Drug delivery device with electronics

Abstract

A system may include an external device and an inhaler. The external device may include a processor, a communication circuit, and memory. The inhaler may include a mouthpiece, medicament, a mechanical dose counter, and an electronics module comprising a processor and a communication circuit. The electronics module may record a dosing event when the inhaler is actuated, such as when the mouthpiece cover is opened, and send a signal indicating the dosing event to the external device. The external device may receive a mechanical dose reading of the mechanical dose counter, determine an electronic dose reading based on the signal indicating the dosing event, determine that a discrepancy between the mechanical dose reading and the electronic dose reading exceeds a threshold, and notify the user of the discrepancy, for example, by providing a notification to the user by way of a mobile application residing on the external device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 an inhaler comprising a mouthpiece and medicament; and   a smart pouch comprising a communication circuit, a humidity sensor configured to measure humidity of a vicinity in or around the smart pouch, and a processor configured to:   determine that a change between humidity measurements exceeds a threshold;   record an out-of-pouch event based on the change between humidity measurements; and   send the out-of-pouch event to one or more of the inhaler or an external device.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the smart pouch is packaging that the inhaler is delivered to a user prior to a first use of the inhaler by the user. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the out-of-pouch event indicates a time that the inhaler was removed from the smart pouch. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the out-of-pouch event indicates a temperature or a humidity at the time that the inhaler was removed from the smart pouch. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the inhaler is configured to generate a notification based on the out-of-pouch event. 
     
     
         6 . A system comprising:
 an inhaler comprising a communication circuit;   a smart pouch comprising a communication circuit; and   a processor configured to:
 record a total amount of time that the inhaler is outside of the smart pouch; and 
 provide a notification when the total amount of time exceeds a threshold time period. 
   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to provide the notification by way of a mobile application residing on an external device. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the communication circuit of the inhaler comprises a near field communication (NFC) communication circuit, and wherein the communication circuit of the smart pouch comprises an NFC communication circuit; and
 wherein the processor is configured to detect when the inhaler is moved out of the smart pouch using the NFC communication circuit of the inhaler and the NFC communication circuit of the smart pouch.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 a computer-readable storage medium residing on an external device, wherein, when executed, the computer-readable storage medium is configured to cause a processor of the external device to:   generate the notification when the total amount of time exceeds the threshold time period.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the notification indicates that the inhaler has expired. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the inhaler comprises the processor. 
     
     
         12 . A monitoring device for an inhaler, the monitoring device comprising:
 a humidity sensor configured to measure humidity of a vicinity in or around the monitoring device; and   a processor configured to:   determine that a change between humidity measurements exceeds a threshold;   generate an out-of-pouch event based on the change between humidity measurements, wherein the out-of-pouch event indicates that the inhaler has been removed from a pouch.   
     
     
         13 . The monitoring device of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 send the out-of-pouch event to an external device.   
     
     
         14 . The monitoring device of  claim 12 , the out-of-pouch event indicates a time that the inhaler was removed from a pouch. 
     
     
         15 . The monitoring device of  claim 12 , wherein the out-of-pouch event indicates a temperature or a humidity at the time that the inhaler was removed from a pouch. 
     
     
         16 . The monitoring device of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 receive humidity measurements from the humidity sensor periodically while the inhaler is within the pouch;   determine that a change between humidity measurements exceeds a threshold; and   generate the out-of-pouch event based on the change between humidity measurements.   
     
     
         17 . The monitoring device of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine an amount of time between the inhaler being taken out of the pouch and a first use of the inhaler based of data received from a sensor of the inhaler.   
     
     
         18 . The monitoring device of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is configured to:
 determine a total amount of time that the inhaler is out of the pouch; and   provide a notification based on the time that the inhaler is out of the pouch exceeding a threshold time period.   
     
     
         19 . The monitoring device of  claim 18 , wherein the notification indicates that the inhaler has expired. 
     
     
         20 . The monitoring device of  claim 12 , wherein the pouch is packaging that the inhaler is delivered to a user prior to a first use of the inhaler by the user.