REMINDER PROGRAMMING DEVICE AND METHOD
The present invention generally relates to electronically controlled systems and devices al-lowing event related information to be stored and used to remind a user of an action to be performed. In a specific embodiment the invention relates to a medical delivery device in combination with a user operated interface taking a dose of a given drug or perform an ac-tion  however  the different aspects of the present invention is applicable for all types of de-vices or systems in which a customized reminder function would be desirable. In an exem-plary embodiment the invention is embodied in a pen-formed drug delivery device  however  the invention may be used in many other types of devices  e.g. medical aerosol inhalers  tab-let dispensing devices and blood glucose meters etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the disclosure of the present invention reference is mostly made to the treatment of diabe-tes by injection of insulin  however  this is only an exemplary use of the present invention.

Lack of substantial patient compliance with established dosage intervals has long been rec-ognized as a major problem in treating illness. Typically in treating a patient  a physician will desire the patient to take a needed drug on a specific schedule. The prescribed (or over-the-counter) medicine is usually obtained from a pharmacist  or the doctor himself  with the actual administration of the drug left to the sole control of the patient. However  even a well-meaning and conscientious patient may frequently fail to take medication at the desired dosage intervals. This may be true even if the medication is carried at all times with the patient.

Potential ill effects of lack of compliance with the desired dosage interval may be further compounded if the patient attempts to compensate for missed dosages by taking an in-creased dose at a later time. Alternatively  the patient may stop taking the medication alto-gether. Improper dosage may occur whenever the patient has a marginally impaired memory and may not precisely recall taking the medication or correctly judge how much time has elapsed since medicine was last taken.

Patients with diseases  specifically diabetes  which require regular and systematic self man-aged treatment regimes  are thus facing the challenge of remembering when to take their medication. Since such regimes can prescribe daily to weekly medication  which furthermore have to be personalised to accommodate the routines of the patient  e.g. meal times  working hours etc. Often patients develop individual  home-brewed  systems to remind them to take their medication.

As substantial non-compliance with a desired medication regimen is a major concern  the above problems have been addressed by a number of compliance aid devices which are adapted to provide an alarm or reminder in case a patient does not comply with a pro-grammed schedule for taking a given dose of medicine.

For example  US 2007/0220754 discloses an electronically controlled pill bottle holder which can be programmed by the user to serve as a reminder when the pill bottle is not removed from the apparatus according to the programmed schedule. US 7 170 823 discloses a medi-cal dispenser in which the alarm functionality has been integrated into the dispenser. In a specific embodiment the dispenser is in the form of a pen device for subcutaneous injections of a drug  e.g. a diabetes drug or growth hormone  the pen comprising a main portion with a drug reservoir and a dosing mechanism as well as a cap portion comprising the electronic means for providing the alarm functionality.

WO 99/43283 discloses a pen device which can be programmed with two reminders by ac-tuating a programming button which has to be operated in order to program the reminders.

When properly programmed these devices serve well to remind a patient that it is time to take his or her medication (or confirm that a given dose was taken or not taken)  however  for many patients it may be an obstacle to properly program the device for which reason this type of compliance aid is never put in use despite the fact that it may well be very useful for a given patient when the initial difficulties of programming the device have been overcome. Such difficulty is often related to the ability to understand a complex user interface  when at-tempting to program a personalised reminder scheme.

Having regard to the above  it is an object of the present invention to provide an easy under-standable and intuitive reminder programming functionality for an electronically controlled device. It is a further object to provide a user interface and device which can be realized in a simple and cost-effective manner.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In the disclosure of the present invention  embodiments and aspects will be described which will address one or more of the above objects or which will address objects apparent from the below disclosure as well as from the description of exemplary embodiments.

Thus  in a first aspect an electronically controlled device is provided  the device comprising processor means having an operational mode in which reminders can be generated  the pro-cessor means being adapted to be set in a programming mode by a user  perform a user-actuated operation  and detect when a user-actuated operation is performed. When in pro-gramming mode the device is adapted to record and set reminders in accordance with a de-tected time pattern of operation(s) of the device  wherein the programming mode is activated for a pre-determined number of operations or for a pre-determined period of time  after which the device automatically returns to the operational mode in which it provides reminders to the user based on the recorded time pattern of operations. As appears  normal use of the device provides automatic programming of the reminder scheme  the only “extra” operation left to the user is to bring the device into programming mode. Especially  the user no longer has to leave the programming mode as this function is provided automatically in accordance with the set-up of the device  this in contrast to known devices which requires specific and addi-tional user-operations to program reminders.

The present invention may be embodied in a number of different devices in which it is rele-vant to set and provide reminders  e.g. drug delivery devices  medical aerosol inhalers  tablet dispensing devices and blood glucose meters etc. Depending on the type of device and the functionality provided by the device  the kind of user-actuated operation will vary. For exam-ple  the operation may be associated with the simple task of “starting” the device  e.g. taking off a cap  flipping a cap or actuating an on-button. Alternatively  the operation may be asso-ciated by “real” use of the device  e.g. setting a dose of drug  expelling a dose of drug  or de-termining a BG value.

In the context of the present application and as used in the specification and claims  the term electronically controlled device indicates that the device is provided with processor means which may be in the form of any combination of electronic circuitry suitable for providing the specified functionality  e.g. processing data and controlling memory as well as all connected input and output devices. The processor will typically comprise one or more CPUs or micro-processors which may be supplemented by additional devices for support or control func-tions. Each of the components making up the processor circuitry may be special purpose or general purpose devices.

In exemplary embodiments the device is a drug delivery or drug dispensing device and the user-actuated operation is related to administration of a dose of a drug. The device may comprise a main portion with a drug reservoir and a drug administration mechanism  a cover portion releasably coupled to the main portion  and contact means arranged to detect when the cover is operated  such that the user-actuated operation is provided by operating the cover and actuating the contact means. The operation may e.g. be between a closed and an open state  between a closed and an open state  or between a locked and an un-locked state. The cover could e.g. be opened by a pivoting or sliding relative movement between the main portion and the cover  or the cover could be fully removable from the main portion. The user-actuated operation could also be the setting or expelling of a dose of drug. In a specific embodiment the user-actuated operation is the removal of a drug container from the main portion of the device.

Depending on the type of the device the electronic means for setting the reminders and de-tecting user-actuated operations could be arranged in different parts of the device. For ex-ample  for a mechanical device without “inherent” electronic means the electronic means for the reminder functionality could be located in a cover. In this way a basically mechanical de-vice could be up-graded with reminder functionality in a simple and cost-effective way. On the other hand  if electronic means is already provided for other reasons  then the reminder functionality may be realized by utilizing these electronic means. For example  some drug in-jection devices are provided with an electronic display and/or memory  e.g. OptiClik ™ from Aventis and HumaPen ® Memoir ™ from Lilly. Indeed  if the device is adapted to cooperate with a drug container like e.g. a tablet bottle then the electronic means will be located in the bottle receiving device.

Depending on the type of drug and the corresponding treatment regimen for a given patient the device may be set up to register a specific type of regimen. For example  the program-ming mode may be active to detect a single user-actuated operation at a given time of the day  whereby a daily reminder is provided at the detected given time of the day. This kind of functionality would for example be relevant for a diabetes drug which is to be taken once dai-ly  e.g. Levemir ® or Victoza ® from Novo Nordisk. However  based on a single operation a week period a pre-programmed pattern of non-daily reminders could be provided at the de-tected given time of the day. For example  if a drug is to be taken three times per week oper-ating the device on a Monday would automatically set reminders for Monday  Wednesday and Friday. Alternatively  the programming mode may be active to detect a number of user-actuated operations at given times of the day for a period of 24 hours  whereby daily remind-ers are provided corresponding to the detected given times of the day. This kind of function-ality would for example be relevant for a diabetes drug which is to be taken e.g. three times daily in relation to a meal  e.g. NovoRapid ® or NovoMix ® from Novo Nordisk.

To avoid that the user has to set a clock  the reminders may be controlled by a non-real time clock  e.g. the clock may be a 24 hours clock which starts to run when the device is switched on for the first time or whenever the device is brought into programming mode. A given re-minder may be muted when the corresponding user-actuated operation is performed within a pre-defined window of time in respect of the given reminder time. For example  if a reminder would sound at 8:00 corresponding to a breakfast meal then actuation of the device between 7:30 and 8:00 would cancel the 8:00 reminder. The reminder may be one of an acoustic  vis-ual or tactile signal or a combination thereof.

To provide a simple and in-expensive device the means for detecting the user-actuated op-eration may also be used to bring the device into its programming mode. For example  the user may operate the device a number of times within a short period  e.g. the user may take off and put on a pen cap X times within Y seconds. To confirm that the device is now in its programming mode and all previous programming  if any  has been deleted the signal emitter may produce a special signal. In the same way  when the device automatically leaves the programming mode another signal may be used.

In the context of the present application and as used in the specification and claim  the term electronic means covers any combination of electronic circuitry suitable for providing the specified functionality  e.g. processing input data and controlling memory as well as all con-nected input and output devices. The electronic means may typically comprise one or more CPUs or microprocessors which may be supplemented by additional devices for support or control functions. For example  the sensor and output signal driver may be fully or partly in-tegrated with the processor  or may be provided by individual units. Each of the components making up a processor circuitry may be special purpose or general purpose devices. A sen-sor for detecting when a user-actuated operation is performed may comprise a “sensor” per se  e.g. in the form of an electrical contact  or an optical or magnetic sensor capable of being influenced by the position of the other unit and adapted to produce a signal which can be recognized and processed by a processor. However  the sensor may also comprise or be associated with circuitry which detects and modifies a signal from a sensor per se before it is sent to the processor. Such circuitry may be formed integrally with a processor.

In a further aspect of the invention a method for programming reminders in an electronically controlled device is provided  comprising the steps of (a) providing an electronically controlled device having an operational mode in which reminders can be generated  the device being adapted to (i) be set in a programming mode by a user  (ii) to perform a user-actuated operation  (iii) detect when a user-actuated operation is performed  (iv) when in programming mode  record and set reminders in accordance with a detected pattern of operations of the device  the programming mode being activated for a pre-determined number of operations or for a pre-determined amount of time  where after the device automatically returns to an oper-ational mode  (iv) provide reminders to the user in accordance with the recorded pattern of operations  (b) operating the device to bring the device in the programming mode  and (c) for the pre-determined number of operations or for a pre-determined period of time  perform one or more user-actuated operations.

As used herein  the term "drug" is meant to encompass any drug-containing medicine in the form of e.g. a liquid  a solution  a gel  a fine suspension  a powder or a gas. Representative drugs include pharmaceuticals such as peptides  proteins  and hormones  biologically derived or active agents  hormonal and gene based agents  nutritional formulas and other substances in both solid (dispensed) or liquid form. In the description of the exemplary embodiments ref-erence will be made to the use of diabetes related drugs like insulins and GLP-1 like drugs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the following the invention will be further described with reference to the drawings  wherein

fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a drug delivery pen comprising a pen cap 
fig. 2 shows a first programming example embodying the present invention 
fig. 3 shows a second programming example embodying the present invention 
fig. 4 shows a third programming example embodying the present invention 
fig. 5 shows a first embodiment of a pen cap comprising electronic means  and
fig. 6 shows a second embodiment of a pen cap comprising electronic means.

In the figures like structures are mainly identified by like reference numerals.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
When in the following terms such as “upper” and “lower”  “right” and “left”  “horizontal” and “vertical” or similar relative expressions are used  these only refer to the appended figures and not to an actual situation of use. The shown figures are schematic representations for which reason the configuration of the different structures as well as there relative dimensions are intended to serve illustrative purposes only.

Referring to fig. 1 a pen-formed drug delivery device 1 will be described. The pen comprises a cap portion (or “pen cap”) 100 and a main portion (or “pen body”) 3 having a proximal part 4 in which a mechanical drug expelling mechanism is arranged  and a distal reservoir part 5 in which a drug-filled transparent cartridge 6 with a distal needle-penetratable septum is ar-ranged and hold in place by a cartridge holder 7 mounted to the proximal part  the cartridge holder having openings allowing a portion of the cartridge to be inspected. The cartridge is provided with a piston 8 driven by a piston rod 9 forming part of the expelling mechanism. A proximal-most button 10 serves to manually set and expel a desired dose of drug. This type of a pen-formed drug delivery device is well known  see e.g. WO 99/38554 to which reference is made for further details in respect of the internal construction of the shown type of pen. In the shown embodiment the pen is a disposable pre-filled device in which the cartridge holder is permanently attached to the proximal part of the main part  the cartridge holder being provided with distal coupling means in the form of an external thread 11 adapted to engage an inner thread of a needle assembly  see below. Alternatively the pen may be a “durable” device in which the cartridge holder is releasably attached to the main part  this allowing the piston rod to be pushed back and a new cartridge to be mounted. In such an arrangement the connection for the needle assembly may be part of the cartridge. The pen cap 100 comprises a generally cylindrical sleeve 101 with a proximal closed end and a distal opening 102  a pocket clip 103 and an opening 104 for a sound emitting transducer. The proximal end is provided with two opposed generally planar gripping surfaces 110. The pen cap further comprises electronic circuitry including an input sensor for detecting that the cap has been removed from the main portion as well as one or more signal generating devices (not shown). In the shown embodiment the contact means is arranged in the cap cavity and actuated by a surface portion of the main portion. The contact means may be of any desired nature such as a micro-switch or based on opto- or magneto-electronic means. The contact means may be operated just as the main portion is withdrawn or inserted into the cap interior.

The electronic circuitry is adapted to provide the specified functionality  i.e. processing data from the sensor and controlling memory  providing time stamps as well as the signal generat-ing means  e.g. a piezo buzzer  a LED and/or a vibrator. It is pointed out that an example of the present invention is embodied in the pen cap which is then adapted to be used in combi-nation with one or more different pen main portions.

The time keeping means may be a quartz controlled clock device provided integrally with the controlling means in the form of a single integrated circuit (IC) which also comprises ROM memory for storing an executing program instructions as well as RAM memory for storing the different time stamps. The time keeping means may be operating as a normal real time clock (which then has to be set initially)  however  the time keeping may be relative calculating the time merely from when the device is initiated  e.g. used for the first time.

Fig. 1 further shows a needle assembly comprising a hollow infusion needle 21 mounted in a cup-formed hub 22 with an inner coupling means in the form of a thread adapted to connect to the external thread 11 of the pen device. The needle comprises a distal pointed portion protruding from the hub as well as a proximal pointed portion adapted to penetrate the car-tridge septum when the hub 22 is mounted on the thread 11. In an alternative embodiment a bayonet coupling may be used instead of the threaded connection  e.g. the cup may be pro-vided with a plurality of inwardly projecting protrusions adapted to engage corresponding grooves formed distally on the pen device. The needle assembly further comprises a needle cap 23 with a skirt portion 24 adapted to releasably engage the hub to thereby protect the distal end of the needle.

The general idea of the inventions is to provide an easy understandable and intuitive reminder programming functionality  where normal use of the drug delivery device provides automatic programming of a reminder scheme. The device may be intended to be used with a single type of drug  e.g. a diabetes drug which is to be taken once daily  e.g. Levemir ® or Victoza ® from Novo Nordisk  or a diabetes drug which has to be taken twice or more daily  e.g. NovoRapid ® or NovoMix ® from Novo Nordisk. Alternatively the device may be settable to be programmed in accordance with more than one type of regimen. Indeed  this would tend to make the device less intuitive and thus more complicated to use. In the following a number of examples illustrating different aspects of the present invention will be given.

Example 1
A patient is in treatment for diabetes with a type of drug which is to be injected subcutane-ously once daily  e.g. Levemir ® or Victoza ® from Novo Nordisk. The drug is injected using a pen-type injection device as shown in fig. 1 and comprising a pen cap embodying an aspect of the present invention. The pen cap is specifically adapted for this type of treatment and thus to provide a reminder once every day at a given time. To program the pen cap the user will have to perform the following steps:

1) At the time of the day when the user in accordance with the prescribed regimen should take a dose of the drug (e.g. at 8:00 in the morning)  the user sets the pen cap into pro-gramming mode  e.g. by taking off and putting on the cap 5 times within 3 seconds. To con-firm that the pen cap is now in the programming mode a “program start” signal may be gen-erated.

2) The user then takes off the pen cap  takes the prescribed dose of drug and puts on the pen cap again. By these actions programming has been done without the user having to do anything else. More specifically  the pen cap has now been programmed to provide a re-minder every 24 hours starting from when the programming was done  i.e. at 8:00 in the morning every day.

Example 2
A patient is in treatment for diabetes with a type of drug which is to be injected subcutane-ously three times weekly  e.g. potential future long-acting versions of Levemir ® or Victoza ® from Novo Nordisk. The drug is injected using a pen-type injection device as shown in fig. 1 and comprising a pen cap embodying an aspect of the present invention. The pen cap is specifically adapted for this type of treatment and thus to provide a reminder three times per week in accordance with a pre-determined regimen. To program the pen cap the user will have to perform the following steps:

1) At the time of the day and the day of the week when the user in accordance with the pre-scribed regimen should take a dose of the drug (e.g. at 8:00 Monday morning)  the user sets the pen cap into programming mode as described for Example 1.

2) The user then takes off the pen cap  takes the prescribed dose of drug and puts on the pen cap again. By these actions programming has been done without the user having to do anything else. More specifically  the pen cap has now been programmed to provide a re-minder at 8:00 in the morning Monday  Wednesday and Friday  see fig. 2 in which “pro-grammed reminder” means the actual programming done by the user  “programming termi-nated” means the automated end of the programming mode (here at the end of a single ac-tion)  and “copy” means the automatic programming taking place in accordance with the pre-programmed set-up of the actual pen.

Example 3
A patient is in treatment with a type of drug which is to be injected subcutaneously a number of times per day every day  e.g. twice daily. The drug is injected using a pen-type injection device as shown in fig. 1 and comprising a pen cap embodying an aspect of the present in-vention. The pen cap is specifically adapted for this type of treatment and thus to provide re-minders every day at given times. To program the pen cap the user will have to perform the following steps:

1) At the time of the day when the user in accordance with the prescribed regimen should take a first dose of the drug (e.g. at 8:00 in the morning)  the user sets the pen cap into pro-gramming mode as described for Example 1.

2) The user then takes the prescribed doses of drug in accordance with the prescribed regi-men (e.g. at 8:00 in the morning and 8:00 in the evening). By these actions programming has been done without the user having to do anything else. More specifically  the pen cap has now been programmed to provide a reminder at 8:00 in the morning and 8:00 in the evening every day  see fig. 3 in which the automatic “programming terminated” is controlled by time.

Example 4
A patient is in treatment for diabetes with a type of drug which is to be injected subcutane-ously once daily  e.g. Levemir ® or Victoza ® from Novo Nordisk. The drug is injected using a pen-type injection device as shown in fig. 1 and comprising a pen cap embodying an aspect of the present invention  however  in contrast to Example 1 the patient prefer a regimen in which the dose of drug is not taken at the same time every day but is tailored to match the patients personal preferences. The pen cap is specifically adapted for this type of treatment and thus to provide a reminders which vary from day to day but is the same from week to week. To program the pen cap the user will have to perform the following steps:

1) At the day and time when the user in accordance with the prescribed regimen should take a first dose of the drug  the user sets the pen cap into programming mode as described for Example 1.

2) The user then takes the prescribed doses of drug in accordance with the prescribed regi-men for 7 days (e.g. once every day between 6:00 in the morning and noon). By these ac-tions programming has been done without the user having to do anything else. More specifi-cally  the pen cap has now been programmed to provide a daily reminder in accordance with the patients preferred time schedule  see fig. 4 in which no automatic “copy” takes place. In-deed  the pen cap could also be adapted to allow the programming of a number of individual reminders for each of the weekdays.

For the above examples  to avoid accidental programming the pen cap electronics may be programmed to require a given number of seconds to pass between the off-on of the pen cap to count as programming relevant user-actuated operation  e.g. minimum 6 seconds  this in-dicating that a dose of drug has been injected. Further  the pen cap may be provided with a mute function as described above.

With reference to figs. 5 and 6 schematic representations of embodiments of the invention will be described.

Fig. 5 shows a pen cap 200 having the same general appearance as pen cap 100 in fig. 1 and is adapted to be used with a pen body having a general design as the pen body 3 shown in fig. 1. The pen cap 200 comprises a housing 210 with an inner partition wall 211 dividing the interior of the cap in a proximal cavity 215 adapted to receive a distal portion of a pen body with a mounted needle assembly  and a distal cavity 216 closed with a distal lid member 219  the wall having a central opening adapted to receive and hold an actuation member 220. The actuation member comprises a proximal skirt portion 221 adapted to receive and engage a needle assembly  and a distal cylindrical portion 222 adapted to be received in sliding engagement in the central opening of the wall partition  the cylindrical portion being provided with a distal circumferential flange 223 adapted for locking engagement with the central opening as well as a small magnet 224. Between the partition wall and the skirt portion a spring 225 is arranged to bias the actuation member in a proximal direction. The skirt portion and/or the cylindrical portion are adapted to provide a seal between the two cavities  this preventing e.g. fluid from entering the distal cavity.

In the distal cavity the electronic means 230 providing the reminder functionality of the cap is arranged  the electronic means comprising a processor and associated memory (not shown)  an electric cell 231 (“battery”)  a buzzer 232 and a read switch 233 which is actuated when the actuation member is moved distally when a pen body is inserted in the proximal cavity of the pen cap. Depending on the specific design of the actuation member  actuation of the read switch may or may not require that a needle assembly is mounted on the pen body.

Fig. 6 shows a pen cap 300 having the same general design as pen cap 200 described above  however  the actuation member 320 is fixedly locked to a flexible partition wall 311 which both allows axial travel of the actuation member and provides a proximal-directed spring force on the actuation member. The flexible partition wall may be formed integrally with the pen cap housing 310 as shown  or may be a separate member mounted in the housing. The electronic means 330 comprises a processor 335 and associated memory  two electric cells 331  a LED 332 and a mechanical switch 333 which is actuated when the actuation member 320 is moved distally. The distal lid member 319 is transparent allowing a user to observe the LED. The electronic means may also be provided with communication means  e.g. an IR LED or a radio transmitter  allowing communication between the pen cap electronics and an external system  e.g. a PC at the doctor’s office.

In the above a pen-formed drug delivery device is used to illustrate different examples em-bodying aspects of the present invention  however  the invention may be used in many other types of devices  e.g. medical aerosol inhalers  tablet dispensing devices and blood glucose meters etc.

In the above description of the preferred embodiments  the different structures and means providing the described functionality for the different components have been described to a degree to which the concept of the present invention will be apparent to the skilled reader. The detailed construction and specification for the different components are considered the object of a normal design procedure performed by the skilled person along the lines set out in the present specification.

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CLAIMS
1. An electronically controlled device (200) having an operational mode in which re-minders can be generated  the device being adapted to:
- be set in a programming mode by a user 
- perform a user-actuated operation 
- detect when a user-actuated operation is performed 
- when in programming mode  record and set reminders in accordance with a detect-ed time pattern of operation(s) of the device  the programming mode being activated for a pre-determined number of operations or for a pre-determined period of time  where after the device automatically returns to an operational mode  and
- provide reminders to the user based on the recorded time pattern of operations.

2. An electronically controlled device as in claim 1  wherein the device is a drug deliv-ery device (1  200) and the user-actuated operation is related to administration of a dose of a drug.

3. An electronically controlled device as in claim 1  wherein the device comprises:
- a main portion (3) comprising a drug reservoir and a drug administration mechanism 
- a cover portion (200  300) releasably coupled to the main portion 
- electronic means (230  330) for setting the reminders and detecting user-actuated operations  and
- contact means (233  333) arranged to detect when the cover is operated 
wherein the user-actuated operation is provided by operating the cover.

4. An electronically controlled device as in claim 3  wherein the electronic means for setting the reminders and detecting user-actuated operations are located in the cover.

5. An electronically controlled device as in claim 1  wherein the programming mode is active to detect a single user-actuated operation at a given time of the day  whereby a daily reminder is provided at the detected given time of the day.

6. An electronically controlled device as in claim 1  wherein the programming mode is active to detect a number of user-actuated operations at given times of the day for a period of 24 hours  whereby daily reminders are provided corresponding to the detected given times of the day.

7. An electronically controlled device as in claim 1  wherein the programming mode is active to detect a single user-actuated operation at a given time of the day  whereby for a week period a pre-programmed pattern of non-daily reminders is provided at the detected given time of the day.

8. An electronically controlled device as in any of the previous claims  further compris-ing non-real time clock means for controlling the reminders.

9. An electronically controlled device as in any of the previous claims  wherein a given reminder can be muted when the corresponding user-actuated operation is performed within a pre-defined window of time in respect of the given reminder time.

10. An electronically controlled device as in any of the previous claims  wherein the re-minder is an acoustic  visual and/or tactile signal.

11. A method of programming reminders in an electronically controlled device  compris-ing the steps of:
- providing an electronically controlled device (200  300) having an operational mode in which reminders can be generated  the device being adapted to:
i) be set in a programming mode by a user 
ii) to perform a user-actuated operation 
(iii) detect when a user-actuated operation is performed 
(iv) when in programming mode  record and set reminders in accordance with a detected pattern of operations of the device  the programming mode being activated for a pre-determined number of operations or for a pre-determined amount of time  where after the device automatically returns to an operational mode  and
(iv) provide reminders to the user in accordance with the recorded pattern of operations 
- operating the device to bring the device in the programming mode  and
- for the pre-determined number of operations or for a pre-determined period of time  perform one or more user-actuated operations.