Adhesive Electronic Pill Bottle Tag for Medication Compliance

The system is segmented into two parts: a simple, low-cost electronic tag attached to the pill bottle, and a separate smartphone application that performs the complex monitoring and analysis functions. This segmentation allows the bottle tag to remain simple while achieving reliable compliance monitoring through the combined system.

The smartphone acts as an intermediary between the simple electronic tag and the user/caregiver. The tag only needs to perform basic functions (detect bottle opening, store minimal data), while the smartphone application handles the complex monitoring, notification, and reporting tasks.

The electronic tag is designed to be universal and work with any standard pill bottle without requiring transfer to custom dispensers. The tag attaches to the existing bottle and leverages its existing information (labels, instructions), making the system both accurate and easy to use.

Instead of requiring physical transfer of pills to a new system, the electronic tag creates a digital copy/representation of the pill bottle's state and usage. The tag captures and transmits information about the bottle's contents and opening events, preserving all original medication information while enabling compliance tracking.

The electronic tag uses periodic sensing and event-triggered communication rather than continuous operation. The optical sensor periodically checks for bottle opening events, and wireless communication is activated only when events occur or at scheduled intervals, maintaining accurate compliance data while minimizing energy consumption.

The system uses passive event detection where the act of opening the bottle itself triggers the monitoring response. The optical sensor detects the opening event automatically, and the tag only activates its communication functions when triggered by actual usage events, rather than continuously consuming power.