Connected Pill Box
AssigneeImagiroo LLC
InventorsLily A. Born, Simon F. Greene, Lisa Ghisolf, Greg Baugues, Joseph Born
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A smart pillbox with a basic weighing scale that provides an easy, accurate and robust mechanism to monitor the removal of pills using weight, without modifying the behavior of patients. When connected to a small, inexpensive computing device and clock/timing device, it can easily record the removal of pills. With the addition of a light, such as an LED, or a display, it can provide a visual notification as a reminder to take pills, as well as when pills were last taken. With the addition of a loudspeaker or other sound-generator, the notification can be audible with a variety of notification sounds or alarms that designate time pills should be taken.
Claims20
A pillbox apparatus that determines pill filling and consumption by using an internal scale to measure weight of each individual pill comprising:
- a base station containing a plurality of cavities constructed to hold pill containers, said base station being in communication with a processor;
- a scale in the base station configured to measure weight of a pill container inserted in one of the cavities and report said weight to the processor;
- said processor executing stored instructions configured to sense by weight removal or addition of a single pill to a pill container in any of the plurality of cavities;
- said processor also executing stored instructions that notify a user or healthcare provider that a particular pill has been added to or removed from a pill container in a particular cavity.
A smart pillbox comprising, in combination:
- a base frame containing a fixed or removable receptacle, the receptacle containing at least one cavity constructed to receive and hold a pill bottle, the base frame being in communication with a processor;
- a scale configured to weigh a pill bottle inserted into the cavity and sensitive enough to sense addition or removal of a single pill from the inserted pill bottle;
- and
- wherein, the base station communicates the weight of the inserted pill bottle to the processor;
- the processor executing stored computer instructions to determine from the weight of the inserted pill bottle a time and date when any pill is added to or removed;
- the processor also executing stored computer instructions to notify a user or heathcare provider when a pill is added to or removed from the inserted pill bottle.
A smart pillbox comprising:
- a frame that includes a plurality of drawers, each drawer constructed to hold a plurality of pills, the frame having an upright vertical configuration for dispensing pills from the drawers and a flat horizontal configuration for load pills into the drawers;
- a first scale attached to the frame constructed to weigh the frame in the upright vertical configuration;
- a second scale attached to the frame constructed to weigh the frame in the flat horizontal configuration;
- each of the first and second scales being sensitive enough to sense addition or removal of a single pill to a drawer;
- a processor in communication with the frame, the processor receiving weight measures from the first and second scales;
- the processor executing stored instructions using the weight measure from the first scale in the upright vertical configuration to sense dispensing of a single pill from a drawer, the processor notifying a user or healthcare provider of said dispensing of a pill;
- the processor executing stored instructions using the weight measure from the second scale in the flat horizontal configuration to sense addition of a single pill to a drawer, the processor using said addition of a single pill to a drawer for calibration or for augmenting a count of pills in the smart pillbox.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.