System and method for controlling inhaler dosage
A system and method for measuring the effectiveness of a dose from an inhaler on a user. The inhaler includes a drug container and a dosing mechanism coupled to the drug container to aerate a dose from the drug container. The dosing mechanism provides the aerated dose to the user. A sensor interface is in communication with a physiological sensor. The physiological sensor is attached to a user to sense a physiological response to the dose. Physiological data is sent to the sensor interface. A controller is coupled to the sensor interface to collect the sensed physiological data from the user corresponding to the time that the aerated dose is delivered to the user. The effectiveness of the dose may be determined from the collected data. The dose amount or frequency may be changed or the drug may be changed based on the collected data.
1 . An inhaler comprising:
an actuator to hold a drug container;
a dosing mechanism operable to aerate a dose from the drug container, the dosing mechanism providing the aerated dose to a user, the aerated dose configured to stimulate a physiological response of deepening a breath shape and slowing a breath rate of the user;
a sensor interface configured to be in communication with a physiological sensor, the physiological sensor configured to be attached to a user to sense physiological data from the user at a first base sampling rate, sense a physiological response to the dose, and send physiological data to the sensor interface; and
a controller coupled to the sensor interface to increase the sample rate of the physiological sensor from the first base sampling rate to a second sampling rate for a predetermined period of time to collect the sensed physiological data from the user corresponding to the predetermined period of time after a time that the aerated dose is delivered to the user, and wherein the controller is operable to determine an effectiveness of the dose in deepening breath shape and slowing breath rate based on determining whether a plurality of breath shapes of the physiological data taken in the predetermined period of time is within range of a baseline physiological response of a deeper breath shape and a slower breath rate.
2 . The inhaler of claim 1 , further comprising a pressure sensor, wherein the controller is operable to determine an occurrence of an inhalation point of the user from an output of the pressure sensor relative to the provision of the dose.
3 . The inhaler of claim 2 , wherein the controller is operable to control the dosing mechanism to provide the aerated dose to the user at the inhalation point.
4 . The inhaler of claim 1 , further comprising one of an oxygen sensor, a heart rate sensor, or a carbon dioxide sensor, wherein the controller is operable to detect oxygenation in the user based on an output of the oxygen sensor, and determine an effectiveness of the dose based on the oxygenation in the user; or wherein the controller is operable to detect a heart rate in the user based on an output of the heart rate sensor, and determine an effectiveness of the dose based on the heart rate of the user; or wherein the controller is operable to detect breathing in the user based on an output of the carbon dioxide sensor, and operable to determine an effectiveness of the dose based on the carbon dioxide of a breath of the user.
5 . The inhaler of claim 1 , wherein the controller is operable to determine data associated with a breath of the user, the controller operable to analyze effectiveness of the dose based on the data associated with the breath of the user.
6 . The inhaler of claim 1 , wherein the controller is operable to determine data associated with a breath of the user and determine effectiveness of a technique applied by the user in activating the inhaler by comparing a breath shape derived from the data and a rule indicating dosage technique.
7 . An inhaler based data collection system, the system comprising:
a physiological sensor configured to be coupled to a user to sense physiological data from the user at a first base sampling rate;
an inhaler mateable with a drug container, the inhaler including a dosing mechanism operable to aerate a dose from the drug container, the dosing mechanism providing the aerated dose to the user, the aerated dose configured to stimulate a physiological response of deepening a breath shape and slowing a breath rate of the user;
a sensor interface coupled to the physiological sensor to sense a response to the dose;
a controller coupled to the sensor interface to increase the sample rate of the physiological sensor from the first base sampling rate to a second sampling rate for a predetermined period of time to collect physiological data from the user corresponding to the predetermined period of time after a time that the aerated dose is delivered to the user, and a transceiver;
a data server to receive the collected physiological data from the transceiver; and
an analysis module operable to determine an effectiveness of the dose based on the collected physiological data in deepening breath shape and slowing breath rate based on determining whether a plurality of breath shapes of the physiological data taken in the predetermined period of time is within range of a baseline physiological response of a deeper breath shape and a slower breath rate.
8 . The data collection system of claim 7 , wherein the analysis module is operable to send control data to the transceiver changing an amount of the aerated dose from the drug container in response to the effectiveness of the dose.
9 . The data collection system of claim 7 , wherein the analysis module is operable to determine a change in frequency to aerate the dose in response to the effectiveness of the dose.
10 . The data collection system of claim 7 , wherein the controller is operable to determine an occurrence of an inhalation point of the user from an output of the physiological sensor, and the controller correlates timing of the provision of the aerated dose to the inhalation point.
11 . The data collection system of claim 10 , wherein the analysis module is operable to determine the effectiveness of a technique applied by the user in activating the inhaler by comparing the inhalation point and a rule indicating inhaler technique.
12 . The data collection system of claim 7 , wherein the analysis module is operable to determine data associated with a breath of the user, and wherein the analysis module is operable to analyze the effectiveness of the dose based on the data associated with the breath of the user.
13 . A dosage control unit for installation on an inhaler, the inhaler having an actuator holding a drug container containing a drug, a dosing mechanism coupled to the drug container to aerate a dose from the drug container, the dosing mechanism providing the aerated dose to a user, the dosage control unit comprising:
an interface attaching the dosage control unit to the inhaler;
a dosing sensor configured to detect the dosing mechanism aerating the dose, the aerated dose configured to stimulate a physiological response of deepening a breath shape and slowing a breath rate of the user;
a sensor interface configured to be in communication with a physiological sensor configured to be attached to the user of the inhaler, wherein the physiological sensor is configured to sense physiological data from the user at a first base sampling rate; and
a controller coupled to the dosing sensor and the sensor interface, the controller operable to increase the sample rate of the physiological sensor from the first base sampling rate to a second sampling rate for a predetermined period of time to collect physiological data from the user corresponding to the predetermined period of time after a time that the aerated dose is delivered to the user, wherein the time that the aerated dose is delivered is determined from the dosing sensor, and wherein the controller is operable to determine an effectiveness of the dose in deepening breath shape and slowing breath rate based on determining whether a plurality of breath shapes of the physiological data taken in the predetermined period of time is within range of a baseline physiological response of a deeper breath shape and a slower breath rate.
14 . The dosage control unit of claim 13 , further comprising a pressure sensor, wherein the controller is operable to determine the occurrence of an inhalation point of the user from an output of the pressure sensor relative to the provision of the aerated dose, and the controller is further configured to control the dosing mechanism to provide the aerated dose to the user at the inhalation point.
15 . The dosage control unit of claim 13 , further comprising one of an oxygen sensor, a heart rate sensor, or a carbon dioxide sensor, wherein the controller is operable to detect oxygenation in the user based on an output of the oxygen sensor, and determine an effectiveness of the dose based on the oxygenation in the user; or wherein the controller is operable to detect a heart rate in the user based on an output of the heart rate sensor, and determine an effectiveness of the dose based on the heart rate of the user; or wherein the controller is operable to detect breathing in the user based on an output of the carbon dioxide sensor, and operable to determine an effectiveness of the dose based on the carbon dioxide of a breath of the user.
16 . The dosage control unit of claim 13 , wherein the controller is operable to determine data associated with a breath of the user, and wherein the controller is operable either to analyze effectiveness of the dose based on the data associated with the breath of the user; or determine effectiveness of a technique applied by the user in activating the inhaler by comparing a breath shape derived from the data associated with the breath of the user and a rule indicating dosage technique.
17 . The dosage control unit of claim 13 , further comprising a transceiver to transmit the collected physiological data to an external device, and to receive control data for the controller regulating the dosing mechanism to change a volume of the aerated dose provided by the dosing mechanism in response to analysis of the collected physiological data.
18 . The dosage control unit of claim 17 , wherein the external device is a mobile computing device associated with the user or a data server, and wherein the external device executes an application to analyze the collected physiological data to determine the control data.