Portable medication dispenser

• US 20040129716A1
• Filed: 01/07/2003
• Published: 07/08/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ghadir Naufel, Naji C. Naufel
• Original Assignee: Ghadir Naufel, Naji C. Naufel
• Inventors: Naufel, Ghadir, Naufel, Naji C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,178,688 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 221/9
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 1/035 Blister-type containers blisters in general B65D75/36
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 7/0076 Medicament distribution means with pill counting devices A61J7/02; with time indication A61J7/04; containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents B65D83/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 11/62 in which the articles are stored in compartments in fixed receptacles
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0092 for assembling and dispensing of pharmaceutical articles medical dispensers for private use, A61J7/00

Abstract

A medication dispensing system (10) includes a portable securable container (42), and a mechanism (12, 13, 14, 16, 19) for dispensing a dosage of solid medication. The system further comprises a processor (11) interfacing with the mechanism and further programmed to await (402) an authorization code from an authorized user among a plurality of authorized users, dispense (404) a dosage of medication while maintaining remaining dosages of medication secure in the portable secure dispenser upon receipt of at least the authorization code and optionally a patient'"'"'s name, and store (406) a code representative of the authorized user, a code representative of the patient'"'"'s name, and a date and time of dispensation of the dosage of medication in a memory.

Claims

1. A medication dispensing system, comprising:

a portable securable container;

a mechanism for dispensing a dosage of solid medication;

a processor interfacing with the mechanism and further programmed to;

await an authorization code from an authorized user among a plurality of authorized users;

dispense a dosage of medication while maintaining remaining dosages of medication secure in the portable secure dispenser upon receipt of at least the authorization code and optionally a patient'"'"'s name; and

store at least two among a code representative of the authorized user, a code representative of the patient'"'"'s name, and a time of dispensation of the dosage of medication in a memory.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to allow a user in an administrator mode to provide at least one among the functions of programming user names and authorization codes, setting a current date and time, dispensing a pill, resetting the system upon re-filling the system with a new dosage of solid medication, displaying dispensation activity for a given authorized user or a given patient, programming the system for a unique patient or for stock medication dispensation, and upload dispensation activity data to a database on a computer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the dosage of solid medication is contained within a single bubble pack of a matrix of bubble packs and wherein the mechanism for dispensing comprises a pair of perpendicularly mounted linear drive motors for placing an actuator motor adjacent to the single bubble pack.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the actuator motor further comprises a plunger that pushes the dosage of solid medication out of the single bubble pack at the instruction of the authorized user.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a keypad and a liquid crystal display coupled to the processor.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises an easily accessible drawer for retrieving the dosage of solid medication once it has been dispensed.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a means of biometric data entry associated with an authorized user.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the code representative of the authorized user is the name of the authorized user and the code representative of the patient'"'"'s name is the patient'"'"'s name or social security number.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the code representative of the authorized user is the Personal Identification Number of the authorized user and the code representative of the patient'"'"'s name is the patient'"'"'s name or social security number.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a transmitter function for transmitting dispensation data to a remote memory device, wherein dispensation data comprises at least one among the code representative of the authorized user, the code representative of the patient'"'"'s name, and the date and time of dispensation of the dosage of medication.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the system further comprises a receiver for receiving updated dispensation data for at least one among a particular user and a particular medication.

12. A method of dispensing medication from a portable secure dispenser, comprising the steps of:

awaiting an authorization code from an authorized user among a plurality of authorized users;

dispensing a dosage of medication while maintaining remaining dosages of medication secure in the portable secure dispenser upon receipt of at least the authorization code and optionally a patient'"'"'s name;

storing a code representative of the authorized user, a code representative of the patient'"'"'s name, and a date and time of dispensation of the dosage of medication in a memory.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of enabling a user in an administrator mode to provide at least one among the functions of programming user names and authorization codes, setting a current date and time, dispensing a pill, resetting the dispenser upon re-filling the dispenser with a new dosage of solid medication, programming the dispenser for use with a unique patient or for stock medication dispensation, displaying dispensation activity for a given authorized user for a given patient, displaying dispensation activity for all authorized users for a given bubble card, and uploading dispensation activity data to a database on a computer.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of dispensing comprises the steps of maneuvering an actuator plunger over the dosage of medication contained in a bubble pack and actuating the actuator plunger to push the dosage of medication out of the bubble pack.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of awaiting the authorization codes comprises one among the receipt of a keypad entry, a voice recognition entry, magnetic card entry, and a biometric data entry.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises the step of wirelessly transmitting the code representative of the authorized user, the code representative of the patient'"'"'s name, and the date and time of dispensation of the dosage of medication to a remote memory device.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises the step of transmitting the code representative of the authorized user, the code representative of the patient'"'"'s name, and the date and time of dispensation of the dosage of medication to a remote memory device via a wired link.