Abstract— This paper proposes a novel idea to provide the information automatically to patients to take their right dosages at appropriate time. Now a day, most of the patients may forget to take their medicines as per the prescription due to mental stress. Hence, it may cause prolong period to recover from the diseases. Sometimes, the aged patients are gulping tablets and their dosage level incorrectly causing a severe problem.
Therefore, it is necessary to the patient to take proper medicines at precise quantity and time. To overcome these problems, a novel Smart Medication Dispenser (SMD) system is proposed.
This system uses 4x4 matrix keypad, Microcontroller, LCD display and Real Time Clock (RTC) module, GSM module and an alarm system used to intimate the patients to take proper dosage according to the prescription at right time. This portable and economical SMD system would help aged patients, especially to the illiterate patients.
Key Words— Ardunio controller, AMR, ANN, LCDRFID, RTC.
I. INTRODUCTION
As the people getting busier these days, they tend to forget to take their medicines at prescribed schedule. As a consequence of this Geriatrics are facing unnecessary disposure of themselves into the hospitals. Hence a device or a system is to be designed in such a way that it can dispense the pills at preset time [1]. There has been a need ever since medication was in a pill form for a device that could accurately replace a human being for the need of delivering pills. Humans can determine who to give the pill’s to, when and how many and there has not been a pill dispenser to date that has had the capability to replace these three very important aspects. There are many other problems that plague the home pill user, such as someone stealing pills, forgetting to take them or having the pills available to take too many.
We started with these basic needs user and came up with a solution using a simple microcontroller to manage the pill’s dispersal and a proximity sensor to read and allow access of only a valid key to have the pill’s dispensed[4]. With this there are endless possibilities to where, how and when this pill dispenser could come to help and aid many different kind of people in their lives. With the addition of a buzzer this pill dispenser can also remind you when to take your pills, and also notify others when your pills have not been taken. Below is just the beginning of some of the basic functions an accessed controlled pill dispenser could achieve.
A. Hospitals Domestics
The automatic pill dispenser can simplify pill dispensing for hospitals with small to large capacities. With the presence of a pill dispenser, nurses and doctors can significantly reduce the amount of time for prep work and doing ‘rounds,’ this
way more attention can be given to patients that are in greater need of medical attention. Medical professionals can also be notified by means of a simple database on whom and when dispensed
B. Domestics
The increased use of daily vitamins and dietary supplements that need to be taken before or after meals can also become a great area of interest for the use of an automatic pill dispenser. An individual keychain key can initiate the pill dispensing for the user’s personal diet regime and a buzzer can remind them when the supplements need to be taken. This pill dispenser can also control the access to pills that can be sensitive for young children and teenagers, they are locked and only can be retrieved by the person who has the key on their keychain, and only when the right time of day is of a home is just the beginning of some of the basic functions an accessed controlled pill dispenser could achieve.
C. Elderly
When you submit your final version, after your paper has been accepted, prepare it in two-column format, including figures and tables.
II. PAST METHODOLOGY
In recent years with development in electronic communication systems, many devices and software applications are available that helps in complicated drug management. Out of them, most convenient ones are alarm watches and automatic medication dispensers. Alarm watches with audible or vibrating alarms reminds someone to go their daily/weekly/monthly pillbox and take appropriate medication on time. With alarm watches, user can set to alarm several times a day, so odd medication schedules can easily be accommodated. These watches are complex to program, and seniors can easily frustrated by instructions that are not clear. Other option available to complex medication reminder problem is Android based Medication Reminder System. An Android based Medication Reminder System based on OCR using ANN[2]. In this method, an Android based application is used for the patients. This application will remind their user to take correct medicines. At appropriate time by setting the reminders in the mobile which is an automatic manner. These reminders will be spontaneously set by the application as per the prescription.
This reminder will remind the patients to take medicine competently. This method will help only for young people who are having Android mobile. But for elder illiteracy people it is very difficult to operate and understand it. The device used in this system is costly and the process of creating the application in android mobile is tedious. Design of Automatic Medication Dispenser, this method uses microcontroller interface with alphanumeric keypad, LED
Smart Medication Dispenser
Suraj Shinde1, Nitin Bange2, Monika Kumbhar3, Snehal Patil4 Assistant Professor, SETI, Panhala1
UG Student, SETI, Panhala2,3,4
display, motor controller, multiple pill container and dispenser, alarm system. It is partially an automated device[8]. The general procedure is to facilitate the user to set the timings to dispense multiple pills at required timings.
Here the user is required to press a button to get the pill box and reset the alarm button. In this method motor controller is used. So additionally 12V is required for providing supply to motor and it is suitable only for limited number of medicines.
More chances are available to mishandle the device and it is not a portable device. Cost wise it is somewhat high. An Smart Pill Dispeser System for independently Living Patients.
SMD is automatic monitored locked medication dispenser device dispense up to 6 times per day. The SMD has been developed to give the patient’s caregiver peace of mind knowing that right medication are taken by patient on right time . When the alarm goes off, this SMD reminds patients to take their dose by long duration alarm. Alarm will ring for 15 minutes, if a patient does not take medicine or misses dosage, system will automatically notifies caretaker. It has feature of remotely notifying caretaker by sending message, email or phone call when patient misses dosage. Current system can alerts caregiver about drug refilling by sending message, or email. SMD is lockable pill dispenser keeps medication safe.
It has rotating disk that contains several compartments in which pills are separated in order to create appropriate dosage.
When alarm goes off, the disk in device rotates to reveal next dosage to be taken. Patient turns device upside down so that pills falls into his/her hands [2]. If the pill box is not taken by person then the pill box goes to the separate container. These gives advantages to the person to don’t take wrong dose at the time of next dose . The Main advantage of SMD is portability, so it can be taken with user at all times. This system provides an automatic operation for easy medication by using built-in scale for dosage measurement.
III. METHODOLOGY AND IMPLEMENTATION
Details about the design of the smart medicine dispenser (SMD) are included in the paper. Initially the requirements to design this device are collected and then design consideration i taken care. Finally a design process is suggested to design automatic medicine dispenser. The Programmable automatic medicine dispenser designed allows the care taker to reliably administer medications to a patient without needing to be present every time the medication is scheduled. The caretaker pre-programs the SMD that allows it to set up to 21 medications does through an ergonomically designed interface, utilizing an alphanumeric keypad and LCD display.
The SMD can be pre-programmed to repeat the same cycle for one month. An alarm is provided to load the medicine if the number of pills/capsules falls below a threshold value that can be fixed by the owner.
Hardware Concept Design:
A. Power Supply
The power supply circuit will provide necessary power requirements for the SMD controller. Additionally, 12V is necessary for the motor. Current requirements will be dictated mainly by the motor controller design requirement is 5 VDC for the microcontroller and motor; while the current requirement for the microcontroller is in the range of 100mA.
Also, the power supply may require battery backup to avoid loss of user input selections and time keeping functions.
B. Keypad and Display
The keypad input is a standard 16 key alphanumeric keypad.
It enables the user to program the system [4]. The alpha numeric display unit is for the user to view the time set or reset operation. It provides the user visual representation of the contents of the container. The same unit may be used for providing the warning when it is required.
C. Speaker
The Speaker is provided to give a beep sound to warn the patient regarding the time to take the tablet. The same speaker is also use to call the name of the patient which provides the information regarding the updating the pills/capsules into the container. This facility helps the blind to interact with SMD.
D. Microcontroller
The microcontroller is the main part of the SMD. It is responsible for performing all the functions and commands of the medicine box. The microcontroller is selected to meet the required functionality of the SMD without wasting money on unneeded features. The basic requirements of the microcontroller are a few Input output ports to interface the keyboard, display unit, motor, and speaker. Interrupts are used to enable the user to interact with the system for programming. When the user presses the command key, it enables the user to program the timing and set the required pills to be available in the output poach. The command key also allows the user to program the number of minimum pills/capsules that must be made available before a warning signal is provided. The Microcontroller is so chosen that the system does not require additional external peripheral chips and memory. The memory requirement is 2K of READ Only memory and 8K of Read writes memory.
Fig- 1: Block Diagram of Medication Dispenser E. Pill Container and Dispenser
The pill/capsule container design will have 30 slots with 21 available for medications. The 21 slots will be labeled so that the caregiver can ensure setting the alarm for the correct slot. Additionally, the pill container will incorporate interlock sensors to protect the caregiver and user from harm. Finally the sensors [4] will provide input to the microcontroller for determining access doors status, medication slot positioning and time feedback of the patient accessing the medications.
F. Alarm Module
The alarm module will provide an audible alarm tone . This module is designed to send a pattern of audible sounds through the speaker till the patient responds by pressing the button to access the poach for the pills/capsules. An LED is also provided to blink during the alarm process. A visual display string is provided for the user to read the instruction.
A second alarm is provided to prompt the caretaker to load the pills/capsules when the number of pills/capsules in the storage unit falls below the threshold value. The number of pills/capsules threshold value is also programmable [7]. This alarm does not provide audio but gives a warning by blinking.
G. Motor Controller
All motors have a control device called a motor controller to start and stop the motor called a motor controller. It is the actual device that energizes and de-energizes the circuit of the motor so that it can start or stop. The design of the motor controller will be determined by the current requirement of the stepper motor selected. The motor controller takes logic inputs from the microcontroller and supply enough current to the stepper motor to meet maximum torque requirements.
H. LED
The Light emitting diode display will be a simple red light; it provides information such as power on, flashing as he speaker beeps to have the attention of the user and emergency indication[7]. It also provides pre-selected precautions to the patient concerning the medications being currently dispensed.
IV. ALGORITHM 1. Start Step:
2. Initialize UART, RTC and LCD
3. Set count = 4 and set the current time in RTC
4. Set the four pill times and display “PILL TIME” in LCD.
5. Call to Step: 11
6. If 1st pill time is set decrement the count and run servo motor, else call Step: 11
7. If 2nd pill time is set decrement the count and run servo motor, else call Step: 11
8. If 3rd pill time is set decrement the count and run servo motor, else call Step: 11
9. If 4th pill time is set decrement the count and run servo motor, else call Step: 11
10. Jump to Step: 3
11. If count = 4 then go to Step: 15, else jump to Step: 6. Step:
12. If count = 3 then go to Step: 15, else jump to Step: 7. Step:
13. If count = 2 then go to Step: 15, else jump to Step: 8 Step:
14. If count = 1 then go to Step: 15, else jump to Step: 9 Step:
15. Return.
16. If any signal is received from the UART of PIC 2, then go to Step: 17 else go to Step: 21
17. If forward is received run motor1 and motor2 clockwise and display “FORWARD” on the LCD else go to Step 18 18. If backward is received run motor1 and motor2 anti- clockwise and display “BACKWARD” on the LCD else go to Step 19
19. If right is received run motor1 clockwise and display
“RIGHT” on the LCD else go to Step20
20. If left is received run motor2 in anti-clockwise and
display “LEFT” on the LCD else go to Step 21 21. Return.
V. FLOWCHART
VI. RESULT
The Fig-2 & Fig-3 are the display units of the systems for displaying various parameters and messages to the user.
Fig-4 is the GSM module for intimation for missing the
dosage by the patient. Finally the Fig-5 gives the complete system for the proposed Smart Medication Dispenser.
Fig -2: Display the project name.
Fig -3: Diplay timing
The power supply circuit will provide 5v for microcontroller and 12v for motor. Controller provides serial clock and serial data to RTC. The DS1307 Serial Real-Time Clock is a low-power; full binary-coded decimal (BCD) clock/calendar plus 56 bytes of NV SRAM. Address and data are transferred serially via a 2-wire, bi-directional bus .The clock/calendar provides seconds, minutes, hours, day, date, month, and year information .serial data and clock information to D7.Then this information displayed on LCD. The L293 and L293D are quadruple high-current half-H drivers. The L293 is designed to provide bidirectional drive currents of up to 1 A at voltages from 4.5 V to 36 V. The L293D is designed to provide bidirectional drive currents of up to 600-mA at voltages from 4.5 V to 36 V.
The MAX232 device is a dual driver/receiver that includes a capacitive voltage generator to supply EIA-232 voltage levels from a single 5-V supply. Each receiver converts EIA-232 inputs to 5-V TTL/CMOS levels .The modem can either be connected to PC serial port directly or to any microcontroller. It can be used to send and receive SMS or make/receive voice calls. It can also be used in GPRS mode to connect to internet and do many applications for data logging and control.
Fig 4– GSM module
Fig- 5 Proposed System
VII. CONCLUSION
The proposed system is made ease and helpful for the old age patient especially who used to forget to take medicines on time or they couldn’t recognize / can’t read the name of the medicines. It has the facility to send alarms four times a day.
In case patient doesn’t take medicines even after alarm them SMD system sends a message to the particular number fed in the system memory. It is possible to program in order to change the number of times dispensing the medicines as per requirement.
REFERENCES
[1] World Population Ageing: 1950-2050, United Nations Population Division.
[2] Van Eijken M, Tsang S, Wensing M, et al. Interventions to improve medication compliance in older patients living in the community: a systematic review of the literature. Drugs Aging. 2003;20:229-240 [3] Medication regimens, causes of non-compliance, Office of Inspector,
US Department of Health and Human Resources, June 1990.
[4] Mei-Ying Wang, John K. Zao Wedjat: A Mobile Phone Based Medication Reminder and Monitor.
[5] Medication reconciliation National Patient Safety Goal, National Patient Safety Goals, Joint Commission of Accreditation Program, March,2009,http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/NationalP atientSafetyGoals/npsg8_review.htm.
[6] Tsai, P. H., C. S. Shih, and J. W. S. Liu, “Algorithms for scheduling multiple interacting medications,” Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, Technical Report TR-IIS- 08-001, April 2008 Pei Hseun Tseui, “Smart Medication Dispenser: “Design, Architecture and implementation”, IEEE journal, Vol-5, March-2011.
[7] Elizabeth Broadbent, Rie Tamagawa, Ngaire Kerse, Brett Knock, Anna Patience, and Bruce MacDonald, ”Retirement home staff and residents‟ preferences for healthcare robots”, 18th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2009.
BIOGRAPHY
Suraj N. Shinde received the B.E. degree in Electronics and Communication and M.Tech degree in VLSI Design and Embedded System from Visweswaraya Technological University, Belgaum, India.
He joined as Assistant Professor in Kolhapur Institute of Technology’s College of Engineering where he taught System on Chip, Real Time Systems and Satellite Communication subjects. Presently working in Sanjeevan Engineering and Technology Institute where he handled Advanced Microprocessors & Microcontrollers and VLSI Design, Mechatronics, Robotics subjects. His research interest includes VLSI Signal Processing and Medical Electronics.
Nitin B. Bange studying in Final Year of Electronics and Telecommunication Department at Sanjeevan Engineering &
Technology Institute, Panhala from Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India.
Monika B. Kumbhar studying in Final Year of Electronics and Telecommunication Department at Sanjeevan Engineering &
Technology Institute, Panhala from Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India.
Snehal M. Patil studying in Final Year of Electronics and Telecommunication Department at Sanjeevan Engineering &
Technology Institute, Panhala from Shivaji University, Kolhapur, India.
