ORAL MEDICATION REMINDER FOR PEOPLE WITH AUDITORY AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

Abstract

Oral medication reminder for people with auditory and visual impairment The present invention sets forth a medication box that has been designed to remind visually and auditory impaired people to take their medications by giving visual and aural signals. The medication reminder is configured at the top of the medication box. The design is straightforward, insensitive to technique, and portable. There is a circuit diagram, with the DC battery and the digital watch that the person of interest manually programs for 30 days. The LED light becomes red when buzzer is turned off from blue. There is a manually programmed digital watch that is set to repeat every 30 days, an LED signal board, which changes its colour from blue to red once the buzzer is turned off, thereby indicating the auditory impaired people and a IC recorder to which a recorded message can be added accordingly , Buzzer that alerts visually impaired people that it is time to take their medications.

Specification

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention relates to the field of biomedical science, where it
specifically relates to a medication organizer which helps people in reminding to
take medications on time and to avoid overdose or inappropriate pharmaceutical
intake
As per the World Health Organization's estimate, there were around 285 million
visually impaired persons worldwide in 2010. Of these, 39 million were blind,
and 1.4 million were children. Over 59,000 children and teenagers (up to age 21)
in the US were registered as legally blind in 2011, according to data from The
National Federation of the Blind and the American Printing House for the Blind.
One to six children in every 1,000 are said to be bom deaf in the United States,
andJ0,767.students.benefited_ffom hearing services through the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act in the 2000-2001 academic year.
It's not always as simple and evident to take medicine as it seems. According to a
recent World Health Organization study on patients' adherence to long-term
therapy, 50% of patients fail to take their medications as prescribed, [van Vliet,
M., J., Schuurmans, M. J., Grypdonck, M. H. F., & Duijnstee, M. S. H. (2006).
Improper intake of medication by elders-insights on contributing factors: A
review of the literature. Research and Theory for Nursing Practice, 20(1), 79-93]
https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-joumals/improper-intake-medication-
elders-insights-on/docview/207664767/se-2

When a patient has visual or aural problems, their capacity to take the prescribed
medication at the appropriate time may be compromised. It is crucial that the



FIELD OF INVENTION:
patient takes the prescribed medication at the appointed time because using drugs inappropriately might be harmful. However, it can be challenging for patients
with auditory and visual impairments as well as the elderly to complete treatment
procedures accurately and independently.
It is difficult to age healthily, thus it calls for a number of crucial tactics.
Correct medication is unquestionably one of these tactics that mostly depend on
the behaviour of the individual. Furthermore, it is commonly acknowledged that
the. majority of ailments ar.ejreated mostlyjwith drugs.. As a result, the patient
must take the medication exactly as prescribed by a healthcare provider.
Medication adherence, particularly among older persons, is still a prevalent
problem in the healthcare industry. In actuality, about 50% of elderly individuals
have several chronic conditions. Therefore, it is essential to regularly check and
evaluate each person's adherence in order to improve their health results. For this
to be successful, precise assessment techniques must be used. [ Aldeer M,
Javanmard M, Martin RP. A review of medication adherence monitoring
technologies. Applied System Innovation. 2018 May 6;1(2):14.]
Administering medication incorrectly does not necessarily result in severe
outcomes for the patient. However, medication non-adherence is a major factor
in 60% of senior hospital admissions [Mannesse, Derkx, de Ridder, Man in't
Veld, & van der Cammen, 2000]

The aging population is growing at a rapid rate, necessitating the development of
cost-effective, automated systems to care for the elderly in their homes.
Numerous IT-integrated healthcare solutions, including telemedicine, home care,
and mobile care, may be suggested for this reason. [Real time detection, tracking
and recognition of medication intake H. H. Huynh, J. Meunier, J. Sequeira, and
M Daniel]
There have been a number of medications dispensing devices disclosed in the
-prior-art.. JULS.. Pat. _No.J3,91 l,856__issued Oct. 14,^1975 to Charles, C.^ Ewing,
discloses a medication dispenser and schedule reminder which includes a date
selector, a six-hour spring-wound or battery operated timer having an alarm, and
a manually rotatable top to select one of a plurality of compartments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,156 issued Sep. 25, 1984 to David C. Martin discloses a
method and apparatus for accurately selecting, storing and dispensing pills
comprising a tray having four colour coded containers for each day of the week
coupled with manually removable slidable panels covering the containers, and a
pivoted cover for the tray. There is no timer structure disclosed, or any means to
lock the cover in position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,765 issued Mar. 15, 1988 to George W. Cole et al. discloses
a medication reminder which includes a timer and a release latch mechanism


DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION:
which releases a latch on the cover over a compartment. Cole et al. disclose only
a single compartment with the latch mechanism controlled by the timer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,559 issued Oct. 10, 1989 to Heinrich Schoon discloses a
dispenser for medical preparations comprising a plurality of compartments
arranged in columns and rows, and manually slidable covers covering each
column of compartments. There is no disclosure of a timer coupled to an alarm
in Schoorf '
But this medication organizer has features like, throughout the course of 30 days,
this invention helps to remind people to take their medications at pre-determined
intervals. A microprocessor, which is in charge of providing an auditory and
visual alert, controls this. Through a manually programmable one-month
reminder, this invention assists the person of interest and/or their caretaker. To
further serve as a warning to the user not to take the prescription again, this
reminder also has the ability to change from blue to red once the alarm turned off
for the auditory impaired persons and There is an aural method that will further
deter visually challenged individuals from taking the drug.



THE OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION:
In the above mentioned invention, it is an objective of the present invention to
provide a medication organizer that helps to remind people to take their
medications.
Furthermore, one of the invention's goals is to inform the individual in question
not to take the medication again by switching colours when the alarm goes off,
additionally there is an aural alert preventing the visually impaired people not to
c
take the medication again.
Another objective of the invention is that, this is manually - programmed.
Yet another goal of the invention it is an objective of the present invention is that
this invention is user friendly, can be used by people of any age.
Another objective of the present invention is that the, this is not a separate tool,
the reminder comes attached to the medication box so doesn't takes up much
space .
Another objective of the present invention is that this is inexpensive, so wide
range of individuals can utilize it.


DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION:
An extra objective of the present invention is that, this is technique in-sensitive,
can be used by anyone, doesn't need any special training.



SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
The medication dispensing box described here includes a 30-day reminder
feature, a microprocessor linked to a clock, a memory linked to the
microprocessor to store in the memory specific times of actuating the medication,
and an alarm system to notify the patient or caregiver when it's time to take the
medication. The alarm system is connected to the processor and also includes a
feature that alternates between colours to remind the patient not to take the
.medication again which is. helpful forjtuditory impaired people and jm aural alert
to help with the visually impaired people. This invention is affordable, space-
saving, user-friendly, manually programmable, and technique-insensitive. For
those with impaired hearing, the visually impaired, and the elderly, this invention
can help them take their medications as directed by their caregivers or the person
of interest at the proper time. One can manually set this device to run at 30-day
periods of interest. They are assisted in not taking the prescribed medication again
by the feature that changes colour.

FIGURE 1 : Illustrates the medication box in 3Dimensional view of medication
box with reminder feature
FIGURE 2 : Illustrates the Prisma cuadrangular view of the medication box
FIGURE 3 : Illustrates the circuit diagram of the invention
EIG.UREA: Illustrates the visual jdgnaJjof the invention
FIGURE 5 : Illustrates the aural signal of the invention

(A) DC Battery
(B) Digital watch
(C) Light
J h i H Ki ( H h {- i c t r H t H N AI 6 f i y f Ti y 2 4 i i : 10
(D) Buzzer

(A) Digital Watch
(B) LED Signal Board
(C) Buzzer

(A) Digital Watch
(B) IC Recorder
(C) Buzzer




DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION :
While the present invention is described herein by way of example, using various
embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognise that
the invention is neither intended to be limited to the embodiment of drawing nor
drawings described nor designed to represent the scale of the various components.
Further, some features that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated
with specific figures for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the
embodiment outlined in any way The drawings and a detailed description are not
intended to restrict the invention to the form disclosed. Still, on the contrary, the
story covers all modification/s, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the
spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The
headings are used for organisational purposes only and are not meant to limit the
size of the description or the claims. As used throughout this specification, the
word "may" be used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to),
rather than the.mandatory sense (i.e., meaning, must).
Further, the words "an" or "a" mean "at least one", and the word "plurality" means
one or more unless otherwise mentioned. Furthermore, the terminology and
phraseology used herein are solely for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising,"
"having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be
broad and encompass the subject matter listed after that, equivalents and any other
subject matter not recited, and is not supposed to exclude any other additives,
components, integers, or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered
synonymous with the words "including" or "containing" for applicable legal
purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles, and the
like are included in the specification solely to provide a context for the present
invention.
In this disclosure, whenever an element or a group of elements is preceded with
the transitional phrase "comprising", it is also understood that it contemplates the
same component or group of features with transitional words "consisting
essentially of, "consisting", "selected from the group comprising", "including",
or "is" preceding the recitation of the element or group of elements and vice versa.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be
understood that the present invention is not limited in its application to the details
outlined in the following description or exemplified by the examples. The
invention is capable of other embodiments or being practised or carried out in
various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology
employed herein are for description andshould not be regarded as limiting.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the
same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to
which the invention belongs. Besides, the descriptions, materials, methods, and
examples are illustrative and not limited. Methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used to practice or test the present
invention.
The comprehensive explanation combined with the accompanying illustrations
offers a lucid comprehension of .the innovation. Those knowledgeable in the
relevant field will recognize that the disclosed invention's concept and
components allow for various modifications and combinations, which should also
be considered as part of this disclosure.
This medication reminder is intended to help the elderly, the visually impaired,
and those with impaired hearing take their medications at the right intervals.

The medication box is shown in three dimensional view in Figure 1. It is
approximately 6 cm in height and 2.5 cm in width. The medication reminder is
configured at the top of the medication box. The design is straightforward,
insensitive to technique, and portable

Figure 3 displays the circuit diagram, with (A) the DC battery and (B) the digital
watch that the person of interest manually programs for 30 days. The LED light
in (C) becomes red when buzzer (D) is turned off from blue.
Figure 4 shows a manually programmed digital watch (A) that is set to repeat
every 30 days, an LED signal board (B), which changes its colour from blue to
red once the buzzer is turned off, thereby indicating the auditory impaired people
Figure 5 shows a manually programmed digital watch (A) that is set to repeat
every 30 days, arid a IC recbrdef"(B) to which a recorded message can be added
accordingly , Buzzer (C) that alerts visually impaired people that it is time to take
their medications.


Figure 3 displays the circuit diagram, with (A) the DC battery and (B) the digital
watch that the person of interest manually programs for 30 days. The LED light
in (C) becomes red when buzzer (D) is turned off from blue.
Figure 4 shows a manually programmed digital watch (A) that is set to repeat
every 30 days, an LED signal board (B), which changes its colour from blue to
red once the buzzer is turned off, thereby indicating the auditory impaired people
Figure 5 shows a manually programmed digital watch (A) that is set to repeat
every 30 days, arid a IC recbrdef"(B) to which a recorded message can be added
accordingly , Buzzer (C) that alerts visually impaired people that it is time to take
their medications.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY :
There are numerous healthcare fields where oral medicine reminders can be used
in an industrial setting. This medication reminder is useful in almost all medical
specialties that provide oral medications. Since oral medicine reminders are
essential for promoting appropriate drug intake and enhancing general health,
their industrial applicability is substantial.
CLOSING STATEMENT :
When summed up, an oral medication reminder is a vital tool for anyone working
in the health care sector. The general health and quality of life can be enhanced
by using these manually programmed devices to assist the elderly, visually
challenged, and those with hearing loss in taking their medications at the right
times. These are getting more and more efficient because to technological
breakthroughs and creative design. The current invention is reliable, effective,
reasonably priced, portable, and light.






CLAIMS :
We claim,
1. A novel medication box with an alarm feature to assist visually and
auditory impaired people by visual and aural signals.
2. The novel medication box as claimed in claim 1, has the components
including a DC battery, digital watch, IC recorder, LED signal board,
and buzzer.
_3T^heTiovel-iriedieatiuirbux-as-claiiiied-iirelamH-rhas-the"diniensions--
of 6.5 cm x 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm making it a portable device that is easy
to carry during travel too.
4. The medication box as claimed in claim 1 has an alarm that can be
manually programmed for 30 days.
5. The medication box as claimed in claim 1 has colour changing feature
as the alarm goes off from one colour to other to assist the auditory
impaired people.
6. The medication box as claimed in claim 1 has an alarm feature to
assist the visually impaired people
7. The alarm as claimed in claim 2 can be manually set to sound at a
regular desired interval (manual setting - anytime the individual the
individual prefers) for about 2 minutes and is set to manually
programmed for 1st day to 30th day and has to reset after 30 days








REFERENCE:
1) [Van Vliet, M., J., Schuurmans, M. J., Grypdonck, M. H. F., & Duijnstee,
M. S. H. (2006). Improper intake of medication by elders-insights on
contributing factors: A review of the literature. Research and Theory for
Nursing Practice, 20(1), 79-93]
2) [ Aldeer M, Javanmard M, Martin RP. A review of medication adherence
monitoring technologies. Applied System Innovation. 2018 May
6;1(2):14.]
3) [Mannesse, Derkx, de Ridder, Man in't Veld, & van der Cammen, 2000]
4) [Real time detection, tracking and recognition of medication intake H. H.
Huynh, J. Meunier, J. Sequeira, and M Daniel]
5) [U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,856 issued Oct. 14, 1975 to Charles C. Ewing]
6) [U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,156 issued Sep. 25, 1984 to David C. Martin]
7) [U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,765 issued Mar. 15, 1988 to George W. Cole et al]
A ! t N i y. t-1-1 c h C; H t H N A A J y / i \l\ 11 y. 7i A
8) [U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,559 issued Oct. 10, 1989 to Heinrich Schoon]

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