Techniques to reduce risk of occlusions in drug delivery systems
Disclosed are techniques to establish a modified pump rate that mitigates the effects of a pump occlusion and enables a recommended dosage of insulin to be output by a pump mechanism over the course of a control cycle. In an example, the pump rate may be reduced by adding a calculated time interval between application of actuation commands to extend the amount of time over which insulin may be output by the pump mechanism.
1. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodied with programming code executable by a processor, and the processor when executing the programming code is operable to:
receive a first control instruction from a controller to deliver a first dosage of a liquid drug by a pump mechanism of a delivery device;
determine a first number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug;
determine a remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug unable to be delivered based upon the first number of pump mechanism pulses;
output a first actuation command to actuate the pump mechanism to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug minus the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug;
receive a second control instruction to deliver a second dosage of the liquid drug from the pump mechanism;
determine a second number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug plus at least a portion of the second dosage; and
output a second actuation command to actuate the pump mechanism to deliver the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug plus the at least a portion of the second dosage.
2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the processor, when executing the programming code is further operable to:
determine a second number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the second dosage of the liquid drug;
determine a remainder of the second dosage of the liquid drug unable to be delivered based upon the second number of pump mechanism pulses; and
add the remainder of the second dosage of the liquid drug to a future dosage to be delivered by the pump mechanism.
3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the processor, when executing the programming code is further operable to:
determine an undelivered remainder of one or more dosages of the liquid drug during a past time period; and
cause the determined underdelivered remainder to be delivered in a future time period.
4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug is based upon a resolution of the pump mechanism, and the resolution comprises a fixed amount of liquid drug caused to be output by one pump mechanism pulse.
5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 4 , wherein the resolution further comprises a predetermined period of time to deliver the fixed amount of liquid drug.
6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the delivery device comprises a housing and the controller is contained within the housing.
7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the controller is a personal diabetes manager, a smartphone, or a smartwatch remote from the delivery device.
8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the first control instruction is received during a first time period representing a first control cycle.
9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the second control instruction is received during a second time period representing a second control cycle.
10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the first control cycle and the second control cycle are of equal duration.
11. A drug delivery device, comprising:
a reservoir operable to hold a liquid drug;
a cannula coupled to the reservoir via a fluid delivery path and operable to deliver the liquid drug to a user;
a pump mechanism coupled to the reservoir and operable to deliver the liquid drug from the reservoir via the fluid delivery path and through the cannula;
a memory operable to store programming code, a delivery control application, and data;
a controller communicatively coupled to the pump mechanism and the memory, and operable to execute the programming code and the delivery control application; and
a communication device operable to wirelessly communicate with an external device and communicatively coupled to the controller, wherein:
the controller, when executing the delivery control application, is operable to:
receive a first control instruction from a controller to deliver a first dosage of a liquid drug by a pump mechanism of a delivery device;
determine a first number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug;
determine a remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug unable to be delivered based upon the first number of pump mechanism pulses;
output a first actuation command to actuate the pump mechanism to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug minus the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug;
receive a second control instruction to deliver a second dosage of the liquid drug from the pump mechanism;
determine a second number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug plus at least a portion of the second dosage; and
output a second actuation command to actuate the pump mechanism to deliver the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug plus the at least a portion of the second dosage.
12. The drug delivery device of claim 11 , wherein the processor, when executing the programming code is further operable to:
determine a second number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the second dosage of the liquid drug;
determine a remainder of the second dosage of the liquid drug unable to be delivered based upon the second number of pump mechanism pulses; and
add the remainder of the second dosage of the liquid drug to a future dosage to be delivered by the pump mechanism.
13. The drug delivery device of claim 11 , wherein the processor, when executing the programming code is further operable to:
determine an undelivered remainder of one or more dosages of the liquid drug during a past time period; and
cause the determined underdelivered remainder to be delivered in a future time period.
14. The drug delivery device of claim 11 , wherein the first number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug is based upon a resolution of the pump mechanism, and the resolution comprises a fixed amount of liquid drug caused to be output by one pump mechanism pulse.
15. The drug delivery device of claim 14 , wherein the resolution further comprises a predetermined period of time to deliver the fixed amount of liquid drug.
16. The drug delivery device of claim 11 , wherein the delivery device comprises a housing and the controller is contained within the housing.
17. The drug delivery device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is a personal diabetes manager, a smartphone, or a smartwatch remote from the delivery device.
18. The drug delivery device of claim 11 , wherein the first control instruction is received during a first time period representing a first control cycle.
19. The drug delivery device of claim 18 , wherein the second control instruction is received during a second time period representing a second control cycle.
20. The drug delivery device of claim 19 , wherein the first control cycle and the second control cycle are of equal duration.