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Our first semester of work on this project can be found here at this link
Medication adherence is a very important concern to the medical community. Currently, 237 billion dollars are projected to be spent on prescription drugs in the US this year alone. An important consideration clinicians face is if the patient is taking medications correctly. Often patients are prescribed more than one medication (average at the VA is about 7 medications), leading to a more complicated drug regimen. Currently there is a device which can monitor what date/time an individual medication pill bottle is opened (MEMS). However, no device has been developed to monitor adherence in complicated drug regimens. As medication regimens become more complex, an assistant device known as a "medication box" is often used. The theory behind the use is that the patient fills up a weeks worth of medications at a time, instead of opening each individual bottle once, twice or three times per day, leading to easier use. Medication boxes have four slots representing morning, noon, evening and bedtime for each day of the week. The whole medication box consists of 28 smaller lids to pop open on the top of the box which measures 9"x11"x1".
Our team will focus on designing a prototype that allows for the recording of the time/date of each slot opening.
This would provide valuable information to clinicians in deciding if additional medication is to be used, or education or some other approach to the patient regarding better adherence.
In addition, we would be interested in developing a type of programmed cue (lights/sounds/vibration) which would indicate a time to take medication. This could either be located either on the medication box, or a small wristwatch that the patient would wear.
Our team:
Sujan, Nipun, Farshad, Cara
We are currently looking into developing BASIC code for PIC controller in order to program and test the functionality of our circuit. Also must find proper wiring and cables to connect the switches to our circuit.
We are also investigating the possibility of replacing our current switches or sectioning off the compartment doors for a better ’hit’
Current difficulties include proper positioning of the switches in order to ensure a ’recognize’ by the micro everytime.
Final Layout using our 7x4 box:
Applying a bootloader to our current microcontroller.
We would like the end-user interface to look like this for our cilent:
This week are looking to interact more with the micro and find a better way to extend wires from the switches.
We are now investigating the use of a ribbon cable to connect our pill box with our microcircuit.
Our circuit is complete using the ribbon cables mentioned above purchased from the Medical Electronic Lab on campus.
This circuit is contained in our Electronic Medical Adherence Device (EMAD) system.
| Week | Reporting Period Beginning | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 26 | Looking for PIC resources |
| 2 | February 2 | We have ordered a few pic controllers we are interested in and are starting to investigate BASIC code |
| 3 | February 9 | Currently recieving code from dose compliance team in order to manipulate for our specifications |
| 4 | February 16 | Recieved necessary code, in process of manipulating as well as ordering another microcontroller |
| 5 | February 23 | We have started programming our new microcontroller to fit our needs and will be designing a final circuit shortly. |
| 6 | March 2 | Preparing prototype for midsemester. |
| 7 | March 9 | Mid-Semester |
| 8 | March 16 | Creating prototype |
| 9 | March 23 | Creating prototype |
| 10 | March 30 | Creating prototype and writing final code |
| 11 | April 6 | Creating poster, finishing code |
| 12 | April 13 | Getting ready for Final Presentation |
| 13 | April 20 | Presentation complete, arranging meeting with client and advisor to discuss future plans. |
| 14 | April 27 | Preparing Journal Report, finishing documentation |
| 15 | May 4 |
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Mid-Semester Presentation (Mar 9 2007, 5440 kb) |
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Final Poster (May 8 2007, 756 kb) |
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Product Design Specifications (May 9 2007, 30 kb) |
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MikroBasic BASIC Code (May 9 2007, 20 kb) |
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Microsoft Visual Basic Code (May 9 2007, 109 kb) |
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Final Report (May 9 2007, 265 kb) |
