Patent ID: 7820108

Claim:
A method to determine whether a patient has taken a medication, comprising providing to a patient a medication comprising a combination of at least one active therapeutic agent and an odorous compound or olfactory marker, which is not chemically part of the active therapeutic agent itself, detectable in gaseous exhaled breath, the combination to be taken by the patient as a result of the patient's own actions; obtaining a sample of the patient's gaseous exhaled breath; analyzing the sample of the patient's breath utilizing an electronic nose to detect said odorous compound or olfactory marker detectable in gaseous exhaled breath to ascertain the presence or absence of said marker in the patient's breath, where the presence of the odorous compound or marker is an indication that the patient has taken the medication at a prescribed time and in a prescribed dosage and the absence of the odorous compound or marker is an indication that the patient has not taken the medication at all or at a prescribed time or in a prescribed dosage; wherein the medication is to be taken by volitional patient action at specified times and in prescribed dosage; and, based on the analysis, determining whether the patient has taken the medication or not at a prescribed time or in a prescribed dosage.