Controlling Drug Delivery Apparatus

Abstract

A drug package comprising a plurality of drug vials containing drugs for delivery to a patient in a drug delivery device; and a data carrier including drug treatment information for use by the drug delivery apparatus.

1 . A system for delivery of a drug to a patient comprising: 
 a drug delivery device arranged to deliver a predetermined dose of the drug to the patient over a plurality of breaths, wherein the predetermined dose is delivered during a single compliant treatment, the device including a breath analyzer which 
 (i) analyzes a patient's breathing during drug delivery, wherein the analysis by the breath analyzer includes quantitatively measuring at least one parameter of the patient's breathing; and  
 (ii) generates breath information on a patient's breathing during drug delivery wherein the breath information includes the at least one quantitative measurement of the patient's breathing;  
   a data carrier onto which the drug delivery device is arranged to place the breath information for each treatment; and    a data analyzer arranged to analyze the breath information from the data carrier, and to derive characteristics of the patient's breathing; and a trend generator for analyzing the breath information and the characteristics of the patient's breathing over multiple treatments.    
   
   
       2 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the data analyzer includes means for identifying non-compliant use of the drug delivery device.  
   
   
       3 . The system for delivery of a drug to a patient according to  claim 1 , wherein the breath information includes inhalation time and a total number of pulses, and wherein the data analyzer calculates a mean inhalation time value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total number of pulses.  
   
   
       4 . The system for delivery of a drug to a patient according to  claim 1 , wherein the breath information includes inhalation time and exhalation time and wherein the data analyzer calculates an inhalation to exhalation ratio value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total exhalation time.  
   
   
       5 . A method of identifying changes in condition of a patient comprising: 
 delivering a predetermined dose of medication over a plurality of breaths, wherein each predetermined dose is delivered during a single compliant treatment; 
 analyzing a patient's breathing during drug delivery, including quantitatively measuring at least one parameter of that breathing; generating breath information from the patient's breathing during drug delivery, including the quantitative measurement of that breathing;  
   transferring the breath information to a data analyzer;    deriving characteristics from the breath information; and    analyzing the characteristics over a number of treatments to identify trends in those characteristics.    
   
   
       6 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the step of quantitatively measuring at least one parameter includes measuring an inhalation time and measuring a total number of pulses, and wherein the step of deriving characteristics of the patient's breathing includes calculating a mean inhalation time value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total number of pulses.  
   
   
       7 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the step of quantitatively measuring at least one parameter includes measuring an inhalation time and an exhalation time, and wherein the step of deriving characteristics of the patient's breathing includes calculating an inhalation to exhalation ratio value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total exhalation time.  
   
   
       8 . The method according to  claim 5 , wherein the step of quantitatively measuring at least one parameter includes measuring an inhalation time and a total number of pulses, and wherein the step of deriving characteristics includes calculating a mean inhalation time value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total number of pulses.  
   
   
       9 . A system for delivery of a drug to a patient comprising: 
 a drug delivery device arranged to deliver a predetermined dose of the drug to the patient over a plurality of breaths, the drug delivery device including a wireless transceiver, wherein the predetermined dose is delivered during a single compliant treatment, the device including a breath analyzer which 
 (i) analyses a patient's breathing during drug delivery, wherein the analysis by the breath analyzer includes quantitatively measuring at least one parameter of the patient's breathing; and  
 (ii) generates breath information on a patient's breathing during drug delivery wherein the breath information includes the at least one quantitative measurement of the patient's breathing;  
   a data carrier onto which the drug delivery device is arranged to place the breath information for each treatment, the data carrier including a wireless transceiver for wireless communication with the drug delivery transceiver; and    a data analyzer arranged to analyze the breath information from the data carrier, and to derive characteristics of the patient's breathing; and a trend generator for analyzing the breath information and the characteristics of the patient's breathing over multiple treatments.    
   
   
       10 . A system according to  claim 9 , wherein the data analyzer includes means for identifying non-compliant use of the drug delivery device.  
   
   
       11 . The system for delivery of a drug to a patient according to  claim 9 , wherein the breath information includes inhalation time and a total number of pulses, and wherein the data analyzer calculates a mean inhalation time value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total number of pulses.  
   
   
       12 . The system for delivery of a drug to a patient according to  claim 9 , wherein the breath information includes inhalation time and exhalation time and wherein the data analyzer calculates an inhalation to exhalation ratio value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total exhalation time.  
   
   
       13 . A method of identifying changes in condition of a patient comprising: 
 delivering a predetermined dose of medication over a plurality of breaths, wherein each predetermined dose is delivered during a single compliant treatment;    analyzing a patient's breathing during drug delivery, including quantitatively measuring at least one parameter of that breathing; generating breath information from the patient's breathing during drug delivery, including the quantitative measurement of that breathing;    wirelessly transferring the breath information to a data analyzer;    deriving characteristics from the breath information; and    analyzing the characteristics over a number of treatments to identify trends in those characteristics.    
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the step of quantitatively measuring at least one parameter includes measuring an inhalation time and measuring a total number of pulses, and wherein the step of deriving characteristics of the patient's breathing includes calculating a mean inhalation time value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total number of pulses.  
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the step of quantitatively measuring at least one parameter includes measuring an inhalation time and an exhalation time, and wherein the step of deriving characteristics of the patient's breathing includes calculating an inhalation to exhalation ratio value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total exhalation time.  
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein the step of quantitatively measuring at least one parameter includes measuring an inhalation time and a total number of pulses, and wherein the step of deriving characteristics includes calculating a mean inhalation time value by dividing the total inhalation time by the total number of pulses.