Method and apparatus for monitoring, documenting and assisting with the manual compounding of medications
Inventors
Kriheli, Marino • SHEM-TOV, Eric • DASKAL, Gonen
Assignees
Interested in licensing this patent?
MTEC can help explore whether this patent might be available for licensing for your application.
Publication Number
US-9978139-B2
Publication Date
2018-05-22
Expiration Date
Abstract
The invention is a method and system for monitoring, documenting and assisting with the manual preparation and/or administration of medications. The invention accomplishes these goals via constant surveillance of the preparation/administration process using one or more digital cameras and software and hardware that processes the images and compares data from the processed images with information relative to the patient, to the drug components and composition of the medicament, and to non-drug items needed in the preparation that the system automatically or manually retrieves from various sources, e.g. internal or external data banks, from the technician/pharmacist, or by scanning the prescription.
Core Innovation
The invention is a method for monitoring, documenting and assisting with the manual preparation and/or administration of liquid medications or medications requiring reconstitution. The method provides constant surveillance of the preparation/administration process using at least one digital camera and uses image acquisition to support subsequent determination and guidance.
Image acquired by the digital camera is processed to determine whether bubbles are present in the liquid in a syringe and to identify the volume of liquid in the syringe by image processing the relative position of the syringe piston to the syringe barrel. The method provides software adapted to perform image processing and to compare, in real time, data extracted from processed images to information relative to one or more of a patient, drug components and composition of the medication, and non-drug items needed in the preparation.
The invention further provides dedicated software algorithms adapted to act as an interactive assistant guiding and/or supervising a producer through each step of a specific preparation process. The claimed approach includes extracting data from images by barcode recognition, QR code recognition, OCR (Optical Character Recognition), and additional pattern recognition algorithms, and it supports supervised preparation workflows that include verifying prescription to a patient and medical condition match and guiding selection of prescribed drugs and equipment.
The invention also supports documentation of the medication preparation process in visual and data archives where every step is documented and indexed. In addition, the disclosed monitoring and assistance can include providing visual or aural warnings to alert the producer when an error is detected at any stage of the preparation or administration process.
Claims Coverage
The partial content includes two independent claims: clm-00001 (a method) and clm-00008 (a system). Together they define inventive coverage around constant digital-camera surveillance, image processing for real-time data extraction and comparison, interactive assistant guidance, and syringe bubble/liquid analysis, prescription-to-patient verification, warnings, code/text/pattern recognition, and visual/data archiving.
Constant surveillance with digital cameras for manual medication monitoring
Using at least one digital camera and providing constant surveillance of the preparation/administration process.
Syringe bubble detection and syringe piston-to-barrel liquid volume determination by image processing
Using image acquired by the at least one digital camera to determine whether bubbles are present in the liquid in a syringe and to identify the volume of liquid in said syringe by image processing the relative position of the syringe piston to syringe barrel.
Real-time comparison of extracted image data to patient, medication components and needed non-drug items
Providing software adapted to perform image processing of images acquired by said at least one digital camera and to compare, in real time, data extracted from the processed images to information relative to one or more of a patient, drug components and composition of said medication, and non-drug items needed in the preparation, wherein said data is automatically or manually retrieved from various sources.
Interactive assistant guiding and/or supervising the producer through preparation steps
Providing dedicated software algorithms that are adapted to act as an interactive assistant guiding and/or supervising a producer through each step of a specific preparation process.
System architecture with camera surveillance, processor unit comparison/assistant, and display interface
A system comprising using at least one digital camera and providing constant surveillance of the preparation/administration process; a processor unit comprising software adapted to perform image processing and compare, in real time, extracted data to information relative to one or more of a patient, drug components and composition of said medication, and non-drug items needed in the preparation, wherein said data is automatically or manually retrieved from various sources, and dedicated software algorithms adapted to act as an interactive assistant guiding and/or supervising a producer through each step of a specific preparation process; and a display screen adapted to serve as an interface between said producer and the software of said system.
Across the independent claims, the core inventive coverage is a digital-camera-based monitoring and documentation approach for manual liquid medication preparation/administration, where image processing extracts information and enables real-time comparison to patient/medication/non-drug preparation information, and dedicated algorithms provide an interactive assistant interface for guiding and/or supervising a producer.
Stated Advantages
Guides and/or supervises a producer through each step of a specific preparation process.
Provides interactive monitoring through real-time comparison of extracted image data to patient, drug components and composition, and non-drug items needed in the preparation.
Detects whether bubbles are present in the liquid in a syringe and identifies the volume of liquid in the syringe by image processing.
Can provide visual or aural warnings when an error is detected at any stage of the preparation or administration process.
Compiles complete documentation of the medication preparation process as visual and data archives with every step documented and indexed.
Documented Applications
Monitoring, documenting and assisting with the manual preparation and/or administration of liquid medications or medications requiring reconstitution.
Preparation-process documentation and archiving including every step in the medication preparation process as visual and data archives.
Use of image-based extraction and comparison to support verification of prescription to a patient and the patient’s medical condition, and supervision/guidance for selecting prescribed drugs and equipment needed for the preparation process.
Interested in licensing this patent?