Certain diseases or conditions may be treated, according to modern medical techniques, by delivering a medication or other substance to the body of a patient, either in a continuous manner or at particular times or time intervals within an overall time period. For example, diabetes is commonly treated by delivering defined amounts of insulin to the patient at appropriate times. Some common modes of providing insulin therapy to a patient include delivery of insulin through manually operated syringes and insulin pens. Other modern systems employ programmable fluid infusion devices (e.g., insulin pumps) to deliver controlled amounts of insulin to a patient.
A fluid infusion device suitable for use as an insulin pump may be realized as an external device or an implantable device, which is surgically implanted into the body of the patient. External fluid infusion devices include devices designed for use in a generally stationary location (for example, in a hospital or clinic), and devices configured for ambulatory or portable use (to be carried by a patient).
In certain instances, the devices configured for portable use can include multiple components that cooperate to deliver the insulin to the patient. For example, the device can include a consumable, generally single use, component and a durable, repeated use, component. In one example, the consumable component can be coupled to the durable component to enable insulin delivery to the patient.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system and method for the alignment and detection of a removable and replaceable consumable component that is couplable to a durable component to ensure proper insulin delivery. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.