Method for medication at a prescribed time, a dispenser and a tape for use with the method and a closed loop comprising the dispenser and the tape.

Technical field of the invention.

The invention relates to a method of dispensing a medication dose packaged in compartments of a tape stored in a container and a method of inserting medical doses in a compartment of a tape. The invention further relates to a dose dispenser, a tape comprising compartments comprising a medication dose, and a container for such a tape.

Background art.

Pharmaceuticals are being offered in various kinds of packaging. To distribute these medical doses to patients several devices have been disclosed. In WOO 19380 IA a medication dispenser is disclosed that is arranged to hold a container in which a tape with compartments holding a medication dose is stored. The tape is rolled up to save space. Each compartment holds a medication dose. When the tape, and thus the compartments are advanced, medication doses are advanced to a dispense opening in the container and dispenser, and the compartments become accessible to the user, for instance a member of the medical staff or the patient.

The dispenser computes the desired time at which the medication is to be provided to the user and advances the tape to enable access to the medical dose by the user. A problem of the tape of WOO 193801 A is that multiple containers are needed if different types of medication doses are to be provided for administering to the patient.

It is an objective of the present invention provides a method to make it easier to provide different medical doses for administering to a patient.

Disclosure of Invention.

The object is achieved in that the method is characterized in that the method comprises the steps of:

characterized in that each compartment holds all medication doses to be administered to a patient in the predetermined time period.

By including all medication doses in a single compartment, providing the compartment to the user at the beginning of a predetermined time facilitates the correct administration of the medication doses because the user is provided with a single pouch instead of several sections of tape or a tape section holding several compartments. This makes it easier to administer multiple medication doses to the patient.

In an embodiment of the method the compartment is a pouch formed by two flexible surfaces.

A pouch can easily be formed at a loading station for instance in a hospital or pharmacy by sealing two flexible foils together. The use of flexible foils allows the tape comprising the pouches to be easily rolled-up.

In an embodiment the method comprises the step of making the compartment holding the medication doses inaccessible at an end of the predetermined time period.

To prevent unauthorized access to the medication doses the compartment of the tape is made inaccessible after a predetermined time. If the medication is to be taken at 15h the compartment can be made inaccessible at 15 : 15h after the user had a chance to remove the compartment from the dispenser. This information can be centrally managed and monitored and alerts to the appropriate care giver can be given.

In an embodiment the method comprises the step of discarding the medication dose after the predetermined time period if administering is no longer allowed by a prescription.

Some medication must be taken at a particular time during the day to ensure appropriate levels of the medication in the patient's body. When the patient forgets to take the medication it is undesirable that he takes the medication dose when he discovers to omission, causing a delay in administering the medication. At that time the next medication dose would follow to soon after that delayed medication dose causing undesirable levels of medication. The compartment, together with the medication doses comprised, is discarded, i.e. made permanently inaccessible to the user.

In an embodiment the method comprises the step of making the medication dose accessible again after the predetermined time period if this is allowed by a prescription. Some medication requires taking the entire set of prescribed doses in order to be effective, hence an omitted administering should be performed when the omission is discovered. The dispenser can determine whether this is the case by retrieving the information about the omitted compartment from for instance a bar code printed on the compartment. Since the compartment is designed to hold multiple medication doses, there is ample space for adding detailed information on the compartment's surface.

In an embodiment the method comprises the step of making the medication dose accessible again comprises an identification of the user. To ensure only the user can remove omitted compartments from the dispenser, the dispenser requires the user to identify himself for instance by password or linger print recognition or RPID reader.

In an embodiment the method an information on the compartment is read to correlate medication doses in the compartment with the predetermined time period.

Information about the medication doses contained in the pouch compartment is added to the compartment's surface so that the dispenser can determine whether the compartment t is about to dispense is actually the right compartment containing the correct medical doses.

A method of inserting medical doses in a compartment of a tape comprising the steps of:

- determining all medical doses to be administered to a patient in a predetermined time period, - inserting all medical doses to be administered to a patient in a predetermined time period in a single compartment of the tape.

This method allows the loading of the tape as a preparatory step for later use of the tape with the method of dispensing a medication dose packaged in compartments of a tape stored in a container

In an embodiment of the method of inserting medical doses in a compartment of a tape the compartment is a pouch formed by two flexible surfaces.

A pouch can easily be formed at a loading station for instance in a hospital or pharmacy by sealing two flexible foils together. The use of flexible foils allows the tape comprising the pouches to be easily rolled-up.

In an embodiment of the method of inserting medical doses in a compartment of a tape the compartment is provided with identification information. Information about the medication doses contained in the pouch compartment is added to the compartment's surface so that the dispenser can determine whether the compartment t is about to dispense is actually the right compartment containing the correct medical doses.

A medication dispenser with an dispense opening for dispensing medication doses packaged in compartments of a tape stored in a container, comprising drive means for advancing a compartment towards the dispense opening at a beginning of a predetermined time period, is characterized in that the that each compartment holds all medication doses to be administered to a patient in the predetermined time period. The medication dispenser benefits of having to provide only a single compartment of the tape for each predetermined time period, simplifying interaction with the user and saving energy by not having to provide longer sections of the tape holding multiple compartments.

In an embodiment of the medication dispenser the compartment is a pouch formed by two flexible surfaces.

Flexible pouches allow easy routing of the tape through the dispenser's feeding channel.

In an embodiment the medication dispenser comprises means for making the compartment holding the medication doses inaccessible at an end of the predetermined time period.

To prevent unauthorized access to the medication doses the compartment of the tape is made inaccessible after a predetermined time. If the medication is to be

taken at 15h the compartment can be made inaccessible at 15:15h after the user had a chance to remove the compartment from the dispenser.

In an embodiment of the medication dispenser the means for making the compartment holding the medication doses inaccessible are arranged to control the drive means to retract the compartment.

Retracting the exposed compartment of the tape into the dispenser prevents access by the user.

In an embodiment the medication dispenser comprises discard means for discarding the compartment after the predetermined time period if administering is no longer allowed by a prescription.

Some medication must be taken at a particular time during the day to ensure appropriate levels of the medication in the patient's body. When the patient forgets to take the medication it is undesirable that he takes the medication dose when he discovers to omission, causing a delay in administering the medication. At that time the next medication dose would follow to soon after that delayed medication dose causing undesirable levels of medication. The compartment, together with the medication doses comprised, is discarded, i.e. made permanently inaccessible to the user.

In an embodiment of the medication dispenser the means for making the medication dose accessible are arranged to make the compartment accessible again after the predetermined time period if this is allowed by a prescription.

Some medication requires taking the entire set of prescribed doses to be effective, hence an omitted administering should be performed when the omission is discovered. The dispenser can determine whether this is the case by retrieving the information about the omitted compartment from for instance a bar code printed on the compartment. Since the compartment is designed to hold multiple medication doses, there is ample space for adding detailed information on the compartment's surface.

In an embodiment of the medication dispenser the means for making the medication dose accessible requires identifying of a user.

To ensure only the user can remove omitted compartments from the dispenser, the dispenser requires the user to identify himself for instance by password or finger print recognition or RFID reader.

A container according to the invention is characterized in that each compartment holds all medication doses to be administered to a patient in the predetermined time period.

The container benefits of having to provide only a single compartment of the tape for each predetermined time period, simplifying insertion of the medication doses as all doses to be administered around the same time can be inserted in the same compartment.

In an embodiment of the container the drive means comprises:

- a sprocket for engaging with sprocket holes in the tape, - a container gear,

- an axle coupling the container gear to the sprocket, the container gear being accessible from the outside of the container, where a rotation of the container gear causes a rotation of the sprocket for advancing the tape towards the dispensing opening. The sprocket allows positive engagement between sprocket teeth of the sprocket and the sprocket holes of the tape. By providing external access to the container gear the sprocket can be driven, while the container can be inserted without having to deal with the loading of the tape in the drive means of the dispenser as the sprocket and container gear are part of the container and thus guarantee a positive engagement between sprocket holes and sprocket teeth. The container can thus be loaded into the dispenser by an untrained person.

In an embodiment of the container the container comprises a curved area forming an arc of which a center coincides with a center of the sprocket, a length of the arc being such that the information card engages with multiple sprocket teeth.

Curving the tape in the area of the sprocket wheel ensures engagement of several sprocket wheel teeth.

In an embodiment of the container the sprocket holes in the tape allow the compartment to be opened for access to the medical doses by tearing along the sprocket holes.

The sprocket holes when appropriately placed can double as tear line for opening the compartment by tearing. The amount of material left between the sprocket is chosen such that the sprocket can still advance the tape without tearing while the sprocket holes sufficiently weaken the surface to allow tearing.

In an embodiment of the container the container comprises a lock preventing a rotation of the container gear until removal of the lock.

The presence of the lock indicates that the container's content has not been tampered with, enhancing medication safety.

A tape comprising compartments comprising a medication dose according to the invention is characterized in that each compartment holds all medication doses to be administered to a patient in the predetermined time period.

This results in a series of interconnected compartments each holding all the medication doses for taking at a given time and date. This simplifies the administering of the medication and also provides a tape for use with the method and the dispenser of the invention.

In an embodiment the tape is provided with sprocket holes in the tape. The sprocket holes allow a sprocket wheel to be used to advance or retract the tape. The sprocket holes allow precise control of the amount of displacement (advancement or retraction) of the tape. In addition the sprocket teeth, being engaged with the tape prevent unwanted movement of the tape for instance when the user tries to pull the tape from the dispenser or container. The sprocket teeth do not allow any slip of the tape.

In an embodiment of the tape the sprocket holes in the tape allow the compartment to be opened for access to the medical doses by tearing along the sprocket holes.

The sprocket holes when appropriately placed can double as tear line for opening the compartment by tearing. The amount of material left between the

sprocket is chosen such that the sprocket can still advance the tape without tearing while the sprocket holes sufficiently weaken the surface to allow tearing.

A system for verifying correct administering of a medication dose comprises: - a data base comprising prescription information,

- medication retrieval means for retrieving information from a compartment of a tape in a container as claimed in any one of the claims 17 to 21,

- patient identity retrieval means for identifying a patient,

- comparing means for comparing information retrieved by the medication retrieval means, by the patient identity retrieval means and from the database, to establish correct administering when the compared information matches.

The system benefits from the advantages of the tape and the dispenser as it allows a verification of the process of administering the medication doses as the dispenser can provide data about dispense time and date and contents of dispensed compartments. The data is consequently valid for all medication doses in the compartment that was dispensed which simplifies data storage in the database.

Just as in a hospital or member with members of the medical staff, the invention can also be used in a home setting by the patient or nursing home where the patient, or another person, can within the framework of the invention perform the tasks described in this document as being performed by the member of the technical staff.

The invention will now be described based on figures.

Brief Description of Drawings.

Figure 1 shows a tape compartment holding several medication doses.

Figure 2 shows a medication dispenser for use with the container of the present invention.

Figure 3 shows a container for holding the carrier formed by pouches. Figure 4 shows the front view of the cross section A-A indicated in figure 3

Figure 5 shows a closed loop system in which the information cards are used.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention.

Figure 1 shows a tape compartment holding several medication doses.

The tape 1 has multiple compartments 2, 3 each holding all the medication doses 9,10,11,12 to be administered to a patient at the same moment or within a limited time window during the day. Whether medical doses 9,10,11,12 are to be, or can be, administered within the same time window is determined by the prescription issued by a physician and instruction on when and how to administer.

The set of medication doses 9 10, 11, 12 in each compartment 2, 3 is thus specifically compiled for a specific patient and to be administered within a specific time window.

It allows the set of medication doses 9 10, 11, 12 to be inserted into the compartments under controlled conditions such as at a pharmacy relieving the medical staff in a hospital from the duty of compiling the set of medication doses 9 10, 11, 12 each time at the ward.

Such assembly of a set of medication doses 9 10, 11, 12 in compartments 2, 3 cannot be achieved by the pharmaceutical manufacturer as a patient often receives medication 9 10, 11, 12 produced by different and competing manufacturers.

Some medication 9,10,11,12 is not to be administered at the same time because of undesirable interaction. The use of compartments 2, 3 provides awareness to the patient or medical staff that medication doses 9,10,11,12 in different compartments 2, 3 are to be taken at different times and thus enhances medication safety.

The tape 1 is formed by two flexible surfaces, for instance two foils, that are _. sealed together along the rim 4 of the compartments 2, 3, dividing the tape 1 into compartments 2, 3 that are still interconnected but do not allow medication to shift from one compartment 2 to another compartment 3. To allow the user to take a single pouch shaped compartment 2, 3, the interconnection between the compartments 2, 3 are of reduced strength, for instance by providing a perforation 5, 6, 7 in the area where the compartments 2, 3 are interconnected.

To allow a medication dispenser to automatically dispense the compartments 2, 3, the tape 1 is provided with sprocket holes 8 that run in a feeding direction of the tape 1.

The distance and size of the sprocket holes 8 can be chosen such that the user can open the compartment 2, 3 by tearing along the line formed by the sprocket holes 8. In figure 1 the sprocket holes 8 are however positioned in the sealed rim area 4,

thus ensuring that the cavity of the compartment 2, 3 remains airtight to prevent environmental influence on the medication 9, 10, 11, 12 in the compartment.

A surface of the compartment 2, 3 can be provided with authentication information, information about the medication 9 10, 11, 12 comprised in the compartment 2, 3, target patient, data and time of desired administering and machine readable information to be read by the medication dispenser or at other stages between packaging the medication doses 9 10, 11, 12 and administering thereof. Examples are identification information, content description, prescription information from a physician, instructions from a pharmacist or instructions from a physician.

The sprocket hole size and distance between sprocket holes can also be used for the perforation 5, 6, 7 at the interconnection area between the compartments 2, 3 but normal methods of reducing the interconnection strength such as regular perforations can also be used..

Figure 2 shows a medication dispenser for use with the container of the present invention.

The medication dispenser 109 is arranged to cooperate with a container 110 holding the carrier 106, such as interconnected pouches or blisters, in a rolled-up form, to be dispensed through a dispenser opening 116. The container 110 simplifies the insertion of the roll containing the medication dose packaging into the medication dispenser 109. The medication dispenser 109 further comprises a lid 101 for access to the innards of the medication dispenser and can be provided with a lock 102 for preventing removal of, or tampering with, the container 110. An optional digital scanner 103 allows control of the dispensing process by scanning the information on the carrier 106, for instance of the bar code on the pouches of the present invention. The carrier 106 is advanced towards the dispenser opening 116 so that it emerges from the medication dispenser 109 and becomes accessible for the user, for instance nurse or patient. The advancement of the carrier 106 can be achieved by manual operation or by automated means such as a gear 112 coupled to an electric motor 117. The gear 112 engages with a container gear 114 comprised in the container 110 which in turn is coupled to a sprocket 111 for driving the carrier 106. For this, the carrier 106 is provided with openings as shown in the description of the information cards. The sprocket 111 engages with the openings in

the carrier 106, allowing the electric motor to drive the carrier 106 forward and backward.

The backward motion is used when the medication dispenser detects that the carrier 106 has not been taken by the user. Backward motion allows the carrier section exposed outside the medication dispenser to be retracted into the medication dispenser to reduce the opportunity for other persons to take the carrier 106 or to prevent the patient to take the medication at the wrong time of the day.

The medication dispenser can decide to either permanently discard the carrier 106 that was not taken at the appropriate time if taking the medication at a later time would be undesirable, or to dispense it again when requested by the user if such later administering of the medication is allowable.

The medication dispenser 109 can be provided with a display/keyboard unit 104 and a speaker 105 for interacting with the user. The display 104 can display the patient's name, name of medication dose or indicate how and when the dispensed medication dose has to be administered.

The container gear and the sprocket 111 are positioned inside the container and are exchanged together with the container 109. The gear 112 and the container gear 114 can be replaced by other drive means that can be easily decoupled such as two wheels that are coupled by friction.

The motor, digital scanner 103 and the display/ keyboard unit 104 are coupled to and controlled by the controller 107. The controller 107 comprises an interface 108 which can be connected to a network for interfacing to a computer which comprises for instance a database of medication doses and/or patients and allows alert and updates to be transferred to the dispenser.

Figure 3 shows a container for holding the carrier 106 formed by pouches.

The container 110 comprises a storage area 113 where the carrier 106, i.e. a tape, is stored, for instance rolled up in order to save space and to facilitate orderly dispensing of the carrier 106.

The container 110 comprises means to drive the carrier 106 forward and backward.

The drive means can comprise a sprocket 111 for engaging with the carrier 106 and a container gear 114, the sprocket 111 being coupled to the container gear 114 for instance via an axle 115. The axle 115, in addition to coupling the container gear 114 and the sprocket 111, also positions the container gear/sprocket assembly in the container. For this the container has holes of cavities in which the axle is held and positioned.

In order to ensure positive engagement between the sprocket 111 and the carrier 106 the container comprises a curved area forming an arc 116 of which the center coincides with the center of the sprocket 111. This ensures that more than one sprocket tooth / sprocket hole engagement is achieved.

The container can be provided with a lock 117 that prevents access to the medication doses in the container by providing a tamperproof seal. Another lock 117 envisaged prevents the rotation of the container gear 114 / sprocket 111 assembly until the container 109 will be used. Even if the dispensing opening 116 is accessible, the sprocket 111 being locked ensures that no carrier 106 can be retrieved from the container 1009 until the lock 117 is removed. Removal of the lock 117 can be detected and the container 109 can be rejected based on potential tampering.

Figure 4 shows the front view of the cross section A-A indicated in figure 11. It show the possible positioning of the Axle 115, sprocket 111, container gear 114 and lock 117, and also indicates the electric motor 112 and the engagement between the drive gear 112 and the container gear 114.

Figure 5 shows a closed loop system in which the dispenser and tape according to the invention are used.

The closed loop system comprises 6 states.

At state 1 the physician writes a prescription for patient A.

At state 2 the pharmacist checks the prescription At stage 3 the ward plans the distribution of medication doses and orders the medication doses from the pharmacist.

At stage 4 the medication doses are packaged in the compartments of the tape of the present invention. AU medication doses to be taken within the same predetermined time window are inserted in the same compartment. The corresponding data, such as

patient information and prescription information is stored per compartment in a database on a server.

At stage 5 the medical staff and or patient extracts the dispensed compartment from the dispenser and takes the medication doses to the patient. At stage 6 the administering is registered at the bed side using a barcode (or RPID means), information about dispense time and date and dispensed medication doses optionally together with the bed side registration is reported back to the server linking administered medication dose and patient, and verifying using the data base whether the administering was performed correctly. At stage 7 the correct administering is verified by comparing data in the database to the data obtained from the compartment and from the administering of the medication dose.

Information is fed forward from the patient to a connected call centre where information of the patient is made available by a camera and/or a speak-listen connection through, or in cooperation with, the dispenser.

Feedback is given from the connected call centre to the dispenser or another alerting device, based on the available information about the patient , requesting the patient to check the reason of the alert given by the dispenser or another alerting device. The alert can be derived from a combination of information in the patient database and the fact that information is missing whether a compartment was dispensed and taken at the appropriate time normally sent from the dispenser .

Consequently the process of prescribing and administering drug, i.e. medication doses forms a closed loop including verification.

The loop is closed by feedback about the administering to the database. As an extension of this, the feedback information in the database is also available to the physician and the pharmacist, allowing further verification that the process was executed correctly. This enhances the safety of the administering process.