Patent Publication Number: US-10322064-B2

Title: Connected packaging

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This case is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/879,874, filed Oct. 9, 2015, which claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/062,291, filed Oct. 10, 2014 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/137,988, filed Mar. 15, 2015, each of which is incorporated by reference. This case also claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/320,234, filed Apr. 8, 2016, which is incorporated by reference. If there are any contradictions or inconsistencies in language between this application and one or more of the cases that have been incorporated by reference that might affect the interpretation of the claims in this case, the claims in this case should be interpreted to be consistent with the language in this case. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to packaging in general, and, more particularly, to smart packaging. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The term “packaging” refers to the collection of different components that surround a product from the time of its production until its use. It typically serves many purposes, often simultaneously, such as providing protection from physical damage during shipping and handling, theft deterrence, providing protection from electrical damage due to electrostatic discharge, etc., inhibiting product degradation, and the like. 
     Medical packaging, such as packaging for pharmaceutical products, etc., has additional, typically more stringent requirements. For example, in addition to the above, medical packaging must also prevent tampering, inhibit contamination, hinder microbial growth, and ensure product safety through the intended shelf life for the medicine. Still further, medicine must also typically be packaged in such a way that the packaging inhibits accidental ingestion, such as by a child, which can lead to injury or death. 
     Recent technology development has enabled the addition of a level of intelligence to many packages. So-called “smart” packages (a.k.a., “connected packaging”) include electronics that can be used to detect product removal, monitor the state of the package, and even send messages about the state of the product. Smart packaging is particularly attractive for medical packaging, where it can improve patient compliance by alerting a healthcare professional or care giver if a dose has been missed or taken too soon. In some cases, a smart package can even issue alerts to indicate product expiration, exposure to excess heat, unanticipated access to the medicine (e.g., opening by a child, etc.), and the like. 
     Medication non-compliance is a costly problem in many ways, from driving up health care costs, to financial losses to the pharmaceutical industry, to serious negative human impacts. According to Kripalani, et al., in a study entitled “Interventions to enhance medication adherence in chronic medical conditions: a systematic review,”  Archives of Internal Medicine , Vol. 167, pp. 540-550 (2007), between 20 and 50 percent of patients do not adhere to their medication regimens and, therefore, do not receive the medicine they have been prescribed. As a result of such non-compliance, it is estimated that approximately 125,000 people die each year. In addition to the human cost, non-compliance has an economic cost, leading to an estimated $564 billion annually, or 59% of the $956 billion in total global pharmaceutical revenue in 2011. 
     By including embedded monitoring systems, connected packaging can help combat adherence challenges, thereby improving drug efficacy and outcomes, among other advantages. In addition, improved patient compliance enables a caregiver to better measure the effectiveness of the prescribed medication, thereby enabling them to improve outcomes by altering or augmenting treatment. This also can enable the caregiver better target drug delivery means (e.g., tablets, liquids, inhalers, patches, etc.) and optimize or personalize the dosage prescribed. 
     In addition to enabling improved treatment of the individual patient, connected packaging enables better and more confident collection and analysis of patient data, which can benefit the drug industry and patients at-large by extending drug intellectual property, opening new markets, creating or improving drug-delivery mechanisms, shortening clinical trials due to collect a greater amount of more-relevant, higher-quality data, reducing the burdens on clinical trial patients (e.g., reduced travel, etc.), and providing real-time feedback on how a clinical trial is progressing. Still further, connected packaging promises improved medical diagnostics, which can improve opportunities for discovery of new indications for existing drugs, new candidates for drug treatment, and the like. 
     Connected drug packaging, therefore, can have positive implications for the entirety of a drug&#39;s life cycle from research through production to consumption. 
     Many medications come in a blister pack, particularly outside of the United States. A conventional medical blister-pack typically includes a formable layer, containing a plurality of tablet reservoirs, and a thin layer, referred to a lidding seal, that is attached to the formable layer to seal each tablet in its reservoir. To dispense a tablet from a blister pack, its reservoir is pushed inward, which forces the tablet through the lidding seal, thereby creating a permanent deformation of the lidding seal layer each and every time a tablet is removed. The most common blister-pack-based smart packaging approach relies on patterned electrical traces formed on the lidding seal, where a separate trace is disposed over each tablet reservoir. Electronic circuitry monitors the resistance of each trace and detects an infinite resistance for each trace that is broken. 
     Unfortunately, such conductive-trace-based approaches are limited to blister-pack-based packages while many medicines are often packaged in other ways. In fact, the most common pharmaceutical package is still the simple medicine bottle, which is used for pharmaceuticals in forms that range from liquids to loose tablets. Such packaging requires more complicated approaches for adding intelligence. For example, one prior-art approach relies on optical monitoring of tablets within a medicine bottle. The need to include active optical sources, as well as detectors, significantly increases packaging costs, however. Further, such devices are notoriously power hungry, which shortens the life of a battery used to power them. 
     A far simpler prior-art bottle-based approach employs a load-cell in a unit that holds the bottle. The load-cell provides an output signal indicative of the weight of the medicine remaining within the bottle, thereby enabling detection of a change in that amount. While simple and straight-forward, such an approach is limited to detecting only quantity of medicine and relies on the patient to return the bottle to the unit. Further, its output can be compromised by any inadvertent material that accidently winds up in contact with the bottle or the unit. 
     A smart-packaging approach that is capable, reliable, and applicable to product packaging other than blister packs would be a welcome advance for the pharmaceutical industry. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention enables tracking of a product, such as drugs, medication, foodstuffs, consumer electronics, batteries, etc., from production to consumption through connected packaging. Embodiments of the present invention are operative for wirelessly reporting medication adherence, environmental exposure (e.g., temperature), tampering, and theft. Embodiments of the present invention are particularly well suited for use with pharmaceutical products packaged in medicine bottles. 
     An embodiment of the present invention is a monitoring system that comprises a liner and associated electronics operative for imaging the content of a medicine container (i.e., medicine bottle) using electrical capacitance tomography and using a series of images of the content to monitor the state of the content over time. The liner comprises a plurality of electrodes that are arranged and interconnected so to image the three-dimensional volume of the container at high resolution. In an illustrative embodiment, the liner dimensioned and arranged such that it can be inserted into the interior of the medicine bottle to be monitored. The liner is flexible, thereby enabling it to substantially conform to the interior surface of the medicine bottle without consuming a significant portion of the interior volume of the bottle. 
     In some embodiments, the liner includes a central pedestal that comprises a plurality of electrodes. In some such embodiments, the electronics are located in or on the pedestal. 
     In some embodiments, the electrodes include a common ground. In some embodiments, the common ground is a ground plane. In some embodiments, the ground plane is dimensioned and arranged to act as a shield that mitigates electrical coupling between the electrodes and influences from outside the connected package (e.g., a hand holding the package, etc.). 
     In some embodiments, the liner is designed to accept a medicine bottle such that, when so arranged, the electrodes of the liner are located outside the medicine bottle. 
     In some embodiments, the liner is dimensioned and arranged such that it images only a portion of the volume of the medicine bottle and leaves a portion of the medicine bottle exposed so as to make printing/labeling on the medicine bottle visible. 
     In some embodiments, the liner and medicine label are integrated by forming the electrodes and traces on the back of the medicine label itself (e.g., by printing them using conductive ink, forming them via thin-film processing, etc.), thereby forming a label that is a liner that accepts a medicine bottle. 
     An embodiment of the present invention is an apparatus for monitoring a content of a chamber of a medicine bottle, the apparatus comprising: a liner that comprises a first plurality of electrodes, the liner being dimensioned and arranged to locate the plurality of electrodes such that they are electrically coupled with the content of the chamber; and electronic circuitry that is operative for (1) providing a stimulus between a first electrode and second electrode of the first plurality thereof and (2) measuring a plurality of signals at a second plurality of electrodes, wherein the first plurality of electrodes includes the first electrode, second electrode, and the second plurality of electrodes, and wherein the second plurality of electrodes excludes the first electrode and second electrode. 
     Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for monitoring a content of a chamber of a medicine bottle, the method comprising: generating a first signal at a first time such that the first signal interacts with the content; receiving a plurality of second signals at a plurality of locations that are arranged around at least a portion of the chamber, wherein each of the plurality of second signals is based on the content of the chamber at the first time and the location of the plurality thereof at which it is received; generating a first map of a first characteristic of the content based on the plurality of second signals; and determining a first quantity of the content within the chamber at the first time based on the first map. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1A-B  depict schematic drawings of cross-sectional side and top views, respectively, of a “smart” medicine bottle in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  depicts operations of a method for monitoring the content of a container via ECT in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  depicts a schematic drawing of a cross-sectional side view of a smart bottle in accordance with a first alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  depicts a schematic drawing of a cross-sectional view of an ECT medicine-imaging system in accordance with a second alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 5A-B  depict schematic drawings of cross-sectional side and top views, respectively, of a “smart” medicine bottle in accordance with a third alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  depicts a schematic drawing of cross-sectional side view of a “smart” medicine bottle in accordance with a fourth alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  depicts a schematic drawing of cross-sectional side view of a “smart” medicine bottle in accordance with a fifth alternative embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     This patent application is a continuation-in-part of parent patent application U.S. application Ser. No. 14/879,874, which discloses the application of electrical impedance tomography (EIT) to blister-pack-based packaging. 
     Blister packs are used globally for unit-dose packaging of pills, capsules, lozenges, etc. They protect medication from environmental factors such as humidity, oxidation, light, contamination, and (to some degree) tampering. In the United States, however, pills, capsules, and the like are often repackaged/dispensed at the pharmacy and delivered to the patient in a medicine bottle or similar container. Unfortunately, EIT imaging techniques cannot usually be used directly to image the content of a medicine bottle because it typically comprises dielectric materials (i.e., electrically nonconductive tablets, liquids, air, etc.). 
     It is an aspect of the present invention, however, that a variation of the EIT technique, referred to as Electrical Capacitance Tomography (ECT) is well suited for imaging content comprising dielectric material, such as tablets, air, medicinal liquids, gels, and the like, and can be employed to image the content of medicine bottles (as well as other non-pharmaceutical packages) even when that content is dielectric in nature. 
     Embodiments of the present invention are afforded significant advantages over connected-packaging systems of the prior art because the present invention does not require disruption of conventional pharmaceutical package manufacturing processes, which are well established. Over the years, there has been tremendous capital investment made toward improving and advancing these processes, and they are considered substantially optimized. Connected-packaging solutions that require modification of the current package manufacturing processes would be, therefore, less attractive and likely met with resistance by the pharmaceutical packaging industry. 
     The present invention is directed, in part, to connected-packaging solutions for pharmaceuticals, with a focus on medicine containers comprising medicine bottles. For the purposes of this Specification, including the appended claims, the term “medicine bottle” is defined to mean any and all variety of vessels comprising a chamber suitable for containing medication. It should be noted, however, that embodiments of the present invention can be directed to myriad applications, including non-pharmaceutical-packaging applications. 
       FIGS. 1A-B  depict schematic drawings of cross-sectional side and top views, respectively, of a “smart” medicine bottle in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1B  depicts a cross-sectional view through line a-a as indicated in  FIG. 1A . Smart bottle  100  is a connected-packaging container for holding content  102  and protecting it from environmental damage, tampering, and the like. Smart bottle  100  includes medicine bottle  104  and liner  106 . 
     Content  102  is a plurality of tablets comprising compressed-powder that includes medicine. For the purposes of this Specification, including the appended claims, the term “content” is used to represent any form pharmaceutical product including, without limitation, tablets, pills, capsules, gel-caps, powder, fluids, gels, and the like. In the depicted example, the content of the chamber of medicine bottle  104  includes tablets and air, both of which comprise dielectric materials. One skilled in the art will recognize, after reading this Specification, that pills, for example, are normally made of substantially dry power, which is a material suitable for ECT imaging as disclosed herein. In similar fashion, gel capsules comprise fluids contained within gelatin-based shells that are typically made from dielectric materials. The fluids are also often dielectric, but can still be imaged by ECT even if they have finite conductivity. It should be noted that when medicine bottle  104  includes contents that are a conductive fluid, EIT imaging techniques, such as those described in the parent application (i.e., U.S. application Ser. No. 14/879,874) and its incorporated references, can be used to image the fluid. In such embodiments, electrodes  116  would be exposed so that they can be in electrical contact with the fluid. 
     Medicine bottle  104  is a conventional medical bottle comprising body  108  and cap  110 , each of which is made of a pharmaceutical-produced-compatible polymer material, such as medical-grade plastic. Body  108  is formed such that it defines chamber  122 , which is an interior volume suitable for holding content  102 . In some embodiments, at least one of body  108  and cap  110  comprises a different material, such as glass, metal, composite materials, and the like. It should be noted that medicine bottle  104  is merely one example of myriad types of common pharmaceutical containers suitable for use with the present invention. 
     Liner  106  is an electrically active lining that is dimensioned and arranged to fit in medicine bottle  104 . Liner  106  includes liner wall  112 , base  114 , electrodes  116 - 1  through  116 -N, and electronics  118 . Liner  106  is typically formed using conventional flexible-electronics manufacturing methods. 
     Liner wall  112  and base  114  are formed from a solid sheet of flexible material suitable for use with pharmaceutical compounds. Materials suitable for liner wall  112  and base  114  include, without limitation, thermoplastic polymers, such as Polypropylene, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), etc., and the like. In some embodiments, liner wall  112  and base  114  are formed separately and joined afterward. 
     Each of electrodes  116 - 1  through  116 -N (electrodes  116 - i , where 1≤i≤N and N is any practical number—referred to, collectively, as electrodes  116 ) is a thin-film electrode embedded within liner  106 . Electrodes  116  are distributed along liner wall  112  and across base  114 . Materials suitable for use in electrodes  116  include, without limitation, metals, conductive inks, conductive polymers, conductive paints, etc. Electrodes  116  are arranged within liner wall  112  such that they are electrically coupled with the content of chamber  122 . For the purposes of this Specification, including the appended claims, the term “electrically coupled” is defined to mean that an electrical signal generated or received by one or more electrodes is based on an interaction of the electrical signal with the content of the chamber. In the depicted example, electrodes  116  are distributed about the circumference and along the height of chamber  122  after liner  106  is inserted into the bottle. As a result, electrodes  116  are operative for imaging radial cross-sections of the interior of the medicine bottle, where the cross-sections collectively image the height of the medicine bottle interior. 
     In some embodiments, electrodes  116  and/or electronics  118  are fabricated on at least one of the inner and outer surfaces of liner  106 . When disposed on the inner wall of the liner, however, the electrode (and electronics) material must be compatible with the medication and sanitization processes (where necessary). When disposed on the outer wall surface, the electrode (and electronics) material must be durable so as to withstand damage due to wear and corrosion. 
     In some embodiments, electronic components (e.g., chips, resistors, capacitors, etc.) are mounted on a surface of the liner, in analogous fashion to mounting them on a printed circuit board. As a result, electronics provisions can be integrated onto/into the liner in locations that do not already incorporate electrodes/interconnects. 
     In some embodiments, base  114  does not include electrodes  116 ; however, the inclusion of electrodes in the bottom of liner  106  provides for additional spatial imaging that can add detail when content  102  includes only a small amount of medication, such as when the dispensed medication is nearly gone or when there is only a small amount dispensed. These electrodes can also be used to determine the size of an individual pill, since even a single pill would rest on the bottom of the bottle. 
     It should be noted that the resolution of the imaging of the interior volume of medicine bottle  104  generally depends on the number, size, density and positioning of electrodes  116  for a given content and bottle size/shape. These parameters can be optimized to sense/count the number of individual tablets in chamber  122  or simply monitor the overall volume occupied by content  102  inside the chamber. In some embodiments, the number, size, density and positioning of electrodes  116  is based on a particular application objective. For example, if it is only necessary to determine when a refill is approaching or when the medication is exhausted, electrodes are only necessary in the bottom one-third portion medicine bottle  104 . In such cases, the height of liner  106  might be only one-third of the height of the interior volume of the bottle, or electrodes  116  might only populate the bottom one-third of a liner wall that extends along the full height of the bottle interior. In embodiments wherein it is desirable to be able to determine the size of an individual pill, preferably, the electrodes located on the bottom of liner  106  are small and numerous such that they form a dense electrode arrangement. In embodiments wherein it is desirable to image and/or count the number of pills coming out of the bottle, preferably, the electrodes near the top/lip of the liner  106  are small and numerous such that they form a dense electrode arrangement. One skilled in the art will recognize, after reading this Specification, there myriad permutations of liner configuration are within the scope of the present invention. 
     In some embodiments, liner  106  is reusable, which, in some cases, requires that liner wall  112  be cleanable. 
     It should be noted that, in the depicted example, the interior wall of body  108  and liner  106  are separated by a nominal gap for drawing clarity. Preferably, however, liner  106  fits snugly against the interior wall of the body (i.e., there is minimal or no gap between them). Further, liners that are dimensioned and arranged to be inserted into a medicine bottle, such as liner  106 , are preferably used with medicine bottles having an opening and neck region that is at least as wide as its main body region (such as medicine bottle  104 ) so that the liner can easily be inserted into the bottle. 
     It should be further noted that interconnect traces to the electrodes are also typically included in liner  106  (not shown for drawing simplicity). These interconnects are normally fabricated from the same conductive material layer as the electrodes, or fashioned from multiple conductive material levels through the thickness of liner wall  112 . The manner in which the interconnect traces and electrodes are fabricated is based upon real estate restrictions imposed by the electrode layout. For the purposes of this Specification, the term “electrodes  116 ” is intended to encompass the requisite electrical interconnects between electrodes  116  and electronics  118 . 
     Electronics  118  includes electronic circuitry and/or electronic modules for enabling ECT imaging, wireless communication to and from smart bottle  100 , a processor for performing data and/or image processing necessary for generating a permittivity distribution within medicine bottle  104  and determining the amount of content  102 , and a memory cell for storing data, such as the number of tablets, patient history, chronology of medication events, and the like. In some embodiments, at least some of data/image processing and data storage is done at a system external to electronics  118 , such as a cellphone or computer system accessible by a caregiver, the patient, a pharmacy, a medical practitioner, and the like. In the depicted example, electronics  118  are embedded in the bottom portion of medicine bottle  104 ; however, in some embodiments, electronics  118  are located in another suitable place on liner  106 . Typically, electronics  118  also includes modules for signal processing/computation, memory and power (e.g., inductive, battery, ultrasonic, etc.). In some embodiments, an antenna is included in electronics  118  to enable wireless connectivity. In some embodiments, an antenna is formed in liner wall  112  during the formation of electrodes  116 . In some embodiments, electronics  118  includes local memory, in which this data is stored. 
     In some embodiments, electronics  118  includes additional modules for sensing motion and/or touch, removal of cap  110 , bottle orientation, and the like. For example, in some embodiments, motion- and/or touch sensing capability is used to extend battery life by energizing a wake-up circuit that enables ECT imaging only when the medicine bottle has been moved. Further, in some embodiments, predictive algorithms are employed with motion sensing to detect when the medicine bottle is opened and/or the orientation of the medicine bottle. Such additional information facilitates and/or augments the use of ECT to monitor medication-dispensing events. 
     It is preferable, although not required, that smart bottle  100  is untethered so that its use does not inconvenience the patient or caregiver. As a result, in the depicted example, the requisite electrical sensing and communication provisions are wireless and the medicine bottle is “self-reporting”. The choice of wireless protocol is dominated primarily by power and cost requirements. Broadband/cellular communication is typically most preferable since it does not require a local/short-range gateway to connect to the network; however, it is also the most taxing in terms of power and cost. In some embodiments, short-range wireless protocols (e.g., Blue Tooth Low-Power, Near Field Communication, Inductive Coupling, etc.) are used to communicate with a local gateway (e.g., patient&#39;s or caregiver&#39;s cell phone, custom gateway, etc.); however, such embodiments require that smart bottle  100  be located near the gateway. 
     In addition, low-power-consumption electronics are preferable to mitigate the need for on-board power. A power source in, or on, liner  106  is desirable for self-reporting. Minimizing power consumption also enables smaller batteries (both planar and height profiles), including perhaps thin film batteries. Batteries that can be recharged inductively would be convenient/advantageous, particularly if extended use or reuse of the liner is intended. 
     One skilled in the art will recognize, after reading this Specification, that, because electrodes  116  are located within medicine bottle  104 , body  108  can be made of dielectric materials, non-dielectric materials (i.e., electrically conducting materials, such as metals, etc.), or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, however, it is desirable to locate electrodes  116  in a receptacle that accepts medicine bottle  104 , such that the electrodes are located outside body  108 , as discussed below and with respect to  FIGS. 5-7 . In such embodiments, body  108  must be made of dielectric material in order to enable ECT imaging of content of medicine bottle  104 . One skilled in the art will recognize that, in embodiments wherein body  108  is electrically conductive, data transmission to/from electrodes  116  is typically only possible when the bottle is open. 
       FIG. 2  depicts operations of a method for monitoring the content of a container via ECT in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Method  200  monitors the content of medicine bottle  104  by creating a map of the relative permittivity distribution throughout its interior volume and tracking any changes to that distribution. 
     It should be noted that ECT is fundamentally different from capacitive sensing between electrode pairs, such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,754,769. In capacitive sensing, a stimulus (e.g., current) is applied across a pair of electrodes, and a response (e.g., voltage) is measured across the same pair of electrodes. This stimulus/response measurement indicates an aggregate (or effective) permittivity between the two electrodes. 
     ECT, in contrast, determines the distribution of the content of a vessel by measuring the related permittivity distribution through the volume of the vessel. ECT is most successful when applied to materials of low electrical conductivity. The requisite capacitance measurements are achieved by using a plurality of conductive electrodes that surround the volume to be imaged, as depicted in  FIGS. 1A-B . In one implementation, a cross section to be imaged is surrounded by one or more circumferential sets of electrodes and the electrical capacitances between all combinations of the electrodes within each set are measured. This information is then used to construct an image of the content of the cross section of the vessel enclosed by the electrodes, based on variations in the permittivity of the material inside the vessel. 
     Method  200  begins with optional operation  201 , wherein an initial state of medicine bottle  104  is established. The initial state is established at time t(0), which is typically the time at which the medication is dispensed. In some embodiments, the initial state is established by simply storing a tablet count in the memory module of electronics  118 . In some embodiments, the initial state is established via an ECT procedure, as discussed below and with respect to operations  203  through  205 . 
     At operation  202 , electronics  118  monitors date and time. 
     At operation  203 , for k=1 through P, a stimulus is issued to electronics  118  at time t(k) to initiate an interrogation of the volume of medicine bottle  104 . In the depicted example, the stimulus is an alarm generated by electronics  118  at a time that is based on the dosage schedule for content  102 . In some embodiments, the stimulus is generated at a time that is delayed slightly from the time at which a scheduled dose is due. In some embodiments, the stimulus is generated by another factor, such as motion of medicine bottle  104 , detection of the removal of cap  110 , receipt of a signal from an external source, such as a cell phone, monitoring system accessible to a caregiver, medical practitioner, etc., and the like. 
     It should be noted that the value of P is typically based on the medication regimen associated with content  102 . For example, in the depicted example, P is equal to the number of tablets initially contained in medicine bottle  104 . In some embodiments, P is equal to the number of days over which the medication is supposed to be taken. In some embodiments, P is equal to another factor associated with the medicine regimen. 
     At operation  204 , a map of the permittivity distribution within the volume of medicine bottle  104  is generated at time t(k). The map of permittivity is developed by applying an electronic stimulus (in the depicted example, AC current) between each pair of electrodes in the set of electrodes  116  and measuring an electrical response (in the depicted example, AC voltage) at each other electrode in the set. For example, for each of i=1 through N and j=1 through N, where i and j are not equal, an AC current is applied between electrodes  116 - i  and  116 - j  and an AC voltage is measured at each of the other electrodes in the set. In other words, the stimulus/response is measured for all combinations of electrode pairs in the set of electrodes  116 . In some embodiments, the stimulus is an AC voltage and the measured response is an AC current. In yet other embodiments, a stimulus other than voltage or current is applied between electrodes  116 - i  and  116 - j  and a response other than current or voltage is measured at each of the other electrodes. One skilled in the art will recognize, after reading this Specification, that myriad strategies for stimulating and measuring electrical response at electrodes  116  are within the scope of the present invention. Examples of stimulation/measurement strategies applicable for EIT and ECT modelling in accordance with the present invention are described by Silva, et al., in “Influence of current injection pattern and electric potential measurement strategies in electrical impedance tomography,”  Control Engineering Practice  (2016), as well as by Y. Yao, in “Wearable Sensor Scanner using Electrical Impedance Tomography,”  PhD Thesis , University of Bath (2012), each of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     In some embodiments, electrodes  116  include a common ground from which the potential at each electrode measured is referenced. In some embodiments, this common ground is a ground plane. In some embodiments, the ground plane also acts as a shield to mitigate external influence on the measured electrical response at each electrode. For example, one skilled in the art will recognize, after reading this Specification, that a hand grasping a medicine bottle will perturb the measurements at the electrodes due to coupled capacitance. A ground plane that acts as a shield between the electrodes and the hand would mitigate such effects, however. In some embodiments, one or more of electrodes  116  comprise configurations that incorporate shielding lines as described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/320,234, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     At operation  205 , the distribution of content  102  within chamber  122  is determined based upon the permittivity distribution map at t(k). In the depicted example, the distribution of the content indicates the number and types of tablets contained in medicine bottle  104 . 
     It should be noted that the dielectric constant of an individual tablet is based on its chemical makeup. As a result, the type of medication, dosage level, pill shape, and the like, affect the capacitance of each tablet. It is an aspect of the present invention, therefore, that the use of ECT can provide an indication of the types of tablets within chamber  122 , as well as the number of each type. As a result, the present invention enables, for example, determination of whether the bottle contains the correct medication or if an incorrect tablet or fluid has been used. It even enables detection that one or more improper tablets have been accidently included along with the correct tablets. This is in marked contrast to capacitive sensing, which can only measure an aggregate permittivity between the two electrodes and affords embodiments of the present invention with significant advantages over prior-art capacitive-sensing methods. 
     At operation  206 , the quantity of content  102  (i.e., the number and type of tablets) is determined from their distribution within chamber  122 . It should be noted that electromagnetic and mathematical modeling techniques applicable to ECT imaging are well established and widely used in many industrial applications, for example, measuring the flow of fluids inside a pipe, concentration of one fluid in another or distribution of a solid in a fluid. 
     At operation  207 , the quantity of content  124  at time t(k), as well as the time and date of time t(k) are stored in memory. In some embodiments, this data is transmitted to an external memory system, such as a cellphone or monitoring system accessible by a caregiver, the patient, a pharmacy, a medical practitioner, and the like. 
     At operation  208 , electronics  118  compares the quantity of content  102  (i.e., the number of tablets) at time t(k) to the quantity of content  102  determined at time t(k−1). 
     At operation  209 , electronics  118  generates output signal  120 ( k ), which is indicative of the state of smart bottle  100 , typically denoting the correct amount of content  102  has been dispensed as scheduled, how much content was dispensed, the date and time at which the content was dispensed, and the like. In some embodiments, output signal  120 ( k ) includes additional information, such as any anomalies in the environmental conditions to which smart bottle  100  was subjected, etc., a warning that the medication is nearly or entirely exhausted, a prompt for refilling the prescription for the medication, an identification code, the geographical location of smart bottle  100 , and the like. 
     In some embodiments, electronics  118  transmits an alarm in response to an unexpected stimuli, such as exposure to a temperature or humidity extreme, excessive shock, unscheduled access to medicine bottle  104 , which might indicate unauthorized access such as tampering, ingestion by a child, etc. 
     It should also be noted that, although the illustrative embodiment described above is directed to ECT imaging techniques, other imaging techniques, such as acoustic imaging, are also within the scope of the present invention. In acoustic-imaging-based embodiments, electrodes  116  (excluding interconnects) are replaced with a composite layer stack of thin-film conductor/piezoelectric/conductor materials to enable generation of acoustic waves and their detection after reflection from content  102 , where the reflection of the acoustic waves is based on the distribution of acoustic impedance within the content. Suitable piezoelectric materials would include, without limitation, polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), lead-zirconate titanate (PZT), zinc oxide (ZnO) and the like. PVDF is particularly attractive due to the fact that it is a strongly non-reactive and pure thermoplastic fluoropolymer derived from polymerization of vinylidene difluoride. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a schematic drawing of a cross-sectional side view of a smart bottle in accordance with a first alternative embodiment of the present invention. Smart bottle  300  comprises medicine bottle  104  and liner  302 . Smart bottle  300  is well suited for applications that require high-resolution imaging, such as when content  102  includes a large number of small tablets. System  300  is analogous to system  200 ; however, liner  302  incorporates central pedestal  304  to enable a greater number of electrodes and, therefore, improved image resolution. 
     Liner  302  is analogous to liner  106 , as described above; however, liner  302  also includes pedestal  304 , which enable the inclusion of more electrodes  116  and, therefore, improved image resolution. 
     It should be noted that the area of liner wall  112  (and, therefore, the number of electrodes  116 ) can be increased in myriad ways, such as by additional internally protruding features having any of a multiplicity of shapes, which are distributed strategically in the liner. In some embodiments, sub-volumes are created within the overall volume of the liner, thereby increasing the area of liner wall  112  and reducing imaging volume size. In some embodiments, the sub-volumes are designed to trap an individual tablet in order to measure its size independently. In such embodiments, it is possible that dead space can result. In some embodiments, electronics  118  are located within one of these sub-volumes, which represent dead-space regions. 
       FIG. 4  depicts a schematic drawing of a cross-sectional view of an ECT medicine-imaging system in accordance with a second alternative embodiment of the present invention. Smart bottle  400  is analogous to smart bottle  300 ; however, in smart bottle  400 , liner  402  includes dead-space region  404  within pedestal  304 , in which is located electronics  118 . 
       FIGS. 5A-B  depict schematic drawings of cross-sectional side and top views, respectively, of a “smart” medicine bottle in accordance with a third alternative embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 5B  depicts a cross-sectional view through line b-b as indicated in  FIG. 5A . Smart bottle  500  comprises liner  502  and medicine bottle  504 . Smart bottle  500  is analogous to system  100 ; however, in system  500 , electrodes  116  are located outside medicine bottle  504  when the bottle and liner are operatively coupled. 
     Medicine bottle  504  is analogous to medicine bottle  104  described above and with respect to  FIGS. 1A-B ; however, medicine bottle  504  has a neck region that is narrower than the remainder of its body. 
     Liner  502  is analogous to liner  106  described above; however, liner  502  is dimensioned and arranged to operate as a receptacle for locating medicine bottle  504  such that chamber  122  is surrounded by electrodes  116 . Liner  502  includes wall  506 , base  508 , electrodes  116 , and electronics  118 . 
     Typically, wall  506  and base  508  comprise a substantially rigid dielectric material, such as medical grade plastic, glass, and the like. Wall  506  and base  508  collectively define reservoir  510 , which is open at its upper end to enable it to receive medicine bottle  504 . In some embodiments, at least wall  506  comprises a flexible dielectric material such that liner  502  can substantially conform to the outer surface of body  108  (e.g., a plastic or paper label). In some embodiments, liner  502  is dimensioned and arranged to receive a medicine bottle having a different shape, such as medicine bottle  104 , and the like. 
     In some embodiments, liner  502  is dimensioned and arranged to provide additional assurance of attachment robustness to medicine bottle  104  for the duration of use by forming it from a material having a degree of elastomeric property. In some embodiments, an additional layer of elastomer material is disposed on the interior surface of liner  502  to provide higher friction and better grip to the medicine bottle. 
     Smart bottle  500  enables the filling of medicine bottle  104  with content  102  prior to being placed into liner  502 . This affords such embodiments significant advantages, including:
         easier sanitization for reuse because contact between the medicine and the liner is avoided; and   use with medicine bottles having a shape that does not lend itself to insertion of an inside liner, such as a medicine bottle having a body that is wider than its neck region, such as medicine bottle  504 .       

     It should be noted, however, that liner  502  can interfere with the visibility of information printed on a label that is often affixed to the outer surface of a medicine bottle. In some embodiments, therefore, the layout of electrodes  116  is arranged such that a region of medicine bottle  104  is left visible. In some embodiments, the printed label is placed on the receptacle instead of the medicine bottle. In some embodiments, receptacle  502  includes a substantially clear region that magnifies the surface of medicine bottle  104  when it is placed into the receptacle, thereby making it easier to read printed information on the medicine bottle. 
       FIG. 6  depicts a schematic drawing of cross-sectional side view of a “smart” medicine bottle in accordance with a fourth alternative embodiment of the present invention. Smart bottle  600  is analogous to smart bottle  500 ; however, liner  602  has a reduced height such that it surrounds only a lower portion of medicine bottle  504 . As a result, label portion  604 , located on the exterior surface of medicine bottle  504 , is exposed and readable by the patient, caregiver, etc. 
       FIG. 7  depicts a schematic drawing of cross-sectional side view of a “smart” medicine bottle in accordance with a fifth alternative embodiment of the present invention. Smart bottle  700  is analogous to smart bottle  500 ; however, liner  702  includes only base  114 , upon which medicine bottle  504  rests. 
     It should be noted that even though each of the embodiments disclosed above comprise a liner that is distinct from the medicine bottle, in some embodiments, a liner is integrated with the medicine bottle to form a unitary body. In other words, in some embodiments, electrodes  116  and electronics  118  are integrated into the wall of the body of the medicine bottle. Although such embodiments benefit from the same features and capabilities of the liners described above, such integration would require a change to the manufacturing process of the medicine bottle to add the requisite process steps for fabrication. In some embodiments, a liner in accordance with the present invention is fused to the medicine bottle after each has been separately fabricated. By integrating the liner and the medicine bottle, the chain of custody of a medication is enabled, authentic and counterfeit medication can be differentiated, and theft is made more difficult. 
     It is to be understood that the disclosure teaches just one example of the illustrative embodiment and that many variations of the invention can easily be devised by those skilled in the art after reading this disclosure and that the scope of the present invention is to be determined by the following claims.