Modular inhaler adherence monitor

Abstract

To provide a modular inhaler adherence monitoring device that monitors adherence of an inhaler user.SOLUTION: An inhaler 10 has a drug canister, an actuator holding the drug canister and having a mouthpiece, and a dosing device operable to allow the drug canister to be actuated to release a dose. The adherence monitor 100 includes an actuation detection sensor operable to sense physical movement of the drug canister when actuated. An inhalation data sensor is operable to sense air pressure change caused by the inhalation. A controller is coupled to the sensors to record an actuation event.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1B

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Claiming priority This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 881,100, filed July 31, 2019, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

[0002] Technical Field TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates generally to inhaler accessories, and more particularly to a modular inhaler compliance monitoring device for monitoring the compliance of an inhaler user. [Background technology]

[0003] Many patients with illnesses are now provided with inhalers that deliver a dosage of medication. For example, an asthmatic patient may be provided with active medication to aid in mucus production and reduce inflammation while opening up the respiratory passages. Thus, if the patient's asthma worsens or they continue to take daily maintenance medication to control their symptoms, the patient may place the inhaler in front of their mouth and activate the inhaler spray for symptom relief.

[0004] In known pressurized metered dose inhalers (pMDI) inhalers for inhaling medicine (e.g., AstraZeneca Symbicort Rapihaler®), an actuator housing at least partially defines a flow passage through the inhaler from an air inlet to an outlet. A pressurized metered dose canister is carried by the actuator. The canister includes a valve stem and a metering valve arranged to be mounted within a valve stem block formed on the housing, and a main canister body of the canister can be moved relative to the housing and the valve stem to operate the metering valve and cause a metered dose of propellant and active drug to be expelled through the valve stem block and into the flow passage. When a user inhales through a mouthpiece of the housing by depressing the canister, air can be drawn into the housing between the canister and an inner wall of the housing and can flow past the canister to the outlet. Symbicort Rapihaler® delivers a combination of budesonide and formoterol (an ICS / LABA combination) for the treatment of asthma and / or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Other types of inhalers can deliver other types of medications for these and other conditions. Such inhalers include the Orion Easyhaler® and the Teva Redihaler®.

[0005] One major problem is that users often fail to properly operate the inhaler, resulting in inefficient drug delivery. For example, a user may be unable to inhale when the drug is dispensed from the canister or may not hold the mouthpiece in proper relationship to the oral cavity. Unfortunately, there is no effective way to determine whether a user is adhering to correct technique other than through a long-term health review by a health care professional after a period of use of the inhaler.

[0006] The use of compliance monitors integrated into the inhaler itself has been proposed, but such solutions are expensive and are not practical because inhalers are also designed to be disposable. Another solution is to provide an attachable monitor that can be attached to existing inhalers (e.g., Symbicort Rapihaler®). However, the unique shape of the Symbicort Rapihaler® and other similar inhalers makes the physical design of such a monitor difficult. In particular, significant wiggle of the canister occurs relative to the inhaler body. If the flexibility exceeds this amount when the canister is compressed, it becomes impossible to use limit switches to detect inhaler actuation.

[0007] Furthermore, the Symbicort Rapihaler® canister has a label and a dose counter on the front and top that cannot be covered by the body of the compliance monitor. These features make it difficult to mount anywhere but on the body and they only provide sensing at the front edge of the canister (where there is the least amount of play relative to the inhaler body). They also require the mouthpiece cover, which covers a substantial amount of the inhaler, to remain exposed. Additionally, at the bottom of the inhaler there is a strap that holds the mouthpiece cover, but this strap also needs to be exposed. This further limits mounting possibilities. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] There is a need to enable retrofitting of existing inhalers with a modular adherence monitor for collecting data related to adherence to the use of existing inhalers. There is also a need for an adherence monitor with multiple sensors that determine actuation and inhalation events of the attached inhaler. There is also a need for a modular adherence sensor that does not interfere with or alter inhaler use. There is also a need for a modular adherence sensor that applies timestamps and inhalation data to inhaler actuation events. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] One disclosed example is a compliance monitor attached to an inhaler. The inhaler has a medicament canister covered by a canister cover, an actuator holding the medicament canister, and a dispensing device operable to actuate the medicament canister to expel a dose. The actuator has a mouthpiece. The monitor includes an actuation detection sensor operable to sense physical movement of the medicament canister upon actuation. The monitor includes an inhalation data sensor operable to sense air pressure changes from the actuation caused by inhalation of a dose. A controller is coupled to the actuation detection sensor and the inhalation data sensor to record actuation events.

[0010] Further implementations of the exemplary compliance monitor include an embodiment including an accelerometer coupled to the controller. The accelerometer outputs a signal indicative of inhaler movement prior to actuation. The controller activates the sensor when movement is detected. In another embodiment, the actuation detection sensor is an infrared sensor. In another embodiment, the actuation detection sensor is a contact switch. In another embodiment, the actuation detection sensor is an atmospheric pressure sensor. In another embodiment, the inhaler includes a shield attached to the canister cover. The actuation detection sensor detects movement of the shield as indicative of inhaler movement. In another embodiment, the inhalation data sensor is a pressure sensor. The controller determines a pressure curve upon inhalation of a dose from the inhaler. In another embodiment, the controller adds a timestamp to the collected data indicative of inhaler movement. In another embodiment, the compliance monitor includes a transceiver coupled to the controller. The controller transmits data based on the actuation event to an external client device in communication with the transceiver. In another implementation, the external device is a mobile computing device associated with the user. The external device executes an application that analyzes the collected data to determine compliance. In another embodiment, the compliance monitor includes an attachment detection sensor that detects when the inhaler is attached to the compliance monitor. In another embodiment, the compliance monitor includes an activation button that a user can operate to activate the controller and the sensor. In another embodiment, the compliance monitor includes a body that fits and attaches onto the canister cover of the inhaler. In another embodiment, the inhalation data sensor is positioned on the circuit board such that it is exposed to a gap between the compliance monitor and the canister cover of the inhaler.

[0011] Another example is a compliance monitor attached to an inhaler. The inhaler has a drug canister, an actuator that holds the drug canister, the actuator having a cylindrical body by one end of which the drug canister is held with a mouthpiece on the other end, and a dispensing device attached to the drug canister. The dispensing device includes a front shielding surface and is operable to actuate the drug canister to expel a dose. The monitor includes a pair of curved side walls that match the sides of the cylindrical body of the actuator. The side walls each have an open front edge and a closed rear edge. A side arm is attached to one of the side walls so as to overlap the cylindrical body of the actuator. The mouthpiece of the inhaler is accessible and the front shielding surface is exposed. An electronics housing is attached to the closed rear edge of the side walls.

[0012] Further implementations of the exemplary compliance monitor include an embodiment that includes an actuation detection sensor operable to sense physical movement of the medication canister upon actuation. An inhalation data detection sensor senses air pressure changes caused by actuation. A controller in the electronics housing is coupled to the sensor to record actuation events. In another embodiment, the inhaler includes a lower strap. The side walls each include a lower portion forming a slot for the strap. In another embodiment, the compliance monitor includes a printed circuit board in the electronics housing. The printed circuit board has a first surface including a connector connected to the actuation detection sensor. The actuation detection sensor is mounted on one of the side walls adjacent a shield surface of the inhaler. The circuit board includes a second opposing surface with an inhalation data sensor mounted thereon adjacent a gap between a top cover of the side wall and the actuator of the inhaler. In another embodiment, the compliance monitor includes an attachment detection sensor mounted on the first surface of the printed circuit board. The attachment detection sensor is operable to detect attachment of the inhaler to the compliance monitor. In another embodiment, the electronics housing includes a back panel having activation buttons for activating the controller and the sensors.

[0013] Another example is a compliance monitor attached to an inhaler. The inhaler has a drug canister, an actuator that holds the drug canister, and a canister cover that covers the drug canister. The actuator has one end that holds the drug canister with a mouthpiece on the other end. The drug canister can be activated to release a dose. The monitor includes a body that fits around and attaches to the canister cover. An electronics housing is attached to the body. An actuation detection sensor is operable to sense activation of the drug canister. An inhalation data detection sensor is operable to sense air pressure changes caused by actuation. A controller in the electronics housing is coupled to the sensor to record actuation events.

[0014] A further implementation of the exemplary adherence monitor is an embodiment that includes a printed circuit board within the electronics housing. The printed circuit board has a first surface with an actuation detection sensor. The printed circuit board has a second opposing surface with an inhalation data sensor mounted adjacent a gap between a top cover of the electronics housing and a canister cover of the inhaler. In another embodiment, the electronics housing includes a panel having an activation button operable to activate the controller and the sensor. In another embodiment, the canister cover is physically movable to activate the medication canister. In another embodiment, the actuation detection sensor is a limit switch that activates when the canister cover is moved. In another embodiment, the actuation detection sensor and the inhalation detection sensor are atmospheric pressure sensors.

[0015] The above summary is not intended to represent every embodiment or aspect of the present disclosure, but merely represents some examples of the novel aspects and features described herein. These features and advantages, as well as other features and advantages of the present disclosure, will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and aspects for carrying out the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims.

[0016] The present disclosure will be better understood from the following description of the illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a commercially available prior art inhaler. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the inhaler of FIG. 1A with an exemplary compliance monitor attached. [Figure 2A] FIG. 1B is a perspective view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2B] FIG. 1B is a rear perspective view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2C] FIG. 1B is a top perspective view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2D] FIG. 1B is a bottom perspective view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2E] FIG. 1B is a side view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2F] FIG. 1B is an opposite side view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2G] FIG. 1B is a front view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2H] FIG. 1B is a rear view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2I] FIG. 1B is a top view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 2J] FIG. 1B is a bottom view of an exemplary compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 1A. [Figure 3A] FIG. 1C is a perspective rear cutaway view of the compliance monitor in FIG. 1B showing the internal electronic components mounted on a circuit board. [Figure 3B]FIG. 1C is a perspective front cutaway view of the compliance monitor in FIG. 1B showing the rear side of the circuit board. [Figure 4] FIG. 1C is a cutaway view of the compliance monitor and inhaler of FIG. 1B during operation of the inhaler. [Diagram 5] FIG. 1C is a cutaway side view of the rear surface of the circuit board of the compliance monitor in FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 1C is a circuit diagram of the electronic components of the compliance monitor in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 1C is a state diagram of a routine for operating the adherence monitor in FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 1C is a flow diagram of a routine for operating the adherence monitor in FIG. 1B. [Figure 9A] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another example of a known prior art inhaler. [Figure 9B] FIG. 9B is a front perspective view of another exemplary type of modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 9A. [Figure 9C] FIG. 9B is a rear perspective view of a modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 9A. [Figure 9D] FIG. 9B is a side view of a modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 9A. [Figure 9E] FIG. 9B is an opposite side view of the modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 9A. [Figure 9F] FIG. 9B is a front view of a modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 9A. [Figure 9G] FIG. 9B is a top view of a modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 9A. [Figure 9H] FIG. 9B is a rear view of the modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 9A. [Figure 10A] FIG. 9C is a cutaway view of the printed circuit board of the modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 9B. [Figure 10B] FIG. 10B is a front view of the printed circuit board of FIG. 10A. [Figure 10C] FIG. 10B is a rear view of the printed circuit board in FIG. 10A. [Figure 11A]FIG. 9C is a cutaway view showing the compliance monitor and inhaler of FIG. 9B during operation of the inhaler. [Figure 11B] FIG. 9C is a cutaway side view of the rear surface of the circuit board of the compliance monitor in FIG. 9B. [Figure 12A] FIG. 9C is a state diagram of the event detection routine of the compliance monitor in FIG. 9B. [Figure 12B] FIG. 9C is a state diagram of the wobble detection routine of the compliance monitor in FIG. 9B. [Figure 13A] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another example of a known prior art inhaler. [Figure 13B] FIG. 13B is a front perspective view of another exemplary type of modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 13A. [Figure 13C] FIG. 13B is a rear perspective view of a modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 13A. [Figure 13D] FIG. 13B is a side view of a modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 13A. [Figure 13E] FIG. 13B is an opposite side view of the modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 13A. [Figure 13F] FIG. 13B is a front view of a modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 13A. [Figure 13G] FIG. 13B is a top view of a modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 13A. [Figure 13H] FIG. 13B is a rear view of the modular compliance monitor attached to the inhaler shown in FIG. 13A. [Figure 14A] FIG. 9C is a front view of a circuit board in the compliance monitor in FIG. 9B. [Figure 14B] FIG. 9C is a rear view of the circuit board in the compliance monitor in FIG. 9B. [Figure 15A] FIG. 13C is a cutaway rear view of the compliance monitor and inhaler of FIG. 13B during operation of the inhaler. [Figure 15B] FIG. 13C is a cutaway side view of the rear face of the circuit board of the compliance monitor in FIG. 13B. [Figure 15C] FIG. 13C is a cutaway front side view of the inhaler vent associated with the compliance monitor in FIG. 13B. [Figure 16] FIG. 13C is a state diagram of a routine that operates the compliance monitor in FIG. 13B. [Figure 17] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a healthcare system that supports data obtained by an exemplary adherence monitor. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] The present disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms. Certain representative embodiments, as illustrated in the drawings, are described in detail herein below. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed, but rather the disclosure is intended to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

[0019] The present invention can be embodied in many different forms. Representative embodiments are shown in the drawings and described in detail herein below. The present disclosure is an example or illustration of the principles of the present disclosure, and is not intended to limit the broad aspects of the present disclosure to the illustrated embodiments. Thus, elements or limitations that are not explicitly stated in the claims, even if disclosed in the "Summary", "Summary of the Invention", or "Description of the Invention" sections, should not be incorporated into the claims, either individually or collectively, by implication, inference, or otherwise. In this specification, unless otherwise specified, the singular includes the plural, and vice versa. The term "including" means "including, but not limited to". Furthermore, in this specification, approximation words such as "generally", "approximately", "substantially", and "about" can be used to mean, for example, "just", "in the vicinity", "around", "within 3-5% of", "within acceptable manufacturing tolerance", or any logical combination thereof.

[0020] The present disclosure relates to a modular compliance attachment intended to monitor inhaler usage. One example is a modular compliance attachment intended to monitor usage of an AstraZeneca Symbicort® pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) form factor. The compliance monitor includes physical features that surround the inhaler such that the compliance monitor is attached to the AstraZeneca Symbicort® inhaler.

[0021] Another exemplary modular compliance attachment is intended to monitor use of the Orion Easyhaler® pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) form factor. This compliance monitor includes physical features that mate with the inhaler actuator, thereby allowing the compliance monitor to be attached to the Orion Easyhaler® inhaler to detect inhaler movement.

[0022] Another exemplary modular compliance attachment is intended for monitoring use of the Teva Redihaler® pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI) form factor. This compliance monitor includes physical features that mate with the inhaler's canister cover, allowing the compliance monitor to be attached to the Teva Redihaler® inhaler.

[0023] During normal use, a user presses the canister of the pMDI, releasing a pressurized mist of medication. The patient inhales the medication either directly or through an add-on spacer device. The adherence monitor detects when the user presses the canister of the pMDI and captures a timestamp of this actuation event in on-board non-volatile (NV) memory. Other inhalation data may be collected and appended to the event timestamp. The adherence monitor then advertises a connection using a transmission protocol (e.g., Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)) for establishment of a link to a client device (e.g., a smartphone). After the BLE link is formed, the adherence monitor sends any event records (inhalation or heartbeat) to the client device (for further analysis of adherence to inhaler use).

[0024] Figure 1A is a perspective view of a known pMDI medicine inhaler 10. In this example, the inhaler 10 is a Symbicort® pMDI inhaler manufactured by AstraZeneca, but the principles of compliance monitoring described herein may be employed with any other similar inhalers. The inhaler 10 includes an actuator 12 that holds a pressurized medicine canister 14. In the inhaler 10, a dose counter 16 is provided on the actuator 12. The dose counter 16 provides an indication of the remaining multiple doses of medicine remaining in the canister 14. The other end of the actuator 12 is formed as a mouthpiece 20. When the inhaler 10 is not in use, the mouthpiece 20 may be covered by a mouthpiece cover 22. When a user presses the dose counter 16, it pushes the canister 14 into a firing position.

[0025] The inhaler 10 also includes a spray stem (not shown) extending from the canister 14. The spray stem is adapted to engage a spray directing element (not shown) contained within the actuator 12. When the canister 14 is depressed and moves into the actuator 12, the spray stem and the spray directing element cooperate to deliver a metered dose of medication through the mouthpiece 20 and into the user's oral cavity. Ideally, the user's depression of the canister 14 and their inhalation occur simultaneously, maximizing inhalation of the dose of medication.

[0026] The mouthpiece cover 22 ensures that the mouthpiece 20 remains clean and prevents foreign objects from entering the mouthpiece 20 when the inhaler is not in use. The mouthpiece cover 20 is attached to the rear of the actuator 12 via a strap 26, which ensures that it does not accidentally fall off or get lost after the cap 24 is removed. The other end of the strap 26 is attached to a slot 28 at the rear of the actuator 12.

[0027] The dose counter 16 includes a cylindrically shaped housing 30 with a shield-shaped downwardly oriented face 32 having a bottom edge 34 that abuts the top of the mouthpiece cover 22 when mounted on the mouthpiece 20. At the front of the shield-shaped face 32, a label 36 is provided. The label 36 may include information related to the medicine contained within the canister 14. When the mouthpiece cover 22 is on the mouthpiece 20, the shield face 32 blocks movement of the dose counter 16 housing 30 (by preventing downward movement of the bottom edge 34 of the downwardly oriented face), thereby preventing firing of the inhaler 10.

[0028] The downwardly oriented shield 32 has an aperture (not shown) adapted to receive in mating relationship a protrusion (not shown) from a top edge (not shown) of the actuator 12. When the housing 30 is pressed (to actuate the inhaler 10), the protrusion extends through the aperture and into the counter housing 30, actuating the counter mechanism. The dose counter 16 is preferably permanently attached to the canister 14 to prevent the dose counter 16 being removed from one canister to another (containing a different level of drug).

[0029] FIG. 1B is a perspective view of an inhaler 10 mated with an exemplary compliance monitor 100. The compliance monitor 100 collects data regarding firings of the inhaler 10 and other useful operational data. The compliance monitor 100 is shown attached to the inhaler 10 in FIGS. 2A-2J. Thus, FIG. 2A is a perspective view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10; FIG. 2B is a rear perspective view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10; FIG. 2C is a top perspective view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10; FIG. 2D is a bottom perspective view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10; and FIG. 2E is a side view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10. 2F is an opposite side view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10; FIG. 2G is a front view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10; FIG. 2H is a rear view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10; FIG. 2I is a top view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10; and FIG. 2J is a bottom view of the compliance monitor 100 attached to the inhaler 10.

[0030] The compliance monitor 100 is designed to be attached to the inhaler 10 so that when the drug supply in the canister 14 is depleted, the compliance monitor 100 can be removed and attached to a new inhaler. The compliance monitor 100 is secured to the actuator 12 of the inhaler 10 via a housing 102. The housing 102 is constructed from a material selected to provide mechanical strength and biocompatibility (when exposed to external contact with the human body for a limited duration). The design of the housing 102 provides a visual cue to the user to guide the installation of the monitor 100 onto the inhaler 10. The housing 102 includes a larger opening 104 that fits around the top of the inhaler 10. The housing 102 includes a slot 106 in the base. The slot 106 is aligned with the slot 28 on the inhaler 10 for the cover strap 26.

[0031] The design of the housing 102 allows the compliance monitor 100 to be mated in the correct orientation relative to the inhaler to avoid interference with use of the inhaler 10. The wide opening 104 fits best at the top of the inhaler 10 and the narrow slot 106 at the bottom fits securely into the base of the inhaler 10. Generally, the shape of the housing 102 is an inverted version of the inhaler housing. To move the compliance monitor 100 to a new inhaler, the compliance monitor 100 is simply pulled back from the inhaler 10 causing the compliance monitor 100 to unclip from the body of the inhaler 10.

[0032] The housing 102 of the compliance monitor 100 includes two generally curved side walls 110 and 112. These curved side walls 110 and 112 match the contour of the mouthpiece 20 of the actuator 14 of the inhaler 10. The lower edges of the two curved side walls 110 and 112 are attached to generally semi-circular lower projections 114 and 116. The lower projections 114 and 116 each have a respective edge 118 and 120 that holds the bottom of the actuator 14 of the inhaler 10. The edges 118 and 120 form a cutout that receives the strap 26 of the inhaler 10. The cutout formed by the edges 118 and 120 on the rear of the housing 102 mimics a molded feature of the inhaler 10 and provides an anchoring function for the cover strap 26. The lower halves of the walls 110 and 112 form respective closed ends 130 and 132 and opposing semicircular open ends 134 and 136. The open ends 134 and 136 are shaped to allow a user to hold the sides of the mouthpiece 20 of the inhaler 10. In one of the side walls 110, an upper front arm 122 is provided that extends over in front of the actuator 14 of the inhaler 10. The side walls 110 and 112 cooperate with the protrusions 114 and 116 to enclose the actuator 12, but leave the label 36 visible and the dose counter 16 exposed. The protrusions 114 and 116 allow the mouthpiece 20 to be exposed. A slot created by the edges 118 and 120 allows for the placement of the strap 26. The arm 122 partially wraps around the front periphery of the inhaler 10. Thus, the compliance monitor 100 can be attached onto the inhaler 10 by slightly flexing the front of the side walls 110 and 112 and wrapping the arm 122 over the front of the inhaler 10. Similarly, the inhaler 10 can be removed from the compliance monitor by moving the arm 122 away from the side walls 110 and 112 to slide the inhaler 10 off of the side walls 110 and 112.

[0033] The side walls 110 and 112 have mating rear ends. These rear ends each support an electronics housing 140 that is joined together to form the rear of the housing 102. As described below, the electronics housing 140 holds components that collect data from the operation of the attached inhaler 10. The electronics housing 140 has a pair of side components 142 and 144 attached to each side wall 110 and 112. A back panel 146 is attached to the side components 142 and 144. The combination of the back cover 146 and the side components 142 and 144 form a housing for electronic components, as described below. The back panel 146 includes a transparent auxiliary button 150. In this example, the auxiliary button 150 is illuminated by LEDs. The LEDs illuminate different sequences of flashes of a single color (e.g., green). The auxiliary button 150 may also illuminate different colors depending on the mode of the compliance monitor 100. A semi-circular top cover 160 is formed to conform to the general shape of the actuator 12. As described below, when the compliance monitor 100 is engaged with the inhaler 10, the top cover 160 creates a gap between the edges of the canister 14.

[0034] 3A is a perspective cutaway view of the inhaler 10 with the adherence monitor 100 attached, showing the electronic components on an internal circuit board 300 mounted within the electronics housing 140. The circuit board 300 has a front side 302 on which the electronic components are mounted by welding or other attachment mechanisms. The circuit board 300 includes a battery 310, a piezoelectric bender circuit 312, a piezo driver circuit 314, a communications module 316, an accelerometer 318, a pair of LEDs 320 and 322, an auxiliary switch 324, and an atmospheric pressure sensor 326 mounted on the front side 302.

[0035] A battery 310 powers the electronic components on the circuit board 300. In this embodiment, the battery 310 is a non-rechargeable (primary) coin cell battery. In this example, the intended battery life is a three year shelf life, followed by one year of use. A very low power inventory mode is used to maintain the battery charge during the shelf life. Of course, rechargeable batteries or other power sources may be utilized.

[0036] The piezoelectric bender circuit 312 provides audible feedback to the user from use of the inhaler 10 and compliance monitor 100. In this example, a variety of sounds and indications are provided by the piezoelectric bender circuit 312 (i.e., button press feedback, reminder sounds). The piezoelectric bender circuit 312 is amplified by a piezo driver 314.

[0037] In this example, the communications module 316 includes a controller that executes algorithms that drive the operation of the data collection and compliance module 100. The controller also controls data transmission to client devices (e.g., external computing devices).

[0038] In this example, the accelerometer 318 is a low powered 3-axis accelerometer that is always running after exiting inventory mode. The accelerometer 318 is primarily used for power management of the adherence monitor 100. If the sensed acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold, the adherence monitor 100 exits sleep mode and powers on the IR sensor on the circuit board 300 as described below. The accelerometer 318 also detects vibrations when the inhaler 10 and compliance module 100 move sufficiently before an inhalation is detected. After a programmable amount of inactivity, the accelerometer inactivity timer expires and the adherence monitor 100 goes into sleep mode.

[0039] In this example, the auxiliary button 150 in FIGS. 2A-2B is provided above the auxiliary switch 324. The auxiliary button 150 has multiple functions (e.g., toggling reminder sounds on / off and generating manual heartbeat events). The auxiliary button 150 is captured between the cover 146 of the housing 140 and the auxiliary switch 324. This allows the user to easily press the button 150 to activate the auxiliary switch 324 and force the monitor 100 to advertise or enter various modes designed into the controller firmware. The actuator on the auxiliary button 150 is made of clear polycarbonate and serves as an actuator for the auxiliary switch 324 and a light pipe for the LEDs 320 and 322. In this example, the LEDs 320 and 322 emit green light and are visible through the auxiliary button 150 on the rear of the cover 146. The LEDs 320 and 322 are used with various flash / strobe combinations to provide feedback to the user on the status of device operation. Both LEDs 320 and 322 have the same function and are used to create symmetric illumination of the auxiliary button 150 .

[0040] In this example, the atmospheric pressure sensor 326 captures information about the user's inhalation as the user inhales medication through the mouthpiece 20. The controller attaches the information from the pressure sensor 326 to an event record associated with the inhalation. This further information may include peak, duration, total amount, and actuation-related time. In this example, the atmospheric pressure sensor 326 is located near the top of the circuit board 300 and has access to the lip of the actuator 12 of the inhaler 10. As the user inhales through the mouthpiece 20 of the inhaler 10, the change in pressure reading is measurable and quantifiable, providing data about the inhalation profile. The pressure data that may be provided from the atmospheric pressure sensor 326 may be used to calculate the duration of inhalation (when no inhalation occurs, such as in the case of a priming event). The data from the pressure sensor 326 may be used to capture a peak value. This peak value is a pressure change measurement between atmospheric pressure and the peak pressure drop that occurred. This is not a calibrated flow rate. Using data from the pressure sensor 326, the total amount of air inhaled during a medication event can also be calculated (through summation of instantaneous flow rates over time). Finally, data from the pressure sensor 326 can be used to correlate inhalation start with movement of the inhaler 10 to indicate the time of drug release relative to breath start. This inhalation data is then appended to the most recent appropriate actuation event(s). In this way, a single inhalation can be associated with multiple actuations or a single actuation. An event where no actuation is recorded and a pressure drop is recorded indicates an inhalation event, and data related to this inhalation event is not captured as a usage event. This data can be transferred with the next heartbeat event or in a separate event. In this example, the pressure sensor 326 is only activated when movement is detected, thus reducing battery consumption.

[0041] 3B is a perspective view of the rear side 330 of the circuit board 300. The rear side 330 primarily shows electrical traces for connection of components on the front side 302 of the circuit board 300 shown in FIG. 3A. The rear side 330 includes an inhaler attachment detection infrared (IR) sensor 332. The rear side 330 also includes a socket 334 attached to one end of a flexible cable 336. The other end of the flexible cable 336 is attached to a remote drug activation detection IR sensor 338. The activation detection IR sensor 338 is positioned adjacent the shield 32 of the inhaler 10 when the compliance monitor 100 is attached to the inhaler 10. The cable 336 wraps around the inner surface of the side wall 110 such that it is positioned adjacent the front of the arm 122, adjacent the edge 34 of the shield 32. The cable 336 is protected by a separate cover. In this example, the inhaler attachment detection IR sensor 332 and the activation detection IR sensor 338 are the same IR sensor circuit.

[0042] Each of the IR sensors 332 and 338 has an infrared emitter and an infrared receiver that point in the same direction. The receiver cannot sense light from the emitter unless the emitted light is reflected from another surface. The process of determining the proximity of an IR sensor requires a powered reading, where the infrared emitter is turned on and the receiver value is collected. A second, unpowered reading is taken, where the infrared emitter is turned off and the receiver value is collected. The difference between these two values ​​is used to determine the proximity of the sensor. If the difference is large, it indicates proximity, since it indicates something is reflecting IR light onto the receiver. If the difference is small, it indicates open space, since it indicates nothing is reflecting IR light onto the receiver. However, it can be appreciated that different types of IR sensors can be utilized. Additionally, other types of sensors can be used for mounting and detecting operation in accordance with the following description.

[0043] A remote primary medication actuation detection IR sensor 338 is used to determine when a user depresses the canister 14 of the inhaler 10. The actuation detection IR sensor 338 detects the proximity of the shield 32 when the canister 14 is depressed. The actuation detection IR sensor 338 is positioned in a location that corresponds to the location of the shield 32 when the canister 14 is depressed sufficiently to expel a dose of medication. As the shield 32 is depressed and moves downward, it moves in front of the actuation detection sensor 338.

[0044] The inhaler attachment detection IR sensor 332 is used to determine when the inhaler 10 is attached to the compliance monitor 100. As shown in FIG 3B, the inhaler attachment detection IR sensor 332 is positioned on the circuit board 300 along the centerline of the body of the inhaler 10 and detects when the compliance monitor 100 is fully positioned relative to the inhaler 10.

[0045] The inhaler attachment detection IR sensor 332 is powered from a separate microcontroller general purpose input / output (GPIO) pin from the communications module 316 to ensure that the inhaler attachment detection IR sensor 332 does not permanently drain battery 310 power. Powering the inhaler attachment detection IR sensor 332 through a separate pin allows for sampling from the inhaler attachment detection IR sensor 332 (when the compliance monitor 100 is attached on the inhaler 10 for a period of time without a static power draw).

[0046] The operation of the adherence monitor 100 will now be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view associated with the adherence monitor 100 attached to the canister 14 and actuator 12 of the inhaler 12. Figure 5 is a front side cross-sectional view associated with the circuit board 300 of the adherence monitor 100 on the shield 32 of the dose counter 12. The event detection algorithm implemented by the controller of the adherence monitor 100 relies on: a signal from the accelerometer 318 to detect movement of the inhaler 10, an inhaler attachment detection infrared sensor 332 to detect if the adherence monitor 100 is attached to the inhaler 10, and an actuation detection IR sensor 338 to detect drug release from the canister 14. Thus, an event is detected when a certain sequence of signals is received. Of these signals, the first signal is from the accelerometer 318 to detect inhaler movement, the next signal is from the inhaler attachment detection IR sensor 332 to indicate that the adherence monitor 100 has been attached to the inhaler, and the last signal is from the inhaler actuation detection sensor 338 to indicate that drug release has occurred for a sufficient length of time. The atmospheric pressure sensor 326 is used to provide further information indicating whether an inhalation has occurred along with drug release. The accelerometer 318 may also be used to detect whether the user of the inhaler 10 has shaken the inhaler 10 prior to releasing a dose of drug. The accelerometer 318 is used to wake the controller from a sleep mode (low power state) if the inhaler 10 and attached compliance monitor 100 are moved.

[0047] When a user inhales through the mouthpiece 20 of the inhaler 10, airflow, indicated by dashed line 400, is drawn through the inhaler between the actuator 10 and the body 12. The cover 160 of the compliance monitor is designed to slightly impede this airflow, causing a pressure drop across a gap 402 between the cover 160 of the compliance monitor 100 and the canister 14 of the inhaler 10. The barometric pressure sensor (BPS) 326 registers the pressure drop upon inhalation and this signal is recorded by the controller during event recording.

[0048] An IR sensor 338 attached to the flex cable 336 is used to detect when the shield 32 passes the IR sensor 338. This passage indicates that a dose of medication has been released from the inhaler 10. As explained above, the flex cable 336 follows the inner surface of the side wall 110 and is generally extended by the arm 122. As shown in FIG. 5, a cable cover 510 is attached mainly over the cable 336 to protect the cable 336 and the IR sensor 338. When the user presses the dose counter 16, the canister 14 of the inhaler 10 moves downward. Thus, the shield 32 moves in front of the actuation detection IR sensor 338. Thus, the IR sensor 338 detects the movement of the canister 14 by detecting the presence and absence of the shield 32. The compliance monitor 100 controller on the communication module 316 records the timestamp associated with the RTC and stores the inhalation event in an event queue. If inhalation pressure data is available from pressure sensor 326, this data is also stored within the inhalation event.

[0049] In this example, after the adherence monitor 100 detects that the inhaler 10 has been actuated and stores this information in the event queue, the adherence monitor 100 attempts to offload any unsent items in the event queue to a client device (e.g., a mobile device). In this example, this transmission occurs over a BLE wireless protocol implemented in the communications module 316. The client device indicates the success or failure of the event transmission, which is then sent back to the controller.

[0050] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the components on the printed circuit board 300. As explained above, the communication module 316 functions as the controller of the compliance monitor 100. The communication module 316 includes a main controller 600 and a communication microcontroller 602. The communication module 316 includes a memory 604 used as a firmware and data storage device. In this example, the communication module 316 is a BGM123 Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) System-in-Package (SIP). Of course, any suitable component or set of components with suitable functionality may be used for the communication module 316. In this example, the BGM123 BLE SIP includes an ARMM4 microcontroller (main controller 600) and an ARMM0 microcontroller (communication microcontroller 602) running an internal Bluetooth® Smart® compatible stack. In this example, the BGM123 BLE SIP functions as both the Bluetooth® radio and the main microprocessor of the compliance monitor 100. In this example, memory 604 is an embedded flash memory in the BGM123 BLE SIP, which stores the firmware executed by the controller 600. Part of this flash memory is also used to store event records (inhalation & heart rate) detected by various sensors.

[0051] The BGM123 BLE SIP also contains embedded SRAM memory used for temporary scratch space and data structures. Several peripherals (UART, SPI, A2D, RTC, PWM, DMA, and power management) are used to run the system. The BGM123 BLE SIP is powered directly from an on-board battery 310 and does not use any power conditioning other than an internal DC-DC switcher to improve the energy efficiency of the system. The module includes an integrated omni-directional chip antenna 606 that allows for transmission of collected data to an external client device.

[0052] 7 is a state diagram of an operational event detection routine executed by the controller 600 of the adherence monitor 100. The storage state (also known as inventory mode) 700 is the lowest power mode in which the accelerometer 318 is turned off, the internal clock is not running, and the adherence monitor is not advertising (transmitting or receiving via the Bluetooth radio). In this lowest power state, the only way to wake the adherence monitor 100 is to press the button 150. The user first receives the adherence monitor 100 in the storage state or inventory mode 700, but after the first interaction between the two, the monitor 100 only returns to the sleep state 704 and does not return to the storage state 700. If a signal is generated from the accelerometer 318 indicative of a shaking of the inhaler 10, proceed to the inhaler attachment detection read state 702.

[0053] When the button 150 is pressed, the routine moves to an inhaler attachment detection read state 702. If no signal is received from the inhaler attachment detection sensor 332, the compliance monitor 100 is not attached to the inhaler 10, and the routine moves to a sleep state 704. The sleep state 704 is a low power mode in which the sensors and components are in a low power state. If no signal is received from the inhaler attachment detection sensor 332 indicating attachment of the compliance monitor 100 to the inhaler 10, the routine proceeds to a listening state 706. The listening state 706 listens for data from the primary drug delivery actuation IR sensor 332. Separately, the atmospheric pressure sensor 326 polls and attempts to detect an inhalation. If no signal is detected from the inhalation attachment detection sensor 332, the routine returns to the sleep state 704.

[0054] In the listening state 706, if the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 326 is below the threshold, the routine shifts to the inhale state 708. If the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 326 is above the threshold, the routine shifts to the no-inhale state 710. If the count is below the threshold, the routine shifts back to the listening state 706. If the count is above the threshold, the routine shifts to the inhale data collection state 712. After a timestamp is added to the most recent event, the routine shifts to the event state 714. The event state 714 indicates that a dose of drug has been released. The routine then shifts to the window blank state 716 and then to the listening state 706. The window blank state 716 is used to avoid double tapping the inhaler 10 or accidentally detecting a second dose immediately after releasing drug from the canister 14. The routine avoids multiple false detections of events due to slight shifts that occur during actuation. This avoids detecting an event that exceeds the correct number of fractions of a second window gaps. After detecting a dose, it returns to the listening state 706 because it is possible for multiple doses to be taken and the routine cannot rely on the user moving the inhaler 10 enough to re-trigger the accelerometer 318 and repeat the entire detection cycle.

[0055] If, in the listening state 706, the output from the actuation sensor 338 exceeds a threshold indicating actuation, the routine shifts to a canister pressed state 718. If the output signal from the actuation sensor 338 falls below the threshold, indicating actuation of the canister 14 has finished, the routine shifts to a discharge complete state 720. Next, if the count exceeds the threshold, the routine shifts to an event state 714. If the count falls below the threshold, the routine shifts to the listening state 706.

[0056] The usage event includes a timestamp captured from the moment actuation is detected by the actuation detection IR sensor 338. The duration of the pressure on the canister 14 during actuation is also added to the usage event. If the accelerometer 318 detects a shake prior to actuation, the shake intensity and shake duration are added to the usage event. If the atmospheric pressure sensor 326 detects an inhalation near the time of actuation (before, during or after the actuation), the peak pressure measurement, the duration of the inhalation, and the time between actuation and the start of the inhalation are added to the data associated with the usage event. All usage events also include battery and temperature measurements captured from the controller on the communications module at the time of actuation.

[0057] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a routine executed by the controller 600 to record actuation events of the inhaler 10. The flow diagram in FIG. 8 is representative of machine-readable instructions for the collection and analysis of compliance data collected from the compliance monitor 100 in FIG. 1B. In this example, the machine-readable instructions include an algorithm executed by: (a) a processor; (b) a controller; and / or (c) one or more other suitable processing device(s). The algorithm may be embedded in software stored on a tangible medium (e.g., flash memory, CD-ROM, floppy disk, hard drive, digital video (versatile) disk (DVD) or other memory device). However, those skilled in the art will understand that the entire algorithm and / or parts thereof may be executed by devices other than a processor and / or embedded in firmware or dedicated hardware in a well-known manner (e.g., it may be executed by an application specific integrated circuit [ASIC], a programmable logic device [PLD], a field programmable logic device [FPLD], a field programmable gate array [FPGA], discrete logic). For example, any or all of the components of the interface may be implemented by software, hardware and / or firmware. Also, some or all of the machine-readable instructions illustrated by the flow chart may be executed manually. Additionally, although the exemplary algorithm is described with reference to the flow chart illustrated in FIG. 8, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that numerous other methods for executing the exemplary machine-readable instructions may also be used. For example, the order in which the blocks are executed may be changed and / or some of the described blocks may be changed, removed or combined.

[0058] Generally, these components remain in the sleep state 704 in FIG. 7 to conserve power after the compliance monitor 100 is woken up from a stored / inventory state (800). The routine detects whether the monitor 100 should be woken up to wait for data from a button 150 press or a signal from the accelerometer 318 (802). When the system wakes up, the controller 600 powers up the components on the compliance monitor (804). The system determines whether the compliance monitor 100 is attached to the inhaler 10 by reading the output of the attachment detection sensor 332 (806). If the inhaler is not attached, the routine loops back to the sleep state (800). If the inhaler is attached, the routine continuously determines whether the inhaler 10 is activated by reading the activation detection sensor 338 (808). If the inhaler has not been activated within a predetermined period of time, the routine returns to the sleep state (800). If the inhaler is actuated, the controller 600 detects (810) actuation via a signal from the actuation detection sensor 338. Alternatively, actuation may be based on detecting a reading from the pressure sensor 326. Inhalation may also be based on a signal from the actuation detection sensor 338 or the pressure sensor 326, or may use signals from both.

[0059] The routine collects inhalation data in the form of pressure data from pressure sensor 326 and attaches the inhalation data to the actuation event along with a timestamp (812). The inhalation data, timestamp and event data are stored in memory (814). The associated inhalation data and actuation event data are then transmitted to an external device (816).

[0060] 9A is a perspective view of another exemplary known prior art inhaler 900 that may be attached to a modular compliance monitor employing the principles described above. In this example, the inhaler 900 is an Orion Easyhaler® inhaler. The inhaler 900 includes a square-shaped actuator body 902 with a conical mouthpiece 904. A dust cap 906 is provided to protect the mouthpiece 904 when the inhaler 900 is not in use. A canister cover 908 fits snugly over a canister (not shown) inserted into the body 902. An open top in the body 902 allows for insertion of the canister and attached canister cover 908. The canister cover 908 may be pressed against the actuator body 902, exerting pressure on the canister to expel a dose of the stored medication. At the top of the canister cover 908 is a button 910 and a series of vents 912. The actuator body 902 includes a dose counter 914.

[0061] Operation of the inhaler 900 is initiated by the user shaking the inhaler 900 up and down several times. The user holds the inhaler 900 upright and presses the button 910 with their index finger until a click is heard. The user then releases their index finger and a dose of medicine is ready from the canister. The user breathes in at a comfortable distance from the inhaler 900. The patient then places the mouthpiece 904 in their mouth with their lips sealed around it. The patient breathes in as fast and deep as possible until their lungs are full.

[0062] FIG 9B is a front perspective view of the inhaler 900 of FIG 9A with another example of an attached modular compliance monitor 950. FIG 9C is a rear perspective view of the modular compliance monitor 950 attached to the inhaler 900. FIG 9D is a side view of the modular compliance monitor 950 attached to the inhaler 900. FIG 9E is an opposite side view of the modular compliance monitor 950 attached to the inhaler 900. FIG 9F is a front view of the modular compliance monitor 950 attached to the inhaler 900. FIG 9H is a rear view of the modular compliance monitor 950 attached to the inhaler 900. FIG 9G is a top view of the modular compliance monitor 950 attached to the inhaler 900.

[0063] As illustrated, the compliance monitor 950 may record actuation events and corresponding inhalation data from the inhaler 900. The compliance monitor 950 includes a support 960 having a closed top end 962 and an opposing open end 964. The support 960 has a front wall 966 and an opposing rear wall 968. Two side walls 970 and 972 are joined to the front wall 966 and rear wall 968. The shape of the support 960 is designed to fit over and around the canister cover 908 of the inhaler 900 as shown in Figures 9B-9H by inserting the open end 964 onto the canister cover 908.

[0064] The tops of the walls 966, 968, 970 and 972 are enclosed by a top member 974. The top member 974 has a series of features 976 that mimic the feel of the vent features of the inhaler 900. An electronics housing 980 snaps onto the rear wall 968 to protect these electronic components. The top of the electronics housing 980 includes a curved section 982 that joins with the top member 974. The bottom of the electronics housing 980 is open and forms a gap 984 with the body 902 of the inhaler 900. A contact member 986 protrudes from the gap 984. As described below, the monitor 950 is inserted onto the canister cover 908. Thus, when the patient presses down on the monitor 950, the canister cover 908 is pressed into the body 902, expelling a dose of medication from the canister. When the monitor 950 is pressed down, the contact member 986 contacts the edge of the body 902. The side wall 972 also includes an auxiliary button 988.

[0065] FIG 10A is a cutaway rear view of the compliance monitor 950 inserted onto the canister cover 908 of the inhaler 900. FIG 10A shows an internal circuit board 1000 mounted within the electronics housing 980. The circuit board 1000 is mounted parallel to the rear of the canister cover 908 when the compliance monitor 950 is inserted onto the canister cover 908. FIG 10B is a detailed view of the front face 1002 of the circuit board 1000. The front face 1002 is adjacent the rear wall 968 of the monitor 950. FIG 10C is a detailed view of the rear face 1004 of the circuit board 1000. The rear face 1004 is adjacent the interior of the housing 980.

[0066] The front surface 1002 of the circuit board 1000 has electronic components attached by welding or other attachment mechanisms. Mounted on the circuit board 1000 are a piezoelectric bender circuit 1012, an attachment detection IR sensor 1014, a communication module 1016, an accelerometer 1018, an auxiliary switch 1020, a limit switch 1022, and an air pressure sensor 1024 mounted on the front surface 1002. The circuit board 1000 includes a battery 1030 and an LED 1032 mounted on the rear surface 1004. The LED 1032 is mounted vertically such that light is directed from the side of the circuit board 1000 through the auxiliary button 988. In this example, the auxiliary button 988 is clear plastic so that light from the LED 1032 illuminates the plastic button 988 to provide feedback to the user. In this example, the communication module 1016 is a BGM123 BLE SIP chip and has the capabilities and functions described above with reference to FIG. 6.

[0067] A battery 1030 powers the electronic components on the circuit board 1000. In this example, the battery 1030 is a coin cell battery. The compliance monitor 950 also uses a low power inventory mode to conserve the battery charge during shelf life. Of course, rechargeable batteries or other power sources may also be utilized.

[0068] A piezoelectric bender circuit 1012 provides audible user feedback from use of the inhaler 900 and compliance monitor 950. The communications module 1016 is similar to communications module 316 in Figure 3 and includes a controller. The controller executes algorithms for data collection and operation of the compliance module 950. The controller also controls data transmission to a client device (e.g., an external computing device).

[0069] In this example, the accelerometer 1018 is a low power 3-axis accelerometer that is always running after the initial save / inventory mode is exited. The accelerometer 1018, like the accelerometer 318 described above, is primarily used for power management of the compliance monitor 950. The accelerometer 1018 also detects sway of the inhaler 900 and compliance module 950 with sufficient movement before actuation is detected.

[0070] 9C and 9E is located above the auxiliary switch 1020. The auxiliary button 988 has multiple functions (e.g., toggles reminder sounds on / off, generates manual heart rate events, and wakes the monitor 950 from a stock state). In this example, the LED 1032 emits green light and is used with various flash / strobe combinations to provide feedback to the user (through the illumination of the button 988) as to the status of device operation.

[0071] In this example, the atmospheric pressure sensor 1024 captures information about the user's inhalation as the user inhales medication through the mouthpiece 904, similar to the pressure sensor 326 described above. The controller in the communication module 1016 attaches the information from the pressure sensor 1024 to an event record associated with the inhaler 900 actuation event. This further information may include peak, duration, total amount, and actuation-related time. In this example, the atmospheric pressure sensor 1024 is located near the top of the circuit board 1000 and has access to an air reservoir created by the interior gap between the interior of the compliance monitor 950 and the canister cover 908 of the inhaler 900. As the user inhales through the mouthpiece 904 of the inhaler 900, the change in pressure readings is measurable and quantifiable, providing data about the inhalation profile. The output from the atmospheric pressure sensor 1024 may provide pressure data that may be used to calculate the duration of the inhalation (and when no inhalation occurs, such as in the case of a priming event). The data from the pressure sensor 1024 may be used to capture peak values. This peak value is a measurement of the pressure change between atmospheric pressure and the peak pressure drop that occurs.

[0072] Figure 11A shows a side cross-sectional view of the inhaler 900 with an attached compliance monitor 950. Figure 11B shows a detailed cutaway side view of the inhaler 900 and attached circuit board 1000. A controller in the communications module 1016 operates the compliance monitor 950 according to the routine described above with reference to Figure 8. When a user presses on the top member 974 of the compliance monitor 950, the canister cover 908 is depressed. When the canister cover 908 is depressed into the body 902 of the inhaler 900, a contact member 986 attached to the limit switch 1022 is tripped when it contacts the edge of the open end of the body 902 of the inhaler 900.

[0073] Thus, tripping of the limit switch 1022 indicates movement of the inhaler 900. The signal from the limit switch 1022 is processed and added to event information indicating when the canister cover 908 is pressed relative to the start of an inhalation. The location of the circuit board 100 allows for placement of the limit switch 1022 at a set distance (e.g., 1 cm) from the body 902 when the canister cover 908 is at rest. At this distance, the contact member 988 contacts an edge of the body 102 each time the canister cover 908 is pressed, thereby reliably tripping the limit switch 1022.

[0074] The vents 912 cut into the top of the canister cover 908 are key to inhalation detection. When the patient inhales through the inhaler 900, air is drawn in through multiple vents in the inhaler, as shown by the orange dashed line 1100 in FIG. 11B. To generate a stable signal upon inhalation, a small air reservoir 1110 is designed into the top of the compliance monitor 950. When the compliance monitor 950 is placed on the canister cover 908, the reservoir 1110 is bounded by a top surface 974 that is spaced apart from the top of the canister cover 908. In this example, a series of hard plastic ribs 1112 protrude from the interior of the top member 974 and have two functions. One function is to increase the height of the compliance monitor 950 to add a slope to the electronics cover 980. This slope is necessary to reduce the risk of a user of the inhaler 900 becoming pinched (by an off-center push) by the canister cover 908 in the inhaler body 902. A second function of the ribs 1112 is to increase the size of the air reservoir 1110 between the canister cover 908 and the compliance monitor 950.

[0075] An atmospheric pressure sensor 1024 is provided in the air reservoir 1110 to detect the pressure drop upon inhalation of medication from the inhaler 900. When the user presses down on the compliance monitor 950 and canister cover 908, the atmospheric pressure sensor 1024 is activated. Once activated, the pressure sensor 1024 begins "listening" for a pressure drop that indicates the start of inhalation. Thresholds are set in a firmware algorithm executed by a controller in the communications module 1016 to filter out spurious signals.

[0076] An attachment detection IR sensor 1014 mounted on the front surface 1002 of the circuit board 1000 detects when the compliance monitor 950 is attached to the inhaler 900. Like the compliance monitor 100, the compliance monitor 950 is primarily kept in a low power sleep state. An accelerometer 1018 is used to awaken the monitor 950 from this mode and to detect shaking of the inhaler 900. Once the compliance monitor 950 is awakened, the infrared sensor 1014 gates off further sensing depending on the device state. If the sensor 1014 detects that a surface is nearby (indicating that the compliance monitor 950 has been attached to the inhaler 900), a further sensing mechanism is activated.

[0077] 12A is a state diagram of use detection for the inhaler 900. The storage state (also known as inventory mode) 1200 is the lowest power mode in which the accelerometer 1018 is turned off, the internal clock is not running, and the adherence monitor is not advertising. In this lowest power state, the only way to wake up the adherence monitor 100 and proceed to the detection state 1202 is to either activate the limit switch 1020 by pressing the auxiliary button 988 or activate the limit switch 1022 by depressing the canister cover 908. The user first receives the adherence monitor 950 in the storage state or inventory mode 900, but after the first interaction between the two, the monitor 950 only returns to the sleep state 1204 and not to the storage state 1200.

[0078] After the auxiliary button 988 is pressed to exit the storage / inventory state 1200 and proceed to the detection state 1202, the attachment detection IR sensor 1014 is tested. The signal from the attachment detection IR sensor 1014 is measured to determine if the compliance monitor 950 is attached to the inhaler 900. If the monitor 950 is determined not to be attached to the inhaler 900, the monitor 950 proceeds to a sleep state 1204. If the monitor 950 is attached to the inhaler 900, the controller proceeds to a listening state 1206 where the atmospheric pressure sensor 1024 is activated and a timer is started. In this example, the pressure sensor 1024 begins collecting data at a rate of 10 Hz and maintains a moving average of the atmospheric pressure. If the variation from the moving average of pressure exceeds a configurable pressure activity threshold, the inhale state 1208 is entered and the moving average is frozen at the current value. The algorithm remains in the inhale state 1208 as long as the pressure sensor value remains at least a configurable hysteresis value below the pressure activity threshold value. If the number of inhale samples is above a configurable duration threshold after the pressure falls below a lower threshold, the inhale complete state 1210 is entered. The inhale event is recorded as an event state 1212. The monitor 950 then begins advertising an inhale event 1214 and returns to the sleep state 1204. If the measured duration falls below the duration threshold, the algorithm returns to the listening state 1206. If no event is detected after a configurable timeout period after pressing the limit switch 1022, the algorithm stops measuring for the event and returns to the sleep state 1204.

[0079] The usage event includes a timestamp captured from the moment actuation is detected by the actuation detection IR sensor. The duration of the actuation pressure is also added to the usage event. If the accelerometer detects an actuation before the actuation, the actuation intensity and actuation duration are added to the usage event. If the air pressure sensor detects an inhalation near the actuation time (before, during or after the actuation time), the peak pressure measurement, the duration of the inhalation, and the time from inhalation start to inhalation peak are added to the usage event. All usage events also include battery and temperature measurements captured from the controller at the time of actuation.

[0080] Figure 12B is a state diagram for sway detection. Accelerometer movement is monitored, and when this movement reaches a predefined threshold (indicating the occurrence of a sway), the amount of samples that exceed the sway threshold is counted and the data is appended to an inhale event packet. Captured sway data expires if it does not occur within a specified time window leading to an inhale event.

[0081] The controller in the communication module 1016 executes the sway detection algorithm. The controller starts in a low power storage mode 1250. As explained above, if the limit switch 1022 is activated by pressing the auxiliary button 988 (by depressing the canister cover 908), the routine exits the low power storage mode 1250 and proceeds to a monitor detection state 1252. After waking up from the storage / inventory state 1200, the attachment detection IR sensor 1014 is measured to determine if the compliance monitor 950 is attached to the inhaler 900. If the compliance monitor 950 is not attached to the inhaler 900, the monitor goes to a low power sleep state 1254. After the auxiliary button 988 is pressed, the attachment detection IR sensor 1014 is tested. If it is determined that the monitor 950 is not attached to the inhaler 900, the monitor 950 returns to the sleep state 1254. If the monitor 950 is attached to the inhaler 900, the controller proceeds to a listening state 1256.

[0082] When the monitor 950 is attached to the inhaler 900, the accelerometer 1018 is configured for active measurement and a timer is started in the listen state 1256. If the magnitude of the acceleration vector exceeds a configurable motion activity threshold, a sway state 1258 is entered. The algorithm continuously measures the accelerometer in the sway state 1258 as long as the magnitude of the accelerometer vector does not fall below a configurable motion activity threshold for a configurable number of samples. If the number of sway samples exceeds a configurable threshold of sway samples after the magnitude of the accelerometer vector returns below the activity threshold, the sway is considered to be over and the routine moves to a done state 1260. The sway data is then saved (1262) and subsequently included in the next detected use event. The algorithm then returns to the sleep state 1254. If the number of measured sway samples is less than the threshold of sway samples, the monitor 950 returns to the listen state 1256. If a configurable timeout period after accelerometer motion is detected occurs without sway detection, the algorithm stops sway measurement and returns to the sleep state 1254.

[0083] 13A is a perspective view of another type of known prior art inhaler 1300. In this example, the inhaler 1300 is a Teva Redihaler®. The inhaler 1300 includes an actuator body 1302, a cylindrical mouthpiece 1304, a canister cover 1306, and a pivoting cap 1308 (shown in an open position). The pivoting cap is mounted on a pivot point 1310 so as to rotate from an open position to a closed position to cover the mouthpiece 1304. The canister cover 1306 includes a top cover 1312 with a vent 1314.

[0084] In this example, a user of the inhaler 1300 rotates the cap 1308 to an open position to expose the mouthpiece 1304. The user then takes a deep breath. The user then places the mouthpiece 1304 in their mouth and inhales deeply to release the medication from the canister in the canister cover 1306. The inhaler 1300 has a membrane (not shown) that is opened by inhalation, thus releasing the medication from the canister.

[0085] FIG 13B is a front perspective view of another exemplary type of modular adherence monitor 1350 attached to the inhaler 1300 shown in FIG 13A. FIG 13C is a rear perspective view of the modular adherence monitor 1350 attached to the inhaler 1300. FIG 13D is a side view of the modular adherence monitor 1350 attached to the inhaler 1300. FIG 13E is an opposite side view of the modular adherence monitor 1350 attached to the inhaler 1300. FIG 13F is a front view of the modular adherence monitor 1350 attached to the inhaler 1300. FIG 13H is a rear view of the modular adherence monitor 1350 attached to the inhaler 1300. FIG 13G is a top view of the modular adherence monitor 1350 attached to the inhaler 1300.

[0086] The compliance monitor 1350 includes a support 1360 having an open top end 1362 and an opposite open end 1364. The support 1360 has a curved front wall 1366 and an opposite curved rear wall 1368. Two side walls 1370 and 1372 are joined to the front wall 1366 and the rear wall 1368. The shape of the support 1360 formed by the walls 1366, 1368, 1370 and 1372 is designed to fit over and around the canister cover 1306 of the inhaler 900 as shown in Figures 13B-13H.

[0087] The walls 1366, 1368, 1370 and 1372 completely enclose the perimeter of the inhaler 1300, thereby exposing the top cover 1312 and vent 1314. The rear wall 1368 includes a thumb push tab 1378 at the bottom to aid in removal of the compliance monitor 1350 from the inhaler 1300. When pressed, the monitor 1350 is pulled upwardly relative to the inhaler 1300.

[0088] The sidewalls 1372 support an electronics housing 1380. The electronics housing 1380 is formed from front and rear walls and an adjacent sidewall 1386. The sidewall 1386 has an upper panel 1388 that includes interface buttons 1390. As with the other exemplary compliance monitors, the interface buttons 1390 can be pressed to activate different functions. A cover 1392 extends from the sidewall 1372 to enclose the electronic components within the housing 1380.

[0089] FIG. 14A shows the front side 1402 of the circuit board 1400 mounted within the electronics housing 1380 in FIGS. 13B-13H. FIG. 14B shows the rear side 1404 of the circuit board 1400. The front side 1402 and rear side 1404 of the circuit board 1400 have electronic components attached by welding or other attachment mechanisms. The circuit board 1400 includes a battery 1410, a piezoelectric bender circuit 1412, a communication module 1416, an accelerometer 1418, an auxiliary switch 1420, and an LED 1422 mounted on the front side 1402. The circuit board 1400 includes an attachment detection IR sensor 1424 and an atmospheric pressure sensor 1426 mounted on the rear side 1404.

[0090] A battery 1410 powers the electronic components on the circuit board 1400. In this example, the battery 1410 is a coin cell battery. The adherence monitor 1350 also has a lower power inventory mode that is used to maintain the battery charge during shelf life. A piezoelectric bender circuit 1412 provides audible user feedback from use of the inhaler 1300 and adherence monitor 1350. The communication module 1416 is similar to the communication module 316 in FIG. 3 and includes a controller that executes algorithms for data collection and operation of the adherence module 1350 according to the flow diagram in FIG. 8. The controller also controls data transmission to a client device (e.g., an external computing device).

[0091] In this example, the accelerometer 1418 is a low power 3-axis accelerometer that runs full time after the initial save / inventory mode is exited. The accelerometer 1018 is used primarily for power management and also detects shaking of the inhaler 1300 and compliance module 1350 if there is sufficient movement to detect actuation.

[0092] 13B and 13E is located above the auxiliary switch 1420. An LED 1422 illuminates the interface button 1390, which can be turned on and off to indicate different states. The interface button 1390 has multiple functions (e.g., toggle reminder sounds on / off, waking the adherence monitor 1350 from a stored state, and generating manual heart rate events).

[0093] In this example, the atmospheric pressure sensor 1426 captures information about the user's inhalation as the user inhales medication through the mouthpiece 1304, similar to the pressure sensor 326 described above. A controller in the communications module 1016 attaches the information from the pressure sensor 1426 to an event record associated with the inhaler actuation event 1300. This additional information is similar to the pressure sensors in the other exemplary inhalers described above.

[0094] Figure 15A is a side cross-sectional view of the circuit board 1400 when the compliance monitor 1350 is inserted onto the canister cover 1306. Figure 13B is a detailed front cross-sectional view of the circuit board 1400 when the compliance monitor 1350 is inserted onto the canister cover 1306. Figure 15C is a detailed side view of the pressure sensor 1426 associated with the air vent 1314 of the inhaler 1300. As can be seen in Figure 14B, an attachment detection IR sensor 1424 is located on the rear surface 1404 of the circuit board 1400 between the circuit board 1400 and the canister cover 1306. The attachment detection IR sensor 1424 detects when the compliance monitor 1350 is inserted onto the canister cover 1306 of the inhaler 1300.

[0095] When a large pressure drop occurs within the inhaler 1300 due to inhalation, air is drawn in (through a vent 1314 in the top cover 1312 of the inhaler 1300), as indicated by dashed line 1500. A series of ribs 1510 extend from the inside surface of the cover 1392 and connect to the vent 1314 of the inhaler 1300. These ribs 1510 create a passageway (indicated by dashed line 1512) that connects an atmospheric pressure sensor 1426 to the vent 1314 in the inhaler to take advantage of the Venturi effect during inhalation. The resulting pressure drop is registered by a nearby atmospheric pressure sensor 1426 on the top of the circuit board 1400.

[0096] 16 is a state diagram of the detection algorithm used by the controller on the communication module 1416 in this example. The controller starts in a low power storage mode 1600. As explained above, the controller exits the low power storage mode 1600 to a monitor detection state 1602 when the limit switch 1320 is activated by pressing the button 1390. The controller in the monitor detection state 1602 awakens the attachment detection IR sensor 1424. Once awakened, the IR sensor 1424 gates to further sensing depending on the state. If the IR sensor 1424 does not detect a nearby surface (indicating that the monitor 1350 is not attached to the inhaler 1300), the routine proceeds to a sleep state 1604. As with other exemplary adherence monitors, the adherence monitor 1350 is primarily in a low power sleep state 1604. The accelerometer 1418 is used to awaken the adherence monitor 1350 from the sleep state 1604 and to detect shaking of the inhaler 1300. Activating the auxiliary switch 1420 by pressing the button 1390 also awakens the compliance monitor 1350 .

[0097] If the IR sensor 1424 detects a surface nearby (indicating that the adherence monitor 1350 has been attached to the inhaler 1300), the routine proceeds to a listening state 1606. The atmospheric pressure sensor 1426 is activated and a timer is started. In this example, the pressure sensor 1426 listens for a pressure drop indicating actuation and inhalation has begun. A threshold is set in the firmware algorithm to filter out spurious signals. In this example, the atmospheric pressure sensor 1426 begins collecting data at a rate of 10 Hz to maintain a moving average of the ambient pressure. If the fluctuation in pressure from the moving average exceeds a configurable pressure activity threshold, the inhalation state 1608 is entered and the moving average is frozen at the current value. The algorithm remains in the inhalation state 1608 as long as the value from the pressure sensor 1426 falls at least within a configurable hysteresis value below the pressure activity threshold. If the number of inhalation samples exceeds a configurable duration threshold after the pressure returns below a lower threshold, the inhalation completion state 1610 is entered. The inhalation event is recorded in the event state 1612. The event is advertised in the advertising state 1614. The monitor 1350 then returns to the listening state 1606. If no event is detected after a configurable timeout period after activation, the algorithm stops measuring events and returns to the sleep state 1604.

[0098] The usage event includes a timestamp captured from the moment the barometric pressure sensor 1426 detects actuation. If the accelerometer 1418 detects an actuation before actuation, the actuation intensity and actuation duration are added to the usage event. If the barometric pressure sensor 1426 detects an inhalation near the actuation time (before, during or after the actuation time), the peak pressure measurement, the duration of the inhalation, and the time from inhalation start to inhalation peak are added to the usage event. All usage events also include battery and temperature measurements captured from the controller at the time of actuation.

[0099] Although the exemplary adherence monitors 100 in Figure 1B, 950 in Figure 9B, and 1350 in Figure 13B are modular and can be attached or detached from their respective inhalers, it should be understood that components of the exemplary adherence monitors can be integrated with an inhaler (e.g., inhaler 10 in Figure 1A, inhaler 900 in Figure 9A, or inhaler 1300 in Figure 13A). The principles described herein may be incorporated within other types of modular adherence monitors or integrated with other types of inhalers.

[0100] As described above, each exemplary adherence monitor collects data about the inhaler actuation and provides a timestamp and other relevant data. The collected data includes the inhaler actuation event with a unique identifier, the timestamp of the event, the ambient temperature, and the sensor battery level. The controller for each exemplary adherence monitor also collects the number of awakenings and the duration of awakenings. The number of awakenings and the duration of awakenings are useful in estimating battery life and determining if dose sensing is not occurring correctly. The controller also collects several additional flags (e.g., whether the attached inhaler has been moved within the last 24 hours, whether the inhaler is attached to a medication, and whether the inhaler is held in the correct orientation as determined by the respective accelerometers).

[0101] Thus, an exemplary data record may take the following format: "Event 1, 4:00 PM, 25 July 2019, 21C, 2.9V, 2 wakes, 90 seconds wake, with movement, intermediate level". Additionally, based on knowledge of the sensor type and association with the drug by the user via the user interface, the drug may be known and added to the data record by an external device or server receiving data from the adherence monitor. Additional data (e.g., number of doses) may also be attached to the data record by an external device or server. Finally, each sensor collects additional sensor-specific data. The exemplary adherence monitor collects the shake duration and shake strength of the drug before use. As explained above, the atmospheric pressure sensor allows collection of the peak value of the inhalation and the duration of the inhalation. The exemplary adherence monitors 950 and 1350 collect the peak time as the difference between the start of the inhalation and the peak value, as well as the total amount inhaled. The compliance monitor 100 captures the time between actuation (when the medication is released) and the start of inhalation, as well as the number of seconds the medication actuator is depressed. With this data, a healthcare provider can determine if a patient is using their medication as directed with proper inhalation technique. By evaluating trends in this data, a healthcare provider can provide instructions for more effective use of medication dosing or may determine that a change in treatment is necessary.

[0102] Another example of a metric of data collected by an exemplary adherence monitor is the first second volume. The first second volume is the volume at the first part of the inhalation, which is most relevant to the inhalation and provides a more complete picture of the inhalation profile. The first second volume refers to the volume inhaled at the initial sample of the inhalation (after the threshold is reached). After the inhalation detection algorithm starts (gated by the Redihaler inhaler 1300 in FIG. 13A or by the limit switch for the Easyhaler inhaler 900 in FIG. 9A by motion detection for the Symbicort inhaler 10 in FIG. 1A), the barometric pressure sensor first collects a baseline (by capturing a few samples and averaging them). In this example, as the barometric pressure sensor captures a new reading every 100 ms, this baseline is continuously updated with the new reading to maintain a moving average. If the pressure reading drops by more than half the pre-set threshold, subsequent readings do not contribute to the moving average. If the pressure reading drops to the threshold, the inhalation is considered to have started.

[0103] The first 1 second volume is the sum of the pressure difference from the baseline for the first 10 samples (1 second) after the threshold is reached. As an example, if the running average of the baseline pressure hovers around 98000 Pascals and the threshold is 16, then when the user starts to inhale, if the pressure reading falls below 1 / 2 the threshold (97992), it will not contribute to the running average, and if the pressure reading falls below 97984, it will count as the start of inhalation. This is done so that the running average is not adjusted if the inhalation is slow (which would make it difficult to reach the threshold). This also allows the system to adjust to natural environmental pressure changes (e.g. altitude changes).

[0104] This metric can also be used to determine a more accurate representation of the breathing profile, since most inhalations begin with a strong breath, reach a peak, and then taper off slowly.This metric allows the collection of additional data related to the most critical inhalation time, since the patient typically also dispenses a dose of drug from the inhaler in the first second of inhalation.If the user dispenses a dose of drug from the inhaler in the first second and then breaths slowly or slowly rises, the first second volume can help diagnose the condition where the patient is not timing their breath well.

[0105] The data collected by the adherence monitor can be live data, with all sensor values ​​streamed via a Bluetooth® connection to a remote device (e.g., a smartphone). This allows the adherence monitor to be used to collect more data about the patient's inhaler technique and allows for training of the patient in proper use of the inhaler.

[0106] The data transmitted in the live data feature includes the state of each button on the adherence monitor, the physical orientation of the inhaler in three dimensions, a Boolean value of whether the orientation is correct for the inhaler, a Boolean value of whether the inhaler is attached to the medication dose canister, a Boolean value of whether the inhaler is shaking, a Boolean value of whether a sensor is currently detecting an inhalation, and the current pressure reading and pressure baseline. Thus, in the exemplary adherence monitor 100 in Figures 2-5, the orientation of the inhaler 10 may be determined by the accelerometer 318, whether the inhaler 10 is attached to the adherence monitor 100 may be determined by the attachment detection IR sensor 332, and the pressure and baseline pressure may be determined by the atmospheric pressure sensor 326.

[0107] This data is transmitted on a periodic basis. The compliance monitor's controller can be programmed to determine if the current data is different from the data collected in the previous interval. If the data is the same, the controller conserves battery power by not transmitting an update.

[0108] The live data can be used to assess whether proper technique is not being followed. Technique in the use of a particular inhaler can be assessed by the live data. For example, the data can indicate that the adherence monitor is not attached to the inhaler. The live data can indicate whether the adherence monitor is in the correct orientation (to deliver a dose). The live data can indicate whether the user is inhaling, and if so, the strength of the inhalation. The live data can also indicate whether the user is inhaling with proper metering (e.g., duration, strength and actuation timing that can achieve good sedimentation of drug administration). Further analysis can also indicate whether the user has deviated from a typical inhalation profile, which indicates imminent relapse or improvement or deterioration of the user's condition.

[0109] The live data can be used to determine if a particular inhaler model is first being shaken (or not being shaken in the case of the Redihaler inhaler 1300 in FIG. 13A). For example, when the adherence monitor 1350 is awakened through motion detection, the shake detection algorithm is turned on. The algorithm monitors the accelerometer 1418 at regular intervals and calculates the magnitude of acceleration. If the magnitude reaches a threshold and this threshold is maintained for a minimum period of time, a shake is in progress. The live data includes the accelerometer value and a binary value of whether the adherence monitor 1350 is being shaken.

[0110] As another example, an Easyhaler inhaler 900 in Figure 9A is being primed. Live data includes a binary value for the state of the limit switch 1022 on the Easyhaler inhaler compliance monitor 950. When the actuator on the inhaler 900 is pressed to dispense a medication dose, this binary value changes state to indicate that priming is in progress.

[0111] Another example of a particular technique is determining whether a user is dispensing a medication dose for the Symbicort inhaler 10 in FIG. 1A. The actuation detection IR sensor 338 determines the state of the canister 14 of the inhaler 10 and whether it is being pressed. This data is presented as a binary value in the live data and as a raw reading of the IR sensor 338. This value changes as the user presses the canister 14 to dispense a medication dose. By pairing this data with the inhalation data collected from the pressure sensor 326 and the timing of each reading, it is possible to determine whether the user is priming the inhaler 10 without inhaling or inhaling without dispensing a medication dose, whether the inhalation is too weak, or whether the timing of the inhalation and dispensing of a medication dose is appropriate to receive one complete dose.

[0112] 17 is a block diagram of an exemplary healthcare system 1700 for obtaining compliance data and other data from an adherence monitor (e.g., adherence monitor 100) from a patient using an inhaler (e.g., inhaler 10 in FIG. 1A, inhaler 900 in FIG. 9A, or inhaler 1300 in FIG. 13A). The healthcare system 1700 includes a plurality of inhalers (e.g., inhaler 10 in FIG. 1A, inhaler 900 in FIG. 9A, or inhaler 1300 in FIG. 13A, or any other type of inhaler that can be operated to provide a drug dose to a corresponding user or patient 1710a, 1710b, and 1710c, respectively). The healthcare system 1700 includes a data server 1712, an electronic medical record (EMR) server 1714, a health or home care provider (HCP) server 1716, and corresponding patient computing devices 1720a, 1720b, and 1720c. In this example, patient computing device 1720a is in proximity to inhaler 10 and attached compliance monitor 100. Similarly, patient computing devices 1720b and 1720c are in proximity to inhalers 900 and 1300 and attached compliance monitors 950 and 1350. In system 1700, all of these entities are connected to and configured to communicate with each other via wide area network 1730 (e.g., the Internet). The connection to wide area network 930 may be wired or wireless. EMR server 1714, HCP server 1716, and data server 1712 may all be executed on separate computing devices at different locations, or any subcombination of two or more of these entities may be executed together on the same computing device.

[0113] The patient computing devices 1720a, 1720b, and 1720c may be personal computers, cell phones, tablet computers, or other devices. The patient computing device 1720a is configured to mediate between the patient 1710a and the remotely located entities of the system 1700 over a wide area network 1730. In the embodiment of FIG. 17, this mediation is accomplished by a software application program 940 executing on the patient computing device 1720. The patient program 1740 operated by the patient computing devices 1720a, 1720b, and 1720c may be a dedicated application referred to as a "patient app" or may be a web browser that interacts with a website provided by a health provider or home health care provider. The system 1700 may include other inhalers and compliance monitors (not shown) associated with each patient, which have their own associated computing device and associated HCP server (possibly shared with other patients). All patients / inhaler users in the system 1700 may be managed by a data server 1712 .

[0114] As explained above, compliance data from monitors 100, 950 and 1350 may be correlated with the addition of drug doses from inhalers 10, 900 and 1300. Further data from monitors 100, 950 and 1300 may be collected by computing devices 1720a, 1720b and 1720c for tracking patient drug application technique as described above in connection with analysis module 1754. Such data may be transmitted by computing devices 1720a, 1720b and 1720c to data server 1712. Analysis module 1754 may provide analysis of collected data from the routine in FIG. 8 (determining proper technique of inhaler by individual patient when in use).

[0115] In this example, the monitors 100, 950 and 1350 are configured to transmit data collected from inhaler actuation from the addition of a drug dose to each patient computing device 1720a, 1720b and 1720c via a wireless protocol, which receives the data as part of the patient program 1740. The patient computing devices 1720a, 1720b and 1720c then transmit the data to the data server 1712 according to a pull or push model. The data server 1712 may receive data from the computing devices 1720a, 1720b and 1720c according to a "pull" model, whereby the computing devices 1720a, 1720b and 1720c transmit physiological data in response to queries from the data server 1712. Alternatively, the data server 1712 may receive physiological data according to a "push" model, whereby the computing devices 1720a, 1720b, and 1720c send event data to the data server 1712 as soon as the physiological data is available after a dose is administered from the inhaler. Additionally, the data server 1712 may access a database 1760 to store collected and analyzed data related to the patients 1710a, 1710b, and 1710c, as well as big data related to the overall patient population.

[0116] Data received from the patient computing devices 1720a, 1720b, and 1720c are stored and indexed by the data server 1712 such that the data is uniquely associated with the monitors 100, 950, and 1350 and thereby distinguishable from data collected from any other monitors in the system 1700. In this regard, for ease of explanation, only three inhalers and monitors are illustrated in FIG. 17, but the system 1700 may include a greater number of inhalers and monitors. The data server 1712 may be configured to calculate summary data for each application from the data received from the monitor 100. The data server 1712 may also be configured to receive data from the patient computing devices 1720a, 1720b, and 1720c (e.g., data entered by each patient 1720a, 1720b, and 1720c, behavioral data for the patient, or dosage / summary data).

[0117] The EMR server 1714 includes an electronic medical record (EMR) (i.e., both an electronic medical record (EMR) specific to the patient 1710a-c and an electronic medical record (EMR) generic to a larger population of patients with similar diseases to the patient 1710a-c). The EMR is also called an electronic health record (EHR) and typically includes a patient's medical history (e.g., previous conditions, treatments, complications, and current condition). The EMR server 1714 may be located, for example, at a hospital where any of the patients 1710a-c were previously treated. The EMR server 1714 is configured to transmit EMR data to the data server 1712, possibly in response to receiving a query from the data server 1712.

[0118] In this example, the HCP server 1716 is associated with a health / home care provider (which may be an individual health care professional or an organization) responsible for the patient's respiratory treatment. The HCP may also be referred to as a DME or HME (domestic / home medical equipment provider). The HCP server 1716 may host a process 1752. Process 432 is described in more detail below. One function of the HCP server process 1752 is to transmit data related to patients 1710a-c to the data server 1712 in response to receiving a query from the data server 1712.

[0119] In some implementations, the data server 1712 is configured to communicate with the HCP server 1716 to trigger notifications or action recommendations to HCP representatives (e.g., nurses) or to support various reports. Details of the actions taken are stored by the data server 1712 as part of the engagement data. The HCP server 1716 hosts an HCP server process 1752 that communicates with the analysis module 1754 and the patient program 940.

[0120] For example, the HCP server process 1752 may provide compliance analysis of whether the inhaler is being operated correctly. The HCP server process 1752 may also include the ability to monitor a patient's inhaler usage according to compliance rules. These compliance rules may specify required inhaler usage over a compliance period (e.g., 30 days) and for a certain minimum number of days in the compliance period (e.g., 21 days) for a minimum number of doses. In post-processing of the summary data, it may be determined whether a recent duration is a compliant session by comparing the usage time with the minimum duration from the compliance rules. The results of such post-processing are referred to as "compliance data." Such compliance data may be used by the health care provider in customizing treatment, which may include the inhaler and other mechanisms. Other parties (e.g., payers) may use the compliance data to determine whether reimbursement may exist for the patient.

[0121] As will be appreciated, the data in the data server 1712, EMR server 1714, and HCP server 1716 is often sensitive data related to the patients 1710a-c. Typically, permission must be provided by the patients 1710a-c to send the sensitive data to another party. Such permission may be required for data transfer between the servers 1712, 1714, and 1716, provided such servers are operated by different entities.

[0122] As used in this application, terms such as "component," "module," "system," and the like generally refer to computer-related entities that are either hardware (e.g., circuitry), a combination of hardware and software, software, or an entity relating to an operating machine having one or more specific functions. For example, a component may be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor (e.g., a digital signal processor), a processor, an object, an executable file, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. As an example, both a controller and an application running on a controller may be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and / or thread of execution, and a component may be localized on one computer or distributed among two or more computers. Furthermore, a "device" may take the form of specially designed hardware, generalized hardware that is specialized by the execution of software that enables the performance of specific functions, software stored on a computer-readable medium, or a combination thereof.

[0123] The terms used herein are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and are not intended to be limiting of the present invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" are intended to include the plural forms unless otherwise clear from the context. Additionally, in the detailed description and claims, "including," "having," or conjugations thereof are used, and these terms are intended to be inclusive in the same manner as the term "comprising."

[0124] Unless otherwise specified, all terms in this specification (including technical and scientific terms) have the same meaning as those generally understood by those skilled in the art. Furthermore, terms as defined in widely used dictionaries should be interpreted in accordance with the meaning in the context of the relevant technical field, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined in this specification.

[0125] Although various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they are presented for illustrative purposes only and not for limitation. Although the present invention has been illustrated and described with respect to one or more implementations, equivalent changes and modifications will occur or be known to others skilled in the art upon reading and understanding this specification and the accompanying drawings. In addition, while a particular feature of the present invention may be disclosed with respect to only one of several implementations, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other implementations as desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described embodiments. Rather, the scope of the present invention should be defined according to the following claims and their equivalents.

[0126] The following are appended claims to this disclosure. (Additional note 1) 1. A compliance monitor attached to an inhaler, the inhaler comprising: a medicament canister covered by a canister cover; an actuator holding the medicament canister, the actuator having a mouthpiece; and a dispensing device operable to actuate the medicament canister to expel a dose, the compliance monitor comprising: an actuation detection sensor operable to sense physical movement of the medicament canister upon actuation; an inhalation data sensor operable to sense an air pressure change resulting from inhalation of the dose from said actuation; a controller coupled to the actuation detection sensor and the inhalation data sensor to record actuation events. (Additional note 2) The compliance monitor of claim 1, further comprising an accelerometer coupled to the controller, the accelerometer indicating movement of the inhaler prior to actuation and outputting a signal, the controller operable to activate the sensor when the movement is detected. (Additional note 3) The compliance monitor according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the operation detection sensor is an infrared sensor. (Additional note 4) The compliance monitor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the actuation detection sensor is a contact switch. (Additional note 5) The compliance monitor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the operation detection sensor is an atmospheric pressure sensor. (Additional note 6) The compliance monitor of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the inhaler includes a shield attached to the canister cover, and the actuation detection sensor detects movement of the shield as indicative of movement of the inhaler. (Additional note 7) The compliance monitor of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the inhalation data sensor is a pressure sensor and the controller is operable to determine a pressure curve upon inhalation of the dose from the inhaler. (Additional note 8) 8. The compliance monitor of any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein the controller is operable to add a timestamp to collected data indicative of the movement of the inhaler. (Additional note 9) The compliance monitor of any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a transceiver coupled to the controller, the controller operable to transmit data based on the operational event to an external client device in communication with the transceiver. (Additional note 10) 10. The compliance monitor of claim 9, wherein the external client device is a mobile computing device associated with a user, and the external client device executes an application that analyzes the collected data to determine compliance. (Additional note 11) 11. The compliance monitor of any one of clauses 1 to 10, further comprising an attachment detection sensor operable to detect when the inhaler is attached to the compliance monitor. (Additional note 12) 12. The compliance monitor of any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising an actuation button operable by a user to activate the controller and the sensor. (Additional note 13) 13. The compliance monitor of any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising a body adapted to be fitted onto a canister cover of the inhaler. (Additional note 14) The compliance monitor according to any one of appended claims 1 to 13, wherein the inhalation data sensor is disposed on a circuit board so as to be exposed in a gap between the compliance monitor and a canister cover of the inhaler. (Additional note 15) 1. A compliance monitor attached to an inhaler comprising: a medicament canister; an actuator holding the medicament canister, the actuator having a cylindrical body at one end to which the medicament canister is held with a mouthpiece on the other end; and a dispensing device attached to the medicament canister, the dispensing device including a front shield surface, the dispensing device operable to actuate the medicament canister to expel a dose, the compliance monitor comprising: a pair of curved sidewalls that conform to sides of the cylindrical body of the actuator, each of the sidewalls having an open leading edge and a closed trailing edge; a side arm attached to one of the sidewalls so as to overlap the cylindrical body of the actuator, wherein a mouthpiece of the inhaler is accessible and the front shield surface is exposed; and an electronics housing attached to the closed rear edge of said side wall; Includes compliance monitors. (Additional note 16) 16. The compliance monitor of claim 15, wherein the inhaler includes a lower strap, and each of the side walls includes a lower portion forming a slot for the strap. (Additional note 17) an actuation detection sensor operable to sense physical movement of the medicament canister upon actuation; an intake data detection sensor operable to sense an air pressure change caused by said actuation; A controller in the electronics housing coupled to the sensor to record activation events. (Additional note 18) The compliance monitor of claim 17, further comprising a printed circuit board within the electronics housing, the printed circuit board having a first surface including a connector connected to the actuation detection sensor, the actuation detection sensor being mounted on one of the side walls adjacent a shield surface of the inhaler and a second opposing surface on which the inhalation data sensor is mounted, adjacent a gap between an upper cover of the side wall and an actuator of the inhaler. (Additional note 19) 19. The compliance monitor of claim 18, further comprising an attachment detection sensor mounted on the first surface of the printed circuit board operable to detect attachment of the inhaler to the compliance monitor. (Additional note 20) 20. The compliance monitor of claim 18, wherein the electronics housing includes a back panel having an activation button operable to activate the controller and the sensor. (Additional note 21) 1. A compliance monitor attached to an inhaler, the inhaler comprising a medicament canister and an actuator holding the medicament canister, the actuator having one end holding the medicament canister with a mouthpiece on the other end and a canister cover covering the medicament canister, the medicament canister being operable to be actuated to expel a dose, the monitor comprising: a body fitted around the canister cover; an electronic device housing attached to the body; an actuation detection sensor operable to sense the medicament canister upon actuation; an intake data detection sensor operable to sense an air pressure change caused by said actuation; a controller in the electronics housing coupled to the sensor to record actuation events. (Additional note 22) The compliance monitor of claim 21, further comprising a printed circuit board within the electronics housing, the printed circuit board having a first surface having an actuation detection sensor and a second opposing surface having the inhalation data sensor mounted thereon adjacent a gap between a top cover of the electronics housing and a canister cover of the inhaler. (Additional note 23) 23. The compliance monitor of claim 22, wherein the electronics housing includes a panel having an activation button operable to activate the controller and the sensor. (Additional note 24) 24. The compliance monitor of any one of clauses 21 to 23, wherein the canister cover is physically movable to activate the medication canister. (Additional note 25) 25. The compliance monitor of claim 24, wherein the actuation detection sensor is a limit switch that is activated when the canister cover is moved. (Additional note 26) 26. The compliance sensor according to any one of claims 21 to 25, wherein the operation detection sensor and the inhalation detection sensor are atmospheric pressure sensors.

Claims

1. 1. A compliance monitor for attachment to an inhaler, the inhaler having a medicament canister and an actuator for holding the medicament canister, the medicament canister including a front shield surface and operable to expel a dose, the actuator having a cylindrical body by one end of which the medicament canister is held with a mouthpiece on the other end, the compliance monitor comprising: a pair of curved sidewalls conforming to sides of the cylindrical body of the actuator, each of the sidewalls having an open leading edge and a closed trailing edge; a side arm attached to one of the side walls so as to overlap the cylindrical body of the actuator and partially surround a front periphery of the inhaler, wherein a mouthpiece of the inhaler is accessible and the front shield surface is exposed; an electronics housing attached to the closed rear edge of said side wall; Includes compliance monitors.

2. 10. The compliance monitor of claim 1, wherein the inhaler includes a strap connecting a cover for a mouthpiece to the actuator, and each of the side walls includes a lower portion forming a slot for the strap.

3. an actuation detection sensor operable to sense physical movement of the medicament canister upon actuation; an intake data detection sensor operable to sense an air pressure change caused by said actuation; 3. The compliance monitor of claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a controller in the electronics housing coupled to the actuation detection sensor and the inhalation data detection sensor to record actuation events.

4. The compliance monitor of claim 3, further comprising a printed circuit board within the electronics housing, the printed circuit board having a first surface including a connector connected to the actuation detection sensor, the actuation detection sensor being mounted on one of the side walls adjacent a shield surface of the inhaler and a second opposing surface on which the inhalation data detection sensor is mounted adjacent a gap between an upper cover of the side wall and an actuator of the inhaler.

5. 5. The compliance monitor of claim 4, further comprising an attachment detection sensor mounted on the first surface of the printed circuit board operable to detect attachment of the inhaler to the compliance monitor.

6. The compliance monitor of claim 4 , wherein the electronics housing includes a back panel having an activation button operable to activate the controller and the activation detection sensor and the inhalation data detection sensor.

Images