Smart Injection Pen Dosing With Automated Adherence Tracking

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing systems lack an automated and reliable way to track and communicate medication doses, particularly for injection-based therapies, leading to potential missed or incorrect doses in chronic conditions like diabetes, and conventional dose calculators require manual estimation which is cumbersome for users.

Innovation Solution

An intelligent medicine administering system comprising an injection pen device in wireless communication with a companion device, which includes a dose setting mechanism, dispensing mechanism, sensor unit, and electronics unit to track and recommend doses based on health and contextual data, and a software application to autonomously calculate and display recommended doses.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If patients manually track and manage their medication schedules, then they maintain some level of medication intake, but they experience medication errors, missed doses, and inconsistent adherence due to human factors

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemedication adherence reliabilityVSAvoidmanual tracking complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables automatic medication tracking where the smart device detects medication intake events and automatically logs them without requiring patient input. The system self-monitors adherence patterns, sends automated reminders, and provides feedback to both patients and providers, eliminating the need for manual tracking while improving reliability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The system implements continuous feedback loops where medication adherence data is automatically collected, analyzed, and communicated back to patients through the mobile application and to providers through the web portal. This feedback mechanism reinforces adherence behavior and allows for real-time intervention when issues arise.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

2Measurement precision

If comprehensive patient data is collected and analyzed to provide personalized recommendations, then dosing accuracy and personalization improve, but data privacy risks and system complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedosing precisionVSAvoiddata management complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system architecture is segmented into distinct modules: data collection layer (mobile app), data processing layer (analytics engine), and delivery layer (smart device and web portal). This segmentation allows comprehensive data collection for precise dosing recommendations while managing complexity through modular design, where each segment handles specific functions independently.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The system employs intermediaries including encrypted data transmission protocols, secure cloud-based data storage, and algorithmic processing layers that mediate between raw patient data and dosing recommendations. These intermediaries protect data privacy while enabling precise analysis, and they simplify the interface between data collection and clinical decision-making.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If real-time monitoring and automated alerts are implemented, then medication adherence improves, but device complexity and power consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveadherence monitoring reliabilityVSAvoiddevice power consumption
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The system uses periodic monitoring intervals rather than continuous monitoring, where the smart device checks medication status at scheduled times (e.g., at prescribed dosing intervals). Automated alerts are sent periodically based on adherence patterns rather than continuously. This periodic approach maintains reliable monitoring while significantly reducing power consumption compared to continuous operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #19Periodic action

Data Source

PatentEP3694583B1Intelligent medication delivery systems and methods for dose recommendation and management
Publication Date: 2026.05.06 MEDTRONIC MINIMED INC
  • EP3694583B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1B
  • EP3694583B1 patent drawingFigure 1C
  • EP3694583B1 patent drawingFigure 1D

AI summary

Systems, devices, and techniques are disclosed for administering and tracking medicine to patients and providing health management capabilities for patients and caregivers. In some aspects, a method includes receiving one or more analyte values associated with a health condition of the patient user; receiving contextual data associated with the patient user obtained by the mobile computing device, where the obtained contextual data includes information associated with a meal; determining a medicine metric value associated with an amount of medicine active in the body of the patient user; autonomously calculating a dose of the medicine without input from the user based at least on the one or more analyte values, the medicine metric value, and the information associated with a meal; and continuously displaying the calculated dose of the medicine.