INHALER WITH ONE OR MORE VISUAL SENSORS
Techniques disclosed herein provide for increased accuracy of information regarding the administration of medicine via an inhaler by obtaining data from a variety of data sources, including a visual sensor of the inhaler. Data can then be fused to make a determination of the effectiveness of how the medicine was administered, and an indication of the determined effectiveness can be relayed to another device.
1 . A method of operating an inhaler with a visual sensor, the method comprising:
obtaining, at the inhaler, information from the visual sensor indicative of the presence of one or more facial features;
obtaining orientation information indicative of an orientation of the inhaler;
receiving an indication that a drug has been administered by the inhaler;
making a determination of an effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler based, at least in part, on:
the information from the visual sensor,
the orientation information, and
the indication that the drug has been administered; and
sending an indication of the determined effectiveness from the inhaler to another device.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the information regarding the presence of one or more facial features further comprises information regarding orientation, size, proximity, or location of the one or more facial features, or any combination thereof.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising sending, from the inhaler to the other device, an indication of a time at which the drug was administered.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the orientation information is obtained from an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and/or the visual sensor.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein making the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler is further based on information from a microphone.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the information from the microphone is indicative of timing of inhalation, duration of inhalation, or both.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein making the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler is further based on information received from a light sensor.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein making the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler is further based on information received from a sensor configured to measure resistance, conductance, capacitance, or any combination thereof.
9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, in response to obtaining the information from a visual sensor regarding the presence of one or more facial features, releasing a locking mechanism of the inhaler to enable administration of the drug.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the information indicative of the presence of the one or more facial features comprises information indicative of a facial recognition event.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein making the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler is performed by a processor that awakens from a low-power mode based, at least in part, on the obtaining the information from the visual sensor indicative of the presence of the one or more facial features.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the determined effectiveness is based on a numerical scale.
13 . An inhaler comprising:
a visual sensor configured to visually detect the presence of one or more facial features of a person using the inhaler;
an orientation sensor configured to determine an orientation of the inhaler;
a wireless communication interface; and
a processing unit communicatively coupled with the visual sensor, the orientation sensor, and the wireless communication interface and configured to:
obtain, from the visual sensor, an indication of the presence of the one or more facial features;
obtain, from the orientation sensor, orientation information indicative of the orientation of the inhaler;
receive an indication that a drug has been administered by the inhaler;
make a determination of an effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler based, at least in part, on:
the information from the visual sensor,
the orientation information, and
the indication that the drug has been administered; and
send an indication of the determined effectiveness, via the wireless communication interface, from the inhaler to another device.
14 . The inhaler of claim 13 , wherein the visual sensor is configured to provide information regarding the presence of one or more facial features that comprises information regarding orientation, size, proximity, or location of the one or more facial features, or any combination thereof.
15 . The inhaler of claim 13 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to send, from the inhaler to the other device, an indication of a time at which the drug was administered.
16 . The inhaler of claim 13 , wherein the orientation sensor comprises an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and/or the visual sensor.
17 . The inhaler of claim 13 , further comprising a microphone, wherein the processing unit is further configured to make the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler further based on information from the microphone.
18 . The inhaler of claim 17 , wherein the information from the microphone is indicative of timing of inhalation, duration of inhalation, or both.
19 . The inhaler of claim 13 , further comprising a light sensor, wherein the processing unit is further configured to make the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler further based on information received from the light sensor.
20 . The inhaler of claim 13 , further comprising a skin-detection sensor configured to measure resistance, conductance, capacitance, or any combination thereof, wherein the processing unit is further configured to make the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler further based on information received from a sensor.
21 . The inhaler of claim 13 , further comprising a locking mechanism, where in the processing unit is further configured to, in response to obtaining the information from a visual sensor regarding the presence of one or more facial features, release the locking mechanism to enable administration of the drug.
22 . The inhaler of claim 13 , wherein the processing unit is configured to awaken from a low-power mode based, at least in part, on the obtaining the information from the visual sensor indicative of the presence of the one or more facial features.
23 . The inhaler of claim 13 , wherein the processing unit is configured to determine the indication of the determined effectiveness based on a numerical scale.
24 . A drug-administering apparatus comprising:
means for obtaining information from visual-sensing means indicative of the presence of one or more facial features;
means for obtaining orientation information indicative of an orientation of the drug-administering apparatus;
means for receiving an indication that a drug has been administered by the drug-administering apparatus;
means for making a determination of an effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the drug-administering apparatus based, at least in part, on:
the information from the visual-sensing means,
the orientation information, and
the indication that the drug has been administered; and
means for wirelessly sending an indication of the determined effectiveness from the drug-administering apparatus to a separate device.
25 . The drug-administering apparatus of claim 24 , further comprising means for sending, from the drug-administering apparatus to the separate device, an indication of a time at which the drug was administered.
26 . The drug-administering apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the means for making the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the administering apparatus comprise means for further basing the determination on information received from means for detecting sound.
27 . The drug-administering apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the means for making the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the administering apparatus further comprise means for further basing the determination on information received from means for detecting light.
28 . The drug-administering apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the means for making the determination of the effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the administering apparatus further comprise means for further basing the determination on information received from means for detecting skin.
29 . The drug-administering apparatus of claim 24 , further comprising, means for, in response to obtaining the information from a visual sensor regarding the presence of one or more facial features, releasing a locking mechanism of the drug-administering apparatus to enable administration of the drug.
30 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions embedded thereon for operating an inhaler with a visual sensor, the instructions comprising computer code for:
obtaining information from the visual sensor indicative of the presence of one or more facial features;
obtaining orientation information indicative of an orientation of the inhaler;
receiving an indication that a drug has been administered by the inhaler;
making a determination of an effectiveness of how the drug was administered with the inhaler based, at least in part, on:
the information from the visual sensor,
the orientation information, and
the indication that the drug has been administered; and
sending an indication of the determined effectiveness from the inhaler to another device.