Supplemental Device with Mechanical Dose Switch for Insulin Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
The integration of an RFID unit with a value sensor in pre-filled disposable injection devices increases costs, and existing supplementary devices for monitoring insulin injection do not effectively reduce user errors or handle dose tracking efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A supplemental device with electromechanical switches and a processor arrangement that detects dose units dialed into an injection device, using optical character recognition and power-saving modes, attached to an injection device to monitor and track insulin doses, reducing user errors and handling steps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an RFID unit with value sensor is integrated into pre-filled disposable injection devices, then wireless monitoring of medicament parameters is enabled, but device costs significantly increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the value sensor from the disposable injection device and places it in a reusable monitoring device instead. The reusable device contains the sensor that can be attached to multiple injection devices, eliminating the need to integrate expensive sensors into each single-use device while maintaining monitoring capability
Solution Approach 2:
The reusable monitoring device is designed to work with multiple different pre-filled disposable injection devices. The same monitoring device can be attached to various injection devices, making the sensor system universal rather than device-specific, thereby reducing overall system cost
2Loss of information
If manual dose tracking and data entry are required, then data can be recorded, but user errors increase and handling steps multiply
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic data collection and tracking without requiring user intervention. The sensor automatically measures medicament parameters, the processor calculates delivered doses, and the system maintains logs without user input, eliminating manual data entry errors while simplifying user interaction to merely attaching the device
3Measurement precision
If continuous monitoring is performed, then accurate dose tracking is achieved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring device performs measurements periodically rather than continuously. The processor calculates delivered doses at specific intervals based on sensor readings, maintaining accurate dose tracking while allowing the system to enter low-power states between measurements, thereby reducing overall energy consumption
Data Source
Figure 1a
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Figure 2b~2c
AI summary
A supplemental device for attachment to an injection device, the supplemental device comprising: an electromechanical switch arrangement (110) having an open state and a closed state, the electromechanical switch arrangmenet (110) comprising a protrusion (118) configured to contact a surface (116, 117) of the injection device when a dose of zero units is dialled into the injection device, wherein the state of the switch arrangement (110) is configured to change when a dose dialled into the attached injection device is decreased from one unit to zero units; and a processor arrangement configured to: detect one or more changes in the state of the electromechanical switch arrangement (110); and determine from the one or more state changes that a dose of zero units is dialled into the injection device.