International Journal of Hyperconnectivity and the Internet of Things

Volume 6 • Issue 1

A Brief Study on Smart

Medicine Dispensers
Dayananda P., JSS Academy of Technical Education, Bangalore, India
Amrutha G. Upadhya, JSS Academy of Technical Education, Bangalore, India
Nayana B. G., JSS Academy of Technical Education, Bangalore, India
Priyam Poddar, JSS Academy of Technical Education, Bangalore, India
Vandana Rao Emaneni, JSS Academy of Technical Education, Bangalore, India*

ABSTRACT

The article’s purpose is to throw light on the presentation of an enhanced idea of the usage of a
growing technology of internet of things. The proposed system SPEC 2.0 (smart pill expert system) is
used to automate the capability of dispensing the right dosage of medicine pills at the given interval.
The proposed system has been designed to be used at your home, your workplace, at hospitals by a
user in any age group and then possibly expanding the functionalities to the visually impaired. The
system focuses on providing access control and monitoring management through a mobile app with
no monthly subscriptions to the service being offered. The user has been given control of the system
through the application to help set the time interval for dispensing the medication. There will also be
alerts and notifications that are sent if the pills haven’t been removed from the final container box.
The system is tested, and the results are determined by growing the modules for dispensing the pills
at certain predefined time intervals.

Keywords
Expert System, Health, Healthcare IoT, IoT Motorization Service, Medication Monitoring, Medicine Dispenser
Application, Smart Medication, Smart Medicine Dispenser

INTRODUCTION

Advancements made in the field of smart healthcare technologies have provided people a better life
situation in the present years. This would have been even more notable if the percentage of medication
errors could be identified and corrected. Due to this negligence, there has been quite a lot of deaths
and quite an enormous increase in the expenditures by millions each passing year. In the present-day
scenario, since medical devices are incorporated on a network, due to its security issues, interoperability
breaches are increasing in number day by day, resulting in enormous business losses. To curb this very
risk, automation and consumer-based technologies are being adopted for the medical devices. Health
care is at the heart of IOT, with applications varying from health monitorization to disease prognosis.
These applications provide the visualisation of identification, diagnostic study, treatment procedures

DOI: 10.4018/IJHIoT.294893 *Corresponding Author


Copyright © 2022, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.


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International Journal of Hyperconnectivity and the Internet of Things
Volume 6 • Issue 1

and regular monitoring through the devices that are implanted in IOT. The main achievements are to
reduce the cost and easy usage for its users by providing better user experience and easy operational
customisation. For seamless connectivity and better performance, a systematic scheduling scheme
plays a very important role due to the availability of limited resources. In the healthcare domain,
smart devices like a gateway, a server and a database help in creation of data to be sent as medical
services to the authorized organisations. In the upcoming years, IOT will play a huge role to address
the above issues in the healthcare domain. Through IOT, various countries across the world, have
adopted this new turnover in the field of medical health care, by designing and developing new
frameworks and applications integrating services and security. The objective is to construct a device
that is relatively small and light weight, that is developed as a software in such a way that patients
receive their medication reliably and safely as prescribed by their physician. The device also provides
alert messages which helps to take medicines in time as well as refilling the medications.

BACKGROUND

(Reddy & Chavan, 2020) (Casciaro et al., 2020) The system SPES provides expertise on the real-time
analysis and support to every user relying on medication. Since Medicinal Nonadherence (MNA)
is one of the huge factors for extended betterment, money issues, and sudden demises, SPES tries
to curb these inconveniences by supporting several users, the option for controlling and monitoring
their actions, simultaneously, in order to curb any misleading events. The SPES provides an easy
UI and a trouble-free way of maintaining the physical dispenser system with an AI-Chat service
that caters to the needs of the user’s queries. (Al-haider et al., 2020) The medicine planner provides
functionalities to pre-sort a prescription on a daily basis. This is especially catered to the needs of
elderly and visually impaired personal to have a better management of their meds. The planner has
2 distinct functionalities of providing a self-filling mechanism and an alert notification mechanism
during the time of medicine intake. (Rao et al., 2020) The kit proposed can be programmed to
provide a proposition to guide users to consume their correct medicine at the exact specified time
interval through the employment of an alert functionality, buzzers and LED. This is a small grant
to improve life existence for a better healthy future for the world. (Mahmud et al., 2020) This IOT
based intelligent medicine container houses several sensors and servers for frequent health monitoring
check-ups. This allows wireless communication between the user and their caregivers with regard
to their monthly health check-ups and removes the burden of a physical meeting session. Since the
main goal is to focus on the correct medication schedules, aged generations will be benefited the
most as they require constant taking care off. The servers are used for embedding the time schedule
along with the medication details. There is also an embedded temperature sensor for examining of the
user’s body temperature. (Sangvanloy & Sookhanaphibarn, 2020) An automatic pet feeder has been
constructed for allocation of the dry pet food for dogs and cats, with customization based on each pet
owner. This provides an effective manner of taking care of the food patterns comfortably. (Moise et
al., 2020) The design facilitates easy monitoring and controlling functionalities via mobile app with
no cost plans. The system is controlled by the user through his phone or through the buttons present
on the machine itself for choosing his required number of medications for a given time interval.
There are alert messages sent to provide an indication for whether the medication was removed
from the container or not. (Nijiya et al., 2018) The system has been built around prescription drugs
which will assist in authenticating a patient’s access of such medication based on their identity and
prescribed schedule, and also simplifies the pharmacist or doctor to monitor this consumption. The
system consists of intelligent reminders, care taker reminders, and dosage tracking and also notifies
each time the container box is opened to provide a security feature that avoids stealing of medicines.
Prescription drugs are sometimes consumed without any intent initiated by a doctor and sometimes
the users may be forgetful to consume their medication, causing irregular consumption periods. To
help curb these events, the system helps patients take their medication on time with value added

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Volume 6 • Issue 1

safety measures, facilitating for a speedy recovery. (Jadhav et al., 2020) The product improves the
automation of functional modules through the usage of an existing mobile app “Blynk” to have a
definite control over the feeder. Through the networks, the amount of feed will be controlled along
with its duration of dispensing. This functionality is implemented by clicking the button provided on
the app, that will in turn control the opening and closing of the hole in the dispenser cap. (Mugisha
et al., 2020) A pill dispenser with alarm which is provided with a facility of notifying on the smart
phones to help patients take right medicine at appropriate time that have been prescribed with several
medicines. The existing systems have existing alarm modules present for indication of medication
time. This could be a drawback for elderly patients to hear the alarm if the pill dispenser is placed
at a lengthy distance from them or due to hearing loss concerned with age factor. There is not any
dispenser system that provides in-built mobile alerts to remind the patients about medication thus
far. Hence, the system is built using the Instapush application for the pop-up notifications and
combination of infrared sensors and microcontroller to control the medication dosage and time period
for consumption. (Bombarda et al., 2019) A different approach of abstract state machines have been
introduced to develop this system. The development phase is very critical as even if one component
fails, then it possesses great life-threatening injuries to the users who are diligently making use of the
service. To prevent this situation, a precise procedure has been adopted to measure the probabilities of
defeats. With this statistics, validation and verification modules are conducted in a well-documented
incremental procedure. In addition, regulation (IEC62304) and guidelines are presented and by phase
wise enhancement a fine model is attained which can be interpreted to code.

MAIN FOCUS OF THE ARTICLE

Comparative Analysis Study

There are currently three technology-based pill dispensers that are available in the market. Based on
each of its salient features and limitations, an overall conclusion of the technology has been derived.
We also look into the already existing marketed pill dispensers to get a broader view into its offered
features. Table 1 summaries the various distinct features offered by the systems.

Merits and Demerits

Through the proposed systems, there is a usage of a crisp design to reduce the number of hardware
components. There is an option of customizable and flexible medication routine provided through
a mobile application. Assurance of security is a key distinction. The event of overdosage is well
taken care of by ensuring proper disposal protocols. Alarm and sound notifications are deployed
for indication of dispensing and overdosage events. The main scope is to provide an easy-to-use UI
design. For the indicator events, message alerts are sent through SMS services. The systems offer a
single user interface for a given environment usage. There is always a limitation to the medications
supplied to the system for dispensing. Only solid medications are deployed. There is no guarantee
to prevent non-adherence as it’s up to the user’s end to consume the medication at the end of the
day. There is no power supply back-up provided for running efficiently. The article proposes a
new approach to overcome problems such as non-expandability, inconvenience, low reliability and
communication inefficiency.

Applications
The pill dispensers find its application in various domains, especially in the medicine and healthcare
stream. Several hospitals across the world have adopted these systems to ease the work pressure on
nurses for providing the correct dosage of medications to each and every patient at the right duration
of time. These systems are also deployed in nursing homes to keep track of each person’s medications.
This also provides a sense of independence to the elderly not to worry about their health going

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Volume 6 • Issue 1

Table 1. Technology-based comparative analysis

Sl. Technology-based
Salient Features Limitations Overall Conclusion of Technology
No Comparison

Sensor-based Systems

Smart Medicine Dispenser • Alarm notifications to • No security arrangements have been • Detection of opening and closing of
with Alarm via Smart indicate the right medication. considered. medicine compartments
Phone Notification. • Alerts and communications • Single user system interface. • Portability
(Othman & Ek, 2016) sent via a mobile application. • No support services have been provided. • Antibacterial
• Mobile App
• Dispensing pills on schedule • Security protocols haven’t been • Battery power
Autonomous Pill
basis. considered. • Accuracy of detection of medication
Dispenser: Mechanizing
• Control via middleware • Single user. is very low.
the Delivery of Tablet
• Flip mechanism for dispensing
Medication. (Chawla,
medication via the users.
1 2016)
• No support services have been provided.

Smart Medication Box for • Notifications and reminders • Security events haven’t been taken into
Reminder and Monitoring sent through middleware. consideration.
Purposes (Minaam & • Improved medicine fidelity. • No support middle wares have been
Abd-ELfattah, 2018) deployed.

• Determination of whether • No ‘hands-on’ service.

Electronic Smart Box for a wrong compartment was • Not cost efficient
Continuous Monitoring accessed. • Single user system interface.
(Hayes et al., 2006) • Prompts user if the • Limited security for user authentication.
medication has been missed.

Accessibility-based Systems

RFID-based Smart • Detection of opening • Based on assumption made - ‘If a bottle • Detection of absence or presence of
Medicine Drawer (Becker and closing of medicine is removed, a pill has been taken’. medication via an antenna.
et al., 2009) compartment door. • Limited security with respect to the • Non-invasive
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• Tracking of medicines via RFID tags placed on containers. • Requires combination with sensors
RFID-based Medication RFID tags on “bottles”. and devices for verification purpose.
Adherence Intelligence • Based on several assumptions with
System (McCall et al., respect to self-sorted medications.
2010)

Vision-based Systems

Computer vision system • Detection of absence or • Combination of sensors and devices • Camera resolution must be good
for monitoring intake of presence of medication with required for security verification enough to recognise the movements.
medication (Batz et al., the help of a camera. functionality. • Camera placement is assumed to be
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2005) • Antibacterial monitoring the medication area.
• Camera detects and observes normal
Video surveillance of and abnormal medication activities
medication intake (Valin et through gestures made by the hand.
al., 2006)

Existing Systems

• Flexible dispensing • Not the best affordable option. • Fall detection available.
• Alert notifications • Range of home safe devices isn’t quite • Monthly payment on per-use basis.
• Safety features scalable. • Device design is neat, compact and
• Rechargeable battery an improved update from the previous
designs.
• Customization of the ideal service
Philips’ Pill Dispenser plan.
(Philips & Dibner, 2004) • Mobile app tie-up to coordinate easy
communication between a user and his
caregiver.
• Waterproof design.
• Better and efficient battery life.
• Customer Care services.
4
• Free shipping.

• Pill dispenser • Applicable for pills that are solid and are • Flexible by providing scheduling for
• Mobile Application not halved or quartered. up to 10 different medications on a
• Notification via sounds • No power backup. daily dosage basis.
and sights • Initial set-up required. • 90 days predefined interval for
• Automated Fidelity medicine dispensing.
Tracking • Independent of dosage size and shape.
Hero’s Pill Dispenser
• Audible and visible alarm alerts for
(Diaz & Vepuri, 2012)
missed dosages.
• Security through notification.
• Quite affordable.
• Never runs out.
• Free shipping.
• Pay per plan.

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haywire. The most common environment with maximum usage is found in one’s home where people
belonging to a certain different age group can set up the device to cater to the group’s requirements for
accurate dispensing of the right prescribed dosage at the specified time interval. Nowadays, through
collaborations with Cloud services and integrated end services, the whole process has been automated
to provide hassle free and tension free working. They can be further deployed to expand its horizon
of benefits and usage to huge organisation with integration of people’s information for a seamless
network connectivity usage. In the future, there would be the concept of “contactless” appointments
and meetings where in a doctor would prescribe the medications on the fly through an application
which would then automatically fill up the required medication for dispensing for a given a patient.
Through these dispensers, life is made easy and convenient.

CONCLUSION

Non-Adherence to medication is a grave issue with increasing growth in numbers of affected people
with chronic diseases. To enhance this adherence, we have proposed the SPEC 2.0 to enhance
the already existing problems like non-expand-ability, inconvenience, low reliability and lack of
communication. The system comprises of sensors and micro-controllers with the help of which data
is analysed by the machine and it eventually dispenses medication based on the user’s customization.
The proposed system provides several advantages like scalability, remote manageability, reduced cost
management and effort, facilitating the update of the medication schedule configured in the smart
dispenser. The smart pill expert system can be used to as a solution to improve medication adherence by
prevention of under and over dosing. However, it fully cannot prevent non-adherence events occurring
voluntarily like pretending to consume the medication or discarding them after dispensing. It can
find its usage in every household or hospital that has a medical supervision and can be marketed as
an efficient solution. The main achievement is to facilitate a healthy, tension free life to those who
are taking pills regularly and to provide this solution at an affordable cost.

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Dayananda Pruthviraja is currently working as Professor & HOD in the Department of ISE at JSSATE. He has
Obtained Ph.D. degree from VTU and M.Tech degree from RVCE. His focus area is Image processing & Information
Retrieval. He was with MSRIT, Bengaluru, India in Department of ISE as an Assistant Professor. He has published
international journals and conference papers in the field of Image processing & Information retrieval.