Adjunct device and system for an injector for monitoring injected amounts

Abstract

In some embodiments, an adjunct device for tracks time and/or dosage of a medicine. The device may include a connector for mounting the device to a deposable pen injector. The device may be configured to allow use of the native controls and injectors of the injector. For example the device may include a view port for viewing a dose indicator of the injector. The device may include one or more vibration sensors. A processor may be configured to differentiate increasing a dose, decreasing a dose and/or discharging the medicine based on the output of the sensors. Optionally a display of the device may be positioned for simultaneous viewing with the dosage indicator of the injector. For example a user may verify the accuracy of the adjunct device before performing a discharge.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A dosage tracking device for a pen injector, the injector including a housing, a dial for designating a dosage by a user, a dosage indicator for displaying the dosage to the user and a discharge mechanism for discharging the dosage, the tracking device comprising:
 a viewport in the dosage tracking device sized to display the dosage indicator of the pen to the user;   a connector configured to reversibly hold the tracking device to the housing with the dosage indicator visible through said viewport; and   one or more vibration sensors held to said pen by said connector, said one or more vibration sensors producing:
 a first output in response to rotating the dial to add a unit to a dosage of the pen; 
 a second output in response to rotating the dial to subtract a unit from a dosage of the pen; and 
 a third output in response to discharge of the dosage by the pen; 
   a processor programmed to increment a dosage counter in response to said first output and decrement said dosage counter in response to said second output and to record a timing of the discharge based of a time of said third output.   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the connector is configured to retain said display adjacent to the viewport such that a user views said display and said viewport simultaneously from a single view point. 
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein each of said one or more sensors measure vibrations on at least two separate axes and wherein said processor is programmed to differentiate between said first output and said second output based on a difference between vibration on said at least two axes. 
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 3 , wherein at least one of the sensors includes an accelerometer and at least one other senor includes a gyro. 
     
     
         5 . The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a digital display configured to display a value of said counter and said timing of said discharging. 
     
     
         6 . The device of  claim 5 , further comprising a user verification button for manually approving storage of at least one of said display value and said timing in a computational device. 
     
     
         7 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of said one or more vibration sensors has a sample rate of greater than 2000 per second. 
     
     
         8 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein at least one of said one or more vibration sensors measures motion in circumferential to an axis of said pen injector. 
     
     
         9 . The device of  claim 8 , wherein one direction of said motion circumferential to said axis corresponds to said first output and a second direction of said motion circumferential to said axis corresponds to said second output. 
     
     
         10 . A method of tracking a dosage from a pen injector comprising:
 reversibly retaining one or more vibration sensors on said pen injector;   producing a first output from said one or more vibration sensors when a unit is added to an injection dosage;   producing a second output from said one or more vibration sensors when a unit is subtracted from said injection dosage;   producing a third output from said one or more vibration sensors when said injection dosage is discharged;   analyzing an output of said vibration sensor to distinguish said first output, said second output and said third output;   incrementing the dosage counter in response to said first output;   decrementing said dosage counter in response to said second output; and   recording a timing of the discharge in response to said third output.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 retaining a window in a position to allow a user to view a dosage indicator of the injector through said window and displaying a value of said dosage counter in a position that said value is viewed simultaneously from a single vantage point with said dosage indicator of said pen injector.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 checking that said value of said dosage counter is in agreement with said dosage indicator of said injector and approving storage of said value in a computational device.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein first sensor output includes a measure of vibration on at least two axes and wherein said analyzing includes comparing a vibration on a first of said two axes to a vibration on a second of said two axes. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein said analyzing includes at least one calculation selected form the group consisting of comparing a pulse width of the output to a known value, computing a ratio of pulse widths in said output, comparing a slope of said output to a known value, determining a direction of movement based on said output and computing a ratio of slopes in said output. 
     
     
         15 . A dosage tracking system for a pen injector, the injector including a housing, and a dosage indicator for displaying the dosage to the user, the system comprising a tracking device comprising:
 one or more sensors sensing an adjustment of a dosage of said injector;   a processor connected by a data transfer channel to said sensors for receiving an output of said sensors and configured for computing an estimated dosage based on an output of said one or more sensors;   a display for viewing said estimated dosage;   a viewport sized to display the dosage indicator of the delivery device; and   a connector configured to reversibly hold the tracking device to the housing with the dosage indicator visible through said viewport and said display simultaneously visible along with said viewport from a single vantage point.   
     
     
         16 . The dosage tracking system of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a user interface for adjusting said estimated dosage.   
     
     
         17 . The dosage tracking system of  claim 16 , wherein said user interface includes at least one hand activated switch mounted to said housing, wherein activation of said switch results in storing said estimated dose. 
     
     
         18 . The dosage tracking system of  claim 15 , wherein said connector is shaped as a horseshoe and sized to grasp a cylindrical object having a width between 5 mm and 3 cm, said grasp is around at least 180° of a circumference of said object. 
     
     
         19 . The dosage tracking system of  claim 15 , wherein said connector has inner portion having a diameter smaller than a diameter of said injector and said connector is made of a material configured to elastically permit retention of said injector in the inner portion. 
     
     
         20 . The dosage tracking system of  claim 15 , wherein said connector comprises Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS).