Method and system for determining information related to a drug reservoir

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9814846-B2
Application number	US-201113814492-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2011
Priority date	Aug 26, 2010
Publication date	Nov 14, 2017
Grant date	Nov 14, 2017

Abstract

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for detecting information related to a drug reservoir. According to one example disclosed herein, a method includes a detector feature determining an electrical property related to a coded material for a drug reservoir, wherein the coded material comprises at least one circuit. The at least one circuit may be printed onto the drug reservoir. The method further includes determining information related to the drug reservoir based at least on the determined electrical property.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of determining information related to a drug reservoir, the method comprising:
providing a medical delivery device, the device comprising
a drug reservoir holder operable to receive a drug reservoir,
a detector, and
the drug reservoir,
the detector determining an electrical property related to a coded material for the drug reservoir, wherein the coded material comprises at least one circuit, and, based at least on the determined electrical property, determining information related to the drug reservoir, wherein, when the drug reservoir is inserted in the drug delivery device, the method further comprises:
controlling dose selection based on the identified drug reservoir, wherein controlling dose selection based on the identified drug reservoir comprises at least one of preventing dose selection when the identified drug reservoir is not intended for use with the drug delivery device, and setting a maximum dose or setting a minimum dose when the identified drug reservoir is intended for use with the drug delivery device, and
controlling dispensing of the drug based on the identified drug reservoir, wherein controlling dispensing of the drug based on the identified drug reservoir comprises preventing dispensing of the drug when the identified drug reservoir is not intended for use with the drug delivery device and, controlling at least one of an adjustable dispense speed of the device or an adjustable dispense force of the device when the identified drug reservoir is intended for use with the drug delivery device, wherein controlling the at least one of the adjustable dispense speed or the adjustable dispense force comprises selecting, based on a medicament in the identified drug reservoir, at least one of a desired dispense speed or a desired dispense force.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one component of the at least one circuit is printed onto the drug reservoir.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a second electrical property of the at least one circuit, and, based on the second property, determining information related to the drug reservoir.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the detector feature comprises an oscillator, and wherein the determined electrical property comprises at least one of a resonant frequency of the at least one circuit and an attenuation of the at least one circuit.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one circuit comprises a low-pass filter or a high-pass filter, and wherein the determined electrical property comprises at least one of a frequency passed and a frequency blocked.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the detector comprises one or more electrical connectors for communicating with the coded material, wherein the electrical connector is a contact or a contactless electrical connector.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the information related to the drug reservoir is information selected from the group consisting of drug type, drug concentration, a manufacturing date of the reservoir, an expiration date of the drug, and a storage condition of the drug.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of determining information related to the drug reservoir is performed as a user attempts to load the drug reservoir in a drug delivery device, and wherein the method further comprises:
based on the determined information, identifying the drug reservoir and/or, based on the determined information, determining that the drug reservoir is not intended for use with the drug delivery device.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising displaying an indication that the drug reservoir is not intended for use with the drug delivery device.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising preventing insertion of the drug reservoir into the drug delivery device, wherein preventing insertion of the drug reservoir comprises activating an electronic latch that prevents insertion of the drug reservoir.

11. The method according to claim 8 , wherein, when the drug reservoir is inserted in the drug delivery device, the method further comprises:
controlling dose selection based on the identified drug reservoir, wherein controlling dose selection based on the identified drug reservoir comprises controlling the dosing frequency.

12. A medical delivery device comprising:
a drug reservoir holder operable to receive a drug reservoir;
a detector configured to be operable (i) to determine an electrical property related to a coded material for the drug reservoir, wherein the coded material comprises at least one circuit and, (ii) based at least on the determined electrical property, to determine information related to the drug reservoir,
wherein the detector comprises a processor and data storage comprising instructions executable by the processor, wherein, when a user attempts to load the drug reservoir into the drug delivery device, the instructions are further executable by the processor to, based on the determined information, identify the drug reservoir, determine whether the drug reservoir is intended for use with the drug delivery device, and control dose selection based on the identified drug reservoir, wherein controlling dose selection comprises (i) preventing dose selection when the identified drug reservoir is not intended for use with the drug delivery device and (ii) controlling at least one of an adjustable dispense speed of the device or an adjustable dispense force of the device and setting a maximum dose or a minimum dose when the identified drug reservoir is intended for use with the drug delivery device, wherein controlling the at least one of the adjustable dispense speed or the adjustable dispense force comprises selecting, based on a medicament in the identified drug reservoir, at least one of a desired dispense speed or a desired dispense force.

13. The medical delivery device of claim 12 , further comprising:
a display configured to display at least a portion of the information related to the drug reservoir.

14. The medical delivery device according to claim 12 , wherein the detector comprises an electrical connector for communicating with the coded material, and wherein the electrical connector is a contact or a contactless electrical connector.

15. The medical delivery device according to claim 12 ,
wherein the instructions are further executable by the processor to one or more of:
display an indication that the drug reservoir is not intended for use with the drug delivery device, and
prevent insertion of the drug reservoir into the drug delivery device.

16. The medical delivery device of claim 12 , wherein at least one component of the at least one circuit is printed onto the drug reservoir.

17. The medical delivery device of claim 16 , wherein the detector comprises an oscillator, and wherein the determined electrical property comprises at least one of a resonant frequency of the at least one circuit and an attenuation of the at least one circuit.

18. The medical delivery device of claim 16 , wherein the at least one circuit comprises a low-pass filter or a high-pass filter, and wherein the determined electrical property comprises at least one of a frequency passed or blocked.

Assignees

• Day Shane Alistair
• Yates Barry
• Avery Richard James Vincent
• Sanofi Aventis Deutschland

Inventors

• Day Shane Alistair
• Yates Barry
• Avery Richard James Vincent

Classifications

• A61M2205/60

  with identification means · CPC title

• G06F19/3462

  Physics · mapped topic

• A61M5/5086 Primary

  for indicating if defective, used, tampered with or unsterile · CPC title

• G16H40/60 Primary

  for the operation of medical equipment or devices · CPC title

• G16H20/13

  delivered from dispensers · CPC title