ body

(331)‧‧‧hook

(35)‧‧‧Indicating module

Claims (7)

A medication monitoring device comprising a medication monitoring device and a medicine cartridge, the medication monitoring device being directly or indirectly coupled to a drinking container, the medication monitoring device comprising: a control unit; a detecting component, the signal is connected to the control unit, The detecting component includes a first sensing module and a second sensing module, wherein the first sensing module is a tilt sensor for detecting a current tilt value of the drinking container, the second The sensing module is configured to detect a used signal of the drinking container, and the control unit is configured to generate a medication message when the current tilt value substantially corresponds to a preset medication tilt value and the received signal is received. And a body detachably coupled to the drinking container, the seat body being provided for the control unit, the first sensing module, the second sensing module and the medicine box. The medication monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the tilt sensor is a ball switch or a mercury switch. The medication monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the second sensing module is a human body infrared sensor, a photo-sensing unit, an ultrasonic sensing unit, and a pressure sensing unit. Any one or combination of any one or a combination of a human body temperature signal, an occlusion signal, a reflection signal, and a pressure signal as the aforementioned used signal. The medication monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the detection component further comprises a third sensing module for detecting whether a medicine cartridge is opened or closed. The medicine monitoring device of claim 4, wherein the medicine box comprises an outer box body and an inner box body is movably connected to the outer box body; wherein the third sensing module is a light sensing unit And corresponding to the inner box body, when the inner box body is displaced to an open position relative to the outer box body, receiving an external light source to generate an opening signal. The medication monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the drinking container has an accommodating space, an opening communicates with the accommodating space, and a gap is adjacent to the opening; the drinking container further includes a filter detachable Positioned in the accommodating space; the kit includes an outer box body, and an inner box body movably connects the outer box body, the inner box body corresponding to the gap, so that the inner box body can be displaced through the gap to The open position allows a box of the inner casing to correspond to the screen. The medication monitoring device of claim 1, further comprising a wireless transmission module connected to the control unit and an indication module connected to the control unit; the control unit is configured by the wireless transmission module The medication message is transmitted to a backend server, and the indication module is controlled to generate an indication message according to the medication message.