Networked containers designed to promote compliance with a medication regimen
Introduced here are containers designed to promote compliance with regimens for administering the medications stored therein. These containers can facilitate the conveyance of information related to a regimen through the use of a non-written medium. A container may include one or more display elements configured to emit/reflect light to indicate when medication stored in the container should be administered. An example of a display element is a light-emitting diode (LED). Emittance/reflectance of the light by the display element(s) may be governed by a different clock signal than the clock signal used to determine whether doses of medication are due to be administered.
1 . A method comprising:
examining a dosing schedule that is associated with a medication stored in a network-connected container;
in response to a determination that a dose of the medication is due to be administered,
causing light to be emitted by a first illuminant through a first aperture that is formed in the network-connected container, so as to create a first illuminated symbol whose shape corresponds to the first aperture;
in response to a determination that the dose of the medication is not due to be administered,
causing light to be emitted by a second illuminant through a second aperture that is formed in the network-connected container, so as to create a second illuminated symbol whose shape corresponds to the second aperture;
recording data related to an administration of the dose of the medication;
transmitting the data to a destination across a wireless network; and
receiving, from the destination, a reference clock signal to be used to determine when a next dose of the medication is due to be administered.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network-connected container has a durable housing that includes:
a structural body having a cavity defined therein for storing the medication, and
a lid designed to enclose the cavity when secured to the structural body.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first and second apertures are formed in the structural body.
4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first and second apertures are formed in the lid.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dosing schedule is stored in a memory that is accessible to the network-connected container via a network.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network-connected container comprises a clock module that is configured to output a clock signal.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the determination is made by comparing the clock signal to the dosing schedule.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first illuminant is configured to emit light having a first color, and wherein the second illuminant is configured to emit light having a second color different than the first color.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein when created, the shape of the first illuminated symbol is representative of an approval to proceed with administration of the medication, and wherein when created, the shape of the second illuminated symbol is representative of a disapproval to proceed with administration of the medication.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second illuminants periodically emit light at different frequencies.
11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating second data regarding adherence to a regimen that requires periodic administrations of the medication, and
recording the second data regarding the adherence to the regimen.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network-connected container further comprises a third illuminant arranged beneath a third aperture that has a different shape than the first and second apertures, and wherein the method further comprises:
in response to a determination that at least some of the data has been successfully transmitted to the destination across the wireless network,
causing light to be emitted by the third illuminant, so as to create a third illuminated symbol whose shape corresponds to the third aperture.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said transmitting is performed in accordance with a Bluetooth protocol.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said transmitting is performed in accordance with a Wi-Fi protocol.
15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network-connected container includes a clock module that outputs a clock signal that is used to determine when the next dose of the medication is due to be administered, and wherein the method further comprises:
synchronizing the clock signal with the reference clock signal upon receipt of the reference clock signal.
16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the destination is another network-connected container.