PHARMACY AUTOMATION USING AUTONOMOUS ROBOT

• US 20130204430A1
• Filed: 08/14/2012
• Published: 08/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pharmabot LLC
• Original Assignee: Neil S. Davey
• Inventors: DAVEY, Neil S., MURPHY, Brendan Boyce, DAVEY, Sonya R., GODIL, Haris
• Granted Patent: US 9,043,012 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/216
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 11/008 Manipulators for service tasks
• CPC Class Codes: B25J 11/009 Nursing, e.g. carrying sick persons, pushing wheelchairs, distributing drugs
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 1/1373 for fulfilling orders in warehouses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 17/00 Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions information retrieval, database structures or file system structures therefor G06F16/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/13 Architectural design, e.g. computer-aided architectural design [CAAD] related to design of buildings, bridges, landscapes, production plants or roads
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/10 relating to drugs or medications, e.g. for ensuring correct administration to patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/13 delivered from dispensers
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 901/01 Mobile robot

Abstract

A pharmacy automation system having a robot having a hardware device and a software for internal mapping is configured to carry out at least the following different interactions: the robot communicates autonomously with a physician or an assistant directly or via an intermediary; the robot interacts with an inventory of goods and browses the inventory of goods to determine if a prescribed medication is available in the pharmacy; if the prescribed medication is available in the pharmacy, the robot interacts with a medication dispenser, using the internal mapping to fill a container with the prescribed medication, and store the container; when a patient or a proxy arrives to pick up the prescribed medication, the robot checks and approves an identification of the patient or the proxy; and hands the container with the prescribed medication over to the patient or proxy.

Claims

1. A pharmacy automation system comprising a robot comprising a hardware device and a software for internal mapping to perform simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), wherein the robot is configured to use the SLAM technique to carry out at least the following different interactions:

the robot communicates autonomously with a physician or an assistant directly or via an intermediary;

the robot interacts with an inventory of goods and browses the inventory of goods to determine if a prescribed medication is available in the pharmacy;

if the prescribed medication is available in the pharmacy, the robot interacts with a medication dispenser, using the internal mapping to fill a container with the prescribed medication, and store the container;

when a patient or a proxy arrives to pick up the prescribed medication, the robot checks and approves an identification of the patient or the proxy; and

when the patient or proxy presents a prescription containing the prescribed medication, the robot retrieves the container with the prescribed medication and hands the container with the prescribed medication over to the patient or proxy.

2. The pharmacy automation system of claim 1, wherein the prescription is in a form of a prescription note or a medical card comprising a build-in memory chip containing at least information regarding the prescribed medication.

3. The pharmacy automation system of claim 1, wherein the intermediary comprises an online database containing a list of doctors or a cloud network.

4. The pharmacy automation system of claim 1, wherein the robot is further configured to upload an information of the patient and/or the proxy to the doctor directly or the intermediary, the intermediary comprising an online database containing a list of doctors or a cloud network.

5. The pharmacy automation system of claim 4, wherein the information of the patient comprises information regarding the prescribed medication dispensed to the patient or the proxy.

6. The pharmacy automation system of claim 4, wherein the information of the patient comprises information regarding the prescribed medication dispensed to the patient or the proxy and the information of the proxy comprises biometric data and/or a photograph of the proxy.

7. The pharmacy automation system of claim 1, wherein the hardware device comprises a rotary encoder and a laser.

8. The pharmacy automation system of claim 1, wherein the software comprises a robot operating system.

9. A tangible non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to conduct pharmacy automation, comprising robotically assisting a patient or a proxy using a robot to obtain a prescribed medication from a pharmacy, wherein the robot is configured to carry out at least the following different interactions:

if the prescribed medication is available in the pharmacy, the robot interacts with a medication dispenser, using internal mapping to fill a container with the prescribed medication, and store the container;

when the patient or the proxy arrives to pick up the prescribed medication, the robot checks and approves an identification of the patient or the proxy; and

when the patient or proxy presents a prescription containing the prescribed medication, the robot retrieves the container with the prescribed medication and hands the container with the prescribed medication over to the patient or proxy.

10. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the robot is configured to also carry out at least the following interaction:

the robot communicates autonomously with a physician or an assistant directly or via an intermediary;

the robot interacts with an inventory of goods and browses the inventory of goods to determine if the prescribed medication is available in the pharmacy.

11. The tangible non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the robot is configured to also carry out at least the following interaction:

to upload an information of the patient and/or the proxy to the doctor directly or the intermediary, the intermediary comprising an online database containing a list of doctors or a cloud network.

12. A method for conducting pharmaceutical automation, comprising assisting a plurality of customers of one or more pharmacies using one or more autonomous robots for storage and retrieval of prescription medications deposited in a medical cache, wherein, during said storage and retrieval of the prescription medications by the robot:

(a) each of the plurality of the customers maintains their identity in privacy within a customer database, accessible by the robot;

(b) the plurality of the customers are able to retrieve prescription medication simultaneously or sequentially, and in different locations; and

(c) identification of each of the plurality of the customers is verified by the robot with an identification key.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising mapping at least a portion of the pharmacy.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the mapping is done by the robot.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the mapping includes determining a shortest distance between one or more of the plurality of individuals and one or more locations of the prescription medications.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein each of the one or more locations of the prescription medication has an associated code and each of the plurality of the customers has an identification key, and only when the robot associates the associated code with the identification key does the robot retrieve the prescription medication from the medical cache.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the robot uses a simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technique for odometry.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the identification key comprises either one, or a combination of a prescription note, a patient record, biometric data, a physical key, a password, an identification card and a medical card.

19. A method for delivery of a good, comprising gathering information regarding a time and location for delivery of the good and mode of pick-up, creating a matrix of all delivery locations and modes of pick-up for each location and verifying each mode as a safe and secure pick-up mode, and delivering the good.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the good is a prescription medication.