Electronic medication monitoring and dispensing method

Abstract

A device for monitoring medication of a patient and for prompting the patient into certain medication taking schedule and/or certain programming steps and routines. The device has a plurality of compartments, each of which may store medication, and an electrical signaling system to emit medication alert signals from time-to-time, each of which said signals indicates (a) that medication should be taken, (b) from which compartment the medication should be taken, (c) and the quantity of medication to be taken. If a designated compartment is not opened and closed within a predetermined period of time, the electrical signaling system will display an alarm and the event will be recorded as a missed medication event, unless the patient then opens the designated compartment. If each designated compartment is opened and closed, the take-medication signal and the alarm (if operating) are turned off and the event is recorded for later review. The device may be constructed in one piece with hinged doors for each pill compartment, or each pill compartment may be a separate "drawer" sliding into a main unit.

Description

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The prior art discloses a number of devices that use electronic systems for assisting a person who takes medication. Kehr U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,177 discloses a device for alerting a person when medication should be taken which medication should be taken, as well as how much medication should be taken. The Kehr et al. apparatus also has a night cut-off control which permits the device to be turned off at night. Several patents teach the use of a micro-processor to alert a person to take medication and to also supply information for a display of, or a printout of, information about the patient and/or his or her medication; see for example, McIntosh, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,299, Villa-Real U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,845 and Behl U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,884.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The prior art lacks certain features embodied in the present invention, including, but not limited to: an ability to accommodate multiple medications, each with its own prescribed regimen; a high degree of inter-action between the patient and the messages that the device displays, alerting the patient how to program the device and how to take medications; giving patient extensive commands in writing; ease of programming and ease of use in a design that is resistant to wear and tear; specific displays to increase the accuracy of programming and pill taking; means to translate routine doctor's orders into standard alarm prompting sequences; first prompting, then recording the patient's behaviors relative to pill taking; and other means, herein specified, that enhance accurate medication taking (or compliance) in accordance with research studies such as "Patient Adherence to Prescribed Therapies," Marshall H. Becker, Ph.D., Medical Care, Ma. 1985, Vol. 23, No. 5.

The present invention is a medication monitoring device which provides a number of functions for facilitating patient adherence to prescribed therapies. The device is capable of accepting, storing and displaying a medication signal as well as physician's instructions, and is capable of monitoring the presumed adherence to the schedule and the instructions.

The device of the present invention provides for ease of entry of a medication schedule, ease of review of that schedule, both prospectively and retrospectively, and allows the patient and/or the physician to readily and accurately review the compliance with that schedule. The monitoring device of the present invention, while providing visually readable instructions, insures that the patient has a correct understanding of the medication regime. Through regular interaction with the patient by its series of medication alert signals, the monitoring device of the present invention reduces the complexity of the medication regime for the patient. The monitor also requires the interaction of the patient through its series of prompts, ques, queries and requests for acknowledgement, thereby engaging the patient as an active participant in the treatment process, enhancing the efficacy of the medication regime.

The device has a plurality of medication compartments in which are inserted a plurality of drawers which may each be used to store a different medication, a microprocessor with associated circuitry for providing timing and signaling, and a display and push buttons for programming and operating the device. The device provides visual signals to prompt the user during input of a medication schedule or schedules. The device then relies upon that schedule(s) to indicate to the user when medication is to be taken by providing audible and/or visual medication alert signals. The device indicates the compartment of the device from which the medication is to be taken and the quantity of medication. The compartment indication is provided by illuminating a light closely associated with the desired compartment. A liquid crystal or other type of display indicates the quantity to take; i.e. if three pills are to be taken, the number "3" will be displayed adjacent to the appropriate compartment.

If the patient obeys the commands of the system and opens the designated compartment, the signals and lights will be turned off until the next medication alert time arrives. The unit can optionally be designed to turn off the alert after the drawer is closed. The drawers, as well as the sides or bottoms of the compartments, may be made transparent in order to allow the user to visually check if any pills are in the compartment and to determine the type of medication, if any is present. The drawers, when opened, reveal the majority of their entire length, and have a sloped front, allowing easy access for the patient who may have tremor, arthritis or other difficulties.

If the patient fails to obey the commands of the system and does not open and close each designated compartment within a predetermined interval of time, the audible signal will continue at predetermined periodic intervals, and a visual indication will be provided (e.g. "MISSED MEDICATION"), informing the patient that he forgot to access the appropriate compartment(s), which compartment(s) he forgot to access, and how much medication he forgot to take. The visual alarm and the lights will then be shut off when the designated compartment is opened (or, optionally, opened and closed). The patient may also indicate to the unit that he will be skipping that medication, and the alarm will be cleared.

Generally, any single medication is to be taken periodically throughout the day. The most common schedules will be available within the unit for display, and then selection by the user (e.g. once every other day, once per day, twice per day, three times per day, four times per day). The user must also provide a first dose time. If, for example, the user selects "four times per day", the first alarm will sound at the user selected first dose time, and three subsequent alarms will sound at each four hour interval thereafter. This is in accord with standard prescription labeling and standard or conventional dispensing routines. The user may change the first dose time at will, and all alarms scheduled in this manner will be shifted to match the new first dose time, the following day.

Each compartment may be independently set for one of these standard disposing routines or schedules, or the patient may enter a "special" schedule of up to 12 specific clock times per day that pills should be taken from a given compartment. In this manner, the most common schedules may be set very simply, but the unit is flexible enough to accommodate patients with more complex requirements.

By providing built-in programming which understands the multiple times per day format, the device automatically displays doctor's instructions and translates these into specific pill-taking times and quantity indications for each compartment in sequence. This is accomplished in that the user only needs to bring up onto the display of the device the instructions as written by the doctor, e.g. "three pills four times per day," and confirm the display of this information for the given compartment. The device then automatically, in conformance with its built-in program, translates this into a set of medication alarms such as 8:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM. The device also allows for specific programming of pills which need to be taken with meals or at bedtime by allowing the user to program in the patient's usual mealtimes or bedtime, the device can then be instructed to alert for a desired medication at those programmed meal and/or bedtimes. The device also provides for labels for each compartment specifying the doctors instructions so that the display for a specific compartment can be compared to the information on the respective label. Each compartment also instructs the patient as to the purpose of the pill (eg. "heart pill").

The use of a LCD screen allows the patient to be visually prompted during both the programming operation and the medication alert operation of the device. The built-in programming of the device also accommodates a number of confirmation steps, allowing the patient or user to doublecheck the entries before they are stored into the device which provides for more accurate medication monitoring. The many programmable schedule options of the device allow for instructions for "every other day" medication in addition to multiple medications on a given day.

The prompt-then-record system, is taught by the monitor of the present invention. Here the device displays an instruction, and does not record an instruction until it is confirmed; it requires a response or acknowledgement to a prompt, (such as a medication alert) prior to recordation that the event took place, so that the event may be recorded as an "acknowledged" event to indicate pills taken. If the patient does not acknowledge the prompt, the event is recorded as unacknowledged or "missed", which is then displayed to the patient, thereby increasing the accuracy of the medication monitoring. The prompt-then-record can also be utilized to record and indicate other normal or abnormal patient behavior with respect to the medication schedule.

The device has a number of manually operable switches or buttons that are used to set proper operating conditions, and to interact with the device during it's operation. The user is prompted by words and phrases, on the built-in display, to simplify setting of the device. The embodiment of the invention illustrated and described herein includes user-input buttons on the front panel of the device adjacent the display. The first two buttons of the display are the "Next" and "Last" buttons, described in more detail below, which allow prospective and retrospective review of the medication schedule, respectively. These buttons also allow cycling forward or backward through the different options within the various programs available within the device, such as the time of day options described above. The buttons are arranged closely adjacent one another so that the user can readily identify their similar functionality and can readily switch forward and backward between the options of the given programming mode. Providing the "Next" and "Last" buttons allows ease of programming over devices which simply provide for a common mode cycling button, while allowing for simplified design over devices which require multiple buttons, each for a specific task. The patient can readily master the next/last sequencing logic which carries throughout the various programming modes where these buttons are utilized in a common manner.

The next set of buttons is the "YES/OKAY" and "No" buttons. These buttons are utilized by the patient to answer queries or provide acknowledgements. As these buttons are similar in their functioning and there is interplay between their applicability, they have been grouped together to provide easier user mastering of the utilization of the device. Use of the "no" button also allows the patient to suspend the audible tone for predetermined time periods by holding the "no" button down for 1 second or more.

The last group of buttons is the "Check and Set" buttons. These buttons can be grouped by placing them in close proximity to each other, however in the exemplary embodiment described herein, these buttons are associated by color not proximity. The "Check" button allows cycling between the different modes of the apparatus, e.g., time of day, first dose time, compartment scheduling, etc. The "Set" button allows the patient or user to enter one of these programming modes and then alter the programming within the mode. By closely associating these two buttons, the patient or user readily becomes familiar with their interaction and therefore, the programming is made more easily accessible.

As stated above, the visual and audible medication alert signals, are turned off when the patient opens the compartment. This operation is carried out by having a separate closure (for example a lid) for opening and closing each compartment or by providing drawers within each compartment which slide out for access. When the lid or drawer is moved to open the compartment, a switch operating through the electrical circuitry of the signaling system, turns off the visual medication alert signal and/or the audible alarm. The drawers may be removed for easy cleaning.

The electronic circuitry of the unit may be realized in many ways. One embodiment using a 4-bit microcontroller integrated circuit, the Hitachi HD407L4808, and some associated components, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), a liquid crystal display (LCD), resistors, capacitors, batteries, etc., is illustrated herein.

The microcontroller continually operates in a low power mode with a 32 kHz clock crystal, and each half second an interrupt is generated to change the state of the colon (such that the colon is continually blinking, on for one half second and then off for one half second), incrementing the time keeping circuitry and keeping track of the time of day. The time of day may be shown on the unit's display. The time of day is continually compared against the scheduled medication times, and, when a match is found, an output of the microcontroller is enabled to turn on the light associated with the appropriate compartment, and other outputs are set to enable the audible signal and to show the number of pills on the display associated with that compartment.

The opening and closing of the various compartments is sensed by the microprocessor through the actuation of individual switches associated with each compartment. Each medication alert and associated taking or skipping of medication is stored in the microcontroller's random access memory (RAM), so that the patient can later review when and if pills were presumably taken or skipped.

If desired, the audible signal may include the use of a transducer which emits speech giving special instructions to the patient relating to the taking of the medication.

By pushing a single button, the patient may, at any time, examine the schedule of medications to be taken over the next period (e.g., 24 hours). By pressing another button, the patient may review the actual times that doors were opened (and medication presumably taken) over the previous period (e.g. 24 hours). The memory storing the prospective and retrospective information may be extended, by use of additional RAM, to provide a longer time period for review, and an electronic output may be provided so this information can be directly transferred to a computer or to a printer for analysis by a pharmacist, physician, family member or other interested party.

If a compartment is opened when no pill is scheduled, the unit "chirps", and displays a question to the patient to determine if he is taking an unscheduled pill, in order to prevent the unit from recording that a pill was taken when a patient merely opens a door to check the pills or to refill a compartment. If the patient responds negatively (pushes "No") or does not respond at all, the compartment opening is not recorded and the device assumes that the compartment was opened for checking or refill. The unscheduled pill taking is recorded in the unit's memory only if the patient responds positively (pushes "Yes/OK").

The unit can also include a plurality of other user input buttons arranged so that buttons are grouped according to common function. This allows the user to readily identify related buttons for desired sequencing.

During programming, the unit can also display specific doctors orders on the LCD and query the patient as to whether the patient is programming in conformance with those orders.

The unit can also display a specified medication identification on the LCD for the user to compare against the medication bottle, or label on the medication compartment, and indicate if it is the same by supplying a "YES/OKAY" or "NO" answer to the device. If the user selects "YES," the identification is stored. If "NO," the display is altered until the desired identification is displayed.

By pushing a button, the patient can suspend the audible alarm. Each push of the button suspends the audible alarm for a predetermined time period (e.g. one hour). The LCD displays a symbol that indicates that the audible tone has been suspended, while the visual alarms and prompts continue to operate as programmed. If the patient is going into a concert or meeting and does not want the device to interrupt, he can suspend the audible alarm. When he leaves the concert and references the device, it will indicate the type and quantity of medication missed and when it was to have been taken, via the visual means which was not suspended.

The volume of the audible tone can also be programmed in by the patient to suit their wishes.

One button, "Check" allows the patient to review and display what has been programmed into the device. With any display then showing, the push of a second button "set" allows the device to enter the "programming mode" wherein the particular program is displayed and flashing, and can be altered through the push of other buttons ("NEXT" and "LAST"). In this programming mode, the device queries the patient as to whether each new program displayed is "OKAY," and patient can indicate "YES/OKAY" or "NO". "YES/OKAY" enters the new program into the device. Pressing "no" allows the patient to push buttons to display yet a different program on the device, until the correct program is displayed, wherein the pressing of the "yes/okay" button then locks in the correct program into the device. This sequential pushing of buttons to reprogram the device helps to prevent inadvertent alteration of the programming (e.g. through buttons being pushed by a child or inadvertently pushed when the device is placed in a handbag).

At any time if the programming routine is interrupted for more than one minute, or if buttons are pushed inadvertently, the device will automatically return to "time of day," and the interrupted programming will not be entered, as the user did not press the "YES/OKAY" button.

A "low battery" prompt appears when it is time to change batteries. When batteries are removed for changing, the device retains its programming for several minutes.

To help extend battery life, the audible tone beeps only once at alarm time; if the patient does not access the appropriate drawer within one minute, the tone then beeps for an extended ten seconds as a longer reminder to the patient; if patient still doesn't access the appropriate compartment, the unit beeps once every five minutes. Until the appropriate compartment is accessed by the patient; or until the next alarm cycle for that compartment, the device will continue to instruct the patient by displaying the LCD quantity indicator and flashing the LED over the appropriate compartment(s).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the nature of the present invention, reference is had to the following figures and detailed description, wherein like elements are accorded like reference numerals, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of the medical monitoring device.

FIGS. 2A and B are a perspective views of the monitoring device.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the device with the liquid crystal display illustrating one step of one of the programming modes of operation.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the device with the liquid crystal display indicating the time of day and displaying a pill-taking prompt.

FIGS. 5A-5D are side cross sectional views illustrating one pill compartment of the device.

FIGS. 6-16 are logical flow diagrams illustrating the logical operation of the medication monitor device of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the present invention utilizes an Hitachi Model HD4074808 microcontroller chip 1 for accepting user inputs and for performing the necessary logic for driving the liquid crystal display 2 and associated medication alert signals.

The microcontroller 1 is a MCU microcontroller utilizing a 4-bit architecture and having built-in ROM and RAM. The chip includes a 16 digit LCD driver and 30 Input/Output (I/O) ports. The ROM portion of the microcontroller 1 is programmed according to the program contained in the microfiche appendix of this application. The microcontroller 1 is also provided with a crystal oscillator circuit 3 for supplying the internal clock and timing circuits for proper operation of the microcontroller 1. The chip is also provided with a clock crystal circuit 4 to enable the chip to accurately track the time of day in order to display the necessary medication alerts at the appropriate times.

In addition to the liquid crystal display 2, a series of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) A-D are provided in circuit 5, which, along with Piezo buzzer 6 are, attached to. I/O ports of the microcontroller 1. A series of push buttons 7, as well as a series of drawer switches 8, are connected to the 4-bit I/O ports of microcontroller 1. The liquid crystal display 2 is attached to the common and segment driver pins of the microcontroller 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 2B, the buttons positioned above the display 2 are seated in recesses in the top panel of the housing. The recesses are shaped for accommodation of the operator's finger to ease actuation of the buttons and to help prevent pressing of the wrong button or more than one button simultaneously by recessing the actual buttons from the top surface itself, inadvertent actuation of the buttons is greatly reduced.

The pill box itself, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, has a top face on which is positioned the LCD display 2 as well as push buttons 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. During programming, the LCD display will display a variety of messages. One set of messages is utilized to prompt the user into providing appropriate information to the microcontroller 1. This information is needed by the monitor to establish the appropriate medication schedule. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of the monitor displaying a request for user inputs in the "set schedule" mode displaying the prompt "How many pills?" to request a pill number input from the user.

The pill number "3" is also currently displayed above the third pill box compartment 15, indicating a response from the user. If this setting were accepted, that would instruct the monitor to remind the user to take three pills from compartment 15 at a designated time. As discussed in greater detail below, the number of pills, the medication alert time and the designated compartment can be selected through the operation of push buttons 9-14.

In FIG. 4, the time of day is displayed on the LCD display 2 as well as a digit "2" above compartment 16. Further, the LED 17 associated with compartment 16 is actuated. This combination of an actuated LED 17 and a display of a digit "2" is an indication to the user that two pills should be taken from the drawer 18 located within compartment 16. The drawer 18 is illustrated in the open position exposing pills 20 therein so that they may be taken by the user.

FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the monitor with four compartments 16, 15, 34 and 35, each compartment having a drawer 20, 36, 37, 38 and an LED 17, 40, 41, 42 respectively. The user is prompted to open a designated drawer in a designated compartment by activation of the LED corresponding to the appropriate compartment. The lower face 20a of each compartment can be made of a transparent material, as better illustrated in FIG. 2B, so that the user may readily determine if any pills are stored in each drawer and to identify the medication by sight, simply by viewing from the lower side of the device without the necessity of opening each drawer.

FIGS. 5A-5d illustrate the opening and switch actuation mechanism of the drawers. When drawer 18 is closed, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, a detent arm 27 attached to compartment 16 is engaged in the detent notch 28 in drawer 18. The detent restraint pressure is easily overcome by slight pulling force on the drawer 18. As drawer 18 is opened, plunger 29 of microswitch 30 mounted on the housing 31 drops thereby closing microswitch 30. Microswitch 30, illustrated in FIG. 1 as part of the drawer switch circuitry 8, when closed grounds terminal R2-1. The grounding of the particular terminal associated with a particular drawer provides a signal to the microcontroller to deactivate the current medication alert which is associated with that drawer.

As the drawer is further slid open, as illustrated in FIG. 5C, the detent arm 27 lodges in second notch 32 of drawer 18. The lodging of detent 27 in second notch 32 holds the drawer in an open position in order to facilitate pill removal. The drawer 18 can be completely removed from the housing 31, as illustrated in FIG. 5D, for refill, cleaning or other purposes.

When drawer 18 is pushed back to its closed position, post 29 of microswitch 30 will be deflected thereby reopening microswitch 30. The reopening of microswitch 30 provides a signal to microcontroller 1, indicating that the drawer has been closed.

When the compartment 18 is open and switch 30 closed, the microcontroller 1 is instructed to discontinue the medication alert signal such as that illustrated in FIG. 4. The time at which the switch 30 was closed, indicating the opening of the compartment 18, is stored in the microcontroller's random access memory (RAM). Each time the drawer is opened, the time of opening and the particular drawer opened is recorded in the microcontroller's RAM. If a take medication signal is generated and the corresponding drawer is not opened at that time or within a predetermined time period thereafter, this is also stored in the microcontroller's RAM as a missed pill event, along with an indication of time and the number of pills that should have been taken, with an indication displayed on the LCD display 2 that the corresponding drawer was not opened at that time. All of this information is stored in the RAM so that it can later be accessed by the user to review the taking of medication and the missing of medication.

The microcontroller 1 keeps track of time and updates the time of day display on the LCD display unit 2. The current time of day of the microcontroller 1 is continually compared against the stored times for scheduled medication. When this comparison generates a match between the stored scheduled medication times and the actual time of day, the microcontroller 1 enables one of the output terminals to the appropriate LED of the LED set 5. Simultaneously, the corresponding segment driver outputs are enabled to indicate the number of pills that should be taken from the designated compartment at that medication time. Further, if not disabled by the user, the audible alarm is also triggered.

The logical operation of the microcontroller will now be described with reference to FIGS. 6-16. FIG. 6 is an over view of the logical operation of the various monitoring routines of the monitor. Block 61 of FIG. 6 illustrates the standard resting or time-of-day mode for the microcontroller operation. This is the mode to which the microcontroller returns when no other function is being performed. In this mode, the liquid crystal display 2 displays the time of day and a flashing ":" to indicate that the monitor is operating. Blocks 62-68 illustrate the various user inputs which can be detected by the microcontroller. Blocks 62-67 correspond to the push buttons 9-14, respectively, which are illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 on the top of the monitor housing. Blocks 68 and 69 correspond to the input received when a drawer is opened or when a scheduled time is reached, respectively.

If a drawer is opened while the microcontroller 1 is in this mode, as illustrated by block 68, the microcontroller will jump to the unscheduled pill routine designated by block 616 and further detailed in FIG. 11.

If an alarm occurs or is presently pending, as illustrated by block 69, the microcontroller 1 will jump to the routine illustrated by block 617 and further detailed in FIG. 12. The alarm routine is, therefore, entered through the internal generation of the correspondence between a scheduled medication time and the current time of day of the microcontroller 1. The unscheduled pill routine is entered through the enabling of one of the inputs connected to the drawer switch circuitry 8 as illustrated in FIG. 1. This occurs when a drawer is open and the corresponding switch is triggered without the user first being prompted by the occurrence of a scheduled medication alert through the running of the alarm routine.

Actuating one of the user input buttons 9-14, will cause the microcontroller 1 to enter the appropriate corresponding routine. Actuating the "YES/OKAY" button 13, as illustrated by 66, and maintaining the button actuated for at least one second will cause the audible alarm to be reactivated if it has been suspended. Maintained actuation of the "NO" button, as illustrated by blocks 67 and 624, will cause the audible alarm to be deactivated. Actuation of the "set" button 12, as illustrated by block 65, will cause the microcontroller 1 to enter the time setting routine better illustrated in FIG. 10. Once the time setting routine has been completed, the microcontroller 1 will return to the time of day display mode as described above.

Actuating the "LAST" button 9 or the "NEXT" button 10 will cause the microcontroller to display the last 24 hours of access to the drawers including; medication taken on schedule, missed medication, and unscheduled compartment openings; or the next 24 hours of scheduled medication, respectively, by entering the last routine, FIG. 7, or the next routine, FIG. 8, respectively.

Actuation of the "CHECK" button 11 will cause the microcontroller 1 to go into the First-Dose-Time routine as illustrated by block 612 and in greater detail in FIG. 9. As illustrated in both FIGS. 6 and 9, the user can elect to go to the check schedule routine, block 618, or to return to the time of day display. The check schedule routine, illustrated in detail in FIG. 13, allows the user to check the scheduling stored in the microcontroller 1. It also enables user to cycle through checking "BEEP VOLUME" and "TIME OF DAY".

When in the "LAST" routine, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the display 2 initially indicates the most recent time that a compartment was opened, or a take medication alert was generated. The display also indicates the number of pills, and the compartment corresponding to the particular scheduled medication. If a medication signal was generated, and the appropriate compartment was not opened in a predetermined time period (e.g. 10 minutes or 1 hour), the LCD will also display a "missed pill" indication, corresponding to that scheduled medication alert. If a number of medication alerts or unscheduled openings of a drawer occurred simultaneously, each of the medication signals will be displayed sequentially, through sequential actuation of the "LAST" button 9, while the time indication of the time of each of these events remains the same.

Actuation of the "LAST" button 9 during this routine will continue to sequence through each of the last occurrences during the previous 24 hours, displaying each occurrence after each actuation of the "LAST" button 9, until the entire previous 24 hours of activity of the device has been replayed. Once the full 24 hours has been displayed, actuation of the "LAST" button 9 will take the flow of the microcontroller 1 back to that location in its operation prior to the initial selection of the last routine, or return to "TIME-OF-DAY".

During the "LAST" routine, actuation of the "NEXT" button 10, the "CHECK" button 11 or the "SET" button 12 will have no effect on the operation of the microcontroller 1 or the display 2. Actuation of the "YES/OKAY" button 13 or the "NO" button 14 or the opening of one of the compartments or the occurrence of a medication alert time will cause the last routine to terminate and the microcontroller to return to that location in its operation prior to the initial selection of the last routine, or return to "Time-of-Day".

FIG. 8 illustrates the "NEXT" routine, which is similar to the "LAST" routine above. In this mode, each designated medication time for each compartment, with each quantity of medication, over the next 24 hours is displayed through sequential actuation of the "NEXT" button 10. Once all of the scheduled times have been displayed for the next 24 hour time period, the microcontroller 1 is sequenced back to that location in its operation prior to the initial selection of the next routine, or returned to "Time-of-Day". The "LAST" 9, "CHECK" 11 and "SET" 12 buttons are rendered ineffective during the "NEXT" routine. Actuation of the "YES/OKAY" 13 or "NO" 14 button or the opening of one of the compartments or the occurrence of an medication alert time will cause the next routine to terminate and the microcontroller 1 to return to that location in its operation prior to the initial selection of the next routine, or return to "Time-of-Day".

The provision of these two routines allows the user or other monitoring personnel to prospectively view the programmed medication times for the next 24 hour period and to retrospectively view the medication administered or missed during the last 24 hours. The device is therefore not limited only to medication reminding but also allows for medication monitoring. Through the extension of the internal RAM storage of the microcontroller 1, information covering a time period greater than 24 hours can be stored. An optional data port 33 can be provided to supply this prospective and/or retrospective information to a external device such as a printer, a data storage medium, a computer or other device.

The Check First-Dose-Time routine, FIG. 9, displays the preset First-Dose-Time and allows it to be changed by entering the time setting routine block 921, FIG. 10, by actuation of the "SET" button 12. From this routine, the medication alert schedule can also be viewed by actuation of the "CHECK" button 11. The Processor will then proceed with the check schedule routine, FIG. 13.

FIG. 10 illustrates the time setting operation of the microcontroller 1. This routine is used to set the Time Of Day, to set the First Dose Time, and to set the Special Scheduled medication times. Special schedule medication times are those which must be set at a particular time, for which the built in time increments such as "every-four-hours" will not provide. Therefore these times need to be specifically input. This routine is entered from each of these functions as appropriate to the performance of that function. When in the time setting routine and Set First Dose Time routine, actuation of the "NEXT" button 10 increments the time and actuation of the "LAST" button decrements the time.

The Unscheduled Pill routine, FIG. 11, is entered when a drawer is opened at a time other than a scheduled medication time. This routine causes the display 2 to display the appropriate quantity of pills for the drawer that was opened. The user is prompted via an audible "chirp" and the query "UNSCHEDULED PILL?" to indicate whether or not an unscheduled medication is being taken. If the user actuates the "YES/OKAY" button 13 the microcontroller 1 will record that an unscheduled medication was taken. If the user does not respond within a predetermined period of time, or if the user actuates the "NO" button 14, the microcontroller will assume that no medication was taken. Each incidence of unscheduled medication is recorded for later review and display as described above in the "NEXT" and "LAST" review routines.

The alarm mode block 617 of FIG. 12 is entered when the scheduled time and the time of day correspond. If the drawer of the compartment containing the correct pills is opened, the alarm condition is satisfied. If more than one compartment needs to be accessed, all compartments must be opened in order to satisfy the alarm condition. The user is prompted as to which drawers must be opened by the activation of the LED corresponding to the compartment and the indication of pill quantity above the compartment. If a wrong drawer is opened, the unit chirps to help prevent improper medication taking at an alarm time.

The user is also prompted if medication has been missed and can then view this missed medication through actuation of the "LAST" button 9 and can view the next medication by actuation of the "NEXT" button 10. The user can then decide to take the missed medication or not and so inform the microcontroller 1 by actuation of the "YES/OKAY" button 13 or "NO" button 14.

The Check Schedule Routine FIG. 13 allows the user to sequentially view the scheduled medication times by actuation of the "LAST" and "NEXT" keys. The schedule and quantity of medication is displayed in the same manner as the information was entered. For example, if the medication was entered as "2 pills 4 times per day" the display will reflect this scheduling. If specific special alarm times were entered, the display would indicate "2 pills 7 special times per day" and the "NEXT" and "LAST" buttons would allow display of those seven special times. Further, the LED of the appropriate compartment is activated.

FIG. 14 illustrates the logical operation of selecting the quantity of pills to be taken and selecting one of the preset, i.e. non-special, times per day settings for medication alerts.

The set special schedule routine, FIG. 15 is a special case of the time setting routine, which, when entered allows the user to establish a non-standard medication alert time. Once this routine is entered, the patient or user can enter the specific times of day that medication should be taken allowing greater flexibility than simply choosing one of the preset standards of "three-times-daily" etc.

The "Set Beep Volume" Routine displays "SET BEEP VOLUME", the operator pushes set and uses the "Next" and "Last" buttons to adjust the volume from softest (1) to loudest (9).

It is to be understood that the above embodiment and description is exemplative of one preferred embodiment of a medication monitor according to the inventive concept of the present invention. The disclosure is to be interpreted in an illustrative and not a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is defined in the following claims. ##SPC1##

Claims

1. A device for alerting a person when it is time to take medication, comprising,

(a) a casing having at least one face,

(b) a display on said face,

(c) a memory,

(d) timing means,

(e) a plurality of medication compartments that open and close, associated with said casing,

(f) control means for providing a plurality of bits of information relating to the taking of medication, said control means including the timing means, said information including information as to the quantity of medication to be taken and also including other information,

(g) selecting means for selecting at least one of said bits and at least one time of day, for each compartment,

(h) means for entering the selected bits and said selected time or times in said memory,

(i) said control means including means responsive to both said selected time or times and said selected bits stored in said memory, for, a particular one of said compartments, (a) giving a take-medication signal at each of said time or times that was selected for that compartment, and (b) displaying on said display the information that was based on the bit or bits selected for that compartment,

(j) said display having first and second portions the first of which is closer to said compartments than the second portion, said control means including means for displaying said information as to the quantity of medication to be taken on said first portion and said other information on said second portion, and

(k) means operable following a take-medication signal to store a missed medication signal in said memory, if a compartment is not opened or closed,

said control means including means for displaying, on said display, the missed medication signal.

2. A device according to claim 1 in which said control means includes means for displaying a plurality of past times that medication was to be taken from a given compartment together with any missed medication signal applicable to such compartment.

3. A device according to claim 2 in which the time at which the missed medication was scheduled to be taken is displayed on said display along with the missed medication signal.

4. A device for alerting a person when it is time to take medication, comprising,

(a) a casing having at least one face,

(b) a display on said face,

(c) a memory,

(d) timing means,

(e) a plurality of medication compartments that open and close, associated with said casing,

(f) control means for providing a plurality of bits of information relating to the taking of medication, said control means including the timing means, said information including information as to the quantity of medication to be taken and also including other information,

(g) selecting means for selecting at least one of said bits and at least one time of day, for each compartment,

(h) means for entering the selected bits and said selected time or times in said memory,

(i) said control means including means responsive to both said selected time or times and said selected bits stored in said memory, for, a particular one of said compartments, (a) giving a take-medication signal at each of said time or times that was selected for that compartment, and (b) displaying on said display the information that was based on the bit or bits selected for that compartment,

(j) said display having first and second portions the first of which is closer to said compartments than the second portion, said control means including means for displaying said information as to the quantity of medication to be taken on said first portion and said other information on said second portion,

(k) wherein if one of said compartments is opened at an unscheduled time, said device gives a signal and the display displays a query as to whether the patient wishes to take medication from such one compartment.

5. A device as defined in claim 4, having manually operable means for answering said query.

6. A device as defined in claim 5 wherein the answer to said query is stored in said memory available for display by said display at a later time.