Dose measurement system and method

Inventors

Whalley, Richard • White, James

Assignees

Bigfoot Biomedical Inc

Abstract

Embodiments described herein generally relate to devices, systems and methods for measuring the dose remaining in a drug delivery device that is used for delivering a dose to a patient. In some embodiments, a dose measurement system for measuring the liquid volume in a container includes a plurality of light sources which are disposed and configured to emit electromagnetic radiation toward the container. A plurality of sensors are located in the apparatus that are optically coupleable to the plurality of light sources and are disposed and configured to detect the electromagnetic radiation emitted by at least a portion of the light sources. The apparatus also includes a processing unit configured to receive data representing the portion of the detected electromagnetic radiation from each of the plurality of sensors. The processing unit is further operable to convert the received data into a signature representative of the electromagnetic radiation detected by the plurality of sensors.

Core Innovation

A dose measurement system operates by detecting a drug delivery device being coupled to the dose measurement system and scanning the drug delivery device in response to that detection. The scanning includes activating at least one light source to emit electromagnetic radiation towards the drug delivery device and generating a signal signature representing electromagnetic radiation detected by a plurality of sensors through the drug delivery device. The signal signature is compared to a reference signature to estimate a dose of a drug dispensed by the drug delivery device.

The dose measurement system includes a housing configured to receive at least a portion of a drug delivery device containing a drug, at least one light source disposed and configured to emit electromagnetic radiation toward the drug delivery device, and a plurality of sensors optically coupleable to the at least one light source. Each sensor is disposed and configured to detect electromagnetic radiation emitted by the at least one light source, and at least one processor is disposed in the housing.

The processor detects the drug delivery device being coupled to the housing, triggers scanning in response to the coupling detection, generates the signal signature from sensor data representing electromagnetic radiation detected through the drug delivery device, and compares the signal signature to the reference signature to estimate a dose of the drug delivered. If the estimated dose is greater than zero, the processor stores the estimated dose in onboard memory and operates the dose measurement system in a power save mode.

Claims Coverage

The document provides two independent claims that cover a method of operating a dose measurement system and the dose measurement system itself. Across these claims, the inventive features are coupling detection, electromagnetic radiation scanning using at least one light source and a plurality of optically coupleable sensors, generation of a signal signature, comparison to a reference signature to estimate dose, and conditional storage in onboard memory with power save mode operation.

Both independent claims broadly cover detecting coupling of a drug delivery device to a dose measurement system, scanning the device using electromagnetic radiation emitted by at least one light source and detected via a plurality of sensors, generating a signal signature from the detected radiation, comparing the signal signature to a reference signature to estimate dose, and conditionally storing the estimated dose in onboard memory while operating in a power save mode when a remaining or estimated dose condition is satisfied.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications

No documented applications found