Single-Item Access Drawer With Multi-Compartment Medication Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Automated Dispensing Machines (ADMs) in hospitals require multiple trips by nurses to manage and dispense medications, as they cannot store all medications needed by a patient and often lead to medication expiration or stock management issues due to single-compartment receptacles.
Innovation Solution
A single-item access (SIA) sub-drawer system with multiple compartments and latching lids, integrated with a communication interface and processor for secure, patient-specific medication storage and dispensing, allowing for efficient movement between ADMs and point-of-care locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single-compartment receptacle is used in the ADM, then the medication can be securely transported and stored, but the nurse must make multiple trips to different locations to obtain different medications
Solution Approach 1:
The drawer is divided into multiple compartments, each capable of holding a separate receptacle. This segmentation allows different medications to be stored in different compartments within the same drawer, enabling nurses to access multiple medications in a single location without making multiple trips.
Solution Approach 2:
The drawer body serves multiple functions: it provides secure storage for multiple receptacles, acts as a docking station for each receptacle, and enables individual access to each compartment. The universal design allows the same drawer structure to accommodate various receptacle types and configurations.
2Productivity
If multiple medications are stored in a single receptacle, then the receptacle can be transported efficiently, but individual medication access requires opening the entire receptacle
Solution Approach 1:
The drawer is segmented into multiple compartments, each with its own lid and latch mechanism. This allows individual compartments to be accessed independently without opening the entire drawer or affecting other compartments, enabling quick access to specific medications while maintaining secure storage for others.
Solution Approach 2:
Each compartment lid is designed to be dynamically openable and closable independently. The lids can be opened only when docked to the drawer, providing dynamic security that adapts to the docking state. This allows flexible access control where individual compartments can be opened based on specific medication needs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the ADM contains all medications, then any medication can be dispensed from any location, but expensive or infrequently used medications may expire before use
Solution Approach 1:
The medication storage system is segmented into multiple independent compartments, each capable of holding different medications. This allows hospitals to stock only the specific medications needed for each patient or care area in the appropriate drawers, rather than maintaining all medications in every ADM location, reducing expiration waste.
Solution Approach 2:
Different drawers or compartments can be configured with different medications based on local needs. Each location can be optimized for its specific patient population or treatment requirements, ensuring that medications are stocked where they will be used before expiration.
4Quantity of substance
If a pharmacist manually loads medications into the ADM, then the medications can be properly stocked, but space must be removed to accommodate new medications
Solution Approach 1:
The drawer is divided into multiple compartments that can independently accommodate different receptacles. This segmentation provides flexible space management, allowing pharmacists to load multiple medications simultaneously without needing to remove existing medications to create space. Each compartment can be independently filled.
Solution Approach 2:
Receptacles are nested within the drawer compartments. Multiple receptacles can be arranged within the drawer space, maximizing the use of available volume. This nesting arrangement allows efficient use of space while maintaining organized storage of multiple medications.
Data Source
AI summary
A single-item-access (SIA) sub-drawer is disclosed that has a body with a compartment and a lid that is selectably securable in a closed position that encloses the compartment. The SIA sub-drawer includes a lid latch configured to secure and selectably release the lid and a sub-drawer latch configured to engage and selectably release a retention hook to secure the SIA sub-drawer to a dispensing cabinet. The SIA sub-drawer also includes a processor configured to cause the lid latch to release the lid upon receipt of a lid release signal and to cause the sub-drawer latch to release the retention hook upon receipt of a sub-drawer release signal.