Patent Application
20160106622
The present invention relates to provide a medicine container, a housing and a display for use in such a medicine container. The present invention further relates to a method of controlling a display of such a medicine container and to a method of providing medicine filling information for use in such a medicine container. Finally, the present invention relates to a computer program for implementing said methods.
Many chronic patients have to take several medicine items a day (polypharmacy). As many medicine items have to be taken on different days and moments, the overview might get lost soon, especially for the older population or for people with mental disabilities. For this reason many patients use medicine containers, such as pill dispensers or pillboxes.
Many different medicine containers exist on the market. These medicine containers help patients in organizing the pills and sometimes in alerting them for the intake moment. A specific type of medicine container is the pill dispenser. These pill dispensers are often filled by a caregiver, and dispense pills at pre-determined times, often with a reminder to take the pill.
The known medicine containers vary in how much they take over responsibilities from the patient. In the context of current health care policies it is the aim to keep patient self-responsible for as much as possible, and stimulate patient self-management. Therefore (expensive) automatic pill dispensers are a last resort before having a (visiting) nurse managing the medication for the patient.
US 2010/332023 A1 discloses a medicine dispenser and method of reminding a user to take medicine. The medicine dispenser comprises a housing defining a plurality of compartment openings, each adapted to hold at least one medicine item and a plurality of covers. Each of the covers selectively closes one of the compartment openings to restrain access to the content of that compartment and provide access to the content of the respective compartment when opened. The medicine dispenser further includes a safety latch having first and second positions, wherein the safety latch inhibits opening of any of the covers when in its first position and allows opening of any of the covers when in its second position. When a user is reminded to take a medication, the position of the safety latch is monitored for an indication that the safety latch is moved from its first position to its second position. The user continues to receive the reminder until such indication is given.
US 2007/0135965 A1 discloses a system and method for storing items and tracking usage of items in a user configurable medication dispensing cabinet. Items are stored in a tray or drawer having user-adjustable storage spaces. A graphical user interface comprising a touch screen enables users to rapidly customize the layout of storage spaces, which allows a wide variety of shapes and sizes of items to be stored in the tray. A kit of items that are identified in advance may be removed more efficiently by ordering removal based on the location of the storage spaces in which the items are stored. Items not identified in advance may be removed and tracked more efficiently through the use of the graphical user interface or a scanner for reading machine-readable identification tags on the items or the storage spaces. Bar codes and RFID devices are contemplated for use as identification tags.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a medicine container, a housing and a display for use in such a medicine container that help a user, in particular a patient or caregiver, in filling the medicine container.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of controlling a display of such a medicine container and to provide a method of providing medicine filling information for use in such a medicine container.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a computer program for implementing said methods.
In a first aspect of the present invention a medicine container is presented comprising:
a housing comprising a bottom wall and a plurality of sidewalls defining a plurality of compartments for each holding one or more medicine items, and
a display arranged on one side of the bottom wall, said display being configured to visually display, per compartment and visual through the compartment, medicine filling information indicating which medicine item to fill into the corresponding compartment
In a further aspect of the present invention a housing for use in a medicine container is presented, said housing comprising a bottom wall and a plurality of sidewalls defining a plurality of compartments for each holding one or more medicine items and being configured for arranging a display on one side of the bottom wall, said display being configured to visually display, per compartment and visual through the compartment, medicine filling information indicating which medicine item to fill into the corresponding compartment.
In another aspect of the present invention a display for use in a medicine container is presented, said medicine container comprising a housing comprising a bottom wall and a plurality of sidewalls defining a plurality of compartments for each holding one or more medicine items, said display being configured for being arranged on one side of the bottom wall and to visually display, per compartment and visual through the compartment, medicine filling information indicating which medicine item to fill into the corresponding compartment.
In another aspect of the present invention a method for controlling a display of a medicine container is presented, said medicine container comprising a housing comprising a bottom wall and a plurality of sidewalls defining a plurality of compartments for each holding one or more medicine items, said display being configured for being arranged on one side of the bottom wall, said method comprising the step of controlling the display to display, per compartment and visual through the compartment, medicine filling information indicating which medicine item to fill into the corresponding compartment.
In yet another aspect of the present invention a method of providing medicine filling information is presented, said medicine filling information indicating which medicine item to fill into the corresponding compartment of a medicine container as claimed in claim 1, said method comprising the steps
receiving dispenser information indicating the type of medicine container,
receiving the medication scheme of the patient using the medicine container,
generating said medicine filling information from said dispenser information and said medication scheme,
providing said medicine filling information to the patient and/or the medicine container for preparing or controlling said display.
In yet further aspects of the present invention, there are provided a computer program which comprises program code means for causing a computer to perform the steps of the processing method when said computer program is carried out on a computer, in particular an electronic display, as well as a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium that stores therein a computer program product, which, when executed by a processor, in particular an electronic display, causes the method disclosed herein to be performed.
Preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims. It shall be understood that the claimed housing, display methods, computer program and medium have similar and/or identical preferred embodiments as the claimed medicine container and as defined in the dependent claims.
The known medicine containers, such as known pillboxes and pill dispensers, focus on storing and giving reminders to take a certain pill. Often professional or informal caregivers have to help the patient to fill the container, which is very costly, especially regarding the extreme growth of this group of people. The known medicine containers thus miss the relevant aspect of helping the users, in particular the patients, to fill the container themselves so that they can keep their autonomy. Currently, patients often have to rely on family, friends or professional caregivers for this task or have to develop their own methodology, take away too much autonomy from the people and are very expensive.
The present invention is thus based on the idea to overcome these deficiencies by using medicine filling information indicating which medicine item to fill into the corresponding compartment formed within the housing for placing one or more medicine items therein. This medicine filling information is displayed to the user of the medicine container such that the user can easily and unambiguously recognize and understand which medicine item to put into which compartment, which is achieved by arranging the display on one side of the bottom wall of the housing so that the user can see the displayed medicine filling information through the respective compartments and can thus directly place the medical item into the compartment, more or less “on top of” the displayed medicine filling information.
Thus, a simple and inexpensive, but effective way of helping users, in particular patients, to fill the medicine container is provided, which keeps the autonomy of the user.
In a quite cheap and simple embodiment the display is formed as (personalized) medication card or (personalized) booklet of several medication cards. These medication cards instruct the patient how to fill the medicine container according to a predetermined filling scheme. The medication card or booklet is preferably generated (in particular printed) by a physician, a specialist or a pharmacist of the patient and is then handed over or sent via mail to the patient. Alternatively, the data for generating the medication card or booklet are sent to the patient, e.g. via an email or via a download link or by use of a data carrier (e.g. CD-ROM) sent to the patient via mail, so that the patient can generate (in particular print) the medication card or booklet by himself
In another preferred embodiment the display is formed as electronic display, in particular as smartphone, PDA or tablet computer. On the screen of such an electronic display the medicine filling information is depicted electronically, e.g. under control of a corresponding control method implemented as computer program (e.g. an application software; app). The medicine filling information is preferably delivered electronically to the electronic display from a physician or a pharmacist, which may just be some raw data used by the computer program to generate and control the displayed information on the screen.
In a preferred embodiment said display is configured to display medicine filling information comprising text and/or picture information of the medicine items and/or of the package of the medicine items to fill into the corresponding compartments. Since pills often look very similar or even identical, it is preferred to display both text (e.g. the brand name) and an image of the medicine item, or even the package of the medicine item so that the medicine item is uniquely identified and confusions are avoided.
In another preferred embodiment said bottom wall is transparent and said display is arranged on the side of the bottom wall opposite the plurality of sidewalls, wherein said medicine filling information is displayed in the direction of the transparent bottom wall. The user can thus see the medicine filling information through the compartments and through the transparent bottom wall of the housing. The display can thus be easily exchanged.
In an alternative embodiment that does not require the bottom side wall of the housing to be transparent the housing comprises a display compartment arranged between the plurality of sidewalls and the bottom wall or within said plurality of sidewalls transversal to them, wherein said display is arranged within said display compartment. Said display compartment may e.g. be configured as a slit within the housing between the sidewalls and the bottom wall into which the display can be inserted. This embodiment provides a better view on medicine items on the display, a better re-checking for releasing and does not require for the housing, in particular the bottom wall to be transparent.
Preferably, said display is arranged removably at or within the housing. This is particularly necessary in case of using medication cards as display, but also in case of using an electronic display this may be advantageous since the display, e.g. a tablet computer, can then be used also for other purposes.
For better holding and adjustment of the position of the display with respect to the housing appropriate visual and/or mechanical placement indicators may be provided for indicating and/or supporting correct placement of the display with respect to the housing. These indicators are preferably provided on the bottom surface of the bottom wall. In another embodiment a slit, as mechanical placement indicator, is provided for receiving the display.
In an advantageous embodiment said display and/or said housing further comprises identification means for identifying the moment of placement and/or removal of the display, the orientation of the display with respect to the housing and/or the patient using the medicine container. By use of such means, which are preferably used if the display is an electronic display, a filling operation can be automatically started and the accuracy of the display of the medicine filling information can be increased. Further, the orientation and location of the housing (e.g. upside down, top left corner of screen, etc.) can be determined. This is important as the display indication only works if the medicine filling information is exactly below the right compartment.
Such identification means may be implemented in various ways, in particular comprises one or more of electrically conductive elements, capacitive elements, a pressure element, an RFID element, a near-field communication element, a barcode, a QR code and/or a predetermined shape and/or color of at least part of the housing. In other embodiments said identification means comprises electrically conductive holding elements arranged at an outer sidewall of the housing and identification markers electrically coupled to said holding elements and arranged at the bottom wall on the side facing the display such that they contact the display. This is particularly useful if the display comprises a capacitive screen, as many tablet computers have. If the user's finger touches one holding element this can be recognized by the capacitive screen and will be interpreted such that the display has been combined with the housing. The display may then automatically switch into a filling mode operation mode, e.g. to a particular software application (“app”) that guides the user through the whole filling process. For this purpose the display is configured in an embodiment to display guidance information guiding a user of the medicine container which steps to carry out to fill the medicine container.
In an alternative embodiment said identification means comprises capacitive identification markers arranged at the bottom wall on the side facing the display such that they contact the display. Thus, even if the user's finger does not touch an electrically conductive holding element or if no such electrically conductive holding elements are provided, it can be recognized by the capacitive screen if the display has been coupled with the housing.
While the medication cards as display need to be printed or generated in some way, in case of using an electronic display the medicine filling information is generally provided in electronic form. For this purpose the medicine container further preferably comprises an interface coupled to the display for receiving said medicine filling information, in particular from a pharmacy, physician, caregiver or medical database holding information on the medication scheme of the patient using said medicine container. Said interface may be an analog or digital, wired or wireless interface, e.g. a drive for receiving a data carrier (e.g. a CD-ROM, DVD, BD), a slot for receiving a semiconductor memory element (e.g. a USB-stick or memory stick), a LAN or WLAN interface, etc. The medicine filling information may then be provided as electronic data file transferred electronically, e.g. on a data carrier, attached to an email, provided for download, etc.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiment(s) described hereinafter. In the following drawings
In an inexpensive implementation of the first embodiment of the medicine container 1 the housing 10 is formed as a pillbox having a transparent bottom wall 11 and the display 100 is formed as a patient-individual medication card carrying the medicine filling information, e.g. printed on the top surface 101 of the medication card. Thus, the medicine filling information is displayed in the direction of the transparent bottom wall 11 and can be seen by the user from above through the compartments 14. The medication card preferably has a size that is adapted to fit exactly below the housing 10 as shown in
The medicine filling information preferably comprises text and/or picture information of the medicine items P and/or of the package of the medicine items P to fill into the corresponding compartments 14. For instance, if a certain pill against hypertension shall be filled into a particular compartment 14 shall be filled, a picture of this pill and/or its brand name and/or a picture of its package (e.g. if several medicine items to be filled into the container look very similar, as is often the case) may be shown on the medication card in the field that is directly arranged below said compartment.
This embodiment avoids the problem that may exist with the first embodiment that the user places the display 100 below the housing 10 in the wrong orientation (turned by 180°), which might result in a wrong filling of the medicine container. This can be prevented by the second embodiment if the display 100 can only be placed into the slot 25 in one way and into which the display 100 exactly fits. Preferably, the display 100 comprises a tab 102 on the side that is closest to the opening of the slot 25, which supports the user to easily place and remove the display 100. Further, the housing 20 is at least partially transparent, to enable the display 100 to be at least partially visible through the housing 20. The compartments 24 are completely formed above the slot 25
This embodiment provides the possibility for doing a final check before releasing the medicine items P into the compartments (i.e. before removing the display from the slot 35), so that mistakes are hardly possible anymore. Further, a better visibility onto the display is achieved, in particular when some of the medicine items P are already filled (e.g. by use of a first medication card) into the lower sub-compartments, i.e. they do not block the view onto the medicine filling information (e.g. of a subsequently used second medication card) for other compartments. Still further, this solution does not require the housing 30 to be transparent. Another benefit of this embodiment is that it allows the user to get a new medication card in between the filling process without getting confused. Next to that it does also not require the box to be transparent. Further, this embodiment will provide advantages if a lot of (e.g. different) medicine items need to be filled into the medicine container. In this case it is preferred that a medication card shows only one medicine item per medication card. Finally, in this embodiment the housing (in particular the bottom sidewall) does not need to be transparent.
The housing 400 comprises a (transparent) window 401 through which the respective code field 201, 202 is visible when the medication card 200 is placed under (as e.g. for the first embodiment of the medicine container) or inside (as e.g. for the second or third embodiment of the medicine container) the housing 400.
Thus, in a practical implementation of such a booklet 300 every medicine has its own medication card. The front of the booklet 300 clearly mentions the name of the patient, to who the booklet belongs. The medication cards are placed in the most convenient sequence for filling: the least amount of medicine items first, so that the medicine items do not hide the view on the medication cards for the later fillings. A ring band can be added to the side, so that the different medication cards are kept in the right sequence and that they can be easily put to the front. The booklet 300 can be used in combination with housings according to all embodiments shown above, i.e. with housings where the medication card is put below or with housings having a slot.
While in the above explained embodiments the display is formed as medication card or booklet of several medication cards, in the following embodiments the display is formed as electronic display, in particular as smartphone, PDA or tablet computer.
Thus, when keeping contact with the human body, a capacitive material may be used to connect the part that is touched by hand (i.e. the conductive layer 74) to the ‘feet’ of the housing (i.e. the identification markers). In an embodiment the capacitive material (e.g. copper) representing the layer 74 is provided on all sides of the housing.
By another instance, e.g. the GP (General Practitioner), doctor, specialist and/or pharmacy, the medication scheme and the medicine filling information is generally customized per patient and can be automatically updated if needed, e.g. after a doctor's visit. To provide the updated medicine filling information to the display 400 an interface 402 is preferably coupled to the display 400 for receiving said medicine filling information, in particular from a pharmacy, physician, caregiver or medical database holding information on the medication scheme of the patient using said medicine container. The interface 402 may be configured as communication (or data transmission) interface for wireless or wired reception (and preferably transmission) of information, e.g. as LAN, WLAN, Bluetooth interface. In other embodiments the interface 402 may be configured interface for reading a data carrier, e.g. as USB interface, CD drive, etc. Further embodiments enabling the reception of medicine filling information in electronic form may be used as well. It is also possible in an embodiment that a warning is sent to the display (and is displayed there) indicating to the patient that the medication scheme has been updated and a new version of medicine filling information is available.
For automatic recognition of the type of medicine item appropriate recognition means, e.g. a camera 403 as often provided as standard equipment in table computers, are preferably provided. The use of such recognition means will be explained in more detail below.
Even further, in another embodiment, if not connected to the human body, the identification markers 72 (i.e. the capacitive material) needs mass from itself. A copper stroke connecting the three feet (i.e. provided on two sides) can provide this. With these two copper strokes enough mass is created to detect the three feet on the digital display without the connection to a human body. The identification means 72 then, however, need to imitate the capacity of the human body part usually touching the capacitive display.
A potential problem with the seventh embodiment of the medicine container 7 is that, when the user stops touching the housing 70, the housing 70 is no longer detected. This means the housing 70 may move or be removed without being detected. A solution is to use capacitive identification means 82 (provided on the bottom surface 81) that does not need to be touched by a human body part.
There exist various further embodiments of identification means that can be used in the housing 70 or 80 instead of or in addition to the identification means 72, 82. In particular one or more of the following embodiments may be used:
an electrically conductive pattern connected to the sidewalls of the housing (e.g. for use in combination with a capacitive display);
a capacitive identification pattern (e.g. for use in combination with a capacitive display);
a pressure point (e.g. for use in combination with a pressure sensitive display);
an RFID chip (e.g. for use in combination with a display that further comprises an RFID detector);
a near-field-communication chip (e.g. for use in combination with a display that is enabled with near-field-communication);
a QR code (e.g. for use in combination with a display that further comprises a camera and wherein the housing is configured such that the QR code can be read only when the housing is placed on the display correctly);
a specific shape and/or color of the housing or part of the housing (e.g. for use in combination with a display that further comprises a camera and wherein the housing is configured such that identification means can be viewed by the camera when the housing is placed on the display correctly).
The above mentioned identification means are used to see if the housing is placed on top of the display and to identify the orientation, presence and location of it. Another identification means can be added to identify which person has logged in to the system. This can be a similar type of identification, e.g. an RFID chip, a near-field-communication chip, a QR code or a specific shape and/or color of the housing or part of it. When using such personal identification means, different persons can use the same display, which will automatically show the right medication scheme and the right medicine filling information for the current user.
In a preferred embodiment a software application or computer program is preferably installed to control the display and show the medicine filling information on the display or even guide the user through a process of filling the medicine container. An exemplary embodiment of such a guiding process is illustrated in
The application is opened on the display 400 (
As in a preferred embodiment the housing is detected, it is further preferred that the area illuminated on the screen of the display 400 where to place the housing 60 will move with the housing 60, if it is moved by purpose or accident.
In the end of the filling procedure the user might encounter that he needs to order new medicine items for the current or the next filling procedure. As the display is personal and has a direct connection to the medication providers, new medication can be ordered automatically, e.g. by a press on a particular (software) button provided for this purpose.
In a further embodiment means for automatic recognition of the type of medicine item are provided (e.g. a camera 403 as shown in
the barcode on the package of the medicine item;
an RFID chip (e.g. for use in combination with a display that further comprises an RFID detector);
a near-field-communication chip (e.g. for use in combination with a display that is enabled with near-field-communication);
a QR code (e.g. for use in combination with a display that further comprises a camera, wherein the housing is configured such that the QR code can be read only when the housing is placed on the display correctly);
a specific shape and/or color of the housing or part of the housing (e.g. for use in combination with a display that further comprises a camera, wherein the housing is configured such that identification means can be viewed by the camera when the housing is placed on the display correctly).
In an embodiment the software application preferably comes with all medication information (including the medicine filling information) included (e.g. sent by pharmacy/doctor), or the patient or his care providers can insert this in first instance.
The present invention can be implemented in various ways. In the above explained embodiments the housing is preferably implemented as a (simple and cheap) pillbox. In other embodiments the housing may be provided with more functionalities, such as means for automatic recognition if a medicine item has been taken out of the compartment by the patient, means for reminding the patient when to take out which medicine item, etc. For instance, the compartments can all have small weight scales to detect if a medicine item is placed in the right compartment and deactivate the light below that compartment in that case. Also when the patient wants to continue filling another type of medicine item, while the former medicine item was not filled correctly, an alarm can be given to the patient, caregiver or doctor (if not solved/changed in the end), e.g. through a communication interface (402 in
The proposed invention can advantageously be applied to support patients, e.g. elder persons, at home and will help patients in filling the medicine container on their own and thus to stay/be more independent, which is an important issue for people that become older. Further, the proposed invention does also make it easier for other users, e.g. caregivers, that help the patient filling the medicine container.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.
In the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.
A computer program may be stored/distributed on a suitable non-transitory medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13172124.3 | Jun 2013 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2014/061791 | 6/6/2014 | WO | 00 |
