Patent Grant
8251629
Not applicable.
As reported by the Institute of Medicine, an estimated 106,000 deaths occurred in 1994 due to adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and more than 2,000,000 hospitalized patients experienced serious, if not fatal, ADRs. Lazarou J. et al., Incidence of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients: a meta-analysis of prospective studies, J. Am. Med. Assn. 1998: 279: 1200-1205. Many of these errors are attributable to the systems and methods used to store and deliver medications to those clinicians providing care to patients. Various solutions have been proposed to address the issue of medication delivery errors. For instance, computerized systems ensure that the medication ordered or prescribed by the clinician is clinically appropriate. These systems may verify that the dosage is proper based on patient information such as weight and evidence based guidelines or protocols. Also, these systems may perform interaction checking against other medications. However, even if the clinician orders an acceptable medication and dosage amount for a specific patient, the actual drug and/or dosage administered to the patient may vary from what was requested. A pharmacist or other clinician may accidentally provide an improper drug or drug dosage if the order is not properly communicated and followed at each step in the clinical process. Errors may also occur during the steps of the medication administration process occurring between the pharmacy and the point of care. Existing systems and methods for physically transferring and storing and electronically tracking medications and supplied have been employed include automated dispensing machines (ADMs). To administer a medication to a patient, a nurse or other clinician retrieves the appropriate medication from one of a number of ADMs located throughout the healthcare facility. In addition to failing to prevent medication errors, existing systems and methods employing ADMs are wasteful and oftentimes difficult to use.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed to an automated medication dispenser. The medication dispenser includes an enclosure providing a secure environment for storing medications in multiple sized medication-storage bins. The medication storage bins are hung in storage racks located within the enclosure. A robot system is also provided within the enclosure for moving bins between the storage racks and a medication dispensing area. The medication dispensing area includes doors configured to open to define an opening for passing a selected medication-storage bin through the enclosure. In some embodiments, the doors provide a variable-sized opening and, in some instances, the doors are opened to match the size of a bin containing medications selected for dispensing so the bins may be presented to the user in a secure manner.
In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are employed to indicate like parts in the various views:
With reference to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like parts throughout the different views, a medication dispenser according to an embodiment of the present invention is designated generally with the reference numeral 10. The medication dispenser 10 generally includes an enclosure 12 that surrounds other components of the medication dispenser 10, as depicted in
The enclosure 12 provides a controlled environment in which medications are stored. In particular, the enclosure 12 regulates access to the medications, such that only those medications that have been dispensed from a medication dispensing area 20 in the enclosure 12 may be removed from the medication dispenser 10. In some embodiments, a refrigeration unit (not shown) may be coupled with the enclosure 12 to control the temperature and humidity level within the enclosure 12, which is desirable to avoid spoilage of certain types of medication.
The enclosure 12 generally includes a front wall 22, back wall 24, side walls 26, top wall 28, and bottom wall 30. The front wall 22 includes a door 32 allowing access to the internal components of the medication dispenser 12 (e.g., for loading the medication dispenser with medication and for maintenance purposes and the like). However, the door 32 may be locked to prevent unauthorized access to medications within the enclosure 12.
The front wall 22 also generally includes a camera 34, a printer 36, medication dispensing areas 20, a large item dispensing drawer 37, and bulk bin loading drawers 40. The camera 34 is provided for security purposes. In particular, the camera 34 may be used to capture still and/or video images of users interacting with the medication dispenser 10. The printer 36 allows information to be printed, such as, medications dispensed, for instance, for record keeping and to assist clinicians in administering dispensed medications to patients. The large item dispensing drawer 37 allows large medication items to be stored and dispensed when selected by a clinician. For instance, some medications items are too large to be stored in medication-dispensing bins 14 within the enclosure 12 and may be stored and dispensed from the large item dispensing drawer 37. The large item dispensing drawer 37 is lockable to limit access to only authorized clinicians. A handle 38 is attached to each end of the drawer 37 for moving the drawer 37 between a closed position within the enclosure 12 and an open position allowing access and removal of items. The bulk bin loading drawers 40 facilitate loading medication-storage bins 14 into the medication dispenser (as will be described in further detail below).
The medication dispenser 10 is configured to store multiple sized bins 14 for medication storage and dispensing. For instance, referring to
Each bin may further include one or more identifiers for identifying the bin. For instance, referring to
In some cases, as shown in
As shown in
A robot system 18 is provided in the medication dispenser 10 for moving bins 14 within the enclosure 12. For instance, the robot system 18 may move bins 14 between the storage racks 16 and the medication dispensing areas 20 in the front wall 22. The robot system 18 generally includes a sled 68 for engaging and loading bins 14 and a system of rails for moving the sled 68 within the enclosure 12 on an x-y-z axis. In particular, the sled 68 slidably engages a vertical rail 70 allowing the sled 68 to move in the y-direction along the vertical rail 70. The vertical rail 70 has a first end 72 that slidably engages a horizontal rail 74 allowing the vertical rail 70 (and sled 68) to move in the z-direction along the horizontal rail 74. The horizontal rail 74, in turn, slidably engages a fixed horizontal rail 76 allowing the horizontal rail 74 (as well as the vertical rail 70 and sled 68) to move in the x-direction along the fixed horizontal rail 76. Each of the rails 70, 74, 76 may include a flat bar, round post, or other form and may be constructed of metal or other suitable material. Additionally, although only a single rail is shown for each of the rails 70, 74, 76, multiple rails may be employed for each in various embodiments of the invention. Additionally, it should be noted that the robot system 18 described herein is provided for illustrative purposes only and should not be viewed as limiting as other techniques and mechanisms for moving bins 14 within the enclosure 12 may be employed.
As shown in
As shown in the illustrated embodiment of
The sled 68 also includes a hall effect sensor 94 on each end of the platform 78, and positional magnets (not shown) are located within the interior of the enclosure 12 for calibrating the robot system 18 to the storage rack configuration. In particular, a positional magnet having a particular magnetization is provided at a home location for the sled 68. To calibrate the robot system 18, the sled 68 is moved to the home location and is then moved through the enclosure to locate the positional magnets and map the configuration. Accordingly, the calibration process allows the robot system 18 to correctly position the sled 68 to engage bins properly during operation, as well as correctly align the sled 68 with the medication dispensing areas 20.
With reference now to
A reversible motor 104 is provided for operating each of the doors 96. The output of each reversible motor 104 is coupled to a gear 106 that engages a toothed track 108 located along a respective door 96 to actuate the movement of the door 96 up and down. Although not required, in some embodiments, the doors 96 are configured to open to provide a variable-sized opening. In an embodiment, the pair of doors 96 for a medication dispensing area 20 are configured to open to match the size of the bin 14 being passed through the medication dispensing area 20 to prevent access to the interior of the enclosure 12. For instance, referring to
As shown in
In the illustrated embodiment shown in
It should be understood that other techniques for identifying the size of a bin for operating the doors 96 of a medication dispensing area 20 may be employed within embodiments of the present invention. For instance, RFID readers or bar code readers may be located adjacent the dual belt systems 98 in place of the hall effect sensors. The RFID reader or bar code reader may then be employed to determine the size of a bin 14 by detecting an RFID tag or bar code on the bin 14. In another embodiment, a computer system may store information for each bin 14, including the size of the bin 14, and bin size information may be retrieved when a bin 14 is selected to be passed through a medication dispensing area 20. Any and all such variations are contemplated to be within the scope of embodiments of the present invention.
Referring again to
After medications have been placed into bins 14 and the medications and bins 14 have been associated by the computer system, the bins 14 may be loaded into the medication dispenser 10 in a number of different ways in accordance with various embodiments of the invention. In one embodiment, the medication dispenser 10 is stocked by opening the door 32 and manually placing bins 14 in the storage racks 16. Typically, the medication dispenser 10 is loaded in this manner at the outset of stocking the medication dispenser 10 with medications. When the bins 14 are manually loaded into the medication dispenser 10 in this manner, the location at which each of the bins 14 is placed in the storage racks 16 is provided to the computer system to allow the bins 14 to be subsequently located, for instance, for medication dispensing. In one embodiment, the location of each bin 14 may be manually entered into the computer system. In another embodiment, the location of each bin 14 may be automatically determined. For instance, the sled 68 may be moved through the medication dispenser 10 to identify the location of each bin 14 by reading the RFID tag or other identifier on the bin 14 and to provide the location of the bin 14 to the computer system such that the identifier for the bin 14 and its location may be associated in the computer system.
Typically, after initialing stocking the medication dispenser 10 with medications, further stocking can be accomplished without opening the door 32 in the medication dispenser 12, thereby limiting access to the medications stored therein. In particular, medications may be loaded into the medication dispenser 10 by either loading bins 14 through one of the medication dispensing areas 20 or by using a bulk bin loading drawer 40.
With reference to
Bins 14 may also be loaded into the medication dispenser 10 in bulk without opening the door 32 by using the bulk bin loading drawers 40 and a bulk bin cartridge 112 as shown in
After being loaded with bins 14, the bulk bin cartridge 112 is transported to the medication dispenser 10 for loading the bins 14 into the medication dispenser 10. Each bulk bin loading drawer 40 in the medication dispenser 10 includes a hinged door 130 and a chamber 132 configured for receiving a bulk bin cartridge 112. As shown in
Referring again to
Empty bins or bins containing stale medications may be removed from the medications dispenser 10 in a manner similar to those discussed for loading the medication dispenser. For instance, bins may be removed by opening the door 32 in the enclosure 12, by employing the medication dispensing areas 20, or by using the bulk bin loading drawers.
When a medication is to be dispensed from the medication dispenser 10, a medication is initially selected, for instance, by a clinician interacting with a computer system associated with the medication dispenser 20. The computer system accesses information associating medications with bins to identify the bin 14 containing the selected medication. Additionally, the computer system determines the location of the bin 14 within the storage racks 16 of the medication dispenser 10. The robot system 18 then moves the sled 68 to the identified location of the bin 14 and engages the bin 14 to move the bin 14 onto the sled 68. After the robot system 18 moves the sled 68 to one of the medication dispensing areas 20, the dual belt system 82 on the sled 68 is operated to move the bin 14 from the sled 68 to the dual belt system 98 of the medication dispensing area 20. The bin size is determined (e.g., by the hall effect sensor 110 or by referring to stored bin size information for the retrieved bin), and the doors 96 are opened to matched the size of the bin 14. The dual belt system 98 then moves the bin 14 across the medication dispensing shelf 102 through the opened doors 96. In some embodiments, the doors 96 remain opened after the bin 14 has been moved to the exterior of the enclosure 12, and a locking mechanism (not shown) is provided to maintain the bin 14 in position on the medication dispensing shelf 102 to prevent access through the opening. In other embodiments, the doors 96 are closed after the bin 14 has been moved to the exterior of the enclosure 12, and the bin 14 may be removed from the medication dispensing shelf 102.
To return the bin 14 to the storage racks 16 in the medication dispenser 10, a bin return button 134 is provided on the medication dispensing shelf 102. When the bin return button 134 is pressed, the dual belt system 98 moves the bin 14 across the medication dispensing shelf 102 to the interior of the enclosure 12 and the doors 96 are closed. In embodiments, two bin return buttons may be located on the medication dispenser 10, and the bin return buttons must be pressed substantially simultaneously to move the bin 14 into the enclosure 12. The robot system 18 then moves the bin 14 from the medication dispensing area 20 back to the storage racks 16. Typically, the bin 14 is placed at the location in the storage racks 16 from which it was previously removed. However, the bin 14 could be placed at a new location in the storage racks 16, which is then stored by the computer system.
The medication dispenser 10 is provided with two medication dispensing areas 20 in the illustrated embodiment to facilitate speed of medication dispensing. In particular, in some cases, a clinician may select multiple medications for dispensing. In such cases, the robot system 18 retrieves a first bin containing a first selected medication and presents the first bin to the first medication dispensing area 20. While the first bin is moved through the medication dispensing area 20, the robot system 18 retrieves a second bin containing a second selected medication and presents the second bin to the other medication dispensing area 20. After the clinician retrieves the first medication from the first bin, the clinician pushes the bin return button 134, causing the first bin to be returned to the interior of the enclosure 12 and the second bin to be moved to the exterior of the enclosure. The robot system 18 returns the first bin to the storage racks 16 and retrieves a bin containing the next selected medication for delivery to the medication dispensing area 20. The process is continued until all selected medications have been dispensed.
In some embodiments, the medication dispenser 10 may be configured to provide unit-dose medication dispensing by employing bins 14 with dividers 60 such as the bin shown in
As indicated previously, a computer system is provided for controlling the operation of the medication dispenser 10. In some embodiments, the computer system includes a computing device dedicated to the medication dispenser 10. The medication dispenser computing device may receive inputs, such as inputs associated with bin-loading and medication-dispensing operations. Based on the inputs, the medication dispenser computing device controls the robot system 18 to move bins 14 within the enclosure. Additionally, the medication dispenser computing device controls the operation of the doors 96 and dual belt system 98 for each medication dispensing area 20 based on the inputs.
In some embodiments, the medication dispenser computing device may act as a stand-alone device such that the medication dispenser computing device maintains all data necessary for operating the bin-loading and medication dispensing operations of the medication dispenser 10. In other embodiments, however, the medication dispenser computing device operates within a distributed clinical computing environment. In particular, the medication dispenser computing device may be interfaced with or integrated into a medical information computer system. The medical information computing system may be a comprehensive computing system within a clinical environment such as the exemplary medical information computing system environment 200 shown in
Embodiments of the present invention may be operational with numerous other general purpose or special purpose computing system environments or configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the present invention include, by way of example only, personal computers, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environments that include any of the above-mentioned systems or devices, and the like.
Embodiments of the present invention may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include, but are not limited to, routines, programs, objects, components, and data structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Embodiments of the present invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in local and/or remote computer storage media including, by way of example only, memory storage devices.
With continued reference to
The server 202 typically includes, or has access to, a variety of computer readable media, for instance, database cluster 204. Computer readable media can be any available media that may be accessed by server 202, and includes volatile and nonvolatile media, as well as removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may include computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media may include, without limitation, volatile and nonvolatile media, as well as removable and nonremovable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information, such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. In this regard, computer storage media may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVDs) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which may be accessed by the server 202. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism, and may include any information delivery media. As used herein, the term “modulated data signal” refers to a signal that has one or more of its attributes set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above also may be included within the scope of computer readable media.
The computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in
The server 202 may operate in a computer network 206 using logical connections to one or more remote computers 208. Remote computers 208 may be located at a variety of locations in a medical or research environment, for example, but not limited to, clinical laboratories, hospitals and other inpatient settings, veterinary environments, ambulatory settings, medical billing and financial offices, hospital administration settings, home health care environments, and clinicians' offices. Clinicians may include, but are not limited to, a treating physician or physicians, specialists such as surgeons, radiologists, cardiologists, and oncologists, emergency medical technicians, physicians' assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, nurses' aides, pharmacists, dieticians, microbiologists, laboratory experts, genetic counselors, researchers, veterinarians, students, and the like. The remote computers 208 may also be physically located in non-traditional medical care environments so that the entire health care community may be capable of integration on the network. The remote computers 208 may be personal computers, servers, routers, network PCs, peer devices, other common network nodes, or the like, and may include some or all of the components described above in relation to the server 202. The devices can be personal digital assistants or other like devices.
Exemplary computer networks 206 may include, without limitation, local area networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks (WANs). Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet. When utilized in a WAN networking environment, the server 202 may include a modem or other means for establishing communications over the WAN, such as the Internet. In a networked environment, program modules or portions thereof may be stored in the server 202, in the database cluster 24, or on any of the remote computers 208. For example, and not by way of limitation, various application programs may reside on the memory associated with any one or more of the remote computers 208. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers (e.g., server 202 and remote computers 208) may be utilized.
In operation, a user may enter commands and information into the server 202 or convey the commands and information to the server 202 via one or more of the remote computers 208 through input devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device (commonly referred to as a mouse), a trackball, or a touch pad. Other input devices may include, without limitation, microphones, satellite dishes, scanners, or the like. Commands and information may also be sent directly from a remote healthcare device to the server 202. In addition to a monitor, the server 202 and/or remote computers 208 may include other peripheral output devices, such as speakers and a printer.
Although many other internal components of the server 202 and the remote computers 208 are not shown, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such components and their interconnections are well known. Accordingly, additional details concerning the internal construction of the server 202 and the remote computers 208 are not further disclosed herein.
By interfacing and/or integrating a medication dispensing computing device with a comprehensive medical information computing system, such as the medical information computing system 200 of
The present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments, which are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its scope. Substitutions may be made and equivalents employed herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims. It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated and within the scope of the claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/889,156, filed Feb. 9, 2007, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3840131 | Castaldi | Oct 1974 | A |
| 4389157 | Bernard et al. | Jun 1983 | A |
| 4636634 | Harper et al. | Jan 1987 | A |
| 4690602 | Castaldi et al. | Sep 1987 | A |
| 4821917 | Brown | Apr 1989 | A |
| 4846620 | Mims | Jul 1989 | A |
| 4860876 | Moore et al. | Aug 1989 | A |
| 5002449 | Kita et al. | Mar 1991 | A |
| 5174454 | Parkander | Dec 1992 | A |
| 5313393 | Varley et al. | May 1994 | A |
| 5445294 | Gardner et al. | Aug 1995 | A |
| 5499707 | Steury | Mar 1996 | A |
| 6416270 | Steury et al. | Jul 2002 | B1 |
| 7357314 | Kusakawa | Apr 2008 | B2 |
| 7395945 | Godlewski | Jul 2008 | B2 |
| 7809470 | Shoenfeld | Oct 2010 | B2 |
| 8069993 | Yuyama et al. | Dec 2011 | B2 |
| 20050098626 | Jordan et al. | May 2005 | A1 |
| 20050113968 | Williams et al. | May 2005 | A1 |
| 20060045674 | Craven | Mar 2006 | A1 |
| 20080058985 | Alcov | Mar 2008 | A1 |
| 20080257901 | Godlewski | Oct 2008 | A1 |
| 20090014458 | Heffron | Jan 2009 | A1 |
| 20100059585 | Fellows et al. | Mar 2010 | A1 |
| 20100106291 | Campbell et al. | Apr 2010 | A1 |
| 20100116885 | Dearing et al. | May 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20080264967 A1 | Oct 2008 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60889156 | Feb 2007 | US |
