IP Library Granted Patent US 10,964,421
Granted Patent B2
US 10,964,421 · App. 14/920,056 · Granted Mar 30, 2021

Method and apparatus for delivering a substance to an individual

Inventor: John A. Lane (Skaneateles Falls, NY)
Assignee: Welch Allyn, Inc.
G16H20/17A61B5/01A61B5/021A61B5/024A61B5/4839A61B5/4848A61B5/6814A61B5/6846A61B5/68335A61M37/0015G16C20/30A61M2037/0023A61M2205/33A61M2205/502A61M2230/005
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,964,421
App. No.
14/920,056
Granted
Mar 30, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, detecting, by a substance delivery system coupled to a body part of an individual, an input signal not associated with a biological measurement of the individual, determining from the input signal, by the substance delivery system, whether delivering a dosage of a substance stored in the substance delivery system is needed and conforms to a dosage policy, and responsive to determining from the input signal that delivery of the dosage of the substance is needed and conforms to the dosage policy, initiating, by the substance delivery system, delivery of the dosage of the substance to the body part of the individual. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims (43)

1. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

detecting an input signal by a sensing device coupled to a body part of an individual, wherein the input signal is indicative of at least one of a request by the individual or a first determination that an environmental condition measurement sensed by the sensing device has been detected;

determining whether to deliver to the body part of the individual a dosage of a substance for treating motion sickness, the substance stored in a microfluidic system of the sensing device based on:

the at least one of the request or the first determination; and

a second determination indicative of whether delivering the dosage satisfies a time requirement of a dosage policy, the time requirement comprising a minimum amount of time required between consecutive deliveries of the dosage, wherein the minimum amount of time is based at least in part on an amount of the substance that will lessen an effectiveness of the substance when delivered to the individual; and

responsive to determining whether to deliver the dosage:

initiating, by the microfluidic system, delivery of the dosage of the substance to the body part of the individual;

obtaining, by the sensing device, sensing data associated with a biological measurement of the individual; and

determining from the biological measurement whether the dosage has improved a biological condition of the individual adjustable by the dosage.

2. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the input signal is generated based on the request, the request being received at a user interface of the sensing device responsive to a user input being applied to the user interface.

3. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the user input corresponds to an indication by the individual to deliver the dosage.

4. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the environmental condition measurement is generated by an environmental sensor of the sensing device.

5. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 4 , wherein the environmental sensor comprises a motion sensor that generates the environmental condition measurement.

6. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 5 , wherein the determining from the input signal whether to deliver to the body part of the individual the dosage comprises:

detecting from the environmental condition measurement a sequence of movements; and

determining whether the sequence of movements will cause the individual to experience motion sickness.

7. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the determining that the dosage satisfies the dosage policy comprises determining that the dosage does not exceed a dosage threshold.

8. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the dosage threshold comprises a maximum number of deliveries of the dosage over a time interval.

9. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise generating a message responsive to determining that delivery of the dosage does not satisfy the dosage policy.

10. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the message is presented at a user interface of the sensing device or a device communicatively coupled to the sensing device.

11. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise reducing an amount of the substance at a subsequent delivery of the dosage responsive to determining that the biological condition has improved.

12. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise increasing an amount of the substance at a subsequent delivery of the dosage responsive to determining that the biological condition has not improved.

13. A method, comprising:

detecting, by a substance delivery system coupled to a body part of an individual, an input signal indicative of a first determination that an environmental condition measurement has been sensed by a sensing device of the substance delivery system;

determining whether to deliver to the body part of the individual a dosage of a substance for treating motion sickness, the substance stored in the substance delivery system based on:

the first determination; and

a second determination indicative of whether delivering the dosage satisfies a time requirement of a dosage policy, the time requirement comprising a minimum amount of time required between consecutive deliveries of the dosage, wherein the minimum amount of time is based at least in part on an amount of the substance that will lessen an effectiveness of the substance when delivered to the individual; and

responsive to determining whether to deliver the dosage, initiating, by the substance delivery system, delivery of the dosage of the substance to the body part of the individual according to the dosage policy.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the input signal is generated responsive to detecting user input applied to a user interface of the substance delivery system or is generated by a motion sensor of the substance delivery system that facilitates detection of movements that cause the individual to experience motion sickness.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising adjusting, by the substance delivery system, the dosage responsive to receiving user input indicating whether a parameter associated with a biological condition of the individual has been reduced from a first level to a second level by the dosage.

16. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the process, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

receiving a signal from a device coupled to a body part of an individual, wherein the signal is indicative of a first determination that an environmental condition measurement has been sensed by a sensing device;

determining whether to deliver to the body part of the individual a dosage of a substance for treating motion sickness, the substance stored in the substance delivery system based on:

the first determination; and

a second determination indicative of whether delivering the dosage exceeds a time requirement associated with a dosage threshold, the time requirement comprising a minimum amount of time required between consecutive deliveries of the dosage, wherein the minimum amount of time is based at least in part on an amount of the substance that will lessen an effectiveness of the substance when delivered to the individual; and

responsive to determining whether to deliver the dosage, directing the device to initiate delivery of the dosage of the substance to the body part of the individual.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the signal is generated responsive to detecting user input applied to a user interface of the device.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the environmental condition measurement is indicative of motion experienced by the individual, or particulates in air breathable by the individual.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the environmental condition measurement is indicative of a location of the individual and an indication, by motion detected by the device, that the individual is traveling in an automobile,

wherein directing the device to initiate delivery of the dosage is based at least in part on the location of the individual and the indication that the individual is traveling in the automobile.

20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the minimum amount of time is further determined based on an amount of the substance associated with an overdose condition, or an expected duration of relief that the dosage will provide the individual.

Assignments (5)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST AT REEL/FRAME 050260/0644 Recorded Dec 14, 2021
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
To: BREATHE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; HILL-ROM SERVICES, INC.; ALLEN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.; WELCH ALLYN, INC.; HILL-ROM, INC.; VOALTE, INC.; BARDY DIAGNOSTICS, INC.; HILL-ROM HOLDINGS, INC.
Reel/Frame 058517/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 4, 2019
From: HILL-ROM HOLDINGS, INC.; HILL-ROM, INC.; HILL-ROM SERVICES, INC.; ALLEN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.; ANODYNE MEDICAL DEVICE, INC.; VOALTE, INC.; WELCH ALLYN, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 050260/0644 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 3, 2019
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
To: HILL-ROM SERVICES, INC.; ALLEN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.; WELCH ALLYN, INC.; HILL-ROM COMPANY, INC.; HILL-ROM, INC.; ANODYNE MEDICAL DEVICE, INC.; MORTARA INSTRUMENT, INC.; MORTARA INSTRUMENT SERVICES, INC.; VOALTE, INC.
Reel/Frame 050254/0513 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 26, 2016
From: HILL-ROM SERVICES, INC.; ASPEN SURGICAL PRODUCTS, INC.; ALLEN MEDICAL SYSTEMS, INC.; WELCH ALLYN, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040145/0445 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 14, 2015
From: LANE, JOHN A.
To: WELCH ALLYN, INC.
Reel/Frame 037285/0747 →