Patent Document ID: 9892316
Application ID: 15605695
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for confirming ingestion of a medication pill by a patient, comprising: providing to a patient one or more instructions encouraging proper administration of a medication pill; receiving one or more images by a camera associated with a computing apparatus of a patient ingesting a medication pill that is visible to the camera response to the one or more instructions; performing a foreground detection process on the one or more images to determine a hand-pill-hand region by the computing apparatus; performing image segmentation on the hand-pill-hand region to separate the determined hand portion of the hand-pill-hand region from the pill portion thereof by the computing apparatus; providing to the patient, in response to a difficulty in performing image segmentation, and in response to the output of a proximity detector associated with the computing device, one or more instructions to bring the medication pill closer to the camera; confirming the identity of the pill portion by comparing one or more characteristics of the pill portion to one or more corresponding characteristics of one or more reference images stored to a recording medium associated with the computing apparatus, thereby confirming an expected pill in the hand of the patient; performing a further foreground detection process on the one or more images to determine a pill positioned in a patient's mouth by recognizing the pill portion surrounded by an unbroken ring of color corresponding to the inner portion of the mouth of the patient by the computing apparatus; wherein upon confirmation of the expected pill in the hand of the patient and the expected pill in the mouth of the patient, medication administration is confirmed; and providing by the computing apparatus an indication of the confirmation of the medication administration.