Companion Activity Sensor System

A method for determining the amount of usage of a healthcare monitor or apparatus comprising:

• providing at least one primary sensor,
• providing a companion sensor,
• providing a micro-controller;
• wherein the primary sensor, the companion sensor, and the micro-controller comprise a compliance monitoring system;
• and
• wherein the a compliance monitoring system samples measurements at a default nominal sampling rate via a primary sensor, modulates the measurement sampling rate of all primary sensors via the companion sensor, and collects measurement data from the primary and companion sensors via the micro-controller.

A method for determining the amount of usage of a mandibular repositioning device comprising:

• providing at least one primary sensor,
• providing a companion sensor,
• providing a micro-controller;
• wherein the primary sensor, the companion sensor, and the micro-controller comprise a compliance monitoring system;
• wherein the compliance monitoring system is disposed on a mandibular repositioning device;
• wherein the compliance monitoring system samples measurements at a default nominal sampling rate via a primary sensor, modulates the sampling rate of all primary sensors via the companion sensor, and collects measurement data from the primary and companion sensors via the micro-controller;
• wherein at least one of the primary sensors is selected from the group consisting of a thermocouple, a pressure sensor, an accelerometer, an electro-chemical sensor, a gyroscope, a ph meter, a pulse oximeter, a bio-chemical sensor, a humidity sensor, a microphone, a vibration sensor, and any combination thereof;
• wherein the companion sensor is selected from the group consisting of a magnet with magnetic relay, a piezoelectric sensor, a mechanical switch, an electromagnetic field generator with antenna, an orientation tilt sensor, and any combination thereof;
• wherein the collected measurement data is analyzed by a data processing technique performed by the compliance monitoring system, by a separate data processing device, or by a combination of the two;
• wherein the data processing technique is at least one data processing technique selected from the group consisting of:
• comparing each data point to a figure of merit, using spectral analysis techniques such as the Fourier transform or periodogram to compare power within a frequency band against a figure or merit, taking the derivative of the sampled data and comparing it to a figure of merit, and calculating the time-constants of the transition and comparing them with a pre-determined level;
• wherein the output of the data processing technique comprises mandibular repositioning device usage data;
• wherein transmission of any data is done by at least one method selected from the group consisting of active RF, RFID, a wire, an infrared link, an optical link, and any combination thereof;
• and
• wherein the mandibular repositioning device usage data is transmitted such that it may be viewed by a physician, a patient, or a combination thereof.