Networked Medication Containers with Synchronized Visual Alerts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional pill organizers and smart bottles have been ineffective in consistently and cost-efficiently promoting medication regimen compliance, often leading to confusion and errors in administering multiple medications with different dosing schedules.
Innovation Solution
The development of networked containers with integrated processors, illuminants, and clock modules that synchronize notifications across multiple containers, using visual, audible, and tactile cues to remind patients when medication is due, and transmitting adherence data to electronic devices for tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional pill organizers with multiple compartments are used, then medication storage organization is improved, but effectiveness in promoting compliance is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates notification mechanisms (visual, audible, tactile) that provide feedback to patients when medication doses are due. The processor monitors the dosing schedule and triggers appropriate notifications, creating a closed-loop feedback system that actively prompts compliance rather than relying solely on patient memory or organization skills.
Solution Approach 2:
The pill organizer autonomously manages compliance promotion by automatically generating notifications based on its internal clock and stored dosing schedule. The system serves itself by monitoring time, determining when doses are due, and initiating appropriate alert sequences without external intervention.
2Reliability
If smart bottles with notification capabilities are used, then compliance reminders are improved, but synchronization across multiple medications is problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple notification mechanisms (visual illuminants, audible alarms, tactile feedback) and multiple functional components (processor, clock module, memory, communication interface) into a single unified pill organizer device. This merging approach consolidates what would otherwise require multiple separate smart bottles, simplifying the system while maintaining comprehensive compliance support for multiple medications.
Solution Approach 2:
The pill organizer is designed as a multi-functional device that can store and manage multiple different medications with different dosing schedules simultaneously. A single device provides organization, timing, notification, and compliance tracking functions that would otherwise require multiple specialized devices.
3Measurement precision
If multiple separate notification systems are used for different medications, then individual medication tracking is improved, but synchronized notifications are difficult to achieve
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-loads the dosing schedule for multiple medications into its memory during setup. The processor then autonomously compares the current clock time against this pre-stored schedule to determine when each medication dose is due, eliminating the need for real-time calculation or coordination between multiple devices during actual dosing events.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified notification system provides synchronized feedback by triggering appropriate alerts (visual, audible, or tactile) when the processor determines a dose is due based on the pre-loaded schedule. The system monitors and coordinates notification delivery across different sensory modalities to ensure timely, synchronized reminders for multiple medications.
Data Source
AI summary
Introduced here are containers designed to promote compliance with regimens for administering the medications stored therein. These containers can facilitate the conveyance of information related to a regimen through the use of a non-written medium. A container may include one or more display elements configured to emit/reflect light to indicate when medication stored in the container should be administered. An example of a display element is a light-emitting diode (LED). Emittance/reflectance of the light by the display element(s) may be governed by a different clock signal than the clock signal used to determine whether doses of medication are due to be administered.