INSULIN-DOSAGE DETECTION DEVICE

An insulin-dosage detection device is arranged on a rotation member of an insulin injection pen having an injection button. The rotation variation of the rotation member corresponds to the injection dosage of the insulin injection pen. The insulin-dosage detection device has a circuit, a detection button, and a processor. The circuit, arranged on the rotation member of the insulin injection pen, outputs electronic signals in response to rotation of the rotation member. The detection button is connected to the injection button. The rotation member of the insulin injection pen rotates in response to the detection button and the injection button being pressed. The circuit rotates along with the rotation member. The processor, coupled to the circuit, calculates the rotation variation of the rotation member according to a first electronic signal and a second electronic signal respectively output from the circuit before and after the rotation of the circuit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority of Taiwan Patent Application No. 109106667, filed on Mar. 2, 2020, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an insulin-dosage detection device, and in particular, the device detects the insulin dosage according to the variation of electronic signals.

Description of the Related Art

In terms of existing technology, after a patient uses an insulin injection pen to inject insulin on his own, the patient will often only manually record the injected dosage. Unfortunately, this manual recording method is susceptible to errors and omissions. In some cases, patients may not remember whether they have injected insulin or not, and there may be the risk of repeated injection. Therefore, how to record a patient's insulin dosage is effectively an important issue.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention provides an insulin-dosage detection device. The insulin-dosage detection device uses the variation of the electronic signals output from a circuit to automatically detect the dosage administered by an insulin injection pen, and transmits the detected data back to a medical center in order to maintain accurate recordkeeping of the patient's insulin dosage.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an insulin-dosage detection device. The insulin-dosage detection device is arranged on a rotation member of an insulin injection pen. The insulin injection pen has an injection button and the rotation member, wherein the rotation variation of the rotation member corresponds to the injection dosage of the insulin injection pen. The insulin-dosage detection device comprises a circuit, a detection button, and a processor. The circuit is connected to the rotation member of the insulin injection pen. The circuit is configured to output electronic signals in response to rotation of the rotation member. The detection button is connected to the injection button of the insulin injection pen. If the detection button is pressed, the injection button is correspondingly pressed to make the rotation member of the insulin injection pen rotate. If the rotation member of the insulin injection pen rotates, the circuit correspondingly rotates. The processor is coupled to the circuit. The processor obtains the rotation variation of the rotation structure according to first and second electronic signals output from the circuit before and after the rotation of the circuit.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the circuit generates a first voltage before the rotation of the rotation member of the insulin injection pen, and the circuit generates a second voltage after the rotation of the insulin injection pen. The processor calculates the real injection dosage according to the voltage variation between the first voltage and the second voltage.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the circuit comprises an impedance network, and a plurality of metal pad pairs coupled to the impedance network.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the insulin-dosage detection device further comprises a case and a metal contact. The case covers the circuit and the processor. The metal contact is fixed to the case. When the circuit rotates, each of the metal pad pairs can be connected to the metal contact respectively. When different one of the metal pad pairs is connected to the metal contact, the circuit can generate different voltage.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the insulin-dosage detection device further comprises a power switch. The power switch is provided for users to press or touch in order to turn on or turn off the insulin-dosage detection device.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the insulin-dosage detection device further comprises a power indictor. The power indicator is coupled to the power switch. When the insulin-dosage detection device is turned on, the power indicator glows. When the insulin-dosage detection device is turned off, the power indicator is off.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the insulin-dosage detection device further comprises a wireless communication unit. The wireless communication unit is coupled to the processor. The wireless communication unit transmits the real injection dosage calculated by the processor to a personal computer, a smartphone, or an electronic device that has a communication function.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication unit is a Bluetooth communication unit.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the insulin-dosage detection device further comprises a wireless communication unit. The wireless communication unit is coupled to the processor. The wireless communication unit transmits the real injection dosage calculated by the processor to a server of a medical center.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the wireless communication unit is a long-distance mobile communication unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following description is use to show general principles of the invention and should not serve as limitations. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an insulin-dosage detection device. The insulin-dosage detection device uses the variation of the electronic signals to detect the dosage of insulin injection pen, and transmits the detected data back to the medical center in order to solve the missing or wrong records of the patient's insulin dosage.

FIG. 1shows a schematic diagram of an insulin-dosage detection device and an insulin injection pen according to one embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 2shows a schematic assembly of the insulin-dosage detection device and the insulin injection pen according to one embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 3shows a detailed structure of the insulin-dosage detection device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In one embodiment of the present invention, an insulin-dosage detection device110detects the real injection dosage of an insulin injection pen120. The insulin injection pen at least has an injection button124and a rotation member122. The rotation variation of the rotation member122corresponds to the injection dosage of the insulin injection pen120. That is, users can adjust the injection dosage through rotating the rotation member122, for example, adjusting the insulin dosage for 5 ml or 10 ml. The higher the injection dosage is, the more the adjustment rotation variation is. After adjusting the injection dosage through rotating the rotation member122, users can press the injection button124to inject the insulin.

Referring toFIG. 2, the insulin-dosage detection device110is mounted to the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120. Referring toFIG. 1, the insulin-dosage detection device110comprises a circuit130. The circuit130comprises an impedance network160, a plurality of metal pads165-1˜165-N. The insulin-dosage detection device110further comprises a detection button140, a processor150, a case170covering the circuit130and the processor150, and a metal contact180disposed to the case170. In some embodiments, the insulin-dosage detection device110can detachably mount to the insulin injection pen120. The circuit130can be connected or embedded to the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120such that the circuit130will rotate in response to rotation of the rotation member122when the injection button124is pressed through the detection button140.

As illustrated inFIG. 2, the insulin-dosage detection device110comprises a power switch112, which is provided for users to press or touch to turn on or turn off the insulin-dosage detection device110. The insulin-dosage detection device110further comprises a power indicator114coupled to the power switch112. When the insulin-dosage detection device110is turned-on, the power indicator114glows. When the insulin-dosage detection device110is turned-off, the power indicator114is off.

In order to detect the real injection dosage of the insulin injection pen120efficiently, in the present invention, the circuit130of the insulin-dosage detection device110is connected to the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120. When the circuit130rotates along with the rotation member122, the circuit130can output different electronic signals corresponding to different rotation variations (positions or angles) of the rotation member122. The rotation variation of the rotation member122can be obtained according to two different electronic signals output from the circuit130before and after the rotation of the circuit130respectively, thereby detecting the injection dosage of the insulin injection pen120.

The detection button140of the insulin-dosage detection device110is connected to the injection button124of the insulin injection pen120. Since the detection button140is connected to the injection button124as illustrated inFIG. 2, if the detection button140is pressed, correspondingly, the injection button124is also pressed. After pressing the detection button140, the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120rotates and the insulin-injection pen120injects insulin. When the rotation member122of the insulin-injection pen120rotates, correspondingly, the circuit130of the insulin-dosage detection device110also rotates. It is noted that the case170will not rotate along with the circuit130.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the circuit130comprises an impedance network160and a plurality of metal pad pairs165-1,165-2. . . ,165-(N−1)165-N. The metal pad pairs165-1˜165-N are coupled to the impedance network160. Referring toFIG. 3, the insulin-dosage detection device110comprises the case170covering the circuit130, and the metal contact180fixed to the case170. The metal contact180is a stretchable member with elasticity. When the user presses the detection button140, correspondingly, the injection button124has also been pressed. The rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120rotates, the circuit130connected to the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120correspondingly rotates. When the circuit130rotates with respect to the case170, the metal contact180may touch each groove of the metal pad pairs (for example inFIGS. 3, 165-1 and 165-2, 165-3 and 165-4, . . . ,165-7and165-8) in sequence. When the metal contact180touches one of the metal pad pairs (for example, the metal pad pair165-1and165-2), the two metal pads165-1and165-2are electrically connected. That is, when the circuit130rotates, each of the metal pad pairs can electrically connect the metal contact180respectively.

The processor150of the insulin-dosage detection device110can be a microchip unit with computer calculating function. The processor150is coupled to the circuit130, which calculates the rotation variation of the rotation member122according to two electronic signals output from the circuit130before and after the rotation of the circuit130(and the rotation member122) respectively. In the embodiment of this present invention, the impedance of the impedance network60is changed (or adjusted) when the metal contact180touches different metal pad pairs, and whereby the circuit130can generate different electronic signals with different voltages. The variation of two different voltages output from the circuit130before and after the rotation member122rotating can response the rotation variation of the rotation member124.

In other words, for each injection, before the rotation of the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120, the circuit130generates a first voltage. After the rotation of the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120, the circuit130generates a second voltage. The processor150calculates the real injection dosage according to the voltage variation between the first voltage and the second voltage. In the following scenario, a user manually rotates the rotation member122according to the desired dosage to injection, for example, 15 milliliter, and the user does not need to record the desired injection dosage.

Next, the user configures the insulin-dosage detection device110on the top of the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120. At this time, the metal contact180touches the metal pad pairs165-1and165-2. Then, the user presses the detection button140of the insulin-dosage detection device110for the insulin injection, correspondingly, the injection button124of the insulin injection pen120is also pressed. At this time, the circuit130and the rotation member122begin to rotate and the insulin injection pen120injects insulin. The metal contact180touches the metal pad pairs165-7and165-8after the rotation of the circuit130when the injection is finished. The processor150can automatically determines how many metal pad pairs are passed when the insulin injection pen120rotates according to the variation of the first and second voltages output by the circuit130before and after the rotation of circuit module130(and the rotation member122). In the present embodiment, the processor150can know the metal contact180touches the pair of metal pads165-1and165-2in the beginning, and then in sequence touches the metal pad pairs165-3and165-4, the metal pad pairs165-5and165-6, and finally touches the metal pad pairs165-7and165-8. Since the rotation member122of the insulin injection pen120and the circuit130of the insulin-dosage detection device110are connected or mounted together, the circuit130will rotates along with the rotation member122. If the processor150detects that the metal contact180touches three metal pad pairs in sequence (through a detected voltage variation between the first and second voltages), correspondingly, the processor150will obtain the rotation variation of the rotation member122. For example, in the present embodiment, if the rotation variation is three-quarter circle, every rotation of 90 degree corresponds to 5 milliliter, and thus total rotation of 270 degree corresponds to 15 milliliter. By this way, the injection dosage of the insulin can be obtained.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the insulin-dosage detection device110further comprises a wireless communication unit190, which is coupled to the processor150. The wireless communication unit190transmits the calculated real injection dosage to a personal computer, a smartphone, or an electronic device that has a communication function. The wireless communication unit190can be a Bluetooth communication unit with short-range communication function. In other words, the processor150transmits the calculated real insulin injection dosage to an electronic device, for example a smartphone, with communication function through the Bluetooth protocol at first. Then the smartphone transmits the calculated dosage to a remote medical center in order to provide these results to the medical staffs to evaluate or monitor.

In another embodiment, the wireless communication unit190of the insulin-dosage detection device110is a long-distance mobile communication unit, for example, communication chips of 3G, 4G, or 5G technology. The calculated results are transmitted to the remote medical center in order to provide these results to the medical staffs to evaluate or monitor.

The insulin-dosage detection device of the present invention automatically detects the real insulin injection dosage of patients in order to solve the missing records or wrong records of the patient's insulin dosage efficiently. The insulin-dosage detection device can directly or indirectly transmits the real insulin injection dosage to a server of the remote medical center. The staff of hospitals can easily obtain the real insulin injection dosage of patients to do follow-up evaluations. Therefore, the medical quality can be greatly improved.