Patent Application
20050131281
Keeping track of objects swallowed by a human or an animal is necessary in many situations. For example, medical personnel may want to know what pills were taken by the patient and when. An individual or an attending medical professional may need a reminder in case a medication in not taken on time. Automated tracking of food and medicine intake by humans and animals has many applications, such as simplifying data logging during experiments with multiple live subjects or while providing medical or veterinary care.
Embodiments of this invention include an apparatus and a method for detecting ingestion of an object, comprising an ingestible object and an identification circuit coupled to the ingestible object. The identification circuit upon ingestion of the ingestible object is electromagnetically coupled to a sensing device to indicate ingestion of the ingestible object. The ingestion may be performed in medicinal purposes. The ingestion may be performed by a human.
The electromagnetic coupling may be a radio frequency electromagnetic coupling.
The electromagnetic coupling of the identification circuit may be different for at least two locations of the ingestible object. The locations may include a container and an ingestion system. An electromagnetic parameter of the identification circuit during the ingestion may be altered to alter the electromagnetic coupling. The identification circuit may comprise two layers, at least one of the layers being altered during the ingestion. This layer may be opaque to electromagnetic signals within a wavelength band and dissolved during the ingestion. Alternatively a part of the identification circuit may be dissolved during the ingestion.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention.
A description of preferred embodiments of the invention follows.
The ingestible object 1 may be a pill or a capsule containing a medical substance, a food item, a small monitoring device or any other object, the swallowing of which may need to be monitored.
One possible electromagnetic coupling mechanism may be the technology known as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). In one embodiment of this invention using the RFID technology, a radio frequency circuit 5 (or RFID tag) is attached or embedded into the ingestible object 1, as shown in
The data encoded in the circuit 5 may represent, for example, the manufacturer, the serial number, and/or the type of the object.
The circuit 5 may be implemented with the materials that do not harm the human or animal subjects 4. These materials allow the size of circuit 5 to be small enough to fit on ingestible objects 1 that can be swallowed and still permit encoding of sufficient amount of information to enable this invention. After the ingestion, the circuit 5 may dissolve in the digestive tract or pass through it and exit the human or animal subjects 4. The manufacturer of the ingestible object 1 may attach or embed into it the circuit 5. The circuit 5 may also be attached, embedded, or altered after the object 1 is manufactured to permit other parties more freedom in choosing the data for encoding and the encoding methods.
Continuing with
The antenna or coil 6 emits radio waves with a limited effective distance range depending upon its power output and the radio frequency used. When the circuit 5 passes through the effective range of the electromagnetic field emitted by the antenna or coil 6, the circuit 5 according to its configuration alters the configuration of this field. This alteration depends on the data encoded in the circuit 5. The altered electromagnetic field is sensed or received by transmitter 7. In turn, the decoder 8 decodes the data encoded in the circuit by analyzing the sensed altered electromagnetic field. A computation device 11 in sensor 2 uses the decoded data to detect the presence and identity of the ingestible object 1 carrying the circuit 5. The computation device 11 may be for example a microprocessor or other digital processor or a data storage or data transmission device. The circuit 5 operates without an internal power source and uses the operating power generated by the sensor 2. Further details of the RFID technology are well known to those skilled in the pertinent art and are beyond the scope of this invention.
The sensor 2 may store the decoded data for a subsequent retrieval and archiving, it may keep count of the ingested objects, and it may inform the human 4 or other individuals or devices about the actions to be taken upon the ingestion. The timing of ingestion may also be recorded for each object 1. The sensor 2 may use a wired or wireless link or links for the communications necessary for its functioning. The sensor 2 may be attached to an appropriate location on the body of the human or animal subject 4, worn by the subject, or simply located in sufficient proximity.
Medical or veterinary personnel, attendants, or other users may use the sensor 2 to scan the body of the human or animal subject 4 to determine whether the human or animal subject 4 has ingested none, one, or several objects 1.
In other embodiments of this invention, the electromagnetic coupling 3 between the ingestible object 1 and the sensor 2 may be accomplished using electromagnetic waves of non-radio frequencies and/or using non-wave configurations of the electromagnetic field.
In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment shown in
In embodiments similar to the embodiment shown in
In the embodiment of this invention shown in
In other embodiments, an electromagnetic parameter of the circuit 5 is altered during ingestion, which in turn alters the electromagnetic coupling 3. As a result, the circuit 5 may use a variety of data carrying schemes.
In the embodiment of this invention shown in
In the embodiment of this invention shown in
In other embodiments, the number of dissolvable layers and/or the number of dissolvable circuit elements may be greater than one and their removal may be spaced in time (e.g. they may dissolve at different rates). In such embodiments, as the object 1 is affected by the environment of the digestive system, several data are transmitted to the sensor 2 as different layers or elements are removed at different times. The data-carrying capacity of the circuit 5 is thus effectively increased.
The substances used to implement the dissolvable portions are chosen to minimize or eliminate any undesired side effects to the human or animal subject 4 ingesting the object 1. Example substances for layers 9 or circuit elements 10 include polymers, organic compounds, certain metals, etc.
While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention encompassed by the appended claims.
