Quantaed, LLC

Case Western Reserve University

Qualtre, Inc.

Rosemount Aerospace Limited

Flx Micro, Inc.

Gary and Mary West Health Institute

Hughes Electronics Corporation

American Telephone & Telegraph Co., At&t Bell Laboratories

Mehran Mehregany

Oliver Ian Yates

Donald Murray Learmonth

Christian A Zorman

James Albert Walker

Masoud Roham

Jeremy L Dunning

Xiao-An Fu

Francis L Merat

Shi-Ze Liu

Vijayakumar R Dhuler

Kenneth G Goldman

Derek Angelo Silverio

Jonathan James Lynch

Tsung-Yuan Hsu

Debabani Choudhury

Adele E Schmitz

Robert Y Loo

Christopher A Bang

Juan F Lam

Srinivas Raghavan

Julia J Brown

James A Foschaar

Daniel J Hyman

Jeffrey M Melzak

Kevin C Stark

Enrique Saldivar

Kaigham J Gabriel

Brett Warneke

Adam D Troy

Guo-Qiang Zhang

Mitul Shah

Rosa R Lahiji

Jae Lee

Keren Deng

Ashwini Pullabhatla

Shih-Shian Ho

Srihari Rajgopal

Narayanan Rajan

Insert for a case for holding a blister pack

The present disclosure enables apparatus and methods for tracking medications and/or product units via smart-packaging concepts. Embodiments include sensors that monitor the state of a blister-card package having an unpatterned lidding film by measuring the impedance of each dispensing region of the lidding film that defines a portion of a blister. In some embodiments, the impedance is measured via a plurality of contact points arranged on opposite sides of each dispensing region, where the contact points are resistively or capacitively coupled with the lidding film. In some embodiments, the impedance map of a measurement region on the blister card is derived via electrical impedance tomography or electrical resistance tomography, where the measurement region includes a plurality of dispensing regions.

Smart packaging for improved medication regimen compliance

A modular smart packaging case comprising reversibly attachable electronics and detection modules is disclosed. The detection module includes a sensor array for monitoring the state of a blister pack containing a plurality of product units. The electronics module contains the high-value electronics required to read the sensors of the array, process the sensor output, and enable communications to and from the case. The electronics module and detection module are operatively coupled via a universal interface that enables the same electronics module to operate with a plurality of detection modules of different configurations. In some embodiments, the electronics module operatively couples with multiple detection modules.

Medicine case for improved regimen compliance

Case for holding a blister pack

Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems, methods, and structures for patient medication adherence.

Systems, methods, and structures for medication adherence

Methods and apparatus for monitoring the content of a chamber of a container via electrical capacitive tomography (ECT) or acoustic imaging are presented. The three-dimensional volume of the chamber and its content are imaged by developing a map of permittivity or acoustic impedance by (1) applying a stimulus signal between each of a plurality of electrode pairs of a plurality of electrodes that is arranged about the chamber and (2), for each stimulus signal applied, measuring a response signal at each of the remaining electrodes of the plurality. Once the map of permittivity or acoustic impedance is established, the number and type of tablets (or liquid) within the chamber is determined.

Apparatus for monitoring the content of a container and method therefor

Modular medication case for improved regimen compliance

Methods and systems for determining when a tablet has been removed from a blister pack are presented. A method includes measuring an electrical characteristic, such as electrical resistance or impedance, between at least two terminals that are in electrical communication with a lidding film included in the blister pack, wherein the removal of a tablet from the blister pack results in an opening in the lidding film, thereby giving rise to a finite change in the electrical characteristic. Another method determines the state of the blister pack using electrical resistance tomography or electrical impedance tomography.

Connected packaging

A method and apparatus for monitoring adherence to a dosing-regimen for a medication is presented. Systems in accordance with the present invention automatically monitor the medicine content of a blister card based on the state of its lidding film and compare it to the prescribed dosing regimen for the medicine. In some embodiments, the lidding film is imaged using a tomographic imaging technique, such as electrical resistance tomography or electrical impedance tomography. Alternative sensing approaches are based on optical, acoustic, and tactile sensors that interrogate either the dispensing region at each tablet location or the tablets themselves to determine whether tablets have been dispensed. Automatic monitoring of the blister card enables the user to be: (1) alerted to non-compliance, (2) alerted to a risk of future non-compliance, and/or (3) to be provided remediation instructions when non-compliance is determined.

Apparatus and method for improved drug dosing-regimen compliance

A method and apparatus for monitoring drug-regimen compliance is disclosed. Systems in accordance with the present invention enable automatic monitoring of the state of medicine content of a blister card. Each tablet location on the blister card is operatively coupled with a different sensor that detects whether the tablet location is occupied and/or a dispensing event at a tablet location. In some embodiments, capacitive sensing is employed, where the capacitance of each sensor is based on the physical state of a dispensing region of the lidding film of the blister pack, which is located at the tablet location being monitored. Alternative sensing approaches are based on optical, acoustic, and tactile sensors that interrogate either the dispensing region at each tablet location or the tablets themselves to determine whether tablets have been dispensed. The sensors interface with a mobile app that provides the user instructions to help improve drug-regimen compliance.

Apparatus and method for improved drug regimen compliance

Stylus for a pill dispenser

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Mehran Mehregany