# US 2023/0263232 A1 · Electronic nicotine delivery device assessment system and method of use thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2023/0263232 A1 - Document ID: US20230263232A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 18/005,624 - Filed: 2021-07-27 - Published: 2023-08-24 - Earliest claimed: 2020-07-29 - Assignees: Virginia Commonwealth University; Pennington Biomedical Research Institute; East Carolina University - Applicants: Virginia Commonwealth University; Pennington Biomedical Research Institute; East Carolina University - Inventors: Bernard FUEMMELER; Thomas EISSENBERG; Corby MARTIN; Eric SOULE - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20230263232A1 ## CPC - A24F 40/50: Control or monitoring - G16H 20/13: delivered from dispensers - A24F 40/60: Devices with integrated user interfaces - A24F 40/65: Devices with integrated communication means, e.g. wireless communication means - G16H 10/20: for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires - G16H 15/00: ICT specially adapted for medical reports, e.g. generation or transmission thereof - G16H 40/63: for local operation - G16H 40/67: for remote operation - A24F 40/00: Electrically operated smoking devices; Component parts thereof; Manufacture thereof; Maintenance or testing thereof; Charging means specially adapted therefor - A24F 47/00: Smokers' requisites not otherwise provided for - A61B 5/0022: {Monitoring a patient using a global network, e.g. telephone networks, internet} - A61B 5/4845: {Toxicology, e.g. by detection of alcohol, drug or toxic products (A61B5/4848 takes precedence)} - A61M 11/04: operated by the vapour pressure of the liquid to be sprayed or atomised {(air-humidification, e.g. "room humidifiers" F24F6/00)} - A61M 15/06: Inhaling appliances shaped like cigars, cigarettes or pipes - A61M 2205/3379: Masses, volumes, levels of fluids in reservoirs, flow rates - A61M 2205/3553: remote, e.g. between patient's home and doctor's office - A61M 2205/50: with microprocessors or computers - A24F: SMOKERS' REQUISITES; MATCH BOXES; SIMULATED SMOKING DEVICES (inhaling appliances for medical purposes, shaped like cigars, cigarettes or pipes A61M15/06) - G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} ## Abstract Provided are systems and methods of identifying the functional characteristics and operational settings of any electronic inhalants or apparatuses that are designed to provide nicotine vapors to a user. The system includes a mobile device having a built-in camera to receive images of a nicotine delivery device, a system of remote backend servers with at least one image database for identifying the nicotine delivery device, and at least one processor for calculating an amount of nicotine delivered by the nicotine delivery device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method of determining an amount of delivered active agent from an electronic vaporizer, comprising: receiving one or more inputs including at least one image of the electronic vaporizer from a camera on a mobile device; transmitting the at least one image to a server or system of servers, wherein the server or system of servers comprises a memory having an image database comprising i) a plurality of images associated with a plurality of electronic vaporizers and ii) device information associated with each of the plurality of electronic vaporizers; identifying the electronic vaporizer from a match with at least one image of a plurality of the images in the image database, wherein the identifying step produces an identified electronic vaporizer; and using at least a portion of the device information for the identified electronic vaporizer to compute an amount of active agent delivered by the identified electronic vaporizer by using one or more processors. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the device information is selected from the group consisting of type of vaporizer, voltage, heater resistance, power, type of liquid, maximum refillable amount of liquid, maximum concentration of liquid, and combinations thereof. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic vaporizer is an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) device. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more inputs further include inputs selected from the group consisting of a text message, a voice recording, a video, a user interface, a data file and combinations thereof. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a first image of a level of liquid prior to consumption by a user and a second image of a remaining level of liquid after consumption by the user; determining a volume of active agent delivered to the user based on a difference in liquid levels between the first image and second image, wherein the using step uses the at least a portion of the device information in combination with the volume of active agent determined in the determining step. ### Claim 6 A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions embodied in the computer readable medium that when executed by a processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps comprising: receiving one or more inputs including at least one image of the electronic vaporizer from a camera on a mobile device; transmitting the at least one image to a server or system of servers, wherein the server or system of servers comprises a memory having an image database comprising i) a plurality of images associated with a plurality of electronic vaporizers and ii) device information associated with each of the plurality of electronic vaporizers; identifying the electronic vaporizer from a match with at least one image of a plurality of the images in the image database, wherein the identifying step produces an identified electronic vaporizer; and using at least a portion of the device information for the identified electronic vaporizer to compute an amount of active agent delivered by the identified electronic vaporizer by using one or more processors. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the device information is selected from the group consisting of type of device, voltage, heater resistance, power, type of nicotine, maximum refillable amount of liquid nicotine, maximum concentration of liquid nicotine, and combinations thereof. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the electronic vaporizer is an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) device. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the one or more inputs further include inputs selected from the consisting of a text message, a voice recording, a video, a user interface, a data file and combinations thereof. ### Claim 10 (depends on 6) The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein the computer executable instructions further comprise steps of: receiving a first image of a level of liquid prior to consumption by a user and a second image of a remaining level of liquid after consumption by the user; determining a volume of active agent delivered to the user based on a difference in liquid levels between the first image and second image, wherein the using step uses the at least a portion of the device information in combination with the volume of active agent determined in the determining step. ### Claim 11 A system for determining an amount of delivered active agent from an assessing an electronic vaporizer, comprising: a remote server or system of remote servers in communication with a mobile device configured to capture at least one image of the electronic vaporizer, wherein the remote server or system of remote servers is operatively coupled to one or more processors and a memory having an image database comprising i) a plurality of images associated with a plurality of electronic vaporizers and ii) device information associated with each of the plurality of electronic vaporizers and wherein the remote server or system of remote servers is configured to: receive the at least one image of the electronic vaporizer; identify the electronic vaporizer from a match with at least one image of a plurality of images in the image database to produce an identified electronic vaporizer; and use at least a portion of the device information for the identified electronic vaporizer to compute an amount of active agent delivered by the identified electronic vaporizer by using the one or more processors. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the remote server or system of remote servers is further configured to receive a first image and a second image, wherein the first image includes a level of liquid to be consumed by the user and the second image includes a level of liquid after a partial or complete liquid consumption by the user; determine a volume of active agent delivered to the user based on a difference in liquid levels between the first image and second image; and use the at least a portion of the device information in combination with the volume of active agent determined to compute an amount of active agent delivered by the identified electronic vaporizer by using the one or more processors. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the device information is selected from the group consisting of type of vaporizer, voltage, heater resistance, power, type of liquid, maximum refillable amount of liquid, maximum concentration of liquid, and combinations thereof. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the electronic vaporizer is an electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) device. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The system of claim 14, wherein the remote server or system of remote servers is further configured to analyze the volume of nicotine consumed by the user over a fixed time period for determining an estimate of nicotine consumption metric. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the remote server or system of remote servers is further configured to receive one or more inputs from a user of the mobile device describing the electronic vaporizer. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more inputs are a text message, a voice recording, a video, a user interface, a data file or any combination thereof. ### Claim 18 (depends on 11) The system of claim 11, wherein the remote server or system of remote servers is further configured to transmit the at least a portion of the device information to the mobile device via a user interface, a text message, a social networking message, a phone call, an automated voice message, a display, or any combination thereof.