# US 2025/0152091 A1 · System and method for vibration-based medication interaction recognition

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- Number: US 2025/0152091 A1
- Document ID: US20250152091A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 18/941,135
- Filed: 2024-11-08
- Published: 2025-05-15
- Earliest claimed: 2023-11-10
- Assignees: The Regents of the University of California
- Applicants: The Regents of the University of California
- Inventors: Shijia Pan; Yue Zhang; Dong Yoon Lee; Yihong Li; Alyssa M. Weakley; Hao-Chuan Wang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20250152091A1

## CPC

- A61B 5/4833: {Assessment of subject's compliance to treatment}
- G16H 20/10: relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
- G16H 20/13: delivered from dispensers
- A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D)
- G16H: HEALTHCARE INFORMATICS, i.e. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE HANDLING OR PROCESSING OF MEDICAL OR HEALTHCARE DATA

## Abstract

A system and method for monitoring medication intake uses vibration signals generated by a kinetic augmentation attachment. The attachment includes a base coupled to a medication container, a spring, and a weight, which produces distinct vibration signatures when the container is placed on a surface. A vibration sensor detects these signals, and a computing device processes them to extract features of the attachment and identify the medication container. The system does not require batteries, enabling long-term, maintenance-free monitoring. The method includes processing vibration signals using frequency analysis and machine learning to recognize different medication containers based on their kinetic signatures.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system for monitoring medication intake based on interaction with a medication container, the system comprising:
a kinetic augmentation attachment configured to be coupled to the medication container, the attachment including:
a base for coupling to the medication container;
a spring coupled to the base at a first end; and
a weight coupled to a second end of the spring, wherein the kinetic augmentation attachment generates a vibration signal when the medication container is placed on a surface;
at least one vibration sensor configured to detect the vibration signal generated by the placement of the medication container on the surface; and
a computing device in communication with the vibration sensor, the computing device configured to:
receive the vibration signal from the vibration sensor;
process the vibration signal to extract features indicative of the kinetic augmentation attachment; and
identify the medication container coupled to the kinetic augmentation attachment based on the extracted features.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the weight is formed from one of metal, rubber, or thermoplastic polymer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the spring is one of a coil spring, an elastomeric rod, or a leaf spring.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to apply a Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) to the received vibration signal to generate a spectrogram for analysis.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The system of claim 4, wherein the computing device is further configured to:
extract a frequency band from the spectrogram;
sum energy across the extracted frequency band; and
use a peak detection algorithm to identify points of interest in the signal.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to access a database storing kinetic signatures corresponding to a plurality of kinetic augmentation attachments and a medication container corresponding to at least one kinetic augmentation attachment of the plurality of kinetic augmentation attachments.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The system of claim 6, wherein the computing device is further configured to compare the extracted features of the detected vibration signal to the stored kinetic signatures in the database to match the vibration signal with a specific medication container.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the computing device is further configured to execute a machine learning algorithm to identify the kinetic augmentation attachment based on the extracted features.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The system of claim 8, wherein the machine learning algorithm is a support vector machine.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the vibration sensor is a piezoelectric sensor, an accelerometer, or a MEMS vibration sensor.

### Claim 11

A method for identifying a medication container, the method comprising:
detecting a vibration signal using a vibration sensor, the vibration signal generated by placing a medication container on a surface, the medication container having a kinetic augmentation attachment including:
a base for coupling to the medication container;
a spring coupled to the base at a first end; and
a weight coupled to a second end of the spring, wherein the kinetic augmentation attachment generates a vibration signal when the medication container is placed on a surface;
processing the vibration signal to extract signal features indicative of the kinetic augmentation attachment;
identifying the medication container coupled to the kinetic augmentation attachment based on the detected vibration signal; and
outputting the identified medication container to a user.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the weight is formed from metal, rubber, or thermoplastic polymer.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the spring is a coil spring, an elastomeric rod, or a leaf spring.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, further comprising:
applying a Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) to the vibration signal to generate a spectrogram for analysis.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, further comprising:
extracting a frequency band from the spectrogram;
summing energy across the extracted frequency band; and
identifying points of interest in the signal using a peak detection algorithm.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, further comprising:
accessing a database storing kinetic signatures corresponding to a plurality of medication containers and corresponding kinetic augmentation attachments.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The method of claim 16, further comprising:
comparing the extracted signal features of the detected vibration signal to the stored kinetic signatures in the database to match the vibration signal with a specific medication container.

### Claim 18 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, further comprising:
using a machine learning algorithm to identify the kinetic augmentation attachment based on the extracted signal features.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein the machine learning algorithm is a support vector machine.

### Claim 20 (depends on 11)

The method of claim 11, wherein the vibration sensor is one of piezoelectric sensors, accelerometers, or MEMS vibration sensors.