Eye drop management device, eye drop management system, eye drop management device utilization system, and eye drop management device utilization program.

Abstract

It enables eye drop management that is compatible with various forms of eye drops. [Solution] The eye drop management device 1 comprises a flexible band 2 that can be wrapped around an eye drop container A, fixing parts 21a, 21b that fix the band 2 in place while it is wrapped around the eye drop container A, and a sensor 4a that is provided at a fixed position relative to the band 2 and detects the user's movements relative to the eye drop container A.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus, a computer system, and a program for managing eye drops.

Background Art

[0002] Eye drops are provided in a container. A user of the eye drops is required to instill the eye drops according to a predetermined administration method. For example, Japanese Patent No. 6568954 (Patent Document 1) discloses a dosing device for monitoring whether a user is complying with a dosing schedule. This dosing device has a jacket that holds a container of the drug. The jacket includes an opening that allows the user to apply pressure to the container to eject the drug, and a first pressure sensor that detects that the container has been inserted into the jacket. The dosing device further includes a second pressure sensor that detects that the container has expanded when the user applies pressure to the container through the opening, and a wireless communication module that exchanges data recorded by the second pressure sensor with a communication device.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The shape and size of the container of eye drops often vary from one type of eye drops to another. In the dosing device of Patent Document 1 above, the shape of the container that can be inserted is limited, and it cannot accommodate containers of various shapes and sizes. Also, Patent Document 1 does not disclose a mechanism for coping with the management of instillation when two or more types of eye drops are instilled in parallel within the same period.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an eye drop management device, an eye drop management system, an eye drop management device utilization system, and an eye drop management device utilization program that can cope with various forms of eye drops.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The eye drop management device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a flexible band that is wound around an eye drop container, a fixing portion that fixes the band in a state where it is wound around the eye drop container, and a sensor that is provided at a position fixed to the band and detects an operation of a user with respect to the eye drop container.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it becomes possible to manage eye drops corresponding to various forms of eye drops.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] The eye drop management device in the embodiment of the present invention includes a flexible band wound around the eye drop container, a fixing portion for fixing the band in a state where it is wound around the eye drop container, and a sensor provided at a position fixed to the band for detecting the operation of the user with respect to the eye drop container.

[0010] The above-mentioned eye drop management device wraps a flexible band around an eye drop container and fixes it with a fixing part. With this configuration, the band can be wrapped around and fixed to eye drop containers of various shapes or sizes. The user can instill eye drops with the band wrapped around the eye drop container. That is, it is possible to instill eye drops with the eye drop management device attached to the eye drop container. A sensor is provided at a position fixed to the band. Therefore, by wrapping and fixing the band to the eye drop container, the sensor can be attached to the eye drop container. The sensor detects the user's operation on the eye drop container. As a result, it becomes possible to attach the eye drop management device to eye drop containers of various shapes or sizes and detect the user's operation. That is, an eye drop management device that can correspond to various forms of eye drops can be realized.

[0011] It is preferable that at least a part of the band is formed of a material that can elastically expand and contract in the length direction of the band. This expands the range of sizes and shapes of the eye drop containers around which the band can be wrapped. Also, since an elastic force is generated that tightens the eye drop container when the band is wrapped, it is difficult for the hand to come off the eye drop container.

[0012] The fixing part may be configured to be able to adjust the fixing position in the length direction of the band. This expands the range of sizes of the eye drop containers around which the band can be wrapped. The fixing part may be, for example, a hook-and-loop fastener, a hook, a buckle, or a joint. The hook-and-loop fastener may be configured to join, for example, the inner peripheral surface of the band in the region where the bands can overlap with each other when the band is wrapped around the eye drop container and the outer peripheral surface facing it. By extending the hook-and-loop fastener in the length direction of the band, the fixing position can be adjusted.

[0013] The sensor may include, for example, at least one of a pressure sensor, an attitude sensor, or an optical sensor. The pressure sensor may be attached to the band. The pressure sensor can detect the external pressure on the band wrapped around the eye drop container. Thereby, the operation of the user pressing the eye drop container can be detected.

[0014] The posture sensor is provided at a fixed position with respect to the band. For example, the posture sensor may be provided in a housing described later. The posture sensor detects the posture (orientation) or change in posture of the eye drop container wrapped around the band. The posture sensor may be configured to detect at least one of acceleration or angular velocity. The posture sensor may be, for example, a gyro sensor, an acceleration sensor, or a combination thereof. The posture sensor can detect the operation of the user changing the orientation of the eye drop management device with the eye drop container attached thereto.

[0015] The light sensor may be configured to detect the lid of the eye drop container. The light sensor may be arranged, for example, at a position where the lid of the eye drop container around which the band is wrapped can be detected by light. The light sensor may be provided in the housing described later. The light sensor can detect whether the eye drop container has a lid or not, for example, by detecting the distance to the lid or the eye drop container with the lid removed. Thereby, the operation of the user removing the lid or closing the lid can be detected.

[0016] The eye drop management device may be configured to record data indicating the history of the operations detected by the sensor in a storage device of the eye drop management device or an external storage device. Thereby, eye drop history data indicating the history of eye drops is recorded. For example, at least one of data indicating the pressure on the band wrapped around the eye drop container, data indicating the posture of the eye drop container around which the band is wrapped, or data indicating the attachment and detachment of the lid of the eye drop container may be recorded. As data indicating the posture of the eye drop container, for example, data indicating the operation of the user changing the orientation of the eye drop container may be recorded. As data indicating the pressure on the band, for example, data indicating the operation of the user pressing the band (i.e., the eye drop container) may be recorded. The operation of pressing the band may be detected based on the pressure of the band detected by the sensor. As an example, data indicating the history of both the posture of the eye drop container and the pressure on the band can be recorded. Based on such data, it is possible to more accurately determine whether an eye drop has been administered or not.

[0017] The eye drop container may include a housing to which the band is attached. Parts of the eye drop container can be arranged in the housing. Note that the sensor may be provided in the housing or in the band.

[0018] The eye drop container may include a metal frame that fixes a part of the band to the housing. Thereby, the attachment strength of the band to the housing can be improved. The metal frame is fixed to a part of the band and also to the housing. The metal frame has, for example, a plate portion that overlaps and is fixed to a part of the band.

[0019] The band may include a first band portion and a second band portion extending from the housing. In this case, the eye drop container can be arranged between the first band portion and the second band portion, and the fixing portion may be configured to connect the first band portion and the second band portion. In this case, the first band portion and the second band portion can be wound around the eye drop container from opposite directions. Thereby, the winding operation of the band becomes easy.

[0020] The housing may include a pedestal portion that supports the bottom of the eye drop container and a support column portion that protrudes from the pedestal portion and to which the band is connected. With this configuration, the eye drop management device can wind and fix the band around the side surface of the eye drop container while supporting the bottom of the eye drop container with the pedestal portion. Thereby, the support stability of the eye drop container by the eye drop management device is improved.

[0021] The support column portion may have a convex portion that protrudes and contacts the eye drop container around which the band is wound. Thereby, the eye drop container around which the band is wound contacts the convex portion. Due to the friction at the portion in contact with the convex portion, the eye drop container is less likely to fall off from the band. As an example, the convex portion can be a ridge extending in the width direction of the band. In this case, at least a part of the top surface of the ridge contacts the eye drop container. The center of the top surface of the ridge may be lower than both ends when viewed from the width direction of the band. Thereby, the area of the top surface of the ridge in contact with the eye drop container can be increased, and the frictional force can be increased.

[0022] The eye drop management device may further include a notification unit that notifies the user of information. The notification unit may have, for example, at least one of a speaker, a lamp, or a vibrator. The notification unit may be provided on the housing.

[0023] The eye drop management device may include a speaker built in the pedestal portion. The pedestal portion may have a hole for outputting the sound of the speaker formed on the bottom surface on the side opposite to the surface that supports the bottom of the eye drop container, and protrusions protruding from the bottom surface at at least three points other than the hole on the bottom surface. By providing a hole in the bottom surface on the side opposite to the surface that supports the bottom of the eye drop container, it becomes difficult for eye drops or other liquids to enter through the hole. Furthermore, since there are protrusions on the bottom surface of the pedestal portion, when the eye drop management device is placed on a placement surface such as a table with the pedestal portion facing down, a space is formed between the placement surface and the hole. The sound of the speaker becomes easier for the user to hear.

[0024] The eye drop management device may include a label attachment portion to which a label can be attached and detached. Thereby, a label displaying information on the eye drops can be attached to the eye drop management device. The label attachment portion may be provided on a band or on the housing. The label attachment portion is composed of, for example, a space in which the label provided on the eye drop management device is arranged and a transparent member that covers this space.

[0025] The eye drop management device may further include a communication unit that performs data communication with an external device. The communication unit may transmit, for example, information detected by a sensor to the outside. Also, the communication unit may receive from the outside information that the notification unit of the eye drop management device notifies the user. The communication unit may be, for example, a wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication between the eye drop management device and an external device.

[0026] The eye drop management device may further include a mode control unit that switches between a power-saving mode and a normal operation mode. The power-saving mode is an operation mode with less power consumption than the normal operation mode. The mode control unit can switch from the normal operation mode to the power-saving mode, for example, when the state where no operation by the sensor is detected continues for a predetermined time or longer. The mode control unit may use the detection of the operation by the sensor as a trigger for switching from the power-saving mode to the normal operation mode. Also, when the eye drop management device includes a communication unit, the mode control unit can switch from the normal operation mode to the power-saving mode when the state where no data communication by the communication unit occurs continues for a predetermined time or longer. The mode control unit may use the reception of data by the communication unit as a trigger for switching from the power-saving mode to the normal operation mode.

[0027] The eye drop management system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a flexible band wound around an eye drop container, a fixing unit that fixes the band in a state where it is wound around the eye drop container, a sensor provided at a position fixed to the band for detecting an operation of a user with respect to the eye drop container, an eye drop determination unit that determines whether or not eye drops have been administered using the eye drop container based on the operation detected by the sensor, and a notification control unit that controls notification to at least one of the user and the administrator based on the determination result of the eye drop determination unit and administration data indicating a predetermined method of administering the eye drop.

[0028] In the above eye drop management system, the band is wound around and fixed to the eye drop container, and the operation of the user with respect to the eye drop container is detected by the sensor whose position with respect to the band is fixed. This makes it possible to detect the operation of the user with respect to eye drop containers of various shapes or sizes. Further, based on the operation detected by the sensor, it is determined whether or not eye drops have been administered, and based on the determination result and the administration data indicating the method of administering the eye drop, notification to the user or the administrator is controlled. Thereby, an eye drop management system that can handle various forms of eye drops can be realized.

[0029] Here, the user is the person who uses the eye drops. By the user instilling the eye drops, the eye drops are administered to the user. The administrator is a person or group other than the user, and is a person or group involved in the management of instilling the eye drops. The administrator is not particularly limited, and for example, in addition to a caregiver, a caregiver, a guardian, or a relative such as a family member who takes care of the user, it may also be a medical worker such as a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, or a medicine provider. Further, the administrator may be a medical institution, a research institution, a company, or other group (organization).

[0030] The eye drop management system may further include a history recording unit that records data indicating the history of the user's actions detected by the sensor in a storage device. In this case, the eye drop determination unit may determine whether or not eye drops have been instilled based on the data indicating the history of the user's actions.

[0031] The sensor may include a pressure sensor attached to the band and the posture sensor. In this case, the eye drop determination unit can determine whether or not eye drops have been instilled using the eye drop container based on the pressure detected by the pressure sensor and the posture of the eye drop container detected by the posture sensor. With this configuration, the eye drop determination unit can determine whether or not eye drops have been instilled based on the pressure applied to the band and the posture (orientation) of the eye drop container. Thereby, it is possible to more accurately determine whether or not eye drops have been instilled.

[0032] For example, when the eye drop determination unit detects an operation in which the eye drop container is tilted so that the mouth of the eye drop container faces downward by the posture sensor, and then detects an operation in which the band wound around the eye drop container is pushed by the pressure sensor, it can be determined that eye drops have been instilled. Further, for example, the eye drop determination unit can detect the number of times the eye drops have been dropped from the eye drop container by detecting an operation in which the band is pushed while the mouth of the eye drop container faces downward.

[0033] The eye drop management device utilization system in the embodiment of the present invention is communicable with an eye drop management device to which an eye drop container is attached. The eye drop management device includes a sensor that detects the user's operation on the eye drop container and a notification unit that notifies the user of information. The eye drop management device utilization system includes a target administration data reception unit that receives an input of target administration data indicating the administration method of the target eye drop to be managed, a target device identification data reception unit that receives an input of target device identification data that uniquely identifies the target eye drop management device to which the eye drop container of the target eye drop is attached, and a notification control unit that supplies notification information instructing eye drops based on the administration method indicated by the target administration data to the target eye drop management device identified by the target device identification data.

[0034] The above eye drop management device utilization system receives an input of target administration data indicating the administration method of the target eye drop and target device identification data that identifies the target eye drop management device to which the eye drop container of the target eye drop is attached. Thereby, in the eye drop management device utilization system, the target administration data and the target device identification data can be associated with each other. Thus, according to the above configuration, the information on the administration method of the target eye drop and the eye drop management device for that target eye drop can be associated with each other. Based on this correspondence, notification information instructing eye drops based on the administration method of the target eye drop can be supplied to the target eye drop management device to which the eye drop container of the target eye drop is attached. Therefore, for example, even when two or more types of eye drops are instilled within the same period, an eye drop management device can be prepared for each eye drop, the administration method and the eye drop management device can be associated with each other, and notification information instructing eye drops can be supplied for each of them. In this way, an eye drop management device utilization system that can handle various forms of eye drops can be realized.

[0035] The eye drop management device utilization system may further include a recording processing unit that associates the target device identification data with the target administration data and records it in a storage device accessible by the eye drop management device utilization system. As a result, data indicating the correspondence between the administration method of the target eye drop and the target eye drop management device for the target eye drop is recorded in the storage device and can be used in the eye drop management device utilization system.

[0036] The target administration data reception unit can receive the input of target administration data for each of a plurality of target eye drops. The target device identification data reception unit can receive the input of target administration data for each of a plurality of target eye drops. In this case, the eye drop management device utilization system can maintain the correspondence between the target administration data and the target device identification data for each of the plurality of target eye drops. For example, for each of the plurality of target eye drops, the target device identification data may be recorded in the storage device in association with the target administration data.

[0037] The eye drop management device utilization system may further include an operation acquisition unit that acquires operation data indicating the user's operation on the eye drop container detected by the sensor of the eye drop management device from the eye drop management device. The notification control unit may supply notification information based on the operation data to the eye drop management device that acquired the operation data, or to the terminal of the user or administrator. This enables notification according to the user's operation.

[0038] When the operation acquisition unit acquires the operation data from the target eye drop management device, the notification control unit may supply notification information to the target eye drop management device, or to the terminal of the user or administrator, based on the operation data and the target administration data corresponding to the target eye drop management device. This enables appropriate notification according to the administration method and operation for each target eye drop.

[0039] For example, the administration method indicated by the target administration data may include the number of drops of the target eye drops. The notification control unit may determine, based on the operation data acquired by the operation acquisition unit from the target eye drop management device, whether or not eye drops have been administered the number of times indicated by the target administration data corresponding to the target eye drop management device. The notification control unit may supply notification information indicating the determination result of the number of drops to the target eye drop management device, or to the terminal of the user or administrator.

[0040] For example, when the operation acquisition unit acquires operation data from the target eye drop management device, the notification control unit may determine, based on the target administration data corresponding to the target device identification data of the target eye drop management device, whether it is time to administer the target eye drops of the target eye drop management device. If the notification control unit determines that it is not time to administer the eye drops, it may supply notification information of an alarm indicating that the eye drops should not be administered to the target eye drop management device, or to the terminal of the user or administrator.

[0041] For example, the administration method indicated by the target administration data may include information indicating the order of instillation of the target eye drops and other eye drops. The notification control unit may determine, based on the operation data acquired from the target eye drop management device and the eye drop management devices of other eye drops, whether or not the operations are in accordance with the order of instillation indicated by the target administration data. If the notification control unit determines an operation that does not match the order, it may supply alarm notification information to the target eye drop management device or the eye drop management device of other eye drops, or to the terminal of the user or administrator.

[0042] When the notification control unit cannot acquire operation data indicating an eye drop operation from the target eye drop management device even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the time of eye drop indicated by the target administration data, the notification control unit may supply alarm notification information to the target eye drop management device, or to the terminal of the user or administrator. Thereby, forgetting to administer eye drops by the user can be notified to the user or administrator.

[0043] When the notification control unit acquires operation data indicating an operation on another eye drop management device different from the target eye drop management device within a predetermined period including the time of eye drop indicated by the target administration data corresponding to the target eye drop management device, it may supply alarm notification information to the other eye drop management device or the user's terminal. Thereby, for example, when the user operates on an eye drop management device for an eye drop different from the target eye drop at the time when the target eye drop should be instilled, the eye drop management device can warn that it is different from that of the target eye drop.

[0044] The above eye drop management device utilization system may further include a history recording unit that records, as eye drop history data indicating a history related to the instillation of the target eye drop, information related to the operation indicated by the operation data acquired from the target eye drop management device, in association with the target administration data corresponding to the target eye drop management device, in the storage device. Thereby, the operation detected by the target eye drop management device can be recorded as eye drop history data indicating a history related to the instillation of the target eye drop attached to the target eye drop management device.

[0045] The operation data may include, for example, at least one of data indicating pressure on the band, data indicating the posture of the eye drop container wrapped around the band, or data indicating the attachment and detachment of the lid of the eye drop container. As an example, the operation data may include information related to the posture of the eye drop container and the pressure on the band. Based on such operation data, it is possible to more accurately determine whether or not an eye drop has been instilled.

[0046] The above eye drop management device utilization system may further include a print instruction unit that outputs an instruction to print a label on which information about the target eye drop is described, the label being attached to the target eye drop management device, to a printing machine. Thereby, a label indicating information about the target eye drop that can be attached to the target eye drop management device can be printed.

[0047] The above eye drop management device utilization system may further include a first identification information acquisition unit that acquires the identification information of the target eye drop displayed on the eye drop container of the target eye drop, a second identification information acquisition unit that acquires the identification information of the target eye drop displayed on the label attached to the target eye drop management device, and a mounting eye drop determination unit that determines whether the eye drop container attached to the target eye drop management device is correct by comparing the identification information acquired by the first identification information acquisition unit with the identification information acquired by the second identification information acquisition unit. Thereby, it is possible to determine whether a correct eye drop container is attached to the eye drop management device.

[0048] The above eye drop management device utilization system may further include a communication failure notification unit that supplies communication failure notification information to the terminal of the user or administrator when a communication failure with the target eye drop management device is detected. Thereby, when the eye drop management device utilization system cannot communicate with the target eye drop management device, it is possible to notify the user or administrator of the communication failure.

[0049] The notification control unit may supply information that serves as a trigger for the target eye drop management device to switch the operation mode from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode at a time point a predetermined time before the eye drop time indicated by the target administration data to the target eye drop management device. Thereby, the operation mode of the eye drop management device can be switched from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode at an appropriate timing.

[0050] The target administration data may include left-right information indicating whether the eye to be instilled is the left eye, the right eye, or both eyes. The notification control unit may supply notification information instructing instillation of the target eye drop based on the administration method of the target eye drop indicated by the target administration data, together with the left-right information, to the target eye drop management device, or to the terminal of the user or administrator. Thereby, it is possible to notify the user or administrator of whether the eye to be instilled is the left eye, the right eye, or both eyes, together with the instruction to instill the eye drop.

[0051] In the above-described eye drop management device utilization system, the notification control unit can cause the eye drop management device to execute notification processing to the user by supplying notification information to the eye drop management device. For example, the notification control unit may cause the notification unit of the eye drop management device to execute processing for notifying the user of the notification information.

[0052] The terminal of the user or administrator to which the notification control unit supplies the notification information may be the terminal on which the eye drop management device utilization system is implemented, or may be another terminal. The terminal of the user or administrator may be preset as the transmission destination of the notification information. The eye drop management device utilization system may receive an input of information indicating the terminal of the user or administrator as the transmission destination of the notification information, and record the input information indicating the transmission destination in the storage device. Note that the administrator may be, for example, a medical worker or other person who supports or cares for the user.

[0053] An eye drop management device utilization program for causing a computer to execute the processing of the above-described eye drop management device utilization system is also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The eye drop management device utilization program in the embodiments of the present invention communicates with an eye drop management device on which an eye drop container is mounted, the eye drop management device including a sensor that detects the user's operation on the eye drop container and a notification unit that notifies the user of information, and causes the computer to execute communication processing, target administration data reception processing for receiving an input of target administration data indicating the administration method of eye drops of a target eye drop to be managed, target device identification data reception processing for receiving an input of target device identification data that uniquely identifies a target eye drop management device that is the eye drop management device on which the target eye drop container is mounted, and notification control processing for supplying notification information instructing eye drops based on the administration method indicated by the target administration data to the target eye drop management device identified by the target device identification data.

[0054] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. (Configuration example of eye drop management device) Figs. 1 and 2 are perspective views showing a configuration example of the eye drop management device according to the present embodiment. Fig. 1 shows a state in which an eye drop container A is attached to the eye drop management device 1. Fig. 2 shows a state in which no eye drop container is attached to the eye drop management device 1. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the eye drop management device 1 includes a band 2 and a housing 3 to which the band 2 is attached. The band 2 includes a first band portion 2a and a second band portion 2b (hereinafter, when these are not particularly distinguished, simply referred to as the band 2). An eye drop container A is disposed between the first band portion 2a and the second band portion 2b. The band 2 is formed of a flexible material. The dimension in the length direction dL of the band 2 is longer than the dimension in the width direction dW. The band 2 is provided with hook-and-loop fasteners 21a and 21b as an example of a fixing portion. The hook-and-loop fasteners 21a and 21b are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the first band portion 2a and the inner peripheral surface of the second band portion 2b. The hook-and-loop fasteners 21a and 21b couple the first band portion 2a and the second band portion 2b to each other in a state where they are wound around the side surface of the eye drop container A. The coupling position by the fixing portion (hook-and-loop fasteners 21a and 21b) in the length direction dL of the band can be changed according to the outer circumference of the eye drop container A. The band 2 can be wound around eye drop containers A of various shapes and sizes.

[0055] As shown in Fig. 1, when the eye drops are not in use, the eye drop container A is attached to the eye drop management device 1 and placed with the lid Ab closed. Usually, the eye drop container A is placed with the lid Ab located on the main body Aa. At this time, the eye drop management device 1 holds the eye drop container A with the ejection port of the eye drops in the eye drop container A facing upward. To enable this, in the example of Fig. 1, the housing 3 includes a pedestal portion 3b and a support column portion 3a protruding from the pedestal portion 3b. The pedestal portion 3b supports the bottom of the eye drop container A. The pedestal portion 3b has a support surface 3b2 for supporting the bottom of the eye drop container A. The support column portion 3a protrudes from the support surface 3b2 and extends in the width direction dW of the band 2. The band 2 is connected to the side surface of the support column portion 3a.

[0056] FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of the state of the eye drop container A and the eye drop management device 1 when dropping eye drops. As shown in FIG. 3, when dropping eye drops, the lid Ab of the eye drop container A is removed, and the band 2 is pressed by the user's finger with the ejection port of the eye drop facing downward. As a result, the eye drop container A is pressed, and the eye drops come out from the ejection port. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, as shown in FIG. 1, the posture in which the eye drop management device 1 holds the eye drop container A with the ejection port facing upward is referred to as the upright position, and as shown in FIG. 3, the posture in which the eye drop container A is held with the ejection port facing downward is referred to as the inverted position.

[0057] As shown in FIG. 3, when dropping eye drops, the lid Ab of the eye drop container A is removed. The band 2 is preferably wound around the main body Aa of the eye drop container A so as not to interfere with the attachment and detachment of the lid Ab. From this viewpoint, the dimension in the width direction dW of the band 2 is preferably, for example, 1 to 5 cm.

[0058] In the example shown in FIG. 2, a pressure sensor 4a is provided on the band 2. The pressure sensor 4a is provided at least partially in the length direction dL of the band 2. The dimension of the pressure sensor 4a in the length direction dL of the band 2 is longer than the dimension in the width direction dW. The pressure sensor 4a can be, for example, a pressure-sensitive sheet.

[0059] FIG. 4 is a top view of the eye drop management device 1 shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the lid Ab side of the eye drop container A. In FIG. 4, the range where the pressure sensor 4a is provided is indicated by an arrow P1. As shown in FIG. 4, the pressure sensor 4a is preferably arranged over at least half a circumference ((1 / 2) circumference) of the outer periphery of the eye drop container A in a state where the band 2 is wound around the eye drop container A, and more preferably arranged over (2 / 3) circumference or more. Thereby, no matter which part of the outer periphery of the eye drop container A the user presses when dropping eye drops, the pressing operation can be detected. For example, in the example of FIG. 4, whether the user presses the eye drop container A in the direction of the Cx line or in the direction of the Cy line, the pressure sensor 4a can detect the pressing operation.

[0060] In the example shown in FIG. 2, the first band portion 2a is longer in the length direction dL than the second band portion 2b. The pressure sensor 4a is provided on the longer first band portion 2a and not on the shorter second band portion 2b. Thereby, the pressure sensor 4a can be efficiently arranged.

[0061] In the example shown in FIG. 2, the second band portion 2b has a lower longitudinal elastic modulus in the length direction than the first band portion 2a. That is, the second band portion 2b is more likely to stretch in the length direction than the first band portion 2a. In this example, the pressure sensor 4a is provided on the first band portion 2a with a higher elastic modulus and not on the second band portion 2b with a lower elastic modulus. Thereby, as a whole of the band 2, while securing the elastic deformation amount in the length direction dL, the portion where the pressure sensor 4a is provided can suppress expansion and contraction to secure the accuracy of the sensor.

[0062] As shown in FIG. 2, the support portion 3a of the housing 3 has a convex portion 6 that protrudes toward the space where the eye drop container A is disposed. The convex portion 6 contacts the eye drop container A around which the band 2 is wound (see FIG. 3). The eye drop container A is held in a state of being pressed against the convex portion 6 by the elastic force of the band 2. Frictional force is generated at the contact surface between the convex portion 6 and the eye drop container A, making it difficult for the eye drop container A to fall out of the band 2. The width direction dW of the band 2 is the longitudinal direction of the convex portion 6. Thereby, a wide contact surface between the convex portion and the eye drop container A can be secured. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the top surface of the convex portion 6 has a shape in which the center is recessed from both ends when viewed in the width direction of the band 2. Thereby, both end portions of the top surface of the convex portion 6 contact the eye drop container A.

[0063] In FIG. 4, an example of the support structure of the band 2 inside the support column portion 3a of the housing 3 is shown by a dashed line. In the example shown in FIG. 4, a metal frame 12 for fixing a part of the band 2 to the housing is provided. The metal frame 12 is plate-shaped. A part of the band 2 is overlapped on the metal frame 12. The metal frame 12 and a part of the band 2 are joined by a joining tool 12a. The joining tool 12a penetrates the metal frame 12 and the band 2 and is fixed to the housing 3 by a screw. Thereby, the metal frame 12 and the band 2 are fixed to the housing 3. In the example of FIG. 4, the joining tool 12a further reaches the convex portion 6. The convex portion 6a, the band 2, and the metal frame 12 are joined to each other by the joining tool 12a. The convex portion 6a is fixed to the housing 3 (support column portion 3a).

[0064] In the example shown in FIG. 3, a substrate 9 on which electronic components are mounted is provided inside the pedestal portion 3b of the housing 3. An attitude sensor 4b, a communication unit 7, and a controller 8 (control unit) are mounted on the substrate 9. Wires drawn from the pressure sensor 4a and the optical sensor 4c are connected to the substrate 9. Further, a battery 11, an LED lamp 5a, a speaker 5b, and a vibrator 5c are provided inside the pedestal portion 3b of the housing 3. The optical sensor 4c is provided on the support column portion 3a. Note that the arrangement of these components is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 3. These components may be provided at other positions inside the housing 3.

[0065] The posture sensor 4b is fixed to the substrate 9, i.e., the housing 3. The positional relationship between the band 2 and the housing 3 is fixed. The posture sensor 4b detects at least one of the angular velocity or acceleration of the housing 3. Thereby, the posture, i.e., the orientation, of the eye drop container A supported by the band 2 on the housing 3 can be detected. For example, the movement of the eye drop container A is detected by the posture sensor 4b. A change in the orientation of the eye drop container A, for example, a change from an upright state to an inverted state or vice versa, can be detected by the posture sensor 4b. The posture sensor 4b may be composed of, for example, a gyro sensor that detects angular velocities around different three axes (e.g., three mutually perpendicular axes). Alternatively, the posture sensor 4b may be composed of an acceleration sensor that detects accelerations in three axial directions. Further, the posture sensor 4b may be a six-axis sensor that detects accelerations in three axial directions in addition to angular velocities in three axes. The posture sensor 4b may be, for example, an inertial measurement unit (IMU).

[0066] The optical sensor 4c is arranged at a position where the lid Ab of the eye drop container A around which the band 2 is wound can be detected by light. In the example of FIG. 3, the optical sensor 4c is arranged at the tip of the support portion 3a. The optical sensor 4c irradiates light into the space where the lid Ab is arranged, i.e., the space on the side opposite to the pedestal portion 3b with respect to the band 2, and detects the reflected light. Thereby, when the eye drop container A is covered with the lid Ab, the optical sensor 4c measures the distance to the lid Ab. When the eye drop container A is not covered with the lid Ab, a distance different from the distance to the lid Ab is measured. The optical sensor 4c can detect the presence or absence of the lid Ab of the eye drop container A. Note that the optical sensor 4c may detect whether the eye drop container A is attached or not. In this case, the optical sensor 4c can detect at least the state where the eye drop container A is attached and covered with the lid Ab, the state where the eye drop container A is attached and the lid Ab is removed, and the state where the eye drop container is not attached.

[0067] The LED lamp 5a, the speaker 5b, and the vibrator 5c are examples of a notification unit that notifies a user of information. The light-emitting surface of the LED lamp 5a is exposed outside the housing 3. A hole for passing the sound of the speaker 5b to the outside of the housing 3 is provided in the housing 3 near the speaker 5b. In the example of FIG. 3, a hole for the speaker 5b is provided in the bottom surface 3b1 on the side opposite to the support surface 3b2 of the pedestal portion 3b. The vibrator 5c is not limited to these, and may be configured by, for example, an eccentric rotating mass (ERM) actuator that rotates an eccentric weight with a motor, or a linear resonance actuator (LRA) that vibrates an elastic body with a force by electromagnetic induction.

[0068] The communication unit 7 is a wireless communication module that enables wireless communication between the eye point management device 1 and an external device. The distance and method of wireless communication by the communication unit 7 are not particularly limited. For example, short-range wireless (NFC), wireless PAN (e.g., BLE, Bluetooth (registered trademark), Zigbee (registered trademark), etc.), wireless LAN (e.g., Wi-Fi, etc.), or wireless WAN (e.g., 3G, 4G, LTE, 5G, etc.) can be adopted for the wireless communication of the communication unit 7. Further, the communication unit 7 may be a wired communication unit that is connected to an external device by wire to perform communication.

[0069] The battery 11 supplies power to the electronic components included in the eye point management device 1. The battery 11 may be a primary battery or a secondary battery. The controller 8 controls the electronic components included in the eye point management device 1. The controller 8 is connected to the pressure sensor 4a, the attitude sensor 4b, the optical sensor 4c, the LED lamp 5a, the speaker 5b, the vibrator 5c, and the communication unit 7, and can transmit and receive information with these. The controller 8 acquires and processes information from sensors such as the pressure sensor 4a, the attitude sensor 4b, and the optical sensor 4c, for example. The controller 8 processes the data communicated by the communication unit 7. Further, the controller 8 supplies notification information to the notification unit such as the LED lamp 5a, the speaker 5b, and the vibrator 5c to cause output. Examples of the functions of the controller 8 will be described later.

[0070] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the orientation of the eye drop management device 1 detected by the attitude sensor 4b. The attitude sensor 4b can detect the angle (hereinafter referred to as the tilt angle) of the eye drop management device 1 with respect to the vertical direction (i.e., the direction of gravity) of the reference axis (the z-axis in the example of FIG. 4) of the eye drop management device 1. As an example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, when the eye drop management device 1 is in an upright state, the tilt angle θz detected by the attitude sensor 4b is 0°. When the eye drop management device 1 is in an upright state, θz = 180° is detected. The eye drop container is fixed to the eye drop management device 1 by the band 2. Therefore, the tilt angle θz of the eye drop management device 1 detected by the attitude sensor 4b can be regarded as the tilt angle of the eye drop container A. Note that the detection value by the attitude sensor 4b is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 5. For example, the value of the tilt angle changes depending on the way of taking the reference axis. As another example, the angle of the reference axis of the eye drop management device 1 with respect to the horizontal plane can be detected as the tilt angle.

[0071] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the eye drop management device 1 of FIG. 1 as viewed from the side opposite to the line of sight in FIG. 1. In the example shown in FIG. 6, a hole 3b12 for the speaker 5b and at least three protrusions 3b11 are provided on the bottom surface 3b1 of the pedestal portion 3b. Since the hole 3b12 is on the bottom surface 3b1 opposite to the support surface 3b2, the structure is such that liquid leaking from the eye drop container disposed on the support surface 3b2 hardly enters the housing 3 through the hole 3b12. Further, due to at least three protrusions 3b11, when the eye drop management device 1 is placed with the bottom surface 3b1 facing down as in FIG. 1, a gap is formed between the bottom surface 3b1 and the placement surface. Thereby, the sound of the speaker 5b becomes easier to hear.

[0072] In the example shown in FIG. 6, the eye drop management device 1 has a label attachment part. The label attachment part is composed of a space where the label Lb provided on the eye drop management device 1 is arranged, and a transparent member 14 that covers this space. A space for the label Lb is formed by a recess in the housing of the eye drop management device 1. The transparent member 14 is configured to cover the recess. The transparent member 14 can open and close the space where the label Lb is arranged. In the example of FIG. 6, the transparent member 14 is rotatably attached about the axis J1. The transparent member 14 is movable between a position that closes the opening of this space and a position that opens the space. The opening and closing configuration is not limited to this example. For example, only the end of the space may be configured to be openable and closable, or the configuration may be such that the transparent member slides to open and close the space. Also, the space for the label Lb may not be openable and closable. For example, a pocket with one side open may be formed by the transparent member on the outer periphery of the band 2. A label can be inserted into this pocket.

[0073] In the example shown in FIG. 6, the eye drop management device 1 includes a power switch 13. The power switch 13 is provided on the surface of the pedestal part 3b (housing 3). The power switch 13 switches the on / off of the power supply from the battery 11 to the electronic components.

[0074] The configuration of the eye drop management device 1 is not limited to the above example. The components included in the eye drop management device described in the above example can be arbitrarily selected and combined. For example, in the eye drop management device, the housing may be omitted. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of the eye drop management device when the housing is omitted. In the example of FIG. 7, the eye drop management device 1 includes a band 2, a pressure sensor 4a, surface fasteners 21a, 21b, and a communication unit 7. The pressure sensor 4a, the surface fasteners 21a, 21b, and the communication unit 7 are all provided on the band 2. In this case, the communication unit 7 transmits the information detected by the pressure sensor 4a to an external device by wireless or wired communication. In the case of wired communication, the communication unit 7 may have a connector for connecting a communication line. Also, in addition to the communication unit 7, at least one of other sensors such as a controller and an attitude sensor, or a notification unit may be provided on the band 2.

[0075] FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a configuration example when the pedestal portion is omitted in the housing of the eye drop management device. In the example of FIG. 8, the housing 3 is composed of only a portion corresponding to the support column portion shown in FIG. 1. The housing 3 has a fastener 3c for fixing the band 2.

[0076] (Configuration Example of Eye Drop Management System) FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the eye drop management system in the present embodiment. The eye drop management system 10 shown in FIG. 9 includes an eye drop management device 1 and a terminal 20. The eye drop management device 1 and the terminal 20 can communicate with each other for data. The eye drop management device 1 can be configured, for example, as in the examples shown in FIGS. 1 to 8 above. The eye drop management device 1 includes a band 2, a fixing portion 21, a sensor 4, a notification portion 5, a communication portion 7, and a controller 8. The controller 8 includes an eye drop determination portion 81. The eye drop determination portion 81 determines whether or not eye drops have been administered using the eye drop medicine container A based on the operation detected by the sensor 4.

[0077] The terminal 20 includes a notification control portion 82. The terminal 20 receives the determination result of the eye drop determination portion 81 from the communication portion 7 of the eye drop management device 1. The notification control portion 82 controls the notification to at least one of the user and the administrator based on this determination result and the administration data indicating the predetermined method of administering the eye drop medicine. In this way, the eye drop management system 10 includes, in addition to the band 2, the fixing portion 21, and the sensor 4 of the eye drop management device 1, a configuration for determining the eye drop operation by the user and a configuration for controlling the notification based on the determination result. These configurations can be implemented by the eye drop management device 1 or an external computer or circuit.

[0078] The eye drop determination unit 81 can improve the determination accuracy by determining eye drops based on the combination of the detection information of the attitude sensor 4b and the detection information of the pressure sensor 4a. The attitude sensor 4b detects the orientation (attitude) of the eye drop management device 1, that is, the eye drop container A, or its change. The pressure sensor 4a detects the pressure applied to the band 2, that is, the pressure applied to the eye drop container A. When the orientation of the eye drop management device 1 detected within a predetermined time and the pressure on the band 2 satisfy predetermined conditions, the eye drop determination unit 81 can determine that an eye drop operation has been performed. For example, when the eye drop management device 1 is determined to be in an inverted state, the eye drop determination unit 81 may determine that there is an eye drop operation when the pressure applied to the band 2 or its change is equal to or greater than a threshold value.

[0079] The eye drop detection unit 81 can detect various operations of the eye drop management device 1 by the user based on the change in the tilt angle of the eye drop management device 1 detected by the attitude sensor 4b. For example, based on the change in the tilt angle of the eye drop management device 1, an operation of moving the eye drop management device 1 or an operation of tilting it to an inverted state can be detected. For example, the eye drop detection unit 81 can detect these operations depending on whether the tilt angle of the eye drop management device 1 or the change in the tilt angle satisfies preset conditions.

[0080] As an example, when the tilt angle of the eye drop management device 1 changes after a state where it does not change for a predetermined time or more, the eye drop detection unit 81 can determine that an operation of moving the eye drop management device 1 has been performed. Further, when the tilt angle of the eye drop management device 1 changes and falls within a predetermined range from the tilt angle in the inverted state, the eye drop detection unit 81 can determine that the eye drop management device 1 has been tilted to the inverted state.

[0081] For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the eye drop detection unit 81 may determine whether the eye drop management device 1, that is, the eye drop container A, is upward or downward based on the inclination angle θzh of the reference axis (z-axis) of the eye drop management device 1 with respect to the horizontal plane Gh. The eye drop container A is fixed to the eye drop management device 1 by the band 2. Therefore, the positional relationship between the reference axis of the eye drop management device 1 and the vertical axis of the eye drop container A is fixed. Therefore, based on the inclination angle of the eye drop management device 1 with respect to the horizontal plane, it is possible to determine whether the eye drop container A is upward (i.e., close to an upright state) or downward (i.e., close to an inverted state). The eye drop detection unit 81 may determine that an operation of tilting to an inverted state has been performed when the eye drop management device 1 (eye drop container A) changes from an upward state to a downward state. Note that the attitude sensor 4b may be configured to output information indicating the orientation of the eye drop management device 1 (eye drop container A), such as upward / downward or upright state / inverted state, based on the inclination angle.

[0082] For example, the eye drop detection unit 81 can determine that an eye drop operation has been performed when an operation of moving the eye drop management device 1 and an operation of tilting to an inverted state are detected in this order within a predetermined time. In addition to the conditions of these operations, the eye drop detection unit 81 can also determine that an eye drop operation has been performed when an operation of a user pressing the band 2 by the pressure sensor 4a is detected when the eye drop management device 1 is in an inverted state.

[0083] The eye drop detection unit 81 may detect that the band 2 has been pressed by the user based on the pressure of the band 2 detected by the pressure sensor 4a. Alternatively, the pressure sensor 4a may be configured to output information indicating that the band 2 has been pressed based on the detected pressure of the band 2. For example, it is possible to determine whether the band 2 has been pressed by comparing the detected pressure value with a threshold value.

[0084] FIG. 11 is a graph showing an example of detecting an operation of pressing the band 2 by comparing a detected pressure value with a threshold value. In the graph of FIG. 11, the vertical axis represents the detected pressure value P, and the horizontal axis represents time t. The detected value P may be, for example, a resistance value or a voltage that changes according to the pressure in the pressure sensor 4a. In the example shown in FIG. 11, an operation of pressing (On) is detected at time t1 when the detected pressure value P exceeds the threshold value Th1, and then an operation of releasing (Off) is detected at time t2 when it falls below the threshold value Th1. The period Ton during which the detected value P is greater than the threshold value Th1 can be determined as the period during which the band 2 is being pressed. Note that the detection of the pressing operation by comparing the detected pressure value with the threshold value is not limited to the above example. For example, the pressing operation may be detected based on a comparison between the amount of change in pressure and the threshold value.

[0085] The threshold value used for detecting the operation of pressing the band 2 may be variable. For example, when the eye drop management device 1 starts detecting the user's operation, the threshold value may be updated according to the pressure at the start. Thereby, for example, even when the conditions of the pressure sensor 4a of the band change due to the band 2 being rewound around the eye drop container A or the like, an appropriate threshold value can be set. Also, the threshold value may be determined based on the eye drops or the characteristics of the user (age, gender, etc.).

[0086] The eye drop management system 10 may further include a history recording unit (not shown) that records data (for example, log data) indicating the history of the user's operations detected by the sensor 4 in a storage device. The storage device may be the storage device provided in the eye drop management device 1, or may be the storage device provided in the terminal 20 or other external devices (such as a server). When recording data indicating the history of operations in the storage device of an external device, the operation data indicating the operations detected by the sensor 4 is transmitted to the terminal 20 or other external devices via the communication unit 7 and recorded in the storage device in the external device. Note that the data indicating the history of operations may include information indicating the content of the operation and information indicating the time when the operation was performed.

[0087] Based on the determination result of the instillation determination unit 81 and the administration data, the notification control unit 82 determines notification information to be notified to the user or the administrator, and controls the timing of the notification. The administration data is data indicating the administration method of the eye drop. The administration data includes, for example, information indicating the time when instillation should be performed (instillation time). When it is determined that instillation has not been performed at the instillation time indicated by the administration data, the notification control unit 82 can notify the user or the administrator of notification information instructing instillation.

[0088] The administration data may include information indicating the eye drop, the eye to be instilled (either the right eye, the left eye, or both eyes), and the administration amount of the eye drop. In this case, the notification control unit 82 notifies the user or the administrator of notification information indicating the eye drop, the eye to be instilled, and the administration amount.

[0089] The control of the notification to the user or the administrator by the notification control unit 82 may be a process of supplying the notification information to the notification unit 5 of the instillation management device 1 to cause notification to the user. The notification unit 5 may include, for example, at least one of a speaker 5b or a vibrator 5c. The instillation management device 1 may output the notification information provided from the notification control unit 82 as sound from the speaker 5b. Further, the instillation management device 1 may vibrate the vibrator 5c at the timing when the notification information is supplied from the notification control unit 82.

[0090] Alternatively, the notification control unit 82 may supply the notification information to the terminal of the user or the administrator and cause the terminal to execute the notification process. The terminal of the user or the administrator may be predetermined as the supply destination of the notification information. Further, the terminal 20 in which the notification control unit 82 is implemented may execute the notification process for the user or the administrator.

[0091] The terminal 20 is composed of a computer having a processor and a memory. The terminal 20 may be, for example, a mobile terminal of the user or the administrator of the instillation management device 1, or may be a server. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the instillation determination unit 81 is in the instillation management device 1, and the notification control unit 82 is provided in a computer system outside the instillation management device 1.

[0092] The configuration of the eye drop management system 10 is not limited to the above. For example, both the eye drop determination unit 81 and the notification control unit 82 may be provided in the eye drop management device 1. In this case, the eye drop management system 10 is composed of only the eye drop management device 1. By the communication unit 7 of the eye drop management device 1 receiving the administration data, the notification control unit 82 of the eye drop management device 1 can control the notification using the administration data. Alternatively, both the eye drop determination unit 81 and the notification control unit 82 may be provided in the terminal 20.

[0093] The eye drop determination unit 81 and the notification control unit 82 can be configured by a computer or a circuit having a processor and a memory. A program for causing a computer to execute the processing of the eye drop determination unit 81 and the notification control unit 82 and a non-transitory recording medium recording such a program are also included in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0094] (Configuration example of the eye drop management device utilization system) FIG. 12 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration example of the eye drop management device utilization system in the present embodiment. The eye drop management device utilization system 30 shown in FIG. 12 can communicate with one or more eye drop management devices 1-A to 1-C. The eye drop management devices 1-A to 1-C can have, for example, the same configuration as the above-described eye drop management device 1, but are not limited to the above configuration. Hereinafter, when the eye drop management devices 1-A to 1-C are not particularly distinguished, they are referred to as the eye drop management device 1. The eye drop management device 1 includes a sensor 4, a notification unit 5, a communication unit 7, and a controller 8.

[0095] The eye drop management device utilization system 30 can be constructed, for example, in a user's or administrator's mobile terminal. For example, by installing a predetermined application program in the computer of the mobile terminal, the eye drop management device utilization system 30 can be implemented in the mobile terminal. An application program for realizing the eye drop management device utilization system 30 is also included in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0096] The eye drop management device utilization system 30 includes a target administration data reception unit 31, a target device identification data reception unit 32, a recording processing unit 33, a notification control unit 34, an operation acquisition unit 35, and a history recording unit 36.

[0097] The target administration data reception unit 31 receives the input of target administration data indicating the administration method of the eye drops of the target to be managed. The target administration data includes at least information indicating the target eye drops and information indicating the time (eye drop time) when the eye drops should be administered. The target administration data may further include the eye (right eye, left eye, or both eyes) to be instilled, the dosage, or the number of administrations, etc. The input of the target administration data may be a direct input of the target administration data or an input of information for acquiring the target administration data. Note that the input of the target administration data may be performed by a user or an administrator (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a user, etc.) or may be automatically performed by a computer.

[0098] The target administration data may be, for example, an administration method based on a doctor's prescription information. The target administration data reception unit 31 may receive the input of the prescription information as the target administration data. For example, in a medical institution, the prescription information input by a doctor into an electronic medical record or the like is supplied to the dispensing system of the pharmacy department. Or, in a pharmacy, a prescription form (characters or a pattern such as a barcode or a two-dimensional code) created by a doctor is read by a reading device and supplied to the dispensing system of the pharmacy. In such a case, the target administration data reception unit 31 may acquire the prescription information from the dispensing system as the target administration data. For example, a terminal on which the eye drop management device utilization system 30 is installed can be connected to the dispensing system by wire or wirelessly (e.g., Wifi (registered trademark)) to acquire the prescription information from the dispensing system.

[0099] In FIG. 12, as an example, a case where a plurality of eye drops X1, X2, X3 are simultaneously provided to a user at a pharmacy is illustrated. This is an example when there are a plurality of target eye drops to be managed. In this case, the target administration data reception unit 31 receives the input of the target administration data for each of the eye drops X1, X2, X3, which are a plurality of target eye drops.

[0100] The target device specific data reception unit 32 receives the input of target device specific data. The target device specific data uniquely identifies the eye drop management device (i.e., the target eye drop management device) to which the eye drop container of the target eye drop is attached. The target eye drop is the target eye drop indicated by the target administration data received by the target administration data reception unit 31. When there are a plurality of target eye drops as in this example, for each of the plurality of target eye drops (eye drops X1, X2, X3), the input of the target device specific data is received. The target device specific data reception unit 32 may present to the user or the like the eye drop management devices recorded as communicable eye drop management devices in the eye drop management device utilization system 30, and cause the user or the like to select the target eye drop management device. In this way, the user or the like can input the target device specific data by designating the eye drop management device to which the target eye drop is attached.

[0101] The recording processing unit 33 associates the target device specific data received by the target administration data reception unit 31 with the target administration data received by the target device specific data reception unit 32, and records it in the storage device 40. Thereby, the information indicating the administration method of the target eye drop and the information indicating the target eye drop management device to which the target eye drop is attached are linked. That is, the data indicating the correspondence between the administration method of the target eye drop and the target eye drop management device of the target eye drop is recorded in the storage device 40. Note that the recording processing unit 33 may be implemented as a part of the target administration data reception unit 31 or the target device specific data reception unit 32. When there are a plurality of target eye drops, the target device specific data and the target administration data are associated with each other for each of the plurality of target eye drops (eye drops X1, X2, X3).

[0102] The storage device 40 is a storage device 40 accessible by the eye drop management device utilization system 30. The storage device 40 is a memory or storage in which a computer can read and write data. The storage device 40 may be, for example, a storage device provided in the computer in which the eye drop management device utilization system 30 is implemented, or a storage device accessible by the computer via a network. The storage device 40 may be composed of a plurality of distributed storage devices.

[0103] The notification control unit 34 supplies notification information for instructing eye drops based on the administration method indicated by the target administration data to the target eye drop management device specified by the corresponding target device specification data. That is, the notification control unit 34 supplies notification information for instructing eye drops based on the administration method of the target eye drop to the target eye drop management device on which the target eye drop is mounted. This is made possible because the target administration data and the target device specification data are input and associated with each other.

[0104] For example, the notification control unit 34 supplies notification information for instructing eye drops to the target eye drop management device at a timing based on the time of eye drops of the target eye drop indicated by the target administration data. Thereby, the notification control unit 34 can cause the notification unit of the target eye drop management device to notify the user of the instruction to administer eye drops at a time corresponding to the time of eye drops indicated by the target administration data.

[0105] As in this example, when there are a plurality of target eye drops, the notification control unit 34 supplies, for each of the plurality of target eye drops (eye drops X1, X2, X3), notification information based on the target administration data to the target eye drop management device specified by the corresponding target device specification data.

[0106] The operation acquisition unit 35 acquires operation data indicating the operation of the user on the eye drop container A detected by the sensor 4 of the eye drop management device 1 from the eye drop management device 1. The operation data may be a value indicating a physical quantity detected by the sensor 4 (for example, angular velocity, angle, pressure, or distance, etc.), or may be data indicating an operation on the eye drop container determined from a value indicating such a physical quantity. Examples of the data indicating an operation on the eye drop container include, in addition to the data indicating the eye drop operation, a value indicating the posture of the eye drop container (eye drop management device 1) or its change, a value indicating an operation of pressing the eye drop container (band 2), or a value indicating the presence or absence of a lid of the eye drop container, etc. Note that the operation acquisition unit 35 may acquire device specification data for specifying the eye drop management device 1 that is the transmission source of the operation data together with the operation data.

[0107] The notification control unit 34 may supply notification information based on the operation data to the eye drop management device that acquired the operation data, that is, the eye drop management device that is the transmission source of the operation data. Thereby, it becomes possible to provide a notification according to the user's operation with respect to the eye drop management device 1. Further, the notification information based on this operation data may be supplied not only to the eye drop management device but also to the terminal of the user or the administrator. Thereby, it is possible to notify the user or the administrator from the terminal based on the operation data.

[0108] As an example of the notification based on the operation data, when the notification control unit 34 cannot acquire the operation data indicating the eye drop operation from the corresponding target eye drop management device even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the eye drop time indicated by the target administration data, the notification information of the alarm may be supplied to the target eye drop management device or the terminal of the user or the administrator.

[0109] In this way, based on the administration method of the target eye drop drug recorded in the storage device 40 and the operation data from the eye drop management device of the target eye drop drug, the notification regarding the eye drop of the target eye drop drug is controlled. This is made possible because the target administration data and the target device identification data are associated with each other for each target eye drop drug. That is, the notification control unit 34 can determine whether or not it has acquired the operation data indicating the eye drop operation from the target eye drop management device indicated by the target device identification data associated with the target administration data within a predetermined time from the eye drop time of the target eye drop drug indicated by the target administration data.

[0110] As another example, when the notification control unit 34 acquires operation data from another eye drop management device within a predetermined period including the time of eye drop indicated by the target administration data corresponding to a certain target eye drop management device, the notification control unit 34 may supply alarm notification information to the other eye drop management device. For example, when an operation such as moving another eye drop management device, pressing the band 2 of another eye drop management device, or removing the lid Ab of the eye drop container A attached to another eye drop management device is detected, an alarm is supplied to the other eye drop management device. The alarm may, for example, notify that the eye drop medicine of the other eye drop management device should not be dropped at that time. This alarm may be supplied to the user's terminal in addition to or instead of the other eye drop management device. In this case, an alarm for the user is notified from the user's terminal.

[0111] The history recording unit 36 records, as eye drop history data, information regarding the operation indicated by the operation data acquired from the target eye drop management device in association with the target administration data corresponding to the target eye drop management device in the storage device 40. The eye drop history data is data indicating the history of eye drops of the target eye drop medicine. For example, information indicating that the target eye drop medicine has been dropped and the time of dropping is accumulated as eye drop history data. Note that the eye drop history data may include the history of operations on the eye drop medicine container in addition to the eye drop operation. As the eye drop history data, for example, data indicating the orientation of the eye drop management device 1 (eye drop container A) and the history of the operation of pressing the band 2 may be recorded in the storage device 40. Further, the eye drop history data may include information indicating the user's operation and the time of the operation. In the storage device 40, the target administration data of the target eye drop medicine and the target device identification data are recorded in association with each other. Therefore, the history recording unit 36 can specify the target administration data corresponding to the target eye drop management device that is the transmission source of the acquired operation data.

[0112] In the example shown in FIG. 12, the controller 8 of the eye drop management device 1 has an operation mode control unit 83. The operation mode control unit 83 switches the operation mode of the electronic components of the eye drop management device 1. The switchable operation modes may include, for example, a power saving mode and a normal operation mode. The power saving mode has lower power consumption than the normal operation mode. The power saving mode may be an operation mode in which, for example, at least part of the operations of the notification unit 5, the sensor 4, and the communication unit 7 are stopped and the device enters a standby state.

[0113] The conditions for switching from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode may be, for example, the sensor 4 detecting a predetermined operation, or the communication unit 7 receiving predetermined data, etc. The conditions for switching from the normal operation mode to the power saving mode may be, for example, the state where the sensor 4 does not detect an operation continuing for a predetermined time, or the state where there is no data transmission or reception in the communication unit 7 continuing for a predetermined time, etc. Thus, the operation mode control unit 83 can switch the operation mode according to the operation state of the sensor 4 or the communication unit 7. Thereby, power consumption can be saved.

[0114] The notification control unit 34 can supply the eye drop management device 1 with information that triggers the switching of the operation mode in the eye drop management device 1. For example, the notification control unit 34 can supply the target eye drop management device with information that triggers the switching of the operation mode from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode at a time point a predetermined time before the eye drop time indicated by the target administration data. For example, when supplying notification information to the eye drop management device 1, the notification control unit 34 can supply the eye drop management device 1 with an instruction to switch the operation mode simultaneously with or prior to the supply of the notification information. Also, the notification control unit 34 may supply the eye drop management device 1 with an instruction to switch the operation mode when requesting or prior to requesting operation data from the eye drop management device 1. In these cases, for example, an instruction to switch from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode is supplied.

[0115] In the example shown in FIG. 12, the eye drop management device utilization system 30 further includes a communication failure notification unit 37. When the communication failure notification unit 37 detects a communication failure between the eye drop management device utilization system 30 and the target eye drop management device 1, it supplies notification information of the communication failure to the terminal of the user or the administrator. The eye drop management device utilization system 30 can monitor, for example, whether it is in a state where it can communicate with the eye drop management device by means of a beacon or periodic communication. Alternatively, when the notification control unit 34 attempts to start communication with the eye drop management device, it can determine whether communication with the eye drop management device is possible. Through such monitoring or determination, a communication failure with the eye drop management device is detected. When the communication failure notification unit 37 detects a communication failure, it supplies notification information indicating the same to the terminal of the user or the administrator. Notification information indicating a communication failure is notified to the user or the administrator from the terminal. The notification information may include information indicating the eye drop management device that has become communication - unable, or information indicating measures that can be taken to restore communication.

[0116] (Example of input reception processing) FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the reception process of the target administration data and the target device identification data. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of the screen transition in the process shown in FIG. 13. In the example shown in FIG. 13, the target administration data reception unit 31 receives an input of target administration data indicating the administration method of the eye drop to be managed from the user or the like (S1). The target administration data reception unit 31 displays, for example, a screen for receiving the input of the target administration data on the display.

[0117] The screens G1 to G3 shown in FIG. 14 are examples of screens for receiving input of target administration data. Screen G1 receives input of the eye drops to be managed. On screen G1, candidates for the target eye drops are displayed in a selectable manner. The displayed candidates may be, for example, eye drops pre-recorded in association with a user or the like (e.g., eye drops used by the user in the past), or eye drops retrieved from a database under conditions specified by the user or the like. Alternatively, the eye drops prescribed by a doctor may be displayed in a selectable manner. Prescription information indicating the eye drops prescribed by a doctor may be transferred from, for example, a dispensing system in which the prescription information is input, to the eye drop management device utilization system 30. In this case, when the user or the like selects the prescribed eye drops on screen G1, the eye drops based on the prescription information and the administration method thereof are input as target administration data.

[0118] Note that the input mode of the eye drops is not limited to this. For example, on screen G1, direct input of a character string indicating the target eye drops may be received, or input of data of the eye drops acquired by a camera or a reading device may be received. Also, on screen G1, an external appearance image of the eye drop container may be displayed for the target eye drops or candidates for the target eye drops specified by the user or the like. Alternatively, a voice reading out information on the target eye drops or its candidates may be output together with the display on screen G1. Thereby, the user or the like can compare and confirm the actual eye drops with the image or the voice.

[0119] Screen G2 receives input of the eye to which the eye drops are to be administered and the dosage. On screen G2, for each of the left eye and the right eye, input of the number of times of eye drops (e.g., the number of drops (the number of times of dripping)) is possible. Screen G3 receives input of the time (eye drop time) when the eye drops should be administered. The eye drop time is the date and time when the eye drops are scheduled to be administered. On screen G3, input of the eye drop time and the eye drop date is received. Screen G3 includes an input field for the eye drop time and a calendar for selecting the eye drop date. On screen G3, each day of the calendar is selectable. The input time on the selected day becomes the eye drop time.

[0120] Note that the eye drop instillation times of two or more different target eye drops may be set at the same time on the same day. In the input of the eye drop date and time such as on the screen G3, it may be possible to input two or more target eye drops simultaneously. Further, the target administration data reception unit 31 may receive a designation of the order of instillation for two or more target eye drops whose instillation times are set at the same date and time.

[0121] In S2 of FIG. 13, the target device identification data reception unit 32 receives the input of target device identification data. The screen G4 in FIG. 14 is an example of a screen for receiving the input of target device identification data. On the screen G4, the eye drop management devices recorded in the storage device 40 as devices with which the eye drop management device utilization system 30 can communicate are displayed in a selectable state. For example, the eye drop management device paired with the terminal on which the eye drop management device utilization system 30 is constructed may be displayed as a selection candidate on the screen G4. By a user or the like selecting the eye drop management device to which the target eye drop is attached on the screen G4, the target device identification data is input.

[0122] As shown in FIG. 12, when a plurality of target eye drops X1 to X3 are administered in the same period, for each target eye drop, the input reception processes of S1 and S2 in FIG. 13 are executed. At that time, the selection of the target eye drop management device may be restricted so that the target administration data of different target eye drops does not correspond to the same target device identification data. Note that it may be allowed that the same target device identification data is associated with two or more different target administration data for the same target eye drop.

[0123] The display on which the screen for receiving the input is displayed may be, for example, the display of a computer (for example, a mobile terminal) on which the eye drop management device utilization system 30 is constructed or the display of a computer with which the eye drop management device utilization system 30 can communicate.

[0124] In S3 of FIG. 13, the recording processing unit 33 associates the target administration data input in S1 with the target device identification data input in S2 and records them in the storage device 40. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the target administration data and the target device identification data recorded in the storage device 40. In the example of FIG. 15, in the correspondence table T1, the device ID that uniquely identifies the eye drop management device and the administration method ID that identifies the administration method are recorded in association with each other. In the eye drop time table T2, the administration method ID and the data indicating the eye drop time are recorded in association with each other. Also, in the example shown in FIG. 15, for each eye drop time, the data indicating the order of eye drops is recorded in association. This is information indicating the order of eye drops for other eye drop medications when there are other eye drop medications to be dropped at the same eye drop time. If there are no other eye drop medications to be dropped simultaneously, this order data may be omitted. In the administration method table T3, the administration method ID is associated with the eye drop medication, the number of times of eye drops in the left eye, the number of times of eye drops in the right eye, the number of times of administration per day, and the administration form indicating the administration time and recorded.

[0125] Note that the data for associating and recording the target administration data and the target device identification data is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 15. For example, the table configuration may be different from that in FIG. 15, and the data format may not be in table format. Also, instead of associating the device ID with the administration method ID, the device ID may be associated with the eye drop medication (eye drop medication ID), and the eye drop medication may be associated with the administration method ID.

[0126] (Example of Notification Control Processing) FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of the notification control process of the eye drop management device utilization system 30. The process shown in FIG. 16 starts when the eye drop time indicated by the target administration data arrives (S11). As the target administration data, for example, data indicating the eye drop time of each of a plurality of target eye drops X1 to X3 is recorded in the storage device 40. When the eye drop time of any one of the target eye drops X1 to X3 (here, as an example, X1 and X2) arrives, a notification process for instructing eye drops for the target eye drops X1 and X2 is started. For example, the notification control unit 34 can determine whether the eye drop time of each of the target eye drops X1 to X3 has arrived by referring to the eye drop time table T2 in FIG. 15.

[0127] In S12 of FIG. 16, the notification control unit 34 identifies the target eye drop management device 1-A of the nth (initial value n = 1) target eye drop X1 among the plurality of target eye drops X1 and X2 for which the eye drop time has arrived. The processing order of the plurality of target eye drops X1 and X2 can be determined, for example, by the order recorded corresponding to the eye drop time in the eye drop time table T2 in FIG. 15. The notification control unit 34 can determine the device ID of the target eye drop management device by, for example, obtaining the administration method ID corresponding to the arrived eye drop time in the eye drop time table T2 in FIG. 15 and obtaining the device ID corresponding to the obtained administration method ID from the correspondence table T1.

[0128] In S13 of FIG. 16, the notification control unit 34 supplies (transmits) notification information for instructing eye drops to the target eye drop management device 1-A with the device ID determined in S12. In S13, the notification control unit 34 may transmit an instruction to switch the operation mode of the target eye drop management device 1-A from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode before or simultaneously with the transmission of the notification information. The controller 8 of the target eye drop management device 1-A that has received the supply of the notification information switches to the normal operation mode if the operation mode is the power saving mode, and causes the notification unit 5 to notify the supplied notification information. For example, the controller 8 outputs a voice instructing eye drops from the speaker 5b and vibrates the vibrator 5c.

[0129] Also, in S13, the notification control unit 34 supplies notification information for instructing eye drops to the terminal of the user or the administrator. For example, the notification control unit 34 causes the terminal of the user or the administrator to output the notification information for instructing eye drops in voice or image. The terminal of the user may be, for example, the mobile terminal of the user in which the eye drop management device utilization system 30 is constructed. The terminal 50 of the administrator is, for example, a terminal capable of data communication with the eye drop management device utilization system 30 via a network. Information indicating the terminal as the supply destination of the notification information is pre-recorded in the storage device 40. The notification control unit 34 supplies the notification information to the pre-recorded terminal.

[0130] In S13, the notification information for instructing eye drops may include information indicating the eye to be instilled and the dosage. For example, the notification control unit 34 can acquire the number of times of left eye instillation and the number of times of right eye instillation associated with the administration method ID corresponding to the target eye drop management device 1-A from the administration method table T3 in FIG. 15 and include them in the notification information. In this case, the target eye drop management device 1-A can output, for example, a voice guiding the eye to be instilled and the dosage from the speaker 5b. Also, the terminal of the user or the administrator can display information indicating the eye to be instilled and the dosage on the display.

[0131] The notification control unit 34 waits for reception of operation data from all the communicable eye drop management devices 1-A to 1-C. When operation data is received from any of the eye drop management devices 1-A to 1-C (YES in S14), it is determined whether the transmission source of the operation data is the target eye drop management device 1-A specified in S12 (S15). If YES in S15 and the operation data indicates an eye drop operation (YES in S16), the notification control unit 34 counts the number of drops as one time and determines whether the counted number of drops has reached the number of times indicated in the target administration data (S17). If the number of drops has not reached the number of times indicated in the target administration data (NO in S17), the process of S19 is executed. If the number of drops has reached the number of times indicated in the target administration data (YES in S17), the history recording unit 36 records history data indicating the eye drop operation (S21). If there is a next eye drop medicine (YES in S22), the process returns to the process of S12. If there is no next eye drop medicine (NO in S22), the process ends (S23).

[0132] In S21, the history recording unit 36 records, for example, in the table T4 shown in FIG. 15, the operation indicated by the operation data and the time when the operation was detected, in association with the administration method ID. The administration method ID is the administration method ID corresponding to the device ID of the eye drop management device that is the transmission source of the operation data.

[0133] When the answer in S15 is NO, that is, when the eye drop management device that is the transmission source of the acquired operation data is not the target eye drop management device 1-A specified in S12, the notification control unit 34 supplies the notification information of an alarm warning that an operation on the incorrect eye drop management device is being performed to the eye drop management device that is the transmission source and the user's terminal (S18). Thereby, the eye drop management device in which the operation was detected can notify the user that the operating eye drop management device is incorrect. Also, the user's terminal can notify the user of a similar warning.

[0134] In S19, the notification control unit 34 determines whether or not the elapsed time from the start of the process in S11 (that is, the time of eye drop indicated by the target administration data) has reached a predetermined allowable time. Until the elapsed time from the start of the process reaches the allowable time, the notification control unit 34 waits for operation data from the eye drop management devices 1-A to 1-C. When the elapsed time reaches the allowable time (YES in S16), the notification control unit 34 supplies the notification information of an alarm indicating that no eye drop operation has been performed to the target eye drop management device 1-A and terminals such as the user (S20). Then the process ends (S21).

[0135] The process shown in FIG. 16 above is executed every time the time of eye drop indicated by the target administration data of the target eye drop medicine arrives. Even when a plurality of target eye drop medicines X1 to X3 are administered at different times of eye drop in the same period, by executing the above process at the time of eye drop of each of the target eye drop medicines X1 to X3, it is possible to supply notification information for instructing eye drop to an appropriate eye drop management device among the plurality of target eye drop management devices 1-A to 1-C. Thereby, appropriate eye drop management corresponding to a plurality of various eye drop medicines becomes possible.

[0136] FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of screen transition in the process shown in FIG. 16. FIG. 17 is, for example, an example of a screen displayed on a user's terminal. In the example of FIG. 17, on screen G11, the target eye drop to be instilled, the eye to be instilled, and the number of instillations (number of drops) are displayed. On screen G11, among the target eye drops X1 and X2, the instillation of X1 is instructed. In this state, when an operation to move the eye drop management device 1-B for the target eye drop X2 is detected, an alarm screen shown in screen G12 is displayed. On screen G12, the current target eye drop X1 to be instilled is displayed. The display of screen G12 ends by the passage of time or a confirmation input by the user, and returns to the display of screen G11.

[0137] When an eye drop operation of the target eye drop X1 is detected by the target eye drop management device 1-A during the display of screen G11, as shown in screen G13, it is displayed that one eye drop (instillation) has been performed. Note that one eye drop (instillation) operation is determined to be one instillation operation, for example, when it is detected that the pressure of the band 2 rises and then falls by a predetermined amount or more while the eye drop management device 1 is in an inverted state. Further, when another eye drop (instillation) of the target eye drop X1 is detected, as shown in screen G14, it indicates that the instillation of the target eye drop X1 has ended, and further, a screen instructing the instillation of the target eye drop X2 as the next instillation target is displayed. When an eye drop operation of the target eye drop X2 is detected by the target eye drop management device 1-B during the display of screen G14, as shown in screen G15, it is displayed that the instillation has ended. In this way, the notification control unit can control the notification information to the user based on the operations detected by the target eye drop management devices 1-A and 1-B for the target eye drops X1 and X2 and the administration method of the target administration data.

[0138] (Modification example) FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram showing a modified example of the configuration of the eye drop management device utilization system 30. In the example of FIG. 18, the eye drop management device utilization system 30 includes a target administration data reception unit 31, a target device identification data reception unit 32, a notification control unit 34, a printing instruction unit 41, a first identification information acquisition unit 42, a second identification information acquisition unit 43, and a mounted eye drop determination unit 44. Among these, the configurations and processes of the target administration data reception unit 31, the target device identification data reception unit 32, and the notification control unit 34 can be the same as those described above. The eye drop management device utilization system 30 can communicate with a printing machine 51 and a reading device 52.

[0139] The printing instruction unit 41 outputs an instruction to print a label on which information about the target eye drop is described to the printing machine 51. The printing instruction unit 41 instructs the printing machine 51 to print a label on which information about the target eye drop is described in an area of a size that can be attached to the target eye drop management device. The information about the target eye drop to be printed on the label may be the information about the target eye drop indicated by the input target administration data. The printing instruction unit 41 generates, for example, label data including information about the target eye drop indicated by the target administration data received by the target administration data reception unit 31. The printing instruction unit 41 supplies the generated label data to the printing machine to cause the printing machine to print a label including information about the target eye drop. Identification information for identifying the target eye drop may be included in the label. Further, in addition to the characters indicating the target eye drop, a barcode including the identification information of the target eye drop may be included in the label.

[0140] The label Lb1 printed by the printing machine 51 is attached to the label attachment unit of the target eye drop management device 1. The eye drop management device to which the label Lb1 is attached is the target eye drop management device 1 specified by the target device identification data associated with the target administration data of the target eye drop printed on the label. The printing instruction unit 41 may include in the label information indicating the target eye drop management device specified by the target device identification data received by the target device identification data reception unit 32. Thereby, since the target eye drop management device to which the label itself should be attached is displayed, it is less likely for the user or the like to make a mistake in the eye drop management device to which the label is attached.

[0141] The first identification information acquisition unit 42 acquires the identification information of the target eye drops displayed on the eye drop container A of the target eye drops. The second identification information acquisition unit 43 acquires the identification information of the target eye drops displayed on the label Lb1 attached to the target eye drop management device 1. The first identification information acquisition unit 42 and the second identification information acquisition unit 43 acquire the identification information read by the reading device 52. The reading device 52 is not particularly limited, and for example, it may be a barcode reader or a camera.

[0142] The first identification information acquisition unit 42 can, for example, instruct the user or administrator to operate the reading device 52 to read the identification information (such as a barcode or characters) displayed on the eye drop container A through the display or speaker of the terminal. By operating according to this instruction by the user or the like, the identification information displayed on the eye drop container A is read by the reading device 52. The read identification information is supplied to the first identification information acquisition unit 42. Similarly, the second identification information acquisition unit 43 can also instruct the user or administrator to operate the reading device 52 to read the identification information (such as a barcode or characters) of the label of the eye drop management device 1. By operating according to this instruction by the user or the like, the identification information displayed on the label of the eye drop management device 1 is read by the reading device 52. The read identification information is supplied to the second identification information acquisition unit 43.

[0143] The mounted eye drop determination unit 44 determines whether the eye drop container A mounted on the target eye drop management device 1 is correct by comparing the identification information acquired by the first identification information acquisition unit 42 and the identification information acquired by the second identification information acquisition unit 43. For example, the mounted eye drop determination unit 44 may determine that the mounted eye drop container A is correct when the above two pieces of identification information are the identification information of the same eye drops. The mounted eye drop determination unit 44 may output the determination result to the user or the like. For example, the determination result is notified to the user or the like from the terminal of the user or the like. This makes it difficult for the user or the like to attach the wrong eye drop container A to the target eye drop management device 1.

[0144] The above-described eye drop management device utilization system 30 is configured by one or more computers having a processor and a memory. The functions of the target administration data reception unit 31, the target device identification data reception unit 32, the recording processing unit 33, the notification control unit 34, the operation acquisition unit 35, the history recording unit 36, the print instruction unit 41, the first identification information acquisition unit 42, the second identification information acquisition unit 43, and the mounted eye drop determination unit 44 can be realized by the processor executing a predetermined program. Such a program and a non-transitory recording medium recording the program are also included in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0145] (Other Modification Examples) The configuration of the eye drop management device utilization system 30 is not limited to the examples shown in FIGS. 12 and 18. In FIG. 12 or FIG. 18, some of the functional units included in the eye drop management device utilization system 30 may be omitted. For example, in the eye drop management device utilization system 30 shown in FIG. 1, at least one of the recording processing unit 33, the operation acquisition unit 35, the history recording unit 36, and the communication failure notification unit 37 may be omitted. In the eye drop management device utilization system 30 shown in FIG. 18, the print instruction unit 41 may be omitted, or the first identification information acquisition unit 42, the second identification information acquisition unit 43, and the mounted eye drop determination unit 44 may be omitted.

[0146] Note that the above embodiments are examples of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these examples. Also, the configurations and processing functions described in the above embodiments can be arbitrarily selected and combined as appropriate.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0147] 1: Eye drop management device, 2: Band, 3: Housing, 4: Sensor, 5: Notification unit, 6: Protrusion, 7: Communication unit, 8: Controller, 10: Eye drop management system, 20: Eye drop management device utilization system

Claims

1. A eye drop management device to which an eye drop container is attached, a communication process for communicating with an eye drop management device including a sensor for detecting a user's operation on the eye drop container and a notification unit for notifying the user of information, A target administration data reception process for receiving an input of target administration data indicating an administration method of the target eye drop, including at least information indicating the target eye drop to be managed and information indicating the time when eye drops should be administered, A target device identification data reception process for presenting a device recorded as a communicable eye drop management device and receiving an input of target device identification data for uniquely identifying the target eye drop management device, which is an eye drop management device to which the eye drop container indicated by the target administration data is attached, from the user or the administrator, A recording process for associating the target administration data input in the target administration data reception process with the target device identification data input in the target device identification data reception process and recording them in a storage device, A computer-executed eye drop management device utilization program including a notification control process for supplying notification information instructing eye drops based on the administration method indicated by the target administration data to the target eye drop management device specified by the target device identification data corresponding to the target administration data.

2. The eye drop management device utilization program according to claim 1, further causing a computer to execute an operation acquisition process for acquiring operation data indicating the user's operation on the eye drop container detected by the sensor of the eye drop management device, The notification control process includes a process of supplying notification information based on the operation data to the eye drop management device that acquired the operation data, or to the terminal of the user or the administrator. An eye drop management device utilization program.

3. The eye drop management device utilization program according to claim 2, The notification control process is an eye drop management device utilization program including a process of supplying alarm notification information to the target eye drop management device, or the terminal of the user or administrator when operation data indicating an eye drop operation cannot be obtained from the target eye drop management device even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the time of eye drop indicated by the target administration data.

4. The eye drop management device utilization program according to claim 2 or 3, further The notification control process is an eye drop management device utilization program including a process of supplying alarm notification information to the other eye drop management device or the terminal of the user when operation data indicating an operation on the other eye drop management device is obtained from another eye drop management device different from the target eye drop management device within a predetermined period including the time of eye drop indicated by the target administration data corresponding to the target eye drop management device.

5. The eye drop management device utilization program according to claim 2 or 3, further A history recording process of causing a computer to record information on an operation indicated by the operation data acquired from the target eye drop management device in association with the target administration data corresponding to the target eye drop management device as eye drop history data indicating a history of eye drops of the target eye drop medicine in a storage device.

6. The eye drop management device utilization program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further A printing instruction process of causing a computer to output an instruction to print a label on which information on the target eye drop medicine is described and which is attached to the target eye drop management device to a printing machine.

7. The eye drop management device utilization program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further A first identification information acquisition process of acquiring identification information of the target eye drop medicine displayed on the eye drop medicine container of the target eye drop medicine, and A second identification information acquisition process of acquiring identification information of the target eye drop medicine displayed on the label attached to the target eye drop management device. A eye drop management device utilization program that causes a computer to execute a wearing eye drop determination process for determining whether an eye drop container attached to the target eye drop management device is correct by comparing the identification information acquired in the first identification information acquisition process with the identification information acquired in the second identification information acquisition process.

8. The eye drop management device utilization program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: A eye drop management device utilization program that causes a computer to execute a communication failure notification process for outputting an alarm to the terminal of the user or administrator when a communication failure with the target eye drop management device is detected.

9. The eye drop management device utilization program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The notification control process includes a process of supplying information that serves as a trigger for the target eye drop management device to switch the operation mode from the power saving mode to the normal operation mode at a time point a predetermined time before the eye drop time indicated by the target administration data to the target eye drop management device. A eye drop management device utilization program.

10. The eye drop management device utilization program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The target administration data includes left-right information indicating whether the eye to be eyedropped is the left eye, the right eye, or both eyes, The notification control process includes a process of supplying notification information for instructing eye drops, together with the left-right information, to the target eye drop management device or the terminal of the user or administrator according to the administration method of the target eye drop indicated by the target administration data. A eye drop management device utilization program.

11. The eye drop management device utilization program according to any one of claims 1 to 3, In the target administration data reception process, an input of target administration data indicating the administration method of eye drops for each of a plurality of target eye drops to be managed is received. In the target device identification data reception process, for each of the plurality of target eye drops, a plurality of devices recorded as communicable eye drop management devices are presented, and by receiving a selection of a target eye drop device from the user or administrator, an input of target device identification data that uniquely identifies each of the plurality of target eye drop management devices to which the eye drop containers of each of the plurality of target eye drops are attached is received. In the recording process, a program that associates the administration methods of the plurality of target eye drops of the target administration data input in the target administration data reception process with the plurality of target eye drop management devices of the target device identification data input in the target device identification data reception process, and records them in a storage device.

Images